Vertigo Theatre Artistic Director Jack Grinhaus is grinning ear to ear talking about the big announcements for season 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always something for someone, but more for most,\u201d he says. \u201cBut in the 50th, it\u2019s everything for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n
Perhaps, the biggest headline being that Vertigo has been selected as the first theatre to mount a Murdoch Mystery-based play. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s an anniversary for both entities as Murdoch celebrates it\u2019s 20th\u00a0season. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the longest running television series in Canadian television. It\u2019s a show that already they\u2019re making a symphony they have that\u2019s touring the world\u2026 and they want Vertigo Theatre, of all the theatres in the country, to lead off their theatre version of it,\u201d Grinhaus said. <\/p>\n
Vertigo Theatre has grown into one of Calgary\u2019s most recognizable cultural landmarks. It began life as Pleiades Theatre in 1971 before adopting the Vertigo name in 2002, eventually moving into its purpose-built downtown space in 2003. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s niche of being a professional theatre dedicated entirely to stories of intrigue, suspense and mystery has served it well in recent years, as subscriber numbers continue to swell.<\/p>\n
Grinhaus says evolution has been part of Vertigo\u2019s DNA from the beginning.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe began by only doing Agatha Christie plays,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But as popular culture embraced darker and more contemporary crime storytelling, Vertigo changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the theatre began, they were still living in that kind of 1930s and 40s of Agatha Christie,\u201d Grinhaus says. \u201cBut by the time the 70s, the 90s and the crime dramas and the serial killers came in, that\u2019s what dominated the last 30 years of our time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Those decades pushed detective tales, Sherlock Holmes adaptations, noir, and crime drama to the forefront of Vertigo\u2019s stage.<\/p>\n
That shift has now crystallized into a clear identity. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now Canada\u2019s National Theatre for Intrigue and Mystery, which is our new moniker, because we don\u2019t just do the mystery plays anymore,\u201d Grinhaus says. \u201cWe now have horror, thriller, suspense, noir, courtroom drama, crime drama, political drama. As long as you want to chase a story and figure out who the bad guy is, you\u2019re going to come to Vertigo Theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the company heading into its milestone 50th anniversary season, Grinhaus says the lineup reflects that full spectrum of genres. He calls it \u201cthe season of \u2018Ochs\u2019, because there\u2019s Sherlock, there\u2019s two Hitchcocks, and one Murdoch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The full listing for the season of Ochs is as follows:<\/p>\n
THE LODGER Sept. 26- Oct. 25 2026<\/p>\n
A world premiere adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s early thriller, updated to the gritty 1970s and centered on a cash strapped couple who take in a mysterious boarder just as a serial killer stalks the city.<\/p>\n
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE HUNT FOR MORIARTY Nov. 14-Dec. 19 2026<\/p>\n
North American premiere from Nick Lane.\u00a0 A fast paced, high stakes Holmes adventure set in 1901 London, where Sherlock and Watson race to stop a shadowy force threatening the British Empire.<\/p>\n
THE VEIL Jan. 16- Feb. 14 2027<\/p>\n
A one person psychological thriller about a man who makes a dangerous bargain \u2013 light a candle, blow it out, get everything you want \u2013 only to find his darkest deeds returning to confront him.<\/p>\n
8ROJO\u2019S THE LAST CANDLE (Studio Production) Feb. 26- March 7 2027<\/p>\n
A non verbal, visually driven \u201cdeal with the devil\u201d story from Calgary\u2019s acclaimed Ocho Rojo, known for physical theatre and striking imagery.<\/p>\n
THE 39 STEPS March 13-April 17 2027<\/p>\n
A vertigo classic returns a lightning fast spy comedy with four actors playing dozens of characters in a runaway chase across the UK. It\u2019s equal parts Hitchcock homage and theatrical joyride, packed with laughs, stage magic, and the breakneck pace audiences have loved for years.<\/p>\n
THE MIDNIGHT TORCH: A MURDOCH MYSTERY May 15-June 13 2027<\/p>\n
A world premiere prequel developed with CBC and Shaftesbury, placing a young Detective William Murdoch at a New Year\u2019s Eve gathering of inventors where a fatal experiment turns into a locked room murder. The play brings Murdoch, Ogden, Crabtree, and Brackenreed to the stage in a large scale, high spectacle mystery designed to launch a nationally significant new chapter for the franchise. And it all starts at Vertigo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Vertigo Theatre Artistic Director Jack Grinhaus is grinning ear to ear talking about the big announcements for season…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-529373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}