Toronto: Sky Gilbert debuts a new play and launches a new book in October

Monday, September 27, 2021

THE LITTLE SHOW by playwright Sky Gilbert starring Keith Cole, Veronika Hurnik and Shaun McComb will have its World Premiere at Chez BonBon, at 234 Queen Street East (near Sherbourne), in Toronto, Ontario, from October 21 to October 31, 2021

Before the Sunday, October 24, 2021 evening performance of THE LITTLE SHOW Chez BonBon will also host the official Book Launch of Sky Gilbert’s new novel I Gloria Grahame at 4:30pm. 

Social distancing, face masks and vaccine passports will all be in effect for both events.

THE PLAY: THE LITTLE SHOW is a new theatrical revue written by Sky Gilbert with music by Stewart Borden. Gilbert’s production is inspired by the original The Little Show, a musical revue with lyrics by Howard Dietz and music by Arthur Schwartz which ran at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway from 1929 to 1930. The show’s original producer described the original The Little Show as “really nothing more than a high-class vaudeville show but far more artistic than the Sunday night variety programs being offered at the Winter Garden.” Broadway’s The Little Show starred Clifton Webb, Libby Holman and Fred Allen and introduced the famed torch song Moanin’ Low. Inspired by the notion of an artistic and classy musical revue, writer and director Gilbert’s THE LITTLE SHOW is indeed little. Only one act consisting of two scenes, two songs and three monologues. THE LITTLE SHOW chronicles pandemic life, visiting where we are now, for good or ill; obsessed with social media, infection, and smack in the middle of a much ignored opioid epidemic, but because THE LITTLE SHOW is a musical revue, it’s also kind of fun.

SHOW DATES AND TIMES: All performances of THE LITTLE SHOW are presented by Little-On-The-Run Productions and will take place at Chez BonBon, at 234 Queen Street East (near Sherbourne), in Toronto, Ontario. Tickets are $25 (plus processing fees) and can be purchased online via Brown Paper Tickets at thelittleshow.bpt.me. Seating is limited and socially distanced. Audience members must wear face masks and present proof of vaccination as per Ontario COVID-19 protocols.

Thursday, October 21, 2021 at 8:00pm (Opening)

Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 2:30pm

Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 8:00pm (Includes Book Launch at 4:30pm prior to the performance)

Thursday, October 28, 2021 at 8:00pm

Sunday, October 31, 2021 at 2:30pm (Closing)

PERFORMANCE SPACE: Chez BonBon is a unique space in downtown Toronto available for all kinds of creative projects including performance rehearsals, fundraisers, art shows, burlesque shows, music performances, book readings, bachelorette parties, weddings, special events, classes, photography sessions, televison and film shoots. The studio is approximately 1000 square feet with a basement area for set up and storage as well as a back garden area (about 900 square feet). Chez BonBon has been used in the hit television series Kim's Convenience and The Umbrella Academy. Website: www.chezbonbon.net

SKY GILBERT (WRITER/DIRECTOR): Sky Gilbert is a poet, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, theatre director and drag queen extraordinaire.  He was Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Toronto’s Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, one of the world’s largest LGBTQ theatres, from 1979 to 1997. He has had more than forty plays produced and has written seven critically acclaimed novels and three award winning poetry collections. He has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards as well as the Pauline McGibbon Award and The Silver Ticket Award. There is a street in Toronto named after him - Sky Gilbert Lane. His play about the criminalisation of AIDS, It’s All Tru, was published by Playwrights Canada Press in 2019. His accessible, yet well documented analysis of the appeal of Shakespeare, Shakespeare: Beyond Science: When Poetry Was the World, was released by Guernica Editions in September 2020. In October 2021 Dundurn Press will publish his eigth novel - I, Gloria Grahame. He is presently working on his second book about Shakespeare - Shakespeare Lied. Dr. Gilbert is a Professor of theatre at the University of Guelph.

THE NOVEL: Denton Moulton, a shy, effeminate male professor, lives inside his head, where he is really a long-dead movie star: the glamorous Gloria Grahame, from the golden age of Hollywood. Professor Moulton is desperate to reveal Gloria’s shocking secret before he dies. Does he have the right to tell this woman’s story? Who, in fact, has the right to tell anyone’s story at all? I Gloria Grahame is a scandalous, humorous novel of taboo desires and repression. Published under the imprint Rare Machines by Dundurn Press.

“Brilliant. An important addition to Two-Spirited literature.” - Tomson Highway

“A sharp satire of these tremulous times that actually makes one laugh. It’s brave, it’s shocking, it's compelling and best of all, it’s not too long. It’s 'De Profundiis' for the beach.”  - Scott Thompson

Sky Gilbert will share a reading from his new novel at 5pm. Following the reading attendees will be able to by the book for $22.99.