Hello everybody after not having updated for so long. Much to say but have forgotten most of it in this span of time. What can I say, didn't think school would end up being so busy. I saw Saturday Night Fever back in September. I didn't expect much and heck I got eight understudies that day. If you ever see the touring production like I did, definitely look for Jim Ambler as Bobby C. His character stood out amongst the others who seemed like slimebags; Joey Calveri who was on as Tony just acted too much like John Travolta. Come on, it's the musical not the movie, why can't he just create his own character! Anyway, back to Jim Ambler. Bobby C was the nervous, shy guy who tried hard to belong. He really got to shine with his solo where he abandoned the nasal voice and really got into the song. He also reminds me of Jeff Conaway who played Kenicke in the movie version of Grease. Another good cast member was Aileen Quinn as Annette. It's always the tragic characters who seem to make the show good. I was thinking why couldn't any other of the idiots have died when Bobby C jumped off the bridge. The good guy got the girl pregnant and then he dies because he doesn't know what to do. Sheesh!

The Toronto Mamma-Mia finally had a cast change. Woohoo! No more Peter Deiwick! So here's my view of what I saw. The third cast likes to interact a lot. They do a lot more acting and avoid the cookie cutter style with many of their own stuff. Camilla Scott is still here and there. Her "Mamma-Mia" was crap but "The Winner Takes It All" was vastly improved. Tamara Bernier is still Tanya and I love her interpretations always; which were the same on this occasion. Martha Reilly as Rosie is a mix of Gabrielle Jones and Deann DeGruijter's Rosies with a splash of Mary Ellen Mahoney as Tanya. She's spunky and funny. She really matches Andrew Wheeler in "Take A Chance On Me". He goes wild in the song and she does too. I am happy that I saw Jay T. Schramek, the understudy, go on as Pepper. I just really didn't want to see Derek Eyamie. Schramek was fair, played Pepper as from Detroit like Raymond but was in no way like Raymond Miller. He was between Sal Scozzari (original Toronto Pepper) and Raymond. I want Raymond back as Pepper! The guy who filled in for the guy who has Paul Nolan's ensemble role (the third guy to dance in "Does Your Mother Know") does not dance as well as Paul Nolan did. Sean van Beaton does the role of Eddie as a Scottish guy like Ryan Kelly and is good but Ryan Kelly was better. Sean van Beaton just doesn't do a really good "oh shite" even though he does say it. When Nicolas Dromard was Eddie, he chose to be French and when I saw Jason Murray, the understudy, he was Jamaican. Frankly, I'd like to see Nicolas Dromard in the role of Pepper. He's doing that role on tour now since Sal Scozzari (who played Pepper as an Italian) got injured.

Marisa McIntyre was okay but her voice does nothing for me. It's fair but nothing distinctive or sweet. I think she might get better with time. Julie Martell was like that. Rather though, Tina Maddigan to many people didn't have a nice voice but the tone and quality more than made up for it. Todd Hofley is a very welcome addition compared to Peter Deiwick. Adam is still the best however! What cheers me up is that Todd has the same voice quality and tone as Adam. He also tried a lot with the acting, which included gestures and blocking during "Lay All Your Love On Me" and a really spooky, blinding glare in "Under Attack", while sporting the wedding gown. With time I think he'll get better too. He needs more power to his voice. Let's see, other changes included some new orchestration for the overture and "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (the lead-in has become dreamlike, a nostalgic memory as opposed to the rant it used to be), and volume for the ensemble parts in "Money, Money, Money". Overall, this cast has great energy that will be even better in time I hope. :)

Not much more to rant about! I'm looking forward to Graham Abbey being in Snow White and the Magnificent Seven. Next season he'll be Romeo at Stratford. Yay! More Stratford 2002 news here. To end, I'll include something that made me very happy. I was leafing through the People magazine "Sexiest Man Alive" issue and saw that Ioan Gruffudd (Horatio Hornblower) was voted Sexiest Import. Something I totally agree with. So, here's the picture for your viewing pleasure. Movies I definitely recommend are: Life as a House and Harry Potter. They were wickedly awesome! Bye!