Risqué at the Rivoli 2026

The latest edition of Opera Revue’s Risqué at the Rivoli happened on Saturday night.  There was Mozart and Weill and Bizet and show tunes and lots more.  And of course there was burlesque; which was really the point.  The show featured singers Alex Hajek, Danie Friesen and Maddy Cooper (@kissthknee) with Claire Elise Harris at the keyboards. Also performing in various states of dress and undress were A’Slayna von Hunt (@aslaynavon), Jamaica (@jamaicafraser), Lacy Jane (@lacyjaneburlesque), Tuckker (@matteldracher #TUCKKER) and Magz (@magzviolet).

It is, of course, excellent fun to see Zerlina (Danie) put a collar and leash on a very willing Don G (Alex) and while it might have been amusing to see Danie tied to a bedpost and spanked, alas, she only sang about it. But really it’s a show that’s very much about the bulesque performers and that’s pretty visual.  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words so there’s thirty thousand or so’s worth below the cut. But, be aware, definitely not safe for work!

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GentleFreak’s Slaying My Demon Lover

I’ve been complaining fior ages that the sort of curated artsong concert by young singers disappeared with COVID.  Monday night gave me cause for hope.  The first concert in Tapestry Opera’s Free Underground Concert series was given on Monday evening by a new initiative called GentleFreak.  It’s led by Danika Lorèn who has form in this area.

Slaying My Demon Lover is a concept by Daevyd Pepper and consists of readings and music around the idea of loss or break up (romantic or otherwise).  Monday’s show was a cut down version of the whole thing which can be seen on the evening of the 15th at Arrayspace (tickets here).  It’s very varied with some very lyrical pieces like Hahn’s L’heure exquise (sung beautifully by Queen Hezumuryango) and much mor abrasive material like Weill’s Je ne t’aime pas (sung forcefully by Reilly Nelson).  There was musical theatre material on the same theme; for example Sondheim’s Losing My Mind (Danika) and some weirder or more playful numbers like George Aperghis Récitation 14 (Danika) and Vernon/Ivor’s 715 CRΣΣKS sung into the piano by Daevyd.  Accompaniment throughout was by Claire Harris on piano.  Bottom line it all worked and came together to make a most satisfying and very welcome show.

Tapestry’s Free Underground Concerts programme runs on selected Monday evenings from 6pm to 7pm at the Nancy and Ed Jackman Performance Centre.  Next up on the 23rd is a preview concert of Kevin Wong’s new musical In Real Life.

Opera Revue (alcohol free edition)

Regular readers will know that I’ve seen my fair share of shows by Opera Revue but pretty much always in a bar or pub and as the band always says “The more you drink, the better we sound”.  Thus it was with some trepidation that I went to see them in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre on Wednesday.  It was the core gang; Danie Friesen, Alex Hajek, Claire Harris.  No ringers (except for the person who forgot to turn off their phone).

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A whip and a big black dildo

Jeremy O. Harris’ Slave Play opened at Canadian Stage’s Berkeley Street Theatre on Wednesday night.  The TL:DR version of this review is that it’s raunchy, extremely funny and rather disturbing.  The more considered version contains spoilers so you might want to stop here if you are planning to see it soon.

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Free pizza!

German food conglomerate Dr. Oetker are promoting their new up-market frozen pizza offering, Suprema, in a unique way. They have commissioned a 15 minute opera called, unsurprisingly, Suprema from the good people at Opera Revue.  It’s a jolly romp about a sculptor (Danie Friesen) whose creation (Alex Hajek) comes to life and gets hooked on pizza.  Accompaniment is by Claire Harris on piano and pre-recorded strings (Drew Jurecka).  It’s short, well executed and fun.

It’s free, you don’t need a ticket and there is rather good free pizza after each show.  It’s playing in the TD Music Hall (i.e upstairs at Massey Hall).  There are three shows this afternoon and a bunch next weekend.  Times and so forth here.

Photo credit: Darryl Edwards

Back to Castro’s… again

It’s been a while since I’ve been to a regular Opera Revue show and they were playing my favourite of their regular venues; Castro’s yesterday.  Also, besides the usual gang of Alex Hajek, Dani Friesen and Claire Harris there was Alex Hetherington, so I went.  I had a great time.  It was classic Operas Revue; some arias, some music theatre, Kurt Weill and a couple of parodies.  And Alex H.  Boy does she sound loud in a small space like Castro’s!  Plus this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear her sing the Countess from Marriage of Figaro (which will surely lead to expulsion from the Mezzos Guild).

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For a’ that

There can be few poets whose work resonates as widely as that of the Ayrshire ploughboy and philanderer Robert Burns.  His influence has been felt from Bengal to Massachusetts and beyond.  Celebrating that influence was the the point of Confluence Concerts’ Robert Burns – A Passion for Freedom curated by Alison Mackay which played at Heliconian Hall on Friday and Saturday evenings.

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Raining, cats and dogs

The Redwood Theatre was packed on a wet Sunday evening for the latest gala from Opera Revue.  This time the theme was circus with guests Kalen Davidson juggling and setting things on fire, Haley Shannon on aerial silks, Ambur Braid doing Ambur things and Walter Bowen Braid jumping through hoops.  The usual gang; Danie Friesen, Alex Hajek and Claire Elise-Harris were of course also clowning it.

Circus Alex and Danie Here comes the pie

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A rather different Opera Revue show

82448A99-7CBC-4566-B525-35743D468953-1Opera Revue teamed up with Opera Atelier for a show called Trills, Chills and Thrills at the Redwood Theatre on Sunday evening.  The usual gang of Danie Friesen, Alex Hajek and Claire Harris were joined by tenor Ben Done and mezzo Kathryn Rose Johnston for a programme of opera arias and musical theatre numbers that (sort of) turned the plot of Handel’s Acis and Galatea (OA’s upcoming show) into a murder mystery.

There was music on spooky themes by Britten (Turn of the Screw), Schubert, Handel (of course), Corigliano (Ghosts of Versailles), Lloyd Webber (Phantom, natch), Verdi and more.  It was glued together by a narrative in which the mermaid/nymph Galatea is murdered and despite being turned into sushi her ghost returns to wreak its revenge.  And there was one of the dances from Acis and Galatea (Julia Sedwick and Eric da Silva). Continue reading