Kelly Cameron - Page 5

Nicky Phillips has a very ambitious new adventure on her hands, having just launched a new company called 'Your Broadway Song' which she plans to expand within both Toronto and NYC. The company designs custom Broadway themed songs for various special occasions, and kicked off with a song written for Canadian legend Colm Wilkinson. BWW spoke to Nicky about how the idea for Your Broadway Song evolved, her feelings on Canadian Musical Theatre and her sources of inspiration.

Clybourne Park opened this week in Toronto and marks the third offering in the Off-Mirvish season. The show is a remount of the hugely successful Studio 180 production from last year, and its easy to see why Toronto embraced it so fully last time around. A Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner, the show tells a story about race relations, community and neighbourhoods. It takes place in the same Chicago house in two different years, 1959 and and 2009. Boasting a strong cast and brilliant writing, Clybourne Park forces us to examine many of our own personal biases, and makes us laugh at the same time.

Steven Reineke's inaugural year as the new Principal Pops Conductor with the Toronto Symphony continues this week with Love Will Keep Us Together. An evening of all the best love songs from across the ages, the show promises to be glowing, glittering and above all, fun. Joining him are Tenor Mike Eldred and Soprano Betsy Wolfe, who just wrapped an exciting run in The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Broadway. She spoke to BWW about her musical influences, the concert, working with Steven and more.

Mirvish Productions celebrates fifty years of producing and presenting theatre in Toronto with their ambitious and diverse 2013-2014, which includes the return of Les Miserables, the tour of the Tony Award Winning Once and the World Premiere of Aladdin. David Mirvish spoke to BWW about bringing Les Miserables back to the city, diversity in programming and building a new generation of theatre goers.

Ramin Karimloo was first bitten by the theatre bug upon seeing Colm Wilkinson in the original production of The Phantom of the Opera in Toronto in the late 80s. Since then he has gone on to play the title role in both The Phantom and Love Never Dies in London's West End, and now will come home to Toronto for the first time in the Mirvish Production of LES MISERABLES which was just announced for their 2013-2014 season. BWW spoke with Ramin about how he feels about coming home, the pressures of the role of Jean Valjean, Sheytoons, protecting his voice and more.

Mirvish Productions is celebrating fifty years of producing in Toronto with their largest and most ambitious subscription seasons to date, starting with the return of the smash-hit LES MISERABLES with hometown boy Ramin Karimloo in the lead role of Jean Valjean. Toronto will also see the World Premiere of ALADDIN, the Tony Award Winning musical ONCE, the World Premiere of Sergio Trujillo's ARRABAL, the North American Premiere of HEARTBEAT OF HOME, critical favourite METAMORPHOSIS and the North American Premiere of THE LAST CONFESSION. They have also announced four exciting bonus shows and their sophomore Off-Mirvish season. BWW is thrilled to bring readers coverage of all the new season has to offer, including feature interviews with many key players throughout the remainder of the week.

Fresh off a sold-out run at Vancouver's PuSh Festival, the brand new original musical Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cantata opens tonight in Toronto as part of Acting Up Stage's and Factory Theatre's new season. The show explores contemporary humanity through the unique (and sometimes) wacky lens of Craigslist, the online classified site with over 50 million ads posted each month. To celebrate the show's opening night, BWW sat down to speak with a handful of people involved in the production to get a better idea about the show, about Craigslist and about musical theatre in Canada.

Toronto Theatre Critic's take to the stage this Sunday in a special benefit performance of You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, with proceeds going to The Actor's Fund. Featuring Kelly Nestruck, Robert Cushman, Glenn Sumi, Sheila McCarthy and Melody A. Johnston, the show also includes BWW's own Kelly Cameron as one of the Snoopy's. In this special feature, she talks about her hidden desire to be force to be reckoned with on-stage, setting the bar a smidge above terrible, and humbly requests that you throw bones in lieu of tomatoes.

Nina Lee Aquino has a very commendable vision - she wants to see more diversity in our world's theatres (and more specifically, here on Toronto stages). To that end, she has spent many years championing diversity in the arts and her upcoming show 'Every Letter Counts' is no exception. The play is a re-imagining of the life of an important political icon from the Philippines, Benigno 'Ninoy' Aquino. She sat down with BWW to talk about her journey with EVERY LETTER COUNTS, her focus on diversity in the arts and her 'retirement performance' in Les Miserables.

Acting Up Stage and Factory Theatre are partnering to present Do You Want What I Have Got? A Craigslist Cabaret this February in Toronto. A brand new Canadian musical, the show is fresh from a sold-out run at Vancouver's PuSh Festival and features original musical by Veda Hille and Bill Richardson. For a bit of extra fun, Acting Up Stage and Factory Theatre partnered with Jennifer Walls and SINGular Sensation to host a cabaret contest featuring videos inspired by Craigslists ads. BWW is thrilled to bring its readers the winning video! Having sold-out its extended run at Vancouver's PuSh Festival in Jan 2012, this original musical by Veda Hille & Bill Richardson sets actual Craigslist postings to music in a 90 minute song-cycle. Both hilarious and surprisingly poignant, Do You Want What I Have Got? explores contemporary humanity through the lens of Craigslist-an online classified site with over 50 million ads posted each month.

The North American Premiere of The Wizard of Oz took place Sunday at The Ed Mirvish Theatre, featuring CBC Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Wade in the iconic role of Dorothy. BWW is thrilled to bring readers photos from the gala opening night party, which saw Danielle and cast mingling with Producer David Mirvish and the Totos.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch is currently on stage at The Drake Underground, featuring Seth Drabinsky in the iconic lead role made famous by John Cameron Mitchell. This heartfelt and rocking adaptation is not to be missed and sure to be loved by fans and newbies alike. BWW is thrilled to bring its readers photos from the production.

The North American Premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz took place this past Sunday, featuring an All-Canadian Cast and brand new songs to go along with the classic tale. While reviews have been mixed, the talented cast provides much reason to celebrate. Sometimes, it takes the re-telling of a classic tale to remind us that there really is no place like home.

The North American Premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz was last night in Toronto, and the All-Canadian Cast shined like Dorothy's ruby red slippers. The show tells the classic story of Dorthy's journey to Oz, and features Over the Rainbow winner Danielle Wade in her stage debut. BWW is thrilled to bring readers pictures from the lavish production.

Someone Else is the third play in a loose trilogy by Kristen Thomson. Opening tonight, it tell sthe story of a married couple who examine their lives as they take a journey through counselling and look at the problems that exist both in and out of their relationship. Director Chris Abraham spoke to BWW about following on the success of I, Claudia, the hopeful message of the show and more.

Crow's Theatre announced today plans to build a new permanent home in Toronto's East End, the area east of the DVP which currently does not have a theatre all its own. In partnership with Streetcar Developments the theatre company, under the helm of Artistic Director Chris Abraham, aim to build a new theatre which will bring the community together and continue to foster and build Crow's vision.

The long awaited feature film version of Les Miserables opens Christmas Day, twenty five years after it first took the world by storm on a West End stage. Directed by Tom Hooper and starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried, the film made the daring choice of having its actors sing live instead of being recorded in a studio. Die-hard fans of the stage production will likely take issue with some of the directorial (and musical choices) but overall the movie is a solid adaptation of Victor Hugo's beloved tale.

All month long BWW has been showcasing some of Toronto's hottest cabaret stars as they usher in the hoilday season with festive cabarets. We're thrilled to bring the final installment in our cabaret interviews, a feature with Sharron Matthews and George Masswohl who are presenting their 'Super Fun Christmas Sing-A-Long' tomorrow night at Buddies in Bad Times. The duo tell us why they love cabaret and why they love performing together.

Anthony Rapp brings his one man show 'Without You' to Toronto this holiday season as the second offering in the inaugural off-Mirvish season. A heart-wrenching examination of life and loss, the show proudly proclaims RENT's central message of 'No Day But Today' and helps teach its audience how to live through grief and embrace love.

Anthony Rapp originated the role of Mark Cohen in the hit musical RENT, and has embraced the message behind the show and turned it into a best-selling memoir entitled Without You: A Tale of Love, Loss and the Musical RENT. He now brings the material from that book to the stage in a poignant production that examines the death of his mother as well as good friend Jonathan Larson and uses music to explain how he dealt with those losses. Fresh off a critically acclaimed run in London, Rapp brings his show to Toronto for the holiday season. He spoke with BWW about how the losses he's experienced have shaped his life, the memories he has of Toronto and why he think 'Original Cast Member of RENT' will likely always be the lead line in his obituary.