Broadway Across Canada tour packed with big shows
Broadway Across Canada's new season includes two shows still on Broadway, two old favourites, and a non-musical.
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The new season starts in November with MJ The Musical, which is not the story of Michael Jackson's life, but rather of his Dangerous World Tour of 1992, and how it was created. It features 25 of his greatest hits, including Beat It, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal and Thriller. There are also medleys of his songs with the Jackson 5, and from his first albums.
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The second show of the season, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, is still on Broadway, and it is the stage version of Baz Luhrmann's 2001 film set in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century. It swept the 2020 Tony Awards, winning 10, including best musical.
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Back by popular demand is Mamma Mia!, which debuted in London in 1999. It is the story of a girl who doesn't know which of the three men her mother dated one summer in Greece is her father, so she invites all three to her wedding. This farcical story features the music of ABBA, and is estimated to have been seen by more than 70 million people worldwide.
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The fourth show of the season is Clue, a comedy based on the 1985 film of the famous board game. It is a wildly funny farce and not a musical, a rarity for Broadway Across Canada.
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The fifth show, which is an option, is the musical Les Misérables. This is the new version of the musical, which uses projections instead of the original turntable. Les Misérables, which opened in 1985, is still playing in London, making it the second-longest running musical in British theatre.
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The Province
4 days ago
- The Province
Stepping into Simba: Erick D. Patrick brings The Lion King musical to Vancouver
The Lion King has proven to be one of Disney's most valuable properties: 'It still connects to not only children, but adults as well,' says the actor Erick plays Simba in the touring production of Disney's The Lion King musical at Queen Elizabeth Theatre Aug. 20-Sept. 14. Photo by Matthew Murphy / Broadway Across Canada Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors When: Aug. 20-Sept. 14 Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St., Vancouver Tickets: From $35 (plus fees) at You can't argue with this kind of success. In the last 30 years, The Lion King has proven to be one of American entertainment giant Disney's most valuable properties. Whether in its original animated form, the 2019 CGI photorealistic remake, or the multi-award-winning Broadway incarnation, the story of Simba, the lion cub who would be king, has entertained and inspired millions across the globe. We talked to Erick D. Patrick about playing the four-legged princeling in the musical, which returns to Vancouver this month. Erick D. Patrick plays Simba in the touring production of Disney's The Lion King musical at Queen Elizabeth Theatre Aug. 20-Sept. 14. Photo by Matthew Murphy / Broadway Across Canada Q: How many Simbas have you seen? A: I saw the Broadway musical for the first time when I was 23 or 24. Since then, I've seen maybe seven or eight different Simbas. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A: Everyone is so different. It's interesting, because we're all given the same things to do. But the beautiful thing about storytelling is that no one can tell you how to tell it. It's a beautiful thing to see that many different ways to tell the story. Q: What is it about Simba's journey that resonates with you? A: It's a role that you always want to find something new in night to night, show to show. It requires you to figure out things about yourself. It's that universal reminder that you might think you have everything figured out, that you think you know exactly what you're doing, or you think you know exactly how you'll respond, but you actually don't know until you're in that situation. For me, it always brings up how to be strong, how to be caring, how to be vulnerable, how to honour your loved ones, or honour the ones that are no longer with us. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A: It's a big learning curve, because you've got to be aware that the mask is also telling the story and how you move doesn't stop with your face and your body. We have what we call 'the dual event.' Basically, if you were in the audience and you were to look at my face, you would get the story. And if you were way, way in the back and you were just able to see the movement and my mask, you would get that exact same story based on body language and movement. Q: Does the reaction of kids bring you joy? A: It is one of the most rewarding feelings I've ever experienced, and it's unlike any other show. Because normally you're playing your age. Normally I'm just a 30-year-old guy on stage singing songs. But in this show, it really does stand the test of time. It doesn't matter where we are in the world. It still connects to not only children, but adults as well. It's something that I didn't expect to feel so gratifying. I knew that kids loved the show. I knew that people loved the show, but I didn't know the amount of love and excitement that you're going to receive when you step out of the stage door. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The musical version of The Lion King premiered in 1997. It is Broadway's third longest-running show in history and the highest grossing Broadway production of all time. Photo by Joan Marcus / Broadway Across Canada A: Oh, all the time. Every night. I was so obsessed with it. And I've always been an actor, I've always been in musicals, but it never clicked to me to even audition for The Lion King. Never. It took my fiancé, who was on the tour, to encourage me. She said, 'Hey, I think you'd be really great.' And I was like, 'People say that, but is it really cool?' And she's like, 'Yes, it's amazing. You should come be a part of it.'' Read More Vancouver Whitecaps News Vancouver Whitecaps Local News News
Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Richard Thomas dons wig and mustache to play icon Mark Twain in one-man play touring the US
NEW YORK (AP) — Richard Thomas has not one but two big shoes to fill when he goes out on the road this summer in a celebrated one-man show. The Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee is portraying the great American writer Mark Twain in a play written and performed for decades by the late Hal Holbrook. Thomas immediately accepted the offer to star in the 90-minute 'Mark Twain Tonight!' that tours more than a dozen states this summer and fall before wondering what he'd gotten himself into. 'I walked down to the street and I said, 'Are you crazy? What are you out of your mind?'' he says, laughing. 'I had to grapple with who's the bigger fool — the man who says, 'Yes, I'll do it' or the man that says, 'No, I won't'?' Holbrook portrayed the popular novelist and humorist for more than a half century starting in 1954, making over 2,300 performances to a collective audience of more than 2 million. He and Thomas were fond of each other and would see each other's work. The show mixes Twain's speeches and passages from his books and letters to offer a multidimensional look at an American icon, who toured the U.S. with appearances. 'I'm going to feel very much like I'm not only following in Hal's footsteps, but in Twain's as well,' says Thomas, who began his career as John-Boy Walton on TV's 'The Waltons' and became a Broadway mainstay. Thomas jokes that Holbrook had 50 years to settle into the role and he has only a year or so. 'I have the advantage on him that he started when he was 30 and he was pretending to be an old man. I'm 74 so I'm right there. That's the one area where I'm up on him.' 'It's time for Twain' The new tour kicks off this week in Hartford, Connecticut — appropriately enough, one of the places Twain lived — and then goes to Maryland, Iowa, Arkansas, North Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee, New York, New Jersey, Utah, California, Arizona, Alabama, Utah and Florida by Christmastime. Then in 2026 — the 60th anniversary of the Broadway premiere — it goes to Texas, Colorado, Wisconsin and Ohio. 'It's time for Twain, you know? I mean, it's always time for Twain, always. He's always relevant because he's utterly and completely us, with warts and all,' says Thomas. The actor will travel with a stage manager and a trunk with his costumes, but all the other elements will be sourced locally by the venues — like desks and chairs, giving each show local touches. 'There's something about doing a show for people in their own community, in their theater that they support, that they raise money for. They're not coming to you as tourists. You're coming to them.' Thomas has done a one-man show before — 'A Distant Country Called Youth' using Tennessee Williams letters — but that allowed him to read from the script on stage. Here he has no such help. 'One of the keys is to balance the light and the shadow, how funny, how outrageous, the polemic and the darkness and the light. You want that balanced beautifully,' he says. Twain represents America Other actors — notably Val Kilmer and Jerry Hardin — have devised one-man shows about the creator of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, who still manages to fascinate. A new biography of Twain by Ron Chernow came out this year, which Thomas is churning through. Thomas sees Twain as representing America perfectly: 'He just lets it all hang out there. He's mean-spirited; he's generous. He's bigoted; he is progressive. He hates money; he wants to be the richest man in America. All of these fabulous contradictions are on display.' Thomas has lately become a road rat, touring in 'Twelve Angry Men' from 2006-08, 'The Humans' in 2018 and starring as Atticus Finch in Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' from 2022-24. Orin Wolf, CEO of tour producer NETworks Presentations, got to watch Thomas on the road in 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and says having him step into Twain will strengthen the theater community across the country Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. 'It's so rare nowadays to have a true star of the road,' Wolf says, calling Thomas 'a breed of actor and artist that they rarely make anymore.' 'I'm delighted to be supporting him and delighted that he's chosen to do this because I think this is something he could also take on for hopefully many years,' he adds. After Twain, Thomas will next be seen on Broadway this spring opposite Renée Elise Goldsberry and Marylouise Burke in David Lindsay-Abaire's new comedy, 'The Balusters.' But first there's the eloquence and wry humor in a show about Twain that reveals he was often a frustrated optimist when it came to America. 'I think it reflects right now a lot of our frustration with how things are going,' says Thomas. 'Will things ever be better and can things ever better? Or are we just doomed to just be this species that is going to constantly eat its own tail and are we ever going to move forward?'
Vancouver Sun
4 days ago
- Vancouver Sun
Stepping into Simba: Erick D. Patrick brings The Lion King musical to Vancouver
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. When: Aug. 20-Sept. 14 Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre , 630 Hamilton St., Vancouver Tickets: From $35 (plus fees) at You can't argue with this kind of success. In the last 30 years, The Lion King has proven to be one of American entertainment giant Disney's most valuable properties. Whether in its original animated form, the 2019 CGI photorealistic remake, or the multi-award-winning Broadway incarnation, the story of Simba, the lion cub who would be king, has entertained and inspired millions across the globe. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. We talked to Erick D. Patrick about playing the four-legged princeling in the musical, which returns to Vancouver this month. A: I saw the Broadway musical for the first time when I was 23 or 24. Since then, I've seen maybe seven or eight different Simbas. A: Everyone is so different. It's interesting, because we're all given the same things to do. But the beautiful thing about storytelling is that no one can tell you how to tell it. It's a beautiful thing to see that many different ways to tell the story. A: It's a role that you always want to find something new in night to night, show to show. It requires you to figure out things about yourself. It's that universal reminder that you might think you have everything figured out, that you think you know exactly what you're doing, or you think you know exactly how you'll respond, but you actually don't know until you're in that situation. For me, it always brings up how to be strong, how to be caring, how to be vulnerable, how to honour your loved ones, or honour the ones that are no longer with us. A: It's a big learning curve, because you've got to be aware that the mask is also telling the story and how you move doesn't stop with your face and your body. We have what we call 'the dual event.' Basically, if you were in the audience and you were to look at my face, you would get the story. And if you were way, way in the back and you were just able to see the movement and my mask, you would get that exact same story based on body language and movement. A: It is one of the most rewarding feelings I've ever experienced, and it's unlike any other show. Because normally you're playing your age. Normally I'm just a 30-year-old guy on stage singing songs. But in this show, it really does stand the test of time. It doesn't matter where we are in the world. It still connects to not only children, but adults as well. It's something that I didn't expect to feel so gratifying. I knew that kids loved the show. I knew that people loved the show, but I didn't know the amount of love and excitement that you're going to receive when you step out of the stage door. A: Oh, all the time. Every night. I was so obsessed with it. And I've always been an actor, I've always been in musicals, but it never clicked to me to even audition for The Lion King. Never. It took my fiancé, who was on the tour, to encourage me. She said, 'Hey, I think you'd be really great.' And I was like, 'People say that, but is it really cool?' And she's like, 'Yes, it's amazing. You should come be a part of it.''
