PLAYBILL: John Ware comes to life
Not much is known about the life of John Ware – which of course means it’s open season for curious biographical playwrights. As long as their poetic license is up to date with not too many demerits. The record of Calgarian playwright Cheryl Foggo appears to be clean, and her celebrated play John Ware Reimagined […]
Mollys Reach scratches Reunion Itch
The “20 Year Itch” phenomenon reveals that any rock band reaching its platinum milestone experiences an incontinent gush of nostalgia. It results in re-releases of 20-year-old albums followed by theme tours to play said albums in their entirety. Even if the band is broken up, the Itch (which no penicillin can cure) can be potent […]
PLAYBILL: Sing, Little Women!
It would be interesting to go back in time and tell Louisa May Alcott that her coming-of-age novel Little Women would one day be made into a musical. Indeed, this would be the best use of a time machine. “Prithy, sir, what is this ‘musical’ of which you speak?” the Victorian authoress might’ve replied. So […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Depeche Mode the best mode
Someone recently posted on social media: “You wanna go to Depeche Mode?” “Depends what year it is,” went the response. “Is it 1989? Am I in college? Am I high on ecstasy? Was ecstasy even invented in 1989?” Or words to that effect. See, now this is the sort of shade a cult favourite like […]
CKUA announcer says he was ‘elbowed’ out
Peter North had to do an awkward band introduction recently. “This is the first time in 17 years I’m not announcing myself as ‘I’m Peter North from the CKUA Radio Network.’ I quit on Wednesday … Ladies and gentlemen, Russell deCarle!” Wait, what? The news quickly spread that one of Edmonton’s resident roots music experts […]
Rogers Waters the real Pink Floyd
It was an adorable but edgy piece of political theatre. A group of schoolkids from the Boys & Girls Club of Edmonton joined Roger Waters on stage at Rogers Place on Tuesday night to perform in Pink Floyd’s biggest hit – the one that goes, “We don’t need no education! We don’t need no thought […]
PLAYBILL: Mom tells her side of the story
We’ve read the Book of Job, perused the respective Gospels of Matthew, Luke, Peter, John, Paul, George and Ringo. But where is the woman’s voice in all this? What did Mother Mary have to say? She was there for the whole thing, after all. Cue The Testament of Mary, the stage adaptation of the Colm […]
Opera creator speaks of forbidden love
People who’ve never seen opera before are being drawn to Lilies (Les Feluettes) – maybe because it’s billed as “Canada’s first gay opera.” But in the upcoming Edmonton Opera production based on Michel Marc Bouchard’s 1987 play, the opera’s creator isn’t making a big deal about the gay thing. It’s an opera. As such, it […]
PLAYBILL: Get out – while you can!
That’s “get out,” as in “get out and see some live theatre, ya lazy bums!” And that’s “lazy bums” with present company excepted. Didn’t mean to scare you. It being Halloweeny season and all, it’s worth checking out a spooky tale being spun by Catch the Keys Productions at Fort Edmonton Park – verily one […]
REVIEW: alt-j weirdest band in the universe
If there is such a thing as being the exact opposite of “radio friendly,” the band alt-j would win the prize. Thank God! Radio is getting too friendly as it is. This trio of British nerds have decided to take the rock ‘n’ roll rule book, throw it out the window and reinvent the art […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: alt-j a Delta Force
Just curious: What happens when you actually press “alt-j” on a computer keyboard? Hmm, nothing. Or wait. What’s this: ∆ … is the actual name of the band. It’s Delta, the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, and it refers to the discriminant of a polynomial equation, among other things. Does that help? Right. So […]
Local comic makes serious study of comedy
Lars Callieou has been studying comedy longer than he’s been a comedian – thanks to his long-running weekly show on CJSR radio. He’s had on every area comic you could name during the last 11 years; they’ve plumbed every angle, dissected every joke, shared many a gory road story. As such, he is uniquely qualified […]
