COMEDY SKETCH: Marv n’ Berry Makes Something Icy in Edmonton
Following the regionally viral video Keeping Up With the Albertans in which the province’s cities are personified as a dysfunctional family – Edmonton is the underachieving dad; Calgary the high-maintenance mom; their conflicted son Red Deer caught in the middle; mom’s hippie boyfriend Banff camped in a tent across the street; plus the unemployed houseguest […]
Mercury Opera Stages Grand Puccini in Strangest Space Yet – a Legit Theatre!
It’s not that Mercury Opera impresario Darcia Parada hasn’t produced Puccini’s beloved potboiler La Boheme in strange venues before. Back in 1994 she staged Act I of the heartrending opera in a loft in New York’s Tribecca neighbourhood. The producer-opera singer-designer-international entrepreneur has made a career out of staging grand opera in exotic locales (which […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Zakk Attakk!
Black Label Society struts into town on Sunday night for a gig at Midway – one of the city’s newest arcade bars on Calgary Trail. It’s in the old Ranch nightclub location (and if you go way, way back, Barry T’s). The venue is evolving into a notable live venue with some pretty well-known bands […]
Steve Hackett’s Genesis Masterclass Makes Grown Men Weep at the Winspear
“Progressive rock” is that quintessentially English breed of music that you either love or hate. There’s not a lot of middle ground. It’s safe to say that for the 600 people who attended Thursday night’s show with Steve Hackett of the band Genesis at the Winspear Centre, it was pure magic. It was a criminally […]
EDMONTON CONCERT PREVIEW
The city’s 2020 major concert schedule was looking a little sad for a while there – a desert punctuated by an April oasis, with Alice Cooper at the Jube on April 15, (he just gets better with age), James Taylor with Bonnie Raitt (April 17), a Celine Dion double-header (April 21-22), and then nothing. After […]
MUSICAL REVUE: Plain Jane’s Reign Falls Mainly on the Refrain
We owe a debt to Plain Jane Theatre’s Artistic Director Kate Ryan. Who knew it? While Curley was out there singing Oh, What a Beautiful Morning in Oklahoma – waiting in his hovel was a guy called Judd who was going to sing Poor Judd is Daid. While Robert Weede was warbling The Most Happy […]
REVIEW: Colin MacLean Loves As You Like It, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah!
At first it seems rather absurd: a mashup of Shakespeare and the Beatles. But let’s look at this: Shakespeare is the English language’s greatest dramatist, and the Beatles is the most popular band in music history. The two share a romantic sensibility. Upon closer examination the free-spirited music of the Beatles begins in the exuberance […]
