Feb 18 - Mar 7, 2009
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| "All Of You", 'I Love Paris", "Stereophonic Sound", "Paris Loves Lovers" Music & Lyrics by COLE PORTER Book by George S. Kaufman, Leueen MacGrath and Abe Burrows |
| Designed & Directed by Choreography by Lighting by Costumes Production Stage Manager |
| CAST |
DAVID HAINES
STEPHANIE DOUGLAS
ASHLEY GIBSON
KEVIN MALCOLM
LARRY GIBBS
ANDREW BYRNE
PETER LOUCAS
JACK LY
SUSAN SANDERS
ERIC BOTOSAN
STEPHANIE DOUGLAS
ASHLEY GIBSON
KEVIN MALCOLM
LARRY GIBBS
ANDREW BYRNE
PETER LOUCAS
JACK LY
SUSAN SANDERS
ERIC BOTOSAN
| Steven Canfield Ninotchka Yoschenko Janice Dayton Peter Illyitch Boroff Bibinski Brankov Ivanov Pierre, the bellhop Suzette/Sabina/Sheri/Sonia Commissar Markovitch |
Silk Stockings
February 28, 2009
Theatre review by Mark Andrew Lawrence
Leave it to Joe Cascone and the Civic Light Opera Company to bring about the first Toronto production of Cole
Porter’s final musical, Silk Stockings.
This musical version of the classic Greta Garbo film comedy Ninotchka premiered on Broadway 54 years ago this
week following a torturous pre-Broadway road tour. The script had been hastily patched together and it showed.
Cascone has skillfully smoothed over the rough spots, trimming the show to a tight two hours, and replacing the
lugubrious (not to mention sexist) “Without Love” with the better-known and far more effective “I Love Paris.”
The musical is set in the Paris of 1955 and tells of an American agent who engineers a deal to use the music of
Russian composer Peter Boroff in a film adaptation of War and Peace. Russia sends three commissars to retrieve
the composer, and when the Parisian lifestyle seduces them, the Kremlin sends its top gun, Comrade Nina
Yoschenko.
David Haines plays the brash American agent Steven Canfield. Whether romancing the stern Ninotchka or trading
barbs with the waterlogged movie actress Janice Dayton, he is full of cocky self-confidence that never crosses the
line to smugness.
As the object of his affection, Stephanie Douglas ignites sparks with her portrayal of the strict Russian envoy who
eventually succumbs to Canfield’s charms. Her sudden appearance in a stunning red gown, designed by Sheila
Lacasse, drew appreciative gasps from the audience.
Sass is provided courtesy of Ashley Gibson’s performance as Janice Dayton, the former swimming star who
wants the lead in War and Peace, even though she doesn’t know who Tolstoy is. The travesty she makes out of
Boroff’s “Ode to a tractor” reduces Kevin Malcolm, who plays Boroff, to gasping spasms of horror.
The original production had a cast of 50. This version has been streamlined for a cast of 10, which affords Susan
Sanders a series of amusing cameos including a hotel maid, a news reporter and a dress designer. She also plays
the girlfriend of Markovitch, the Soviet Commissar of Art and Culture, played by Eric Botosan. Jack Ly rounds out
the cast as the efficient room steward, Pierre.
Cole Porter has provided an enjoyable collection of songs, and while Silk Stockings is not an all-time Broadway
classic, it is light entertainment, and that is really all that a successful Broadway musical of the 1950s had to be.
February 28, 2009
Theatre review by Mark Andrew Lawrence
Leave it to Joe Cascone and the Civic Light Opera Company to bring about the first Toronto production of Cole
Porter’s final musical, Silk Stockings.
This musical version of the classic Greta Garbo film comedy Ninotchka premiered on Broadway 54 years ago this
week following a torturous pre-Broadway road tour. The script had been hastily patched together and it showed.
Cascone has skillfully smoothed over the rough spots, trimming the show to a tight two hours, and replacing the
lugubrious (not to mention sexist) “Without Love” with the better-known and far more effective “I Love Paris.”
The musical is set in the Paris of 1955 and tells of an American agent who engineers a deal to use the music of
Russian composer Peter Boroff in a film adaptation of War and Peace. Russia sends three commissars to retrieve
the composer, and when the Parisian lifestyle seduces them, the Kremlin sends its top gun, Comrade Nina
Yoschenko.
David Haines plays the brash American agent Steven Canfield. Whether romancing the stern Ninotchka or trading
barbs with the waterlogged movie actress Janice Dayton, he is full of cocky self-confidence that never crosses the
line to smugness.
As the object of his affection, Stephanie Douglas ignites sparks with her portrayal of the strict Russian envoy who
eventually succumbs to Canfield’s charms. Her sudden appearance in a stunning red gown, designed by Sheila
Lacasse, drew appreciative gasps from the audience.
Sass is provided courtesy of Ashley Gibson’s performance as Janice Dayton, the former swimming star who
wants the lead in War and Peace, even though she doesn’t know who Tolstoy is. The travesty she makes out of
Boroff’s “Ode to a tractor” reduces Kevin Malcolm, who plays Boroff, to gasping spasms of horror.
The original production had a cast of 50. This version has been streamlined for a cast of 10, which affords Susan
Sanders a series of amusing cameos including a hotel maid, a news reporter and a dress designer. She also plays
the girlfriend of Markovitch, the Soviet Commissar of Art and Culture, played by Eric Botosan. Jack Ly rounds out
the cast as the efficient room steward, Pierre.
Cole Porter has provided an enjoyable collection of songs, and while Silk Stockings is not an all-time Broadway
classic, it is light entertainment, and that is really all that a successful Broadway musical of the 1950s had to be.
