Toronto – Whatever else one might say about The Sparrow and the Mouse: Creating the Music of Edith Piaf, this much is true: performer Melanie Gall has a wonderful singing voice.
In the original French or in English translation, Gall does great things with Edith Piaf songs like “Je Ne Regrette Rien”and “La Vie en Rose.” An opera singer by trade who’s performed in countries all over the world, Gall’s singing is worth the price of admission. The play she’s written around the songs, however…well, it’s not as good.
Gall plays Simone Berteault, Piaf’s closest friend and half-sister, and describes Piaf’s life, from her humble beginnings to international stardom. The problem is, while Piaf’s life story is pretty amazing, Gall delivers it as if she’s reading Piaf’s Wikipedia article aloud. It’s just not compelling theatre. The only person on stage aside from pianist Erin Craig, Gall acts out different parts of Piaf’s life between songs, like holding a doll and acting like Piaf’s mom, pretending to be Piaf on the streets, miming a mother/doll scene again when Piaf gives birth. Sometimes while she does this, Gall’s recorded voice continues the life story narration while she does things silently. This seems unnecessary, since Gall doesn’t do that much during these scenes and could probably handle both duties at once, and it’s occasionally awkward when Gall’s live voice and recorded voice step on each other’s lines.
Gall’s singing saves it from being that bad, though. While Craig’s piano sounds a bit tinny in the big hall of Bathurst Street Theatre, Gall’s voice fills up the room, without amplification. If you have any fondness for Piaf or opera singing, it might be worth seeing, but otherwise this is probably a miss.
The Sparrow and the Mouse plays at Venue 3. Check your Fringe program or the online play listings for showtimes.
Toronto – Fringe is here! Toronto’s annual summer theatre spectacular runs July 6 through 17 with something like a billion shows, with only about a quarter of them by local playwrights with perspectives on last summer’s G20! The problem with so many shows is, especially in the early going before the reviews come out (particularly ours, of course), how do you pick what to see? Fortunately, at the Panic Manual we have anticipated your every need. Here are some humble suggestions, based on nothing more than what sounds interesting from the three line show descriptions on the Fringe website. Our scientifically proven formula!
The Soaps – The Live Improvised Soap Opera (Venue 3, Bathurst St. Theatre)
National Theatre of the World’s Fringe show this year is a long-form improv soap opera, set behind the scenes at the “Shawford” Festival. Featuring NTOW regulars Ron Pederson, Matt Baram, Chris Gibbs and a host of others, including special guest stars, if I didn’t have to see and review a bunch of other shows I’d consider seeing this nightly.
Abra-Cadaver! (Venue 2, Tarragon Theatre Extra Space)
Ever heard of Dorothy Parker? She tried to kill herself a lot but never quite managed it. This play is inspired by her life. It’ll be dark, there’ll likely be a few laughs, Maya Rabinovitch directs it, it’ll be good.
Breaking News (Venue 7, St. Vladimir’s Theatre)
The first thing I noticed about Breaking News’ listing is that it has a HUGE cast. Like, 14 people. I don’t recognize any of the names in the cast. The second thing I noticed is that it’s about Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” radio broadcast, featuring real reaction to this cultural phenomenon that had people convinced aliens had invaded. I’ll definitely be interested to see if there’s some insight into how people were so fooled.
The LOVE Octagon (Venue 10, Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace)
I expressed my adoration for shows involving Chris Craddock last year, when PUBLIC SPEAKING was one of my two favourites of the Fringe. The previous year he brought Moving Along to town, and it was also excellent. There’s little reason to think The LOVE Octagon won’t be great too, especially with NTOW’s Ron Pederson co-collaborating in an improv-heavy show.
The Last Rock N’ Roll Show (Venue 3, Bathurst St. Theatre)
Featuring original tunes by show creator Jeff Jones, it’s a rock show AND a solo performance drama AT THE SAME TIME (sort of). A music journalist wants to cap off her writing career with one last review, and decides to make it about the show that inspired her to write about music in the first place. Might it rekindle her love for writing about music? I don’t know! Last time I saw a rock-themed Fringe show at Bathurst Street Theatre it was my other favourite show of last year’s Fringe. Hopefully this one will be just as good. Check out preview clip on YouTube.
Bursting Into Flames (Venue 9, Robert Gill Theatre)
I don’t know much about Martin Dockery, but he’s doing the Canada-wide Fringe circuit this summer and has gotten excellent reviews of past shows, so he must be doing something right. Worth a look.
Trotsky & Hutch: On Patrol (Venue 2 Tarragon Theatre Extra Space)
Another improv show, Trotsky & Hutch is long-form improv about cops, as you might guess from the title. Performers Kevin Patrick Robbins and Sean Tabares are both accomplished improvisers, and cop shows are certainly fertile ground for comedy, so this could be very good.
Boyfriends (Venue 13, Factory Studio Theatre)
What better way to celebrate the recently deceased Peter Falk than seeing a fictionalized play about him? More specifically, this play is about Falk, John Cassavetes and Ben Gazzara gettin’ all wild in New York City in the 60’s. Best of all, two of the three aren’t around to sue for libel anymore! (Too soon?)
When Harry Met Harry (Venue 2 Tarragon Theatre Extra Space)
Another Fringe veteran, Allan Girod has taken When Harry Met Harry across Canada and Australia with great success. His Harry character is a button-down type who’s life unravels on stage. This is definitely the kind of thing that makes for good solo comedy shows with insight.
Finally, I’m not sure I’ll actually get in to see either of these shows, but man, talk about ambitious. Dungeons has three performances of six hours each with people playing D&D while “live sound artists create a unique soundscape for each tournament.” Godot is “The Waiting for Godot performance that never ends,” with two performances of 30 and 54 (!) hours. Both shows allow you to enter and leave when you like, so check in late in the performances when sleep deprivation has set in for maximum fun!
Whatever you decide to see this year, enjoy the Fringe, and be sure to check back here for reviews once the fest gets rolling.
Toronto – Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat – I am not the biggest fan of animals. Sure, I’m able to admire the beauty of nature and I’ve got nothing against animals per se, but frankly, nature scares the crap out of me sometimes. It’s a real testament then, to the power of this documentary that it had me caring about and becoming emotionally invested in the outcome of Nim’s story. And a fascinating story it is.
Project Nimshows us the life of a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky (get it?), taken away from his mother moments after his birth and placed in the care of a human family as part of an experiment to see if chimpanzees could acquire language. From there, we see his interactions with the individuals at the various different places he is sent to. Many of those interviewed show a real love for Nim, having grown pretty close to the chimp.
Nim in fact becomes much more real and likeable as a character than a good chunk of the humans seen. In the end, he seems much more “human” than many of the humans he interacts with. Herb Terrace, the man who initiated this project (and who reminds me slightly of Jerry Stiller), is one of these humans who doesn’t come across in the best light. As a social scientist, you can understand why he does what he does, and I don’t really blame him, but he comes off as a bit opportunistic at times. He is, however, completely open and honest about where he went wrong and why he chose to ultimately abandon the project.
Much more likeable is primatologist Bob Ingersoll. Bob is possibly the single strongest presence in Nim’s life. Not only did he spend a significant amount of time with him while he was at their facility but he kept track of where Nim was and fought for his best interests throughout. I’d say Bob was the best friend that chimp ever had.
Overall, this was quite an entertaining and compelling documentary.
Toronto – Simply put, Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey is a wonderful inspirational documentary about following your dreams. Chronicling the life and times of Kevin Clash, the man responsible for the beloved Elmo character, this film takes us from the days when Kevin was a child, aspiring to be a cast member of Sesame Street to present day, where he is not only a puppeteer, but also director and producer of the kids show. It’s a heartwarming tale and nicely incorporates historical elements of the story of Sesame Street as well, featuring lots of archival and behind the scenes footage of the people who put so much joy to children’s lives. The documentary also serves as lovely tribute to Jim Henson, the man behind it all and a source of great inspiration in Kevin’s journey.
With it’s warmhearted nature, wonderful editing and mountains of classic footages, this was easily my favorite documentary at Hot Docs and you should definitely check it out.
