Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Barrie, ON… Today Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak announced the details of the upcoming season for Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT), which sees the ensemble-driven company continuing its policy of mounting a wide range of new and re-imagined material in Barrie, Ontario and beyond.
A cross gendered version of Guys and Dolls, a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows based on Damon Ranyon’s stories, directed by Richard Ouzounian will play from November 15 to 24, 2012. On the surface Guys and Dolls is an amusing urban fairytale musical about gangsters and showgirls. Below the surface, however, the musical reveals that roles were changing in society and the women would be increasingly taking charge in the decades ahead. What better way to show this than by having the entire cast played by the opposite of the conventional sexual roles: women as "guys" and men as "dolls"?
Following Guys and Dolls, TIFT will present Axis Theatre Company’s The Number 14. The brainchild of Wayne Specht along with Roy Surette, this special engagement is part of the show’s 20th Anniversary international tour. In an amazing theatrical tour-de-force, six of finest performers strut, swing, sing and talk their way in and out of adventures aboard Vancouver’s #14 bus that is part Monty Pythonesque, part Mr. Bean and wholly engaging. The Number 14 will play for three performances only on February 7, 8 and 9, 2013.
Possible Worlds by John Mighton and directed by Mitchell Cushman will continue the season. Part murder mystery, part science-fiction, and part mathematical philosophy, this play follows the multiple parallel lives of the mysterious George Barber. At the play's beginning, George is found dead, with his brain missing. Two detectives set out to uncover the truth behind his grisly death, and stumble upon several strange characters. Possible Worlds will play from April 11 to 21, 2013.
The season will conclude with the world premiere musical Dead Souls, adapted from the epic satirical novel by Nikolai Gogol. In provincial nineteenth century Russia, the serfs are known as "souls" in the harsh system, and landowners must pay taxes on the souls that they own. The trouble for landowners comes in the form of "dead souls," or serfs whose deaths have not yet been recorded in the census. Although dead, these souls cost just as much in taxes as any others. In Gogol's amusing tale, a smart but poor young man, Chichikov, hatches a grim scheme to build his fortune through "dead souls," buying them off of the landowners in order to fool the local town into thinking he is a man of considerable property. The musical will be developed by the ensemble who will create the book using entirely improvisational techniques and will be assisted by the real-time presence of a lyricist and composer. Directed by Aleksandar Lukac, this experimental production will run from May 23 to June 2, 2013.
Talk Is Free Theatre will also present a special fundraising performance - Jeff Madden - LIVE - "My Life In Song". Jeff Madden, member of the TIFT ensemble and the Dora-Award Winning Star of Jersey Boys as 'Frankie Valli' in Toronto and Sydney, Australia, performs in an intimate Cabaret-styled Concert. In this energetic, funny and inspiring show, Jeff shows his incredible vocal range and power on more than 40 of the best popular songs from 60's-70's Pop Rock, Musical Theatre and Jazz, while telling the story of how he transitioned from Sports to Science to finally make it on the Stage. There will be three performances only on September 20 (special gala), 21 and 22, 2012 to launch the season.
Outside of the home season in Barrie, Talk Is Free Theatre and Birdland Theatre’s Dora award winning co-production of John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins will be seen as the anchor event of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s SondheimFest in January 2013 in Winnipeg. Directed by Adam Brazier who has since been named Artistic Director of Toronto’s Theatre 20, Assassins previously played for two sold out runs at Toronto’s Theatre Centre in 2010 and 2011. It will be seen at the Tom Hendry Theatre/Warehouse from January 16 to February 2, 2013. Announcement of other destinations for the production are expected to follow shortly.
TIFT has also commissioned a new work from director Marti Maraden and actor Lucy Peacock, entitled Chekhov’s Notebook. They will collaborate on selecting existing passages from Chekhov`s novellas, short stories, major plays and one act gems to weave together a new narrative. Interspersed with newly commissioned musical numbers, the project will explore Anton Chekhov as a doctor, which was his first profession before he became a major playwright.
“I am delighted to be able to encompass so many different angles and priorities in our upcoming year,” says Artistic Producer Arkady Spivak. “As always our preference is to risk on the unknown and lesser tried programming as much as possible, but with the absolute faith in the brilliant acting company as well as in the bold directorial visions that we have been very fortunate to attract.”
Early-bird subscriptions for the 2012-2013 Season will be available until Friday, June 1, 2012. For more information please visit www.tift.ca or call (705) 792-1949. All performances are held at the new Mady Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Dunlop St. West in Barrie, Ontario.
Program subject to change due to availability of creative artists and individual projects.
Photo: Mady Centre for the Performing Arts.
2012-04-10
Barrie: Talk Is Free Theatre announces its 2012/13 season