Looking at the Stratford Festival offerings so far

While I have been on vacation, I have been at home part of the time, and away part of the time, mostly on day trips to places I have been meaning to visit. It's a nice way to get away without actually getting away. I began my two-week break by heading to Stratford for a couple of shows, and I will end it the same way, along with a couple more Shaw shows as well, so lots to write about in the coming weeks. Let's start with the first two Stratford shows I've seen so far.

One of the big musical offerings this season is Evita, the blockbuster musical from the late 70s with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. I remember seeing a production at the old O'Keefe Centre (now it's the Sony Centre, if I remember correctly...) back around 1978 or 1979, and it was pretty impressive at the time. Still, it is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and the 80s taught us the A.L. Webber formula of writing a 'big' musical number and shaping the musical around it. You get to hear the song a lot, so you'd better like it. It's one of the main reasons I loathe the musical Cats, although I am a first-class cat person myself. It isn't the subject matter that annoys me; it's the almost total lack of musical content. Believe me, I have been vilified many times in the past for my views on the musical.

But back to Evita. This is, without question, a musical spectacle, one of the first of its kind, really, and Stratford pours a goodly amount of resources into making the spectacle even moreso. It pays off with a largely satisfying production that hits the high notes and generally wows the audience. That being said, I couldn't help but wonder why, in the opening scene depicting the funeral of Eva Peron, director Gary Griffin didn't decide to utilize some kind of scrim or other device to depict the rain falling as cast members mill about the stage holding umbrellas. As Eva Peron, Chilina Kennedy is breathtakingly beautiful and in fine voice; her husband Juan, played by Juan Chioran, somewhat less so. Nothing against Juan's performance here; he does the best he can with what meagre meat is on his character's bones; it's just hard to see him do so little when he is capable of doing so much, as he did years ago with a spectacular production of Man of La Mancha at the Festival Theatre. The rest of the cast is equally competent, with Josh Young a standout in the pivotal role of Che, Josie Marasco as the Mistress and Vince Staltari as Magaldi. That's the cast: five main performers, with the ensemble taking on the roles of the people of Argentina, etc.

I liked the show for what it is, and it will no doubt be a huge draw at the Stratford Festival this season. But I wonder if Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate, also on this year and one I'll be seeing shortly, might be a better bet for the huge bus tours coming to Stratford each season. We'll see. Evita runs at the Avon Theatre until October 30th and rates a three out of four stars.

The second show I attended was Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie. It runs at the Avon Theatre until October 31st. I still remember Christopher Newton as Mr. Darling in the Shaw Festival production many years ago, and that still remains for me, the benchmark production of this play. Still, this new Stratford production has lots to recommend it, including imaginative sets and costumes that create wonderful illusions of water onstage and keep the audiences, both young and old, thoroughly entertained. But this is not all special effects: the cast is equally splendid, with Michael Therriault a standout in the title role, and Tom McCamus having great fun as Captain James Hook, who uses a hook apparently borrowed from the old Shaw production. Equally enjoyable turns come from Sara Topham as Wendy and Sean Cullen as Smee.

While this new production, directed by Tim Carroll, doesn't break any new ground, per se, I don't think anyone will be disappointed with the production. It rates a strong three out of four stars.

Now, I will be offline for a few days, as I take my beleaguered old computer in for servicing, so I won't be writing again until sometime next week...I hope! In the meantime, try to survive the heatwave...with some great live theatre, perhaps?

July 8th, 2010.