PLAYBOT: The Importance of Being Lemoine
In Upside Down World, while all other Edmonton theatre companies have ended their seasons and are resting up for the Fringe, Teatro la Quindicina is just getting started. It has been said – by PlayBot™ – that Teatro’s permanent resident playwright and artistic director Stewart Lemoine is the Oscar Wilde of Edmonton, so it fits […]
David Byrne doesn’t stop making sense
If the live concert experience has to be reinvented, and maybe it does, David Byrne is just the guy to pull it off. He’s got the credentials – a weird New York art-rock cat who became the intelligent face of the new wave movement with the Talking Heads. Ever since, he tries to do something […]
TV: Raise a little Hellfire Heroes
It makes sense that what may be Canada’s first firefighter reality show is set in Alberta. Lord knows the province has suffered trials by fire. Hellfire Heroes, an eight-show documentary series (don’t call it a reality show) premiering May 22 on Discovery Canada, follows teams of firefighters working in two rural Alberta communities. With more […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Which side are you on?
We can’t ignore the connection – and friendship – between Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal. Hughes got into hot water recently because of some things that he said. Homme and Hughes co-founded Eagles of Death Metal in 1998. After QOTSA got big, Homme played […]
Eagles put a spell on Edmonton
What a minute! How did Vince Gill wind up doing so much heavy lifting as the newest member of the Eagles in Edmonton on Tuesday night? No offense to Vince Gill. He’s a great guitarist and songwriter. One of country music’s finest. Helluva singer, too. Got that high, lonesome voice. But is he worthy to […]
PLAYBOT: Refugees find love in Canada
Canada has always welcomed refugees – and the nation is better for it. The new people just have to get used to the frightful weather. Before the poor Syrians, there were Jews fleeing persecution in Romania 100 years ago. Some of them settled in Canada – and so here is the tale in a concert-theatre […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Never the Shania Twain shall meet
Nobody should care what Shania Twain says about Donald Trump. Ditto Kanye West or Roseanne or any other celebrity. We didn’t buy their records or watch their television shows for their political opinions. That’s what Fox & Friends is for. (For a highly scientific analysis on how artists can ruin their art by talking too […]
PLAYBILL: Shumka keeps it real
The Ukrainian Shumka Dancers have turned down an offer to participate in an all-Shumka parody of West Side Story to tell the tale of Edmonton’s two sides – North Side Story. We were told Shumka’s core subscribers probably wouldn’t go for it (based on a comic by Chad Huculak). Just as well. Keep it real. […]
PLAYBILL: Robin Hood flower
In a world premiere mix-up of the classic tale, Robin Hood is a woman, the story is by the acclaimed Edmonton playwright Mieko Ouchi, there’s music by the great Canadian songsmith Hawksley Workman, and the performers are doing aerial acrobatics. Also, Citadel Theatre artistic director Daryl Cloran is directing the show himself. It’s hard to […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: From one Sloan to another
Here’s a tonsorial shocker: One of the guys in Sloan – Patrick Pentland – has gone full-on Greg Keelor. The guitarist’s suddenly hairy visage contrasts sharply with the rest of the guys (Chris Murphy, Jay Ferguson and Andrew Scott), and with the image of the freshly-scrubbed college pop-sters they used to be when they released […]
PLAYBILL: Can’t go wrong with Elvis
One of the things the Mayfield Dinner Theatre does very well is the dependable “jukebox musical.” This is due mainly to artistic director Van Wilmott – a hardcore music and gear geek, songwriter, performer, arranger and producer who’s been active in Edmonton’s music scene for at least 40 years, many of them working hard at […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Scenic Route to Alaska beautiful and mysterious
With their abundant talent, deep Alberta roots, strong work ethic and a career on the rise, Scenic Route to Alaska is the perfect subject for Who Named the Band – an ongoing series of essays in which much more than just the unusual or ridiculous band name is examined. Scenic Route to Alaska plays the […]
