Many outstanding plays highlighted in local Betty Award nominations
With 27 nominations, Theatre Calgary is the darling of this year's Bettys nomination committee, who agreed that TC's A Streetcar Named Desire, Alberta Theatre Projects' The Seafarer, Vertigo's The Da Vinci Code, Lunchbox's Go For Gold Audrey Pham!, and Sage's Mary Stuart were highlights of the 2024/25 theatre season.
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The Bettys, now in their 26th year, recognize excellence in the city's professional theatre houses.
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TC's musical Legally Blonde is the season's most-nominated show, having received seven nominations. In addition to being named one of six outstanding productions of a musical, Legally Blonde received nominations for actors Kelsey Verzotti, Daniel Fong and Patricia Zentilli, Rachel Cameron for direction, and another for choreography, plus Rebecca Toon for costume designs.
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Legally Blonde, which is a co-production with Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, is competing with Forte Musical Theatre's Austentatious, Ammolite Opera's Proving Up, Lunchbox and Forte's Twelve Days, and Handsome Alice's Two Moons: A Folk Lullaby for outstanding production of a musical.
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Theatre Calgary dominates the outstanding production of a play category, with nominations for Awoowaakii, A Streetcar Named Desire – a co-production with the Citadel Theatre, and The Lehman Trilogy. Also competing for this award are Vertigo Theatre's The Woman in Black, and Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers, and Little Brothers – Makambe K. Simamba's solo show presented by Verb and Handsome Alice, that originated in Toronto with Tarragon Theatre.
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This year's nominees for outstanding performance by an ensemble include Ghost River Theatre's Echoes of a Land, TC's The Lehman Trilogy, ATP's Liars at a Funeral, Vertigo's Murder on the Links, and TC's The Play that Goes Wrong, a co-production with The Citadel and The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
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Nominated for outstanding lead performance in a drama are Lindsey Angell in A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Perry in The Woman in Black, Makambe K. Simamba in Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, and both Lauren Brotman and Norman Lewis in Mary Stuart.
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Recognized for their comedic performances this season are Karen Johnson Diamond in Verb Theatre's Every Brilliant Thing, Ashley King in Inside Out and Chromatic Theatre's Static: A Party Girl, Julie Orton in ATP's Charlotte's Web, Mera Reyes in Downstage's The Strategy of War, and Marshall Vielle in TC's Awoowaakii.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
No last stop in sight for Streetcar
Stanley, Blanche and, of course, Stella! Nearly 80 years since Marlon Brando, Jessica Tandy, Kim Hunter, Karl Malden and director Elia Kazan made A Streetcar Named Desire the stuff of theatre legend, the play that Tennessee Williams often said was the best work of his illustrious career refuses to slow down. 'I was reading in a book that before COVID, somewhere in the world, A Streetcar Named Desire was playing every hour,' says George Toles, who is directing the Pulitzer-winning drama for the independent theatre company the 28th Minute. Arthur MacKinnon photo From left: Kevin Ramberran, Heather Roberts, Justin Fry and Sophie George star in Tennessee Williams' most famous work. 'Kazan said that if it's cast properly, it always works, and that's because of its dramatic shape, its characterizations, its vitality, its humour.' When the play debuted in 1947, it disinterred deeply rooted taboos, paving the way for a stream of theatre — sweaty, lurid, streetwise and feverishly realistic about the politics of sex — that forever changed the form, adds Toles, a longtime film and theatre professor at the University of Manitoba who has directed Williams' Confessional (2018) and Suddenly, Last Summer (2014) for the 28th Minute. 'The emotional challenges it brings up have in no sense been resolved, tamed or domesticated,' the director says. Over the course of an hour-long roundtable, the director and his principal cast — Heather Roberts, Justin Fry, Sophie George and Kevin Ramberran — could hardly contain their enthusiasm for a piece of work Toles describes as having a 'primordial energy,' achieved by its mingling of poetry and realistic prose. In Williams' hands, the two were one in the same. Roberts, who takes on the indelible role of Blanche DuBois, says there's no character she's encountered in her career more intricately layered and challenging to reconstruct than the southern educator. 'I think Blanche is always the smartest person in the room. I feel she's constantly speaking butterfly language to caterpillar people,' says Roberts. It's a role that actors often dream of taking on — that is, until they're tasked with embodying DuBois' raw emotion on a nightly basis. In Truly, Madly, Stephen Galloway's book on Vivian Leigh's tumultuous marriage to Laurence Olivier, he quotes Leigh as saying that playing DuBois 'tipped me into madness,' Roberts has maintained her affection for DuBois. She says the character reveals Williams' intent to craft Streetcar as 'a plea for the understanding of delicate people.' 'I feel if there's a question in this play, it's how to stay soft in a hard world. How do you maintain the vision of beauty and wonder and not fall prey to those external, rocky influences?' Fry, who plays Stanley Kowalski, a role immortalized by Brando, extends Roberts' thought by considering the play as an exploration of methods of survival. 'Stanley is very much about practicality,' says Fry, who has long yearned to portray the brutish young man. 'Being able to survive in this world means needing to be focused on the right things, and poetry is not one of them.' 'As much as Blanche lives for the hope of it all, she does fail at practicality,' says Roberts. 'I would say that the same question of survival emerges for Stella,' says Toles, who believes the character's method of self-preservation is in self-censorship and selective invisibility amid the chaos around her. 'One of the most challenging parts for me in playing her is living in the quiet. Stella says, 'I just got used to being quiet because he never gave me a chance to talk.' That's difficult as an actor to play, especially from the start. So being able to find the emotions Stella is feeling, not just what she's saying. The most helpful thing for me is approaching her without any judgment.' The omnipresence of impending doom and the whims required to evade it suffuse the production, possibly because when he wrote Streetcar, Williams, who was 36, was under the impression that he was dying. 'Without that sense of fatigue and that idea of imminently approaching death, I doubt I could have created Blanche DuBois,' the writer, who wouldn't have a funeral until 1983, told Esquire's Rex Reed in 1971, on the occasion of the playwright's 60th birthday. 'Death haunts this play for sure,' agrees Toles. The 28th Minute mounts one production every year, with each performance serving as a showcase for its cast and crew, who prepare in a basement studio at the University of Manitoba. Under Toles' tutelage, each participant brings a studious approach to both character and craft, often remaining for hours after rehearsal finishes to fine-tune their performances. By producing carefully selected works by playwrights such as Annie Baker, Kenneth Lonergan and Will Eno, the company sets its actors up for career-altering roles. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. Fry made his Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre debut earlier this season in the backcourt dramedy King James, parlaying years of success in indie settings to a starting role for the province's largest company. For the actor, who is currently pursuing a master's degree in counselling psychology, the role of the intermittently stable Kowalski provides a professional opportunity for personal development. 'When you work with fictitious people written this well, what you have is really a study of human behaviour and understanding who we are,' Fry says. For Toles, who calls it his favourite play, Streetcar comes as close as any work of modern theatre to answering that eternal question. Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Toronto Sun
a day ago
- Toronto Sun
Kim Novak to receive Venice Film Festival's lifetime achievement honour
Published Jun 10, 2025 • 1 minute read Kim Novak presents the Grand Prix award at the 66th Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 2013. Photo by Francois Mori / AP Kim Novak, the glamorous and fiercely independent star of one of the greatest films ever made, Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo,' will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival this fall. 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. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. 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 Don't have an account? Create Account Festival organizers said Monday that they will also host the world premiere of Alexandre Philippe's documentary 'Kim Novak's Vertigo,' which was made in collaboration with the actor. Alberto Barbera, the festival's artistic director, said that the award, 'celebrates a star who was emancipated, a rebel at the heart of Hollywood who illuminated the dreams of movie lovers before retiring to her ranch in Oregon to dedicate herself to painting and to her horses.' Novak, who is 92, left her Hollywood career behind long ago. But in recent years she has occasionally granted interviews around significant film anniversaries and made public appearances. After presenting at the 2014 Oscars many online, including Donald Trump, insulted her appearance. She responded with an open letter writing, 'I will no longer hold myself back from speaking out against bullies.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Earlier this year actor Sydney Sweeney paid homage to Novak on the Met Gala red carpet. She's portraying Novak in a new film directed by Colman Domingo about her relationship with Rat Packer Sammy Davis Jr. Of this latest honour, Novak said she is 'deeply touched' to receive the award. 'To be recognized for my body of work at this time in my life is a dream come true,' Novak said. 'I will treasure every moment I spend in Venice. It will fill my heart with joy.' The Venice Film Festival runs from Aug. 27 through Sept. 6, but the full slate of films selected won't be announced until late July. 'The Holdovers' filmmaker Alexander Payne will preside over the main competition jury. Toronto Maple Leafs NHL Toronto Blue Jays NHL Crime
Calgary Herald
2 days ago
- Calgary Herald
Many outstanding plays, actors highlighted in local Betty Award nominations
With 27 nominations, Theatre Calgary is the darling of this year's Bettys nomination committee, who agreed that TC's A Streetcar Named Desire, Alberta Theatre Projects' The Seafarer, Vertigo's The Da Vinci Code, Lunchbox's Go For Gold Audrey Pham!, and Sage's Mary Stuart were highlights of the 2024/25 theatre season. Article content The Bettys, now in their 26th year, recognize excellence in the city's professional theatre houses. Article content Article content TC's musical Legally Blonde is the season's most-nominated show, having received seven nominations. In addition to being named one of six outstanding productions of a musical, Legally Blonde received nominations for actors Kelsey Verzotti, Daniel Fong and Patricia Zentilli, Rachel Cameron for direction, and another for choreography, plus Rebecca Toon for costume designs. Article content Article content Article content Legally Blonde, which is a co-production with Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, is competing with Forte Musical Theatre's Austentatious, Ammolite Opera's Proving Up, Lunchbox and Forte's Twelve Days, and Handsome Alice's Two Moons: A Folk Lullaby for outstanding production of a musical. Article content Theatre Calgary dominates the outstanding production of a play category, with nominations for Awoowaakii, A Streetcar Named Desire – a co-production with the Citadel Theatre, and The Lehman Trilogy. Also competing for this award are Vertigo Theatre's The Woman in Black, and Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers, and Little Brothers – Makambe K. Simamba's solo show presented by Verb and Handsome Alice, which originated in Toronto with Tarragon Theatre. Article content Article content This year's nominees for outstanding performance by an ensemble include Ghost River Theatre's Echoes of a Land, TC's The Lehman Trilogy, ATP's Liars at a Funeral, Vertigo's Murder on the Links, and TC's The Play that Goes Wrong, a co-production with The Citadel and The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Article content Article content Nominated for outstanding lead performance in a drama are Lindsey Angell in A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Perry in The Woman in Black, Makambe K. Simamba in Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, and both Lauren Brotman and Norman Lewis in Mary Stuart.
