20
Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
M5B 2H5
(416)
677-5883
langfieldent@rogers.com
www.langfieldentertainment.com
April 17, 2008
An amazing month so far. Birthday week for me this week and I've noticed
that it's almost more significant than New Year's to me when reflecting on the
past year. I look forward to a year of joy and fulfillment - and working
to achieve those! Maybe it's just spring in the air but I definitely
feel a sense of 'newness'.
Speaking of which, I have a new event listed for you this week - it's the
amazing Alvin Ailey Dance Theater coming to Toronto again. I went
last year and was completely blown away! Unbelievable! So, get your
tickets. And also remember Legendary American dance troupe Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with only three more nights left at
Harbourfront.
Then there's the event to kick
off Toronto's amazing spring and summer seasons - the VIP Jam at Revival. Come out and enjoy a selection
of some of the best of the best artists this city and country has to offer
- all for the love of performing and jamming. This night always holds a
very magical quality - and there are always tons of surprise guests.
Check out pics from the last one in December here.
Lots of cool and hot news below - so check it out!
::HOT EVENTS::
Virtuosic Dance From Contemporary Icon Bill T. Jones In The Canadian
Premiere Of Chapel/Chapter - April 16 To 19, 2008
Source:
Harbourfront
Centre
(April 2, 2008) Legendary American dance troupe Bill T.
Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company returns to Toronto, April 16 to 19, with the Canadian premiere of Chapel/Chapter,
as part of Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage 2008.
Through spoken word, live music and a brilliant company of dancers, Chapel/Chapter
is an exhilarating experience performed in-the-round, an intimate setting
draped in red fabric reminiscent of the sanctuary of a church. Rigorous and
joyful, tragic yet uplifting, Chapel/Chapter vividly contrasts evil
deeds with beautiful, at times, elegiac movement and music in this captivating
and emotional multi-media performance. "Chapel/Chapter is a
riveting experience…the visceral impact of the piece is inescapable,” says The
New York Times.
Based
in Harlem, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane
Dance Company is world renowned for its politically driven, socially
charged performance works. Continuing to push the envelope, Jones proves once
again that he is one of the most powerful voices in contemporary dance today.
In Chapel/Chapter, three
stories—two highly visible news items and one personal confession told in
movement, words and music—set the narrative mood for an intimate exchange
between the audience and one of the world’s top dance choreographers, Bill T
Jones. An emotionally powerful work, Chapel/Chapter will long linger in
audiences’ memories.
"To
me, Chapel/Chapter asks the very real question ‘Can there be good in a
world so full of evil?‘ The inspiration for Harbourfront Centre's focus on
Sacred throughout the spring, this remarkable dance work allows us to
experience these disturbing stories on a visceral level while finding refuge
and ultimately hope in the beauty of the performance," says Dance
Programmer Jeanne Holmes.
Chapel/Chapter's spirit is conveyed through live music performed by
an ensemble of contemporary musicians: singer/multi-instrumentalist Lipbone
Redding, who has been variously described as a vocal trickster and experimental
cowboy; cellist Christopher Lancaster, who creates multi-layered, textural
music through the use of real-time samplers and effect processing; and soprano
Alicia Hall Moran, a classical singer whose influences range from opera to
jazz.
Harbourfront
Centre’s World Stage 2008 presents a diverse collection of innovative and
exciting performing arts events in one visionary series with a number of world
and Canadian premieres of some of the world’s most exceptional artistic
endeavours. 13/13 rush ticket programme: students and seniors can purchase one
$13 ticket, per valid ID, cash only, 13 minutes before curtain (subject to
availability). Package discounts up to 20%. Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage
2008 showcases the best theatre, music and dance through May 10.
Other
upcoming World Stage performances: world premiere of Every Time I See Your Picture I
Cry—Daniel Barrow (Winnipeg), presented as part of the 21st annual Images
Festival, April 10-12; Canadian premiere of Damascus—Traverse Theatre
Company (Scotland), April 22-26; Toronto premiere of Short Works—Black
Grace (New Zealand), April 30-May 3; and Toronto premiere of The Space
Between—C!RCA (Australia), May 6-10 who also perform 46 Circus Acts in
45 Minutes on May 7.
FOCUS:
Sacred
From
January to June, Harbourfront Centre asks the big question—What do you hold
Sacred? Part of an ongoing exploration of ideas in programming at Harbourfront
Centre. Our Lens. Your View. Harbourfront Centre - divine culture.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16 – FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2008
CHAPEL/CHAPTER
Enwave
Theatre
Harbourfront
Centre
231
Queens Quay West
8
p.m
Matinee
performance takes place at 2 p.m. on April 19
Single tickets: $40.
For tickets and information, the public can call 416-973-4000 or visit www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage
(For additional information on the company, please
visit www.billtjones.org.)
Monday Night Revival Jam Reunion – Monday, April 21, 2008
Yes, that’s right folks – all the original players – Shamakah Ali (percussion),
Rich Brown (Host and bass), Joel Joseph, (keys) Anthony Wright (sax), Alexis
Baro (trumpet) and Dane Hartsell (Guitar) will be reuniting on Monday,
April 21st at Revival for a spring version of VIP
Jam!! Many special guests will be joining this famous crew as
well!
Did you ever go to the Monday night jams at Revival?
Practically every big visiting artist would stop by and hit the stage with our
amazing Toronto musicians! It was such a great vibe and very
well-attended. Well, now it’s time for the REUNION!
Check out the best of R&B, funk, rock and blues this spring season!
MONDAY, APRIL 21, 2008
MONDAY NIGHT VIP JAM REUNION
Revival
783 College St. (at Shaw)
Doors open 9:00 pm
$5 COVER
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre – May 16-17, 2008
Source: Sony
Centre for the Performing Arts
Join the celebration as Alvin Ailey American
Dance Theater,
America’s cultural ambassador to the world, marks its 50th anniversary of
bringing African-American cultural expression and the American modern dance tradition
to the world’s stages. The genius of Alvin Ailey changed forever the
perception of American dance; today the legacy continues with Judith Jamison’s
remarkable vision and the extraordinary artistry of the Company’s
dancers. Beauty, spirit, hope and passion know no bounds. That is
the power of Ailey.
AADT returns to the Sony Centre for three performances; each show will be
comprised of a distinct set of pieces from the company's repertoire,
culminating in the signature ‘Revelations’.
FRIDAY, MAY 16-SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATRE
3 Performances Only
Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
1 Front St. E. (corner of Yonge & Front St.)
Prices: $48 - $78
Tickets: (416)872-2262 or visit www.sonycentre.ca
::TOP STORIES::
Ticats' Jackson Found Dead At Home At Age 26
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- The Canadian Press
(April 14, 2008) HAMILTON–Linebacker Jamacia Jackson, who spent last season with
the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, was found dead Monday in South Carolina. He was 26.
"Jamacia was a beloved player, teammate and friend," Ticats head
coach Charlie Taaffe said in a statement. "He will be truly missed by our
entire team.
"Our sincere condolences are with Jamacia's family and friends."
The Ticats said the six-foot-one, 210-pound Jackson was found unresponsive at a
Sumter, South Carolina, home Monday morning. He was later pronounced dead in
hospital.
The CFL club added the cause of death wasn't immediately known.
"Jamacia was a respected and talented member of our team who worked as
hard in our community as he did on the field," said President Scott
Mitchell. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Jamacia's family."
Jackson is the second Ticats' player to die during a recent off-season.
Offensive lineman Travis Claridge died Feb. 28, 2006 after being found
unconscious in his Las Vegas home. His death was later ruled accidental.
Claridge was 27.
Jackson, a native of Sumter, spent last season with the Ticats after signing
with the CFL club as a free agent Jan. 11, 2007.
He signed with the NFL's New York Giants in 2006 but was allocated to NFL
Europe and was selected in the 16th round by the Berlin Thunder. He attended
Berlin's training camp but was released March 5 and subsequently cut loose by
the Giants two weeks later.
Jackson signed with the NFL's Tennessee Titans in 2005 as an undrafted free
agent but was released during training camp. He subsequently joined the
Montreal Alouettes' practice roster.
Jackson spent his college career at the University of South Carolina
(2001-'04). He appeared in 43 games over four seasons, including 21 as a
starting strong safety. He registered 159 career tackles, two sacks and two
interceptions, returning one 98 yards for a touchdown. He also forced three
fumbles and recovered two others.
Idol Gives Back Raises $60 Million
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Bruce Demara, Entertainment
Reporter
(April 11, 2008) LOS ANGELES–Fox's Idol Gives
Back telethon
Wednesday night raised $60 million in pledges, Ryan Seacrest revealed on last
night's edition of the reality show.
The amount was far shy of the $100 million producers had hoped to raise, but
the expanded opportunities for donating as part of this year's show should help
them reach that goal.
Pledges were still being sought during last night's results show.
This was the second year for the event, taped Sunday at the Kodak Theatre in
L.A.
But what is unclear is how the two events truly compare.
While Fox officials balked at releasing a preliminary figure before last
night's Idol's telecast, at least one paper, the L.A. Times, was
reporting that the season's Idol Gives Back tally had already topped
$225 million thanks in large part to a $200 million contribution from the
United Kingdom.
It is unclear whether the $76 million raised from the 2007 edition came
entirely from pledges or included corporation donations.
Ratings-wise, this year's 2 1/2-hour special averaged about 17.5 million
viewers, easily outdistancing second-place CBS, which logged 10.4 million
viewers, according to preliminary data from Nielsen Media Research released
yesterday. But it was well below last year's show with 26.9 million viewers.
The event attracted a diverse group of artists, athletes, politicians and celebrities;
everyone from Brad Pitt and Bono to Annie Lennox and Eli Manning took part.
Charities selected to benefit from Idol Gives Back this year include the
Children's Defense Fund, the Global Fund, Make It Right, Malaria No More, Save
The Children and the Children's Health Fund. Corporate sponsors included Fox
network parent company News Corp., ExxonMobil, Allstate and Ford.
In addition, Ryan Seacrest, Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell donated
their salaries for the evening.
Besides the chance to purchase highlights from the night, Idol fans were
also lured to iTunes by free exclusive content, including a behind-the-scenes
look at Alicia Keys' journey through three countries in Africa helping children
with HIV/AIDS. Last night, host Seacrest said the Top 6 downloads on iTunes
were from Idol Gives Back.
Billboard.com with files from L.A. Times
Where's
The Funding For Hip-Hop?
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Ian Keteku, The Canadian Press
(April 14, 2008) OTTAWA — Hip-hop might be
an entrenched force in Canadian music, but that
doesn't mean it's earning respect when it comes to cultural funding.
Documents obtained from the Canada Council for the Arts show that just four
hip-hop acts received federal grants in 2007, leaving it behind other musical
genres when it came to funding last year.
Three of Canada's 10 bestselling digital tracks in 2007 were hip-hop, according
to Nielsen SoundScan, while Canadian artists such as Kardinal Offishall and
K-OS continued to gain critical and commercial success. And with thriving
scenes in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, notable hip-hop artists have also
started popping up in cities such as Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax.
But despite its growth and popularity, documents obtained from the council
under the Access to Information Act indicate that the genre might still not be
accepted by the federal agency committed to encouraging the arts.
Vincent Letellier, otherwise known as Freeworm, who raps evocatively about
environmental causes, received a grant, as did Romeo Jacobs (a.k.a. Red 1) and
Eric San (Kid Koala), currently on tour in Australia; the latter two received
professional development grants. The group Eekwol also earned a grant, through
the council's Aboriginal Peoples Music Program.
Almost 300 artists applied for funding in the non-classical category. Of those
awarded funding, a majority of the 43 successful applicants were either
classical or jazz musicians. Applications are judged by a committee that is
supposed to represent Canada's two official languages, its aboriginal peoples,
cultural and regional diversity, and an eclectic mix of musicians. Applicants
in each category are to be judged by musicians representing a variety of
musical tastes.
But it appears that hip-hop artists were not judged by their peers in 2007. Not
one of the committee members who reviewed applications in the non-classical
category was considered a hip-hop artist, according to assessment reports used
by the arts council.
Edmonton-based singer/songwriter Mireille Moquin was on the non-classical panel
and said there was no bias against hip-hop artists when the decisions were
made. "It is mainly based on how creative the project is, what jumped out
as being out of the ordinary and original," Moquin said.
The judges need to look beyond creativity and realize that hip-hop music is now
popular culture, said Mils Knight (DJ Mils), who represents Eekwol. Although
that group is grateful for its grant, Knight said, more needs to be done to
recognize the influence that hip-hop has on Canadian culture. "It is a
very popular genre and there is a large pool of talent in this nation that the
government needs to acknowledge."
Hip-hop artists also need to shoulder some of the responsibility, Knight added.
"It is a competitive process and artists have to learn what the jurors are
looking for, refine their application and also learn about the numerous funding
options for musicians."
We shouldn't be fooled by the glitz and glam of an artist's music videos, he
said. "It's not like we are making crazy money, driving crazy vehicles,
and flying in private jets. I still got to pay for rent and I got mouths to
feed. I have bills."
Other rappers say the committee's narrow selection of hip-hop musicians
supports artists with already thriving careers, leaving emerging and
independent artists out in the cold.
Marlon Wilson, also known as Young Mav, belongs to the Edmonton-based hip-hop
collective Politic Live. His group has released two critically acclaimed albums
and three videos on MuchMusic, but still struggles to receive funding from the
council.
"If you're a big name and have a record label that's backing you, you
don't need the funding. The small guys get squeezed out," he said.
Wright on
Time-The Blackout Interview with Kam Williams
Source: Kam Williams
Jeffrey Wright was born on
December 7, 1965 in Washington, DC where he was raised by
his mother, an attorney, with the help of her sister, a nurse, following the
untimely death of his father when he was still a baby. After attending a prep
school, Jeffrey enrolled at Amherst College, discovering his love for the stage
on his way to completing work for a bachelor’s degree in Political
Science.
Next, he earned a scholarship to NYU’s prestigious film school, but dropped out
after only two months to pursue a professional acting career. In 1994, the gifted thespian won a Tony Award
for his spellbinding performance as “Belize” in Tony Kushner’s award-winning
Broadway play “Angels in America.”
A couple of years later, Wright would enjoy his breakout role on the big screen
as the title character in Basquiat. The versatile scene-stealer has since made
innumerable memorable appearances, mostly as a second banana in such flicks as
Shaft, Ali, Syriana, The Manchrian Candidate, Casino Royale, Lackawanna Blues
and The Invasion.
As for his private life, Jeffrey is married to Carmen Ejogo, the
Scottish-Nigerian actress he met on the set of Boycott, where they played Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The couple lives I Brooklyn
which is where they are raising their two children. Here, he takes about his
latest film, Blackout, recently released on DVD, a drama revisiting the chaos
and looting which erupted in East Flatbush during the Great Blackout of 2003.
KW: Jeffrey, thanks so much for the
time.
JW: Thank you.
KW: Well, there are a million things I’d
like to talk to you about. Let me start by asking you what interested you in
Blackout?
JW: It was a film about my neighbourhood, essentially. I live a bike ride away
from Flatbush in Brooklyn. So, it was an opportunity to tell a story that was
close to home. It was also an opportunity for me to experience the blackout,
since I was out of the country when it actually went down. And I had heard
nothing about this side of the New York story. Where I was, it was all reported
as Chianti and Kumbaya. So, that things had gone down was news to me. In fact,
when [director] Jerry LaMothe first approached me about the project, I went online
to see what I could dig up, and couldn’t find any references to it. But going
over to the neighbourhood and talking to the folks about it, I learned that it
had been a very different story for them than had been presented through the
mainstream media. So, this particular story represented in many ways how the
lives and experiences of certain sectors of the American population go
unnoticed. And it allowed us, as actors, to shed light on a story that might
otherwise remain in the darkness.
KW: The picture shows how an already
disadvantaged community’s troubles can be further amplified by a disaster.
JW: Sure… sure… I’ll tell you, I’ve rarely been on a film set that melted so
organically into the location in which it was being shot. Folks who happened to
be walking down the street ended up in the movie. While we were shooting in the
barber shop, guys came in and got haircuts. I even offered to cut a few, but
didn’t get any takers. [Laughs] So there was an authenticity about it that was
really special. But at the same time,
what I came to understand as well is that there’s a volatility in that
particular section of Brooklyn which would only, as you say, require an
incident like the blackout to really spark something.
KW: I think of you in the same light as
the equally-underrated Christian Bale, as two of the best actors never
nominated for an Oscar. Whenever I watch you at work, you’re always quite
extraordinary.
JW: Well, thank you. Some of it’s okay.
KW: When did you develop an interest in
acting?
JW: It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I really seriously pursued
it, and I’ve been trying to escape the business ever since. [Chuckles]
KW: Why did you leave NYU after only a
couple of months.
JW: I had an opportunity to do a Lorraine Hansberry play, so I took it. But I
also left because I felt that I would better serve my craft by actually getting
out and working, and digging my skills out of the boards of the stage, rather
than within the safety of the classroom.
KW: Do you prefer working on the stage?
Obviously, making movies pay a lot more.
JW: Yeah, that’s an attraction of film work, but the stage is satisfying in a
different way. It’s harder work, but most importantly, you have more control
over the final output on the stage, because there’s no one filtering what you
do for the audience. There’s a certain freedom and fulfillment in directly
communicating with the audience that you don’t find in film work. But they each
have their own challenges, and I derive enjoyment from both. But, yes, I think
I have a preference for the stage.
KW: You’ve played a lot of famous
figures: Basquiat, Bobby Seale, Martin Luther King, Sidney Bechet, and you’ll
be portraying a couple more soon in Colin Powell and Muddy Waters. How do you
feel about being tapped to do so many icons?
JW: Basquiat was iconic in certain circles, but relatively unknown in larger
circles. What was exciting about playing him was that it could be an invitation
to a larger audience to his work. So, that was compelling to me. In the case of
Dr. King, it was an opportunity to do a piece about an icon, yes, but about an
icon whose legacy was being lost on younger folks. It was a chance to remind
those who weren’t alive at the time about his work and his life.
KW: Why haven’t you relocated to Los
Angeles?
JW: Why haven’t I? Hmmm… It’s a nice place to visit. [Laughs] I grew up in a
one industry town, Washington, DC. Los Angeles is a one-industry town, too, but
the industry is a little too narrow. Also, I have kids now, and Brooklyn, in my
opinion, is a far superior community to raise them in than L.A., just in terms
of their being overshadowed by movies and things like that. And there’s a lot
more to the world than spotlights.
KW: Is there a question you always
wished a journalist would ask you?
JW: That’s a good question, but no.
KW: Are you happy?
JW: That’s a good one, too. I used to say that “happy” was like “lucky,” kind
of imaginary. But now that I’m married and have children, I find that happiness
is a real space. And I have to say that I am happy, although I’m probably
pulled in too many different directions sometimes, and more stressed than I
should be about things. But I’m blessed with a beautiful family, and that’s all
I can ask for.
KW: It must be very challenging for an
actor and an actress to be married.
JW: Yes, a lot of drama.
KW: Thanks again for the interview,
Jeffrey. I’m looking forward to your landing that Oscar nomination in the near
future.
JW: Well, Kam, thank you very much. I
appreciate it. Turn Up
The Heat In South Beach
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Caroline Mallan, Special To The Star
(March 27, 2008) Miami Beach, FLA.– Far from
the snow boots, the shovelling, the wind chill and
the drudgery of a winter that seemingly will not end there's another world. Or
in the case of South Beach – another planet.
Thanks to the now-legendary revitalization of this art deco-studded strip of
sand, South Beach has produced a line-up of professionals who put the heat, the
hip and the vibe into one of the coolest cities south of the border. And if
you're planning a late escape from a long winter and slow-moving spring, their
services are worth checking out.
The Tanning Butler
Malcolm Vincent, 27, was born for this. "No really, I was," insists
the bronzed man with the impossibly white teeth who is mingling poolside at the
glamorous Ritz-Carlton. "I was born and raised in Maui and the beach was
where my family celebrated everything."
An army veteran who served in Iraq and specialized in getting the troops into
shape, Vincent also doubles as a personal trainer.
His ``tanning butler'' role on South Beach came thanks to an open job posting
that he spotted online.
"I knew the job was mine," he said, adding that he was not fazed by
the other 200 who turned up in the hopes of impressing Michelle Payer, creator
of the world's only tanning butler.
"Malcolm was the one, as soon as we saw him we knew," said Payer, the
head of public relations for Miami's Ritz-Carltons.
Vincent had a hand in choosing the brand of sunscreen that he wears in his
holster –overtop his trunks and white T-shirt with his job description
emblazoned on the back – as he roams the chic pool deck in search of signs of
sunburn.
He also offers a cool mist spray and guests' sunglasses get a spritz and a
polish to complete the service. Vincent's application methods are legendary.
"Malcolm gives the best mini-massages as he puts on the sunscreen,"
said poolside regular Melissa Coon.
"He is a dream, everybody knows about him in South Beach."
The man himself is not mere brawn, Vincent has a true knack for putting people
at ease, chatting with hundreds of guests a day and ensuring they feel welcome
whether they prefer life under an umbrella or soak up the rays for hours.
"I think of myself as a tanning ambassador for the hotel and for the
beach."
The Nightlife Concierge
When it first opened in 2003, Maria Roa-Warnant was the greenest junior on the
concierge desk at Miami's luxe Four Seasons hotel. When guests asked for tips
on how to gain entry to the best clubs and restaurants, they were sent to ask
the young ingénue with a love of the nightlife.
"I was only 19 when I started here. I guess if people asked me where to
go, I just knew. I'm a Miami native and I know the scene here."
Her after-hours pursuits of the latest lounges that draw the famous and the
beautiful to Miami gave her the lowdown on where to go for a good night out.
Three months ago, Roa-Warnant's informal role became official when she was
named the hotel's nightlife concierge.
"I didn't ask for a raise since my job is basically partying," she
says with a smile.
She is the woman to see if you want VIP treatment at celebrity haunts such as
Mynt, the Opium Garden or Set.
Which is not to say that Maria can manage miracles.
"Telling a guest that there is no way – and I mean no way – they are
getting into a great club wearing flip-flops and pirate shorts or with big
Texas hair is hard," she says.
Another toughie is finding a way to get a bachelor party of a dozen men into
one of the city's preferred clubs.
"Bachelor parties are the hardest thing. The clubs are just not looking
for 10 or 12 single men, no matter how much money they have to spend."
Bachelorette parties, on the other hand, are easy.
"A dozen beautiful women dressed to kill, I can get them into any
club."
The Vibe Manager
Chesa Crouch is all about the "feel." Not just the look of the
boutique 88-room Hotel Victor on Ocean Drive in South Beach, but the less
tangible elements – the smell, the music, the tone, the lighting.
"It's all part of the vibe," she explains of her unusual job
description.
But the hotel's "vibe team" is not just in charge of the overall
effect; they aim to ensure each guest's personal vibe is catered to as well.
"I take it upon myself to make sure all their senses are catered to and to
help each guest to experience their own vibe," Crouch says.
It involves contacting guests before they check in to find out if there is a
special occasion that might merit a particular scent, be it from flowers or
candles.
Different zones of the hotel have different vibes, aided by a scent machine
that pumps various fragrances into the public spaces.
"In the spa, it's very Zen, in the restaurants the smell is more an
enticing smell," she says.
Each sniff comes with its own music, too, which Crouch is in charge of making
sure changes throughout the day, going from mellow mornings to a louder, more
lively beat come cocktail hour.
The Decipherer of Cool
Steven Giles does not know when he gained "the gift." Great
connections at some of Miami's best boutiques ensure that a rack of clothes for
a guest who is wardrobe-challenged is only a phone call away.
How do you know what people will want to wear, hear, see, feel, smell and sit
on before anyone else?
"I've never had that epiphany, which is good because I wake up every day
in a mild state of panic," he says of the success of Base, his lifestyle
concept store on South Beach's Lincoln Rd.
Giles, a transplanted Londoner, is behind what is widely recognized as the
first such store in the U.S.
The main boutique offers a sound bar with an eclectic mix of artists and
genres, clothing, technological gadgetry, books and accessories.
It is a one-stop cool emporium and Giles is the man who decides what makes the
cut.
Base has been around Miami for 18 years, but just over a year ago, it expanded
to open Base Annex in the tiny courtyard behind the main store.
Here, cleverly divided into seven different-themed rooms, are the treasures
that transform a house into a gallery.
There is a camouflage-pattered bench in this corner, a life-sized wooden
carving of a cowboy over there, impossibly beautiful ceramics in another alcove
and chandeliers that drip with funky good taste.
"It's only been in recent memory that I have realized that what I like
other people seem to want to buy, which is an extremely useful ability if
you're in the area of retailing that I am," he says.
"We decipher what's cool or people, at least that's what people say."
The Beach Yogi
After indulgent shopping, lounging and partying, Arianne Traverso offers
visitors a chance to stretch out and seek some inner peace, with nature as a
backdrop.
Traverso is the city's only teacher of acro-yoga – a blend of yoga, acrobatics
and Thai massage, with a playful social side that lightens the mood.
"People go to a yoga class, do their things, maybe say `hi' to one or two
others and then go home," she said of more conventional yoga. "But
with acro-yoga it is a lot of partner work which relies on trust."
Terri Cooper, head of yoga at The Standard Hotel, singled out Traverso's yoga –
held regularly in the hotel garden – as a must-do for visitors. Traverso said
teaching on the beach or in the garden makes for a special experience.
"I'd rather say, everyone facing the ocean turn onto your right side than
say, look at that wall in a studio," she says of nature's studio.
"It's so much more beautiful to use visual cues ... everyone feels
it."
Caroline Mallan is a freelance writer based in London, England.
Just the facts
Tanning Butler works weekends poolside at the Ritz-Carlton in South Beach, One
Lincoln Rd. www.ritzcarlton.com/SouthBeach
Hotel Victor is at 1144 Ocean Dr. in South Beach. www.hotelvictorsouthbeach.com
The Four Seasons Miami is located at 1435 Brickell Ave. on the mainland. www.fourseasons.com/miami
For details on Arianne Traverso's acro-yoga classes in Miami Beach, go to www.ariyoga.com. Information about her classes
at The Standard Hotel can be found at www.standardhotels.com/miami
Base is at 939 Lincoln Rd., the Base Annex is in the rear courtyard. www.baseworld.com
::TRAVEL NEWS::
Turn Up The Heat In South Beach
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Caroline Mallan, Special To The Star
(March 27, 2008) Miami Beach, FLA.– Far from
the snow boots, the shovelling, the wind chill and
the drudgery of a winter that seemingly will not end there's another world. Or
in the case of South Beach – another planet.
Thanks to the now-legendary revitalization of this art deco-studded strip of
sand, South Beach has produced a line-up of professionals who put the heat, the
hip and the vibe into one of the coolest cities south of the border. And if
you're planning a late escape from a long winter and slow-moving spring, their
services are worth checking out.
The Tanning Butler
Malcolm Vincent, 27, was born for this. "No really, I was," insists
the bronzed man with the impossibly white teeth who is mingling poolside at the
glamorous Ritz-Carlton. "I was born and raised in Maui and the beach was
where my family celebrated everything."
An army veteran who served in Iraq and specialized in getting the troops into
shape, Vincent also doubles as a personal trainer.
His ``tanning butler'' role on South Beach came thanks to an open job posting
that he spotted online.
"I knew the job was mine," he said, adding that he was not fazed by
the other 200 who turned up in the hopes of impressing Michelle Payer, creator
of the world's only tanning butler.
"Malcolm was the one, as soon as we saw him we knew," said Payer, the
head of public relations for Miami's Ritz-Carltons.
Vincent had a hand in choosing the brand of sunscreen that he wears in his
holster –overtop his trunks and white T-shirt with his job description
emblazoned on the back – as he roams the chic pool deck in search of signs of
sunburn.
He also offers a cool mist spray and guests' sunglasses get a spritz and a
polish to complete the service. Vincent's application methods are legendary.
"Malcolm gives the best mini-massages as he puts on the sunscreen,"
said poolside regular Melissa Coon.
"He is a dream, everybody knows about him in South Beach."
The man himself is not mere brawn, Vincent has a true knack for putting people
at ease, chatting with hundreds of guests a day and ensuring they feel welcome
whether they prefer life under an umbrella or soak up the rays for hours.
"I think of myself as a tanning ambassador for the hotel and for the
beach."
The Nightlife Concierge
When it first opened in 2003, Maria Roa-Warnant was the greenest junior on the
concierge desk at Miami's luxe Four Seasons hotel. When guests asked for tips
on how to gain entry to the best clubs and restaurants, they were sent to ask
the young ingénue with a love of the nightlife.
"I was only 19 when I started here. I guess if people asked me where to
go, I just knew. I'm a Miami native and I know the scene here."
Her after-hours pursuits of the latest lounges that draw the famous and the
beautiful to Miami gave her the lowdown on where to go for a good night out.
Three months ago, Roa-Warnant's informal role became official when she was
named the hotel's nightlife concierge.
"I didn't ask for a raise since my job is basically partying," she
says with a smile.
She is the woman to see if you want VIP treatment at celebrity haunts such as
Mynt, the Opium Garden or Set.
Which is not to say that Maria can manage miracles.
"Telling a guest that there is no way – and I mean no way – they are
getting into a great club wearing flip-flops and pirate shorts or with big
Texas hair is hard," she says.
Another toughie is finding a way to get a bachelor party of a dozen men into
one of the city's preferred clubs.
"Bachelor parties are the hardest thing. The clubs are just not looking
for 10 or 12 single men, no matter how much money they have to spend."
Bachelorette parties, on the other hand, are easy.
"A dozen beautiful women dressed to kill, I can get them into any
club."
The Vibe Manager
Chesa Crouch is all about the "feel." Not just the look of the
boutique 88-room Hotel Victor on Ocean Drive in South Beach, but the less tangible
elements – the smell, the music, the tone, the lighting.
"It's all part of the vibe," she explains of her unusual job
description.
But the hotel's "vibe team" is not just in charge of the overall
effect; they aim to ensure each guest's personal vibe is catered to as well.
"I take it upon myself to make sure all their senses are catered to and to
help each guest to experience their own vibe," Crouch says.
It involves contacting guests before they check in to find out if there is a
special occasion that might merit a particular scent, be it from flowers or
candles.
Different zones of the hotel have different vibes, aided by a scent machine
that pumps various fragrances into the public spaces.
"In the spa, it's very Zen, in the restaurants the smell is more an
enticing smell," she says.
Each sniff comes with its own music, too, which Crouch is in charge of making
sure changes throughout the day, going from mellow mornings to a louder, more
lively beat come cocktail hour.
The Decipherer of Cool
Steven Giles does not know when he gained "the gift." Great
connections at some of Miami's best boutiques ensure that a rack of clothes for
a guest who is wardrobe-challenged is only a phone call away.
How do you know what people will want to wear, hear, see, feel, smell and sit
on before anyone else?
"I've never had that epiphany, which is good because I wake up every day
in a mild state of panic," he says of the success of Base, his lifestyle
concept store on South Beach's Lincoln Rd.
Giles, a transplanted Londoner, is behind what is widely recognized as the
first such store in the U.S.
The main boutique offers a sound bar with an eclectic mix of artists and
genres, clothing, technological gadgetry, books and accessories.
It is a one-stop cool emporium and Giles is the man who decides what makes the
cut.
Base has been around Miami for 18 years, but just over a year ago, it expanded
to open Base Annex in the tiny courtyard behind the main store.
Here, cleverly divided into seven different-themed rooms, are the treasures
that transform a house into a gallery.
There is a camouflage-pattered bench in this corner, a life-sized wooden
carving of a cowboy over there, impossibly beautiful ceramics in another alcove
and chandeliers that drip with funky good taste.
"It's only been in recent memory that I have realized that what I like
other people seem to want to buy, which is an extremely useful ability if
you're in the area of retailing that I am," he says.
"We decipher what's cool or people, at least that's what people say."
The Beach Yogi
After indulgent shopping, lounging and partying, Arianne Traverso offers
visitors a chance to stretch out and seek some inner peace, with nature as a
backdrop.
Traverso is the city's only teacher of acro-yoga – a blend of yoga, acrobatics
and Thai massage, with a playful social side that lightens the mood.
"People go to a yoga class, do their things, maybe say `hi' to one or two
others and then go home," she said of more conventional yoga. "But
with acro-yoga it is a lot of partner work which relies on trust."
Terri Cooper, head of yoga at The Standard Hotel, singled out Traverso's yoga –
held regularly in the hotel garden – as a must-do for visitors. Traverso said
teaching on the beach or in the garden makes for a special experience.
"I'd rather say, everyone facing the ocean turn onto your right side than
say, look at that wall in a studio," she says of nature's studio.
"It's so much more beautiful to use visual cues ... everyone feels
it."
Caroline Mallan is a freelance writer based in London, England.
Just the facts
Tanning Butler works weekends poolside at the Ritz-Carlton in South Beach, One
Lincoln Rd. www.ritzcarlton.com/SouthBeach
Hotel Victor is at 1144 Ocean Dr. in South Beach. www.hotelvictorsouthbeach.com
The Four Seasons Miami is located at 1435 Brickell Ave. on the mainland. www.fourseasons.com/miami
For details on Arianne Traverso's acro-yoga classes in Miami Beach, go to www.ariyoga.com. Information about her classes
at The Standard Hotel can be found at www.standardhotels.com/miami
Base is at 939 Lincoln Rd., the Base Annex is in the rear courtyard. www.baseworld.com
::MUSIC NEWS::
Mint
Condition Returns
Source: Nyle Washington, Account Executive, Susan Blond, Inc.
(April 11, 2008) *The trendsetting, platinum Minnesota-based R&B
group, Mint
Condition is back with their eagerly awaited ninth album, e-Life, in
stores May 6, 2008.
The album will be released on the band’s own label, CagedBird Records in
joint venture with Image entertainment and includes collaborations with Anthony
Hamilton, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Phonte from the group Lil Brother.
e-Life is a career defining album that will remind Mint Condition’s fans that
their signature sound, an eclectic blend of funk, rock, and soul, is still
intact and even better 17 years after their debut.
The group’s longevity is a testament to their unique sound. Lead vocalist
Stokley Williams says, “Our sound is an extension of the kind of music we love
and Mint Condition is always going to be relevant because we don’t follow
trends, we believe in the integrity of our music and how it makes our fans
feel.”
e-Life is Mint Condition’s first release since their 2005 album Living the
Luxury Brown, which hit #1 on Billboard’s Independent Album Charts.
Keyboardist Rick Kinchen reflects on the title of the album: “Each song deals
with the difficulties in maintaining relationships; between men and women,
parents and children, and friends in a world that communicates through the
internet, e-mail, texting, and instant messaging.” Mint Condition’s first
single, “Baby Boy, Baby Girl,” is a clear example as the group tackles raising
children in the digital age. The single impacted radio in a big way and is
currently the #1 most added song to Urban Adult Contemporary Stations across
the country.
Recorded and written collaboratively by all band members, Mint Condition once
again tests the limits with a range of soul stirring love ballads and drum and
bass laced grooves. e-Life shows Mint Condition’s versatility ranging from
their first single, “Baby Boy, Baby Girl” featuring soul crooner Anthony
Hamilton to the futuristic sounding joint, “Why Do We Try” featuring A Tribe
Called Quest and former Lucy Pearl sound architect Ali Shaheed Muhammad. Mint
Condition challenges the negative connotations of women who seek out well-to-do
men in the aptly titled mid-tempo song “Golddigger” and discusses a failed relationship
in the trademark Mint sounding ballad, “Nothing Left To Say.”
The original members of Mint Condition are still intact with Stokley on vocals,
Lawrence El on piano and keyboards, Rick Kinchen on bass and lead guitar,
O'Dell on rhythm guitar and Jeffrey Allen on saxophone and keyboards.
Beginning as a sextet, the group now stands at five after the amicable
departure of keyboardist Keri Lewis.
Mint Condition was signed in the early nineties by heavyweight producers, Jimmy
Jam and Terry Lewis, and has long stood apart from other R&B groups.
Ever since their debut album Meant to be Mint was released in 1991 the platinum
selling group has been churning out hit after hit. Starting with the Top 10 pop
single, "Breakin' My Heart (Pretty Brown Eyes)” a steady chain of hits
followed, including “Someone To Love,” “You Send Me Swingin,” “What Kind Of Man
Would I Be,” and “You Don’t Have to Hurt No More.”
In support of their upcoming album, e-Life, Mint Condition is gearing up for
their 2008 U.S. promo tour this Spring. Soon after, the group will head over
seas to tour internationally in Europe and Japan. The group also has
plans for their new label CagedBird Records, which includes signing new talent
and the exciting prospect of releasing Mint’s highly coveted side project, a
experimental jazz group which features Jeffrey Allen, Stokley, and Lawrence El
and Odell’s funk, rock, and r&b group THE TRUTH.
Erykah Badu Plots Six-Week Tour
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(April 10, 2008) *Erykah Badu will traverse
North America next
month for a six-week tour in support of her latest release, "New Amerykah,
Pt. One: 4th World War." The trek,
set to launch May 4 in Detroit, will feature opening act The Roots for many of
the dates. The performers will visit
U.S. cities from coast to coast, as well as a few Canadian provinces, and Badu
will veer off for gigs in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean island of Aruba. Tour details are listed below:
May 2008
4 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
5 - Toronto, Ontario - Massey Hall
6 - Sherbrooke, Quebec - Jacques Cartier Park
8 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theatre
9 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
10 - Baltimore, MD - Pier Six Concert Pavilion
11 - Upper Darby, PA - Tower Theatre
14-15 - Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall
16 - Norfolk, VA - Chrysler Hall
17 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum
18 - Richmond, VA - Landmark Theater
20 - Boca Raton, FL - Mizner Park Amphitheater
21 - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Coliseum of Puerto Rico
23 - Atlanta, GA - Fabulous Fox Theatre
24 - Montgomery, AL - Jubilee City Festival
25 - Aruba, Dutch Caribbean - Soul Beach Music Festival
27 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium
28 - Memphis, TN - Orpheum Theatre
29 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theater
30-31 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
June 2008
2 - Denver, CO - Fillmore
3 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
5 - Redmond, WA - Marymoore Amphitheater
6 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Commodore Ballroom
8 - Oakland, CA - Paramount Theater
10 - San Diego, CA - Humphreys Concerts by the Bay
12 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre
13 - Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
14 - Mesa, AZ - Mesa Amphitheater
15 - Albuquerque, NM - Kiva Auditorium
Red
Stripe Pulls Sponsorship From Dancehall And Reggae Stage Shows
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
- By Kevin Jackson
(April 10, 2008) *Diageo, the parent company for Red
Stripe Beer has
pulled its sponsorship from the staging of dancehall and reggae shows in Jamaica
with immediate effect.
Two of the more prominent stage shows held in Jamaica, Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest and Guinness Sting
will be without the support of the Red Stripe and Guinness brands, when they
are staged later this year.
In a carefully guided press release issued to the Jamaican media, Red Stripe
said:
"Jamaica has a rich cultural and musical heritage that has earned the
country much international acclaim through the years. Our Jamaican musicians
are among the best and most talented in the world. The Jamaican music industry
has contributed to building economic and social life in Jamaica, and for that
we are very proud. It is for this very positive reason, that for decades Red
Stripe has sought to associate its brands with Jamaican music. The Red Stripe
Company has maintained a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the
music industry and together we have worked very hard with promoters and
artistes to uphold globally acceptable standards.
Over the years, however, a very negative trend of glorifying violence has crept
into some of the music, causing much consternation among well thinking
Jamaicans and others at home and abroad. This has far-reaching and damaging
implications for the industry and for the country as a whole. While our most
recent efforts through the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors have met with some
measure of success, some performers continue to propagate, through their live
performances, violent and anti-social lyrics. Red Stripe will not be party to
this, and thus we have taken the very difficult decision of withdrawing
sponsorship from live music events. Consequently, Red Stripe will not renew our
contract for title sponsorship of Reggae Sumfest and Sting. We will, however,
ensure that our brands are made available whenever and wherever our loyal
consumers enjoy premium alcohol beverages.
It is our hope that our action will cause the proponents of this destructive
trend in local music to stop and take stock of the negative impact of their
actions on the society and seek to make a change. Red Stripe looks forward to
the time when good sense will prevail and we can see a return to improved
quality and standard of music that all Jamaica can be proud of. At that time we
will review our position."
Reggae Sumfest which will be held from July 13 to 19 in Montego Bay this year,
is reportedly eyeing top guns including Akon, Chris Brown, Ne Yo and Keyshia
Cole to perform at this year's festival.
In the past, names including LL Cool J, Mary J Blige, Jay Z, Ludacris, Beyonce,
Destinys Child, Shaggy, Sean Paul, and Ciara, have performed on the Reggae
Sumfest stage.
Get MORE Reggae updates here: www.eurweb.com/story/eur42500.cfm
Neil Diamond Says Upcoming Tour, Album Will Be His Best Work
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Associated Press
(April 15, 2008) NEW
YORK–Neil Diamond, who is releasing a
new album next month and
embarking on a new tour this summer, says both projects mark the best – and
hardest work – of his career.
"This is the most technically challenging show that I've ever done,"
Diamond told The Associated Press in a phone interview Monday. His upcoming
tour kicks off July 19 in St. Paul, Minn., and is scheduled to end Oct. 30 in
Jacksonville, Fl.
The tour will include performances in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton , Vancouver,
Chicago, Detroit, New York, Boston, Seattle, Los Angeles and Houston.
As for the album – Home Before Dark, due out May 6 – Diamond said:
"This record represents a giant step in my evolution as a writer and a
recording artist ... you will see I've gone deeper. It was more painful to
write this – maybe the most difficult album I've ever written, and maybe my
best."
For Home Before Dark, the music legend reunited with Grammy-winning
producer Rick Rubin, who was at the helm of his critically acclaimed 2005 CD, 12
Songs. Diamond, 67, said he felt more confident recording the new disc –
but not because of its predecessor's good reviews.
"Critical acclaim is always helpful, any kind of encouragement for an
artist is helpful, but my music is going to be written or recorded with or
without critical acclaim," he said. "I appreciate it when it comes,
but it will not stop me for a moment when I don't get it. It's
unpredictable."
Instead, it was the growing relationship between Rubin and Diamond that
provided the boost.
"That first 12 Songs album was more of a testing of the waters and
a `getting to know you' album," he said. "This one is `we know each
other and respect each other and let's try and knock people's socks off,' and
that's what we went for, and that's what we (did)."
Diamond plans to debut several songs from the CD on his tour, but he also
promises plenty of his classic hits, which include Sweet Caroline, Love
on the Rocks and September Morn.
"It's always difficult to introduce new music in a show, but not this time
around," he said. "This music suits itself perfectly for the show,
and I think these songs will go over beautifully with the audience, and they
will get as many hits as well."
Diamond said fans will be wowed by the show, which includes what he calls
"technical wizardry ... we can do things on this stage that we've never
dreamed were possible."
Still, when asked to give details, Diamond was mum.
"I can't, because then I'd give it away, and then there's the surprise
factor," he said. "I want people to come and see it. You have to be
there, you have to experience it."
It's A 'Go' For Mario
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
(April 16, 2008) *Young R&B crooner Mario is burning up the dance floor as
one of the faves on
this season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars,” but shaking his Latin groove
thing on the hit show isn’t the only thing keeping him busy.
The singer has also released a new disc titled “Go” and has launched his
own foundation for kids.
With just a few hours to spare from his own personal projects, Mario has become
a standout of the popular celebrity dance competition. But he told EUR’s Lee
Bailey that he initially passed on the opportunity to star on the show.
“I originally said no,” he said of the
offer to be a “Dancing” dynamo. “I thought, ‘Nobody my age does this show. My
demographics don’t really watch the show.’ But at the same time I thought it
would be a great opportunity for my fans to see another side of me, and a great
platform for me to show the world who I am.”
Mario explained that he feels he’s much more than just a music artist.
“I’m a philanthropist; I’m a role model and I felt that’s important and this
was a great way to show that,” he said. “It’s been going great. This has been
the greatest experience I’ve ever had.”
Some say that because Mario clearly has some good R&B rhythm in his hit
videos, it couldn’t be that difficult for him to be such a superstar on the
show. But he modestly explained that this is hardly a choreographed vid clip
for BET.
“It’s totally different,” he said. “I’ve never had any dance experience. That’s
something I’ve acquired from being an entertainer. I didn’t have any
expectations, but I knew that I had to work hard so that to make sure I didn’t
I want to let my family and friends down, and let my fans down, and ultimately
let myself down. I went into it with an open mind, hoping that me and my
partner had a good chemistry – which we do.”
After remaining in the line-up into the fifth week, Mario is doing pretty well.
And as for the chemistry between him and his partner, professional dancer
Karina Smirnoff, well rumours were flying that the dancing duo are heating up
on and off the dance floor.
However, Mario squelched the rumours, saying, “We’re not dating. It’s totally a
professional relationship. We just go out there trying to give a great
performance every week.”
He explained that part of the dance is “selling whatever the character of the
dance is.” Apparently the character of his first week performance was rather
flirty.
“So maybe people thought there was something going on,” he said. “It’s a
compliment – it means we were doing our job.”
In addition to seeing the star dance,
Mario is planning to perform as a singer on the show, too. But that will come
at a cost. Either once eliminated or once the show is over, he is will sing, so
there’s no big rush.
And even when the show’s over, Mario will still be dancing. He’ll have a new
partner, though. He announced the launch of the interactive "Dancing with
Mario" contest giving fans a chance to have Mario appear in their hometown
for an in-person dance date.
Fans can enter the contest by telling Mario why they should be the one to have
a private dance with the star by directly sending Mario a personal message at
818.836.8041 or uploading a video on his website www.mario2u.com/dancecontest.
Still, in the midst of dodging rumours and elimination, and attempting to
master the tango, Mario’s released his new album, “Go,” which features
production by The Neptunes, Jermaine Dupri, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Scott
Storch, Akon, and Alicia Keys to name a few. And the album title, “Go” is
pretty much the feel of the disc. Mario described it as “a progressive title,”
which matches how he’s moving forward in his life.
“The whole project is amazing,” he said. “The energy behind it is great. It’s a
great solid R&B album.”
In addition to promoting the album, being in the studio, and shooting videos
for the disc, Mario has also recently began work on his foundation, Mario’s Do
Right Foundation.
The Do Right Foundation caters to kids whose parents have suffered with
substance abuse issues. About two years ago, Mario had to take a break to help
save his mother from a serious drug addiction. He shared that her battle really
affected him, but that he’s become a better man from the experience.
“I’ve humbled myself because I’ve seen how God can work and how he can heal.
I’m blessed because at 21 I can see that,” he said. “Mom is good. She’s about
eight months clean.”
“We’re helping to give these kids the power and the tools to rise above those
circumstances,” he said of the foundation. “We just started it, but it’s my way
of giving back. With being successful and having opportunities, there’s a
certain amount of blessing that you should bestow on other people through your
gift from God. This is definitely one of those for me.”
MUSIC TIDBITS
Brick And
Lace Serenades The Sovereignty Of Nigeria
Source:
Headline Entertainment
(March 28,
2008) Kingston, Jamaica: - Soulful
duo Brick and Lace
recently
stormed the African state mesmerizing fans and capturing the attentions of the
sovereign. The Nigerian visit saw sisters Nailah & Nyanda, of Brick and
Lace, performing riveting sets at a show made for a Television concert and a
beach party saturated with over 20,000 patrons. This is their second trip to
the sovereign nation and the elegant ladies are enjoying the beauty of the
country, people and culture. Whilst basking in the mass beauty of Nigeria the
ladies were feted by the King of Akron and visited the very
historic Badagry. Brick and Lace were awarded a "Badagry Pilgrim
Award". Having captured the hearts of the Nigerians the beauties then
traveled to on Tanzania where they made a Special guest appearance on the Bongo
Star Search as well performed at the after party. The Bongo Star search is the
Tanzanian equivalent to the television show American Idol. Brick and Lace is a
girl duo out of Jamaica currently making waves on the international music scene
with hits such as Love is wicked and Never Never. The video Love
is Wicked got over 4.8 million views on youtube in only seven months.
Jeff Healey Tribute Shows Announce Line-ups
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Brad Wheeler
(April 10, 2008) Toronto — Details were announced in
relation to a pair
of tribute events to the late Jeff Healey, the Canadian guitarist who died of cancer on March
2. Acknowledging the musician's enthusiasm for both blues-rock and traditional
jazz, the Toronto shows are thematic, with the first concert (May 3, at Sound
Academy) headlined by the Guess Who's Randy Bachman, Deep Purple's Ian Gillan,
Cream bassist Jack Bruce and Colin James. One day later, Toronto's jazz
community gathers at Jeff Healey's Roadhouse. Money raised will benefit the
Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund and the Jeff Healey Family Trust. Tickets are available
at ticketbreak.com or 1-866-943-8849.
Dupri, Def Jam Launch New Hip Hop Label
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com
(April 11, 2008) *Jermaine Dupri and Island
Def Jam are teaming
with the people behind TAG Body Spray - yes, the deodorant brand – to
launch a new hip hop label called Tag Records.
Dupri will serve as president of the New York-based venture, which
involves setting the label's creative vision as well as developing its musical
talent. Acts signed to the label are expected to be announced next month.
"Today, we make history in the music industry with TAG Records," said
Dupri. "This label is going to provide new artists with a chance of a
lifetime. New artists will receive ten times the typical marketing support - a
first in the industry. I'm hand selecting and molding these artists to make
history in hip hop." The launch of
TAG Records is part of the TAG brand's initiative to get a stronghold in the
urban community through the development of programs that provide opportunities
for aspiring hip-hop talent. The partnership will also call on TAG Record's
artists and Dupri to appear in various TAG brand advertising and marketing
initiatives throughout 2008. In other
J.D. news, the record exec tells People magazine that his girlfriend, Janet
Jackson, has fully recovered from the illness that caused her to cancel an appearance
on "Saturday Night Live" last month.
"She's 100-percent better now," says Dupri. "She was
really sick. She had bronchitis." But the singer is back on track:
"She's in Japan right now. She's better and doing all the promotion that
she didn't get to do because she was sick when the album launched."
Mariah Carey: E=MC2
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Ashante Infantry
(Island)
(out of 4)
(April 15, 2008) With
erotic lead single "Touch My Body" recently garnering Mariah
Carey her
18th No.1 hit (breaking Elvis Presley's record, but lagging two behind the
Beatles) the 38-year-old singer's decision to stick with the formula of 2005's
three-time Grammy winning The Emancipation of Mimi is already paying
off. Cary's 11th album finds her in
quintessential posture: self-aggrandizing girly girl with a penchant for
hip-hop beats. Though the disc opens with the celebrated five-octave singer
mocking the dog whistle high notes she's known for, she keeps the vocal
gymnastics to the minimum throughout, save a cringing attempt at patois on
"Cruise Control," which guests Damian Marley. The album, which
features the trim diva nude and with a giant feather boa on the cover, is divided
between mindless club romps about "sipping grigio"
("Migrate") and having "flavour like ice cream" ("I'm
That Chick") and tearjerker love-gone-wrong ballads ("Thanx 4
Nothin'," "Last Kiss"). The noted drama queen also tosses in
"Side Effects," a downer of an uptempo that conjures her four-year
marriage/captivity to Svengali-like former Sony boss Tommy Mottola:
"Sleeping with the enemy/ Aware that he was trying to smother every last
part of me." But even when the lyrics give pause, her team of producers,
Scott Storch, Stargate, Jermaine Dupri and Swizz Beatz, make sure that the
slick catchy grooves never stop. Top
track: "I Wish You Well" is a mature acoustic piano tune that
counsels forgiveness and gives the last word to Carey's pastor.
Dianne Reeves: When You Know
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Ashante Infantry
(Blue Note)
(out of
4)
(April 15, 2008) With
pop-world chanteuses such as Gladys Knight, Vanessa Williams and
Queen Latifah having had their way with the Great American Songbook of late,
it's conceivable that an acclaimed jazz stylist like Dianne Reeves might want to dabble in the
smooth with a concept album about a woman's take on love. Unfortunately,
yawning interpretations of The Temptations' "Just My Imagination (Running
Away With Me)" and Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You" seem like a
further grab for the mainstream audience that embraced her 2005 Grammy-winning
soundtrack for Good Night, and Good Luck. The 51-year-old Detroit
native, possessed of impeccable articulation, suffers no technical missteps
here, just a suppression of personality. "Social Call" delivers on
intimacy and Reeves is downright down home on the rollicking gospel "Today
Will be a Good Day," which she penned in honour of her mom. But this is
one of those records that's probably much better live. Top track:
"Midnight Sun" is the Reeves we know and love, bending notes and
extending syllables in a graceful dance with pianist Geoffrey Keezer.
::FILM NEWS::
Some People 'Really Didn't Want This Movie Made'
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Matthew Hays
(April 12, 2008) MONTREAL —
Director Denis Villeneuve says the
shoot gave him nightmares.
His latest feature, Polytechnique, wrapped a week ago. The bad
dreams Villeneuve suffered during its filming did not emanate from a tight
budget or the logistics of the production, but, maybe predictably, the subject
matter.
Almost 20 years after Marc Lépine entered Montreal's École Polytechnique on
Dec. 6, 1989, and shot 28 people, killing 14 women, Villeneuve is attempting to
recount the story on the big screen. "This film was very complicated to
do," Villeneuve says, between sips of a latte at a coffee shop. "We
felt a responsibility in every frame. Every shot felt like a moral decision.
Each camera angle felt like it had a moral weight to it."
In Polytechnique, Villeneuve recreates the shooting
in detail, telling the story through six fictional characters - three women and
three men - all of whom are connected to the massacre. Villeneuve says he was
fully aware making a film on this subject would be hugely contentious, but won
over his sceptics after committing to a year of research.
"I spoke with victims, to go through the tragedy from different angles:
students, teachers, police officers. People were very generous. I spoke with
several women who were shot by Lépine and also to men who had been shot by
him." And while Villeneuve did not talk to families of those who were
killed, he did meet with their representative, who said the families have given
their blessing to the project. "They have been holding events every year
to maintain attention on the shooting, but they are perhaps a bit tired of it.
They see the film as a way of making sure people don't forget what
occurred." Currently in the editing process, he says he hopes the film
would be ready to submit for screening at September's Toronto International
Film Festival.
Villeneuve says the fact that the film was initially denied funding by Telefilm
Canada and Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) is not
unusual. "This is standard - films often get passed on the first time
around," he contends. "Both were very concerned about the violence in
the film, and about appearing insensitive. But they gave us a lot of notes that
were very helpful in fixing the script. I think they were right not to accept
it at first."
But Villeneuve also adds that besides concerns about the script, some people at
Telefilm "really didn't want this movie made. They felt it was just too
painful. I respect that opinion. It's not easy."
Telefilm announced this week that it has given the film $3.1-million. The movie
was shot on a closed set and without any publicity. None of the scenes were
shot at the École Polytechnique itself.
While time has passed for victims' families and for the nation which mourned as
a whole, similar incidents have continued with an alarming regularity: In 1999,
the Columbine High School massacre saw 12 students killed by two students,
while last year's Virginia Tech shootings saw 32 people killed. Since the
massacre at École Polytechnique, Montreal has seen two more school shootings:
at Concordia University on Aug. 24, 1992, and Dawson College on Sept. 13, 2006.
Which prompts the rather thorny question of the media's role in such shootings,
given that suicide notes have revealed a desire on the part of the perpetrators
to become posthumous celebrities. Polytechnique,
Villeneuve insists, will be different. "Marc Lépine is not the focus. This
is not a portrait of the killer - I'm more interested in the students and the
impact on them. Their stories were very powerful and touching. There are a lot
of killers in the cinema right now, and I wasn't interested in making another
one. And I didn't want to play the game of the killer and make him a
star."
As for Lépine's mysterious motivation, Villeneuve says it is "totally
inexplicable." Lépine's acts set off a public debate about misogyny in
Canadian society, with some suggesting the massacre was a logical extension of
violence against women, and others countering that Lépine was simply insane.
"It's both, I think," says Villeneuve.
The director, who won several Genies for his last feature, Maelström (2000), said he was approached by actress
Karine Vanasse (Ma fille, mon ange) with the idea of
making a film about the shootings. "I had been offered hundreds of films
after the success of Maelström. But I wanted to take
some time to find the right script. This was something I felt really, really
passionate about."
Forest Whitaker Shares 'Street' Smarts
Excerpt from www.eurweb.com -
April 11, 2008) *Academy
Award winner Forest Whitaker is
donning a captain’s uniform and questionable ethics in the new cop thriller “Street Kings” which is directed by David Ayer.
The actor portrays LAPD Captain Jack Wander – a no-nonsense and dedicated
officer who keeps a watchful eye on detective Tom Ludlow (played by Keanu
Reeves) as he goes on a dangerous quest to track down his former partner’s
killers.
“It’s steeped in the police culture,” Whitaker said of the story, when
questioned about any similarities to the Rampart Division scandal in his native
Los Angeles. “They talked to people that are advisors and un-official advisors,
some of whom were involved with the [Rampart investigation]. Mostly it just
came from David’s mind. I know for myself, I didn’t create a character based
out of Rampart.”
“Police forces all over the world have issues of corruption,” he continued,
“particularly because police officers aren’t paid a lot of money. It is a
problem, but I think it’s been changing. I don’t want to act like the LAPD isn’t
doing anything right because that’s not true.”
The film moves in and out of good-cop/bad-cop with audiences wondering who’s
really on the right side of the law. Cast members Cedric the Entertainer and
Common told reporters that their characters walk the line of good and bad –
each commenting that all the film's characters are both, while Whitaker said he
hadn’t really realized the ambiguity of his role.
“I think he cares about family. The guys are his family; that’s his world and
he’s trying to protect them. He thinks that he’s fighting against corruption.
In the end, he’s trying to make sure everybody is taken care of in his world.
But I guess he’s a bad guy,” he considered, “but I didn’t really think of him
that way. [This character] really trusted Keanu’s character. Trust was a big
deal for him. He had a real strong code of ethics. But in the end, his code of
ethics didn’t morally coincide with the way society sees things.”
“Street Kings” is rife with questionable decisions and questionable cops, which
make the film suspenseful, but the truths in the story beg the question, is it
acceptable for law enforcement to do anything – even outside the law – to get
the bad guy? Whitaker says no.
“I think people make mistakes. Judgments are made that aren’t correct. People
are put on death row and executed that weren’t guilty,” he began. “For me,
playing cops is interesting and I’ve played a lot of them. As a kid growing up,
I didn’t really have a positive attitude towards police. The police that I knew
killed people I knew. So I don’t feel that way. It’s totally counterintuitive
to the way I view what they’re doing.”
But Whitaker says he would still call upon the police without hesitation.
“Certainly when you get in danger, you call upon them; when you’re worrying
about your life, ‘cause that’s what you have to do,” he said. “But I played
this character to Keanu’s character coming into an awakening; wondering how to
defeat the darkness; what’s right and what’s wrong. That grey area is what was
interesting to me. I wasn’t trying to make a statement that I thought [police]
should be able to do anything.”
Whitaker is currently working on a television project that also questions right
and wrong in regard to bearing arms.
“I’m dealing with a project about a gun
dealer; an international dealer. It’s an even bigger issue because we’re
talking about this escalating into wars and funding countries with weapons and
supplying them inside this country. And that project probably will be walking
the line, too. Not the line of whether it’s right to arm people, but they
question of if one group is being subjugated by another group, do they have the
right to protect themselves? And if they have the right, should they be allowed
to be armed? And whose decision is it to decide who gets to protect
themselves,” he questioned.
Reflecting on the violence and oppression in Darfur, Uganda, China, and Serbia
conflicts, Whitaker explained that the next issue would be one of financial
control.
“It becomes economic as far as how you disrupt balance in the world,” he said.
“Guns disrupt balance; and how you create wars in certain places to create
unbalance, like in Nigeria, or different places for oil. These issues are so
complex and we’re going to try to explore some of them in this TV show.”
Back to the issue at hand. Whitaker’s portrayal of Wander is relatively
calculated. The actor revealed that he kept to himself on the set in order to
get into and stay true to his character.
“I was trying to stay in the right
zone,” he said. “The character wasn’t easy to play. He has a lot of power. You
think they’re big and heavy and feel like stone, like they can just walk
through you, and I’m not like that, so I had to keep in that zone.”
“Street Kings”, also starring Hugh
Laurie, Chris Evans, and The Game, opens in theatres nationwide today. For
more, check out www.foxsearchlight.com/streetkings.
Show Gives A Stage, Lends Ears To Veteran Narratives
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic
(April 13, 2008) If a
tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it
make a sound?
By the same token, if hundreds of veterans of the Iraq war gathered to share
their experiences and no major media covered it, did they act in vain?
That's the question that has motivated Ravi Jain to present a project called Winter Soldiers tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. night at the Theatre
Centre, 1087 Queen St. W.
"I couldn't bear the thought that all these men with so much valid
information to share," said Jain, "were ignored by the right wing
corporate media."
The failure of this set of revelations to attract much attention is
particularly disheartening in the light of the ultimate impact that the
original "Winter Soldiers" demonstration had in 1971.
It was composed of several hundred Vietnam vets who wanted the world to know
what had been going on behind the battle lines.
Like the recent event it too was initially ignored except for Pacifica Radio,
but the tenacity of several journalists brought it to the world's attention. A
documentary film was made and a complete transcript entered into the
Congressional Record, which eventually led to the Fulbright Hearings on the
war.
"I'm not trying to have an effect as grand as that," insists Jain,
"but I do want to engage people, to make them think and empathize with
what both sides have been going through in this war."
To that end, the talented young director (who earned critical plaudits earlier
this season for his experimental production, The Prince Hamlet) has put
a together a one-night-only evening made up of sound and fury that he hopes
will signify far more than nothing.
He's also added an all-important visual element as well, courtesy of renowned
photojournalist Rita Leistner, who has donated a lot of her work and is
presenting a slide show as well.
"There's one photo," says Jain, "that truly says it all. She
shot it in an Iraqi prisoner camp and there's five huge American soldiers
carrying away one small, elderly Iraqi man."
But then come the stories that prove truth is not only stranger than fiction
but far more cruel.
Geoff Millard, Washington chapter president of the Iraq veteran's organization,
says "we grew into a mindset where everyone who wasn't American was a
hajji (Muslim) or a towel-head."
He tells of how he was standing guard at a checkpoint and a car was approaching
too fast, so he killed the family inside it.
There was an investigation, but he wasn't reprimanded.
"If those f---king hajjis would learn how to drive that this s--t wouldn't
happen," his commander told him.
Then there's the testimony from two U.S. soldiers who admitted they used to
"beat the hell out of prisoners for no reason, or maybe because we were
given no order to do otherwise."
Jain asks "As a human race, aren't we supposed to be better than
this?"
The answer – for better or worse – will be on view tomorrow.
FILM TIDBITS
Ang
Lee Heads To Vancouver
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Marsha Lederman
(April 14, 2008) Vancouver — Academy Award winning director Ang Lee will meet with film
industry members - and students - in Vancouver next Saturday afternoon to offer
his perspective on the future of the film industry. The invitation-only event
will be officially announced today, with details on the invitation list and the
forum's downtown location to be released later in the week. The plan for the
session with Lee, whose films include Brokeback Mountain, Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Lust, Caution, is to make it interactive,
with more than 100 industry leaders, young directors and film students getting
the opportunity to ask questions of the director in an informal setting.
::TV NEWS::
One
More Year And CTV Runs Out Of Corner Gas
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Bruce Demara, Entertainment Reporter
(April 11, 2008) Dog-(River)-gone!
Corner
Gas and the denizens of the fictional Saskatchewan town
will
call it quits when production of the sixth season wraps up later this year, the
series' creator and star announced yesterday.
The final episode of the series – which has won six Geminis, including three
for Best Comedy – will air in the spring of 2009.
Brent Butt, who is also the series' director and executive producer, broke the
news yesterday to cast and crew over lunch in Vancouver, where he lives, though
he told CTV president Ivan Fecan weeks earlier.
"I made the decision, but it kind of felt like the show made the decision.
It kind of felt like the show tapped me on the shoulder and said, `Can I go
now? I'll stick around if you want me to, but I think it's time to go.' And you
know, I respect that," an emotional Butt said yesterday.
"Corner Gas was so special to me and to a lot of people that I
couldn't bear to see it go too long," Butt said.
"If you leave a party and nobody's sad or nobody cares, that's a good sign
that you probably stayed too long. I didn't want that to happen. I couldn't
have stood it and I felt like the show was asking me not to let that
happen," he added.
Butt cited "20 years as a greasy nightclub comic" for relying on his
instincts to say goodbye.
"Comedy is nothing if not timing. That's the most important aspect,"
he said, with a laugh.
Fecan, also president and CEO of CTVglobemedia, was equally sombre and
reflective last night, calling the announcement "a bittersweet day for
us."
"When Brent a few months ago came to tell me that this is what he wanted
to do, my immediate reaction was that I got down on my knees and begged for
more," Fecan said, with a laugh. "I didn't want it to end, we don't
want it to end, but his reasons are actually pretty good.... He wants to go out
at the top."
The series, which premiered on Jan. 22, 2004, has been a consistent ratings
winner for CTV, ranking as Canada's top comedy series and the most watched
scripted series.
But Fecan said the series, which is seen in more than two dozen countries, was
particularly special.
"It's not Canada masquerading as New York or Los Angeles or Chicago. It's
about us and it touches our roots, and defines the gentle humour and the
kindness in Canada's heart. It's a very special show," Fecan said.
Not unexpectedly, the news was greeted with shock and sorrow, Butt said.
"There were tears, but everybody seemed to understand. There were some
people that said they wished it would go on longer, but nobody seemed to think
that this was a mistake, nobody said it was mistake."
With the show nearing the end of its fifth season, with the season finale on
April 21, Butt said he's focused on completing the final 19 episodes. Filming
is set to start May 15 in Regina and Rouleau, Sask., and after that, well, TV
is in his blood.
"CTV, once I told them that this was going to be the end of Corner Gas,
they said that they would give me the opportunity to do something else if I was
so inclined. And I am so inclined. I love TV and I want to work in TV until I
drop."
Fecan said Butt has expressed interest in possibly doing a Corner Gas reunion
special or even a movie, something CTV would support.
The Hottest Women Not On TV
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Gayle Macdonald
(April 11, 2008) When Creative Artists Agency
makes the rounds in Hollywood,
pitching the screenwriting talent of Tassie Cameron, they like to market the Toronto
native as “the girl who writes like a guy.”
But rather than take offence at a comment some might construe as sexist,
Cameron finds the whole thing highly amusing. “Hey, I like guys,” cracks the
38-year-old. “I listen to men. And if you look at what I've done, certainly a
lot of it is very male-centric cop stuff,” says Cameron, whose TV credits
include Would Be Kings, The
Robber Bride and The Eleventh Hour. “I guess when
I write, I channel my inner Hunter Thompson and go to town.”
So it's fitting, then, that Cameron, daughter of journalist and author Stevie
Cameron, is now in charge of the six-person team, four of whom are women,
scripting the first 12 episodes of the psychologically charged elite-cop
series, Flashpoint, set to air on CTV and CBS this
summer. “Here I am on Flashpoint, a brawny
testosterone show, says Cameron, “and I feel right at home.”
In the last 10 years, female screenwriters in Canada have made huge strides,
muscling their way onto TV screens, leaving an indelible stamp on comedy,
drama, and action series across network schedules. In fact, while women used to
be a distinct minority in writing rooms, their numbers are now on par with men,
who typically used to be hired to write action and comedy, while women were
relegated to handle emotional and romantic scenes that required that “female
touch.”
Cameron's script for The Robber Bride joins an
impressive list of 33 others – 15 of which were written or co-written by women
– shortlisted as finalists for Monday night's Canadian Screenwriting Awards in
Toronto. Cameron says gender divisions, for the most part, have disappeared,
and that women are being snapped up to work on the most high-profile, demanding
projects in the country.
Tracey Forbes, another Toronto writer, whose credits include the cult hit Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as Falcon Beach and ReGenesis,
agrees that she's seen a marked difference in the “makeup of the writers' rooms
I've been part of.
“On my first couple of shows, I was the only female writer in the room,” she
says. “Buffy was the first show in which I wasn't the token woman. But if there
are more of us now, it's just a sign of the times.
“To work in a story room, you've got to be confident enough to throw out your
good ideas and your bad ones,” adds Forbes, who is also part of Cameron's team
on Flashpoint. “These days, girls are raised to be
more assertive. Good writers – regardless of their sex – can write anything.
Women can write kick-ass action. And men can write a heart-wrenching breakup
scene.”
But while women writers are making their mark in part by conquering territory
once claimed almost exclusively by men, it hasn't hurt, either, that Canadian
networks are hungry for female viewers, especially those 25 and older, a
coveted demographic for advertisers. Last year, at the launch of CBC
Television's winter schedule, Kirstine Layfield, executive director of
programming, made no secret of the fact that the public broadcaster was looking
for new shows aimed specifically at a younger female viewership. “We're trying
to be more inclusive,” Layfield said. “This is our opportunity to include women
more aggressively into the mix. Women are huge followers of drama.”
This past week, CBC announced two new big-budget pickups: The Session, about a 32-year-old woman able to revisit
the mistakes of her past; and The Wild Roses, the
story of a Calgary-based family of women fighting for what they see as
rightfully theirs. The latter was created by Cameron, her sister Amy, and
Miranda de Pencier.
“Because viewership is skewing more female, the shows being brought to the
screen are in reaction to the viewership,” says Daegan Fryklind, another
finalist at Monday night's awards show, for her work on CTV's Robson Arms. “So if these are strong female leads, then
they need strong females in the room to write the material they need,” adds the
38-year-old, who also was part of the team on CBC's recently cancelled drama jPod. “But I've never felt anyone only hired me because
I'm a woman. I bring myself to the table, ovaries and all, so what?”
Semi Chellas, one of Canada's most sought-after TV writers ( The Eleventh Hour, Who Named the
Knife, Of Murder and Memory) splits her time
between projects here and in the United States. She says the industry has come
a long way from the day a decade ago that she, along with pal and fellow
screenwriter Karen Walton ( The Many Trials of One Jane
Doe, Queer as Folk, Ginger
Snaps), attended a party hosted by a broadcaster at the Toronto
International Film Festival.
“We were both in our 20s, in our little black dresses, in a sea of men,”
recalls the 38-year-old Chellas, laughing. “It felt strange, but there was no
one else in the room like us. That's utterly changed now. I know so many women
running shows, writing television and movies. There are a huge number of
exciting women's voices out there. Now if it were only the same for female
directors.”
The reason for the shift, she adds, is simple: “Our industry is maturing. When
I came out of the Canadian Film Centre, there weren't a lot of people making a
living as screenwriters. But opportunities have started to expand, for
everyone.”
Walton, 42, splits her time between Toronto and Montreal. She got into writing
after entering a 1993 CBC Radio drama contest, and shocked the hell out of
herself by winning. “Television has a longer, and more diverse, history of
writing. But even the craft of feature-film screenwriting – as a profession in
both French and English – is growing, it seems, every year,” says Walton, who
is co-writing her first French-Canadian feature film with Jean-Marc Vallée ( C.R.A.Z.Y.)
Esta Spalding, who was a premed student and poet before her career as a
screenwriter, says she owes her change in profession to Chris Haddock, the
creator of Da Vinci's Inquest and Intelligence. “I was a poet for a number of years, and I
moved out to Vancouver with my husband, who was doing his PhD,” says Spalding.
“I couldn't find a teaching job, so I applied as a secretarial assistant to
Chris. He wouldn't hire me as his secretary because I didn't have secretarial
experience.”
Haddock had, however, read her poetry. “He was in development for Da Vinci's and he invited me to sit in on the writers'
meeting,” recalls Spalding. “He hired me as a story editor for the first season
after convincing the CBC that a poet who had spent a great deal of time in
morgues and autopsies would be an asset to the story team,” recalls Spalding,
40, who worked three seasons on the show.
“I feel that there's a lot of work for screenwriters. I've never felt – and
maybe I've been insulated – I was being hired because I was female,” says
Spalding, who worked on The Eleventh Hour (with
Chellas) and Would Be Kings (which she co-wrote with
Cameron), and is part of the Flashpoint team. “I
guess it's the good work of our mothers opening up doors in every sector of the
professional world.”
Gemini Award-winner Anne Marie La Traverse, co-producer, with Bill Mustos, of Flashpoint, says the composition of their predominantly
female writing squad was something of a fluke. “It was not part of an overall
plan or design,” she notes. “Instead, it came about through a series of
instinctive choices that we made in reaction to how these particular writers
responded creatively to the material.”
On the opposite end of town from the Flashpoint headquarters,
Vera Santamaria is part of the eight-person team, three of whom are women,
working on CBC-TV's Little Mosque on the Prairie. “I
see more women, but it's still a male-dominated sector,” says Santamaria, 29,
who cut her TV teeth writing on Degrassi: The Next
Generation. “But there is real value in having different viewpoints in the
room. The guys in our group say this is the largest number of women they've
ever worked with in a comedy room. We bring a different sensibility, which is
not a matter of being male or female. What's funny isn't a matter of your sex.”
As far as Forbes is concerned, the people who end up getting hired are, first
and foremost, just great writers. “You also have to look for people you think
you will like and respect, because you're stuck with them day in, day out,” she
says. “Chemistry in a room is critical. Writers of any gender need to be
comfortable throwing out their stupidest ideas – and not worrying about being
laughed out of the room.”
Tina Fey Ready to Rock
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Rob Salem, TV Columnist
(April 10, 2008) Tina Fey. ... you somehow can't keep yourself
from
stringing the name together, like Tracy Morgan always used to on Saturday Night
Live – before he started calling her "LizLemon" on 30 Rock.
Tina Fey, now less a name than an established brand, with the comedy quality
seal of approval. Tina Fey, creator, producer, head writer, screenwriter,
sitcom and now movie star ... one-stop shopping for all your humour needs.
Snarky, sassy, cynical, smart and, yes, sexy – just check out that recent cover
of Vanity Fair – even behind those clunky nerd glasses and that
intriguing little hint of a scar on her chin (a childhood accident she declines
to discuss because it "bums out" her parents).
Fey, television's uncontested "it" girl at the age of 37, who will
essentially own the month of April with tonight's return of her sitcom hit, 30
Rock (8:30 on NBC and A-Channel) and the April 25 opening of her new film, Baby
Mama, which she wrote as a vehicle for herself and her Weekend Update co-anchor,
Amy Poehler.
From Fey's perspective, she's just glad to be back at work. As one of the few
legitimate hyphenates in the business, the recent writers' strike split her
loyalties: to her show, her staff and, as a relatively new mom, to her
3-year-old daughter, Alice Zenobia Richmond (with husband Jeff Richmond, an SNL
composer she met in 1994 at Chicago's Second City).
"I did my union duty on the picket line," she says, addressing the
press in a telephone conference call. "But mostly I stayed at home with my
daughter, which was sort of the only blessing of the strike. For me, it was a
little bit like a maternity leave that I did not previously have."
And now that she's back on the job – or rather, jobs?
"It's tough now," she acknowledges, "because my daughter is old
enough to say, `No, you not go to work. You not go outside.' That's hard for
any working parent."
Occasionally, she says, she'll bring Alice with her to work. "I do try to
bring her sometimes and she likes to come. She likes to hang out in the makeup
room. But at the same time, it is a busy workplace and I always feel mindful
that not everyone gets to bring their kids.
"Actually, at 30 Rock, we do try to do special days where we have
parties where everyone can bring their kids. We had a really fun Halloween
party and a sort of a spring/Easter party (last month)."
But then, 30 Rock has always been something of a family affair, from
favoured SNL host Alec Baldwin – and there is no one better at
hilariously underplaying Fey's consistently clever dialogue – to her old comedy
comrades from New York and Chicago.
"A lot of these parts who are regulars, I wrote with people in mind,"
she says. "For example, Jack McBrayer, who plays Kenneth, is an old friend
of mine from Chicago. I really wanted him for that part and was very happy when
no one objected.
"Scott Adsit is an old friend of mine. I wrote that part (writer Pete
Hornberger) with him in mind. And we wrote Jack (Donaghy) with Alec in mind,
too ... and were very pleasantly surprised when he agreed to do it.
"We've used a lot of people from Chicago. We've used Brian Stack some and
he's going to come back – he was a Second City guy. And Miriam Tolan, Brian
McCann ... it's like, every time we have a small role, I'm going through my
mental Rolodex of the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York or the Second City
and ImprovOlympic in Chicago, just to see who we haven't used yet."
Born Elizabeth Stamatina Fey in the Philadelphia suburb of Upper Darby, she
developed an early interest in TV comedy, inspired, in large part, by Catherine
O'Hara's work on SCTV.
"I also grew up on a lot of classic TV," she says. "Mary Tyler
Moore, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett ... all that kind of stuff."
Earning a BA in drama at the University of Virginia, Fey immediately relocated
to Chicago to study improv at Second City, joining the mainstage cast there in
1994.
In 1997, she landed a job as a writer for SNL. Just two years later, she
was made head writer, the first woman ever to do so – and, at 5-foot-4, also
the shortest.
During her nine-year SNL tenure, she only rarely appeared in sketches,
aside from co-anchoring the weekly news parody. As recently as her guest-host
monologue last month, she admitted to still thinking of herself more as a
writer than a performer.
Which, in the early days of 30 Rock, was made fairly evident by her
apparent unease and a certain awkward stiffness in the delivery of her own
dialogue.
Now, I suggest as diplomatically as possible, she seems much more comfortable
in front of the camera.
"I think you might be right," she allows. "I am having a very
good time shooting these episodes now. It feels like the pressure is off.
"I feel so grateful to have been recognized for the stuff that I did on
the show last year, that maybe that has helped me relax a little bit.
"I've really fully stopped apologizing for being in the show."
Cameron
Diaz tours Peru with 4REAL
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Bruce Demara, Entertainment
Reporter
(April 12, 2008) As
an actor and model, Cameron Diaz has travelled
around much of the world.
But this time, she's gone to the top of it – i.e. the ancient Incan city of
Machu Picchu – in a new, albeit temporary role as teacher.
Diaz is among a group of A-list celebrities taking part in an eight-part MTV
series called 4REAL, aimed at showing
the network's youthful audience examples of young leaders working for hope and
change around the globe.
The first episode – airing Monday at 8 p.m. – features Diaz and series
co-creator Sol Guy as they scale the Andes with Puma Singona, a Quechua shaman
struggling to preserve the knowledge of his ancient culture in the modern
world.
"People are definitely interested in what celebrities are doing so, yeah,
it's a clever way to trick people into learning and participating," says
Diaz.
"Young people are doing extraordinary things around the world to try to
really help their communities," adds Guy. "In a ... world of doom and
gloom and all this negativity, we really wanted to tell these positive stories
of things that were working and people that were doing these fantastic
things."
Future episodes involve Joaquin Phoenix's visit to Yawanawa in the Amazon,
Casey Affleck travelling to the Pawnee reservation in Oklahoma and rapper
K'naan in Kibera, the largest slum in East Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Monday's episode follows Diaz and Guy as they participate in a winter solstice
ceremony and an insider's tour of Machu Picchu, where Singona is a guide. Along
the way, they sleep rough, learn that young Peruvians are deserting their
communities for the big cities and dodge a phalanx of paparazzi.
Diaz says the culture of the Quechua is under siege in an era of modernization
and globalization.
"There's nothing wrong, there's nothing to be fixed in that culture. It's
worked for so long, for thousands of years. (But) now we have these people who
didn't used to have a problem with poverty who now do. So how do we help them
preserve their culture as well as integrate?" Diaz said.
Diaz was also impressed with the simplicity and purity of Singona's teachings –
passed down by his grandfather – and the emphasis on the four elements: earth,
wind, fire and water. "It reminds us that everything comes from this
planet. We don't go to some place else to get plastic," Diaz says.
"Aspirin and every medicine that we use to fight disease ... all of those
things may be synthetic, but there's no Planet Synthetic. Every synthetic comes
from something natural and then it's the process that man puts it through that
synthesizes it."
Canada also features in the series, with Guy and actor Eva Mendes visiting
community leader Liz Evans in Vancouver's drug- and crime-ridden Downtown
Eastside.
"The message and the reality is that you don't have to fly halfway around
the world to see issues and solutions," Guy says.
"I learned a lot down there, man, in my own neighbourhood. It changed the
way I see people that are dealing with those issues. I'll never look at someone
who's homeless or going through a drug addiction or mental instability (the
same) again. I learned so much down there, as much as I did anywhere in Africa
or South America."
The trip to Peru was a turning point for Diaz, who says she intends to find
more ways to use her star power to educate others.
"This is the train I'm on. I'm in love with this planet. It's amazing, the
people that I've met all around the world. In every place that I've gone, what
I find are similarities more than any differences," she says.
"Everywhere that I've been, from Africa to Nepal to Paris, France to
Iceland and Peru, the thing that I find is that we're all the same. We're all
human beings, we all want the same things, we want to be loved, we want to be
safe. Everybody is trying to achieve the same thing in their lifetime. That's a
passion of mine, to help people understand how we all coexist on this
planet."
HBO Counts On New Exec To Make Its Shows Fun To Watch Again
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times
(April 16, 2008)
HOLLYWOOD–Before last week, when she was tapped as the new chief of HBO
Entertainment, Sue Naegle had spent her entire
career as an agent representing television writers. So this is a person who
knows how the network process works, understands the ways in which proposed
shows are too frequently popped into the broiler as raw filet mignon and
somehow, many kitchen arguments later, slide out as blackened ground chuck.
"My biggest heartbreak as an agent was, I'd work with my clients and hear
what they wanted to do and really get excited and really love it, take it into
the network (or) wherever it was going, and then watch it slowly die, by a
thousand people with different opinions," Naegle said with a rueful
chuckle last week. "By the end of it, people couldn't remember what they'd
started with."
HBO was, for much of the past decade, the great counter-example proving that TV
series could be created differently, using methods more favourable to
passionate writer-producers, the people who dreamed up what became The
Sopranos or Six Feet Under or Sex and the City. And Naegle
left no doubt she'd like to make the pay-cable outlet every writer's dream
destination once more.
"Development by committee or by patching together multiple people's ideas
isn't the way to get great television," she said.
"I think it starts with the writer. Somebody who's very passionate and has
a clear idea about what they'd like to do and the kind of show they'd like to
produce. When I hear that and see that in somebody's eyes, I always feel like
I've got something."
Whether HBO can maintain its commitment to great television in a rapidly
changing media environment is, of course, the big question surrounding Naegle's
recent hire. She replaces Carolyn Strauss, a career-long HBO programmer nudged
from the post last month.
The last few seasons have seen many high-profile disappointments for HBO. Few
fans lined up for quixotic campaigns to save the wilfully perverse drama John
From Cincinnati, for example, or Louis C.K.'s misbegotten sitcom Lucky
Louie. Subscribers and critics alike have seemed puzzled by much of what
HBO's done recently.
"Interesting, smart, entertaining series" are what Michael Lombardo,
Naegle's new boss and the channel's West Coast chief, said HBO now must find.
"I use the last term specifically," Lombardo added, "because I
do think if we can be faulted for anything, it was that some of our series did
not deliver on that note."
In other words, HBO execs seem to agree with critics that too many of their
recent shows just weren't all that much fun to watch. That's a big admission
for a place that's still regarded by many in the business as the cool kids'
table.
|
TV TIDBITS Gary Dourdan Opts Out Of 'CSI'
Contract |
::THEATRE NEWS::
The December Man’s Subtle Substance, Not
Suspense
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Richard Ouzounian, Theatre
Critic
The December Man
(out of 4)
By Colleen Murphy. Directed by Micheline Chevrier. Until May 17 at the Berkeley
Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley St.
416-368-3110
(April 11, 2008) In The December Man, which opened last night
in a
Canadian Stage Company production at the Berkeley Street Theatre, Colleen
Murphy has written two very good plays instead of a single great one.
She tells us the story of a young man whose life is destroyed by his presence
at the 1989 Montreal Massacre and then brings us the tale of two parents who
cannot cope with the fact that their son took his own life.
Actually, it happens the other way around, because Murphy has structured her play
backwards, beginning with the parents' suicide in 1992.
That's not a spoiler, because you know that's what's going on five minutes into
the play. Murphy isn't interested in offering us conventional suspense, but
something more substantial.
It's heart-rending to see Benoît and Kathleen, a working-class Montreal pair
whose lives are built on whisky, knitting and hollow dreams, cope with the loss
of their beloved only son, Jean.
Murphy captures perfectly the small change of their daily conversation, the
miniature victories and defeats that make up their lives, and the hurts they
keep buried just beneath the surface.
For roughly one-third of the play's 90-minute length, the two characters
(beautifully played by Nicola Lipman and Brian Dooley at the final preview I
attended) hold the stage and you're engrossed in their story.
But then, we meet their son Jean, a year earlier, on the day he killed himself
and we're into a totally different world.
As we learn, Jean was a student at the École Polytechnique on the night Marc
Lepine slaughtered 14 innocent women. Jean has never forgotten what happened or
forgiven himself for his inability to take action.
It's a rich, troubling story to explore dramatically and Murphy does wonders
letting us look inside Jean's soul.
She's helped by Jeff Irving's performance, where the face of an angel hides the
fears of a demon underneath.
We move backwards to the night the massacre happened and the last things we see
are a hysterical Jean telling his parents, "Something terrible
happened" and his mother reassuring him, "You're safe."
There's no doubt Murphy is an excellent writer. Her dialogue has the ring of
authenticity and her characters are portrayed with compassion, but not
sentimentality.
Lipman strikes the perfect balance between caring and carping over both her son
and husband, the kind of woman whose too-tight smile betrays the fact that she
knows each move she makes in life is ultimately the wrong one.
Dooley's husband is another piece of masterful work. The alcoholic, bull-headed
father is a real cliché of family drama, but thanks to Dooley's depth and
Murphy's insights, we look at him with new eyes. And Irving's pain is so real
that it almost becomes a fourth character. He has the haunted look of someone
who has "supp'd full with horrors," to quote Macbeth.
So with all of these virtues, why doesn't The December Man form a
totally satisfying unit? The problem is basic. The tragedy of Jean is rooted
intimately in what happened that December day at the École Polytechnique, but
the pain of Benoît and Kathleen isn't.
There are about three passing references to Lepine and his actions after Jean
is dead, but one winds up feeling that these two sad, incomplete people would
have probably killed themselves if their son had died in a skiing accident, or
taken his life over a broken love affair.
The story of an aging couple facing death has been told many times before, but
that of a young man who feels he has no right to live because he did nothing
while 14 women were murdered has a new and frightening resonance that could
have been explored further.
Sometimes, in assessing a play, you say that the whole is greater than the sum
of its parts, but with The December Man, it's the opposite that proves
true.
Performers Share Own Memories Of The 1986 Filipino Revolution
Excerpt from www.thestar.com - Richard
Ouzounian, Theatre
Critic
(April
10, 2008) When John Lennon wrote "Power to the People" in
1971, he looked on it as a call to arms that he dreamed would happen somewhere,
someday.
In the Philippines, 15 years later, it came true.
After 31 tyrannical years in office, President Ferdinand Marcos was toppled
from power over 10 days by the united will of the country.
"It was the first-ever successful non-violent revolution," says Nicco
Lorenzo, one of the creator-performers of People Power, which begins previews Friday
night at the Theatre Passe Muraille Mainspace.
The show is being presented by the Carlos Bulosan Theatre, the longest-standing
Flipino-Canadian drama ensemble, founded in 1982 and named after the famed
author-activist.
What makes this particular production so fascinating is its five creators are
so young that they were only children when the People Power Revolution took
place, but its remains important to them because of what they remember and what
they've learned over the years.
"My parents came to Canada after martial law was declared," recalls
Nadine Villasin, the company's artistic director, "so I grew up surrounded
by anti-Marcos activists.
"But it was only a few years ago, when I went to a reunion in Seattle with
my mother, that I truly realized for the first time how important it had been
and how much everyone had risked for their freedom."
Christine Mangosing approached her memories from a different perspective.
"My family moved here in 1984, the year after (opposition leader) Ninoy
Aquino was assassinated. Up until then, my father had been for Marcos, but
after that, he said he wasn't worth supporting.
"As a little girl," she giggles, "I had a (president) Cory
Aquino doll hanging from my doorknob, little wire glasses and all. This show is
a great way for me to take my personal memories and use them to explore my
whole cultural history."
The People Power company have put together a show that chronicles the
revolution "through personal histories," in Villasin's words.
But, as Mangosing adds, "instead of portraying the icons like the Marcoses
or the Aquinos, we do it from the point of view of the individuals who made it
happen."
Through music, movement and poetry, they tell the stories of six people who
were caught in the eye of this powerful yet peaceful storm.
Leon Aureus's family was strongly affected by the Marcos years. "My
grandfather was a political activist," he says, "and my father ran a
newspaper and a magazine. Both of them were closed by the Marcos regime.
"They lost the freedom of speech and the freedom of expression – two of
the most important things an individual can have."
Rose Cortez has some of the most vivid recollections of those times.
"I was just turning 6 when it happened. What do I remember?
"The helicopters. I was playing with my friends and then we heard the
helicopters coming, hundreds of them. We knew something big was happening, but
we didn't know how big it was."
But People Power is not merely an exercise in nostalgia.
"You see its message echoed in the world today," says Mangosing,
"every time the people of a country come together to fight
injustice."
Aureus feels that "after 9/11 there's a lot of cynical and jaded people
around. They need to be reminded of the power of engagement. The belief in
making change, the chance to take part in something you believe in."
Villasin sums it up. "We have to be very vigilant about safeguarding
democracy. It's still very fragile."
Get Ready For A Sequel To We Will Rock You, And It May Start
Here
Excerpt from www.thestar.com
- Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic
(April 16, 2008) Hey Toronto, get ready to
rock again.
In an exclusive interview yesterday, show writer-director Ben Elton told the Star that not only is a We Will Rock You sequel planned, but there is a very good
chance it could start in Toronto.
"We love this city so much," said Elton, "not just the talent of
its actors but the generosity of its audiences. It's a lovely thought to start
it all over again here, isn't it?"
Although the concept of a follow-up to the Queen musical had been something
"we'd always sort of fancied" according to Elton, the rabbit was let
out of the hat by Queen guitarist and songwriter Brian May on Monday when in
the course of getting an honorary degree from Exeter University, he revealed
that a follow-up to the story of Galileo and Scaramouche was closer than anyone
had thought.
"It would be foolish not to do it," said Elton on the phone from
Liverpool where his next Mirvish show, The Boys in the Photograph, was
having a workshop production.
"Not only do most audiences have a real and genuine affection for the
characters," reasoned Elton, "but there's also 24 top 10 chart
singles we didn't get a chance to use in We Will Rock You."
Elton said that what held the creators back for so long was the incredible
popularity of the original We Will Rock You.
"Why do something new," he asked, "when the original is still
performing so well?" And in fact, the show is still selling out in London
as it has ever since its opening in 2002. It continues in Toronto at the Canon
Theatre until May 11.
But the fascination of taking his characters that extra step further finally
proved irresistible to Elton and "six months ago, I dove right in and
spent a few months on it."
He showed his new version to May and Queen drummer Roger Taylor, who pronounced
themselves "thrilled with it."
Elton said his sequel follows the same scenario that "we all know happens
to rock stars: they achieve their dreams and then they screw up."
The character Galileo, having become "the first rock star of the new
millennium" in We Will Rock You, is ripe for the downward slide to
destruction.
"He was a little bit of a dick already in the first part," said
Elton, "but because of his youth and innocence, he was a lovable
one."
In the sequel, however, "he does the journey Elvis does and gets into some
really awful things."
The faithful Scaramouche stands behind her man and "tries to rid him of
some of his more awful pretensions," according to Elton.
He sees their relationship as not unlike that between "a lead guitarist
and a singer, where one is always trying to keep the other in line with a
combination of sheer force and dry wit."
Elton, aware that he'd probably revealed too much already, did volunteer that
"the forces of the Killer Queen are recruiting again and the Bohemians
have to figure out what to do about it."
But how soon will this new show launch?
"We can't do it in England," insisted Elton, "not while the
first one is still selling out. We're victims of our own success."
That's why a Toronto production looms as an increasingly attractive
possibility, especially in a city that Elton finds "so congenial to work
in" and with a producing team like the Mirvishes, whom he finds
"Grade A all the way down the line."
And the title? As Elton said, "If you dip into Queen's greatest hits,
you'd hardly find a better one than `The Show Must Go On.'"
::DANCE NEWS::
::SPORTS NEWS::
Canadian Men Win Curling
Championship
Excerpt
from www.thestar.com
- Brian Mcandrew, Staff Reporter
(April 14, 2008) GRAND FORKS, N.D.–A sea of red-and-white clad Canadian
curling fans were oddly quiet during the men's world championship final yesterday between
Canada's Kevin Martin and Scotland's David Murdoch.
It seemed they didn't want to get their hopes too high as the Canadian skip,
who had never won a gold medal in international play, attempted to beat the
2006 world champion, especially after losing an earlier playoff game to him.
Even after Martin made a tremendously difficult hit-and-roll to the centre of
the rings to steal a point in the seventh end they remained surprisingly
tentative.
But they became true believers when the Canadians took a three-point lead in
the ninth and ratcheted it up to full celebratory roar in the 10th as Martin
slid down the ice with his arms raised high after taking out the lone Scottish
stone in the rings for a 6-3 victory.
Murdoch's last two stones remained idle at the far end of the ice. Scotland
couldn't catch the Martin rink and there was no point in even throwing them in
front of the largely Canadian crowd of 4,211 at the University of North
Dakota's Ralph Engelstad Arena.
It was the 31st gold medal for Canadian men and a double-double combined with
Jennifer Jones' victory in the women's worlds two weeks ago at Vernon, B.C.
And it was a long time coming for Martin, the Edmonton skip who had played
without winning in a junior worlds (1986), two other worlds (1991,1997), a
demonstration event at the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics and the 2002 Games
in Salt Lake City where he settled for the silver medal.
Martin, 41, had been hounded for years by constant reminders of his international
shortcomings.
"It feels good to finish it off. There's been a lot of tries," an
ecstatic Martin said, the gold medal hanging from his neck and his eyes
uncharacteristically moist. "It feels good. It feels good."
The bonus was becoming the first men's team to qualify for the 10-team Olympic
Trials in December 2009 to determine Canada's entry in the 2010 Vancouver
Games.
Added Canadian second Marc Kennedy: "We're the world champs. No one can
ever take that away from you. It's great to do it for your teammates as much as
yourself. Especially Kevin. That's a big monkey off his back as much as he
doesn't want to admit it. Our goal for the three young guys was to make it as
easy as possible for Kev."
Kennedy, 26, and third John Morris, 29, made some key shots in the first few
ends to set the tone and restore some confidence after the playoff loss. Lead
Ben Hebert, 24, played better than even his stellar Brier performance last
month.
It began in the second end with Morris making a sublime draw behind guards to
sit protected covering the button. Murdoch attacked but was rebuffed: a
come-around tap attempt hit a guard before a run-back double-takeout attempt on
his last shot left one Canadian rock in play for a stolen point.
The turning point came in the eighth when it looked as if Scotland was about to
score two only to be throttled by an impressively difficult hit-and-roll by
Martin. His rock looped slowly over to the edge of the button, behind a
Scottish stone and protected by two guards outside the rings. Murdoch was left
with nothing but a long, angled raise that brushed past the back of the
Canadian rock, giving Martin a stolen point.
Martin bashed a cluster of three rocks from play in the ninth for a deuce to
take a three-point lead.
Hebert put it in perspective with his off-beat insight: "Words can't
explain it. We won the worlds and I don't think we can go play Mars, so it's
all good. The next time we get to come to the worlds, all we'll have to worry
about is curling."
::OTHER NEWS::
Penguin Canada
Chief David Davidar Helped Turn India Into Hotbed Of Publishing
Excerpt from www.globeandmail.com
- Prithi Yelaja, Staff Reporter
(April 12, 2008) As president of Penguin
Canada, David Davidar is arguably the second most powerful South Asian in publishing – after
Knopf's legendary Sony Mehta.
After building Penguin India into that country's foremost publishing house, signing up
internationally renowned authors including Vikram Seth, Salman Rushdie and
Anita Desai, Davidar, 49, was appointed to Penguin's top job in Canada in 2004.
He wasted no time in turning the struggling company around – revenues hit $100
million last year, a first in its 30-year history.
His latest brainchild is Extraordinary Canadians, a new writers' biographical
series, with guest editor John Ralston Saul.
Born in Kerala, the son of a wealthy tea plantation owner, Davidar studied
botany at university and was headed for the opulent life of a "minor
maharaja" until his father encouraged him to do something with his brain.
After working as a journalist in Mumbai, he headed to Harvard to do a
publishing diploma at age 26. One of his lecturers was Peter Mayer,
then-chairman of Penguin Books. He was looking for someone to start the India
office.
Being the only Indian in the class, Davidar fit the bill. He got the job,
setting up shop in a New Delhi flat with a budget of $10,000, including his own
salary, and a staff of two. Today, Penguin India has 100 employees and
publishes 200 titles a year with revenues topping more than $10 million.
"Now every major publishing company in the western world has offices in
India. It's the fastest-growing English language market in the world and it's
expected to eclipse Canada and Australia in the next 10 to 15 years in terms of
size and revenues," says Davidar. "India's time is now almost upon
it, but 20 years ago there was nothing. So it entailed making mistakes,
learning from your mistakes and trying to persuade people to actually write for
you."
Rare among publishers, Davidar is also an accomplished writer with two
critically acclaimed novels: The House of Blue Mangos (2002) and The
Solitude of Emperors (2007).
Q. How did you start a publishing house from scratch in India?
A. It was quite an extraordinary adventure. I think when you're 26, you
don't examine the risks too closely. You're a bit bullheaded and you go out
there and say `I'm just going to make this happen somehow.' I had no idea what
to do, basically. I had this fancy designation with one of the world's most
famous publishing companies. There was no tradition of trade publishing in
India ... There were no literary agents or authors to speak of who were
prepared to write books for a general audience. For the first six months, when
there's nothing existent, what do you do? You make your way slowly. You talk to
a ton of people among the intelligentsia. That's how it started – six books a
year-and-a -half after I got to Delhi and, today, it's Asia's largest
English-language trade publishing company.
Q. What was your big break in India?
A. I managed to get Vikram Seth to sign on with his collection of poems.
He was with another publishing company. I went to him and said `you should publish
with me.' He said, `Why should I publish with you? You're a company with no
history in India and no obvious resources that I can see. You're sort of
publishing out of a flat in New Delhi.' With the enthusiasm of extreme youth, I
said we'd bring a certain passion to publishing to your work that this other
publishing company that's 100 years old doesn't have. I made my offer to him in
the form of a sonnet. I think that tipped that balance. His book after that was
A Suitable Boy, and that was it. We had a huge amount of publicity.
Penguin India is the only company I can think of that has that kind of
dominance in terms of noteworthy Indian writers.
Q. The Solitude of Emperors is about religious fundamentalism, which you've
called the curse of all time, set against the backdrop of the religiously
fuelled Bombay riots in the 1990s. Why did you feel compelled to write about
that?
A. I've always wanted to write about the misuse of religion because it
was something that bothered me greatly, as it has every sane-minded person in
the world. I lived in Delhi at the time and, when this thing happened, a lot of
us felt a sense of betrayal and anguish. What I was hoping to do was just add
to the discourse and say the voice of sanity has to prevail. The more of us who
actually stand up and say this should not happen is just basically good for the
world we live in. ... I do think it's more hopeful now. The viciousness of the
'90s riots in Bombay and the 2002 Gujarat riots, those hopefully will not
recur. It certainly has something to do with economic volatility because it
sets up the context in which fundamentalism can flourish. It's only when the
benefits of globalization and the boom in prosperity spread themselves across
the entire spectrum of society that people don't feel so aggrieved and vengeful
and it's only those that are left out of the boom who are fodder for
fundamentalist politicians and priests, and so on. The best chance for India
and the world is for individual communities, cities, neighbourhoods, whatever,
just say no. The book is what I felt I could do.
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