TStar: Fiddler on the Roof coming to Toronto in 2009
Fiddler on the Roof coming to Toronto in 2009
January 20, 2009
Richard Ouzounian
While the current economy may not make it seem like the most appropriate sentiment to express right now, David Mirvish is hoping we'll all be willing to sing "If I Were a Rich Man" by December.
That's when what is being billed as the "farewell tour" of Fiddler on the Roof will come to the Canon Theatre as part of the 2009 Mirvish subscription season, the Star has learned. Starring Topol, the Israeli actor who shot to international prominence in the role of Tevye the dairyman in Norman Jewison's 1971 screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, the show is expected to play here from Dec. 8, 2009 through Jan. 10, 2010, providing a feel-good family show for everyone, whether you choose the menorah or the manger.
The 73-year-old Topol has played the role onstage many times before, including a 1983 London production and a 1990 Broadway revival for which he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
What else does Mirvish have in store for next season? As previously revealed in the Star, the musical version of cult film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is on the agenda, as is the hit show Wicked and a remount of Stuff Happens, Studio 180's hit about the Bush/Iraq era, plus a limited run of the Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County.
Other rumoured projects include Mary Poppins, The 39 Steps and the Tony Award-winning ghetto musical In the Heights.
SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS Alas, as each week goes by, the Canadian musical version of Rob Roy seems to fade further into the highland mists.
Last Monday's previously announced start of rehearsals has come and gone without any activity happening.
Author/composer/producer David Warrack admits he has been dipping into his private resources to pay the cast even though the show hasn't acquired the funding to go into full production.
The previously announced Chicago run has been cancelled and the Toronto engagement at the Elgin Theatre is looking less likely.
"The reality is that it's getting a little dark on the horizon," Warrack told the Star yesterday. "I don't know where we're going to find the funds that we need."
Although he remains optimistic, Warrack conceded if money is not forthcoming by this weekend, "it's probably time to pull the plug."
NAUGHTY BUT NICE You might not think of Cirque du Soleil as an experimental theatre, but they've been known to keep working on shows long after the official opening date. Take Zumanity. The X-rated exploration of human sexuality got ho-hum reviews when it opened in September 2003, but Cirque kept tinkering. And when contracts finally expired, they changed things - big time. The show's hostess is now one Edie, a drag queen so convincing you'd swear she was a woman, and the bubbly libidinous comedy is in the hands of Nicky Dewhurst and Canadian Shannan Calcutt. I saw the show at the normally deadly late- Sunday performance with a packed and enthusiastic audience. It's funnier, sexier, more entertaining than before, another reason Cirque's attendance is a natural winner in the Vegas economy, where all else seems headed for snake eyes.
January 20, 2009
Richard Ouzounian
While the current economy may not make it seem like the most appropriate sentiment to express right now, David Mirvish is hoping we'll all be willing to sing "If I Were a Rich Man" by December.
That's when what is being billed as the "farewell tour" of Fiddler on the Roof will come to the Canon Theatre as part of the 2009 Mirvish subscription season, the Star has learned. Starring Topol, the Israeli actor who shot to international prominence in the role of Tevye the dairyman in Norman Jewison's 1971 screen adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, the show is expected to play here from Dec. 8, 2009 through Jan. 10, 2010, providing a feel-good family show for everyone, whether you choose the menorah or the manger.
The 73-year-old Topol has played the role onstage many times before, including a 1983 London production and a 1990 Broadway revival for which he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
What else does Mirvish have in store for next season? As previously revealed in the Star, the musical version of cult film The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert is on the agenda, as is the hit show Wicked and a remount of Stuff Happens, Studio 180's hit about the Bush/Iraq era, plus a limited run of the Pulitzer Prize-winning August: Osage County.
Other rumoured projects include Mary Poppins, The 39 Steps and the Tony Award-winning ghetto musical In the Heights.
SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS Alas, as each week goes by, the Canadian musical version of Rob Roy seems to fade further into the highland mists.
Last Monday's previously announced start of rehearsals has come and gone without any activity happening.
Author/composer/producer David Warrack admits he has been dipping into his private resources to pay the cast even though the show hasn't acquired the funding to go into full production.
The previously announced Chicago run has been cancelled and the Toronto engagement at the Elgin Theatre is looking less likely.
"The reality is that it's getting a little dark on the horizon," Warrack told the Star yesterday. "I don't know where we're going to find the funds that we need."
Although he remains optimistic, Warrack conceded if money is not forthcoming by this weekend, "it's probably time to pull the plug."
NAUGHTY BUT NICE You might not think of Cirque du Soleil as an experimental theatre, but they've been known to keep working on shows long after the official opening date. Take Zumanity. The X-rated exploration of human sexuality got ho-hum reviews when it opened in September 2003, but Cirque kept tinkering. And when contracts finally expired, they changed things - big time. The show's hostess is now one Edie, a drag queen so convincing you'd swear she was a woman, and the bubbly libidinous comedy is in the hands of Nicky Dewhurst and Canadian Shannan Calcutt. I saw the show at the normally deadly late- Sunday performance with a packed and enthusiastic audience. It's funnier, sexier, more entertaining than before, another reason Cirque's attendance is a natural winner in the Vegas economy, where all else seems headed for snake eyes.