The Canadian Stage Co Presents HARDSELL One Man Show Previews 4/13

The Canadian Stage Company continues its 2008/2009 season with the world premiere of Necessary Angel and Wyrd Productions' HARDSELL. The award-winning team that created the runaway hit play Bigger Than Jesus take a satirical look at a world mad with commercialism. HARDSELL, a high-voltage, multi-media, one-man show from Rick Miller and Daniel Brooks begins previews April 13 and continues to May 9, 2009 (media night: April 16) at The Canadian Stage Company's Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street. For tickets and information, contact 416-368-3110 or canstage.com.

In a world where everything and everyone has a price, the sell is the currency of the modern age. Co-creators Rick Miller and Daniel Brooks, along with the design team of Beth Kates and Ben Chaisson, take audiences through the nightmarish world of consumerism, as seen through the not-so-rose-coloured glasses of Arnie, a world-weary, über-entertainer who sold his soul long ago. Featuring a tour-de-force performance by Miller under Brooks' skillful direction, HARDSELL is a multimedia extravaganza that slyly exposes the commodification of everything around us. A torrent of jokes, jingles, voices and people, including Richard Dawkins, Stephen Lewis, Morgan Freeman, Bugs Bunny and Rick Miller invade the mind of a seasoned showman. HARDSELL is theatrical irony at its nastiest!

HARDSELL was initially presented at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in November 2007. The production has since been retooled for Toronto. CBC Radio described the original incarnation as "Hilarious...experimental and innovative." The Winnipeg Sun called it "Exhilarating...pitch perfect...A one-man anti-commercialism circus."

Co-creator and performer Rick Miller is the Artistic Director of WYRD Productions. Internationally acclaimed, Miller is one of Canada's most respected creative exports. Originally from Montreal and currently based in Toronto, he is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary actor, comedian and playwright whose credits range from theatre to film and television, from musicals to live comedy and from the classical to the avant-garde. He has created and performed numerous award-winning productions including: Bigger Than Jesus (co-created with Daniel Brooks), which won three Dora Awards (Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Principal Role, and Outstanding Lighting Design) and toured internationally for the past four years; MacHomer, a hilarious hit mash-up of The Simpsons performing Shakespeare's Macbeth which has played in 130 cities to half a million people over 13 years and is still going strong; Into the Ring (with playwright Dawson Nichols), Art? and Slightly Bent. He has performed in five languages (English, French, German, Italian and Spanish) on five continents (North and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia). Miller is also a frequent collaborator with director Robert Lepage, having worked on plays such as La Géométrie des Miracles, Zulu Time (co-created with Peter Gabriel), on the film Possible Worlds, and on the new play Lipsynch, a 9-hour epic which will be featured at Toronto's Luminato Festival in June 2009. Miller is also the host of the ABC primetime TV series Just For Laughs.

Co-creator and director Daniel Brooks is the Artistic Director of Necessary Angel Theatre Company. He is a prolific and versatile artist whose innovation and risk-taking have made him a leader within the Canadian cultural landscape for over 20 years. Based in Toronto, he is an internationally renowned director, writer, actor, producer and educator whose credits include co-founding The Augusta Company and co-directing da da kamera. Some of his creations include Bigger Than Jesus (with Rick Miller); The Lorca Play, House, Here Lies Henry, Monster, and Cul-de-sac (all with Daniel MacIvor); Red Tape and 86; An Autopsy (with Don McKellar and Tracy Wright); The Noam Chomsky Lectures and Insomnia (with Guillermo Verdecchia); The Good Life and most recently The Eco Show. He has directed several works other than his own, notably John Mighton's Half Life and Possible Worlds (Canadian Stage presentations of Necessary Angel's productions); Goethe's Faust; and Beckett's Endgame. Brooks is the recipient of numerous awards and accolades including: the inaugural Siminovitch Prize for Direction (the most prestigious theatre award in Canada); three Chalmers Awards (for The Noam Chomsky Lectures, Here Lies Henry and House); three Dora Mavor Moore Awards for direction (The Soldier Dreams, The Lorca Play, House) and a Dora for outstanding production (Bigger Than Jesus); the Edinburgh Fringe First Award (Here Lies Henry); the Capital Critics Circle Award for direction (Possible Worlds); and a nomination for a Governor General's Award (The Noam Chomsky Lectures). In February 2009 he was appointed the first recipient of the Baillie Artistic Fellowship by Soulpepper Theatre Company. He has also worked in film, notably with Bruce McDonald, whose film Highway 61 was inspired by Brooks' play The Return of Pokey Jones.

HARDSELL marks Necessary Angel Theatre Company's inaugural production in The Canadian Stage Company's Berkeley Street Project. The initiative partners The Canadian Stage Company with Necessary Angel, Nightwood Theatre and Studio 180 to transform Canadian Stage's Berkeley Street Theatre into a dynamic home for contemporary performing arts.

Nationally and internationally acclaimed, The Canadian Stage Company is Canada's leading not-for-profit contemporary theatre company. Founded in 1987 with the merger of CentreStage and Toronto Free Theatre, the Company is dedicated to programming international contemporary theatre and to developing and producing landmark Canadian works which have been awarded some of the country's most prestigious literary and performing arts honours, including the Governor General's, Chalmers and Dora Mavor Moore Awards. The Company presents the richest variety of Canadian and international plays and musicals - from edgy and provocative work at the Berkeley Street Theatre to productions with universal appeal at the Bluma Appel Theatre and a summer of Shakespeare at the Canadian Stage TD Dream in High Park. Canadian Stage has a long-standing commitment to education and enhancement programs for the public, nurturing theatre professionals, and developing new Canadian plays, while producing thought-provoking theatre and quality entertainment in Toronto, one of North America's largest theatre centres. For more information, refer to canstage.com.

NECESSARY ANGEL is dedicated to fully exploring the theatrical arts by creating original work that challenges assumptions and engages multiple points of view, while seeking to provoke and astonish. Founded in 1978, the company has been an influential and original presence on the national and international theatre scene for 30 years. Having produced over 50 productions, including 25 world premieres and 10 North American premieres, Necessary Angel is considered to be one of English Canada's most important original creation and touring organizations. In the last three years, the company has travelled to over 20 cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Melbourne, Vancouver, Florence, Miami, Montreal and Munich.

Incorporated in January of 2000, WYRD PRODUCTIONS has been involved in the development of new theatre since 1995. Founded by Rick Miller and Jeff Lord as a company devoted to multi-disciplinary artistic creation, it has since evolved into one of Canada's leading international exporters of culture. Blending theatre and comedy, art and entertainment, music and multimedia, WYRD has produced the award-winning shows MacHomer, Art?, Slightly Bent, Into The Ring (with Dawson Nichols) and Bigger Than Jesus (with Daniel Brooks and Necessary Angel Theatre Company). -

BERKELEY SEASON SPONSOR: CIBC
COMMUNITY ACCESSIBILITY SPONSOR: Sun Life Financial
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM SPONSOR: Manulife Financial

THE CANADIAN STAGE COMPANY presents
NECESSARY ANGEL and WYRD PRODUCTIONS'
HARDSELL

April 13 - 15 Previews
April 16 Opening Night
May 9 Closing Night

SCHEDULE: Monday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees Wednesday 1:30 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m.

LOCATION: Canadian Stage - Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street

TICKETS: From $20. Available online at canstage.com; by phone 416.368.3110; and in-person at Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St., or Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E., Toronto.

 

RUSH SEATS: Available for any performance at 50% off the regular ticket price. Tickets are subject to availability and must be purchased in person at the box office one hour prior to show time.

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN: For Monday-night performances only. Subject to availability. Must be purchased in person at our Customer Service Centres beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of performance.

cheapTHRILLS Youth Access Pass: Individuals aged 24-and-under are eligible to purchase a cheapTHRILLS pass for $15 and enjoy impressive savings on tickets - only $5 - for any performance. Prices include all service charges.

GROUPS OF 10+ SAVE: Contact Christina Hotz, Group Sales Manager at 416.367.8243 x266 or chotz@canstage.com

TALK BACKS: Informal question-and-answer periods provide a chance to meet the artists following a performance at the theatre. After every Wednesday matinee and Thursday evening performance, excluding previews. No registration required.

FOR MORE INFO: CANSTAGE.COM

 

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