Vicki Trask - Page 6

a?oeThere's no prep.a?? That's what Karen Johnson-Diamond told me when I asked her about Dirty Laundry's opening night. Calgary's only long-form improv comedy is celebrating twenty years of joy and fear with the premiere of their newest season by going back to camp.

Dirty Laundry Calgary is our city's only completely live, completely improvised soap opera and was founded in 1999 by Johnson-Diamond and Elinor Holt. The company partnered with the well-loved Lunchbox Theatre in 2008 to perform on their Monday evenings, and have been working with them ever since.

Amir Kapoor is a successful Pakistani-American lawyer living on the Upper East side of Manhattan. He has also turned his back on his Muslim heritage. When he and his wife host a dinner party for Amir's rising African-American colleague and her Jewish husband, the evening gives way to a searing debate about race, privilege, politics and identity, taken on from a variety of cultural perspectives.

For two decades, Sage Theatre has been exploring deep into characters and stories that look into what it means to be alive today. They have created memorable productions, world premieres and given Calgary theatre artists a chance to challenge themselves on powerful work.

Alberta Theatre Projects has opened their 2019/2020 season with a hilarious comedy that reminds us: we don't always have to like our family even if we love them. Written by Kristen Thomson (I, Claudia) and directed by Darcy Evans, The Wedding Party is one not to be missed.

RENT tells the story of six New York artists struggling to survive at the end of the millennium. With a plot so complicated, it could be an opera (Puccini's La Bohéme), RENT is also a classic and one dear to many theatre-lovers' hearts. Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, this 20th Anniversary tour is a story that speaks to audiences young and old.

Calgary's thriving theatre season officially got under way this September with the opening of Stage West's a?oeThere Goes The Bridea??. Broadway World has compiled a list of some of the exciting upcoming shows that Calgarians and visitors can look forward to in this 2019/2020 season.

Alberta Theatre Projects is excited to open this season with The Wedding Party, written by acclaimed Canadian playwright Kristen Thomson and directed by Alberta Theatre Projects' Executive and Artistic Director Darcy Evans. Running Sept. 11-29, this is a hilarious gender-bending comedy about the joining of two very unlikely families.

The Louder We Get (opening on January 28th 2020 at Theatre Calgary's Max Bell Theatre) tells the true story of Marc Hall and the court case that allowed him to take his boyfriend to prom. Premiering for the first time under its new title (previously Prom Queen), the show will be directed by Lonny Price, choreographed by Sean Cheesman, and feature a cast of 40% local artists.

With the recent Oscar®-winning film, a?oeBohemian Rhapsody,a?? the music of Queen is more popular than ever. In 2002, many of those hits were compiled into a rock musical experience, WE WILL ROCK YOU, which will be hitting the road once again for a North American tour starting September 3 in Winnipeg, Canada.

THE INVISIBLE- AGENTS OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE? is their story, a 'spy noir musical' that seeks to answer: just who were these bold women and why would they sacrifice their very lives for a war that refused to accept them or recognize them? Catalyst Theatre, creators of the hit musical NEVERMORE, brings another dazzling world premiere to Vertigo Theatre.

A man discovers he is eighth in line to become Earl of Highhurst. But his newly discovered family won't even acknowledge his existence so he sets out to murder each one in line to succeed him until he becomes the Earl. The cast works tirelessly to keep the pace of the show while telling this ever-so-slightly exaggerated comedy about love, murder, and ambition. A Gentleman's Guide has raised the bar for Stage West Theatre.

The highly anticipated season-closer of Billy Elliot the Musical has been a long-time coming for Theatre Calgary. With the promise of an all-Calgarian cast and more musical showcasing from emerging artists, there was a lot of excitement leading up to opening night. I left the Max Bell Theatre with the same excitement for all the things to come from this incredible production.

Theatre Calgary is set to close the 2018-19 season with a wonderful story about following your dreams as we present Billy Elliot The Musical, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, and music by Elton John. This Tony Award-winning musical is an inspiring and moving tale about the importance of following your heart.

There is a great need in Calgary for Queer stories to be told, for emerging artists to be highlighted, and for local directors and creators to take the stage. Artists' Collective Theatre's production by Mike Bartlett does all of those things.

In anticipation of opening night of Theatre Calgary's production of Billy Elliot, I sat down with Dance Captain Amber Bissonnette to talk about her career and life as a dancer. 'I got started in dance when I was five. My second cousin's mom owned a dance studio and my mom and my sister had just moved to Edmonton - where I'm from - and she was looking for a way to keep us busy. I started singing and acting when I was about thirteen and it was all downhill from there.'

Black Radish Theatre presents their inaugural production of WAITING FOR GODOT, by Samuel Beckett, April 25-May 12, 2019, at the GRAND's Flanagan Theatre (608 1 Street SW). Performance times are evenings at 7:30pm Tue-Sat, with additional matinees at 2pm on Sat-Sun.

In 2013, Calgary's own Stage West Theatre presented the Pechet Family Musical Award to a brand new show called Come From Away. Six years, two dozen awards, and over 675 Broadway performances later, this Canadian musical has made a pitstop in Calgary on its way around the world. Broadway Across Canada, hosting The First National Tour, is instilling a sense of Canadian pride at the Southern Jubilee Auditorium.