FOR TICKETS
Phone: 416 966 1062
Online: www.fringetoronto.com
In Person: At the Door starting at 7PM on
performance nights. Cash Only. No Latecomers. No Exceptions. Arrive On Time!
You’re all invited to celebrate Veronica Mendoza’s (Belinda Corpuz) 18th debutante birthday party! Edsel (Mickey Rodriguez) pursues his long time best friend Veronica, a Mississauga Filipino beauty queen, who shares a secret with her Scarborough boyfriend Jerome (Tony Ofori). The boys, JP and Noel (Richie Guzman and Jeff Yung) have been practising their two-step under the direction of choreographer Kate (Arlene Paculan) in this diverse coming of age story with a twist of 90s flare.
Written by spoken word poet Leonard Cervantes of FLIP TV (OMNI 2) and original music composed by Kierscey Rand, formerly the keyboardist for Down with Webster, and currently guitar player and background vocalist for Toronto artist K’Naan. Dora Nominated playwright Catherine Hernandez (Singkil, Future Folk & Eating with Lola) is at the helm making her directorial debut . JodinandAguillon of Kensington Market’s Pretty Freedom rounds out the creative team with the set & costume designs.
Shotgun Wedding was originally created through Carlos Bulosan Theatre’s Play Creation Unit and later went onto further development through fu-GEN Theatre Company’s Playwrights’ Kitchen.
Guests are welcome to wear their favourite clothes from the 1990s to celebrate the chaos that will ensue.
Girls dig up your darkest lipstick. Guys shine up your pointiest dress shoes.
(I’m unearthing this awesome post by my homey Manny… because it’s so awesome. This post was originally written in June 2010. – Len)
Back in ‘94 during (Catholic School) Confirmation Classes (grade eight) I made a mixtape for a girl from one of the other schools and wrote a stupid letter in the liner notes. This mixtape didn’t even have music on it. I gave her a blank tape as an excuse to write to her†. She’s kept it ever since and though I hardly see her nowadays, she never lets me live it down. She’s keeping the tape, but she made me a photo-copy for a going away present. Continue reading →
"Shotgun Wedding" cast members Belinda Corpuz and Jeff Yung
Since ‘Shotgun Wedding’ takes place in the world of suburban Catholic High schools of the early 90s, I thought it might be a good idea to make special invitations to the alumni of some old-school high schools that made up our universe back then:
Wed. July 6 – Opening Night Thurs. July 7 – St. Jean de Brebeuf / Philip Pocock Fri. July 8 – Cardinal Carter / Cardinal Newman / Cardinal Leger Sat. July 9 – Pope John Paul / Father Michael Goetz Sun. July 10 – Loyola / Mother Teresa Mon. July 11 – NO SHOW. Tues. July 12 – Neil McNeil / St. Martin’s Wed. July 13 – Jean Vanier / St Thomas Aquinas Thurs. July 14 – Ladies Night! Notre Dame / Holy Name of Mary / St Joe’s Wellesley Fri. July 15 – Francis Libermann / St. Francis Xavier Sat. July 16 – Notre Dame / Our Lady of Mount Carmel Sun. July 17 – Closing Night
We’re getting really close to #1 in the Shotgun Wedding Top 10 Countdown! For now…
#2 is a TIE:
‘Can We Talk’ – Tevin Campbell
‘Saving Forever For You’ – Shanice
As teenagers in 1993, we might have wanted sex but what we wanted more was LOVE. We thought about it in class. We wrote about it in our private journals, wrote hints about it in yearbook messages and wrote to express it on 3-hole punched binder paper folded into cute origami and wedged between locker doors during 3rd period spare.
The truth is that in high school, being in love HURT. Continue reading →
Why Arsenio isn't on late night TV anymore: Things That Make You Go Hmmm..
Not sure what kind of “world” you’re stepping into when you come to see ‘Shotgun Wedding’ at The Fringe? If you are lucky enough to have old Arsenio Hall episodes on VHS (or beta!), you could watch those to get an idea.
In 1993, Arsenio Hall *ruled* late night. He may not have been officially the ratings leader but for our generation, our worlds revolved around who was on Arsenio last night and who was coming on the next episode. LET’S GET BUSY!
Dark school gym corners. Red-lit basements. Rented church halls. You remember them. These were the places were teenagers became adults. Well, at least did adult things. Sort of.
In 1993 Mississauga, there was one place in particular where there were no parents, no chaperones and no teachers imposing 1ft restraining orders around our gyrating teenage hips — STREETSVILLE CHURCH. Continue reading →
If 1993 seemed like it was all about the ladies, well… it probably was, as far as music goes anyway. At our high school, it was all about guys singing to girls, guys asking girls out, guys asking girls to the prom — whatever. That’s a lot of pressure! If you want to know where adult gender role expectations originated, it was probably high school.
You SO CRAZY.... ____(fill in the blank)_____!!!
At least Salt ‘n’ Pepa thought of the GUYS for just a second when they did ‘Whatta Man’. Continue reading →
I really gotta give it up to the cast for being good sports.
Yo, T-Boz ! Is ya being a boss, Chilli what's up wit' dat sauce?
Going back to the world of ‘Shotgun Wedding’ — the early 1990s — is no easy commitment. It means donning very unique clothing, having very interesting hairstyles and going very aggressive with the lipstick shade. And I’m being polite with the description. Continue reading →
I remember getting a really weird note from a girl when I was in Grade 12.
Ever write a love letter? Ever get one?
For me, the year was 1991. Of course, this was before Facebook or email existed, even before any of us had cell phones or even pagers with voicemail. Back in Grade 12, there was only one effective way to send someone a message was to write them a note. So, you either wrote it on paper and had a friend pass it to them, or shove it in their locker or leave it in a textbook.