Yukking It Up (Part 2) With Singing Aliens, Political Parodies, Murder Mysteries & Therapeutic Clowns

When it comes to live entertainment, we're blessed with tremendously exciting and fun shows in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), and I've been practically bursting to share some of them with you. Especially the innovative, interstellar Youtube sensation, the acapella VOCA PEOPLE from Planet Voca, which was my absolute favourite theatrical event so far this year, bar none. 

Over the moon hanging out with the extremely talented and delightfully wacky VOCA stars, backstage at the Flato Markham Theatre

Earlier this month their spaceship crash-landed onto the stage of the lovely Flato Markham Theatre, and the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre, in St. Catherines. 

Once they discovered that Earth music is the magical elixer required to refuel their ship, they entertained audiences of all ages. These adorable aliens interacted with the audience, encouraging us to sing along, even hauling a few hapless audience members onto the stage where hilarity was in abundance.  

With my fellow earthling Robert and our intergalactic pals. As you can see, I even tried to help them 'phone home'. (Yep, an E.T. joke. heh heh)

An enormous amount of musical genres were touched upon from Classical to classics like the Beatles and Michael Jackson, to Country and Western, to hip-hop/beatbox, to goofy dance tunes like the Macarena, to my favourite silly song - What Does The Fox Say? 

 Voca People: Musical Medley

Kudos to Lior Kalfon, Creator, Producer & Artistic Director, and Shai Fishman, Composer, Musical Director & Arranger, for such an inventive production! And a special shout-out to their tour manager Adi Kozlovsky.

Adi and Joycie

Click here for the VOCA PEOPLE, NORTH AMERICAN TOUR SCHEDULE

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For two hilarious nights in September Mark Breslin's Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club showcased Dave Coulier, a/k/a Uncle Joey Gladstone of the ABC sitcom Full House. The show which ran from the late 80s to the early 90s, is best remembered for introducing the world to the future supermogul Olsen twins, Mary-Kate & Ashley. Continuing along those lines, his standup comedy act is family friendly.

Dave Coulier, back row, left, wth his Full House castmates.

Dave today

At Yuk Yuks, my galpal Renee and I had great seats kitty-corner to the stage and when Coulier bounded out from backstage, he startled me by leaning over and giving me a big hug and kiss. I have to admit, it kind of made my night - and he hadn't even hit the stage yet. 

But once he did, he kept the audience in stitches, especially when he treated us to his celebrity impressions and his cartoon voices. He's voiced several cartoons including Bob & Doug, The Muppet Babies, The Real Ghostbusters, and Robot Chicken.

Did you know he's the voice of Scooby Doo?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rob Ford the Musical had a popular run recently at The Factory Theatre, during which time our infamous Mayor Ford was unfortunately diagnosed with a rare form of Cancer. The show, a biting satire, was mildly infused with sympathetic moments.

I thought it would be interesting to bring my friend Daniel to the show. While I'm centre-left and he's far-right, we both met in the middle in our enjoyment of the show.

Thanks to writer-producer Brett McCaig for setting up the interview with actor Sheldon Davis who portrayed the Chief of Police, for my November Wisdom of the Ages column in Good News Toronto, and for the invite to the show: 

With Writer-Producer Brett McCaig

Dan with actor Sheldon Davis

Sheldon Davis and me

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My friend Iris and I recently attended the Toronto Symphony Orchestra POPS concert at Roy Thomson Hall, featuring Rajaton's Best of the Beatles. We agreed that the TSO musicians were spectacular. 

As for Rajaton, the Finnish vocal ensemble's overall performance, awkward staging, and cheesy, ill-fitting costumes were reminiscent of an old Lawrence Welk episode, hardly Beatle-worthy in this writer's opinion. The one shining exception was Essie Wuorela, (the brunette, far right in the photo), whose vocal stylings were consistently exquisite.

Finnish vocal ensemble RAJATON

To be fair, I gather that they were a huge hit last year when they toured with their platinum selling album Rajaton Sings ABBA.


After the show, TSO Principal Percussionist John Rudolph kindly gave us a tour of the Roy Thomson Hall stage. During the tour, he told us that the orchestra only had one actual rehearsal with Rajaton - although they'd received the music in advance. I don't know how unusual or how typical this is, but we were blown away by this tidbit, as the orchestra's performance, under the lively baton of conductor Steven Reineke, was flawless.

John Rudolph

John, who received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Medal, in 2012, for his service to Canada as a member of the faculty of the National Youth Orchestra, will be featured in my December Wisdom of the Ages column.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you enjoyed this double-barrelled two-part blog. There was so much stuff to share with you, it just couldn't all be contained in one!  Until next time... ciao for now. 

End part 2.

Yukking It Up (Part 1) With Singing Aliens, Political Parodies, Murder Mysteries & Therapeutic Clowns

It’s definitely time to play catch-up since August!

*September*

My Good News Toronto Cover Story

'DIZZY' WITH LAUGHTER

 Kathleen LeRoux as Dizzy & Heather Annis as Peachy with a Long Term Care Resident. Photo Credit: Alex Nirta

Professional clown artist Kathleen LeRoux and her team bring joy to vulnerable people of all ages. I first met her last year, at an Ontario Family Councils Conference, where she was a featured speaker. My friend Lucia and I couldn't resist the temptation to get silly with her as she strummed her ukelele. Kathleen's one of my personal heroes. I mean who wouldn't think the world of someone who spends their days making people 'forget their troubles and c'mon... get happy'? (Feel free to hum along, although it helps if you have a ukelele.)

Left: Kathleen LeRoux,Therapeutic Clown Artist. Centre: Lucia Rocha, Family Council Chair, Kensington Gardens Long Term Care Home. Right: Yours truly, Vice Chair, Information and Education, Kensington Gardens Family Council  

My Wisdom of the Ages Column

OH MY ACHING... EVERYTHING!

Actor Danny Wengle stars in Speakeasy at Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre, Comedian Luba Goy of the Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Yuk Yuk's Grand Poobah Mark Breslin make a living dispensing hilarity in one form or another. They each revealed how they cope with the “joys” of the aging process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*October*

My Good News Toronto Cover Story

TRANSFORMATION THROUGH CAREGIVING

A mini-version of my personal story, caring and advocating for my late mother when she developed Dementia.The original version, based on my speech as a Facilitator for the Ontario Family Councils Program can be found here: 

 THE MOST WONDERFUL SADNESS

 My Wisdom of the Ages Column

DECISIONS, DECISIONS... CARING FOR OUR AGING PARENTS 

Avonlea Actress Mag Ruffman, Elaine Loring best known as an Entertainment reporter for Global TV for 18 years, her sister Carrie Loring, a soprano with the Tafelmusik choir, and ex-wrestler Ricky (Soulman) Johnson share their experiences caring for their beloved mothers in their twilight years.

Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre, featuring Speakeasy's DANNY WENGLE

  With Danny

I recently enjoyed a night out at the Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre, and I spoke with Danny Wengle, who co-wrote and performs in their latest rollicking farce SPEAKEASY.

At Mysteriously Yours murder mysteries, there are many fun elements at play: Pre-show, Danny and the talented cast interact in character with the audience, and then post-show the audience is invited to join them for photo ops.Those celebrating an event are included IN the show, and everyone tries to figure out whodunnit, which triples the fun. Don't forget to let the box-office know if you are celebrating a birthday, an engagement, or an anniversary, etc, when booking your tickets.

Fellow cat lover, Air Farce's Luba Goy and her friend Dorothy, joined me and my pal Robert one Saturday evening in August. A lovely dinner, a carafe of wine, and a wonderfully wacky show was enjoyed by all! We were treated royally by the entire staff, especially Leslie our server who was topnotch, friendly, and utterly unflappable.

Centre/Front: My friend Robert. Second row: Actor/writer Danny Wengle, me, Luba Goy, her pal Dorothy, and the talented cast of Speakeasy.   With pals & tablemates, Dorothy, Bob, Luba

My husband Vince and I are big fans of the Mysteriously Yours venue, and over the years we've celebrated a few birthdays and annniversaries there. Fine dining and an always reliable side-splitting romp of a show, make for a winning combination. Unfortunately he had a cold that night and was unable to join us.

We also find it a big plus that they are centrally located midtown. (I remember when it was the venerable Limelight theatre.) Speakeasy is slated to run at least until the end of the year.

Previously, one of my favourite Mysteriously Yours shows was UPTOWN ABBEY, a brilliantly funny parody of the PBS program Downton Abbey. 

With the Mysteriously Yours cast of the hilarious Uptown Abbey. To the left of me: Danny Wengle (as Detective Carrumbo), and to the right of me my hubby Vinnie. Top right: Danny cracking me up after the show. Bottom right:  Danny in Drag-costume visits our table. Bottom left: During the show Danny tells the audience that Statler the Muppet (a/k/a. Vinnie) is in the house!

When I told Danny that Vinnie and I thought his Detective 'Carrumbo' in Uptown Abbey was a spot-on portrayal of the late Peter Falk's Columbo. He surprised me with this amazing annecdote:

“When I was a kid, my grandfather and all my uncles were in the movie business in distribution. My grandfather worked for Columbia Pictures, one uncle for Warner Bros, and another uncle for 20th Century Fox. So when I was a kid, they'd sneak me into all the pictures. One of my first memories was meeting The Three Stooges when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Anyhow, around 10 or 11, I became obsessed with Peter Falk." 

Danny said, "It was just before Columbo came out. I’d seen his films The Great Race, and A Pocket Full of Miracles. I created a scrapbook when I was 11 years old. And then he was on Broadway in The Prisoner of Second Avenue, with Lee Grant, in the Neil Simon play. So I convinced my parents that we had to go down there to see him on Broadway. 

“We left the book I’d made backstage for him to sign. The next night, after seeing my first Broadway show, with him in it, we went to pick up the book. They said no, we had to go with them across the stage to his dressing room. We waited half an hour and when he showed up he was so wonderful to me. He corresponded with me for months. I wrote him, and he sent me back very encouraging letters. 

"About 30 years later, he was in another play in New York City, an Arthur Miller play, Mr. Peters’ Connection. I found this out from a friend of mine who knew the stage manager. So I said I had to go back down there. I sent him a letter and he invited me backstage where he told me the entire story from 30 years before, about the time when I came backstage with the book, and about the letters. Oh my gosh, he was so terrific to me.” Danny said.

Although Danny enjoyed doing Peter Falk’s voice, he refused to do it during the years Falk was sick with dementia, and until at least a couple of years after his death. Nowadays, he says, "It's a real joy to do that after all those years. It's a chance for me to get back in touch with that 12 year old kid."

Thanks Danny for sharing your story about Peter Falk, and these wonderful photos! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


End part 1.