Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Richard Rose, Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre, is thrilled to welcome international Spontaneous Theatre sensation Blind Date back to the Mainspace to close out the 2016/17 season. Created and performed by the award-winning, Calgary-born Rebecca Northan, the show has had critically-acclaimed, sold-out runs in London’s West End, New York City and elsewhere in the U.S., across Canada, and at Tarragon last September. Blind Date once again takes the stage at Tarragon from May 30 - June 25, 2017 (media night Wednesday, May 31).
There’s nothing like the thrill of a first date...anything can happen! When Mimi’s date for the evening fails to show up, she turns to the audience for someone brave enough to answer Love’s call. What happens next is anybody’s guess, and different each night. This fast and funny fusion of improvisation, theatre, and social experiment is sure to make you fall in love with Mimi and celebrate her audience-member-turned-Romantic-Hero. Blind Date is an unscripted, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants adventure sure to create one saucy, daring and entertaining evening out.
With humble beginnings as a 10-minute piece in Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage Festival in 2007, Blind Date has since gone on to workshop at the legendary Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, AB, then returned to World Stage in 2009 and again in 2010. It was soon picked up by Broadway producer, Kevin McCollum (RENT, Avenue Q), and premiered off-Broadway in 2010 before heading to London’s West End and across the United States and Canada, including an exciting queer version at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto in 2016.
For the first time in Blind Date history after more than 600 performances, the Tarragon production will see three Mimis will be playing in rotation: Rebecca Northan, Christy Bruce, and Tess Degenstein.
Rebecca Northan is an actor, director, improviser, writer, and producer. She created Blind Date in 2007 and it has been touring ever since. Her latest shows, Legend Has It & Undercover (premiering in Tarragon’s 2017/18 season in co-production with Vertigo Theatre Calgary) also fall under the banner of Spontaneous Theatre, and invite an audience member on stage to play a heroic role in the story. Rebecca is also currently developing a new show with the Stratford Festival. When not creating new plays, she can be seen on stages across Canada, as well as in a variety of Film & TV projects. spontaneoustheatre.ca Twitter: @rebeccanorthan
Christy Bruce began her career improvising at The Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary where she studied with Keith Johnstone. In 2000, she moved to Toronto was hired by “The Second City”. She has been performing with them for over 15 years now doing shows across the country and as far away as Bosnia and Monaco. She has also had the honour of playing “Mimi” in Blind Date across Canada and in London’s West End for the past four years. Other Select Theatre: Legend Has It (ATP), DINK! (The Factory Theatre), This is Cancer (Halifax), The Forum (Stratford Festival), and Private Lives with Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross (New York). TV credits: Reign, Newborn Moms for CBC, The Strain, Orphan Black, The Odd Squad, The Day the Old Man Knocked, Long Story Short: CBC’s 75 Anniversary, and Little Mosque on the Prairie. Christy can be found performing and teaching at The Bad Dog Theatre in Toronto, Ontario.
Hailing from Saskatchewan, Tess Degenstein is an actor and improviser who has appeared on stages across Canada, including Western Canada Theatre, The Citadel, Theatre Aquarius, and The Globe Theatre. Internationally she has performed and taught in Vienna, Berlin, London, and Oslo. She has been nominated for multiple Canadian Comedy Awards for her ensemble work in the improv troupe The Bad Dog Repertory Players, and the webseries Space Janitors (CSA Best Webseries) respectively, and a Sterling Award for Best Actress in the world premiere of An Almost Perfect Thing. Her onscreen credits include King, Murdoch Mysteries, 12 Cards of Christmas, inSAYSHAble, renegadepress.com, and the feature First Round Down.
Blind Date
Back by popular demand from Tarragon’s 2015/16 season!
Tuesday, May 30 - Sunday June 25, 2017 (Media Night Wednesday, May 31) in the Mainspace
created by Rebecca Northan
starring Rebecca Northan, Christy Bruce & Tess Degenstein
featuring Bruce Horak
stage manager Marcie Januska
set designer Brandon Kleiman
“Fearless, and very funny” – New York Times
“Irresistible…a cheeky and charming evening.” – New York Daily News
“Utterly enchanting“ – Time Out New York
★★★★ “Funny and spontaneous, but also genuinely adorable… Mimi’s definitely a keeper.” – J. Kelly Nestruck, The Globe and Mail
“Do you believe in love at first sight? I do, because I once spent 90 minutes under the spell of Rebecca Northan.” – Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star
Blind Date runs approx. 90 minutes with no intermission. Please note that the show begins in the lobby and seating in the theatre will begin later than normal, between 7:30 and 7:45pm.
www.tarragontheatre.com/blind-date-2017/
***
Showtimes are Tuesday - Saturday at 8pm, Saturday & Sunday at 2:30pm
Tickets range from $29 - 65 and can be purchased online at www.tarragontheatre.com, or by phone at 416-531-1827. Discounts are available for seniors, students, groups and arts workers. Note that Blind Date is not available on subscription for Tarragon subscribers.
Rush tickets are sold for $20 cash only, in person at the theatre two hours before showtime. This year Tarragon will also be offering online rush tickets at varying discounts, 24h prior to the show. Both Rush ticket options are subject to availability.
For more information on Tarragon’s events and activities, visit www.tarragontheatre.com/calendar.
Tarragon Theatre’s 2016/2017 Season Sponsor is BMO Financial Group. The 2016/17 Season Media Sponsor is NOW Magazine.
Tarragon Theatre gratefully acknowledges annual operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council.
For more information visit www.tarragontheatre.com.
Twitter: @tarragontheatre
Facebook: Tarragon Theatre
Photo: Rebecca Northan as Mimi.
2017-04-24
Toronto: Tarragon Theatre brings back "Blind Date" May 30-June 25 by popular demand