Liberal leadership candidate MPP Kathleen Wynne said it all when she asked her opponents for Dalton McGuinty’s job to make nice in their debut road show appearance. What they did was make it boring. Not that the tightly written script left much room for them to emote with any force. Frankly it was the casting of the production that left much to be desired.
As the aging ingénue, former McGuinty cabinet minister Sandra Pupatello did her best to upstage her fellow cast members. The problem is that when you are busy doing in the rest of the cast, you lose the audience and you leave them in confusion.
But the doctor from downtown Toronto with his artful hair style also has to work on his “gee, shucks, we’re all farmers here” approach. MPP Eric Hoskins might have missed a few classes in Stanislavski’s method acting school.
Mind you, MPP Harinder Takhar seems to have never heard of method acting that is designed to help the actor immerse himself or herself in the persona being portrayed. With Harinder, what you see is what you get.
That might also be true of MPP Charles Sousa, Harinder’s fellow Mississauga contender. Sousa is more like the stage type who portrays the cad who tempts the dew-eyed damsel in distress to try a little Madeira. He looks like he was born wearing a white shirt and tie.
Not like MPP Glen Murray though. Murray should do the Fred Astaire, white tie and tails routine. Ideally, his partner would have to be Kathleen Wynne. She is a bit like an aging Ginger Rogers, do you think? They would be perfect. Except there will be one small problem: Ms. Wynne will probably want to lead.
The only problem with her part in the show on Saturday was that Kathleen Wynne stuck her neck out and offered to make herself Agriculture Minister. That daring move was something of a show stopper.
But, as in any drama going through out-of-town trials, you have to wait for the hero to appear and save Ontario from durance vile under Tiny Tim Hudak. That was the role of former MPP and MP Gerard Kennedy. Gerard even offered to make the Liberal Party in Ontario a more democratic organization. He looked good up there in his shining armour.
Maybe this show just needs better prompting.
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Copyright 2012 © Peter Lowry
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