Category: Theatre

[Victoria, BC] Exploring Dracula, The Blood is The Life’s Revisions & News for Next Year

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dracula

Craigdarroch Castle
1050 Joan Crescent
Victoria, BC V8S 3L5

Ticket Reservations:
250-592-5323

Dates and times:
October 30th 7pm & 9pm
October 31st 8pm

Lord Dracula is back, and this time, the terror is twice as bloody, if not wickedly fun. Launch Pad and Giggling Iguana Productions revisits the legend of the vampire king in a show that’s said to be pumped up to an extra level of terror. Practically all of the classics from the Golden Age of Terror — Dorian Gray, Jekyll & Hyde, Poe and Faust — has been covered, and the news that The Wolfman will be appearing next will be highly anticipated. To round out the world, Frankenstein may be a massive undertaking to pull off. It can be done, if the management of Craigdarroch Castle allows it.

But for visitors pondering a visit to Victoria, BC for All Hallows Eve, they might want to consider purchasing tickets in advance to ensure this type of site-specific play will not be missed.

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Don’t Get Shrek’ed with the Musical, A Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

shrekmusicalShrek the Musical debuted to audiences in Seattle in 2008, and after it moved to Broadway, it played there for three years. In 2009, a show was recorded for video release, but it was delayed until now. Released on Amazon.com Sept 17 as a digital download and on Oct 15 to disk, this show showcases the talent known as Brian d’Arcy James (Shrek), Sutton Foster (Fiona), Christopher Sieber (Farquaad) and Daniel Breaker (Donkey). Amazingly, this musical production improves upon the source and the video release is a must-see for how it adds to DreamWork’s now retired product.

The Blu-ray release offers a behind the scenes construction of the musical, and both releases include a songbook for fans to sing along to. If this release can help Shrek return for some direct-to-video piece, fans can rejoice!

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[Victoria, B.C.] You’ll have to Wait … for Dracula: Blood is Life if you Dare

And no October can go without some kind of horror themed experience until Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman are here

Dracula2-300x287Two shows have been added on Oct 28th to Giggling Iguana‘s production of Dracula: Blood is Life. This interactive theatre show is playing at Craigdarroch Castle, located in Victoria, B.C. Canada. At time of press, tickets are available via wait-listing by phoning the Castle and these added shows are reportedly to have been sold out. All other shows are at capacity as people planned for their All Hallow’s Eve fun during last weekend.

I reviewed this play last year for 28DLA.com. In summary, this site-specific theatrical show proves that even a complex novel like Bram Stoker’s Dracula can be distilled down to its very essence. To see it performed without missing the most important themes from this Irish novelist’s work in under an hour is very impressive. This year, this production is kicking the terror up a notch with what I hope to be more supernatural delights in the form of poltergeist activity. More bite is definitely going to be added.

Despite what the Castle management tells its tourists and staff, this building is indeed haunted!

And no October can go without some kind of horror themed experience until Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman are here. Well, maybe next year. The full moon has passed. At least there is no holding the terror down. If the popularity of this particular play is an indication, Dracula: Blood is Life might become a staple for the Halloween tradition here in Victoria. But Ian Case, director of Giggling Iguana Productions, has confirmed that there will be a new show next year.

At least for the time being, all Dracula can say, “Fangs for the memories!”

Fresh Out of John Cleese

John Cleese rushed through some of his material so that’s why some bits were not as good.

cleese3James Shaw: John Cleese is a living legend but don’t worry, he’ll be dead soon. He assured audiences that.

Ed Sum: And when tickets to his Victoria shows sold out fast, I have to wonder when his Last Time to See Me Before I Die tour will get resurrected.

There’s plenty of good years left for Cleese to create more fabulous work. He is a very colourful comedian. But for whomever that person was who wrote up the marketing for this show, they left one huge plot hole which left some audiences asking questions about later.

There was no Q&A that was supposed to happen after the show. I can’t fault Cleese for wanting to leave early, especially when he’s now in his 70’s, but something was amiss.

JS: He is a legend in this business not only as a great comic actor but also as a great writer. Some of the funniest material was written at least partly by Cleese. Many of my personal favourites include the British TV series At Last the 1948 Show, Doctor at Large, The Two Ronnies, Fawlty Towers and the feature film A Fish Called Wanda. At this stage of his career, John Cleese has enough credits to his name to host a two-hour retrospective of his life. And what a treat it is to sit through. Although at least some of this material you will find similar if you were in the audience of his 2011 Alimony tour, those on this side of the pond will be mostly unfamiliar with it.

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[Vancouver, B.C.] Young Frankenstein: Poster Boy for Transylvania Tourism

YoungFrankensteinOctober 4-6, 10-13, 2013
Waterfront Theatre

Ed Sum: Who doesn’t love the oh so misunderstood monster? Young Frankenstein, directed by Chance Newman (Evil Dead: The Musical – Northwest edition), is a classic film by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder; they playfully gave the original Mary Shelly tale a comedic spin that many audiences adored. And Brooks gave the story a great re-imagining that even works on the Broadway stage on a burlesque style level. Although the show began its run in 2007 and it received mixed reviews by bigger name critics, that did not deter James and I from traveling to Vancouver to see a version done by the performers of Last Chance Productions.

In what we saw was a toe tapping romance and I thought this musical was a tribute to the era when Gershwin was hugely popular. To see it played in a smaller venue, I thought people sitting in “Laboratory Row” (the first seven rows) can get intimate with the performers.

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[Victoria, BC] Rocky Horror Show Builds Creativity in a Benefit Performance

hile toast and water will not be allowed at the theatre, audience members can expect lots of other surprises to help make their Rocky Horror Show experience that much more thrilling.

Poster-Web-662x1024Janet, Dr. Scott, Brad and Rocky will soon grace the stage of the McPherson Theatre in Victoria, BC, Canada with Kaleidoscope Theatre’s production of the Rocky Horror Show. They hold a benefit every year that unites the community and professional actors together, and the proceeds from the show helps the theatre school build programs for young minds to engage in and socially develop.

This 17th annual event will have three performances: one on Halloween night (8pm) and two the next day (7pm and 10pm). The party will be lively, exciting and loud—it will also be a different interpretation of what creator Richard O’Brian presented.

“The show is sometimes playing homage to the original and we’re not copying other productions,” said Pat Rundell, marketing director and one of the stars (he plays Brad Majors), “It will be brand new vision with new characters and costumes, a totally re-imagined Rocky.”

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