Stage Door News
Stage Door News
May 5, 2014 TORONTO – Following the announcement on April 9th of a new theatre festival, The East End Performance CRAWL, Crow’s Theatre is thrilled to announce today that tickets for all festival programming can now be purchased by visiting crowstheatre.com.
A solo performance festival, a series of site-specific theatre installations and a community ‘Doors Open’ event all in one! The East End Performance Crawl celebrates the wealth of unique and vibrant independent businesses and community spaces in the Leslieville / Riverside area. Over the 12 days of the Crawl, the Festival’s 14 neighborhood venues will be home to 23 different theatrical experiences created by leading theatre artists from all over North America.
The East End Performance CRAWL will kick-off with the world premiere of Dreaming of Rob Ford by acclaimed, controversial, and award-winning monologist Mike Daisey (The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs)—a brand new show created specifically for Toronto’s current moment. Hailed as “the master storyteller” by The New York Times, Daisey peels back the layers behind crack-smoking, and late-night talk show shenanigans to get at uncomfortable truths about how we construct fame, who we think we’re laughing at, and what it means when we play the fool.
Curated by Mitchell Cushman, Crow’s Associate Artistic Director and recent Siminovitch Prize Protégé Award winner, the CRAWL will feature a dozen site-specific plays and experiences, as well as award-winning solo performer Tracey Erin Smith’s 2nd Annual SOULO Theatre Festival and free live music by Bahia Watson at HITCH bar, host of the CRAWL’s official nightly after-party.
As audiences explore spaces across the southern east end, the future home of Crow’s new state of the art theatre, they may find themselves in Toronto’s oldest movie theatre, doing downward dog in a local yoga studio, experiencing a dance show at an art studio, hearing spoken word at a knitting café, or even sneaking a peek inside Toronto’s infamous Jilly’s strip club. In addition to Jilly’s, some of the CRAWL East End venue partners include: Lil’ Bean N’ Green Café, Arts Market, The Flying Yogi, Skin and Bones Wine Bar and The Purple Purl.
In addition to exciting new work from an impressive list of Toronto stage favourites, including Amy Keating, Julie Tepperman, Meagan O’Shea and Tracey Hoyt, the CRAWL is bringing in international touring sensation Johnny O’Callaghan and his smash hit Who’s Your Daddy?—in a new site-specific production directed by Aaron Willis. The Festival is also presenting acclaimed work from across the country: Canadian Fringe Superstar TJ Dawe with his much-lauded new show Medicine; Andrew Shaver’s always provocative Sidemart Theatrical Grocery (Montreal); and cutting-edge new work from The Chop in Vancouver.
As part of The CRAWL, Crow's is also thrilled to be presenting Tracey Erin Smith's SOULO Theatre Festival at the Red Sandcastle Theatre--now in its second year of showcasing some of the best one-person shows from across North America for special one-night only engagements! Including 9 main stage shows, 5 workshops and panels and a Masterclass open to all levels of experience. The award-winning performers and speakers include Linda Griffiths, Tantoo Cardinal, Sandra Shamas, Martha Chaves, Chris Gibbs, Sage Tyrtle, Zabrina Chevannes, Sebastien Heins and David Harrell (NYC). For full schedule and show descriptions visit www.soulo.ca.
The East End Performance Crawl will take over Toronto’s east end for 12 days beginning Wednesday, May 21st through to Sunday, June 1st.
Tickets are available at www.crowstheatre.com <http://www.crowstheatre.com> . Most tickets are only $15 (Mike Daisey: Dreaming of Rob Ford tickets are $40) or a 5-show pass for $50 is also available.
Tickets can be purchased in advance online or by phone at www.crowstheatre.com or call 416 907-0468. Some tickets will be available at the door one hour prior to show times for all shows other than Tease.
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2014 East End Performance Crawl Programming
Mike Daisey: Dreaming of Rob Ford (New York) HEADLINE SHOW
Created for Toronto’s current moment by North America’s leading monologist. From political performance art to celebrity biography, Rob Ford has become our favorite court jester and punching bag—but what does his international fame tell us about how our world works? Daisey peels back the layers behind crack-smoking, crazy-shoving, and late-night talk show shenanigans to get at uncomfortable truths about how we construct fame, who we think we’re laughing at, and what it means when we play the fool. From the creator of headline-making exposé, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs.
“The master storyteller—one of the finest solo performers of his generation.”
THE NEW YORK TIMES
Big Picture Cinema, 1035 Gerrard St. E
2nd Annual SOULO Theatre Festival – THE FESTIVAL WITHIN A FESTIVAL
Artistic Director - Tracey Erin Smith
Featuring a powerhouse lineup of some of North America’s best One-Person Shows: David Harrell (A Little Potato and Hard to Peel), Martha Chaves (Staying Alive), Sage Tyrtle (House Full of Cake) Wanda Carroll (The Road Less Graveled), Adrianna Prosser (Everything But The Cat) and the award-winning Sebastien Heins (Brotherhood). Also a topnotch series of panels and workshops with experts in the art and business of solo theatre. www.soulo.ca <http://www.soulo.ca/>
The Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen St. E
TEASE (Toronto) – 1-on-1 ENCOUNTER, VERY LIMITED TICKETS!
Created and Performed by Amy Keating, Julie Tepperman, Jeff Ho, Andrew Moodie, Jessica Moss & Sabryn Rock
What does it take for two strangers to meet and share an authentic intimate moment together? Enter Jilly’s, Toronto’s most infamous strip club, and experience five short unique intimate encounters.
You + Me + 5 Minutes = Anything Might Happen…
Jilly’s, 106 Broadview Avenue at Queen St. East
Who’s Your Daddy? (LA) – INTERNATIONAL SMASH HIT!
Written and Performed by Johnny O’Callaghan, Toronto production directed by Aaron Willis. Johnny O’Callaghan is setting the world on fire with his true story of adventure and adoption in Uganda. No one expected this single, suicidal, out-of-work actor to ever become a father – but a film shoot in Africa turns into an odyssey of the heart. Loft Apartment, 10 Hastings Ave.
“A seductive monologue – impossible not to love.” NEW YORK TIMES
Medicine (Vancouver) – FRINGE SUPERSTAR
Created and Performed by TJ Dawe. In his new show, Canada’s “master monologist” (Toronto Star) TJ Dawe tells of his experiences on a retreat in which participants ingest the Peruvian shamanic plant medicine Ayahuasca. Loft Apartment, 10 Hastings Ave.
—Sun Salutation Series— YOGA MEETS THEATRE
Part theatre event, part yoga class! Presenting two ultra-flexible works from across Canada.
*Through the Gaze of a Navel (Vancouver)
Created and Performed by Emelia Symington Fedy. From swimming with cosmic dolphins to crystal bowl regression therapy, self-proclaimed self-help expert Emelia has done it all. Now she asks you the big questions while guiding you through a physical journey suitable for people of all levels of experience. YOGAthletix, 911 Queen St. E
*Occupy Me (Ottawa)
Written and Performed by Bronwyn Steinberg. Sarah Lotus Blossom is the embodiment of Zen on Speed – but she can’t quite let go and breathe. Join her as she grapples with the Occupy Movement, seeks Nirvana in India, and helps you to find your own breath. The Flying Yogi, 245 Carlaw Ave.
based on actual unrelated events (Toronto) – DYNAMIC DANCE
Created and Performed by Meagan O’Shea (Stand Up Dance), this show explores the relationship between home/less/ness in the body, the erroneous global corn crop and what’s happening to the honeybees. Kryart Studio, 980 Queen St. E
“Off the wall, impossible to categorize, fun” Montreal Gazette.
The Art of Traditional Head-Tying (Toronto) – WORLD PREMIERE
Written and Performed by Kanika Ambrose
“If the values, people, and traditions of the place I call home have changed, where is my home now?” 20 years after immigrating to Canada, Rosemarie Jon-Charles Hicks returns to her “home” island, Dominica. Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St. E
in case we disappear (Toronto) – BEAUTIFULLY UNIQUE Created and Performed by Vanessa Smythe
Part spoken-word, part stand-up, often sung and always true—a love letter to the people, places, and moments that cannot last. Vanessa Smythe is Toronto’s answer to Flight of the Conchords. The Purple Purl, 1162 Queen St. E
Face Value: Leslieville (Toronto) – PERFORMING NEIGHBOURHOOD
Performed by Tracey Hoyt, directed by Kate Ashby. Improv artist Tracey Hoyt embodies and explores a selection of unforgettable Leslieville characters, inspired in ‘real time’ by the striking photography of Kate Ashby. Pentimento Gallery, 1164 Queen St. E
The Ballad of the Young Offender (Montreal) – POSITVE YOUTH CORRUPTION!
Written by Patrick John Constello, starring Kyle Gatehouse, directed by Andrew Shaver.
Modeled after the trial of Socrates, an urgent meditation on the xenophobia, racism and fear mongering that permeated North America at the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll. From the award-winning Sidemart Theatrical Grocery! Sidemart Theatrical Grocery, 1362 Queen St. E
Mosaic Storytelling (Toronto) $5FAMILY PROGRAMMING
Four weekend installments of this popular local series. Children and their families will be laughing, singing, imagining and participating as Dan Yashinsky, Joanna Chapman-Smith, Donna Dudinsky, Clare Nobbs, Moyo Rainos Mutamba, Rukhsana Khan and Sarah Granskou share the magic and wonder of stories, riddles and songs from around the world. Lil’ Bean ‘n Green Café N’ Play, 1133 Queen St. E.
Three Minute Therapy (Vancouver) FREE THERAPY
Do you have 3 minutes? Professional advice giver Emelia Symington Fedy tells you what you need to hear whether you like it or not by the end of an egg timer. Arts Market, 1114 Queen St. E
bahia watson: venus hologram radio (Toronto) FREE MUSIC. Like an intergalactic message in a bottle, she waxes on love, life and loneliness through spoken word and song. Who is she? When is she? All we have is a name: venus hologram. (note: this is a listening party)
Hitch, 1216 Queen St. E
Tickets are available at www.crowstheatre.com <http://www.crowstheatre.com> .
Photo: Mike Daisey. ©2011 John del Signore.
2014-05-05
Toronto: Tickets on sale for East End Performance CRAWL May 21-June 1