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Showing posts from February, 2017

Five Faces for Evelyn Frost

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Photo: canadianstage.com It's obvious why this generation is experiencing so much anxiety and depression. This is an excellent commentary on identity and social media at Canadian Stage in English or French (see website for details). A CO-PRODUCTION WITH THÉÂTRE FRANÇAIS DE TORONTO. FEB 14 - MAR 5  (ENGLISH)  MAR 21-25  (FRENCH). CAST Laurence Dauphinais Steffi DiDomenicantonio Tara Nicodemo Nico Racicot Alex Weiner  PLAYWRIGHT Guillaume Corbeil TRANSLATOR Steven McCarthy DIRECTOR Claude Poissant LIGHTING DESIGN Martin Labrecque MUSIC Nicolas Basque SET DESIGN Max-Otto Fauteux PHOTOGRAPHER Janicke Morissette WARDROBE Philippe Massé STAGE MANAGER Natalie Gisèle ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER Jocelyn McDowell PRODUCTION PICTURES Jean–François Brière CREATION & SURTITLES OPERATION Melanie Hall

More Time Warp Than ESP: Déja Vu

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With the same director (Tony Scott, 2006) and score composer (Harry Gregson-Williams) as  The Taking of Pelham 123  (2009) , this is like Inception and other time-space-continuum-manipulation films, but in N'awlins. Interesting backstory re:post-Katrina production on imdb . Some theological points touched on (see Patheos ' brief take on it) and of course a Hollywood ending, but def my cup o' tea. 

5 1/2 Hours of Wagner

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Götterdämmerung by Wagner CAST AND CREATIVE TEAMS Siegfried   Andreas Schager Brünnhilde   Christine Goerke Hagen   Ain Anger Alberich   Robert Pomakov First Norn   Lindsay Ammann Waltraute/Second Norn    Karen Cargill Gutrune/Third Norn   Ileana Montalbetti Gunther   Martin Gantner Woglinde   Danika Lorèn Wellgunde Lauren Eberwein Flosshilde Lindsay Ammann Conductor:     Johannes Debus Director:   Tim Albery Production Designer:     Michael Levine Lighting Designer:   David Finn Choreographer:   Patti Powell Chorus Master:  Sandra Horst With the COC Orchestra and Chorus A Canadian Opera Company production Banner image: (l-r) Robert Pomakov and Ain Anger in Götterdämmerung (COC, 2017), photo by Michael Cooper. We are shameless Robert Pomakov fans, both at the Four Seasons Centre or at his bar, Opera Bob's. Ain Anger was also excellent. Loved the whole production: no falling asleep in this one! 

Art in the TTC

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EXHIBITION DATES January 21 – May 21, 2017 PUBLIC PROGRAMS Tuesday, February 14 Public Art in the Subways Register Tuesday, April 11 Public Art in the Financial District Register This map, created by The Artful City in collaboration with the Martin Prosperity Institute and presented in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario, is the first comprehensive visual view of public art in Toronto. It reveals important patterns of production, ownership, and networks linking artists over time. Over the last 50 years Toronto's public art landscape has grown dramatically, embracing new artists, mediums, policies and funding sources. However, this development has been concentrated in particular neighbourhoods and has prioritized certain forms of practice over others. This map shows who has access to the vast majority of the artwork and who does not. It also illustrates what type of work has received the most support. We invite you to explore and help complete this evolving

Liv Stein at CanStage

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NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE ENGLISH LANGUAGE PREMIERE Music is the only thing that matters in the life of celebrated concert pianist Liv Stein. When her son Henri dies, she gives it all up - the piano, her career, her marriage, herself. But the unexpected visit of a young promising piano student claiming to have shared Henri's last couple of years forces Liv to face past demons she is trying to forget. A mysterious pact is made that seems to reawaken Liv's will to Liv... Canadian Stage Artistic and General Director Matthew Jocelyn directs this suspenseful and exquisitely crafted drama by one of the most prodigious young voices in new German theatre. " Liv Stein  is a unique and unexpected examination of the relationship between truth and happiness. If something makes us happy, does it have to be true? In a moment when our fundamental relationship to truth is being challenged, this work provokes the audience to consider the shades of grey in what we think of as black and wh

Calvary ✞

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Like all films about the Church, this one is difficult to watch. But these performances are not to be missed.

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir at St. Paul's Basilica

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Photo credit: Orthodox Arts Journal PROGRAM Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943, Russia) The Theotokos, Ever-Vigilant in Prayer Excerpts from  Vespers (All-Night Vigil):     My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord     Praise the Name of the Lord     Rejoice O Virgin Riho Esko Maimets (b. 1988, Canada)  Three Prayers from the Holy Rosary: I. Formula Trinitarium      II. Credo      III. Pater Noster World Premiere Omar Daniel (b. 1960, Canada) Sõduri Ema – Part III World Premiere Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998, Russia) Three Sacred Hymns:      Hail to the Virgin Mary      Lord Jesus, Son of God      Lord’s Prayer Arvo Pärt (b. 1935, Estonia) Summa The Woman with the Alabaster Box Nunc dimittis Dopo la vittoria Encore: Onnis on inimene by Kreek, which I knew from my Talla Vocal Ensemble CD   Riho Esko Maimets’s world premiere supported by Philip & Eli Taylor. (disappointing) Omar Daniel’s world premiere supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. (good but piece at theremin concert was better)