Tag Archives: Robert Lepage

The Far Side of the Moon takes us into Robert Lepage

Posted on November 2, 2025 by barczablog

If you are a fan of theatrical presentations, brilliant design and innovative stage techniques you must get a ticket to see Far Side of the Moon by Robert Lepage / Ex Machina at the Bluma Appel Theatre until November 16th. … Continue reading →

Posted in Dance, theatre & musicals, Reviews | Tagged Bluma Appel Theatre, Ex Machina, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Laurie Anderson, Olivier Normand, Robert Lepage, space elevator, space flight, The Far Side of the Moon | 4 Comments

COC’s highly original Roméo et Juliette

Posted on October 6, 2025 by barczablog

It might be the best-known of all Shakespeare stories, the star-crossed lovers, dying young for love. Romeo and Juliet becomes Roméo et Juliette when a French composer such as Charles Gounod (1867) is telling the story in music. The rental … Continue reading →

Posted in Opera, Reviews | Tagged Alex Hetherington, Amy Lane, Canadian Opera Company, Charles Gounod, Gordon Bintner, Jules Barbier, Kseniia Proshina, Megan Latham, Michel Carré, music, opera, Owen McCausland, Robert Lepage, Robert Pomakov, Roméo et Juliette, Romeo and Juliet, Sandra Horst, Stephen Costello, surtitles, theatre, Yves Abel | 2 Comments

Robert Lepage’s Macbeth at Stratford

Posted on September 6, 2025 by barczablog

Bruce asked me whether the Scottish play is worth seeing. I had seen it from the front row, able to see every detail of the complex presentation in the Avon Theatre, less Shakespeare’s immortal play than Robert Lepage’s Macbeth. YMMV … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Reviews | Tagged 887, Avon Theatre, Bertold Brecht, Bluebeard's Castle, Canadian Opera Company, Eonnagata, erwartung, Ex Machina, Gesamtkunstwerk, John Gzowski, Lucy Peacock, Macbeth, Needles and Opium, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Stratford Festival, The Tempest, Tom McCamus, Verfremdungseffekt, William Shakespeare, YMMV | 2 Comments

Faust Adaptations

Posted on November 4, 2024 by barczablog

Today I saw the closing performance of the Canadian Opera Company’s new production of Gounod’s Faust, in a week when it seemed everyone was selling their soul to the devil even without the manifest falsehoods of politicians at election time. … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays | Tagged Ariane Cossette, Canadian Opera Company, Centre Stage, Cesare Siepi, Charles Gounod, F W Murnau, Faust, Franz Schubert, Gretchen am Spinnrade, Hector Berlioz, Jerome Hines, Jessica Harper, Johannes Debus, Kyle Ketelsen, La Damnation de Faust, Nabucco, Paul WIlliams, Phantom of the Paradise, Robert Lepage, Szymon Mechlinski, Walpurgisnacht Ballet | Leave a comment

Adam Klein reflects on his operatic career (part 2): Peter Gelb, Robert Lepage and more

Posted on January 6, 2024 by barczablog

The reason I interviewed Adam Klein is interest: in his career, his opinions, and anything I might learn. I am a fan. Adam sang in the Lepage Ring, has been in a lot of shows at the Metropolitan Opera and elsewhere. … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adam Klein, agism, Benjamin Zander, Das Rheingold, Gandhi, Leonardo da Vinci, Little Match Girl, Loge, lookism, Mark Down, Metropolitan Opera, Metropolitan Opera High Definition Broadcast, Peter Gelb, Phelim Mc Dermott, Richard Fredericks, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Satyagraha, The Nose, William Kentridge, Yaryshkin | 4 Comments

Adam Klein reflects on the beginning of his operatic career

Posted on January 2, 2024 by barczablog

How do we begin? It’s a good question to ask on January 1st. I am a big fan of tenor Adam Klein. I saw him play Loge in the Robert Lepage production of Das Rheingold, just about the only singer who … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Interviews, Opera | Tagged Adam Klein, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Claude Debussy, Das Rheingold, David Fallis, David Wright, Eric Solstein, Gene Boucher, Harold C Schonberg, Judith Blegen, Louis Quilico, Maurice Maeterlinck, Metropolitan Opera, Patricia Windrow, Paul-Émile Débert, Pelléas et Mélisande, Robert Lepage, Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Stewart, Winterreise | Leave a comment

The Master Plan, Toronto vs Google

Posted on September 14, 2023 by barczablog

Crow’s Theatre opened The Master Plan tonight, the world premiere of Michael Healey’s adaptation of Josh O’Kane’s book Sideways: the city Google couldn’t buy. Directed by Chris Abraham featuring a powerful ensemble cast this is the most fun I’ve had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books & Literature, Dance, theatre & musicals | Tagged Amelia Scott, Ben Carlson, Bill Denning, Chris Abraham, CNN, Crow's Theatre, Dan Doctoroff, Google, Jennifer Keesmaat, Josh O'Kane, Joshua Quinlan, Michael Healey, Mike Shara, Peter Fernandes, Peter Hinton, Philippa Domville, Robert Lepage, saturday night live, Sideways, Tara Nicodemo, The Master Plan, Yanna McIntosh | 2 Comments

Questions for Marilyn Gronsdal

Posted on September 27, 2022 by barczablog

Marilyn Gronsdal is an opera director whose work we’ve seen with the Canadian Opera Company, reviving productions premiered in earlier seasons. In 2019 the COC brought back Atom Egoyan’s 2015 Cosi fan tutte. I liked that 2019 version much better … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Opera | Tagged Canadian Opera Company, Christopher Alden, Four Seasons Centre, Marilyn Gronsdal, Robert Lepage, The Flying Dutchman | Leave a comment

SFO Rheingold

Posted on March 8, 2021 by barczablog

As I ponder the future of streaming performances & concerts, I’m checking out Wagner’s Ring Cycle as produced by the San Francisco Opera in 2018 in their co-production with the Washington Opera. If you go to https://sfopera.com/opera-is-on/ you choose between … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Cinema, video & DVDs, Opera, Reviews | Tagged Andrea Silvetrelli, Das Rheingold, Falk Struckmann, Francesca Zambello, Greet Grimsley, Jamie Barton, Julie Adams, Les Troyens, Patrice Chereau, Richard Wagner, Robert Lepage, Ronnita Miller, Stegan Margita | Leave a comment

Lepage’s Coriolanus: a video sandwich

Posted on May 1, 2020 by barczablog

There’s a particular magic to live theatre that you can almost glimpse in an online transmission, but it’s not really the same, not quite so magical. When I see Coriolanus get into a car onstage that seems to drive into … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Architecture & Design, Cinema, video & DVDs, Dance, theatre & musicals, Opera, Personal ruminations & essays, Politics, Reviews | Tagged 887, Andre Sills, Coriolanus, Graham Abbey, Lucy Peacock, Robert Lepage, Shakespeare, Stratford Festival, video sandwich | Leave a comment