3 Time Canadian Comedy Award Nominee
Actor, Writer, Comedian, Teacher
Starring:
Three time Canadian Comedy Award Nominee CHRISTEL BARTELSE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Sheila Sky, Sky Arts Mgmt
+1.647.402.6582
Dutch Girl Productions of Toronto presents CHAOTICA — the story of Alice in a whole other wonderland. Caught in an ever-shifting board game that wickedly transforms her into a different version of who she thinks she wants to be, Alice confronts her fears and desires in a desperate attempt to take control of her life. Fusing elements from nearly every comic tradition (sketch, stand-up, clown, satire and improv) CHAOTICA is a funny and touching play about remembering who we really are and what we really want. It has humour, heart and tap-dancing too!
Written and performed by Christel Bartelse, one half of the Canadian Comedy Award nominated duo Burnt Marshmallows, (U-Haulywood and STUCK), CHAOTICA premiered at the 2008 London Fringe, winning the Best-in-Venue Impresario Award and a nomination for the Brickenden Award for Outstanding Touring Production. “I began my solo Fringe in London with CHAOTICA, and the warm reception encouraged me to continue to develop this work. I think the comic nightmare lived by the chronically stressed-out is something everyone can identify with. Its now toured Ottawa, Saskatoon, Edmonton, played Toronto twice, and I’ve received a couple of invitations to the States as well. It seems to be becoming my signature piece. Its easy to keep fresh, with the improv elements forcing me to be quick on my feet, and every segment taps a different part of my creative arsenal. It’s a piece I’m always thrilled to perform.”
A theatrical Jackie-of-all-trades, Christel works as an actor, writer, clown and producer, known for her physical comedy, particularly in collaboration with Christina Sicoli, the other Burnt Marshmallow.
Christel has also written and performed another Fringe audience favourite, ONEymoon – A Honeymoon for One which was also nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award-“Best one Person Show” in 2011. The show recently toured Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmoton and IndyFringe as well as being invited to play at DivaFest in Indianapolis 2011. Favourite stage credits include Pugg in Mump & Smoot in Something Else (Westbury Theatre, Edmonton), and Tifulbeau in The Hollow (CanStage, Toronto). She is a regular performer for Clown Chowder, the Lunacy Cabaret and the Toronto Festival of Clowns, and has also participated in the March of Dames, Cheap Queers, Buskerfest, the Hysteria Festival and the Chicago Improv Festival. Christel is a faculty member of Humber College where she teaches Physical Theatre and is a frequent guest instructor at Second City.
View an excerpt of Chaotica
Interview- Podcast with Christel
“True show business pizazz” – NOW Magazine (Toronto)
“Impeccable comic timing, manically gifted actor” – Terminal City (Vancouver)
“A human fireball” – See Magazine (Edmonton).
Link Recent Press NOW Magazine
Link Recent Press Globe & Mail
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WHAT MINNEAPOLIS AUDIENCES ARE SAYING ABOUT ONEymoon ( A Honeymoon for One)
“Bartelse is a very cute, engaging performer with a lot of stage presence. I was impressed that she could fill the Southern with a one-person show. The audience participation bits were so funny and memorable, and there’s a lot of heart and imagination to the show.” Andrew Fafoutakis
“The Actress is an incredible Performer”- Melinda Beatty
“Ms Bartelse was very engaging and I loved the clever use of interaction with the audience.” Lara-Friedman-Shedlov
“I can see why she’d want to marry herself. a good script, very winning performance, and fun audience interplay/participation make this *the* show for anyone who is married, has been married, wants to be married, knows someone who’s married…” –Mark Browning Milner
“Caroline, loves herself and by the end of the show so will you. Christel is an innovative and energetic performer with many talents; all of which are on display here. Be it Hip Hop or tap dancing her energetic style shines through.” – Steven McCaa
ONEymoon ( A Honeymoon for One)
DUTCH GIRL PRODUCTION
ONEymoon
Conceived, co-written & performed
by Toronto’s “human fireball” Christel Bartelse,
ONEymoon tells the story of a woman who marries herself.
With ambiguous feelings about the institution of marriage and unwilling to commit to anything less than perfection, Caroline opts to re-invent a long standing social convention. The audience joins Caroline as her family and friends on her unusual wedding day and follow along on her beach vacation — her honeymoon for one. Filled with zany wit, improv, dance and song, Caroline pokes holes in our notions of “wedded bliss” – but ultimately finds that even a long-term relationship with herself has its pitfalls. It has humor, heart and tap-dancing too!
During the summer of 2010, this show toured Fringe Festivals in London, Toronto and Minnesota. By August, the show had truly hit is stride at the Victoria Fringe Festival, where it played to sold out houses and rave reviews, AND earned an annual Critics Choice award nomination from Monday Magazine.
“This production – a celebration of independence and girl power – is an energetic, manic and hilarious tale full of obligatory audience participation…original music, rapping, inebriated cabana boy seduction and tap dancing. A masterful improviser, Bartelse is a bouncing ball of energy who clearly enjoys the spotlight. This one-derful and entertaining production is definitely worth checking out. “ Thandi Fletcher, 5 STARS, Victoria Times Colonist
A theatrical Jackie-of-all-trades, singer, dancer, actor, producer, writer, clown, teacher and comedienne Christel Bartelse recently wowed Fringe audiences with her one-woman show CHAOTICA, which toured Ottawa, Wakefield, and Saskatoon. In London, it won the Best-in-Venue Impressario Award and scored a nomination for the Brickenden Award for Outstanding Touring Production. This show also commanded sold out performances at North America’s largest and most competitive Fringe in Edmonton, and has played Toronto twice – at the Festival of Clowns and The Theatre Centre. In 2010 it was one of only 5 shows nominated in the solo performance category for the Canadian Comedy Award. Like CHAOTICA, ONEymoon brings to life human-kind’s hilarious anxieties and imperfections in a mad-cap, high energy melange of comic brilliance.
