"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (part of the Stratford Festival) this afternoon.

We took the Stratford Festival bus there and back … thanks, Doug!

It was at the Avon Theatre (downtown on Downie Street).

Gord and I

IT WAS JOY, IT WAS SUBLIME, A SPLENDID WAY TO EARN A DIME. 

 Lawrence Jameson is no stranger to the high life—he’s lived it for years by separating lonely rich ladies from their fortunes in a swanky Riviera town. When he and his chief competitor in the con business, Freddy Benson, make a bet to swindle an heiress out of $50,000, the professional scoundrels soon discover they may not always be the smartest people in the room. Inspired by the hit 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the musical comedy earned 11 Tony Award nominations for its hilarious hijinks and frivolity—beautifully reminiscent of an earlier age.

It was really good … funny and risqué. Similar but different from the movie, which I love. 

"Something Rotten!", Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I saw Something Rotten! at the Festival Theatre (part of the Stratford Festival) this afternoon.

The Bottom brothers, two struggling playwrights in Renaissance London, need a hit. That’s easier said than done when your chief competition is local rock star William Shakespeare. The Bottom brothers’ plan: write the world’s first musical! This rollicking song-and-dance extravaganza, nominated for ten Tony Awards during its smash Broadway run, sends up the Bard and Broadway and everything in between. Best of all, it can be enjoyed without CliffsNotes!

I'm not a fan of Shakespeare so hadn't been interested in seeing this. My friend, LeeAnn, has seen it many times and kept bugging me to see it. So we finally did ... and I'm glad we did.  It was very funny and clever. There was lots of singing and dancing. The performers were very good and none were weak.

"Hedda Gabler", Tom Patterson Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I saw Hedda Gabler this afternoon. It's at the Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford, ON, and part of the Stratford Festival. We took their festival bus there and back (thanks, Philip!).

Gord

Me

The view from the café

"La Cage aux Folles", Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

I saw La Cage aux Folles this afternoon. It's at the Avon Theatre in Stratford, ON, and part of the Stratford Festival. I took their festival bus there and back (thanks, Trevor!).

Georges, the manager of a drag club in St. Tropez, decides to “play it straight” when his son arrives with his fiancé and her ultra-conservative parents. Albin, the club’s star performer and romantic partner to Georges, is dubious about the plan. The ensuing clash unravels truth and consequences with heartwarming grace. Gorgeous and funny, La Cage aux Folles has been delighting audiences since its Broadway première in 1983, when it won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Fans of the Oscar-nominated film The Bird Cage (inspired by the French play the musical takes its name and inspiration from) will rejoice in seeing familiar characters on the stage!

I love The Bird Cage!

It was campy and over-the-top and fun! The costumes were colourful and fabulous.

"Spamalot", Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I headed on the festival bus to Stratford today to see Spamalot at the Avon Theatre.

Monty Python's Spamalot offers up a hefty share of irreverence in a hilarious spoof of the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table as they go in search of the Holy Grail. This outrageous musical comedy by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, lets us look at our flaws and foibles and in doing so allows us to laugh at the things that make us human. Setting: Medieval Britain and a little bit of France.

We've seen Spamalot a few times and this one didn't disappoint. It's funny and goofy and an excellent production.

"Chicago", Festival Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I headed to Stratford today to see Chicago.

In the Roaring Twenties, aspiring chorus girl Roxie Hart and fading vaudeville star Velma Kelly each face trial for murder. Both as cynical as they are sexy, the two women compete for the services of shady lawyer Billy Flynn, who promises to make them media celebrities and win them acquittals. With its killer score and all-new knock-’em-dead dance numbers, this deliciously lurid tale of adultery, murder and justice as showbiz packs some serious heat.

It is at the Festival Theatre in Stratford and is part of the Stratford Festival.

It's been a while since I've been to Stratford so I was looking forward to heading down for the day. And I wasn't disappointed ... Chicago was really good!  It was lively and fun and funny and the crowd loved it.  All the actors, singers and dancers did an excellent job!

The Festival has a bus that runs between Toronto and Stratford a couple times a day depending on the amount of plays going on and we took that.  It's about $30 down and back and it was nice to have someone else do the driving, especially coming back with the rain and wet snow.

"The Rocky Horror Show", Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

The Rocky Horror Show is one of my favourite musicals.

The musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple getting caught in a storm and coming to the home of a mad transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank-N-Furter, unveiling his new creation, a sort of Frankenstein-style monster in the form of an artificially made, fully grown, physically perfect muscle man named Rocky Horror, complete "with blond hair and a tan".

I've seen the play a few times plus I've watched the movie more times than I can count.  It's playing at the Avon Theatre as part of the Stratford Festival.

There is a photo op in the lobby so, of course, I jumped in.

I think this was a fun production and the actors did an excellent job ... it was lively and funny.  It is not for children or the easily offended as the language was expressive and there was touching and grabbing of female and male parts.  In addition to some people in the audience yelling out, there were a couple plants yelling to the actors, which was funny and at times raunchy.  The actors paused and responded back in kind.

What I found was missing, though, was the sexual power of Frank-N-Furter.  That's probably the problem of seeing as many times as I have.  Though amusing, I thought the actor playing him came off more like a pouting drag queen.  If you watch the Tim Curry in the movie version, you'll see what I mean re what was missing in this character.  A couple of the musicals I've seen have been able to capture it also.

The audience loved this musical and I'd recommend it.

"A Chorus Line", Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I went to Stratford today (about two hours away) to see a play at the Stratford Festival.

We caught the 10am Stratford Festival bus from downtown Toronto (it's a great deal for about $15 including tax) and took the 9pm ViaRail train home (which is more expensive and left an hour late at 10pm) ... going forward I'll be inclined to take the bus down and back.

The play was at the Festival Theatre on Queen Street.

Here's the warning that the play will begin shortly.

"Crazy for You", Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I took the train down and back to Stratford today and saw the Gershwin musical Crazy for You this afternoon, which is part of the Stratford Festival.

Sent to Deadrock, Nevada, to foreclose on a derelict theatre, banker Bobby Child falls for its owner’s daughter, Polly Baker. Can he reconcile the demands of duty and love – and his own dreams of dancing? “I Got Rhythm”, “Nice Work if You Can Get It” and “Someone to Watch Over Me” are just some of the gems in this dynamic musical’s dazzling score. 

It was playing at the Festival Theatre.

I thought it was great and enjoyed it!

Natalie Daradich and Josh Franklin were great in their roles as Polly and Bobby.  The supporting cast were excellent.  There was lots of singing and dancing.  It was colourful and lively.  It's funny ... there are a lot of silly jokes but you can't help but laugh at them.  My favourite scene was with Bobby and Bela getting hammered in the saloon and lamenting about being in love with women who don't love them back ... very funny!

This is the start of the Stratford Festival season so there is lot of time to go see this ... and I suggest you do!

Here is the Stratford train station before we headed home to Toronto.

The train was 35 minutes late arriving in Stratford so we had less than 10 minutes to find a cab and scamper to the theatre ... we got there at 1:59pm!  The last couple of years the train keeps arriving later and later so we won't be doing that again.  There's a bus that gets people back and forth a couple times a day between Toronto and Stratford for just $10 each way ... we'll do that next time (it leaves at 10am).  The train was 25 minutes late getting into Toronto.

"Tommy", Avon Theatre, Stratford Festival, Stratford, ON

Gord and I take the train down and back (almost 2.5 hours each way) twice during the summer to Stratford to see plays in the Stratford Festival.  By not driving, we don't have to deal with traffic and we can have a couple of drinks after the play without worrying about driving.  Plus we like the train!

Today we saw Tommy. It was playing at the Avon Theatre.

There were a couple of kids busking next to where Justin Bieber got his start.

There is a plaque in the sidewalk acknowledging Bieber

Deprived of sight, hearing and speech by the shock of what he has witnessed as a child, young Tommy Walker seems lost to life – until he reveals an uncanny talent for the game of pinball. When his faculties are suddenly restored, Tommy is hailed as a living miracle – but will the fans who turn to him for enlightenment want to hear what he has to say?

I didn't know much about the story other than "a deaf dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball".  It was really loud and colourful, which I liked.  There was a large cast and lots of singing and dancing.  I knew some of the songs because The Who had made them hits back in the day.  I enjoyed it.

It was such a nice day that after the play we walked along the Avon River and sat on a bench and watched the ducks.  Then we had supper at the Boar's Head Pub.

We eventually made our way back to the station to catch our train home.

Another fun day in Stratford!