Alice in Chains returns to Edmonton
One of the most respected and influential bands of the Seattle grunge era is returning to Edmonton this spring – the untimely death of one of their core members isn’t going to stop Alice in Chains. Jerry Cantrell – continuing on after the 2002 death of fellow founding member Layne Staley – found a new […]
REVIEW: Here she comes! Miss Teen a magical family comedy
Vancouver playwright Michele Riml is best known for her Sexy Laundry, a spirited comedy in which a middle-aged couple check into a posh hotel to rejuvenate their flagging 25 year marriage. A while back, the play was given a very funny mounting by director John Hudson for Shadow Theatre. This week at the Varscona Theatre […]
Dierks Bentley thrills beer-drinking, party-going, country-lovers in Edmonton
Edmonton threw a party at Rogers Place on Thursday night to welcome Dierks Bentley back to town for his “Burning Man” Tour – named for the song that’s been such a big hit on country radio for the past year. The arena was already buzzing with the opening lines of his tour- titled track even […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Dierks works!
There is a lot of buzz and fervent anticipation for fans awaiting Dierks Bentley’s gig at Rogers Place on Thursday night. Since releasing his debut album back in 2003 Bentley has released eight additional albums, and has toured relentlessly. He toured his 2018 album The Mountain already last year, and is on the second tour […]
PLAYBOT: Stage mom goes overboard in Miss Teen
What it is with stage moms becoming obsessed by their daughters’ beauty pageants? Could it be a faded rose from days gone by? You want to be supportive for your kid and all, but some mothers go way overboard. Many ridiculous cases both real and fictional are evoked in Michele Riml’s new play Miss Teen, […]
Vanilla Ice to headline ‘I Love the 90’s’ in Edmonton
Just when we’re rolling our eyes over the very idea of ‘90s nostalgia, muttering, “What’s next? A throwback to last week?” is the moment we realize, “whoa, the ‘90s was a long time ago.” Twenty years, at least – plenty of time for the generation to tick over and start throwing together nostalgia package tours […]
The Cardiac Shadow: Human spirit soars above Nazi atrocity in harrowing play
Dr. Sigmund Rascher has not been forgotten. He was the Nazi monster who used human subjects without their consent for extreme experiments. One of his most barbaric practices was designed to determine the best way to warm Luftwaffe pilots who had been shot down into the North Sea. To measure the human body’s ability to […]
The nerve of Minerva lives on in magical new play
The name Houdini still hovers over the world of magic – almost 100 years after his death. The master of “escapology” took the hocus pocus out of the ancient prerogatives of priests and charlatans and turned it into show business gold. Houdini ruled over Broadway, Vaudeville and musical halls. So much so that names such […]
Jim Gaffigan takes whitebread comedy to new heights at Rogers Place
Thousands of well-dressed suburban upper-middle class white couples in Edmonton decided to venture out in the cold for evening date Friday night in the company of fellow thoroughly white American comedian Jim Gaffigan – smack in the middle of his “Quality Time” Tour. They made a wise choice. Gaffigan reasserted his A-list status at Rogers […]
REVIEW: Blue collar drama a play for our times at the Citadel
With her Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat, playwright Lynn Nottage has created a gritty work that dramatically captures the tensions and pervasive feelings of anger and despair that have gripped middle America. This is a play for our times – an insightful work based on the lives of real people – putting a human face on […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Odds are pretty good
Here’s a blast from the fairly recent past: The XTC-like Vancouver quartet that called themselves Odds. Not THE Odds, just Odds, as in probability. Like what are the odds that Odds would rule the 1990s with such offbeat anthems as Heterosexual Man, Eat My Brain, and Someone Who’s Cool – and then disappear without a […]
PLAYBOT: Escapist theatre – literally
Famed Edmonton magic-user Ron Pearson was behind all those weird Fringe sideshows: Spider Lady, Cobra Girl, and the terrifying Headless Terror! Now he’s been trying his sleight-of-hand at play-writing, the latest of which is called Minerva – Queen of the Handcuffs. The world premiere runs Jan. 15-27 at the Roxy on Gateway. Based on the […]
