by AMY BARRATT

This season’s Match Made in Heaven award goes to the MainLine Theatre guys who are producing Charles Busch’s Vampire Lesbians of Sodom. Camp, in case you didn’t know, is MainLine’s middle name, and this Off-Broadway phenom—as you could no doubt guess from the name—has camp up the proverbial wazoo. Drag artiste Charles Busch’s script follows a couple of gals who like blood from ancient Sodom right up to the inherently campy 1980s. The production features several cast members from last year’s Johnny Canuck and the Last Burlesque (Patricia Summersett, Catherine Bérubé, Patrick Goddard) as well as Stephanie Breton, Joel Fishbane, Dan Jeannotte and Paul Van Dyke.

Now you know all this glitzy fabulousness is going to cost a pretty penny, which is why MainLine is holding a Busch-themed fundraiser tomorrow night (Friday, Jan. 12). The “Psycho Beach Party” Beach Party and movie night will feature a screening of Busch’s cult film titled… all together now: Psycho Beach Party! Tickets to the fundraiser are a mere five bucks. Come in costume and your popcorn is free. Vampire Lesbians plays Jan. 30–Feb. 17.

Innocent Albertans?

Kicking off the new year at Théâtre Ste-Catherine is Le Gros Spectacle, which is said to be a “fairy-tale cabaret” by the Wind-up Dames. The Calgary-based Dames are Brieanna Moench and the lovely Renée Amber, whose brother Eric runs the TSC. Fear not, this is not mindless nepotism; The Wind-ups have been working together for nearly a decade and have been part of Alberta Theatre Projects’ prestigious PlayRites festival, among other credits. Here, they are joined by an intrepid male actor. Set vaguely in the ’50s, Le Gros Spectacle is, appropriately enough, about two wide-eyed girls from Alberta who travel to Montreal seeking fame and fortune. Jan. 17–Feb. 3.

Also coming up at TSC are Space Jail, the latest creation of what is almost a resident company, Two by Four Productions, and Two Short Women, a new text by Ann Lambert starring Laura Mitchell and Debra Kirshenbaum.

Centaur, Segal and C

At the end of this month, Rosemary Dunsmore returns to the Centaur where she has given stunning performances in Wit and Long Day’s Journey Into Night. This time she stars in Glorious, the strangely uplifting true story of Florence Foster Jenkins, an American woman who became a singing sensation in the ’40s despite the fact that she couldn’t sing. Sarah Stanley directs the play by Peter Quilter. Previews Jan. 30–31, opens Feb. 1.

Next up, Centaur artistic director Gordon McCall sets Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet against a Quebec backdrop March 1–April 1.

There have been changes behind the scenes at the Segal, and I’m not talking about the new “performing arts” orientation of the Saidye Bronfman Centre. The first play of the New Year is Shakespeare for my Father, as originally planned, but Amanda Plummer, who was to perform the show created by Lynn Redgrave in memory of her actor father, is no longer available. The part has gone to Stratford actress Domini Blyth, who will perform the piece Feb. 4–25.

Director and “concepteure” Brigitte Haentjens has tackled some of the greatest women and greatest artists in history in her illustrious career, so it was really only a matter of time before she got to Virginia Woolf. Vivre, which will be performed at Usine C Jan. 23–Feb. 10, is “an impressionist portrait” of the writer.

Add and act

Lastly, a note that Dynamic Theater Factory director Anik Matern’s training ground for actors of all ages, is branching out with a workshop aimed at pre-teens with learning disabilities and attention disorders. Two DTF trainers along with a psychologist have devised a 12-week workshop called Esteem which uses movement, theatre games and music to help participants discover their own innate abilities. Interested parents may attend an information session tomorrow, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. Call (514) 393-3383 for details or visit dtfonline.com.

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