“Giving yourself over to The Black Rider is like consenting to rough sex.
It may bruise you, but you will like it. ...extreme – and seductive. Let them take you.” “Kevin Corey leads an outstanding ensemble... so tightly designed and so fiercely energetic,
you'll hardly notice that the play doesn't stop for intermission. So gorgeously designed, you'll not know which way to look.” “…Exhilarating cast. Extraordinary music effortlessly performed
by six very talented actors / singers / dancers / gymnasts. A dynamic
evening’s entertainment.” “BLACK RIDER A PUNISHING BEAUTY. It was so bloody intense
that I could barely take notes. November Theatre’s production of The
Black Rider is so extreme, so macabre, so fucking vivid that for about
the first 20 minutes I felt in danger of sensory and emotional overload. It’s
director Ron Jenkins’ no-holds-barred, relentlessly thorough realization
of the text that puts The Black Rider among the most memorable shows
I’ve ever seen. … a punishing, exhilarating bang.” “REVIEWER GETS BLOWN AWAY BY THE BLACK RIDER. The Black Rider is shaping up to be one of the big events of the current theatre season. November Theatre’s celebrated staging of this outlandish musical-comedy nightmare is shot through with a hellish gaiety. This is postmodernism at its most playful. Musicals don’t get more intriguing than this.” “Nothing short of remarkable; you can't miss this visually stunning,
perversely funny and wickedly Gothic musical. you'll contemplate a Faustian
deal of your own to see this 90 minute operetta one more time.” “I don't have enough superlatives to describe my admiration for this
demonic confection. If you have to, make a pact with the devil to see
this dark dazzle. It's worth the cost of submission.” “Darkly seductive.” “…one of the most exciting shows that came to town. The Black
Rider was so stylishly Mephistophelean, so darkly funny that I went twice -
a rare occurrence.” “HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A TOM WAITS MUSICAL. Look up, way up. Edmonton's November Theatre has raised the bar so high with this show, that every company in town is going to be scrambling to keep up. …director Ron Jenkins pulls the show's strings-and, oh, what lovely strings. Surprise follows surprise. …songs that are dark, darkly funny or ironically sentimental… Not easy to describe, The Black Rider is much more than The Rocky Horror Picture Show, owing something to cabaret, Faust, Kurt Weill and German Expressionism. It's completely fascinating, stylish and Mephistophelean. See it if you can; tickets are going like a bat outta hell.” “A big, bold, stylish Ron Jenkins production… with heightened
acting and ingenious markers... hugely entertaining. The six-actor cast
is zestful, sharp, and sharply choreographed.” “Very simply, it is fabulous—one of the most innovative, exciting, and entertaining shows to visit here in many a full moon. …relentlessly brilliant theatricality. Ron Jenkins’s direction is endlessly inventive and his design team constantly fills the stage with visual and aural spectacle. Marie Nychka’s choreography is terrific. My senses were just buzzing throughout this show, and the grin never left my face. The performances range from wonderful to superb. The Black Rider sets the bar very high for the rest of the PuSh Festival. It reminds us just how dynamic, original, even mind-blowing live theatre can be. Rumour is that the show is already sold out for its short run. But even if you have to scalp a ticket, try to see this amazing piece of theatre.” “THE BLACK RIDER IS SPOOKTACULAR. The Black Rider is out there
somewhere on the edges of modern theatre. [A] terrific piece of avant-garde
entertainment from [November Theatre]… Jenkins effectively uses elements
of circus freak show, German Weimar Cabaret and expressionist theatre pushing
his performers to the limits – both vocally and physically. This is theatre
to the extreme, with lots of street cred. Engaging, visually creative
and delivered with great conviction, The Black Rider is extraordinary, cool
and bizarre.” “Vividly realized; The Black Rider is shot through with moments of fiendish hilarity and invention. It's wildly entertaining; steeped in rich language and a visual wonderland of colour and shadow that looks like something David Lynch might dream. Breathtaking and bold, at turns funny and sad, this is a must see” “The cast is jaw-droppingly proficient in every respect... I urge you to go” “It reminds us just how dynamic, original, even mind-blowing live theatre can be. One of the coolest, strangest and best shows to come through here in many a blood-red moon. A mind-blowing must-see.” “Best Chance To Blow Your Mind. It was so intense that it fried my emotional and sensory circuits. It's one of the best shows I've ever seen... The acting in this mounting is so refined that it would please Satan himself” “Insane creativity… this November Theatre production [is] so wildly intense that when I saw the show at the PuSh festival in 2005, I almost couldn’t stand it. Target Audience: Anybody who’s up for the theatrical equivalent of an evening of tequila shooters.” “Wildly original... sheer visual brilliance... a hypnotic treat. Get yourself hooked.” “DEVILISHLY DEEP... rivetting...” “darkly comic, fantastically entertaining, genre-defying hybrid.” “A tour de force” “...the play has captured my imagination... downright explosive. The play had me enthralled and bewildered for the full, 100 wide-eyed and clenched-fisted minutes of it. The inventive genius of The Black Rider is in its expressionist telling; it was surely the thing that knocked me out of my seat, astonished... nothing short of impressive.” “A fantastical piece of musical theatre. Fantastical and fantastic!” “The most technically impressive of the visiting shows [was] The Black
Rider. The pyrotechnics of its presentation were stunning.”
“You cannot even consider missing The Black Rider, unless you want to
miss images, episodes, techniques and music that will remain permanently in
your theatrical memory bank.” “TEN STANDOUTS FROM A SOLID YEAR ON STAGE: “TOP FIVE MOMENTS TO REMEMBER FROM THE WORLD OF THE ARTS: “HOLD ON TIGHT FOR A DEVIL OF A RIDE. The most compelling, sharp-edged
piece of theatre I've seen at the festival. A knockout in conception
and execution.” “I have been to hell and back and enjoyed every minute of the ride.
This disturbing operetta may be the Fringe's only 'must see'. Devil be damned,
The Black Rider be praised.” “The buzz on this show is so loud, my ears are still ringing, only this
lives up to the hype. It is at once dark and hysterical, grand and personal
a musical that makes up it's own rules. It is no wonder that The Black Rider
has thus far been the top draw at Fringe NYC. When it's gone, it will be far
too soon.” “Sharp, frightening and enthralling. Pure black magic.” “Executed Flawlessly. I just can’t get enough of The Black
Rider. …cutting-edge cabaret-style musical (deftly directed by
Ron Jenkins)… wonderfully rich text penned by absolute geniuses and
performed by an ensemble boasting endless theatrical and musical control. …highly
stylized musical loaded with Brechtian overtones and flawlessly surreal directional
interpretation edging into the carnivalesque. It’s a freak show
that lurks under all our skins.” “A stylistic cryptogram that would make Guy Maddin smile.” “It’s a wild, wild ride… a very slick production. It’s
very, very well done. It's like a dark circus. It's a pretty wild
thing. The Devil’s Rubato Band do a marvelous job. Terrific
group of musicians. Lovely, lovely songs that people will enjoy a great
deal.” “BLACK RIDER A RARE TREAT. There’s no need to read the fine
print here: The Black Rider is sure to entertain theatre fans looking for something
a little different. Actually, a lot different. It’s rare
to see a play this adventurous on stage in Saskatoon. The timing was
perfect… the characters vividly drawn… brilliantly rendered. Indeed,
a cartoon spirit inhabits this production; despite its dark leanings, it’s
often quite funny. Ron Jenkins uses an anything-goes approach to create
some amazing moments. Only a multi-talented cast could pull this off,
and there’s certainly one here.” “MIND BLOWING... BRILLIANT PRODUCTION… I was blown away. Vancouver
may not have seen anything this original and so fully realized since
Robert Lepage… a cross of Cabaret, The Threepenny Opera and The Rocky
Horror Picture Show. Musically, November Theatre achieves miracles with
Corinne Kessel’s three-piece band. When have so few achieved so
much?” “The Threepenny Opera on acid, or Diane Arbus meets Moulin
Rouge.” “THE BLACK RIDER IS A DEVILISHLY CLEVER SHOW. Grotesquerie doesn’t
get much stranger than The Black Rider, a fascinating example of interdisciplinary
insanity. This musical treat took off and soared. Musical director, Corinne
Kessel leads a remarkable trio in giving the Waits score its full due as a
mix of accessible melody and Kurt Weill-style impressionism. The whole
show blends the benign and bizarre, stitching pretty tunes to dark words. …a
powerful piece… the first must-see event of 2005.” “One of the Top 10 productions of the year.” “Cast members bring plenty of finely tuned energy, timing and winning
pizzazz to their multiple singing roles. Part grotesque operetta and
part stylized circus-cabaret. …remarkably lucid and entertaining
black comedy.” “THE BLACK RIDER CASTS A DARK CLOUD OF AWESOME. A chilling, thrilling
and popcorn-spilling theatre production… a spine-tingling hour… densely
bizarre play. Every cast-member is terrific… Overall, The
Black Rider, is an entertaining and highly original play, oozing with
just the right levels of dark humour, toe tapping tunes and minimalist imagery. The
small cast of six accomplish more than many productions ten-times its size.” “BLACK RIDER HAS DEVIL’S WIMSY… unexpected brilliance. In
this suave and maniacally untamed operetta, expressive meets expressionist,
macabre meets mime and the mischievous lyricism of Tom Waits meets the bitter
criticisms of William Burroughs. Moments of hilarity and exceptional
creativity hit hard and constantly throughout, making this romp through a wonderland
soaked in highly entertaining colours. It's a play not about to go away
just because it's bedtime. Rocking the house with unexpected power, The Black
Rider is straight from the night.” “A surreal, spell-bounding and unforgettable play…” “Yet again we had a gay old time with the devil and the denizens of
a dark and mysterious forest. Bizarre, discordant, fascinating, this Tom Waits/William
S. Burroughs celebrates all things Beat, all things expressionistic and all
those delightfully dark impulses nice people never admit to. Who needs Marianne
Faithful when you can watch Michael Scholar Jr.’s take on Pegleg?” “One of my favourite productions: Black Rider” “The Black Rider by Edmonton’s November Theatre was my personal
fave, thanks both to its terrific Tom Waits score and its vibrant production.” “Bleak, beautiful, melodious/cacophonous… On the whole the cast
is brilliant… overall magic.” “#1 pick on top 10 things to do this week” “November Theatre delivered the piece with leering precision. The
show’s music component was killer. The ‘Devil’s Rubato
Band’ gave a fearsome workout that would have had Mr. Waits himself growling
with glee.” “IT’S BLACK, BEAUTIFUL. …beautifully directed… a triumph… Think of a bizarre-world cross between Cabaret and The Threepenny Opera. …a wonderfully decadent atmosphere. The cast is uniformly strong. A terrific musical trio adds immeasurably to the proceedings. …a strange Brechtian romp.” “The Black Rider has yet to miss its mark.” “A Coo-coo clock on acid.” “...amazingly strong performances… a lesson on ingenuity and resourcefulness that I haven't witnessed since William Head prison's production of The Elephant Man.” -Jesse Ladret, Brand X Media, Victoria 2005On Over a Dozen Year End Top Ten Lists -CBC Radio (Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, St. John’s, Saskatoon, Vancouver) “TEN STANDOUTS FROM A SOLID YEAR ON STAGE: “…one of the most exciting shows that came to town. The Black Rider was so stylishly Mephistophelean, so darkly funny that I went twice - a rare occurrence.” -Jo Ledingham, Vancouver Courier (Best of 2005)“The most technically impressive of the visiting shows (was) The Black Rider. The pyrotechnics of its presentation were stunning.” -Gordon Jones, The Telegram (Best of 2006), St. John’s“The Black Rider by Edmonton’s November Theatre was my personal fave, thanks both to its terrific Tom Waits score and its vibrant production.” -Martin Morrow, Fast Forward, Calgary (Best of 2004)“TOP FIVE MOMENTS TO REMEMBER FROM THE WORLD OF THE ARTS: “Yet again we had a gay old time with the devil and the denizens of a dark and mysterious forest. Bizarre, discordant, fascinating, this Tom Waits/William S. Burroughs celebrates all things Beat, all things expressionistic and all those delightfully dark impulses nice people never admit to. Who needs Marianne Faithful when you can watch Michael Scholar Jr.’s take on Pegleg?” -Eva Marie Clarke, See Magazine (Best of 2004)“One of my favourite productions: The Black Rider.” -Colin MacLean, Edmonton Sun (Best of 2004) |
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