Last night I went to a ScriptLab Sing and Tell, hosted by Jim Betts, at the Equity Theater.

It's been a while since I've been to one of these (I've been out of town a lot) and I'd forgotten how much fun they are! This time I brought the whole family! The featured writer this time was Brock Simpson, a very talented writer who had a show at The Fringe this year (Lust Labours Lost).

He played selections from another show of his called This Could Be Love that had a couple of productions, one at The Poor Alex, a couple of years back. What a great show -- the idea is that two "unlucky at love" people meet and decide to make themselves fall in love. And wonderful songs. Here's hoping that it lives again! This is a show that needs to be optioned...now!

We talked a lot about the state of the musical theater biz in Toronto (not healthy) and kicked around some ideas.

We wondered why the cabaret/revue culture, so strong in the 1970s at places like The Dell and The Teller's Cage, had basically disappeared in Toronto.

Is it the lack of real producers in Toronto? Lack of money? Lack of producers that can raise money? Lack of interest on the part of the audience?

A few people did songs from musicals -- the sorry state of musical theater in Toronto certainly isn't due to lack of talent! I presented a new song from Plane Crazy called "Wasn't That Me", wonderfully sung by my daughter Myrna (I always knew having kids would come in handy!).

Here's to the future of musicals in Toronto!

Technorati tags: Broadway Music Movie Musicals Musicals Blog Blogs Theater Theatre Entertainment