REVIEW: Rustic, dated comedy pokes middle age marriage
Watching the Mayfield Dinner Theatre’s new production of Henry & Alice: Into the Wild, you may find the ear worm theme for the 1960’s rustic sitcom Green Acres rattling around in your head. “Green Acres is the place to be! Farm living is the life for me!” sings a former Wall Street millionaire – while […]
REVIEW: Stephanie Wolfe takes on Lily Tomlin
There are one-person shows that are linked to certain famous actors, such as Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain or, more recently, Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston as LBJ. In 1977, Lily Tomlin, then a recent grad from the television series Laugh In, brought her one-person show The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Jazz fest a MacEwan affair
Did you know that Edmonton is crawling with monster jazz musicians on par with any in the world? It’s true. Why this is so is no mystery. Most of the heaviest local jazz cats in town make their living by teaching others to follow in their path, most at the famed MacEwan University music program […]
Meat Loaf recovers from stage collapse in Edmonton
The audience thought it was part of the act – a theatrical rock legend laying on his back to perform his big encore – but it soon became horribly real. Meat Loaf had collapsed on stage at the Jubilee Auditorium Thursday night. UPDATE: He’s going to be OK. A statement released Friday morning said the […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Porkapalooza serves gravy
In one of the most interesting evolutions of a festival that’s been seen in quite some time, the musical offerings of this weekend’s Porkapalooza went from a three-day ticketed event to being “admission by donation” in the blink of an eye. That being said, proceeds will go towards assisting Fort McMurray, so it’s a great […]
Justin Bieber a mannish boy
Justin Bieber has matured – yet the boy inside the man still likes to play. At the show on Tuesday night in Edmonton, there was a slide, swings, monkey bars, a trampoline and a water park! Justin even appeared to be dressed in play clothes. His fans have matured, too. The 13,000 women who turned […]
Young cast soars in Rent revival
The story of the first night of the rock musical Rent in 1993 could be an opera on its own. The music, lyrics and book were all written by Jonathan Larson, whose day job up until opening night was working in a fast food joint in New York City. He died of a heart attack […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: City and Colour going for the soul
There’s this idea that City and Colour is the evil twin of singer Dallas Green (first name city, last name colour) – who was once known for rocking out with one of Canada’s hardest rocking out-est bands, Alexisonfire. So when solo material came out that revealed serious adult contemporary hit potential, a penchant for balladry […]
James Taylor’s got a friend in Edmonton
If an artist can ruin his music by acting like an ass – we’re looking at you, Kanye – would it follow that good conduct could actually improve an artist’s music? It’s all very subjective and personal, of course, but it’s worth thinking about. Think about the easy listening legend James Taylor, who donated proceeds […]
