Stage Door News
Stage Door News
The Great Hall of the Arts & Letters Club is the magnificent location for Toronto Masque Theatre’s new interpretation of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen. A popular entertainment in its day, this 17th-century masterpiece is re-imagined by director and choreographer Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière who casts the themes of the work into a contemporary setting, creating a new scenario that follows the fate of a number of lost souls in search of love, happiness and meaning. Lacoursière uses the precision of baroque dance to explore the passion that informs and drives Purcell’s stunning music.
The production will feature an all-star baroque ensemble, led from the violin by Artistic Director Larry Beckwith, a company of some of our finest singers and, from the Montreal-based Les Jardins Chorégraphiques, dancers Stéphanie Brochard and Lacoursière.
The company of singers features sopranos Juliet Beckwith, Vania Chan, Charlotte Knight, and Janelle Lapalme; alto Simon Honeyman; tenors Cory Knight and Jonathan MacArthur; baritones Alexander Dobson and Graham Robinson.
The all-star baroque ensemble features: Sylvain Bergeron, lute; Valerie Gordon, violin; Gillian Howard, oboe and recorder; Noam Krieger, harpsichord; Stephen Marvin, viola; Kerri McGonnigle, cello; and Alison Melville, recorder.
Background on The Fairy Queen
Based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Purcell wrote the music for The Fairy Queen in 1692. Although we don’t know for sure who the librettist is, it has often been speculated that it was the actor and impresario, Thomas Betterton.
Our new production features a seamless scenario that focuses on the brilliant musical numbers, allowing us to present the compositions Purcell created for the original and that rank among his very best, including some of his most familiar solo songs such as:
• If love’s a sweet passion;
• Hark, the echoing air;
• Night;
• Ye gentle spirits of the air,
• Now the night is chas’d away; and
• One charming night.
As well as fantastic ensemble numbers:
• Come, let us leave the town;
• the dialogue of Corydon and Mopsa; and
• the brilliant final trio, They shall be as happy.
What
A new production of Henry Purcell’s 17th-century masterpiece, The Fairy Queen.
When
8 pm, 27 - 29 May 2016; pre-show chat at 7:15 pm each evening.
Where
The Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto.
How
Tickets: $50 for regular; $43 for seniors; $20 for those 30 and under. Tickets available online from Toronto Masque Theatre or by calling 416-410-4561.
Who
For more information on Toronto Masque Theatre please go to our website.
About TMT
Founded in 2003 by Artistic Director Larry Beckwith, Toronto Masque Theatre is one of the only companies in the world devoted to the performance of masque, an art form that results from a fusion of music, dance and theatre. Inspired by the rich courtly tradition of the late renaissance, we seek to reinvent the art form for today’s audiences, speaking to contemporary Toronto. We have produced over 40 critically-acclaimed productions, ranging in repertoire from the late renaissance to the present day, including eight commissions of original work from Canadian artists.
The Fairy Queen is the concluding production of our 12th season which has been a celebration of masques classic and contemporary. In December, we presented Dean Burry’s fabulous contemporary Christmas classic, The Mummers’ Masque, based on the 400-year-old Newfoundland tradition of mummering. This season’s salons explored the masque work of the Jacobean poet and playwright Ben Jonson and the background and inspiration of our next commission, The Man Who Married Himself.
2016-04-14
Toronto: Toronto Masque Theatre presents Henry Purcell's "The Fairy Queen" May 27-29