Tom McCamus (2008 Misery)
Excerpt from Performance Magazine Spring 2008: Tom McCamus | Pictures at Toronto Stage, Eye Weekly, Now Toronto
Misery Never Dies
By Jordan Somers
In 2008, The Canadian Stage Company will allow Toronto audiences to get the chance to experience a theatrical run of Misery.
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Certainly no stranger to Canadian audiences, Tom McCamus is a ubiquitous award-winning television, film and theatre actor. "I am quite fascinated about how this play manages to create a thriller on stage," said McCamus, who will play the part of the bed-ridden author Sheldon, famously played by James Caan in the 1990 film, which landed Kathy Bates an Oscar for Best actress in her portrayal of Wilkes. "But perhaps the thing that interested me most about doing this play was working with Nicola Cavendish as Annie Wilkes. The idea of being tied up in a bed and having my legs chopped off by Nicky really appealed to me."
It is the character study presented by Misery that also drew McCamus to the play, an aspect of a work he instantly gravitates toward. "What I am really interested in are characters," McCamus said. "If I like the character, that is the most important part of deciding what work I want to do."
A brief glance at McCamus' past theatre roles offers a glimpse into his love of well-written characters. From Peter Pan to Samuel Beckett's Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, to the starring role in Richard III at Stratford Festival, McCamus' theatrical choices have taken him well beyond the sometimes safe confines of the stage and into dark, brooding humour-tinged territory -- a perfect training ground to capture the tone of Misery.
"I have always enjoyed playing evil people," McCamus quipped. "I tend to like things that are a little more off the wall, a little different. Something that is unpredictable."
Misery runs at the Bluma Appel Theatre, May 1 to May 31.
© Performance Magazine
The Canadian Stage Company 5/08: Tom McCamus
Misery
May 1-May 31 08
Misery By Stephen King
Adapted for the stage by Simon Moore
Directed by David Storch
Starring
Nicola Cavendish
Tom McCamus
Award-winning romance novelist Paul Sheldon is in a car accident; he wakes up to find he has been rescued by his Number One Fan, Annie Wilkes.It doesn't take long for Paul to realize that he's not a patient but a hostage, and Annie has quite a temper. This thriller will have you on the edge of your seat from its careening start to its heart-stopping finish. Don't miss what will happen when Misery comes to life.
"It may be the best major stage version of Stephen King to date"
City Limits Magazine (UK)
Tickets: boxoffice@canstage.com 416.368.3110 or 1-877-399-2651
© The Canadian Stage Company
Excerpt from Where 5/08: Tom McCamus
MODERN AND CLASSIC
SEE IT NOW May 5 to 31 The Canadian Stage Company continues its 20th-anniversary season with an adaptation of Stephen King’s Misery. Award-winning Canadian thespians Tom McCamus and Nicola Cavendish star in this harrowing, claustrophobic tale of a romance novelist who is held hostage by his deranged “number one fan” and forced to complete a new book under threat of death-the ultimate cure for writer’s block. St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts, Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E., $20 and up; 416-368-3110.
© Where
Excerpt from National Post 5/08: Tom McCamus
Never meet your no. 1 fan
Robert Cushman
It may be every writer's worst nightmare to be corralled for an indefinite period by his self-described No. 1 fan. Then again it may not.
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We see everything from Paul's point of view, hear him screaming when his medication is withheld, share his musings on his helplessness and on his hopes of outwitting his captor. He's immersed, in fact, in his own stream of consciousness and we're in there with him, splashing for our lives. Tom McCamus makes the identification seductively easy; he's completely convincing, right from his calculated blend of modesty and arrogance when accepting his prize. His charm and suavity never quite leave him, even at his most desperate as he counts off the moments that separate him from final disaster.
© National Post
Excerpt from Toronto Star 5/9/08: Tom McCamus
Should have kept this Misery locked up
By: Richard Ouzounian Theatre Critic, Published on Fri May 09 2008
There are two wonderful actors onstage, Tom McCamus and Nicola Cavendish.
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For the record, McCamus elegantly delivers that air of wry disillusionment he does so well and Cavendish is truly touching in several scenes where she recalls her unloved past. But these actors are capable of so much more that to waste them in this play is like shaving truffles over poutine.
© Toronto Star
Excerpt from Canada.com 5/10/08: Tom McCamus
If you do only five things this week
By National Post May 10, 2008
4 Stephen King's best-selling 1987 novel Misery is brought to life by CanStage and is bound to be a visceral experience. Nicola Cavendish steps into the role of the psychotic superfan and Tom McCamus plays the terrified housebound novelist in this modern-day fable ofour media-saturatedculture. Through May 31,Mon.-Sat., 8 p. m. Matinees also available. Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E. $20-$89. For tickets, call 416-368-3110 or visit canstage.com.
© Canada.com
Excerpt from Stage Door 5/12/08: Tom McCamus
Misery
Christopher Hoile 2008-05-12
by Simon Moore, directed by David Storch
Canadian Stage Company, Bluma Appel Theatre, Toronto
May 8-31, 2008
Staging a good two-hander with McCamus and Cavendish should not be hard, but the show is dreadfully over-produced.
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McCamus has little to do but communicate intolerable pain through a wide range of moans and shouts.
© Stage Door