By Sarah B. Hood THE SECOND HALF OF JUNE IS AN UNOFFICIAL MINI-FESTIVAL of new music works, with two significant shows opening on <strong>June</strong> 14 and 21. First, the Queen of Puddings Music Theatre Company presents Echoes at St. George the Martyr Church from <strong>June</strong> 14 to 17. The company that created Sirens!Sirenes has created a musical tapestry of music and poetry in English, French and Estonian, sung by sopranos Jane Archibald and Tamara Hummel with pianist John Hess. The piece knits together music of many composers: Canada's Harry , Somers and Juhan Puhm; Germany's Manfred Trojahn,, Hungary's Gyorgy Ligeti, Estonia's Veljo Tormis and American Morton Feldman. As with Sirens!Sirenes, the company has called upon choreographer Marie-Josee Chartier to bring a much stronger movement element into the piece than is noirnally expected in operatic performance. (And, incidentally, they've chosen a wonderful and too-little-known venue that featUres one of this city's most serene courtyard gardens.) IT'S BEEN SEEN IN ENGLAND, FRANCE AND Theatre MONTREAL, and now Toronto gets to see Autumn Leaf Performance's production of Claude Vivier's Kopemikus. This international production premiered at the Banff Summer Festival, then toured to the · Musica Festival (Strasbourg, France) and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in England. Most recently it made up part of the season for L'Opera de Montreal. Kopernikus has an international creative team, and even its composer is an international figure: Vivier was a Canadian who travelled the world and eventually settled in France. He was murdered in 1983 at the age of34, but he has become the most performed of Canadian-born composers. The piece is "not a . narrative work; it doesn't tell a 18 wholenote JuNE 1, <strong>2001</strong> - JuLv 7, <strong>2001</strong> Music THEATRE SPOTLIGHT New Music Works Highl·ight a Busy Month . . Vivier's Kopemikus st9ry," says Autumn Leaf artistic Theatre received an Outstanding producer Thom Sokoloski. "It's New Musical nomination for The ·not nationalistic in any way or Crimson Veil, and Tarragon's form," he adds. "I think what Midnight Sun was nominated for this piece is is a clear Outstanding Musfoal Direction. manifestation of this particular • If you've always wanted to artist's mind. It's a story of one be in the audience for one of woman's transformation into these gala events, it might . becoming a different kind of surprise you to know that tickets woman. She realizes that one is are only $45 for the show and the not part of the universe; one is post-show party. There are also the universe." "Star Patron" tickets ($150), Sokoloski was intimately which include various other involved with many of R. Murray perqs, like a pre-show reception Schafer's ritualistic music dramas and a tax receipt. To find out in unusual settings (like Ra and more, call 416-872-2222 (regular Princess of the Stars) . Perhaps tickets) or 416-536-6468, ext. 25 it's not surprising that this work, (Star Patrons). to which he has devoted so much JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED time and effort over the past five THE NEWS, Ed and David years, also has elements of what Mirvish announced earlier this he describes as "a ritual of spring that they will take over death"· Kopemikus runs from operation of the Pantages Theatre <strong>June</strong> 21 to 23 at the MacMillan as of September 1. They'll be leasing from SFX Theatrical THE 22ND ANNUAL DORA Group, which has been running MA VOR MOORE AW ARDS the plush Yonge Street venue will be handed out at the Pantages since the closing of the long- Theatre on <strong>June</strong> 25, and running Phantom. The elaborate nominees were announced on theatre was built in 1929 and May 18. As always since opera refurbished in 1989. The deal has become eligible, the seems to be very good news for Canadian Opera Company is music theatre fans, since the well represented with seven Mirvishes have certainly proved · nominations for Billy Budd and themselves more than capable of two each for The Bartered Bride managing and maintaining lovely and Venus and Adonis. Other theatres new and old. leading music theatre nominees Meanwhile Mirvish include Mirvish Productions' dominates Toronto's large-scale Mamma Mia!, with eleven, and musical scene: The Lion King Tapestry new opera works' continues its "run at ihe Princess recent production of Iron Road, of Wales; Mamma Mia! is still with nine. Cai:iStage garnered selling out the Royal Alex; The four for' Outrageous and three for Full Monty has installed itself at Larry's Party, while Buddies in the Elgin, while upstairs at the Bad Times received three Winter Garden The Drowsy nominations for When We Were Chaperone joins it on <strong>June</strong> 7. · Singing. Finally, Factory Looking ahead to next season, the Mirvishes are promising Saturday Night Fever, which one guesses will be the first Mirvish show at the Pantages in September; Peggy Sue Got Married, a musical based on the Kathleen Turner/Nicholas . Cage movie (May/<strong>June</strong> 2002) and BI.AST!, which features "seventy dancing musicians" (<strong>June</strong> 2002). QUICK PICKS If you 're heading out of town this summer, you may want to drop in at the Stratford Festival for The Sound of Music, or the Shaw Festival in Niagara-On-the-Lake, where Drood is the musical on offer from May 25 to October 27. In this Rupert Holmes show the denizens of a music hall act out the first half of Charles Dickens' unfinished The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and ask the audience to finish the story. Drood runs at the Royal George Theatre. "It fits , perfectly in this setting. It's like' a little music hall," comments the show's director Dennis Garnhum. THERE'S ALSO A WEALTH of music theatre across southern Ontario in the dozens of theatres that are members of ASTRO (the Association of Summer Theatres Around Ontario). Some <strong>June</strong> offerings that leap to the eye are Paul Ledoux and David Young's Fire (<strong>June</strong> 23 to July 21) at Bluewater Summer Playhouse, Kincardine; Minerva, "a heartwarming Canadian musical", (Canada Day weekend) at Picton's Regent Theatre, and Indian Heart, "the story of Grey Owl" (<strong>June</strong> 19 to August 25) at North Bay's Nipissing Stage Company. Many of these theatres are housed in beautifully refitted old buildings. You can find out more at · www .summertheatre.org. FINALLY, unless you have young kids around the house, you probably won't know popular tUrtle character Fraructin, hero of a book series and star of a Nelvana animated series. If you do know of his career, you'll be pleased to hear he's coming to town in the musical Franklin's Big Adventure, which runs at the Hummingbird Centre from <strong>June</strong> 14 to 17.
All The King's Voices/TrypTych Productions. Puccini: Tosca. In concert. Catherine Tait, soprano; Danijel Varga, tenor; Seong Hyun Chun, baritone & other performers; William Shookhoff, mu.si~ director & accompanist; David King, chorus director. <strong>June</strong> 2: 8:00. Willowdale United Church, 349 Kenneth Ave. 416-225-2255. $20,$15. Autumn leaf Perfomance. i
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