Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto – LA VIE PARISIENNE, one of Jacques Offenbach’s most popular musicals, closes the Toronto Operetta Theatre season at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts with performances on May 2, 3, 4, 5 (mat), 2013. “I’m so pleased that we are ending the season on a high note,” said TOT’s General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin. “We have seen an increase in attendance for our productions of THE MERRY WIDOW and ITALIANISSIMO and already we’re ahead of projections for the season finale. Let’s keep operetta on the stage!!”
LA VIE PARISIENNE – Offenbach’s lively look at the City of Light - took Paris by storm and was a ‘must-see’ during the World Exhibition of 1867 when tourists arrived by the trainload. TOT’s production stars Elizabeth DeGrazia as the Swedish baroness and her wayward husband will be played by Stuart Graham. Adam Fisher and Stefan Fehr play charming Parisian rogues ready to show foreign visitors a good time…for a price and Lauren Segal is the glamorous comedienne Metella ready to gamble for love. Gabrielle, an impressionable glove-maker will be sung by Jennifer Sullivan and Christopher Mayell takes the role of the billionaire Brazilian. The cast, choral ensemble and orchestra will be conducted by Larry Beckwith and Silva-Marin is stage director.
Offenbach made and lost a great deal of money entertaining theatre-mad Parisians but in 1866-67, he was at the height of his fame with not one but two hits playing in Paris during the World Exhibition. LA VIE PARISIENNE pulled in sell-out crowds and both beguiled and made fun of the thousands of tourists surging through Paris. Wit and seductive melodies tumble over each other but the icing on the cake in this effervescent musical is Offenbach’s Can Can to end all Can Cans!
Toronto Operetta Theatre remains the only company in Canada devoted to the unique world of operetta and its many-faceted charms. For almost three decades, TOT has championed the works of Johann Strauss, Gilbert & Sullivan, Franz Lehar, Ralph Bentazky, Imre Kalman, Victor Herbert, Federico Torroba, Leonard Bernstein and Sigmund Romberg. The company has revived Canadian works by Telgmann and Lavalee and premiered EARNEST, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING by Canadians Victor Davies and Eugene Benson, all with a goal of giving variety and breadth to the entertainment scene in the Greater Toronto Area.
In addition to support from the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, the Jackman Foundation, Bedolfe Foundation,the George Lunan Foundation, the R. H. Mida Charitable Foundation, the Dan Family Foundation, the company counts among its partners , KPMG,Gluskin Sheff, HotHouse Restaurant and Bar, Victoria Hotel, Rabba Fine Foods and media sponsors Deutsche Presse, NTDTV and MZ Media/Epoch Times..The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. Call the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts at 416-366-7723, 1–800-708-7654 or on line at www.stlc.com.
2013-04-25
Toronto: Toronto Operetta Theatre ends the season with Offenbach’s “La Vie parisienne” May 2-5