REVIEW: John Ware gets the story he deserves
John Ware was the most famous Alberta hero you’ve never heard of – and the subject of a remarkable new play by Calgary playwright Cheryl Foggo. John Ware Reimagined is an absorbing and ultimately touching production from Edmonton’s Workshop West (from the original 2014 Ellipsis Tree Collective production in Calgary). It plays until Nov. 19 […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Dallas Smith not wasting time
Musicians who make the leap from mainstream rock to mainstream country have only served to illustrate how similar these two genres of music can be in the right (or wrong) hands. That “leap” feels more like a hop across a dried-up creek-bed these days. Dallas Smith has been a country guy since 2011, a steady […]
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 […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: The Glorious Sons on upward path
Hailing from Kingston, Ontario – hometown of the late Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip – The Glorious Sons have had five singles hit the top 10 on the Canadian rock charts since they were founded in 2011, including Lightning, The Contender, and Kill the Lights. And three of those came off their glorious debut […]
Tegan and Sara share queer agenda in Edmonton
Tegan and Sara are Alberta-bred – twin sisters and openly queer. They used to play at the old Edmonton institution known as the Sidetrack Café. The connection to Edmonton is fitting because the crowd who filled the Jubilee Auditorium on Tuesday night looked like a throwback to the good ol’ days at The Roost with […]
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 […]
The Jesus and Mary Chain strangely Canadian
Maybe we were wiping away our tears after burying Gord Downie. Or maybe we’re still rolling our eyeballs over cowering in the shadow of Trump as NAFTA negotiations evaporate. Or maybe we’re just resigned to a fate of frozen sphincters on those ice floes that millennials threaten will make for a fitting farewell to those […]
REVIEW: Testament of Mary one of the best
The small house where Mary was supposedly taken by the Apostle John after the Crucifixion sits on a mountaintop in Ephesus in Turkey. Irish Playwright Colm Toibin sets his play, The Testament of Mary, in this modest abode. She is now an embittered old woman. Recently, two men have been appearing at her door. One […]
REVIEW: Halloween Scream a place of belonging
The sidewalks along Jasper Avenue were alive on the night of Scream Edmonton – one of the biggest Halloween raves in Western Canada. The line-up for entry to the sold-out Shaw Conference Centre on Saturday night was long, and you could sense that everyone was preparing themselves for the night of their lives. The fans […]
