Canon Theatre
Closed December 31st, 2006
By Gabrielle Charron-Merritt
Posted January 14th, 2007
After the flop formerly know as Lord of the Rings, I started to wonder if Toronto was fit to host any musical. Performances of such extravagance just don’t rile up Torontonians — or even our tourists — anymore. LOTR’s epic proportions failed miserably to excite anyone who had seen the films, and the Blue Man Group, pipes and all, just got canned from the Panasonic Theatre on Yonge Street.
As a comeback and a quick cash-in for Mirvish, Toronto saw the return of Wicked at the Canon Theatre. For those out of the loop, Wicked is based on Gregory Maguire's best-selling novel of the same name. Shoshana Bean plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, and Megan Hilty plays Glinda, the Good Witch. The play focuses on both girls as they go through college stuck together as roommates. One is a misunderstood, talented, yet slightly green girl; and the other is the prettiest, ditziest, and most popular girl in college. It’s a fairly typical “odd couple” dynamic, yet proves to be hilarious, if only in a wholesome, PG kind of way. For example, “What is this Feeling?” while titled like a cheesy 70's love song, is actually about loathing — it may not be that edgy, but it’s funny, damn it. As they warm to each other, Glinda sings “Popular,” which is about how she intends to make Elphaba popular (but “not quite as popular as [her]"). In the end, I laughed at all those things that made The Wizard of Oz so magical as a child, but my inner adult got a few chuckles as well; everyone just wants Toto to shut up.
Like the rest of the city, I had forgotten the magic of musicals — Wicked was a refreshingly fun performance. Too bad the tickets were so horrendously expensive. Unfortunately, your last chance to see the Toronto show was on December 31st, and your only option now is to follow the cast and crew over their US winter tour.
If you’ve missed it but want to see something Oz-related, I suggest seeing the “Dark Side of Oz,” (the original movie dubbed with Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon) at Reg Hart’s Cineforum on 463 Bathurst. Of course, the downside to that is Reg Hart. Who is much like Toto.