Latest news with #TheatreCalgary
Calgary Herald
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Many outstanding plays, actors highlighted in local Betty Award nominations
With 27 nominations, Theatre Calgary is the darling of this year's Bettys nomination committee, who agreed that TC's A Streetcar Named Desire, Alberta Theatre Projects' The Seafarer, Vertigo's The Da Vinci Code, Lunchbox's Go For Gold Audrey Pham!, and Sage's Mary Stuart were highlights of the 2024/25 theatre season. Article content The Bettys, now in their 26th year, recognize excellence in the city's professional theatre houses. Article content Article content TC's musical Legally Blonde is the season's most-nominated show, having received seven nominations. In addition to being named one of six outstanding productions of a musical, Legally Blonde received nominations for actors Kelsey Verzotti, Daniel Fong and Patricia Zentilli, Rachel Cameron for direction, and another for choreography, plus Rebecca Toon for costume designs. Article content Article content Article content Legally Blonde, which is a co-production with Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, is competing with Forte Musical Theatre's Austentatious, Ammolite Opera's Proving Up, Lunchbox and Forte's Twelve Days, and Handsome Alice's Two Moons: A Folk Lullaby for outstanding production of a musical. Article content Theatre Calgary dominates the outstanding production of a play category, with nominations for Awoowaakii, A Streetcar Named Desire – a co-production with the Citadel Theatre, and The Lehman Trilogy. Also competing for this award are Vertigo Theatre's The Woman in Black, and Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers, and Little Brothers – Makambe K. Simamba's solo show presented by Verb and Handsome Alice, which originated in Toronto with Tarragon Theatre. Article content Article content This year's nominees for outstanding performance by an ensemble include Ghost River Theatre's Echoes of a Land, TC's The Lehman Trilogy, ATP's Liars at a Funeral, Vertigo's Murder on the Links, and TC's The Play that Goes Wrong, a co-production with The Citadel and The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Article content Article content Nominated for outstanding lead performance in a drama are Lindsey Angell in A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Perry in The Woman in Black, Makambe K. Simamba in Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, and both Lauren Brotman and Norman Lewis in Mary Stuart.
Calgary Herald
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Many outstanding plays highlighted in local Betty Award nominations
With 27 nominations, Theatre Calgary is the darling of this year's Bettys nomination committee, who agreed that TC's A Streetcar Named Desire, Alberta Theatre Projects' The Seafarer, Vertigo's The Da Vinci Code, Lunchbox's Go For Gold Audrey Pham!, and Sage's Mary Stuart were highlights of the 2024/25 theatre season. Article content The Bettys, now in their 26th year, recognize excellence in the city's professional theatre houses. Article content Article content TC's musical Legally Blonde is the season's most-nominated show, having received seven nominations. In addition to being named one of six outstanding productions of a musical, Legally Blonde received nominations for actors Kelsey Verzotti, Daniel Fong and Patricia Zentilli, Rachel Cameron for direction, and another for choreography, plus Rebecca Toon for costume designs. Article content Article content Article content Legally Blonde, which is a co-production with Edmonton's Citadel Theatre, is competing with Forte Musical Theatre's Austentatious, Ammolite Opera's Proving Up, Lunchbox and Forte's Twelve Days, and Handsome Alice's Two Moons: A Folk Lullaby for outstanding production of a musical. Article content Theatre Calgary dominates the outstanding production of a play category, with nominations for Awoowaakii, A Streetcar Named Desire – a co-production with the Citadel Theatre, and The Lehman Trilogy. Also competing for this award are Vertigo Theatre's The Woman in Black, and Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers, and Little Brothers – Makambe K. Simamba's solo show presented by Verb and Handsome Alice, that originated in Toronto with Tarragon Theatre. Article content Article content This year's nominees for outstanding performance by an ensemble include Ghost River Theatre's Echoes of a Land, TC's The Lehman Trilogy, ATP's Liars at a Funeral, Vertigo's Murder on the Links, and TC's The Play that Goes Wrong, a co-production with The Citadel and The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. Article content Article content Nominated for outstanding lead performance in a drama are Lindsey Angell in A Streetcar Named Desire, Joe Perry in The Woman in Black, Makambe K. Simamba in Our Fathers, Sons, Lovers and Little Brothers, and both Lauren Brotman and Norman Lewis in Mary Stuart. Article content Recognized for their comedic performances this season are Karen Johnson Diamond in Verb Theatre's Every Brilliant Thing, Ashley King in Inside Out and Chromatic Theatre's Static: A Party Girl, Julie Orton in ATP's Charlotte's Web, Mera Reyes in Downstage's The Strategy of War, and Marshall Vielle in TC's Awoowaakii.
CTV News
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Legally Blonde takes its case to the stage at Theatre Calgary
Kelsey Verzotti (centre) and the cast of Legally Blonde, which opens Friday at Theatre Calgary and runs through June 15. ((Photo: Trudie Lee))
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Preview: Actress finds inspiration in fearlessness of young female characters Elle and Dorothy
Article content Kelsey Verzotti is legally brunette. Article content To play the heroines of Anne of Green Gables and Legally Blonde, Verzotti has had to rely on wigs. Article content For the Maritime orphan in Anne of Green Gables, which she played last summer, Verzotti donned the girl's trademark red pigtails, and for Elle Woods, the heroine of Legally Blonde, whom she plays for Theatre Calgary until June 15, Verzotti goes blond. Article content Article content 'The wigs and costumes help me drop into the characters. It's always a big transformation, but they are what make me feel like Anne and Elle,' says Verzotti. Article content Article content 'I've learned so much from playing Elle. She doesn't think badly about herself. I'm inspired by that. I've seen a mindset coach to help me do what Elle does naturally. My coach helps me understand why I am so hard on myself. There is none of that in Elle. She believes in herself. That's something I have to learn to do. Article content 'When Elle decides to go to Harvard, she has no negative feelings. She just takes her dog, and away they go. She knows she can do it. That's what's so great about her. That was the great thing about Anne in Anne of Green Gables, also. She was completely unafraid to speak her mind. She was so different than the rest of the uptight town.' Article content Verzotti says the character of Elle teaches her arch rival, Vivienne, an important lesson: Do not try to make yourself look better by making someone else look bad. Article content Article content 'Nobody benefits. It's a beautiful truth. At first, Vivienne tries to undermine Elle, but eventually they become the best of allies. They end up fighting for each other, not against each other.' Article content Article content Verzotti remembers having some of Elle and Anne's fearlessness when she was in Grade 12 at William Aberhart High School in 2012. CBC was running a contest called Over the Rainbow to find a girl who would play Dorothy in the Toronto version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz. Verzotti was one of 20 finalists who went to the Dorothy Boot Camp, as it was called. Article content 'I was 17 years old. Very bright-eyed and inexperienced. But I had parents who believed in me. Article content 'That 20 was whittled down to 10, and I was one of them. I got eliminated, but not before I got to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber in his house in Barbados. One of the other girls was studying at Sheridan College in Toronto. She told me about the program and said that I should apply. I had already been accepted at the University of Calgary to study psychology, but after the experience with Over the Rainbow, I knew that what I really wanted to do.'
Calgary Herald
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Preview: Actress finds inspiration in fearlessness of young female characters Ellie and Dorothy
Article content Kelsey Verzotti is legally brunette. Article content To play the heroines of Anne of Green Gables and Legally Blonde, Verzotti has had to rely on wigs. Article content For the Maritime orphan in Anne of Green Gables, which she played last summer, Verzotti donned the girl's trademark red pigtails, and for Elle Woods, the heroine of Legally Blonde, whom she plays for Theatre Calgary until June 15, Verzotti goes blond. Article content Article content 'The wigs and costumes help me drop into the characters. It's always a big transformation, but they are what make me feel like Anne and Elle,' says Verzotti. Article content Article content 'I've learned so much from playing Elle. She doesn't think badly about herself. I'm inspired by that. I've seen a mindset coach to help me do what Elle does naturally. My coach helps me understand why I am so hard on myself. There is none of that in Elle. She believes in herself. That's something I have to learn to do. Article content 'When Elle decides to go to Harvard, she has no negative feelings. She just takes her dog, and away they go. She knows she can do it. That's what's so great about her. That was the great thing about Anne in Anne of Green Gables, also. She was completely unafraid to speak her mind. She was so different than the rest of the uptight town.' Article content Verzotti says the character of Elle teaches her arch rival, Vivienne, an important lesson: Do not try to make yourself look better by making someone else look bad. Article content Article content 'Nobody benefits. It's a beautiful truth. At first, Vivienne tries to undermine Elle, but eventually they become the best of allies. They end up fighting for each other, not against each other.' Article content Article content Verzotti remembers having some of Elle and Anne's fearlessness when she was in Grade 12 at William Aberhart High School in 2012. CBC was running a contest called Over the Rainbow to find a girl who would play Dorothy in the Toronto version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Wizard of Oz. Verzotti was one of 20 finalists who went to the Dorothy Boot Camp, as it was called. Article content 'I was 17 years old. Very bright-eyed and inexperienced. But I had parents who believed in me. Article content 'That 20 was whittled down to 10, and I was one of them. I got eliminated, but not before I got to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber in his house in Barbados. One of the other girls was studying at Sheridan College in Toronto. She told me about the program and said that I should apply. I had already been accepted at the University of Calgary to study psychology, but after the experience with Over the Rainbow, I knew that what I really wanted to do.'
