Tuesdays With Morrie at the Arts Club Theatre

Death is a hard subject to broach in Western culture. Especially so in entertainment. To pull it off successfully and be able to make the audience both laugh and cry you have to have a masterpiece, and that's exactly what Tuesdays with Morrie is. I have to admit, I'm the first to run at any sign of Oprah-esque, hyper-sympathy heart-string-pullings, and when I saw the box of Kleenex's in the foyer I did have a moment of panic. "Tuesdays with Morrie" is a play about death and dying, but it is also a play about connecting with people and facing your fears and living life to the fullest. Without a doubt, there is potential for some serious Hallmark-sappy moments there, but severe discomfort on my part is averted through superb acting and by not taking themselves seriously. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

Mitch (Warren Kimmel) is a cocky sports reporter who returns to visit his old college professor, Morrie Schwarz (Antony Holland), when he finds out that he's dying of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). We find out later that Morrie was actually very much like Mitch in his youth, but at this moment in time they couldn't be more different. Mitch hides stubbornly behind self-restraint, while Morrie has no reservations whatsoever about asking for a hug and a kiss on the forehead each time they meet. Morrie playfully cons himself around Mitch's postion, coaxing him to come for a visit the following Tuesday, then every Tuesday, until he has coyly wormed himself into Mitch's - and the audiences' - heart.

Based on based on Mitch Albom's best-selling memoir of the same name, "Tuesdays With Morrie" comes to life under the creative hands of the Arts Club Theatre Company. Kimmel did a stellar job of playing the work-obsessed jock - I can tell because I disliked him instantly - and Holland slow decline as he slipped further and further into the disease, was thoroughly convincing.

Tickets are available online or at either the Granville Island or Stanley Theatre box offices. Also check out the video clips they have on the site for a preview.

photo by Emily Cooper, courtesy the Arts Club Theatre