Last year when I wrote about all the shows I had seen, I set forth a two part goal. I wanted to achieve balance in my hobbies and I wanted to end the year with no regrets in regards to my theatre viewing.
Now here we are at the end of the year and even though I saw more shows than ever I’d say I did do better in finding balance. Part of the reason that makes sense is that instead of stage managing all year I spent 5 months working for the Vancouver Fringe. For the most part it was a day job which left my evenings free to see some awesome theatre.
But I do have a handful of shows that I regret not seeing. I missed the work of the guys at Main Street Theatre for the second year in a row. I missed Death of a Salesman at the Playhouse. I didn’t go see Ride the Cyclone more than once. I didn’t see Wonderheads during the Fringe (but lucky for me they won an award and will be at the Cultch next year!). I missed Wicked Shorts.
For the first time in a couple of years, my list is entirely West Coast – I didn’t make it out to Edmonton or Toronto this year, which I regret, but I’m looking forward to more travel in the coming year – including my first ever trip to Europe!
Here they are – the 155 performances I attended in 2011, in something close to chronological order.
La Marea at the PuSh Festival. Photo by Flickr user jmv
- Wee Tube (Theatre Replacement)
- La Marea (Boca Del Lupo/PuSh Festival/Mariano Pensotti)
- The Pavillion (Osimous Theatre/Firehall Theatre)
- Iqualit (Berlin/PuSh Festival)
- Circa (Circa/UBC/PuSh Festival)
- 100% Vancouver (PuSh Festival/Rimini Protokoll/Theatre Replacement)
- Tuesdays With Morrie (Gallery 7 Theatre)
- Dead Man’s Cell Phone (UBC)
- Floating (Hugh Hughes/Arts Club/PuSh Festival)
- Bonanza (Berlin/PuSh Festival)
- Whale (Boca del Lupo/Kyle Jesperson)
- Gloria’s Cause (Club PuSh/Donya Hansen)
- City of Dreams (Roundhouse/PuSh Festival/Peter Reder)
- My Name is Asher Lev (Pacific Theatre)
- Hard Core Logo: Live (November Theatre/Touchstone Theatre/Theatre Network/PuSh Festival)
- Avenue Q (Touring Broadway Production)
- August: Osage County (Arts Club)
- Peter Panties (The Cultch/PuSh Festival/Leaky Heaven/Neworld)
- Clemenzia di Tito (Vancouver Opera)
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Blackbird/Arts Club)
- Nocturne (20 Something Theatre)
- The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Fighting Chance Productions)
- Swimmy, Frederick & Inch by Inch (Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia)
- Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Glass City Theatre)
- Quiet in the Land (Gallery 7)
- Cinderella (Vancouver Opera in Schools)
- Wild Honey (UBC)
- Cinderella (Exit 22 at Capilano University)
- Chairs (Itsazoo)
- The Philanderer (Arts Club)
- 1984 (Virtual Stage/Studio 58 at the Cultch)
- Evelyn Strange (StairCaseXI)
- The Last 15 Seconds (MT Space Theatre/Firehall Arts Centre)
The Last 15 Seconds at the Firehall. Photo from http://bikesbirdsnbeasts.blogspot.com/
- Under The Influence Cabaret (20 Something)
- The Bacche (TWU)
- Another Home Invasion (Arts Club/Tarragon)
- Jake’s Gift (PT/Juno Productions)
- The Forbidden Phoenix (Gateway Theatre)
- Rosmershom (United Players)
- Letters from a Soldier; My Name is Aslam (Stones Throw Productions)
- The Trespassers (Vancouver Playhouse/Belfry)
- Ballet BC’s 25th Anniversary (Ballet BC)
- Scared Scriptless (Vancouver Theatresports League)
- Dress Me Up In Your Love (Theatre Replacement)
- The Graduate (Arts Club)
- The Wiz (Fighting Chance)
- My Funny Valentine (Zee Zee Theatre)
- Tape (Alley Theatre)
- Side Show (Pacific Theatre)
- Mambo Italiano (Firehall/WCT)
- Prodigals (20-Something Theatre)
- Love/Stories (Kineticism)
- Beautiful Problems (Radix Theatre)
- The Great Divorce (Pacific Theatre)
Pacific Theatre's "The Great Divorce" Photo provided.
- Eurydice (Secretly Women)
- Macbeth: Nacht Shakespeare (Theatre Conspiracy)
- Hairspray (Arts Club theatre)
- What we leave behind (Lamondance)
- Community Dinner (Rumble Productions)
- Wicked (Broadway Across Canada)
- A guide to Mourning (Genus/Enlightenment Theatre)
- Merchant of Venice (Bard)
- A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline (Arts Club)
- BridgeMix (Itsazoo)
- Matchmaker (Gallery 7)
- Verona Project (Stones Throw)
- Bash: Latter Day Plays (Hardlines Theatre)
- Bye Bye Birdie (TUTS Vancouver)
- The Casino/The Disappearing (Stones Throw)
- Party This Weekend (The House Party Collective)
- Project X (Faust) (Leaky Heaven Circus)
- Other Side Through You (Cat Main)
- Visitors (Walking Fish 2011)
- At First I Thought It Was (Walking Fish 2011)
- Armed (Walking Fish 2011)
- The Gas Heart (Gas heart Theatre)
- Homecoming King
- Chairs (Itsazoo) (The revised version)
- My Pregnant Brother (Freestanding Productins)
- Compassion for Killers (Whirlwind Productions)
- Anything Goes (TUTS Vancouver)
Anything Goes at TUTS. Photo credit unknown.
- Troika and The Troubles (Some of the New Bees/Resounding Scream)
- Flop! A one man musical (New Hands Theatre)
- Bare: a pop opera (Fighting Chance)
- When I Was (Les Petite Taquines)
- Richard III (Bard on the Beach)
- Kunst Rock (Die Roten Punkte/The Cultch)
- Sea of Sand (The Only Animal)
- As You Like It (Bard on the Beach)
- Cativo (Hardline Productions)
- Tough (20-Something Theatre)
- The Selkie Wife
- Trouble in Tahiti (VanCoCo)
- Archy & Mehitable
- Yum/Yuck
- Oh That Wily Snake!
- Jigsaw
- The Sparrow and the Mouse
- Phone Whore
- Screaming Silently
- wreckage
Nita Bowerman's Fringe show "wreckage". Photo by Brendan Albano.
- This is Cancer
- Jesus In Montana
- Short & Sweet
- The Progressive Polygamists
- The Animal Show
- Rove
- Stay Away from my Boat, @$$hole (ItsaZoo/Vancouver Fringe)
- The Razzle Tassel Tease Show
- Lost in Place
- Duck Off
- Fruitcake
- The Mystery of the Hungry Heart Hotel (Peter ‘n’ Chris/Vancouver Fringe)
- Smile (Awkward Stage Productions/Vancouver Fringe)
- Tinfoil Dinosaur
- The Other Side
- Houdini’s Last Escape (Monster Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
- Night of the B Movie
- The Devil & Billy Markham
- Giant Invisible Robot
- Sally Lives Here
- Mr. Kinski’s Cabaret of Bullshit (Vancouver Fringe)
- Acrobatic Daredevils
The Acrobatic Daredevils at the Fringe. Photo by flickr user arianec
- Oh My God (Delinquent Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
- Fortunate Son
- Willow’s Walk: Ripples in Time
- Arnie the Carnie’s House of Fun
- Next To Normal (Arts Club Theatre)
- Tuesdays with Morrie (Gallery 7 at Pacific Theatre) (The Remount)
- National Ballet of Canada’s 60th Anniversary Tour (National Ballet/Ballet BC)
- Little Orange Man (Snafu Dance Theatre/Vancouver Fringe)
- The Light in the Piazza (Patrick Street Productions)
- Circle Mirror Transformation (Arts Club Theatre)
- Ride the Cyclone (Atomic Vaudville)
- True Love Lies (Touchstone Theatre at the Cultch)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum (Fighting Chance Productions)
- Visions of Vancouver (Pi Theatre)
- Love Lies Bleeding (Alberta Ballet)
- West Side Story (Vancouver Opera)
- Romeo and Juliet (TWU)
- 50 Words (Mitch & Murray Equity Coop)
- Falling in Time (Screaming Weenie)
- Vimy (Firehall Arts Centre)
- The Outsiders (Gallery 7 Theatre)
- Penny Plain (Ronnie Burkett)
- Mary’s Wedding (Gateway)
- Blood Brothers (Arts Club)
- The Patron Saint of Stanley Park (Arts Club Theatre)
- A Christmas Carol (Pacific Theatre)
- La Cage aux Folles (Playhouse Theatre)
The wonderful Greg Armstrong Morris in La Cage aux Folles. Photo provided.
- Hotel Bethlehem (Ruby Slippers Theatre)
- Sound of Music (Gateway Theatre)
- Christmas Carol Project (Brass Monkey Productions at the Cultch)
- The Gift Horse (Caravan Farm Theatre)
- Christmas Presence (Pacific Theatre)
I am already excited about what is to come in 2012. My first booking of the year is for Blackbird Theatre’s Waiting for Godot.