A Laugh-Out-Loud Raucous Ride - Second City Presents 'Walking on Bombshells'

By Paul Love
Guest Writer

Second City is a world-famous comedy enterprise that has been around for 60 years, and thankfully doesn’t feel the need to rest on its laurels, as evidenced by their 82nd mainstage revue, Walking on Bombshells.

Smartly written and brilliantly performed, Walking on Bombshells is sketch comedy at its best. Director Chris Earle and Assistant Director Ashley Botting keep the action fast-paced and well-choreographed with razor-sharp comedic timing, making full use of the set. And what a set it is! Bob Knuth’s gorgeously detailed TTC subway platform is the perfect backdrop for a show that is mainly about modern life in Toronto.

Photo by Paul Aihoshi.

It is the writers and performers — Nadine Djoury (whose performance on this night was adeptly handled by touring company member Jillian Welsh), Stacey McGunnigle, Sharjil Rasool, Allana Reoch, PHATT al, and Chris Wilson — who truly make this a night to remember. Every member of this troupe commits fully to these sometimes zany, sometimes poignant, and always hilarious scenes that range from a few seconds to a few minutes, and are wonderfully, painfully relatable. Standout moments include: Chris Wilson’s hilariously accurate and dialogue-free performance of how everyone looks while browsing an art gallery; PHATT al laying into his doctor about body-shaming; Allana Reoch repeatedly waking up from all-too-familiar political nightmares; Sharjil Rasool excitedly bragging about purchasing a condo as the horrible reality of the situation sets in; Stacey McGunnigle doing top-notch drunk acting as a woman down in the dumps about her birthday; and Jillian Welsh as an Air Canada flight attendant announcing everything from beverage choices to turbulence in both English and French.

These six performers showcase their comedic skills throughout the show as they skewer hot-topic issues like cannabis legalization, predictive text software, and Netflix fatigue. The troupe discusses things we think about but often don’t speak of out loud — like race, gender, and body image — to hilarious effect. The material is very definitely adult-oriented but without ever being unnecessarily raunchy, or ever feeling the need to lazily pepper the dialogue with foul language. You will laugh, you will think, and you will never hear the words “lemon chicken” the same way again.

If you’re in the mood for a night of smartly written, riotously funny sketch comedy, check out “Walking on Bombshells” at Second City, located at 51 Mercer Street in Toronto. The show is performed every Tuesday through Thursday at 8 pm, Fridays and Sundays at 7:30 pm, and Saturdays at 10 pm. The show closes August 11th. Tickets are available at the door, by calling (416) 343-0011, or by visiting the website.

Photo by Paul Aihoshi.

‘She the People: The Resistance Continues’, Girl Power lives on - story by Joe Szek

By Joe Szek

Ah, my first visit to review a Second City show. I’ve seen the advertisements in the newspaper for Second City and now had the opportunity to attend, ‘She the People: The Resistance Continues’. I’ll be frank and state sketch comedy is extremely challenging from what I’ve understand and heard. Second City is known for its on the spot improvisation, a technique which I’ve always found difficult for the fact one must think quickly on your feet.

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Paul Love: It’s a Sin to Miss this Mockingbird, Stage Centre Productions Delivers a Well-Staged Classic

By Paul Love
Guest Writer

One of the most highly recognized and award-winning American novels, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee is a fictionalized version of a real-life story involving a black man, Tom Robinson, being falsely accused of raping and beating a white woman, Mayella Ewell, in Alabama during the Great Depression. The story is told through the eyes of Scout, a young girl whose father, Atticus Finch, is the lawyer tasked with defending Tom. With an all-white jury and a town filled with unrest and deeply rooted racism, Atticus’s task is challenging to say the least. In 1990, Christopher Sergel wrote the theatrical adaptation of Lee’s novel that is currently being produced by Stage Centre Productions.

Set designer Pascal Labillois and assistant set designer Reiko Takaie have created a wonderful set that instantly informs us of time and place. The front porch of the Finches’ home and those of their neighbours are fully realized with chairs and flower pots — and screen doors that make that marvelous creak-thunk sound that immediately makes one think of summer. The frame-only style of the homes allows us to see important moments inside, and it creates the sense of openness that is characteristic of small towns. The Radley home, by contrast, is appropriately dark, forbidding, and closed off to the townspeople as well as the audience.

Kudos to Jamie Farley for an effective lighting design that captures the warmth —literal and figurative — of Maycomb in the summer, but particularly for the choice to darken the stage on the angry mob that shows up at the jailhouse, effectively rendering them as faceless silhouettes — unidentifiable and all alike.

Credit must be given to director Lorraine Kimsa for keeping the action crisp and agile, even in the dialogue-heavy courtroom scenes. Set changes were brisk and orderly, and character movement always made sense throughout.

Photo by Fabio Saposnik

Atticus Finch is one of the most beloved, iconic, and heroic characters in American fiction. To give him the appropriate gravitas requires an actor with the skill to pull it off. Enter Will van der Zyl, who truly connects with his character, imbuing Atticus with a sense of confidence that tells the audience he can handle any situation from the moment he appears on stage. Our eyes are drawn to him, and we believe his every word. We also get a true sense of Atticus as a heartfelt, caring man in the moments where he attempts to comfort Scout, Jem, and Tom. Mr. van der Zyl gives a captivating, grounded performance befitting such an important character.

Astrid Atherley gives a warm and funny performance as Calpurnia, the Finches’ cook, who also watches over Scout and Jem when Atticus is at work. The scene where she gives Scout and Jem a talking-to as she marches them home from the courthouse leads to some of the best (and funniest) off-stage voice acting I’ve ever witnessed.

Playing Miss Maudie Atkinson is challenging; not only is she the Finches’ caring next-door neighbour and one of only a few of Maycomb’s citizens who is not racist, but she also acts as the play’s narrator. Cindy Platten handles all of this with aplomb, colouring her character’s scenes with warmth, morality, and accessibility, and bridging the show’s scenes with powerful, effecting narration done in a wonderfully smooth Southern drawl.

As the older Finch sibling, Jem, Fraser Schaffer does a great job of portraying his character’s eagerness and innocence, and handles Jem’s more physical moments like a pro.

The script and the novel will both tell you that this is, ultimately, Scout’s story. But in this production it is Daya Lenga’s incredible, confident, and committed performance that makes it so. Ms. Lenga gives us a Scout who is, appropriately, always in command of any situation she finds herself in. Ms. Lenga’s Scout is bold, funny, and sharp as a tack. It is not sufficed to say that this is an excellent performance for a young person. It is an excellent performance period. And to discover that Ms. Lenga is only twelve years old and this is her first play is mind-blowing to say the least. I hope it’s not her last.

Credit must also be given to the cast members who created some indelible scenes with characters that could easily be dismissed as minor — Scott Griffin as Maycomb’s sherrif, Heck Tate, struggling with his emotions as he tells Atticus about a tragic incident that has occurred; Chip Thompson spewing hate with his tongue and searing eyes as Bob Ewell, the father of the accused, when he takes the witness stand; Jason Pilgrim as the accused, Tom Robinson, desperately defending himself with a powerful portrayal of fear, confusion, and disillusionment; and Lindsay Woodford as the accuser, Mayella Ewell, in a harrowing and profoundly tragic moment in the courtroom.

I highly recommend catching Stage Centre Productions’ To Kill a Mockingbird before it closes. Performances are at the Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Drive in Toronto, next to the Fairview Mall. Remaining performances are May 22, 23, 24, and 25 at 8 pm, with an additional matinee performance on May 25 at 2 pm. Tickets are available at the door, by calling (416) 299-5557, or by visiting the website.

Photo by Fabio Saposnik

Joe exits 'Enter Laughing, The Musical' laughing, Carl Reiner comedy on now off Broadway

By Joe Szekeres

The Big Apple called me, and I really wanted to pay a visit. I also knew friends would be in town and they had already booked me a seat with them to see ‘Enter Laughing, The Musical’. I knew nothing about the play but recognized several names in the production’s credits and thought to give this one a go at it.

The title of the play is a misnomer. I didn’t enter laughing. Instead, I exited with one of the biggest grins on my face for laughing myself silly at this 1930s screwball New York musical comedy bordering on the hysterical with so much frigging talent on the stage at The York Theatre Company. There were times I didn’t want to breathe because I did not want to miss a spoken or sung word from the extremely clever and witty dialogue. Magnificent stuff going on here.

Based on Carl Reiner’s semi-autobiographical novel and Joseph Stein’s stage adaptation, this ‘knock ‘em dead, kid’ musical follows central character David Kolowitz (a marvellously charming Chris Dwan who dances like Fred Astaire and smiles like Gene Kelly) in 1938 New York City, and his desire to pursue a career in show business via the theatre instead of studying to become a druggist where his parents really want him to be. Along the way, we follow David’s side-splitting antics where we meet his overbearing mother and over protective father (wonderfully quirky performances by Alison Fraser and Robert Picardo), his true love, Wanda (a pouty Carole Lombardish looking Allie Trimm), his loyal and trusted friend, Marvin (a dashing Joe Veale) and his grumpy boss, Mr. Forman (an endearing Ray De Mattis). Rounding out this terrific company of performers are Raji Ahsan, Farah Alvin, Dana Costello, Magnes Jarmo and David Schramm who play a few other roles as we watch David’s comic rise to stardom.

The three-piece orchestra sits far stage left and is in fine top form. For this rollicking, side-splitting comedy to work, it’s extremely important to be able to hear each word sung from the lyrics. Thankfully and successfully, that one’s accomplished. The performers double as the stage crew in moving the set pieces around from scene to scene. How truly fun it is to watch these actors even having a ball in seamlessly and effortlessly keeping the pace up and moving each scene along.

Director Stuart Ross never, ever allows the ensuing hilarity to get out of hand, and I found this performance never bordered into the silly where I kept thinking enough already. Phil Reno’s music direction is heaven to hear with the harmonies and melodies. Jennier Paulson-Lee’s choreography is sharply tight. This eleven-member cast found their stride and their moments in telling the story, and what zany ones they are. I don’t want to spoil all the fun for future audiences; however, I would like to point out some top-notch work.

David Schramm’s portrayal of the gruff and overbearing theatre producer Marlowe is stellar nostalgia. He is a reminder of the stuffy Orson Welles a la ‘Citizen Kane’ combined with Burl Ives’ Big Daddy from ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ combined with a dash of Sebastian Cabot. Mr. Schramm’s tour de force second act ‘The Butler’s Song’ is a piece de resistance not to be missed. Farah Alvin (as Marlowe’s spoiled diva actress daughter Angela Marlowe) and Dana Costello (the alluring receptionist Miss B) become the sexy symbols of David’s foray into manhood. The comic timing of Ms. Alvin’s pratfalls and near misses during David’s opening night performance is comedic mayhem at its finest. Ray DeMattis and Robert Piccardo’s eleven o’clock number ‘Hot Cha Cha’ in the second act is pure gold to watch and to hear.

Final Comments: ‘Enter Laughing, The Musical’ is one of the reasons why you must try to get yourselves to New York to see at least one show. In the highly charged political world climate which now envelops us, we need the opportunity to have a good belly laugh. Go see this one.

‘Enter Laughing, The Musical’ has been extended to June 16 and is playing at Saint Peter’s, Entrance on 54th Street, just east of Lexington Avenue, New York City. For tickets, telephone (212) 935-5820 or visit the website for further information.

'And So It Goes' by Kyanite Theatre speaks volumes about human nature

By Joe Szek

George F. Walker’s 2010 ‘And So It Goes’ is a bizarre, dark tragi-serio comedy of mental health struggles that cuts right to the heart of middle-class individuals who spiral down through their internal struggles in trying to cope with these rapid changes.

It’s brutally hard hitting but oh, so necessary to see this production.

Mr. Walker’s plays have always intrigued me as they deal with the down and out individuals of urban culture who struggle and cope against the odds life has thrown at them. While middle-class couple Ned and Gwen (Dan Willmott and Deborah Drakeford) deal with a missing son and Ned’s job loss, daughter Karen’s (Tyshia Drake) paroxysms of schizophrenia set her parents at their wits’ end. Add to this mixture the advice of a ghost, the American writer Kurt Vonnegut (Scott McCulloch) and the shenanigans going on at Ned’s cooking school, and you have the makings of a ludicrous turn of events which created a memorable evening of live theatre.

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