The Sunshine Boys

  
Willie:   How long have you had that white coat on your tongue?


Al:        Since January.  In the spring I put on a grey sport jacket.


Last night we went down to the distillery district to see Soulpepper's new production of The Sunshine Boys, directed by Ted Dykstra and starring Eric Petersen and Kenneth Welsh as the comedy duo Lewis and Clark.

It's got so many wonderful lines, so many great moments.  Show business is like a family, and as the programme notes indicated, a comedy duo is like a marriage.  Little habits that might have passed unnoticed initially become great through repetition, and people can become resentful and impatient.

Al: "Listen, we're not gonna stop for every little thing, are we?  I don't know how many years I got left, I don't wanna spend it rehearsing."

We happened to meet Ted Dykstra with his kids in the house after the show, and complimented him on a moving and very funny production.  Duncan and Malcolm were captivated, and Duncan has decided to write and ask "Al" and "Willie" for a signed photo.  Since the boys usually only experience french theatre, it's been a big priority for us to take them to see something in english, and given their familiarity with and appreciation for the Marx and Warner Brothers, this was a perfect choice.  It is still in previews, but if you get a chance, go see some masters of the theatre do their thing, in homage to Neil Simon...

...but that's very fitting... as the piece itself is Simon's homage to vaudeville performers of the past, in particular comedy duos like Smith and Dale, pictured above.  If you can't get down to the Soulpepper production, then at least rent the 1975 film, starring Walter Matthau and George Burns as Lewis and Clark.

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What else have we been up to?  Lots.  On Tuesday we drove to Niagara Falls, and explored the visitor centre, then walked down the gorge to the Maid of the Mist tour.  I'd visited the falls before as a child, but have never taken the boat tour.  It is an absolutely essential part of the visit, and well worth the price of admission.

The tours start at 9h every morning in the summer, and leave every fifteen minutes or so.  The whole trip is perhaps half an hour, but you get a wonderful clear view of the American falls, and then pass into the misty whirlpool underneath the Canadian horseshoe falls.  No sou'westers were in evidence but they handed out single-use ponchos... it was so hot that no-one minded the soaking...

We had a nice chat with some New Zealanders who were on an extended north american tour, and also helped a large group of Spanish teenagers by taking their picture.  Then we walked back to the car and had a picnic on the lawn next to the falls before heading out.

When we were living in Toronto, Maggie and I made frequent trips to the Niagara area to attend the Shaw Festival or take the odd wine tour, and while we had seen signs advertising the butterfly conservatory and botanical gardens, we never stopped in.  This time we were determined to visit, and are very glad we did.

 

 

 

I think it was even more wondrous for me than the falls... one enters the greenhouse/insectarium, suddenly finds oneself in an eden of towering, flowering plants; the air is filled with the silent, fluttering wings of hundreds of differently species of butterfly, painting the air with their flashes and splashes of colour.  The only sounds are those of falling water and the delighted gasps of the visitors... Absolutely magical.

We stopped off in Mississauga for a dip in the pool with Aunt Gayle and her children, to help cool off from the 38-degree heat, and had a nice BBQ with Lorraine and David and their family before returning to our temporary Toronto home.

Yesterday Malcolm and I shared a golf lesson with Juno, our last this trip, I think. Tonight we have dinner with Eric and Kareena and family, and then tomorrow Malcolm will spend the day exploring Toronto Island with Nicholas, while Maggie and Duncan go to the ROM.  I've started swimming again and am happy to say that I have rediscovered my long-distance rhythm, and so far haven't had a recurrence of the shoulder pain that has limited a return to distance swimming as my main exercise.  We'll have a chance to both golf and swim this weekend as we head to Belleville to spend the weekend in a mini-reunion with our extended family.

I've been having a voice lesson with Bruce every other day, and have learned three new arias with him, and reworked another already in my repertoire.  We should continue this work tomorrow and into next week, which is a marvellous luxury and very much appreciated.  As well I've been reviewing the Nozze di Figaro staging, and have to schedule another coaching with Don Tarnawski; we have two performances in Belgium mid-september and another in early october so it has to be ready.

In other musical news, did I mention that I recently got a call to sing the Carmina Burana this coming spring, this time in the BOZAR, the best concert hall in Brussels?  That means that my schedule this year includes Almaviva in Nozze di Figaro in Flanders, the Bach St. Matthew Passion in Antwerp, and Orff's Carmina Burana in the BOZAR, not to mention a couple of performances of my Schubert recital programme... talk about a dream season!

Today the weather has finally broken and it's only 20 degrees, a welcome relief... I hope you are enjoying the summer!