Profile for Den

BillFinn... On the numbers where the audience didn't clap, was there a pause in the show as if applause was expected? Since you say it was awkward, it sounds like that's the case. I thought, given the length of the show, that they might have had the show continue without pauses to speed things up. The first time I saw Mamma Mia it was at a matinee on a 2-performance day and there were almost no opportunities to applaud except at the ends of the acts.

Anastasia (animated) wasn't a Disney movie. Think it was Fox... My picks: One of the John Hughes teen comedies. I actually saw a musical at the Toronto Fringe last week that lifted its plot from Pretty in Pink. Didn't work, but Sixteen Candles or Ferris Bueller have more energy and might work. Star Wars is obviously a bad idea, but Mel Brooks should do Spaceballs which enjoys more current popularity than any of his other movies. I second The Nightmare Before Christmas. Disney's Aladdin (and I...

With regards to "Hair" in Toronto last year: It was put on by CanStage but was trashed by critics. I never heard anything about intentions to send it to New York. (Weird coincidence: I saw it the day before seeing Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and wouldn't have understood the Hair parody in that show otherwise.)

A couple recent examples here in Toronto: 1) The producers of Lord of the Rings went out of their way to insist that it wasn't a musical which I guess is fair because it turns out it really wasn't a musical. 2) We Will Rock You is billed as a "rock theatrical".

The more you ruv someone, The more you want to kill ‘em.

Isn't Universal Pictures an above-the-title producer of the show?

"The Toronto production closed last week..." Oops...

BobbyBubby... You say you love the movie, hate the musical. But it sounds like you haven't seen the musical at all, given that you don't seem to understand the context of what was said and keep referring to the cast recording rather than the stage presentation. Have you actually seen the show? Really? (And you may want to pick up a dictionary yourself once in a while: you want "it's" not "its" when you mean "it is".)

The last (I think) notable review of the show. 4 N's (out of 5).

It's official... They got the TCA Mainstage so the run will start next summer instead of January 2009 at the Elgin. It also looks more and more like Dancap will be allowed to take over management of the facility. The Star's article on it today makes no mention of the possibility of running more than six months which suggests it's a tour. But Ouzounian also quotes McAnuff as saying that although it's not definite yet, "there is a very strong possibility that the production which opened here co...

Well, you can't please everyone... This one's 2 stars (out of 5)... For the record, no one calls his girlfriend a “stupid bitch” in this show. The Scott character uses the phrase to refer to Ash’s awkward fifth-wheel younger sister who has come to the cabin for a weekend of reading and baking. Were the relationships too complex for eye's Christopher Hoile to grasp? What a stupid bitch!

Yet another 4-star (out of 4) review:

I don't buy it. I just have a folder in Favorites that links to the various arts review pages in town.

And here's the Sun's 4-star (out of 5) review:

So did this guy leave because he thought it was offensive or because he thought it was a children's show? I immediately assumed it was the former, but the objection to "Muppets" sounds like he thought it was for kids.

Here is the 4-star (out of 4) review from the Toronto Star. Richard Ouzounian has been a fan of the show since Day 1. [EDIT: This review makes me wonder if it wasn't actually understudy Andrea Irwin that I saw in the Thursday night preview as Cheryl (I thought the Cheryl actress was the standout of the show). She had gone on a few times in the last Toronto run in various parts and was always funny and was able to make any of the roles her own. I had thought the actress on Thursday looked like...

I know. I felt stupid later. During the show I just kept thinking that everyone looked really short and it's not how I remember them. Even Ryan Ward looked like he was average height.

If you order through Ticketmaster, you can get 15% off with the code EVIL. But because of Ticketmaster's service charges the price ends up being about the same as when you order directly through the web site and get your tickets "will call". I was lucky enough to get half price tickets to the previews because I was on their mailing list. They also had 2-for-1 tickets at the previews if you wanted to come back during the rest of the run. (I'm kicking myself for not having done so.) The theatre...

Ha! I didn't realize that was Sarah Cornell. I was confused during the show because I remember Matt Olmstead as being about a head taller than me, but on stage he looked really short. That explains it... For me the standout in this production is Rachel Fischer as Cheryl. It's a bit sad that Danielle Meierhenry is not playing the role this time around (she always got a fantastic audience response), but Rachel Fischer is awesome. Her expressions while posing beside Sarah Cornell at the end of t...

The shrieks in the audience are from laughter, not fear. But there is a ton of blood. They call the first two rows the "splatter zone", but it's not just incidental splatter from the stage. It's more because the people in those seats come out of the show looking like extras in a splatter horror movie. You'll probably want to avoid row 3 (the first table row) just to be safe. Check out the video previews and critical blurbs on the show's web site to get an idea of the flavour of the show.