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LE NEWSLETTER

August 14, 2008

The most rainfall and the least amount of sun - what a summer for us Torontonians!  And what's with the chill in the air this week?  Does that mean that we can expect a late summer?

The industry has lost two icons this past week in the persons of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes.  Such a great loss on both accounts and they will be missed.

Scroll down and find out what interests you - take your time and take a walk into your weekly entertainment news!

::TOP STORIES::

Actor, Comedian Bernie Mac Dead At 50

Source: www.thestar.com - F.N. D'alessio, The Associated Press

(August 9, 2008) CHICAGO–Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show,'' died Saturday at age 50.

"Actor/comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital," his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

She said no other details were available and asked that his family's privacy be respected.

The comedian suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute stand-up routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language. The performance earned him a rebuke from Obama's campaign.

But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.

"Wherever I am, I have to play," he said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show.''

Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing stand-up as a child, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy "Mo' Money" in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama "Get on the Bus.''

He was one of "The Original Kings of Comedy" in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black stand-up comedy stars to a wider audience.

Mac went on to star in the hugely popular "Ocean's Eleven'' franchise with Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

His turn with Ashton Kutcher in 2005's "Guess Who" topped the box office. It was a comedy remake of the classic Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn drama "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" – with Mac as the black dad who's shocked that his daughter is marrying a white man.

Mac also had starring roles in "Bad Santa,'' "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Transformers.''

In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in "Moesha," the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy.

The comedian drew critical and popular acclaim with his Fox television series "The Bernie Mac Show," which aired more than 100 episodes from 2001 to 2006.

The series about a man's adventures raising his sister's three children, won a Peabody Award in 2002. At the time, judges wrote they chose the sitcom for transcending "race and class while lifting viewers with laughter, compassion – and cool.''

The show garnered Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for Mac.

"But television handcuffs you, man," he said in a 2001 Associated Press interview. "Now everyone telling me what I CAN'T do, what I CAN say, what I SHOULD do, and asking, `Are blacks gonna be mad at you? Are whites gonna accept you?'''

He also was nominated for a Grammy award for best comedy album in 2001 along with his "The Original Kings of Comedy" co-stars, Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Cedric The Entertainer.

In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS' "Late Show" that he planned to retire soon.

"I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," Mac told Letterman. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.''

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the city's South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

In his 2004 memoir, "Maybe You Never Cry Again," Mac wrote about having a poor childhood – eating bologna for dinner – and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing.

"I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy," Mac told the AP in 2001. "I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn't a lot of things to laugh about.''

Mac's mother died of cancer when he was 16. In his book, Mac said she was a support for him and told him he would surprise everyone when he grew up.

"Woman believed in me," he wrote. "She believed in me long before I believed.''

Bernie Mac A True Showman

Source: www.thestar.com - Frazier Moore, Associated Press

(August 11, 2008) Bernie Mac blended style, authority and a touch of self-aware bluster to make audiences laugh as well as connect with him.

For Mac, who died Saturday at age 50, it was a winning mix, delivering him from a poor childhood to stardom as a stand-up comedian, in films including the casino heist caper Ocean's Eleven and his acclaimed sitcom The Bernie Mac Show.

Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal – befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley, Red Skelton and Redd Foxx.

Mac died of complications from pneumonia in a Chicago-area hospital, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement. "The world just got a little less funny," said Oceans co-star George Clooney.

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Recently, Mac's brand of comedy caught him flack when he was heckled during a surprise appearance at a July fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate and fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute stand-up routine, Mac joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language.

Obama took the stage about 15 minutes later, implored Mac to "clean up your act next time," then let him off the hook, adding: "By the way, I'm just messing with you, man.''

Even so, Obama's campaign later issued a rebuke, saying the senator "doesn't condone these statements and believes what was said was inappropriate.''

But despite controversy or difficulties, in his words, Mac was always a performer.

"Wherever I am, I have to play," he said in 2002. "I have to put on a good show.''

Mac worked his way to Hollywood success from an impoverished upbringing on Chicago's South Side. He began doing stand-up as a child, telling jokes for spare change on subways, and his film career started with a small role as a club doorman in the Damon Wayans comedy Mo' Money in 1992. In 1996, he appeared in the Spike Lee drama Get on the Bus.

He was one of The Original Kings of Comedy in the 2000 documentary of that title that brought a new generation of black stand-up comedy stars to a wider audience.

"The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac ... he gave them their money's worth," Steve Harvey, one of his co-stars in Original Kings, told CNN on Saturday.

Mac went on to star in the hugely popular Ocean's Eleven franchise with Brad Pitt and Clooney, playing a gaming-table dealer who was in on the heist. Mac and Ashton Kutcher topped the box office in 2005's Guess Who, a comedy remake of the classic Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn drama Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? Mac played the dad who's shocked that his daughter is marrying a white man.

Mac also had starring roles in Bad Santa, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Transformers.

But his career and comic identity were forged in television.

In the late 1990s, he had a recurring role in Moesha, the UPN network comedy starring pop star Brandy. The critical and popular acclaim came after he landed his own Fox television series The Bernie Mac Show, about a child-averse couple who suddenly are saddled with three children.

The series won a Peabody Award in 2002, and Mac was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy. In 2007, Mac told David Letterman on CBS's Late Show that he planned to retire soon.

"I'm going to still do my producing, my films, but I want to enjoy my life a little bit," Mac told Letterman. "I missed a lot of things, you know. I was a street performer for two years. I went into clubs in 1977.''

Mac was born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. 5, 1957, in Chicago. He grew up on the South Side, living with his mother and grandparents. His grandfather was the deacon of a Baptist church.

In his 2004 memoir, Maybe You Never Cry Again, Mac wrote about having a poor childhood – eating bologna for dinner – and a strict, no-nonsense upbringing. His mother died of cancer when he was 16.

"I came from a place where there wasn't a lot of joy," Mac told the AP in 2001. "I decided to try to make other people laugh when there wasn't a lot of things to laugh about.''

A public memorial is planned for noon Aug. 16 in Chicago.

Bernie Mac's Final Moments

Source: www.eurweb.com

(August 11, 2008) *A sister-in-law to late comedian Bernie Mac has opened up to People magazine about the entertainer's final moments at the hospital with his wife, Rhonda, and their 30-year-old daughter, Je'Niece.

"He opened his eyes on his own and looked at Rhonda. She called his name, and he opened his eyes and nodded to her," said Rhonda's younger sister, Mary Ann Grossett. "She smiled at him and told him, 'Don't leave me … 'I'm waiting for you to come back.' He shrugged his shoulders, and she said that's when she knew he was tired. He signalled to her that his body was tired."

Mac, Grossett revealed, was hospitalized in Chicago on July 24, eight days before the date announced by his publicist. He was diagnosed with pneumonia and immediately placed on a ventilator. He died at 2 a.m. on Saturday.

The night before, "He struggled for his life. He couldn't breathe," said Grossett. The next day, doctors "were working on him. They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour. Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time."

Grossett said the last communication between Mac and Rhonda took place on July 31, one week after he was admitted to the hospital. "He told his wife [non-verbally] that he could breathe on his own, and he wanted the ventilator out. He motioned that he wanted it out," says Grossett.

Additionally, Grossett says Mac's inflammatory lung disease contributed to his death. "He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission," she says. "But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection ... He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that's where the pneumonia came from." 

She says that doctors kept Mac sedated, although he was conscious at times and he contracted a second strain of pneumonia while in the hospital. 

Of her widowed sibling Rhonda, Grossett says, "She’s devastated. However, she's at peace about his transition because of her faith in God. Her faith is what is sustaining her." 

A funeral for Mac is scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15, at an undisclosed location. The family requests that donations be made to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. Ninth St., Suite 601, Chicago IL 60605. 

Community activist Najee Ali says a candlelight vigil for Mac, as well as Isaac Hayes, will be held at 6 p.m. tonight in Los Angeles at 5th Street Dicks coffeehouse in Leimert Park (4305 Degnan Blvd.)

Some of Mac's celebrity friends, co-stars and professional associates have issued statements expressing condolences and sharing memories of the comedian:

• Samuel L. Jackson, his co-star in the upcoming film "Soul Men," says:  "It goes without saying that Bernie was one of the preeminent comedians of our generation. He was also an attentive husband, a great father and loving grandfather. I feel blessed to have shared years of friendship with Bernie Mac, and I'm honoured to have finally co-starred with him in what I consider to be his finest cinematic acting achievement. My sincere prayer is that his family will be comforted by the warmth of love from all of us who knew and respected this man."

• Don Cheadle, who starred with Mac in 2001's "Ocean's Eleven" and its two sequels, says: "This is a very sad day for many of us who knew and loved Bernie. He brought so much joy to so many. He will be missed, but heaven just got funnier."

• George Clooney, fellow co-star in "Ocean's" franchise: "The world just got a little less funny. He will be missed dearly."

• Brad Pitt, fellow "Ocean's" colleague, says: "I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man. My thoughts are with Rhonda and their family. Bernie Mac, you are already missed."

• Chris Rock: "Bernie Mac was one of the best and funniest comedians to ever live, but that was the second best thing he did. Bernie was one of the greatest friends a person could have. Losing him is like losing 12 people because he absolutely filled up any room he was in. I'm gonna miss the Mac Man."

• Cedric the Entertainer: "It's hard to put into words just how I feel and what a painful loss this is. Bernie was a brother, a friend and one of the comic masters of our time. Sharing the marquee with him during the phenomenon of the Kings of Comedy tour bonded us like family, and created a unique moment in comic history marking some of the most meaningful, memorable and fun times of our lives. His comedic approach was his own brand and will definitely stand the test of time. The level of his talent always inspired me and other comedians to 'bring their A-game.' I promise you that you never wanted to be the guy who had to follow Bernie's set! As a husband and father, he was THE MAN and my thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will truly be missed, but so well remembered."

• Niecy Nash, who played Mac's sister on 'The Bernie Mac Show,' recalls his knack for making fellow actors feel at home on the set. "When I showed up to work, he said something to me that had never been said to me on a set before. He said, 'Baby girl, the script here is not the Bible. Do you, and I'll follow. I got mine, you get yours.' When he said that, I knew everything was going to be all right. I was happy to have the freedom to make up some funny with him. It was simply delicious. My working experiences with Bernie were so amazing, that from that point on, I wouldn't have cared if he called me in the middle of the night to come and be in a scene where I didn't have anything to do but sit in the background and eat cereal. I would've just done it because I loved him like that."

• Jenifer Lewis: "Bernie's style of comedy was bold, courageous and revolutionary—I never knew anyone who loved to be funny as much as Bernie. He will most definitely be very missed."

• George Lopez: "He was one of those comics that was unique because of his approach, his look, his voice [and] the content of his material. Bernie fell into that category of people who were inherently different like when you saw them, you knew they were different and when they spoke, you knew they were different. As comics, we're all brothers. and I’ll miss him a lot. He was a good friend of mine."

• Luke Wilson, Mac's costar in 'Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle,' told People: "He couldn't have been a nicer guy. He just seemed like a real family man and just a nice guy on the set, just very kind of normal guy."

• Carl Reiner, "Ocean's Eleven" costar, says: "It's a tremendous loss because of his age and the fact that he was such a vital, original human being. When I use the word 'original' I really mean it. He was like no other person I knew. He lived his life to the fullest, even when we were on the set of Ocean's. He had his own little apartment and he cooked and invited people to lunch every day and he had food that was for everybody. He made very exotic things. His conversations were always different than any conversations I had with anyone else. They were very family-oriented; he talked about his wife and children with such love and it's very hard to believe that he's not with us anymore."

• Kelly Preston and John Travolta: "We are heartbroken. He will be deeply missed. He was a wonderful, kind and gentle man."

• Fox Broadcasting Company and 20th Century Fox Television, home of "The Bernie Mac Show," stated: "Bernie Mac was a gifted talent whose comedy came from an authentic and highly personal place. He was a tremendous live performer and a wonderful actor. Fox was proud to be the home of The Bernie Mac Show, and all of us at Fox and 20th Century Fox Television extend our deepest sympathies to his wife, Rhonda, and daughter, JeNiece."

• J.D. Hall, voice over actor who worked with Mac on an episode of Moesha, says: "He was a genuinely funny and nice guy. I say this because prior to working with him on the show, I had no knowledge of who he was and how well known of a comedian he was. But, unlike a lot of people at his level, he was very friendly, down to earth and accommodating. When our paths accidentally crossed about a week later at LAX airport, he greeted me as if I had been a life-long friend and I could feel the genuine warmth and sincerity of that greeting. May God have mercy on his soul."

• Irene Mama Stokes: Bernie Mac will be remembered. I met him on the set of Bébé's Kids, his words of encouragement helped me to continue to pursue my career in comedy. His comedy had an impact on our community and the world. He will truly be missed."

• African American Film Critics Association's Wilson Morales: “Bernie Mac had the ability to effortlessly make people laugh. He was an incredible talent with whom my colleagues and I in AAFCA always looked forward to covering. Bernie had a big heart and he will certainly be missed by the members of our organization.”

Singer, Songwriter Isaac Hayes Dies At Age 65

Source: Associated Press

(August 10, 2008) MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.

A family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known.

In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic crooners like Barry White. And he was rapping before there was rap.

His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show "South Park."

The album "Hot Buttered Soul" made Hayes a star in 1969. His shaven head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image.

"Hot Buttered Soul" was groundbreaking in several ways: He sang in a "cool" style unlike the usual histrionics of big-time soul singers. He prefaced the song with "raps," and the numbers ran longer than three minutes with lush arrangements.

"Jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."

Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit in 1971 from the film "Shaft" starring Richard Roundtree.

"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said in the 1999 interview.

At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No. 18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.

"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."

Hayes was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

"I knew nothing about the business, or trends and things like that," he said. "I think it was a matter of timing. I didn't know what was unfolding."

A self-taught musician, he was hired in 1964 by Stax Records of Memphis as a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.

He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote such hits for Sam and Dave as "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man."

All this led to his recording contract.

In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album "Black Moses" and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. Hayes composed film scores for "Tough Guys" and "Truck Turner" besides "Shaft." He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" movie soundtrack in 1996.

Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.

He was in several movies, including "It Could Happen to You" with Nicolas Cage, "Ninth Street" with Martin Sheen, "Reindeer Games" starring Ben Affleck and the blaxploitation parody "I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka."

In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the South Park cook as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the 'whack' category like everybody else in town — and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."

But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked his Scientology religion. "There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," he said.

Co-creator creators Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.

Hayes was born in 1942 in a tin shack in Covington, Tenn., about 40 miles north of Memphis. He was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died and his father took off when he was 1 1/2. The family moved to Memphis when he was 6.

Hayes wanted to be a doctor, but got redirected when he won a talent contest in ninth grade by singing Nat King Cole's "Looking Back."

He held down various low-paying jobs, including shining shoes on the legendary Beale Street in Memphis. He also played gigs in rural Southern juke joints where at times he had to hit the floor because someone began shooting.

Isaac Hayes, 65: Pioneering Musician

Source: www.thestar.com - Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic

(August 11, 2008) MEMPHIS, TENN.–Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter and musician whose relentless "Theme From Shaft" won Academy and Grammy awards, died yesterday, the Shelby County Sheriff's Office said. He was 65.

A family member found Hayes unresponsive near a treadmill and he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, according to the sheriff's office. The cause of death was not immediately known.

In the early 1970s, Hayes laid the groundwork for disco, for what became known as urban-contemporary music and for romantic crooners like Barry White. And he was rapping before there was rap.

His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show South Park.

The album Hot Buttered Soul made Hayes a star in 1969. His shaven head, gold chains and sunglasses gave him a compelling visual image.

Hot Buttered Soul was groundbreaking in several ways: He sang in a "cool" style unlike the usual histrionics of big-time soul singers. He prefaced the song with "raps," and the numbers ran longer than three minutes with lush arrangements.

"Jocks would play it at night," Hayes recalled in a 1999 Associated Press interview. "They could go to the bathroom, they could get a sandwich, or whatever."

Next came "Theme From Shaft," a No. 1 hit in 1971 from the film Shaft starring Richard Roundtree. It was an irresistibly urgent mix of wah-wah guitars and hi-hat cymbals spiced by the famous line, "They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother----/ Shut your mouth!"

"That was like the shot heard round the world," Hayes said of the song in the 1999 interview.

At the Oscar ceremony in 1972, Hayes performed the song wearing an eye-popping amount of gold and received a standing ovation. TV Guide later chose it as No.18 in its list of television's 25 most memorable moments. He won an Academy Award for the song and was nominated for another one for the score. The song and score also won him two Grammys.

"The rappers have gone in and created a lot of hit music based upon my influence," he said. "And they'll tell you if you ask."

Hayes was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

"I knew nothing about the business or trends and things like that," he said. "I think it was a matter of timing. I didn't know what was unfolding."

A self-taught musician, he was hired in 1964 by Stax Records of Memphis as a backup pianist, working as a session musician for Otis Redding and others. He also played saxophone.

He began writing songs, establishing a songwriting partnership with David Porter, and in the 1960s they wrote such hits for Sam and Dave as "Hold On, I'm Coming" and "Soul Man."

All this led to his recording contract.

In 1972, he won another Grammy for his album Black Moses and earned a nickname he reluctantly embraced. Besides Shaft, Hayes composed film scores for Tough Guys and Truck Turner. He also did the song "Two Cool Guys" on the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America movie soundtrack in 1996.

Additionally, he was the voice of Nickelodeon's "Nick at Nite" and had radio shows in New York City (1996 to 2002) and then in Memphis.

He was in several movies, including It Could Happen to You with Nicolas Cage, Ninth Street with Martin Sheen, Reindeer Games starring Ben Affleck and the blaxploitation parody I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka. He had a cameo role in an episode of The Bernie Mac Show, whose star died Saturday.

In the 1999 interview, Hayes described the South Park cook as "a person that speaks his mind; he's sensitive enough to care for children; he's wise enough to not be put into the `whack' category like everybody else in town – and he l-o-o-o-o-ves the ladies."

But Hayes angrily quit the show in 2006 after an episode mocked Scientology, which Hayes practised.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," he said.

Co-creator Matt Stone responded that Hayes "has no problem – and he's cashed plenty of cheques – with our show making fun of Christians." A subsequent episode of the show seemingly killed off the Chef character.

Hayes was born in 1942 in a tin shack in Covington, Tenn., 65 kilometres north of Memphis. He was raised by his maternal grandparents after his mother died and his father took off when he was 1 1/2. The family moved to Memphis when he was 6.

Hayes wanted to be a doctor, but got redirected when he won a talent contest in ninth grade by singing Nat King Cole's "Looking Back."

He held down various low-paying jobs, including shining shoes on the legendary Beale Street in Memphis. He also played gigs in rural Southern juke joints where at times he had to hit the floor because someone began shooting.

Associated Press with files from Reuters

Hip-Hop Dancer Wins TV Show Prize

Source: www.thestar.com

(August 08, 2008) Joshua Allen doesn't just think he can dance. The 19-year-old street dancer from Fort Worth, Tex., won the fourth season of reality competition So You Think You Can Dance last night.

"I just want to say that never let anybody tell you you can't do anything, because no matter what you do, you can always go forward. The sky's the limit," said a teary-eyed Allen, after sharing a hug with runner-up Stephen "Twitch" Boss, 25, of Montgomery, Ala.

Allen wins $250,000 (all figures U.S.) and a part in the movie Step Up 3-D, being produced by Hairspray director Adam Shankman.

Besides Boss, Allen bested Courtney Galiano, 20, of Queens, N.Y., and Katee Shean, 20, of San Jose, Calif.

But there was some good news for Shean, a judges' favourite going into the finale: as the top girl who didn't win, she gets a $50,000 consolation prize.

Nearly 60 million votes were cast after the final four did their stuff Wednesday night, according to host Cat Deeley.

Allen is reportedly the first dancer from a hip-hop background to win the show, a ratings hit in both the U.S. and Canada, where it airs on CTV.

Star staff, with files from E! Online and the Hartford Courant

Dance Champion Opens Up, After His Moving Moment

Source: www.thestar.com - Rob Salem, TV Columnist

(August 10, 2008) The beaming smile said it all. It pretty much had to. Joshua Allen, the surprise winner of television's top-rated So You Think You Can Dance competition, has never been much for words – his body language did all the talking, and with an uncanny emotional eloquence that seemed to belie h compact and powerful physique.

And when, in the closing moments of Thursday night's live finale, host Cat Deeley announced his name, a giddy, gob-smacked audience – both in the studio and at home – hung on for what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence waiting for him to speak.

Which he did, eventually, overwhelmed as he was with joy and gratitude, shock and disbelief.

So it was back to the smile – ear-to-ear now, unencumbered at last by those train-track braces he'd worn since the first auditions.

But once the cameras and lights and pressure were gone, so too went Allen's shyness. Eleven hours later, in a day-after phone conference, the 19-year-old "street" dancer was positively chatty.

"I was really just shocked," he confirmed of that moment of truth. "I was really expecting her to say (fellow finalist) Twitch (Boss). I knew that a lot of people loved Twitch."

"I think it took him a second to process," allowed runner-up Boss himself, speaking to the L.A. Times after the broadcast. "I heard it right away, so I was like, 'Oh my God!'

"I have to be happy for Josh," Boss added. "He's like my brother. And it's a big day for hip hop."

Even as audience and judges' favourites began to be eliminated – notably recused judge Debbie Allen's protégé Will Wingfield, and then widely anticipated winner Katee Shean – few expected it would come down to the two least formally trained dancers.

Dance creator/producer/judge Nigel Lithgoe deemed it "inspirational for all of the kids that can't afford dance classes. It's exactly what I'd want the country to see."

Allen, in fact, did have some training. "I started taking classes when I was 10," he explained, "but only in the summer, because I was (also) into sports. For me, it was sports more than dance. I ran track, and I was a varsity running back."

In the end he chose dance and, setting his sites on the TV show, went to work broadening his skills.

"I took modern class, I took some ballet classes, I took jazz classes ... I wanted to know what everything was. I didn't want to go into the competition and be dumbfounded."

However, he now says he had no real idea of what he was in for – rehearsing the final dance-off with Boss, a gruelling Russian production number, landed both dancers in hospital with dehydration.

"We were expecting a hip-hop number," Allen confessed. "Then we got this, and we were like, `God, how are we going to pull this off?'

"But we did good, I thought. We really had fun with it."

And that, he says, more than the $250,000 prize, the promised movie role in Step Up 3 or the sold-out 50-city live tour, is the most significant thing the Texan will take away from the competition.

"Even when you're exhausted and you feel like there's nothing you've got to give anymore, you have a lot more to give. The show pushes you that hard. We didn't know our limits."

::TRAVEL NEWS::

The Other China

Source: www.thestar.com - Jeremy Ferguson. Special to the star

(August 09, 2008) HANGZHOU, CHINA–Breathless in Beijing? Suffering from Olympic asphyxiation? How about beauty, history and some gentle sightseeing?

Then Hangzhou's the place to hang out.

Marco Polo did. Arriving in the late 13th century, he was the first Westerner ever to see it.

He devoted 16 pages of his diary to it, calling the city "beyond dispute one of the finest and noblest in the world." And Marco had seen more than most.

It was rich and powerful then, as China's capital under the Southern Sung Dynasty. In those days, it was a centre of silk, art, literature and thought, with a surprisingly cosmopolitan population including Arabs and Persians.

It all came to an end when Marco's benefactor, the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan, sacked it. Afterwards, Hangzhou slipped into historic oblivion.

With seven million people, contemporary Hangzhou may not sound laid-back. But compared to Beijing, it's a village. And because it hasn't been part of the mainstream since the 13th century, it feels like one.

Pronounced "Hong-Joe", it's two hours southwest of Shanghai by car. This will change when the Shanghai Maglev – the fastest train in the world at 431 kilometres per hour – arrives in 2010 and cuts the time to a mere 12 minutes.

Today it's the capital of Zhejiang Province and the natural choice of getaway for international expats stationed in Shanghai. Its charm is an easygoing meld of the ancient and the modern.

The Lei Feng Pagoda, for instance, was built in 975 AD. It boasts one of the greenest views in urban China. You can huff and puff your way up its 1,000 steps or, since it was rebuilt in 2002, ascend the hill by escalator and elevator.

Fashionable condos come furnished from Ikea. Their balconies hang with equally fashionable undies.

Downtown Hefang St. represents old Hangzhou for tourists. It boasts a permanent carnival atmosphere in which the popular snack is xi-dan or "happiness egg" – a half-hatched chicken egg in which the embryonic chick is eaten, feathers, blood and all.

My wife tucked into one, much to the amusement of the astounded Chinese throng, who gathered around to see if the yanguedze – the Mandarin expression meaning "foreign devil"–could really do it.

"What does it taste like?" asked her chicken-hearted husband.

"Chicken," she said, pulling a feather from her mouth.

Chicken-heart found local fare more appetizing at the Chenghuang Pagoda restaurant. "Vast are the numbers," Marco Polo had written of Hangzhou diners, "of those accustomed to dainty living, to the point of eating fish and meat at one meal."

Hangzhou delicacies are justly renowned: Beggar's chicken came wrapped in lotus leaf and bursting with five-spice fragrance, the whole thing roasted in a crust of mud.

The chef steamed shrimp in tea leaves, another testimonial to the awakening of China's gastronomic dragon.

Hangzhou history's is played out at the Song Dynasty Village, China's first historic theme park. All stops are pulled to dazzle and awe in the 3,000-seat theatre.

The show is an over-the-top, full-throttle song, dance and acrobatics extravaganza based on Hangzhou's heyday as ancient capital.

A $6 million budget buys plenty of costumes and special effects in China. Don't be surprised when rain pours down from an artificial sky. Or an ancient wall is swept away by a sorcerer's flood. Or warriors battle in pools of light and smoke as live horses thunder across the stage.

The Imperial Court is resplendent, of course. Just for good measure, the Chinese, who do this sort of thing brilliantly, throw in a French can-can and a coy black-light striptease.

At every flourish, you're reminded this is Hangzhou by way of Vegas.

Our second day took us to the Mei Family Village on the city's outskirts. It's a pilgrimage for tea-lovers. Here is Dragon Well, China's finest green tea, a drink so revered that most prosperous villages actually pay their taxes in tea leaves.

Here we learned how to appreciate tea as you do wines, weighing bouquet, body, flavour and aftertaste. The very best Dragon Well tea costs a cool $600 a kilo.

Inarguably, Hangzhou's crown jewel is West Lake, an idyll known across China for its eye-filling scenery, lagoons, pagodas, old stone bridges, rockeries, weeping willows and flowering peach trees.

"On the lake itself," Marco wrote, "is the endless procession of barges thronged with pleasure-seekers...their minds and thoughts intent upon nothing but bodily pleasures and the delights of society."

For people-watchers, it proffers a fine passing parade: old folks out for a stroll, lovers patting each others' bums, couples out for a gentle spin on the lake, erhu players, wandering opera singers and fishermen silhouetted at sunset.

On the lakeshore, the modern Xihu Tiandi complex encapsulates Hangzhou hip, a swank, renovated neighbourhood of galleries, restaurants, clubs, bars and – yes – Starbucks. The Hong Kong developer designed it as a role model for Asian café society.

At the Tea and Wine Chapter, a boutique restaurant on the lake's eastern shore, a shoe-store bell summoned our server, nattily dressed in a svelte linen riff on South Chinese costume.

What are Chinese hipsters eating? Tofu, the ubiquitous bean curd, arrived soft and silky, with crab roe set like little orange pearls among the ivory tofu cubes. Sichuan duck smoldered in a sauce seething with chilies and five-spice.

In the "crystal fold" tradition, iceberg lettuce became a crunchy wrap for a racy mix of minced chicken and spices.

We ordered a bottle of Montes Carmenere from Chile. What a fusion it was: atmosphere and wine from the West, delicious, seductive fare from the East. Eat yer heart out, Marco.

Jeremy Ferguson is a freelance writer based in Victoria, B.C. His trip was sponsored by the China National Tourist Office.

::MUSIC NEWS::

It's Hard To Hate These Boys

Source: www.thestar.com - Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic

(August 08, 2008) The planet is no worse off for getting Backstreet back.

This stuff is plainly not for me and, I must confess, the hours leading up to long-in-the-tooth boy band the Backstreet Boys' comeback gig at the Molson Amphitheatre last night involved a lot of sulking and self-pity on my part.

Whatever, though. Having weathered a half-dozen of the Boys' performances over the years – I first saw them at dingy Robert Guertin Arena in Hull 11 years ago, back when Quebec had beaten the rest of Canada, and most of the world, in contracting Backstreet Fever – I knew it would be painless enough and oddly satisfying from a showbiz-professionalism standpoint.

You'd have to be totally heartless, in any case, to hate on a show that appeared to make the resurgent and very gracious Backstreet Boys as happy to be doing their thing again as the more than 10,000 overwhelmingly female fans squealing in the stands and praying that the encroaching thunder clouds would suddenly prompt a live re-enactment of the wet homoerotic theatrics in that video for "Quit Playing Games With My Heart."

This was a love-in, through and through, where even the new batch of adoring 'tweens and teens joining Backstreet's original Toronto congregation in collective praise and girlish infatuation could confidently take up every single word of such once-inescapable megahits as "Larger Than Life," "I'll Be the One" and, of course, "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)."

Nick Carter, A.J. McLean, Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough have been operating without the solemn, moustached presence of Kevin Richardson since last year's Unbreakable album, yet his absence went largely unnoticed. The newly bearded A.J. brought the facial hair ("He looks like he's from Canada, doesn't he?" quipped Carter at one point, prompting McLean to remark that he would "move here in a heartbeat") to compensate, while the set list supplied the solemn by honing mainly in on the dreary, interchangeable soft-rock ballads ("Incomplete," "Unmistakable," etc.) that began dominating the Boys' repertoire around 2000's "serious" album, Black and Blue.

No one in an audience that went berserk every time it heard the word "Toronto" cared, but none of the newish stuff nor the solo material each member showcased throughout the evening – apparently, Littrell and Carter both privately long to become Bryan Adams – had the hooks and pop longevity of the singles the Boys wedged into a late-set medley. You might've hated 'em, but those tunes stuck in your head; not so much "Trouble Is" or "Any Other Way."

Still, when the guys huddled around a faux trash-can fire – the high-tech set budget of yore has been reduced to a few chairs and a poker table – for a song, one got an unintentional vision of what might have been had this comeback bid totally tanked. They seem nice, so let 'em have another 15 minutes.

Large Pro Promises Main Source Vibe For New Album

Source: www.allhiphop.com - By Tai Saint Louis

(August 13, 2008) Celebrated producer Large Professor has disclosed plans to go back to his vintage early 90’s sound on Main Source, his first studio album in over six years.

As a member of the group Main Source, Large Professor’s distinct, melodic production helped fuel their debut Breaking Atoms, now widely regarded as a Hip-Hop classic.

That album also featured the first appearance of a 17-year-old Nas on “Live at the BBQ,” a teen MC that Large Professor himself discovered.

Asked why he would name is new album after his seminal group, Large Pro explains that it reflects how he’s altered his approach from previous releases.

“I called this project Main Source because I felt on the music tip I went back to the original recipe,” Large Pro reasoned. “That recipe is Main Source [the group]. When it comes to that real Hip-Hop, Large Professor is the main source of that.”

Extra P’s last album 1st Class (2002) featured the standout track “Stay Chisel” with Nas and also featured appearances from Busta Rhymes and Akinyele, who also debuted on “Live at the BBQ.”

Despite the good critical reception of that LP, Large Pro was clear in emphasizing a clear distinction between his third and upcoming fourth album.

“The difference between this album and 1st Class is that on this one I used a lot of ill loops,” he reveals. “On 1st Class I went a little more primitive and was chopping up little sounds, but this time I got the ill loops and the original recipe.”

Main Source will feature Jeru the Damaja, Lil Dap, Mikey D, and Lotto, a cast of artists Large Pro feels blessed to have.

“These are dudes I normally get down with on a day to day basis,” Pro stated. “It was all natural (and) we always say “Yo let’s do something in the studio,” (and) now we finally did it.”

While he still remained active producing, many wondered why he waited so long to complete his fourth album.

For Large Professor, it was simply a matter of giving his soul peace.

“I figured out that you can’t live your life in the industry,” he explained. “You gotta live a normal life and do things when time allows and everything is right. And now is the time.”

Main Source drops September 16 on the GOLD DUST record label.

Former Gangster Rapper Master P Changes Name

Source: www.allhiphop.com - By Tai Saint Louis

(August 13, 2008) After close to fifteen years in the game, rapper Master P has decided to officially abandon the name under which he attained success.

With over 75 million records sold worldwide, the five-time Grammy Award winner will now go by P. Miller in an effort to expand on his equally impressive achievements as a businessman.

“I’m changing my name because Master P is who I used to be,” the No Limit Entertainment CEO explains. “I call it my childhood, and P. Miller marks my manhood. There’s a lot of people out there who are afraid to grow up and change, but I’m not and P. Miller is the evolution of me, Percy Miller, the entrepreneur, the businessman.”

With a net worth valued at an estimated $500 million, Miller has achieved quite a bit of mainstream attention in recent years, most notably since appearing before the United States Congress in 2007 to address the widely publicized criticism of Hip-Hop lyrics and culture.

Soon after, he and his son Romeo launched Take A Stand Records as a profanity-free record label.

In July, Miller made history by inking a deal with retail giant Wal-Mart to distribute his affordable P. Miller Designs clothing line in stores nationwide, thus becoming the discount chain’s first African-American Hip-Hop supplier.

“I’ve branched out into so many different arenas, but all that gets overshadowed because I come from the Hip-Hop industry,” says the multi-platinum artist, who’s maintained his relevance with a new generation of fans by being the driving force behind his son’s run at superstardom. “People grow mentally and spiritually through life experiences, but when you come from Hip-Hop, it’s almost impossible to get past the stereotypes associated with it.”

Throughout his illustrious career, Miller has also used his success to support and motivate others through two charitable organizations, P. Miller Youth Centers and the P. Miller Food Foundation, and the 2007 release of Guaranteed Success, a semi-autobiographical guide to wealth building and business.

In support of the book, Miller embarked on tour with Donald Trump, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki, working with The Learning Annex to teach the importance of financial literacy.

The Night A Rebel Folk Poet Reinvented Rock 'N' Roll

Source: www.thestar.com - Greg Quill, Entertainment Columnist

(August 13, 2008) I knew, as my first real lover and I huddled over his songs by candlelight in her tiny student flat in Glebe, on the edge of the Sydney University campus but significantly not part of it, that Bob Dylan was probably a very dangerous artist, a rebel and a rule-breaker, a poet so safe in his cleverly invented skin that he was virtually unassailable.

A mystery to the world at large, he was a revelation to those who dared to listen with open hearts and minds.

Dylan was the first songwriter to use the language and thematic matter of folk music and blues – love, death, work, struggle, alienation, migration, suffering – to construct an alternative to the trite and trivial, love-saturated pop model churned out by the music industry of the day. He was reinventing popular music, making it big, profound, important.

In retrospect, Dylan was the quirky quintessence of the spirit and intellect of the largest, smartest, best educated, most pampered, most curious and most expressive generation in history. He was bound to happen.

And because he shone so brightly, because he was the living hope of that great emerging consciousness, he was, for a time, a folk hero in the truest sense.

But with his profane electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 and with the release of the rock-enhanced albums Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited in the same year, Dylan had served notice that he wanted out of the folk club.

His followers – and back then, many did regard him as a saviour and visionary – were divided.

Some felt they'd been duped, manipulated and betrayed by a canny entrepreneur who really just wanted to be a pop star like the clowns he once reviled.

Others feared his dalliance with electrified rock 'n' roll buried the power and meaning of his words, and hoped it would pass.

A few went with him whole hog and set out with him on what they believed was a journey across a new musical frontier, destination unknown.

So it was amid this ideological and artistic tumult that my girlfriend and I found ourselves with tickets to the second of Dylan's two Sydney concerts – Wednesday, April 13 and Saturday, April 16, 1966 – in an immense former cattle arena known as the Stadium.

The atmosphere was explosive. Sydney was the first stop on Dylan's first "electric" world tour, and no one knew what to expect.

Fears were quelled in the first half of the show, an acoustic set of new-era Dylan favourites, some from the yet-to-be-released Blonde On Blonde: "She Belongs To Me," "Fourth Time Around," "Visions Of Johanna," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," "Desolation Row," "Just Like A Woman" and "Mr. Tambourine Man." The diminutive singer, befuddled by the Stadium's revolving stage, which turned 90 degrees at the end of every song, astonished us with the clarity of his enunciation, his wry phrasing and the musical brilliance of his extended, free-form harmonica solos.

But after intermission, when the band – Toronto's The Hawks, minus drummer Levon Helm, who had been replaced inexplicably by volcanic pounder Mickey Jones – launched into an unbelievably loud "Tell Me, Momma" then "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)," pandemonium reigned. People around us screamed their disapproval, demanding aural relief. Others headed for exits in disgust. Children were held to bosoms as if Satan had suddenly materialized. Fights between the faithful and diehard folkies erupted high in the shaky bleachers.

I remember Jones's cannon snare and mammoth kick drum beats locking into Rick Danko's bass notes like orchestrated artillery, and Garth Hudson's soaring organ glissandos, but not much of Robbie Robertson's guitar (he was tasteful to a fault), which was overwhelmed by Dylan's rhythmic punch. The music packed such a visceral wallop that it demanded a visceral response.

The remainder of the electric set – notable for the inclusion of "One Too Many Mornings" and "Baby Let Me Follow You Down," from his Greenwich Village acoustic period – went by in a blur, till the final offerings, "Ballad Of A Thin Man" and "Positively Fourth Street," when Dylan poured all the venom and scorn he could muster into the crackling air.

Outside in the street, Jen and I were speechless. There was no way of putting what we'd just witnessed, this queasy shifting of cultural gears, into words.

Something really big had just happened and we both knew, without having to say it, that our lives would never be the same.

Opera, In A Tent

Source: www.globeandmail.com - Marsha Lederman

(August 12, 2008) VANCOUVER — Darcia Parada was having dinner at a friend's loft in New York when she noticed that the acoustics in the apartment were fantastic. It gave the Edmonton native - a long-time opera student and singer - an idea: Why not perform opera in smaller, unorthodox spaces where people who might never venture out to the Met would feel more comfortable and more involved?

She was reminded of the idea when she attended an art installation at the Brooklyn Bridge Anchorage, a space inside the bridge's anchorage that was used for exhibitions until post-Sept. 11 security measures closed it off. Finally, she decided to act on it.

It was the beginning of Mercury Opera, named for the planet nearest the sun - tiny, as founder/artistic director Parada explains, but hot.

"Basically [we] take opera out of its conventional form and bring it to the people, make it more accessible for audiences who might be intimidated by going to the opera in a conventional setting like the opera house, where you're so distanced from the scenery and the actors. So our aim is to really bring it up close so that people feel what it's like."

Mercury Opera's first production, Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana, was staged in a Manhattan loft called Studio Ze in May, 2000. "It resembled sort of a cross between a Versace fashion show and a Hollywood premiere," Parada says. "We had a long red carpet that ran through the space, the orchestra was almost on top of the audience, the action was everywhere," she remembers. "It felt incredible. It really felt like something exciting was beginning." The run of Cavalleria Rusticana was sold out.

Now, the upstart opera company has relocated to Edmonton, thanks to Parada's marriage to a hometown boy. And tonight the city will get its first taste of the "guerrilla opera company," as she calls it, with a performance of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (The Clowns) inside a tent at Giovanni Caboto Park, followed by a run in a slightly smaller tent at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival.

"I've always wanted to stage this particular production of Pagliacci. The setting is Coney Island on the day of the Mermaid Parade and ... I'd always conceived it to be staged inside a tent, so it would be like a circus tent."

The opera, "a bleeding slice of life" (as described in the prologue), features a jealous husband who is the main player and director of the show-within-the-show (Canio), a faithless wife (Nedda), a colleague who pines for Nedda (Tonio), Nedda's lover (Silvio) and another colleague (Beppe).

For Parada, the biggest challenge of producing this opera in Edmonton turned out to be casting.

"When I staged things in New York, the singers that were literally on my doorstep were phenomenal, and everybody wants to work," she says. "Edmonton really doesn't draw opera singers."

She found her Tonio (Roland Burks) in New York, and her Beppe (Dean Kokanos) in Pittsburgh. For the role of Nedda, she cast Cara Brown - who lives in Fort McMurray, but is originally from the Edmonton suburb of Sherwood Park.

Parada was particularly thrilled to cast an actual Edmontonian, Dan Rowley, in the role of Canio, but when Rowley came down with pneumonia three weeks ago she needed to find a quick replacement. She tracked down Percy Martinez in the middle of a move from New York to Los Angeles.

For the role of Silvio, however, she received only a single response to her casting calls - and it was from someone who, as it turns out, wasn't available.

"I tried high and low to find someone who was not from too long a distance to cast. I put notice out in Edmonton and no one wanted to join the production. So that was a real bummer."

Parada wound up casting her husband, Boris Derow, in the role.

"He was originally going to be an ensemble member because he sings [but] he's not very experienced on the operatic stage at all ... and it was a huge risk. But I couldn't find a Silvio." She believes, though, that with Derow's Italianate looks and his chemistry with Brown, it will work out.

There is other local talent in the production: all of the ensemble members and musicians; while the conductor, Mark Hycczko, is from New Jersey.

Despite the casting challenges, Parada wants to continue producing operas in unexpected Edmonton spots. Her plan for next summer is to stage Puccini's Il Tabarro (The Cloak) - set on a barge moored beside the Seine - on the Edmonton Queen Riverboat, which more typically plays host to weddings and school field trips. Parada wants to put the orchestra on the boat and have the audience watch from the riverbank.

"That's my next project," she says, stepping out from a rehearsal of Pagliacci. "So hopefully this one will be such a smashing success that people will start throwing money at us."

Pagliacci runs Aug. 12 at Giovanni Caboto Park and as part of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival in the Fringe Tent Aug. 14-22. All performances begin at 9:30 p.m. Tickets for the Aug. 12 performance are available at http://www.tixonthesquare.ca and for the Fringe Festival at http://www.fringetheatreadventures.ca.

*****

Other highlights from the Edmonton International Fringe Festival

Trashcan Duet: London, Ont., playwright Jayson McDonald (Giant Invisible Robot) teams up with Fringe veterans Black Sheep Theatre (Bat Boy: The Musical) for a comic drama about the pairing of a beat poet with a deadbeat.

Killing Kevin Spacey: When Charlie (co-writer Elan Wolf Farbiarz) realizes he has much in common with Kevin Spacey's wimpier roles, he decides to go for a more Al Pacino existence. KKS is slated for an off-Broadway run next year.

Balls!: Not (always) as vulgar as one might fear, this work from Toronto's Rob Salerno examines courage, male friendship and testicular cancer. Winner of the Hamilton Fringe New Play Award and the London (Ontario) Fringe Best Original Production.

Mr. Fox: Following up on their Fringe sensation Dishpig, TJ Dawe and Greg Landucci team up once again - this time for a behind-the-scenes look at the twisted world of a rock radio station mascot. Landucci writes and stars in the one-man play; Dawe directs.

Crude Love: About as Canadian a story as it gets: In Alberta's oil sands, a dump-truck driver from Newfoundland falls in love with an eco-warrior. From Vancouver husband-and-wife team Gillian Bennett and Russell Bennett (who also co-star), creators of the award-winning cult hit The Reefer Man. Crude Love was named Outstanding Ensemble Performance at this year's Ottawa Fringe.

Teaching the Fringe: After Keir Cutler (Teaching Shakespeare) got word of a fan complaint about his play Teaching As You Like It (the accusation: Cutler was teaching the seduction of children), he responded by writing this new work. The reviews and audience reaction have ranged from raves to rants - but Teaching the Fringe always seems to spark a discussion.

M.L.

Opera Not Over Until This Score Of Teens Sings

Source: www.thestar.com - Kristin Rushowy, Education Reporter

(August 09, 2008) "I thought Phantom of the Opera was a real opera." "It's over when the fat lady sings, or something like that?" A week ago, that's all they knew.

But by yesterday, the group of 14 teens from at-risk neighbourhoods had not only written, but dramatized and performed their own opera with the help of Canadian Opera Company professionals – and police officers.

"I know what it is you've faced. I've seen what you can do, and I know what you are going to do with it," a teary-eyed Mark Henderson told the teens after their gala performance yesterday.

The auxiliary Toronto constable is an extra in opera productions and had noticed how the art form's youth programs tended to attract only privileged kids.

He felt it was a world that teens he'd worked with in troubled communities should be a part of, too.

The Toronto Opera Program ran for two one-week sessions serving 40 kids ages 11 to 18, free. The project is the first of its kind for COC and ProAction Cops and Kids, which raises money for programs to promote positive relationships between officers and youth.

Every day was something new and different – how to sing, write, choreograph, create characters or work on the backdrop.

Their words were set to opera music, from the Barber of Seville and Don Giovanni among others.

"It's a project that gives voice to the ideas of these young people," said Daniella Marchese, the drama professional who worked with the students.

The teens also created spoken, dramatic scenes about dealing with drugs, gangs and not being a part of the cool crowd.

"I love acting – everyone calls me a drama queen anyway," said Sabrina Idukpaye, 15, who lives in the Jane-Finch area.

"I thought that this would be a great opportunity. I like the amount of energy you have to put into opera."

Scarborough's Dajana Kovacevic, 16, said, "We learned to be comfortable with who we are ... we learned our voices are different, but we can all still sing."

Initially, she worried about working with police officers, thinking they'd want to "question" the teens.

Instead they saw an entirely different side of the law.

"They're not mean like people say," said Ocean Aarons, 14, of the officers. "They're fair."The COC and police say they plan to run the program next summer.

MUSIC TIDBITS