REVIEW: Talking Turk a delightful entertainment
You remember Zoltar the Talking Turk. In the penny arcades of yore, he was the dapper Eastern-looking chap in the turban who sat in a glass booth. You’d put in your coin and Zoltar would jerk into life. A crystal ball would be lit by an eerie, red mystic light and the seer would forecast […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Chilis for the books
Books could be written about the adventures of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And they have. The band has published at least three themselves. Adding to their legacy of 11 studio albums, 13 No. 1 hits, six Grammy awards and 80 million records sold back when people still bought lots of records. Fans still buy […]
PLAYBILL: Teatro’s Talking Turk, take two
Teatro La Quindicina are a bunch of bloody contrarians. While other Edmonton theatre companies are winding down their seasons, playwright Stewart Lemoine’s quirky little troupe is just getting started. May 26 at the Varscona Theatre marks their opposite-world season opener: a Lemoine revival called The Salon of the Talking Turk, starring Mark Meer in the […]
Flailing Festivals in Flaming Flinders!
It may seem like outdoor music festivals are dropping like flies – but that’s because there are so many of them. Some are bound to die. But while public confidence has been eroded from the recent cancellations of the Pemberton Music Festival in B.C. and the Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, most of your favourite […]
Splashy modern Ibsen still pining for the fjords
In his new production of Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea, director Michael Bradley has blown the accumulated dust from the 1888 classic and, with bows its creator, turned it into a perfectly respectable tale for modern audiences. The U of A Studio Theatre production runs at the Timms Centre for the Arts until […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Good Qawwali!
If you’re looking for something completely different this weekend, or you’re totally into Bollywood movies and their music, then this weekend holds a treat for you. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, a Pakistani musician primarily of the Qawwali genre, will play a show at the Jubilee Auditorium on Sunday night. Following in the footsteps of his […]
PLAYBILL: Norwegian blue
Rarely has “pining for the fjords” had more meaning beyond the Monty Python sketch. And it might just be a coincidence that the aforementioned skit involves a possibly dead-or-maybe-just-resting “Norwegian Blue” parrot – and that the author of the season-ending play by U of A’s Studio Theatre was from Norway. Weird, no? The Lady from […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Shredmonton attacks a second time
There are many mysteries, enigmas and riddles inside the fascinating world of heavy metal. So having an annual metal “conference” is a swell idea – and having it in Edmonton is perfect. While we are a hockey town for only a few precious weeks a year, we’re a metal town all the time. Just ask […]
PLAYBILL: Yo Mama
Who are these ladies – dames, gals, broads, girls, skirts, chicks, women – who call themselves “Hey Ladies”? It turns out the three Edmonton performers either are mothers, have mothers or both – so it works out. The Mother’s Day edition of their semi-improvised variety-talk show plays Friday at the Roxy on Gateway. It’s not […]
Theo Fleury doc turns victims to victors
Northwestfest kicked off Friday at the Garneau Theatre with a screening of the documentary Victor Walk, following NHL star Theo Fleury on his 10 day walk from Toronto to Ottawa. He did it to raise awareness about sexual abuse, promote healing and to voice the need for stiffer laws against predators. It’s continuation of a […]
Bonnie and Clyde musical shoots to kill
Bonnie & Clyde: The Two-Person, Six-Gun Musical has been bouncing around the North American theatre scene for nearly 20 years. Seeing possibilities for a small musical featuring just two performers, theatre enthusiasts Andrew Philip Herron, Doug Ritchie and, later, off-Broadway producer Will Pomerantz, put together a show that played with varying degrees of success. Reviews […]
REVIEW: Smart Art
Art, a French language work by Yasmina Reza (translated by Christopher Hampton) opened in Paris in 1994 and quickly became one of the most produced plays in the world. It has won awards everywhere (including the Oliver in Britain and a Tony in America) and was a sure-fire audience hit. Shadow Theatre and veteran director […]
