It’s funny because we all do it – the magic of relationship comedy
Posted on November 15, 2012 By Mike Ross Comedy, Front Slider
If we’ve learned anything about comedy, it’s that the more universal the topic, the better. As an astute observer of comedy once said, “Everybody knows what a vagina is.” You sniggered there, didn’t you? Of course you did. “Vagina” is a funny word. So is “penis,” for that matter. There’s a lot of material there. […]
Sci-fi-fantasy fans get another kick at the Con at PureSpec
Posted on November 15, 2012 By Wayne Arthurson Front Slider, Lit
It’s a month after Edmonton Expo and a couple weeks after Halloween -and you still want to get more mileage outta that Commander Shepherd costume you worked on for a year? Fear not, sci-fi-fantasy lover, because Pure Speculation 2012 is coming your way this weekend at the MacEwan Robbins Health Centre (City Centre Campus, 104 […]
On thin ice: play looks at global warming
Posted on November 13, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Theatre
One of the most disturbing things about global warming is hearing people’s reactions on how it’s going to affect their “lifestyle.” Another example comes in a play called “6.0: How Heap and Pebble Took on the World and Won” – a funny yet poignant tale of champion figure skaters trying to stage a comeback in […]
BOOKS: Persistence pays off for lawyer-turned-novelist Peggy Blair
Posted on November 11, 2012 By Wayne Arthurson Features, Front Slider, Lit
The novel written by former Edmontonian Peggy Blair was rejected 156 times before she met bestselling Scottish writer Ian Rankin in a bar. They talked briefly about her predicament and then out of the blue, he told her to use his name to contact his literary agent – a bit of good fortune that resulted […]
From play to movie back to play, Jack Goes Boating proves its stamina
Posted on November 7, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Theatre
It’s quite a challenge to do play that’s been made into a movie. Everyone’s going to make comparisons, many of them unfair. Good example: Kurt Vonnegut – great novelist, lousy playwright. Fortunately for the cast of Jack Goes Boating – opening Thursday at the Varscona Theatre – the 2010 movie of the same name isn’t […]
REVIEW: Rock of Ages succeeds despite, or maybe because of, cheesy music
Posted on November 7, 2012 By Maurice Tougas Front Slider, Music, Theatre
Going into Rock of Ages, the latest Broadway Across Canada production to set up shop at the Jubilee Auditorium, I had a real fear that this was going to be one of those shows that I would be tempted to leave at the intermission (I quit halfway through Cats; I don’t care how popular that […]
Randy Bachman to bring songs, stories about songs, to Winspear Centre
Posted on November 5, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
It looks like they just missed another accidental Guess Who reunion. Randy Bachman is coming to town, playing Tuesday, April 9 the Winspear Centre – the same building his compatriot Burton Cummings will be performing on Dec. 1. Tickets for the Bachman show go on sale Friday. Is there no stopping these guys? Bachman will […]
ROCK MUSICAL: Rockers to rock in Rock of Ages
Posted on November 4, 2012 By Maurice Tougas Front Slider, Music, Theatre
If there’s a rock ‘n’ roll heaven, it might include a part in Rock of Ages. It may seem that way for rock singer Universo Pereira, who landed the plum role of hard rockin’, hard livin’ rock legend Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages despite having no theatre experience whatsoever. But he was a rock […]
Oilers hero sour on Lance Armstrong memorabilia
Posted on November 1, 2012 By Rob Drinkwater Culture, Features, Front Slider, TV and Radio, Visual Arts
Georges Laraque owns three limited-edition replicas of the Trek bicycles that Lance Armstrong rode during his latter Tour de France victories, two of them autographed, one even decorated with 23-karat gold frame panels – and the former Edmonton Oiler can’t even stand to look at them anymore. “I got sick to my stomach because I […]
Blue Rodeo to hit Edmonton in January for 25th anniversary tour
Posted on October 29, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
Here’s another band hitting a milestone that reminds us how old we’re getting – Blue Rodeo has been at it for 25 years, and will celebrate with what is expected to be a night of pure, sweet nostalgia on an extensive cross-Canada tour. Two nights in Edmonton, actually. The band plays the Jubilee Auditorium January […]
WHO NAMED THE BAND: Marianas Trench teaches kids about geography
Posted on October 26, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
Some bands are born to weird band names. Others have weird band names thrust upon them. Marianas Trench fits both cases. The Vancouver pop-not-punk group – headlining Monday at Rexall Place – had actually been renamed from its early days as Ramsay Fiction, after singer and founder Josh Ramsay. But while the guy tends to […]
Bon Jovi to play Edmonton in April – ‘Because We Can’
Posted on October 25, 2012 By Mike Ross Front Slider, Music
Bon Jovi doesn’t need a reason to tour – “Because We Can” is the name of the band’s latest jaunt around the globe. The band will hit Edmonton’s Rexall Place on April 3, one of six Canadian dates announced by the band this week. Pre-sale tickets go on sale Friday; the public on-sale is expected […]