This year, a few Avonlea alumni are among this year’s Gemini nominees!
David Fox is up for Best Actor in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries for Across the River to Motor City; Megan Follows is up for Best Actress in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries for Booky and the Secret Santa (she will be up against her co-star Rachel Marcus in this category); and RH Thomson is a nominee for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Program or Miniseries for The Englishman’s Boy.
Motor City received a total of 12 nominations — more than any other TV movie or miniseries this year. The Englishman’s Boy is up for seven trophies. Booky and the Secret Santa is nominated for four awards.
Select awards will be handed out in untelevised ceremonies between October 21 and 23 in Toronto. The Broadcast Gala, also in Toronto, will be televised on November 28 at 9 pm ET on E! Canada and Showcase.
Gemini Awards
The list of nominees for the 2008 ACTRA Awards was released this past week. Among the Best Male Performance nominees is David Fox, for his role in the Citytv miniseries Across the River to Motor City.
A six-part series that spans four decades, it is set along the US/Canada border in Detroit and Windsor. Ben Ford (played as an old man by David Fox) is turning 30 on November 22, 1963 — the same day John F. Kennedy would be assassinated on the streets of Dallas. Also on that day, his stewardess girlfriend Katie’s flight is diverted to that city. She is not seen again. 40 years later, he is 70 years old with a daughter, Kathleen, who he barely knows. The police show up with some grim news: Katie’s body has been found in the Detroit River; and Ben is the prime suspect of her murder. However, he takes everything he knows to the grave.
The ACTRA Awards will be handed out, untelevised, on February 29 in Toronto.
2008 ACTRA Award nominees
Across the River to Motor City
Wild Mouth — directed by RH Thomson and featuring David Fox and Ian D. Clark (Simon Tremayne) — has not been much of a hit with many Toronto theatre critics.
Set in 1917 in the fictional town of Standfast, Saskatchewan, the play centres around Anna (played by actress Sarah Orenstein) who has just lost a son in WW1, and Bodhan (Oliver Becker) who has just returned from the War. Anna moves in with her brother Logan (Ian) and his wife Roberta (Brenda Robins) — both of whom have had a son killed in action, and have another one who is itching to see some of the action himself. David Fox’s character is Aloysius, Logan and Roberta’s hired hand.
Both eye.net and the Toronto Star have dubbed the latest offering from Saskatchewan playwright Maureen Hunter “boring”.
On the other hand, the Toronto Sun/Canoe.ca has given it four out of five stars, declaring it “an impressive piece of work”. In the January 17 issue of NOW Toronto, it received a 4/5 ranking as well. Part of the review reads, “Rarely does a dramatic ensemble include so many fully engaged actors, and this whole cast stands out. R.H. Thomson’s meticulous direction includes subtle details…that make every action and reaction seem genuine.”
This is not the first time RH Thomson has handled the subject of World War I on stage. In 2002, he wrote and starred in a one-man play entitled The Lost Boys, based on letters saved by his aunt from five uncles who fought in it.
Wild Mouth is playing at the Tarragon Theatre’s mainspace until February 10.
Globe and Mail
Eye.net review
Toronto Star review
Toronto Sun/Canoe.ca
NOW Toronto
National Post
Published in ACTRA Strike,
Anne Prequel,
AvCon 2007,
Away from Her,
David Fox,
Gemini Awards,
General Actor News,
General Anne News,
General Avonlea News,
Genie Awards,
Jonathan Crombie,
LM Montgomery,
Lally Cadeau,
Megan Follows,
Molly Atkinson,
Sarah Polley,
Special Coverage,
Year in Review and
Zach Bennett .
More than in years past, 2007 was a huge year for not only Anne and RTA alumni, it was also a big year for fans as well, particularly for fans of Anne.
Continue reading ‘2007 in review’
The Stratford Festival announced today that David Fox would be replacing William Hutt as Tobias in their production of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance. William Hutt–who had retired in 2005–was to return for this one play, but had to drop out due to health reasons.
This will mark David’s third turn at Stratford. He was previously there in 1991, in a mounting of Ibsen’s Enemy of the People; and, more recently, in 2001 as the title character in The Trials of Ezra Pound. Most recently, he came off Tarragon Theatre’s production of the play Scorched, which has won much praise in the press. It is now playing at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, with David still in the cast.
A Delicate Balance runs from July 29 to September 23 at the Tom Patterson Theatre, as part of the Stratford Festival.
CBC Arts
Stratford Festival
