Tag Archives: Stratford

Natalie Daradich: Actor

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Natalie Daradich, wicked, stratford festival, man of la mancha, crazy for you Natalie Daradich is a Canadian actor who received great reviews for her performance as Glinda in the U.S. touring company of “Wicked.”

Natalie is currently appearing at The Stratford Festival in “Crazy For You” and “The Beaux’ Stratagem.”

In his review of “Crazy For You,” the Toronto Star’s Richard Ouzounian wrote “Natalie Daradich is truly channelling the young Judy Garland throughout and that’s a very good thing, because it means open-hearted emotion, a prairie-wide smile, a voice that belts its way into your heart and a combination of sweetness and sexiness that’s irresistible.”

This is Natalie’s debut season at The Stratford Festival. Check out the spectacular dancing and music in this promo video for “Crazy For You.”

Natalie and I discuss her journey to success. It all began at Newtonbrook Secondary School in Toronto. After the drama teacher pointed out Natalie’s natural talent, Natalie enrolled at Sheridan college. Prior to attending Sheridan, Natalie had no formal dance training. She gives a shout out to the dance instructor at Sheridan, who gave her the confidence to excel in dance class.

Thanks to the folks below who submitted questions on Twitter. Natalie was grateful for the questions and took the time to respond to them all on the podcast.
Natalie Daradich, interview, podcast, stratford festival, man of la mancha, wtitter, crazy for you

Follow Natalie on Twitter.
Once the shows have opened check out reviews for “Crazy For You” and The Beaux’ Stratagem.”

My thanks to The Stratford Festival and Revel Cafe for their help with this interview.

Keith tomasek, theatre geeks,In this episode I give a shout to to the Theatre Geeks Podcast, who kindly me invited me to appear on their podcast last week. Broadway World called “Theatre Geeks” one of the top theatre podcasts, so give it a listen.

Jay Brazeau: Actor

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Jay Brazeau interview, stargate Atlantis, The Big Snit

How many people can say they’ve worked with Mordecai Richler and Pattie Mallette, Justin Bieber’s mother?

They are just two of the people who’ve worked with Jay Brazeau.

Jay’s an accomplished stage and film actor, with a long list of credits. He’s appeared in numerous TV shows but fantasy-action fans recognize him from his appearances on “Stargate Atlantis.”

Mordecai Richler cast Brazeau in “Duddy,” a musical based on Richler’s “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.”

He’s won a Pittsburgh Press Critic’s Award for his performance as Cyrano and critical acclaim for his portrayal of Edna Turnblad in the Toronto and Vancouver productions of “Hairspray.”

We talk about all of the above, but I was particularly interested in Jay’s work with the creative, animated film makers in Winnipeg. Jay was the male voice in animated short film “The Big Snit,” which was nom­i­nated for an Oscar award and voted num­ber 25 of the 50 Great­est Car­toons of all time by ani­ma­tion professionals.

The Big Snit by Richard Condie, National Film Board of Canada

Links in the Show
Stargate Atlantis
Rick Chafe

Chris Abraham: Director

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Chris Abraham Chris Abraham is the Artistic Director of Crow’s Theatre.

Update
Since recording this interview Chris was awarded Canada’s highest honor in theatre: The $100,000 Eli­nore and Lou Simi­novitch Prize. Read my coverage of the event featuring Rick Miller and Louise Pitre, HERE.

Chris is an award winning theatre and film director, dramaturg and teacher who has worked with Canada’s foremost artists and theatres.

In the podcast we discuss some of his directorial choices, including his work on “Seeds” a documentary about the legal battle between a Saskatchewan farmer and Monsanto, which is “coming soon to a theatre near you” if you live near Montreal, Calgary or Ottawa.

I’m a big fan of his work at The Stratford Festival. His work there has been consistently solid. We discuss his plans for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2014 at The Stratford Festival.

Finally we get into his background. Chris didn’t come from a theatre family but by age 14 he knew he wanted to be a director.

Links From The Show

Crow’s Theatre

National Theatre School of Canada Directing Program

Porte Parole

Canadian Stage

The Stratford Festival