On Staging

S2E57 - Oklahoma! - Swamp Donkey Theatre

Discussion

Oklahoma! Discussion

Opening May 3rd and running through May 12th at Swamp Donkey's Theatre in Bragg Creek, Swamp Donkey presents Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, co-directed by Trisha Gizen and Melanie Baux. Kyle sits down with Melanie, also the musical director, and Trisha, also the set designer and both performers in the production, to discuss wearing all of these hats and how to bring this elder musical, one of the progenitors of the modern musical, to stage.

Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/s/events/all/?q=oklahoma+swamp

About the Show: Rodgers & Hammerstein’s first collaboration remains, in many ways, their most innovative, setting the standards and rules of modern musical theatre. In a western territory just after the turn of the 20th century, a high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides a colorful background for Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, to play out their love story. Their romantic journey, as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road, contrasts with the comic exploits of brazen Ado Annie and hapless Will Parker in a musical adventure embracing hope, determination, and the promise of a new land.

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S2E56 - Review - The Gondoliers - Morpheus Theatre

Review

Friday, April 26, 2024

Running April 26th through May 4th at the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary, Kyle review Morpheus's production of The Gondoliers with much enthusiasm

Tickets: https://tickets.morpheustheatre.ca/

Morpheus's Production: https://www.morpheustheatre.ca/?portfolio=the-gondoliers

About the Show: It is with all the necessary and appropriate pomp, that we announce, pronounce and soundly declare, our final show of the season will be: Gilbert and Sullivan’s, The Gondoliers! This 12th collaborative operetta by the beloved pair is set in Venice and is rife with Nobility, mistaken identities, Royalty, young lovers married to the wrong people, commoners, wit, patter, a Cachucha and of course, Rapture!

S2E55 - Grease - Windmill Theatre Players

Discussion

Grease Discussion

Opening April 19th and running through April 26th at the Highwood Centre in High River, Windmill Theatre Players presents Grease, directed by Karen Stevenson with Musical Direction from Laura Ferguson, Kyle sits down with both of them to discuss what is so special about this 50+ year old musical.

Tickets: https://www.windmilltheatreplayers.com/tickets.php

About the show: Good girl Sandy Dumbrowski and greaser Danny Zuko fell in love over the summer. When they unexpectedly discover they're now in the same high school, will they be able to rekindle their romance?

S2E54 - The Gondoliers - Morpheus Theatre

Discussion

Gondoliers Discussion

Opening April 26th and running through May 4th at the Pumphouse Theatre in Calgary, Morpheus Theatre presents Gilbert & Sullivan's The Gondoliers, directed by Sean Anderson. Kyle sits down with Sean, Musical Director Winnifred Hume and Choreographer Mya Swedburg to discuss creating a light comic opera from over 130 years ago in today's modern times with a cast of 28.

Tickets: https://tickets.morpheustheatre.ca/TheatreManager/160/online?event=0

About the Show: This 12th collaborative operetta by the beloved pair is set in Venice and is rife with Nobility, mistaken identities, Royalty, young lovers married to the wrong people, commoners, wit, patter, a Cachucha and of course, Rapture!

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S2E53 - Hansel & Gretel - Dewdney Players

Discussion

Hansel & Gretel Discussion

Opening April 26th and running through May 11th at the RPAC theatre in Okotoks, Dewdney Players present Hansel & Gretel, adapted by Kelly Kozak. Kyle sits down with Kelly, the performer of Father - Brad Snowden and Oli Heidt, performer of Hansel to discuss what it means to bring fairy tales to life and the complexities that come from staging them.

Tickets: https://www.showpass.com/dewdney-players-presents-hansel-and-gretel/

About the Show: Charlotte Chorpenning has taken the Grimm Brothers' story and given it a poetic beauty that brings a value to its young audience. Her treatment of the stepmother does not accent the cruelty — an outlook important today. The evil witch is portrayed as a comedy character, but the teaching value is there — teaching through a comedy device rather than fear. Hansel and Gretel's safe return to their father and mother gives the children a sense of security.  Kelly Kozak’s stage adaptation brings Chorpenning’s unique characters to life in a sympathetic and sensitive performance. 

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S2E52 - Review - Marriage: A Demolition in Two Acts - Take a Bow

Review

Friday, April 12, 2024

Running April 12th through the 21st with 6 performances at the Cochrane Ranchehouse Theatre, Kyle reviews Take a Bow's production of Marriage: A Demolition in Two Acts.

Tickets: https://www.takeabow.ca/tickets-2024

Wayne and Julie embark on that emotional roller-coaster ride known as “renovating the kitchen” when they probably should be renovating their marriage instead. Their contractors are a twenty-something couple with issues of their own. A hilarious new play that looks at renovation addiction, the friction between baby-boomers and millennials, and the nature of lifelong commitment in marriage… and in kitchen cabinet choices. This show contains mature subject matter and is recommended for ages 16+

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S2E51 - Bridges of Madison County Musical, The Concert - Nightingale Arts Collective

Discussion

Bridges of Madison County Discussion

With shows April 12th and 13th at the CSpace Theatre in Calgary, Kyle sits down with Nightingale Arts Collective founders and performers in the production, Melissa Jackson and Meaghan Schulz to discuss what this production is all about and how it is being brought to life by this new theatre group.

Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6243302

About the Show: Nightingale Arts Collective is excited to announce its first production, the Tony Award-winning musical The Bridges of Madison County, in concert. It is being held at cSPACE Studio Theatre on April 12 and 13th, doors open at 6:00 pm and show starts at 7:00 pm. Arrangements and Direction by John Goulart. Starring Stuart Howe, Meaghan Schulz, Kal Macdonald, Melissa Jackson, Ainsley Soutiere, Val Hudson and Paul Lloyd. Narration by Colin Martin. Come along on the emotional four-day love story between the characters Robert and Francesca as they sing the popular uplifting songs Falling into You, To Build a Home, One Second and a Million Miles and the fun and folksy State Road 21.

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S2E50 - Review - Rocky Horror Show - Misfit Theatre YYC

Review

Friday, April 5, 2024

Running April 5th through the 13th at the Pumphouse in Calgary, Kyle reviews Misfit Theatre's production of The Rocky Horror Show.

The production: https://www.morpheustheatre.ca/?portfolio=the-rocky-horror-show

Tickets: https://tickets.morpheustheatre.ca/

About the Show: Join Misfit Theatre YYC and Morpheus Theatre as we take you on a science-fiction, double feature journey through Richard O’Brien’s iconic rock-n-roll musical. A hilarious, campy, and thrilling tribute to the sci-fi and horror B films from the golden age of Hollywood to the 1960s, “The Rocky Horror Show” tells the tale of a recently engaged couple and their wild misadventure. While on their way to visit an old friend, they find themselves with a flat tire and nowhere to go in the middle of a stormy night, until they find an old castle seemingly in the middle of nowhere. What starts as a trip to ask for help, turns into a topsy-turvy evening of the strangest events where they are subjected to bizarre whims at the hand of a fabulously dressed mad scientist and his servants. Will our intrepid couple make it out unscathed, or will the darkness completely transform them?

S2E49 - Marriage: A Demotion in Two Acts - Take a Bow Theatre

Discussion

Marriage: A Demolition Discussion

Opening April 12th and running through the 21st at the Cochrane Ranchehouse Theatre in Cochrane, Kyle sits down with performers Zoe Farrell, Penny Farrell and Geoffrey Patterson to discuss what it takes to bring this production to life as a four person production.

Tickets: https://www.takeabow.ca/tickets-2024

Wayne and Julie embark on that emotional roller-coaster ride known as “renovating the kitchen” when they probably should be renovating their marriage instead. Their contractors are a twenty-something couple with issues of their own. A hilarious new play that looks at renovation addiction, the friction between baby-boomers and millennials, and the nature of lifelong commitment in marriage… and in kitchen cabinet choices. This show contains mature subject matter and is recommended for ages 16+

Join our Patreon: www.patreon.com/onstagingpodcast

S2E48 - Review - Sondheim Musical Revue - Front Row Centre Players

Review

Friday, March 29, 2024

Running March 22 through March 30, 2024 at the Beddington Theatre Arts Centre in Calgary, Kyle reviews FRC's production of The Sondheim Musical Revue.

The production: https://www.frontrowcentre.ca/show/20232024/SondheimTributeRevue

The Stephen Sondheim Society notes that Sondheim was "widely acknowledged as the most innovative, most influential and most important composer and lyricist in modern Broadway history. For more than 50 years, he has set an unsurpassed standard of brilliance and artistic integrity in musical theatre. His accolades include an Academy Award, eight Tony Awards (more than any other composer) including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, multiple Drama Desk awards and a Pulitzer Prize."

Join us in celebrating the work of the incomparable Stephen Sondheim.

Copyright 2023 Kyle Gould