| rev:text
| - Note: This review mainly centers around Casa Loma's Valentines Day event.
I hadn't returned to Casa Loma since a school field trip when I was a kid, and I remembered very little from my first experience. When my girlfriend suggested going there on Valentines evening for drinks and a production of "Dracula", I jumped. C'mon, seeing a great tale like Dracula being performed in an actual castle? I figured even if the show sucked (vampiric pun may have been intended), it would be cool for the setting alone.
Booking the event was quick and painless. I miscommunicated my email address for the confirmation, and had to call again to correct it for my confirmation, but Joan and Michelle were both very kind and helpful.
A quick browse of their website looks as though the castle generally closes in the early afternoon, so the place being kept open specifically for this event was pretty cool, and marching up the grounds in the dark during a mild snowfall was definitely picturesque.
When we arrived pretty close to the start time, most of the attendees were already seated in the Great Hall (I believe the availability was for 60 couples), and they had a cash bar set up at the end of Peacock Alley in the Conservatory. I headed down the Alley to hit the mens room before the show, and it started before I could return. I'll say this: heading down that old darkened alley towards the sound of haunting organ music really got me in the mood for the show. Seeing a cloaked figure silhouetted against the 60' window playing the organ was just icing on the cake.
The show was as you'd expect. The man playing Dracula was surprisingly effective, to the point where certain attendees recoiled a bit when the actor walked by them.
One thing I wasn't expecting was the show repeatedly breaking the fourth wall, and inviting the audience to follow them to continue the story in different parts of the first 2 floors of the castle. At one point they even split the audience in half to go to separate rooms. It made me wonder what the other half saw while I was watching something else. Eventually the audience is led into the Conservatory for intermission.
The intermission setup was terrific. They were serving lovely slices of these chocolate things, as well as free champagne and a chocolate fountain. I resisted the urge to stick my face in there, and instead played it classy with the giant marshmellows on sticks that people were dipping in there. Delicious. The cash bar set up for the non-champibble crowd was pretty reasonably stocked and priced. The intermission also allowed for the opportunity to take pictures around the castle.
The rest of the show was consistent, and the actors did a great job, along with not taking things too seriously. You could tell they were having a blast.
The downside? Not being able to go through the entire castle, I suppose. We'll just have to go back for the full tour on another day.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)