Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON - November 25, 2015: Albert Schultz, Founding Artistic Director of Soulpepper Theatre Company, today announced casting details on Soulpepper’s Family Festival taking place this December and January. As previously announced this year’s festival has expanded to include an additional venue to stage the Festival’s five family-friendly productions, plus two days of free family Winter Waves programming. A new concert, A Very Soulpepper Christmas, has also been added to the Festival.
The Family Festival’s stage lineup at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts includes the return of Ins Choi’s hit play Kim’s Convenience and Adam Pettle and Brenda Robins’ beloved adaptation of Miklós László’s Parfumerie. At the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, the Family Festival lineup includes: Michael Shamata’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol; Soulpepper’s musical adaptation of Dennis Lee’s book of poetry, Alligator Pie; and Tricks from master magician David Ben. On January 2 and 3, 2016, Winter Waves, a series of free family programming, will take place throughout the Young Centre including music, theatre and interactive experiences.
The Festival’s new concert, A Very Soulpepper Christmas from Slaight Family Director of Music Mike Ross, will feature the sounds of the season performed by Soulpepper company members and special guests.
Visit soulpepper.ca or call 416.866.8666 for tickets and more information.
NEW SOULPEPPER FAMILY FESTIVAL with CASTING
DECEMBER 3, 2015 TO JANUARY 3, 2016
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens
Adapted by Michael Shamata. Remount Director: Joseph Ziegler
Recommended for ages 8+
Bah, humbug! Soulpepper’s beloved production of Michael Shamata’s A Christmas Carol has become a Toronto holiday tradition. Follow Ebenezer Scrooge as he is visited by three ghosts who help him understand the importance of charity in the holiday season. New this year, Soulpepper Founding Member Joseph Ziegler and Oliver Dennis will be alternating in the role of Scrooge: visit soulpepper.ca for a Scrooge performance calendar.
The full cast includes: Zoë Brown; Kevin Bundy; Daniel Chapman-Smith; Oliver Dennis; Deborah Drakeford; Matthew Edison; Alex Gallimore; Eleanor Guy; Maggie Huculak; John Jarvis; Tangara Jones; Jordan Pettle; Antonio Raine Pastore; Sarah Wilson; and Joseph Ziegler.
A Christmas Carol runs from December 3, 2015 to January 3, 2016.
Opening night is December 9.
Alligator Pie
Created & Directed by Ins Choi, Raquel Duffy, Ken MacKenzie,
Gregory Prest & Mike Ross
Poems by Dennis Lee
Recommended for ages 3+
Alligator Pie, an original Soulpepper production and Dora Award-winner for Outstanding Ensemble (Theatre for Young Audiences) brings the celebrated children’s poems of Canada’s Father Goose, Dennis Lee, to vibrant theatrical life. Music, invention and Lee’s delicious imagination come together in a perfect family play.
The cast includes Soulpepper Academy Graduates Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster, Peter Fernandes, Hailey Gillis, Qasim Khan and Jennifer Villaverde.
Alligator Pie runs from December 16, 2015 to January 3, 2016.
Opening night is December 17.
Tricks
Magicana in association with Soulpepper
David Ben and Patrick Watson
Directed by David Ben
Recommended for ages 8+
Shamans, ravens, jesters, jugglers, conjurors, and magicians come in all shapes and sizes. In Tricks, David Ben – Soulpepper’s resident trickster – presents a concert of magic inspired by an eclectic range of people and events: Frank Sinatra and Telford Fenton; Glenn Gould and Charles Bertram; Harold Lloyd and Harry Houdini; Tom Waits and Erik Satie; Hammer Studio Films and Southern Baptist preachers; and Dai Vernon and cherry blossoms in Japan. Ben, recognized as one of the top sleight-of-hand artists in the world, will showcase some of the most challenging pieces of magic in Tricks. There is no timeline or plot – just great tricks – comical and mysterious, beautiful and visceral – performed with twists and turns.
Tricks will be performed by David Ben and Julie Eng.
Tricks runs from December 5, 2015 to January 3, 2016.
Opening performance is December 12.
Kim’s Convenience
Ins Choi
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
Recommended for ages 12+ (mature language)
After a whirlwind national tour and a TV deal with CBC, Kim’s Convenience returns once more to Toronto. Soulpepper Academy alumnus Ins Choi’s hilarious and touching debut play set in a Regent Park convenience store has resonated with audiences across the country. The journey of a fractured but loving family confronting the future and forgiving the past is a Canadian classic in the making.
The cast includes: Patrick Kwok-Choon in his Soulpepper debut; Chantelle Han; Andre Sills; Paul Sun-Hyung Lee; and Jean Yoon.
Kim’s Convenience runs from December 6 to December 26 at the St. Lawrence Centre. Opening night is December 8.
Parfumerie
Miklós László
Adapted by Adam Pettle and Brenda Robins
Directed by Morris Panych
Recommended for ages 8+
One of Soulpepper’s holiday classics returns for the 2015 Family Festival. In Parfumerie, the inspiration for both The Shop Around the Corner and You’ve Got Mail, two shop clerks - played this year by Michelle Monteith and Gregory Prest - kindle a tender love affair through anonymous letters while they unwittingly squabble with one another in person.
The cast includes: Anna Atkinson; Kevin Bundy; Deborah Drakeford; Gordon Hecht; Jeff Lillico; Michelle Monteith; Gregory Prest; Brenda Robins; Michael Simpson; Kristina Uranowski; Sarah Wilson; and Soulpepper Founding Members William Webster and Joseph Ziegler.
Dora Award-winner for Best Production.
Parfumerie runs from December 11 to December 27 at the St. Lawrence Centre. Opening night is December 12.
A Very Soulpepper Christmas
A new family concert full of stories and music featuring Slaight Family Director of Music Mike Ross, Albert Schultz, Soulpepper company members and special guests will celebrate the sounds of the season with a Soulpepper twist.
A Very Soulpepper Christmas takes place on December 19, 20, 23 and 26 at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.
The 2015 Family Festival is sponsored by CIBC with additional support provided by the Young/Schultz Venture Fund, the Province of Ontario, and the Ontario Cultural Attraction Fund. Support for Tricks is provided by the Slaight Family.
Tickets to Soulpepper productions at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts are available by calling the Young Centre Box Office at 416.866.8666 or by visiting soulpepper.ca.
Photo: Joseph Ziegler and Anton Gillis-Adelman in A Christmas Carol. ©2014 Cylla von Tiedemann.
2015-11-25
Toronto: Soulpepper announces 2015 Family Festival casting and a new Soulpepper concert