20
Carlton Street, Suite 1032, Toronto, ON
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LE NEWSLETTER
May 22, 2008
Back from vacation and ready
to go! Great friends, great weather and great food! Tons of Canadian content below too so have a look. Get your tickets for these two
amazing events Heart and Soul on May 25th and the newest addition of DK Ibomeka's CD release on May 27th. Mark your calendars!
Scroll down and find out what interests you - take your time and take a walk
into your weekly entertainment news!
::HOT EVENTS::
Louise Pitre Stars In Heart And
Soul With Special Guest Star Jackie Richardson – May 25, 2008
Source:
Diesel Playhouse
(Toronto,
ON) Two of Canada’s National Treasures will take the stage together for
one night only on May 25th in the heart of the entertainment
district at the Diesel Playhouse main stage, for an evening of
unforgettable cabaret. From Piaf and Brel to Broadway, Jazz and Gospel
this will be an amazing evening of love, laughter and song for all ages.
Award-winning singer and actress Louise Pitre
starred in Mamma Mia! in Toronto, across North America and on
Broadway. Louise also starred in Piaf, Jacque Brel, Annie
Get Your Gun, Blood Brothers, Sweeney Todd with the Calgary
Symphony, Song and Dance and many others. While living in New York,
Louise was nominated for a Tony Award as well as winning the National Broadway
Touring Award, a New York Theatre World Award, and the San Francisco Theatre
Critics Circle. In Canada Louise has won 3 Dora Awards.
Jackie Richardson has thrilled
audiences in Cookin' at the Cookery in Toronto across Canada and the
USA. Jackie has enjoyed much success on stage, in film and on TV.
She has also received great acclaim for her highly popular concert
performances. With Gemini, Juno and Jessie award nominations under her
belt Jackie’s talent knows no limit. Jackie is also a DORA winner.
This “Dynamic Duo” will be supported by Diane Leah at the piano, George
Koller on bass and Tom Jestadt on drums.
SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2008
LOUISE PITRE STARS IN HEART AND
WITH SPECIAL GUEST STAR JACKIE RICHARDSON
Diesel Playhouse
56 Blue Jays Way (south of King –
East of Spadina)
8:00 PM
Tickets are priced at $49.50 and $59.50
Tickets are available by phone and in person
Diesel Playhouse - 56 Blue Jays Way, Toronto
Phone tickets - 416-971-5656 OR get tickets online at
www.dieselplayhouse.com
DK Ibomeka I’m Your Man
Source: Wynchwood Park Productions
DK Ibomeka (pronounced ee-bo-MECK-ah)
celebrates the lyrics and melodies that inspired his need to sing with the Tuesday, May 27th launch of his new album I'm
Your Man - an album of jazz vocal classics produced by George Koller.
With a three-octave range and huge emotional depth and power, DK Ibomeka is well-equipped to deliver a
decidedly original spin on the classic jazz material he has chosen for his
sophomore album I’m Your Man.
I’m
Your Man sees DK backed by some
of Canada’s finest players: George Koller on bass, Davide DiRenzo on
percussion, Michael Shand on keys, Kelley Jefferson on sax and a special guest
appearance by Pee Wee Ellis, long-time band leader for Van Morrison and member
of the legendary James Brown horn section, the JB’s.
Produced by George Koller, I’m
Your Man primarily features jazz standards including “Our Love Is
Here to Stay”, “These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)” and “I Get Along
Without You Very Well” as well as jazz interpretations of “God Bless The
Child”, “I Put A Spell On You” and Leonard Cohen’s ‘I’m You Man’. On I'm Your Man, DK offers his own
distinctive, predominantly tender and soulful interpretations of some vintage
classics. As noted UK jazz author Mike Hennessey says, "DK Ibomeka's
interpretations on this album vividly demonstrate that he not only has an
extensive range in terms of octaves, but also in terms of expressing
emotion."
The 2006 release of his debut CD Love Stories quickly rose to the Canadian Top Ten
jazz radio charts and launched DK on a two-year whirlwind of appearances that
saw him tour Europe four times, debut in the UK at London’s Ronnie Scott’s and
criss-cross his home country of Canada with performances at the Montreal,
Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg jazz festivals and perform with the
Kitchener-Waterloo symphony orchestra. Love Stories was launched to strong
reviews in the UK and much of Europe in the fall of 2006. The UK based MOJO
Magazine chose Love Stories as a “Playlist Pick” in their December 2006 issue.
In Europe, DK was joined on tour with Pee Wee Ellis and also toured as a
featured vocalist with the Diva Jazz Orchestra.
For the CD release, DK will be accompanied by Michael Shand (piano), George
Koller (bass), Roger Travososs (drums) and Mark Patterson (guitar).
I’m Your Man Track Listing:
1. GOD BLESS THE CHILD 4:51
2. LOVE IS HERE TO STAY 4:17
3. I GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU 3:12
4. I’M YOUR MAN 2:59
5. YOU TURNED THE TABLES ON ME 3:25
6. THESE FOOLISH THINGS 5:06
7. THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU 3:41
8. SOME OF THESE DAYS 3:25
9. MY ONE AND ONLY LOVE 2:57
10. I PUT A SPELL ON YOU 7:03
Produced by George Koller. "God Bless The Child" produced &
arranged by Peter Cardinali.
I'm Your Man: http://www.dkibomeka.com/audio/ImYourMan_DK_35.mp3
God Bless The Child: http://www.dkibomeka.com/audio/GodBlessTheChild34.mp3
My One and Only Love: http://www.dkibomeka.com/audio/MyOneAndOnlyLove_35.mp3
TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2008
DK IBOMEKA CD RELEASE
Lula Lounge
1585 Dundas St. W. (west of Dufferin)
Doors: 7:00PM
Show: 8:30PM
$15.00
Tel: 416 588 0307
info@lula.ca
www.dkibomeka.com
::TOP STORIES::
Canadian Independent
Recording Artists’ Association (CIRAA) Announces New Executive Director And
Launch Of The New Indie
Source: CIRRA
(May 21, 2008), TORONTO - The
Board of Directors of the Canadian Independent Recording Artists’ Association (CIRAA)
is pleased to announce the appointment of Aisha
Wickham Thomas as the organization’s first Executive Director.
Wickham Thomas is one of the founding Directors of CIRAA, and recently stepped
down from her Board position to take on this challenging and exciting new role
to build on the organization’s mandate of advocacy, education and member
services. Over the course of her career, Wickham Thomas has been focused on
developing and promoting Canada's music industry, including past roles as the
Canadian Talent Development Manager for Toronto radio station FLOW 93.5 and
Executive Director of the Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC).
CIRAA was formed in 2005, and over the past couple of years has been focused on
enhancing the Board of Directors (appointing successful and well-respected
indie artists Pavlo, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Ember Swift and Kathryn Rose);
building the organization’s resources; and producing the organization’s
flagship educational initiative, The New Indie.
The New Indie is an in-depth audio series featuring interviews with music
industry experts discussing the new realities facing today’s independent
recording artists. The New Indie is a valuable tool created to help artists
navigate this music industry paradigm shift. The series, which is launching at
next month’s North By Northeast Music and Film Festival & Conference, will
be available to recording artists and music industry professionals around the
world at all times, FREE for download at www.thenewindie.com and podcast at
iTunes. The CD box set is available for purchase at all Long &
McQuade locations.
Guests in The New Indie episodes include:
TERRY MCBRIDE, Nettwerk ● BOB
LEFSETZ, The Lefsetz Letter ● RON
SEXSMITH, Artist ● MICHAEL MCCARTY &
BARBARA SEDUN, EMI Music Publishing ●
RANDY LENNOX, Universal Music ● CHRIS
TAYLOR, Entertainment Lawyer ● SHERI
JONES, Jones & Co ● GRANT
DEXTER, Maple Music ● GARY FURNISS &
DAVID QUILICO, Sony Music Publishing ●
HAYDAIN NEALE, Artist ● JONATHAN
SIMKIN, 604 Records ● LOUIS THOMAS,
Sonic Entertainment ● DEREK SIVERS,
CD Baby ● ROBERT OTT, Ole Music Publishing ● WINTERSLEEP, Artist ● DENISE DONLON, Media expert ● DAN BROOME, True North Records ● IVAN BERRY, IB Entertainment ● BRIAN HETHERMAN, CIRAA
Announces New Executive Director and Launch of The New Indie (May 21, 2008) 2
of 2 Cerberus Management ● TIM POTICIC,
Sonic Unyon ● EMBER SWIFT, Artist ● JODIE FERNEYHOUGH, Universal Music Publishing ● STEPHAN MOCCIO,
Artist ● CHRISTI THOMPSON, Thompson Management ● CHASE PARSONS, Chris Smith Management ● JOEL KROEKER, Artist ● ANNE-MARIE SMITH, Lonestar Music ● ROB SZABO, Artist ● VELMA BARKWELL, Sony BMG ● MIKE DENNEY, Fusion 3 ● JAMES PORTER, Ram Jam Management ● VIVIAN BARCLAY, Warner Chappell ● REDEYE, Artist ● BOB BAKER, Author ● JORY GROBERMAN, New Music West ● FRANZ SCHULLER, Indica Records ● GREG STEPHENS, Entertainment Lawyer ● BERNIE FIEDLER, Manager ● WAYE MASON, Halifax Pop Explosion.
For more information, please visit www.ciraa.ca or www.thenewindie.com.
Rocker David Cook wins "American Idol"
Source: Reuters
(May 21, 2008) LOS ANGELES - Twenty-five-year-old singer David Cook won the coveted title of
"American Idol" on Wednesday, dealing an unexpected defeat to
silken-voiced teenager David Archuleta on the most popular U.S. television
show.
Cook, who was bartending and playing in a band before he auditioned for the
singing competition, stood back to applaud Archuleta and then bent over crying
after host Ryan Seacrest announced the results.
"This is amazing, thank you," he said. (Reporting by Nichola Groom)
People With Sway - Michael “Pinball” Clemons
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Everyone likes Michael
“Pinball” Clemons. It’s really hard not to. His engaging personality, coupled with his
strong leadership skills and drive, has benefited him his whole career: both on
the field as the CFL’s all-time yardage leader, and on the sidelines with fans
and players alike as Toronto’s beloved Argos coach. While this year was
certainly a power year for Clemons — he was named the president and CEO of the
Toronto Argonauts franchise and inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall
of Fame — it has been his commitment and passion to community issues and youth
that has made his influence truly inspiring.
POWER IS...
“If you want to show me a truly great person, don’t tell me about records or
awards; don’t tell me about money or power. If you want to show me a truly
great person, show me what that person has done for someone else. Consistent
with that, true power is what you do for other people. Within that concept, I
have never felt powerless, even when I didn’t have anything.
Now, in this position that is deemed a ‘powerful’ position, I understand that I
am not powerful unless I use it for the benefit of other people. For me, the
CEO position is a title, it’s more important to have the disposition of power
rather than the position of power.
A great leader is one who can actually engage people. To give orders is really
just a dictator. Great leaders can do so without having a position.
For me, true authentic leadership oozes out of your pores. It’s not something
you pick up when you get to that position or that post; it’s a part of your
entire makeup — whether it’s a husband, a dad, in the office, in the community,
at the grocery store, wherever it is. True, genuine authentic leadership is
real, and it manifests itself in every breath and step we take during the day.”
– S.S.
Funnyman Peters To Talk Up
Toronto
Source: www.globeandmail.com - Tenille Bonoguore
(May
16, 2008) Watch out, Canada. Comedian Russell
Peters has been anointed Toronto's tourism saviour, and he's
willing to take on the entire nation if it helps boost his hometown's cred.
In a bid to bolster flagging tourism - numbers are up, but visitor reviews are
plummeting - the city's tourism bureau has called on the world-renowned
funnyman to be its first "global ambassador."
And yesterday, anyone and everything was in his barbed sights.
Planning a trip to Vancouver? "Why, are you a heroin needle?"
Pausing at the Bay and Bloor intersection to loudly deride the city? "We
don't come to your town and [say] 'Your town sucks.' We think it.
We just don't say it."
The newly created role of tourism ambassador carries no diplomatic rights and
no extra privileges, and barely even a paycheque if Tourism Toronto is to be
believed. (It refused to reveal the financial details of the partnership
yesterday, citing proprietary issues.)
While bemoaning the lack of embassy plates for his car, Mr. Peters still waxed
lyrical about his chance to talk up his hometown.
"I really do love this city, so I have no problem bashing other cities in
Canada," he said. "I'm sure that's not what they [Tourism Toronto]
want me to do, but off the record I will."
Tourism Toronto president David Whitaker said the city plans to harness more of
its homegrown star power, including other comedians, to trumpet Toronto to the
world and "cut through the clutter" of world tourism.
In the new role, U.S.-based Mr. Peters will appear at major trade shows and
meet convention planners and travel industry insiders. The duration of Mr.
Peters's appointment has not been finalized.
"I can't be the ambassador and live here. Who am I going to tell?" he
said with a laugh. "'Hey, this is a great city.' 'Yeah, spare some
change?'
"... There are other great cities, but this happens to be the best one.
It's like a lot of hot chicks, but we're the hottest."
So, what does the first global ambassador of Toronto tourism list as the top
five local attractions?
"Five things to see in Toronto?" he said with a faux grimace.
"Other than the CN Tower and the SkyDome? Other than that? Um, the Eaton
Centre."
Yamaguchi Dances Off With Prize
Source: www.thestar.com
- Associated Press
(May
21, 2008) Kristi Yamaguchi came into the Dancing With the Stars
finale with a perfect score and left with the mirrorball trophy.
Her victory over pro football star Jason Taylor broke the string of four
consecutive male winners. The figure-skating champion was the first woman to
claim the Dancing crown since the show's opening season.
"This is just the icing on the cake," Yamaguchi said after her
victory last night. "I honestly thank all the fans out there ... everyone
who's made this a dream experience.''
Said Taylor: "I never, ever thought I would get to this point."
"Kristi is so deserving," he said.
Each of the season's celebrity contestants returned to the ballroom for the
season final. Tennis champ Monica Seles, magician Penn Jillette,
radio personality Adam Carolla, R&B singer Mario and actors Marissa
Jaret Winokur, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley and Steve
Guttenberg each reprised their last dances and talked about their time on
the show.
Past champs, including Drew Lachey, Kelly Monaco and Helio
Castroneves, also appeared.
Yamaguchi was clearly the most talented contestant on Dancing With the Stars.
But the only other woman to take the Dancing crown was Monaco in season
one. With a viewership that's 75 per cent women, plus brazen displays of bare
skin and sex appeal from her male co-finalists Taylor and Cristian de
la Fuente, the hit ABC show had lots of suspense for the final episode.
And it drew plenty of viewers to Monday's broadcast: 19.2 million, according to
Nielsen. It was the most-watched program of the night by far, with the largest
audience for a Monday edition of Dancing in six weeks.
"You obviously have to get the technique, but (also) compete with the
personalities that all the boys have," Yamaguchi told the Associated Press
after Monday's performances. "I think their smiles and their personalities
melt hearts across the country."
Figure-skating champ Yamaguchi got a perfect score of 60 on Monday's show, and
has regularly topped the judges' scoreboard throughout the sixth season of the
ABC dance-off. But viewer votes count just as much, and the combination is what
determines the winner.
Red Wings Win Series 4-2
Source: www.thestar.com
- Jaime Aron, Associated
Press
(May
20, 2008) DALLAS–So much for the demise of the Detroit
Red Wings.
Not only are they headed back to the Stanley
Cup final,
they again are looking like the club that dominated the regular season and most
of the playoffs.
After consecutive losses hinted at vulnerability, the Red Wings bounced back
strong in Game 6 of the Western Conference final, getting first-period goals
from Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk and Dallas Drake on their way to knocking out
the Dallas Stars 4-1 last night.
"We were relentless," Draper said. "It was just a solid first
period and obviously the difference in the hockey game. We're back in the
Stanley Cup.''
Detroit led this series 3-0 before running into trouble.
Now that the fear of a collapse is gone, the focus turns to winning its fourth
Stanley Cup championship in 11 seasons.
The Red Wings will face the Pittsburgh Penguins starting Saturday at Joe Louis
Arena, with the schedule following a Saturday-Monday-Wednesday pattern.
This will be Detroit's 23rd Cup final but first since 2002 despite having at
least 100 points and winning the division every season since. The Red Wings
lost to Anaheim in the conference final last season.
"We were close last year and as disappointing as last year was, it was a
great learning experience for everyone young and old on this team,"
forward Kirk Maltby said. "I think it's a big reason why we're going back
this year.''
Detroit had the most points in the league this season, then played even better
much of the last six weeks. The Red Wings went nearly a month between losses,
winning a franchise-record nine straight playoff games. It was the longest run
by any team in 15 years and it put them a win away from eliminating the
fifth-seeded Stars.
Dallas clawed back by limiting Detroit to a single goal in Games 4 and 5. The
Red Wings exceeded that output in the first period last night, with all three
goals coming on uncontested shots right in front of the net. Henrik Zetterberg
added a short-handed goal early in the second period and the series was all but
over then.
"I thought it was a combination of us hoping to win and Detroit pushing
the issue to win," Dallas coach Dave Tippett said. "I think they had
a real hard focus around our net.''
Drake and Zetterberg each had a goal and an assist. It was Zetterberg's 11th
goal of the playoffs and Drake's first.
Drake, a 16-year veteran, is headed to his first final.
"It's a huge thrill for me," said Drake, who joked that he sat closer
to Zetterberg on the bench and the scoring touch rubbed off. ``It's gratifying
to contribute when you can.''
Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood didn't have to do much the first two periods,
then got busy in the third. He passed all but one test, getting beat by
Stephane Robidas during a power play.
Osgood improved to 10-2 this postseason. It was his 100th career playoff game
and his 55th victory – his 48th for Detroit, passing Hall of Famer Terry
Sawchuk for the franchise record.
"That was something that I wanted, one of my goals among others,"
Osgood said.
"It was a special night.''
Detroit's walloping knockout punch shouldn't have been a surprise. The Red
Wings beat Nashville 3-0 to end the opening round, then crushed Colorado 8-2 to
finish the second round.
"It really hurts to think of what we could have done," Turco said.
"It's the ultimate disappointment of letting the guys down. It comes with
the territory."
::TRAVEL NEWS::
Less Sex, More City
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Amy Verner
(May 17, 2008) It's almost impossible to measure how Sex and the City
has altered the sex lives of its fans. Sure, there are women who insist that
Samantha's fierce libido encouraged them to embrace their inner “trysexual”
(someone who tries anything once). But a quantifiable increase in sex? Do tell.
A much easier case could be made for the HBO series' role in legitimizing
footwear addictions and deifying shoe designers Manolo Blahnik, Christian
Louboutin and Jimmy Choo.
But the show's greatest achievement has to be the way it depicted New York
as the ultimate place to live, love and let loose. Locating the real-life
stomping grounds of the four main characters – Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and
Charlotte – is not at all difficult, whether you take a bus tour or explore the
shops, restaurants and neighbourhoods on foot – comfortable shoes recommended.
And thanks to the Sex and the City movie opening May 30, there's more
buzz than ever about Manhattan, the show's fifth and most fabulous star.
Though I lived there for three thrilling years, and many of the show's
locations (Coffee Shop, the Louis K. Meisel Gallery, Luna Park) are the same
ones I frequented, I devoted a recent trip to all things SATC.
I kicked off my pilgrimage with breakfast at Pastis, which wasn't the actual
setting for the foursome's coffee klatches (shot at the Silvercup Studios in
Long Island City) but appeared on the show a few times. Some say this
Meatpacking District simulacrum of a French brasserie is past its prime, and
Pastis has always served up better ambience than food. No matter. My egg-white
omelette – Charlotte's default order – provided the perfect sustenance to begin
the day.
The best way for Big Apple newbies to get a taste of Carrie and the gang's
cosmopolitan life is to take the Sex and the City Hotspots tour, a
gimmicky/glam idea conceived by Georgette Blau, whose nine-year-old company, On
Location Tours, also shines a spotlight on The Sopranos and Central
Park.
For $40 apiece, the mostly international and almost entirely female tour group
hopped on a bus outside the newly restored Plaza hotel and listened to a
“sexpert” point out such crucial plot spots as SoHo House (where the gals sneak
up to the rooftop pool), Onieal's (the bar of choice for Miranda's hubby,
Steve, and Carrie's one-time fiancé, Aidan) and a West Village Banana Republic
(where Carrie and a fling make out in the fitting room).
Natasha Malinsky, my tour's bombshell guide, possessed plenty of
behind-the-scenes knowledge (Sarah Jessica Parker got to keep all her shoes,
and there is a major blooper in the opening credits) and worked the double
entendres like a stand-up comedienne – informing us, for instance, that we
would be “getting off” at several stops.
This was certainly true at the Pleasure Chest, ground zero for all things
titillating. Charlotte bought her pink Rabbit vibrator here, and the gals on
the tour swarmed the battery-operated pets with enthusiasm.
Magnolia Bakery, where the girls would often go to indulge – and is now so
famous that it requires a bouncer during peak hours, was a highlight that
followed a slow crawl up Greenwich Street.
Cathy Epstein, the director of marketing for On Location Tours, said ticket
sales for the 31/2-hour tour have increased as much as 20 per cent since
September, when the film began production.
“We're sold out seven days in advance as opposed to four days,” she said.
“Onieal's is pouring 1,000 cosmos a week.”
The haute pub is the last stop on the tour. Epstein said more locations will be
added once the movie opens.
Ask any New Yorker and they'll tell you they've noticed scenes being filmed en
plein air, but only the cast and crew know which locations have made the final
cut. The build-up is like foreplay.
“From our perspective, Sex and the City is probably the best commercial
that's ever been made for the city of New York,” said George Fertitta, chief
executive officer of NYC & Company, the city's official tourism
organization. “The backdrop of the city, the role the city plays, the beauty,
the glamour, the excitement, the energy – it's just wonderful to have other
people promote the city like that.”
Can a film prompt a spike in tourism?
“I absolutely believe that it becomes an additional reason or a reminder for
people to come to New York,” Fertitta said from his office just north of Times
Square, adding that the number of tourists in the first quarter is already up a
million, to 91/2 million, over the same period last year.
In response, hotels such as the Gansevoort, in the Meatpacking District, have
created special packages that include store discounts, free cocktails and
passes to nightclubs. Suzi DeAngelis, director of sales for the Gansevoort,
said this is the first time the hotel has pegged a promotion to something as
mainstream as SATC, but the district is perfect for today's likeminded
gals.
“Down here, it's all about being young and chic,” she said, revealing that
Christian Louboutin and Diane von Furstenberg have been guests.
For most New York locales, the benefits of having an association with SATC
outweigh the drawbacks. One exception: nightclubs that are already thick with
wannabes.
Lotus, a Meatpacking mainstay, appeared literally or in conversation three
times throughout the show's run. Co-owner Jeffrey Jah, a 20-year veteran of the
business, says the crowd he cultivates includes “tomorrow's next fashion
designer, next artist, next poet and next rock star.” Translation: Poseurs need
not apply.
But a shop or restaurant isn't guaranteed immortality just because it has been
featured on the show. The oft-cited Moomba, a popular lounge in the late 1990s,
closed years ago, and all attempts to turn the space into something else have
failed.
The beloved French diner Florent, one of the first decent foodie destinations
in the Meatpacking District patronized by a who's who of celebrities, including
Sarah Jessica Parker, will close next month. No amount of namedropping will
save it from an obscene rent increase – from a reported $6,000 a month to
nearly $42,000.
Then there's Patricia Field, the show's eccentric costume designer and
red-mopped merchant, who shuttered her West Broadway store and reopened it in
the newly hip Bowery.
Currently occupying Field's SoHo space is a shoe store called Té Casan, which
features a collection designed by actress Natalie Portman. At least that's a
fitting fate – Carrie adores shoes – and a sales associate told me that an
orange bag from the store will be in the movie.
Indeed, I spent much of my trip trying to suss out places or things that would
be worthy of the SATC movie. In my imagined plot line, Carrie and Big
meet for lunch at Insieme, a new midtown restaurant that serves authentic
Italian fare, to discuss the wedding. She wants a blowout party, but he would
much prefer inviting friends and family to Adour, Alain Ducasse's gorgeous and
ambitious homage to France at the St. Regis Hotel.
Meanwhile, Samantha pays a visit to Kiki de Montparnasse, the ne plus ultra of
specialty stores for lingerie. She purchases a pair of gold handcuffs and satin
panties, which she shows off to her man Smith after their night at 1 Oak, the
latest playground for pretty young things, which Jah opened last winter with fellow
club kings Richie Akiva, Scott Sartiano and Ronnie Madra. The place boasts
wood-barrelled ceilings, a black lacquered bar, murals by Roy Nachum and an
area of staged seating for voyeurism. Says Jah, “You really have to know one of
the owners to get in, or you have to have some amazing style or approach that
wins the doorman over.”
Over to Charlotte, who spends the afternoon with her daughter at the New Museum
in the Bowery – children are never too young to begin appreciating art, after
all.
And Miranda has made reservations for herself and Steve at the newest Blue
Ribbon outpost in Six Columbus, the modish addition to the Thompson Hotel
empire. She orders omakase (chef's choice), and despite eating miso cod
and baby sea eel sushi, he's still hungry, so en route back to Brooklyn they
stop at Marlow & Sons, a Williamsburg canteen, where they share a meaty
sandwich and a dram of Scotch before returning home to find son Brady sound
asleep.
Of course, a stop at Manolo remains a must for these gals. Tourists too, says
George Malkemus, the company's U.S. president. “She's a part of our lives. We
have busloads of people who come outside and take pictures.” He says the
inclusion of the shoe was never about product placement and he does not
begrudge the inclusion of other labels. “If a woman only looks at one thing, it
becomes boring.”
It's worth noting that when the series wrapped, the characters had all settled
down somewhat. Less serial dating could potentially mean fewer retail and
restaurant cameos. Privy to some SATC spoilers, Epstein of On Location
Tours suggests a total of 14 locations. “You have to remember that the series
took place over six years and the movie is two hours,” she says.
It didn't take me long to fall in love ... with an electric blue pair of
Christian Louboutins.
Shortly afterward, an attractive young man called out, “I like your shoes.” Who
knows where the red-soled heels will take me. Suffice to say they offer a
better shot at meeting Mr. Right than a vibrating Rabbit.
::MUSIC NEWS::
People
With Sway - Adrian Mckenzie
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... As the
co-publisher and founding creative director of Urbanology magazine, Adrian
McKenzie refuses to let Canada sleep on
hip-hop.
Five years ago, McKenzie, 27, was a student at Seneca at York for digital media
arts, where he says he used to make mock covers and read magazines like Word, XXL and The Source,
and wonder when Canada would start promoting its own local hip-hop talent.
After teaming up with editor Priya Ramanujam, he started Urbanology,
an urban lifestyle and entertainment magazine with a focus on music and
promoting Toronto artists and youth initiatives. Started literally with money
saved from friends and family, the magazine has gone from an original
circulation of 6,000 in Toronto to selling almost 25,000 issues Canada-wide,
with distribution in the United States.
Even more impressive has been the community initiatives, with McKenzie often
speaking at schools to youth interested in publishing.
POWER IS...
“I do see myself as a powerful figure within my community and with people who
are exposed to me. I just like helping people. Everyone knows they can come up
to me and ask me for help, whether it’s kids asking me how to design their own
magazine or an artist asking me for tips on the industry.
I always tell youth that you don’t have to be a rapper; you don’t have to be a
dancer to be a success or even to be involved in the music industry. You can go
into publishing, writing, design or into other areas. You just have to have the
passion.” – S.S.
Craig David Readies Returns
Source: Ryan J. Hobbs, ThinkTank Marketing, Ryan@thinktankmktg.com, www.thinktankmktg.com
(May 15, 2008) *With 13 million album sales worldwide
and still only 26 years old, Craig David has earned a reputation as one
of the UK's foremost talents, as well as one of the nation's most successful
musical exports. He's now poised to return with a new album 'Trust Me' on
November 12th, already being heralded as his finest since the 2000 debut set
'Born To Do It.'
'Hot Stuff (Let's Dance)' combines Craig David's inimitable vocal gift with
irresistible funk-infused beats and a sample of David Bowie's classic track
'Let's Dance.'
Recorded in Havana, Cuba with producer Martin Terefe (KT Tunstall, James
Morrison) and writer/producer/mixer Fraser T. Smith (Craig David, Kano,
Beyonce, Plan B, Jamelia), the track '6 of 1 Thing' emphasises how Cuban
musical culture influenced his new work, whilst the ballad 'Awkward'
(highlighting guest vocals from a female west London star-to-be) features some
of his most evocative lyrics to date. Other highlights include the infectious
hook and insistent rhythms of the title track, and 'She's On Fire' which
combines sublime bass with Craig's fluid lyrical flow.
Since becoming a global phenomenon with 'Born To Do It', Craig David has become
a huge UK superstar with two #1 singles ('Fill Me In' and '7 Days') and a
further ten appearances in the Top 10. All three of his albums have been chart
hits: 'Born To Do It' (#1), 2002's 'Slicker Than Your Average' (#4) and 2005's
'The Story Goes' (#5).
A multiple-award winner who has earned three Ivor Novello Awards (including
Songwriter of the Year and Best Contemporary Song), four MOBOs (one of which
was for Best UK Act) and two MTV Europe Awards, Craig David has worked with a
talented array of artists including Sting and Artful Dodger's Mark Hill and
Pete Devereux. Craig David also recently featured on Kano's Top 20 single
'This is The Girl.'
Former Stratford Star's Juno-Winning Music For Kids Wins A Juno
And A Following
Source: www.thestar.com - Ashante Infantry, Pop & Jazz Critic
(May 18, 2008) Jen Gould's second act is paying off.
The respected film and stage actor – whom Toronto Star theatre critic
Richard Ouzounian once described as being imbued with "a smile that could
bring about global warming single-handedly" – has successfully
transitioned to children's entertainment, selling nearly 20,000 copies of her
Juno-winning debut disc Music Soup.
"Amazing, huh?" said the 37-year-old Montreal native, showing off the
Children's Album of the Year statuette dominating the mantle in the sitting
room of the North Toronto home she shares with her husband, two children and an
English cocker spaniel.
Gould, who performs next weekend at the Green Toronto Festival, is less
enthusiastic about the off-the-cuff acceptance speech she delivered last month
upon the shock of beating out high profile nominees like the Doodlebops and
Daniel Cook.
"It was horrible, apparently I need a script to talk," she groaned.
"I know it's a cliché, but I didn't think I'd win. ... I just thought my
husband and I would have a great weekend in Calgary."
The prestigious prize has meant more sales, gigs and store placement for the CD
which evolved from Gould's maternity leave with daughter Shoshana eight years
ago.
"I decided to fill the creative urge with children's stories written in
verse," explained the York University grad who spent four seasons at
Stratford prior to starting a family.
"She was an infant. So I was really writing for myself, reflecting my own
childhood. Then, I couldn't find anyone willing to publish an unsolicited
author. Later, I learned to play guitar and I thought I could put them to
music."
Gould revisited Stratford, took on film and TV roles, such as The Associates
and Passion of Ayn Rand, and further honed her verses after the birth of
son Ethan three years ago.
Finally, she approached Gemini winning producer Ari Posner whom she knew
casually from university and who embraced her proposal: "I have no money.
I have all these songs. Do you think they're worthwhile?"
Posner arranged the tunes, recorded Gould's vocals and booked professional
musicians. Nine months and $15,000 later – at the end of 2006 – Music Soup
was quietly released online and at her neighbourhood store Toy Town.
There was no advertising budget, just email, word-of-mouth and Facebook. Before
long Gould was getting orders from as far away as Israel and Australia, along
with performance opportunities at Indigo/Chapters.
The clever, catchy songs, with spins on bedtime, bath time and bullying
delivered in Gould's child-friendly mezzo-soprano, resonated with kids and
their folks. "A huge influence in my life was Sesame Street and how
accessible it is to parents," the singer-composer said, "because we
all have to listen to the music."
Though already writing new songs, she's not finished with Music Soup.
"I'm working on an animated video of 'Monster In My Closet.' I'd love to
have an amalgamation of all the songs in video form, perhaps for TV or DVD.
Ultimately, I'd like to take them back to their roots as a children's book that
kids could flip though as they hear the songs."
Not that there's any chance of that idyllic scene unfolding at her house.
"They don't like to listen to Music Soup any more," she said
of Ethan and Shoshana. "They're tired of it."
People With Sway - Kardinal Offishall
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL
BECAUSE... Born Jason Harrow, rapper and Tdot ambassador Kardi will release the album Not 4 Sale
on record label Konvict Muzik later in 2008, making him one of the few Canadian
rappers to get love in the United States. Superstar Akon acts as executive
producer, showcasing Kardi’s well-known local talents to the world.
POWER IS...
“You, me, powerful/ We’re fighting for this goal and we ain’t gonna stop!” (From the song
“Powerfulll” (featuring Jully Black and Tara Chase.) – J.S.
Toronto
Is One Of The Most Diverse Cities In The World, But Are We Still Supporting A
Diverse Range Of Music?
Source: www.swaymag.ca - by: Lenny Stoute
Living in multicultural T-dot, you might figure that world music is the
soundtrack of our lives. But you would be wrong, and a quick go-round with
local radio and TV channels would rid you of that misconception.
However, that was not always the case. From the early to mid-’90s, world music
was riding a high wave in Toronto. Reggae and African music were dominant, but
the sounds of Brazil and Latin America were being heard and bhangra was bringing
hybrid South Asian music into play.
Lizzy Mahashe was part of that first wave of African performers. Working with
Pan-African unit Siyaka, Mahashe brought the sound of Joburg’s shebeens to
Toronto’s dancing feet, and they were the better for it. Currently at work on a
new album titled Celebrate, she’s the grand dame of African music.
“I feel African music is getting less attention than 20 years ago,” says
Mahashe. “It doesn’t help that we all had such hopes for [radio station] Flow
93.5. That it would follow through and play African music, but all they have is
one African show, and the majority of what they play is R&B and hip-hop.
“Nothing against that [music], but they get lots of other exposure. We were
given to believe 93.5 would promote world music. That hasn’t happened. Apart
from the college stations, there’s no support, and unfortunately, no club has
come up to replace the Bamboo as a central base for world music.
“There’s a reasonable flow of international acts coming in and world music events
at Harbourfront and AfroFest are certainly well-promoted, but not that many
local acts benefit from those.”
African music has retreated to the burbs, says Mahashe, to intimate events like
weddings and other celebrations where they’ll hire a couple of local acts. She
decries the fact that no local promoters have come up from the community to
create a venue, without which, she says, the scene will continue to stagnate.
Juno nominated Humble,
born Simon Jonathan Vassell, is at the head of the newest wave of reggae
artists.
Juno-nominated Humble is at the head of the newest wave of reggae artists. He
shares a global background with many Toronto world music artists. Born in the
United Kingdom to Jamaican parents, he moved back to Jamaica and lived in St. Elizabeth
before coming to Toronto. He has been making music in Toronto for five years,
but he can still see the scene through a newcomer’s eyes. Humble maintains a
significant presence in Jamaica, where he’ll be completing his sophomore album
due this spring.
“The reggae market in Toronto is growing, but not as quickly as I would like
it,” says Humble. “This is unfortunate as it’s causing a lot of reggae talent
to have to move to other places in order to make it. What I see taking their
place is a lot of second-generation players of Jamaican parentage getting into
the scene. In terms of how we’re seen in Jamaica, I think the Toronto scene is
getting more talked about and getting a little more respect. On the island,
they know about Toronto musicians like Steel, Blessed and myself.
“Once you get approval in Jamaica, then you’re really on the road. My path will
be to really establish myself in Jamaica, maybe live there again for a while,
and then return to build on my Jamaican reputation. It’s easier to get to the
next level if you’re part of the scene on the island.”
Amanda
Martinez could be the poster girl for Canadian world music.
Born in Toronto to Mexican and South African parents, she studied in Mexico
City and was exposed to a myriad Latin American styles. She returned to Toronto
and tapped the local Cuban musical community for backing on her debut album
Sola. This was doable because of the large pool of Cuban musicians in town, a
feature found in few North American cities.
“Toronto is a good world music town because people here really celebrate each
other’s culture,” says Martinez. ”Something unique and inclusive develops here
because everyone’s open to different styles, and there’s such a wide variety of
culture to experience.
“Unfortunately, Canada’s rep as a market and incubator of world music isn’t so
strong,” says Martinez. “I attended a major conference in Spain last year, and
I’ll just say Canada was woefully underrepresented by the government people
responsible for that. This is nothing new; the actual marketing of world music
from one of its richest sources has always been problematic.”
Adam
Soloman is a 2005 Juno Award winner and a double winner at
TAMA.
Martinez believes the solution is for the music to be promoted globally via
video and concert DVD exposure, and as a platform for funding for a travelling
caravan of Toronto world music performers showcasing at festival events around
the world.
Like Mahashe, Adam Solomon was part of the first wave of African musicians to
settle in Toronto. Originally a member of the Afronubians, the guitar virtuoso
went off to form Tikisa, one of Canada’s best-known and loved African acts,
which tours regularly across the country. Solomon is an icon of the African
music scene and remains one of its most successful artists.
This most courtly native of Kenya put aside his deep concern for family caught
in the conflict there to offer his take.
“Not so many African musicians are coming here to [Toronto] now, partly because
of changes in the immigration policies. There are pockets like Lula Lounge, but
it’s a shrinking scene. I think it will stay like that until a world music club
opens downtown.
“Also, the club scene in most African countries is vibrant in a way people here
can’t believe. Any decent musician can make a living in his country, sometime
even without leaving his city. Maybe the word has spread and the African music
scene in Canada doesn’t look so attractive. Also, you can’t ignore the impact
of hip-hop on the youth of every culture.”
Solomon notes even name acts like himself and Madagascar Slim couldn’t make it
without playing outside Toronto as much as possible.
“Lots of people tell me I could do much better if I moved to the U.S., but this
is my country and I want to make a mark here.”
Rubin's
Mysterious Magic In Studio Strikes Diamond
Source: www.thestar.com - Ben Rayner, Pop Music Critic
(May 18, 2008) Neil Diamond landed the first No. 1 record of his career
last week with Home Before Dark, which says a lot about which age
bracket currently controls the top of the album charts but a great deal, too, about
the benefits that derive from associating oneself with producer Rick Rubin.
Rubin, who made his name in the early 1980s turning out tectonic production
work for Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, Slayer and the Cult, nowadays often
seems less in demand for whatever sonic qualities he might bring to an album
than his knack for refocusing long-in-the-tooth performers who've lost their
way in the studio. Frederick Jay Rubin is, in fact, almost a brand at this
point; people now pay automatic attention to any record with his name in the
credits.
He earned his "fixer" reputation after coaxing Johnny Cash to a
creative rebirth on his stark American Recordings series of acoustic albums
during the 1990s. Rubin has shored it up, though, by taking on
"rehab" projects by Donovan, a solo Mick Jagger, Tom Petty and the
Bush-battered Dixie Chicks, with whom he won a Grammy last year for Taking
the Long Way.
Diamond knew what he was doing, then, when he pursued Rubin to help him mount a
comeback with 2005's 12 Songs. The record – a collection of spare
voice-and-guitar tunes miles removed from the orchestral pomp that had been
Diamond's stock in trade since the '70s – earned effusive reviews.
The two reportedly fought tooth and nail throughout the 12 Songs sessions,
but Diamond later acknowledged in an Associated Press interview that Rubin's
insistence he put his songs ahead of the production paid dividends. And so the
two regrouped last year for Home Before Dark, a more sombre affair in
the same, unadorned vein.
In the liner notes, Diamond confesses he's still mystified as to what the
peculiar Rick Rubin magic is. "Rick would occasionally visit us out in the
studio, have a quiet word with one of the musicians or whisper something to me,
like, 'In the Buddhist religion the power of two people praying together is
infinite,' " he writes. "Then he'd pad barefoot back into the dark of
the control room where he'd lie down on the couch behind the engineers and go
trancelike again into the music, leaving me to figure out what the hell he was
talking about."
So what is it that Rubin does?
The guy has no professional studio training, but he does have an unerring ear
for solid songwriting and how records should sound. He started producing rap
records in the '80s, he has said, because he didn't think most hip-hop
recordings sounded as vibrantly "live" as they should have. And when
it comes to rock and metal – or rock/rap fusion pieces like the Beastie Boys'
"(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)" and the Run-DMC/Aerosmith
smash "Walk This Way" – Rubin is a disciple of the timeless, meaty
heft of Led Zeppelin's early recordings. Sonically, his choicest rock credits
(The Cult's Electric, Slayer's Reign in Blood and the Red Hot
Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik among them) haven't dated at all.
The more intangible of his talents as a producer, though, appear rooted in
sheer, enthusiastic fanhood and a legendarily easygoing personality. Simply
put, Rubin knows what makes (or, in some cases, made) an act good, and
they listen to his ideas because they trust him.
He got Diamond and Cash to clear away excessive aural clutter and focus on
their core strengths as singers and songwriters. With Run-DMC and the Dixie
Chicks, he suggested stylistic change-ups that pushed their art forward while
bringing their music to broader audiences. Run-DMC's landmark 1986 album, Raising
Hell, gave white, mainstream rock fans their first taste of hip hop thanks
to their brush with Aerosmith. Likewise, according to the U.K. newspaper The
Independent, the Dixie Chicks were encouraged on Taking the Long Way
to make "a rock album that leaned country" to cement a pop crossover
outside North America.
"I feel like the job is like being a coach, building good work habits and
building trust," Rubin told the publication. "You want to get to a
point where you can say anything and talk about anything. There needs to be a
real connection. My goal is just to get out of the way and let the people I'm
working with be their best."
Rubin does connect with his charges in a very real way, and that might be his
secret. He and Cash, for instance, became close friends, even taking daily
Communion together during Cash's dying days, and wound up recording six albums'
worth of material together.
"I didn't know very much about him," Diamond confessed last week to
Britain's Sun newspaper. "Professionally, I knew a little bit, but
mostly I started to work with Rick because I liked him."
His "only problem" with Rubin, as he told USA Today last year,
"was his habit of hugging." Seems bearable enough.
Singer Zaki Ibrahim Is Making A Name For Herself With
Her Soulfully Eclectic Mélange Of R&B, Hip-Hop And Jazz
Source: www.swaymag.ca - By: Del Cowie
It’s a cold and rainy night in Toronto but that hasn’t stopped a near-capacity
crowd from gathering at the Mod Club to see much buzzed-about vocalist Zaki
Ibrahim perform. Midway through her
rapturously received set, Ibrahim stops the proceedings to blow bubbles with
her band members and welcome two teenaged girls to the stage.
The duo is a group named Wee Golden and the teenage band sings folk songs and
plays the thumb piano (known as the kalimba). Ibrahim cedes the spotlight to
their warmly received performance before she triumphantly resumes her
headlining set. It’s an intriguing move, since taking a backseat mid-set isn’t
exactly what many would expect of a vocalist whose profile is growing
exponentially.
A few days after the show, the Toronto-based vocalist talks about the Wee
Golden set in the middle of her show. “A lot of people were saying it really
didn’t fit, but that was kinda the point,” Ibrahim says. And the bubbles? “It
was just to make the environment comfortable for the two 14- and 15-year-old
girls…. They were nervous as hell.
“They just write beautiful songs, and it was just an opportunity to let them
experience something like that. It was like two little golden angels with
golden songs — and with bubbles.”
Ibrahim’s fiercely protective concern for the group is by no means an accident.
Her selfless attitude of putting others before herself is an attitude that is
applicable to many things in her life and is deeply reflected in her own music.
If you happened to have gotten a chance to hear Ibrahim’s 2006 EP Sho (Iqra in
Orange), which has been mainly available through her live shows over the past
couple of years, the singer’s generous attitude wouldn’t be totally surprising
to you.
Behind Ibrahim’s soulfully eclectic mélange of R&B, hiphop and jazz is her
impressive lyrical stance exhibiting a deep concern for others, establishing
itself as a theme on tracks like the reggae-tinged “Connected Mattalike” and
the gritty catchiness of “Grow.” While a cynic might scoff at the optimism and
hope evident on the undeniable head-nodder “Daylight” as being naïve, it’s
extremely hard to dismiss Ibrahim’s voice, infused with impassioned verve. She
credits her parents with her disarmingly positive outlook.
“They raised my brothers and sisters to be a little bit more conscious of what
goes on around you and to try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes,” Ibrahim
says.
Her father is Zane Ibrahim, a renowned percussionist and long-time
anti-apartheid activist in South Africa, who helped to found one of the
country’s first community radio stations. Though she was born in Vancouver,
Ibrahim spent much of her youth in South Africa. She is “fascinated” by the
country and has often returned there for extended periods of time. While there,
she has helped to organize self-expression workshops for young offenders in
South African prisons, some who she humorously remembers mistook her for
American R&B artist Alicia Keys.
Ibrahim says crowds can be tough to musical performers in Cape Town, but her
toughest critics when she first began to dabble in music as a child was her own
family.
“I always got heckled by them,” Ibrahim says. “And it didn’t matter what I was
doing, I’d be telling a story like, ‘We need to bring justice to a situation,’
and everyone would be laughing and I’d be crying because I’d be like ‘It’s
about a duck that died because of pollution,’” she recalls laughing.
“And it would be a funny experience for them. And I would be like, ‘Ah! How am
I gonna let them know the truth?’”
Those early experiences have clearly made her very resilient. Recalling being
booed by a rowdy crowd at the famed New York Apollo Theater a couple of years
ago for performing Sade’s “Sweetest Taboo” over Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s
Hot” instrumental, Ibrahim giggles constantly and calls it “a really, really
amazing positive memory.” She’s clearly ready to take on what the music
industry might throw at her.
Having recently signed a deal with the Red Ink/SonyBMG label in Canada, Ibrahim
is preparing the release of her second EP. Sho
(Iqra in Orange), her first EP, dealt with love, nurturing and
sensuality in relation to the word iqra, which means to constantly seek
knowledge in Arabic. However, Ibrahim says her second EP, Eclectica in Purple,
due out in May, will deal with “more heartbreak” and will be more outspoken and
delve into Afrobeat.
Later in the year, Ibrahim will also release her full-length debut entitled Every Opposite.
It will incorporate Ibrahim’s already established organically soulful sound,
with nods to electronic sounds from the ‘80s and hip-hop beats, and be a mesh
of intentionally different sounds and messages to reflect the album’s title.
Ibrahim hopes to bring the album to life with a play using the resources of the
District Six Collective who work with her on all her projects.
The collective is actually named after District Six, a racially integrated area
of Cape Town that thrived for years during the apartheid regime until the
government declared it a “whites only” area in 1966 and razed it to the ground
in 1970. Ibrahim actually had family members that lived in District Six.
District Six, the Toronto-based record label and management company, was
founded by Dave Guenette after his travels through South Africa. And while
Ibrahim may be one of the most visible affiliate of the collective, she has
used her profile to provide opportunities to the other artists who range from
DJs to filmmakers to also have their voices heard in accordance with the
collective’s modus operandi.
It’s just another example of Ibrahim’s penchant for deflecting attention away
from herself, even as the spotlight and the buzz around her as a recording
artist continues to grow.
It’s not surprising that when she talks about how she would define success and
her future, it doesn’t take her long to, yet again, talk about the welfare of
others.
“I think the definition of success for me is to be somewhat effective in
putting my music across, and if it’s not music, it’s being able to express
myself in some way,” Ibrahim says.
“Living a normal life, just having my health ... travel and that kind of stuff.
Those are the golden thoughts y’know,” she says. “I’d like to be a stand-up
person and feel successful, to be a healthy person, so I can be like healthy
for others.
I’m not trying to be clichéd about it, but honestly that spells success.”
Top Canadian DJ Baby Yu leaves Canada for US Residencies
Source: Concept Inc.
After over a decade at the top of the urban music industry, DJ Baby Yu is leaving Canada next month for residencies in Atlanta, Georgia
.
Demanded around the globe in a range of markets, DJ Baby Yu is one
of Canada ’s most experienced, well respected and highly connected DJ’s.
Layered with many talents DJ Baby Yu is an established DJ, an exclusive radio
show host and on the come up producer.
Over the years of his career Baby Yu has been at the top of the
nightclub scene in Toronto and across Canada , while continuing his syndicated
radio shows around the globe: XM Satellite, Sirius Satellite Radio, and Globe
Radio.
With a compelling fan-base in the global music scene, Baby Yu
definitely exemplifies a man that can “do it all!” He goes on to state: “I do
what I do for the love of music, also for the love of influencing others in the
right direction by having a great time at a party”.
DJ Baby Yu plans to leave the country in style. “DJ Baby Yu’s Bye
Bye” Party will be held Monday June 23rd in Toronto , Ontario .
DJ Baby Yu’s Top
Achievements
In 2005 he was recruited as the first Canadian DJ to the Violator
All-Star DJ’s coalition. (This was started by Violator Management President
Chris Lighty with individuals 50 Cent and Missy Elliot signed to Violator
Management.)
Celebrity Hosts for Mixtapes include: Ludacris, Kanye West, The
Game (double disk West Coast tribute), Lupe Fiasco and More.
Asked personally by DJ Jazzy Jeff to DJ at his birthday party.
Has Deejayed for Jay-Z and Rihanna at a private party at Caribana
weekend in Toronto .
Is the first Canadian DJ to be sponsored by CIROC Vodka (Diddy is
the main artist promoter for CIROC)
Tours internationally annually in different markets: Asia:
Taipei , Singapore , Hong Kong, Shanghai , and Manila . Europe: London ,
Oslo , Frankfurt, Paris , Rotterdam , Amsterdam , and Rome . United States:
Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Seattle,
Detroit, Philadelphia and more.
Hosts 4 weekly syndicated radio shows around the globe.
Has opened concerts for: Sean Paul, Snoop Dogg, The Game,
Juelz Santana, Usher, Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, Lil’ Jon, Kanye West and
more.
Podcast site (www.babyyu.com/podcast) has 5000 downloads per month and
Hosted “The Baby Yu and MC RG Show on two commercial radio stations (FLOW 93.5
and KISS 92.5)
Was nominated twice for Best Canadian DJ for the New York based
JUSTO awards. Won for BEST CLUB DJ and TORONTO DJ in 2007 for the CANADIAN
STYLUS DJ AWARDS. Is nominated again for the Stylus awards for Best Club DJ,
Best Toronto DJ and Mixtape DJ for “Mashed Potatoes 2”.
Has
been offered 3 residencies in Atlanta , Georgia starting the summer of 2008. He
will be deejaying at the hottest night spots: Velvet Room, Lotus Lounge and
Dreamz Nightclub.
Jackson
Tour To Kick Off In Vancouver
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Associated
Press
(May
20, 2008) New York — Though going out on tour means connecting with fans, it
can also mean long hours, high stress, and sleepless nights. Janet Jackson
says she's looking forward to all of it.
"I love all of that, all of that pressure, I really do," Jackson told
The Associated Press on Monday as she gears up for a tour to kick off in
September.
The tour, which opens in Vancouver on Sept. 20 and includes dates in New York
and Washington, is Jackson's first in seven years. But the singer, who just
turned 42 last week, said she hadn't planned on waiting for so long.
"I was supposed to go on tour with the last album," said Jackson,
referring to the 2006 CD "20 Y.O." But the singer said her record label
wanted her to wait for her latest CD, "Discipline."
"We were actually in full-blown tour rehearsals at that point ... learning
numbers, getting everything together, set designs," she said. "I had
to kind of shut everything down and go into the studio."
Jackson's shows have always been heavy on choreography and glitzy sets. But she
promised fans some surprises this time around.
"It will definitely be a big production but it will definitely also be
something that I've never done before, that people have never seen from me
before," she said.
While only a few dates have been announced for the Live Nation tour, Jackson
expects to take the "Rock Witchu" tour (named, by the way, for a song
on her new album, not for her brother Michael's famous hit) worldwide.
"It's been a while so I really want to make my rounds," she said.
"I haven't been to "Australia in a very long time; I can't wait to go
there. There are a lot of places where I really want to stop off at, and that's
the idea, that's the goal with this tour.
Tickets go on sale June 7.
Dianne Reeves 'Knows' Best
Source: www.eurweb.com
- By Kenya M Yarbrough
(May 21, 2008) *Fresh off a successful tour of Europe, jazz
songbird Dianne Reeves is hardly resting
on the laurels of her latest disc, “When You Know.” And though she’s gearing up
to take a cruise, she’s hardly taking a vacation.
RadioScope/EUR’s Larita Shelby caught up with the sultry singer who took some
time out to talk about her new CD and about joining the roster of jazz greats
on the upcoming Playboy Jazz Cruise.
Reeves “When You Know” is described as a collection of love songs “whose
perspective ranges from youthful innocence to enlightened maturity.” The disc
features Reeve’s renditions of songs such as the Temptations’ “Just My
Imagination” and “Lovin’ You” made famous by Minnie Riperton, among others.
“It seems to be well received,” she said of the disc which hit last month. “I’m
really enjoying going out and performing and people are really excited about
the record. This is just music that I grew up listening to; that I just love.
In a lot of ways, this particular CD is like a journey from when I started to
where I am now.”
Reeves said that she’s always wanted her music to be “accessible” and agreed
that this disc very well has something for every jazz lover. Though she added
that she’s never really had to develop a disc based on how commercial or
accepted it might be across the board.
“Fortunately, being at Blue Note
[Records] they don’t pressure you. They want you to be the artist you are and
to have your own voice,” she said. “I’m a storyteller so a lot of my music that
you hear on the record and when we perform live there are stories behind them.
“I’ve always wanted every song I’ve ever done to mean something because it
means something to me, and that makes it more accessible.”
When talking about some of the songs on the disc, Reeves said that even the
simplest lyrics said a lot about her story.
“They were very simple and lovely lyrics,” she said referring to tracks such as
“Just My Imagination,” “but when they came out to me, that was everything. It’s
not a sophisticated lyric, but the feeling was still the same. Now I’m in a
place where I sing about ‘your lips are like red and ruby challises’. These
lyrics are a little bit different, but the feelings are just the same.”
Putting even more talent on the project, the disc was produced by jazz legend
and Reeves’ cousin, George Duke. The two have collaborated on a number of
projects and fortunately for them the “you can’t work with family” adage isn’t
so true.
“You walk into his door and you’re greeted with the biggest smile,” she fondly
recalled. “And that smile has so much weight behind it because he just loves
what he does and he just loves working with people. And you feel it.”
With the disc spinning on jazz stations and gaining momentum, Reeves is now
preparing to be a part of the fun on the upcoming first-ever Playboy Jazz
Cruise in January 2009, though she originally hesitated in joining on.
“I have always resisted cruises because I’ve never felt comfortable with being
on a ship, but when it was the Playboy Jazz Cruise – and I knew everyone behind
the scenes and when I saw who was going to be doing it – I said, ‘I’m going to
do this,’” she said. “And I’m looking forward to it because it’s going to be
magical.”
In the meantime, Reeves is making her own magic with the new disc and her jazz
festival dates. And Reeves will also be performing at New York City's Carnegie
Hall on June 27th with Al Green.
For more on the Dianne Reeves performances and the new disc, check out
www.diannereeves.com. For more on the Playboy Jazz Cruise, go to
www.playboyjazzcruise.com.
“Keep doing what it is that you love for
the love of it,” Reeves encouraged. “That’s the most important thing because
the more you love it, the more people will love it."
The Grammy-Winning Violinist Vents His Frustration At CBC's Cuts
To Classical Music
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Colin Eatock
(May 21, 2008) Canadian violinist James Ehnes comes across as
an easygoing, laid-back kind of guy. Originally from Brandon, Man., he has a
matter-of-fact way of expressing himself - articulate, but unadorned with drama
or artistic licence.
But if his spoken words aren't as vivid as the notes he plays on his 1715
"Ex Marsick" Stradivarius, there's weight and substance to his
statements. And when he says he's "upset and alarmed" about
something, he's not just striving for effect. He means it.
Ehnes is in Toronto this week to perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
In a chat over a drink in a Toronto hotel, the conversation soon turns to the
CBC, headquartered just a couple of blocks away. What Ehnes is "upset and
alarmed" about are some of the recent decisions made by the corporation.
It soon becomes apparent that he has strong - and complex - feelings about
Canada's state-owned broadcaster these days.
Just a few months ago, on Feb. 10, Ehnes was the delighted recipient of a
Grammy Award for a CBC Records CD of concertos by Erich Wolfgang Korngold,
Samuel Barber and William Walton, featuring him with the Vancouver Symphony
Orchestra. It was the first time the 32-year-old violinist had even been
nominated for the prestigious American award - and also a first for CBC
Records.
Ehnes doubted his chances. "I'd convinced myself, out of some sense of
self-preservation, that I wasn't going to get the award," he says. "I
thought, 'It's a Canadian CD - it will never win.' "
He had so little faith in his prospects that he didn't even bother to fly to
Los Angeles from his home near Sarasota, Fla., for the ceremony, choosing instead
to watch over the Internet. "When they opened the envelope and read my
name," he recalls, "it was surreal."
Last month, the violinist scored another win, when the same disc garnered a
Juno Award.
Yet even as the champagne corks were popping - and sales of the CD soared to
about 4,000 units (double the numbers for a typical CBC disc), major shifts in
priorities were taking shape within the CBC's Broadcasting Centre. The CBC that
had supported Ehnes throughout his career with broadcasts and recordings
quietly decided to suspend production of new classical CDs. Ironically, it
looks like the corporation's first Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist
Performance with Orchestra will also be its last.
Ehnes calls that move "misguided and short-sighted." And adding to
his concerns about the CBC are other decisions the corporation has announced:
to reduce classical-music broadcasting on its Radio 2 network and disband the
CBC Vancouver Orchestra.
"I think there are some good people at the CBC who are trying to make the
right decisions," he notes.
"And it's unfortunate that it's become such an angry, divisive issue that
it's turning into 'the CBC versus classical music.' But what they're doing is
terrible - it's maddening and frustrating."
Ehnes is particularly disappointed that the new Radio 2 schedule, which takes
effect in September, confines weekday classical programming to a five-hour slot
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This, he points out, is exactly when children and
teenagers are in school and won't be able to listen.
"The far-reaching effect of these decisions could be huge," he
proposes. "I'd like to think there will always be a Toronto Symphony and a
Montreal Symphony - but will there always be a Regina Symphony or a Saskatoon
Symphony if there's an entire generation of young people who have never heard
classical music? And outside big cities, there's no access to classical music
except on the CBC."
Similarly, he is firmly opposed to the decision to eliminate the CBC Vancouver
Orchestra, the only radio orchestra in North America. "Year after
year," he says, "they reduced the amount of work that the CBC
Orchestra did. And now they're saying. 'Let's disband the orchestra, because it
really doesn't do much.' "
As well, one of Ehnes's own projects has fallen victim to cutbacks at the CBC.
"I had a plan to record all the Bach violin concertos that I was really
excited about. We were going to record the two standard concertos, the double
concerto and also the concertos that exist only in reconstruction. But now I'll
have to find another way to do that."
He may well succeed. Ehnes is nothing if not resourceful, and he is a
well-established figure in the classical music world. In addition to his
half-dozen discs for CBC Records, he has also recorded for the Sony, Telarc,
Chandos and Analekta labels, among others.
And now he has a Grammy Award: the product of a fruitful relationship with CBC
Records that has come to an end. Nevertheless, the Grammy will only raise his
stature further - although he believes its effects won't be felt immediately.
"If the award is going to change my career, I probably won't notice for a
couple of seasons. But the phrase 'Grammy winner' seems to add credibility for
people who may not know who I am. The best part - other than getting the cool
statue - is knowing that so many people have heard the disc. It's nice to know
that it's been heard outside Canada."
Special to The Globe and Mail
James Ehnes performs Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 4 K. 414 and Bach's
Concerto for Violin and Oboe BVW 1060 with TSO oboist Sarah Jeffery at
Toronto's Roy Thomson Hall tonight at 8 and tomorrow at 2 p.m. 416-593-4828.
Cohen Adds Another Show At Toronto Stop
Source: www.thestar.com
- Martin Knelman
(May 21, 2008) Good news for those who've been crying because they
don't have tickets to see Leonard Cohen at the Sony
Centre next month.
Cohen has belatedly decided to do a fourth Toronto show on Monday, June 9.
His world tour will be officially launched at the Sony on June 6 (after several
weeks of preview gigs in smaller venues and smaller cities), with additional
Toronto concerts set for June 7 and 8.
An announcement of the extra date will be made this week. Tickets will go on
sale by phone and in person at the Sony box office at noon on Saturday.
You don't need an oracle to predict more Leonard-mania. The other concerts were
sold out in record time, despite steep prices, with top seats going for $250.
"We've been under pressure from Toronto because of the demand," says
Robert Kory, his lawyer and manager, speaking from his L.A. office.
At first Kory was reluctant to add to the huge workload. After all, Cohen is
73, and a rock tour would be gruelling even at 23.
Cohen, nervous about whether he'd be able to pull it off, had thought his tour
in the early 1990s would be his last stressful taste of live shows and life on
the road.
It was only because of his much-publicized financial problems and the need for
a retirement fund that he changed his mind.
Now after several concerts in the Atlantic provinces, he is ecstatic about how
well it's going and the reception he has been getting.
"Leonard is having a wonderful time," Kory says. "And the demand
is so great all over the world – Europe, Australia, South Africa – this could
go on for two years."
But there's another reason he wanted to add an extra night here.
"Toronto has a special place in Leonard's heart," says Kory.
"It's the city that gave him the most support early in his career."
Four decades ago, the late Jack McClelland, CanLit pioneer, made Cohen a
literary star by publishing his poetry and fiction.
And these days, after the political upheavals of the past 40 years, a lot of
his old friends and supporters from Montreal live in Toronto.
That's why Cohen was happy to spend a week in Toronto a year ago when Luminato
presented a musical take by composer Philip Glass on Cohen's The Book of
Longing. That's why the Drabinsky Gallery became the exclusive North
American dealer when Cohen's visual art went on the market.
Of course there would be a lot more concert tickets available if Cohen had
chosen to play the Air Canada Centre. And he will play an arena in London in
July.
But in Canada, Kory says, Cohen chose so-called soft-seat venues because he
wanted to feel an intimate relationship with the audience.
Another reason Cohen prefers the 3,200-seat Sony: this is where he performed on
his last tour 15 years ago, in the summer of 1993.
Mark Hammond, the Sony's program director, says there was almost no resistance
to ticket prices.
"The first reaction was often a gasp," Hammond says. "But then
most people would say, `Well, that's okay, this will be his last tour.'"
The world of rock tours has a term for the choice of smaller venues when
there's a market for big ones. It's called an "underplay."
But don't get the idea this is a small show. There are 35 people on the tour,
including a band of 10. Cohen spent three months conducting rehearsals and
orchestrating every exquisite detail. And he's onstage for three hours.
Kory created a bubble to protect Cohen, with a ban on interviews and backstage
visitors.
Cohen's daughter, Lorca, a skilled photographer as well as the owner of an L.A.
furniture store, had special access for up-close pictures.
In Kory's eyes, months of prep paid off the night of the first show in
Fredericton. "To see it all come to life in front of an audience was
magical. Leonard just soared.
"`Sublime' is the word for it."
MUSIC
TIDBITS
Scarlett's
Cover Song Worth The Waits
Source: www.thestar.com - Ann Donahue, Billboard
(May 17, 2008) Scarlett Johansson describes the recording of her Tom Waits covers
album, Anywhere I Lay My Head, as an
"intimate experience – almost private, in a way.'' Of course, when you're
an actress, Louis Vuitton model and occasional tabloid fixture, pretty much
nothing is private. That's the challenge facing Atco/Rhino Records as it
promotes the album, due Tuesday. Sure, Johansson is a familiar face, but the
phrase ``actress-turned-singer" is bound to set off warning bells. "I
don't think being a celebrity is a hindrance – I think it will get people
curious," project manager Liuba Shapiro says. Johansson's take on Waits, thanks in part to
her teaming with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek for production, as well as Yeah
Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner and David Bowie on backing vocals, is an
atmospheric reinvention of the gravelly voiced singer's work. It's designed to
appeal to a target group: those curious about Johansson's vocal prowess, Waits
fans and those who like their melodies layered and dreamy. The album has
Waits's stamp of approval, Johansson says. "It would be mortifying
otherwise. It's such a valentine for his work. I wanted to have that approval.
Now I don't have to look out for him in a dark, crowded place.''
T-Pain Leads All BET Award Nominations
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 16, 2008) *T-Pain received five BET
Award nominations Thursday to lead the
entire pack this year, but none were for his own songs. The singer's electronic-enhanced voice earned best collaboration
nods for his work with Chris Brown ("Kiss Kiss"), Kanye West
("Good Life") and Flo Rida ("Low"). He was also nominated
twice in the video of the year category.
"He's had a great year; he's introduced a new element," said
BET Executive Vice President Stephen Hill, referring to T-Pain's
vocoder-manipulated vocals. The technique, popularized in the 80s by Roger
Troutman and Zapp, has enjoyed a T-Pain-assisted resurgence that has been
utilized to great success recently by Snoop Dogg ("Sensual
Seduction") and Lil Wayne ("Lollipop"). Meanwhile, West and Keyshia Cole received
three BET Award nominations, while Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys and newcomer Flo
Rida received a pair each. Hill
said the awards also shine a light on R&B artists who have yet to achieve
mainstream attention, such as R&B singers Estelle and Raheeem DeVaughn, who
each received a nomination. "Our
voting panel picked not just the hits but folks who are really talented who are
just now getting a shot," he said, according to the Associated Press. Al Green will be given a lifetime
achievement award, and Quincy Jones will receive an award for his humanitarian
work during the live broadcast on June 24 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Agneles. Nelly and Usher, who were to appear on BET's "106 &
Park" later Thursday to announce the nominations, are confirmed to perform
at the ceremony along with Lil Wayne, Blige and Mariah Carey. "Besides being the best black awards
show that we have, also being one of the best awards show period, their ratings
are through the roof," said Nelly. "They're tuning in — black, white,
Japanese, Chinese — you got it, they're tuning in, which says a lot."
Rihanna Makes Near Record Leap On Billboard
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 16, 2008) *Rihanna's new single "Take A
Bow" nearly set a Billboard Hot 100 record with its 53-1 rise this
week. It's the second-best leap to No. 1 in Hot 100 history, trailing
only Maroon 5's 64-1 jump with "Makes Me Wonder" last May.
Coincidentally, Rihanna is featured on the band's "If I Never See Your
Face Again" which debuted yesterday at No. 57. "Bow's" sudden blast is due to
opening-week digital downloads, which hit 267,000 to also place the track at
No. 1 on Hot Digital Songs. Rihanna now owns two of the top three opening week
download tallies in chart history. Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" set
the mark with 286,000 last month, surpassing the 277,000 moved by Rihanna's "Umbrella"
when it debuted in June 2007 issue.
"Take a Bow" is one of four new songs on an expanded CD/DVD
edition of Rihanna's "Good Girl Gone Bad" album, due June 17 via Def
Jam. Elsewhere on the Hot 100,
Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" slips to No. 2, followed by Lil Wayne's
"Lollipop" featuring Static Major at No. 3, Jordin Sparks' "No
Air" featuring Chris Brown at No. 4, Usher's "Love in this Club"
featuring Young Jeezy at No. 5, Ray J & Yung Berg's "Sexy Can I"
at No. 6, Madonna's "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake at No. 7,
Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" at No. 8, Natasha Bedingfield's
"Pocket Full of Sunshine" at No. 9 and Danity Kane's
"Damaged" at No. 10.
Big Boi Puts His 'Left Foot' Forward
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 16, 2008) *OutKast's Big Boi eyes the end of August as a recording deadline for
his first solo album, "Sir Luscious Left Foot ... Son of Chico
Dusty," due later this year via Laface/Zomba. A video for the first single "Royal
Flush," featuring OutKast partner Andre 3000 and Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon,
will be shot in the coming weeks by director Bryan Barber, reports
Billboard.com. The second single will be "The World is Too Big"
featuring Mary J. Blige. Big Boi worked
with his usual Organized Noise production crew as well as long-time
collaborator Mr. DJ on "Sir Luscious" "This album is Big Boi to the
extreme," the rapper tells Billboard. "It's like a recession special.
I'm talking about what's going on in the world, with everything from rising gas
prices to the election. It's just my insights on life up to this
point." Last month, Big Boi debuted
his "Big" collaboration with the Atlanta Ballet at the city's Fox Theater.
Now, the artist is in talks with concert promotion giants AEG and Live Nation
to take the show on an international tour.
J-Hud's
Debut Album Due In September
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 20, 2008) *Now that her latest role in the upcoming "Sex in the
City" movie is in the can, Jennifer Hudson will pivot back to her roots
and work to complete her self-titled debut album by its September release date.
The first single, "Spotlight," will impact U.S. radio outlets on June
9 and be available for sale via digital outlets the following day, reports
Billboard. [Scroll down for a listen.]
The track was written and co-produced by singer-songwriter Ne-Yo.
Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the
Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, among others.
"I think people will be pleasantly surprised, because it shows a side of
my work that no one has heard before," said the Academy Award winner of
her Arista album. In addition to co-starring in "Sex in the City,"
Hudson also appears on its soundtrack, due May 27 via New Line. Her next film
project, "The Secret Life of Bees," hits theatres on Oct. 17.
Keith Sweat In Stores Now
Source: lellie.capwell@rhino.com; evette@cbgpr.com
(May 21, 2008) Hit-maker Keith Sweat has a new CD Just Me
which hit stores on Tuesday, May 13th. An exclusive album-only track titled
“Some More” featuring Akon will be available only on iTunes the day of the CD
release. Radio stations across the
country are excited about the second single “Butterscotch” featuring long time
collaborator Athena Cage and are adding it to their playlists. The first single
“Suga Suga Suga” is still making impressive strides on the charts holding at
#11 on the R&R Urban AC chart. Fans will also be able to catch Keith
Sweat’s incredible performance on 5/16 at Providence Performing Arts Center
(Providence, RI), 5/18 at Caesars Resorts (Lakeville, PA), 5/31 at Viejas
Casino Concerts in The Park (San Diego, CA), 6/7 at the Fairgrounds (Pensacola,
FL), 6/20 at Pechunga Casino & Resort (Temecula, CA), 7/11 at Solano County
Fair (Vallejo, CA), 8/1 at Chene Park (Detroit, MI) and 8/15 at the Country
Club Hills Theater (Country Club Hills, IL). Keith Sweat is geared up and ready
to give the fans what they’ve been waiting for with the release of his new CD
Just Me that dropped May 13, his second single “Butterscotch” with long time collaborator
Athena Cage and the exclusive iTunes album-only cut “Some More” featuring
Akon. “The new track is an added
incentives for my fans, I wanted to give them more, so we appropriately named
the cut “Some More” which ironically worked out.” Says Sweat. “I try to come up
with new ways to please my fans because at the end of the day, they’re the ones
who have supported me throughout my entire career, and I thank them a million
times over.”
::FILM NEWS::
Faith Proves No Barrier As Wee Actor Ari
Aben Aims To Be Daniel Cook, Starting On Treehouse
Source: www.thestar.com -
Matt Simmons, Special To The Star
(May 18, 2008) Theo
and Dina Aben had heard enough stories and watched enough episodes of E!
True Hollywood Story to be wary. Child stars never turn out normal, or
happy, or clean.
But after a couple of years listening to strangers – strangers! – utter
the same "Your son was born to be on TV" refrain, they didn't hesitate
or second-guess themselves once they finally decided to go looking for an
agent. After all, they'd raised their 4-year-old, Ari, to be disciplined,
confident and polite, characteristics not usually ascribed to a young boy.
There was one potential problem, however. Agent Yannick Landry "called one
day last fall to tell me about this really big audition for the next day. But
the next day was Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement), so obviously
..." she trails off, her shrug and smile silently articulating the
family's priorities.
Dina, who was raised in an Orthodox home in Thornhill, and Theo, whose
observance level has risen dramatically in the last decade, have their family
observe the Sabbath and maintain a strict kosher diet. If there's a problem
here, the little actor in the skull-cap doesn't see it.
"I always thought I was going to be an actor," Ari says, sitting
perfectly still in a chair twice his size.
Blond and blue-eyed with a wide smile that takes over his face, he managed to
do the almost impossible by booking a job on one of his first auditions. And it
wasn't just any job: Ari was cast on season two of Roll Play, a popular
children's entertainment and exercise show on Treehouse TV.
"I actually watched the audition," Dina remembers. "Ari knew
these were the same people who produce This is Daniel Cook," which
is shown in 85 countries, in 14 languages. "So he goes in and sits down
and says `Excuse me, when am I going to replace Daniel Cook? When's the show
going to be called This is Ari Cook?' And he starts singing the theme song,
`This is Ari Cook, on a bike, on a plane ...' And they hired him."
"We all went crazy when he got Roll Play," Theo remembers with
a smile as wide as Ari's.
"My Bubby and Zeyde (grandmother and grandfather) brought over a cake and
everybody was dancing. It turned into a huge party," Ari adds. "It
was really exciting."
"That's why I'm not worried about Ari in the entertainment business,"
offers the Abens' rabbi, Elie Karfunkel of the Forest Hill Jewish Centre.
"His parents just see all this as an opportunity to broaden his horizons;
that's how they're able to enjoy the audition process without getting stressed
out about it."
Landry, co-owner of Newton Landry Management Inc., one of the most successful
adult and children talent agencies in Canada, offered to take on Ari as a
client as soon as the two met, Dina Aben recalls matter-of-factly.
"He was – he is – very outgoing; he's charming; he's bright," Landry
says of the actor, now 5 years old. "And this isn't the first client I've
had with religious concerns." In fact Landry, who often finds himself
making food and scheduling accommodations, advises observant families against
taking roles with questionable script content.
"And sometimes it's dress code; I'm just here to make sure their
requirements are taken care of, and sometimes those requirements mean making
sure there's special food on set, or arranging so Ari – or another client –
isn't scheduled to work or audition on Saturday."
He may be Daniel Cook in training, but for a boy more used to synagogues than
sets, Ari hopes his small success will encourage other observant kids to think
about acting. "I wish there were more kippas at auditions. He'd really
like that."
He? "God. He's watching. He's watching me right now."
"Ari can turn adults into little children, which, deep down, we all
are," Rabbi Karfunkel explains.
With the season of Roll Play wrapped for the season and slated to air in
the fall, Ari is busy balancing a hectic schedule of school, auditions and
grooming his 3-year-old sister, Ilana, whom Landry has already signed up for
her turn in the spotlight.
"I love to work," Ari says. "It's a lot of fun." He pauses
and looks up with the precise eye contact of an adult.
"Just not on Saturday. That's my day of rest."
Doc Series Profiles Gay Icons, From Arthur Russell To
Derek Jarman
Source: www.globeandmail.com - Jennie Punter
(May 16, 2008) The Hot Docs festival may be a fading memory, but docs
remain hot at Inside Out. The third largest gay and
lesbian film and video festival in the world, after those in San Francisco and
Los Angeles, Inside Out opened last night and continues its 18th edition over the
next 10 days with several new initiatives - including the well-curated Icon
Documentary Series.
Of course, there are interesting docs scattered throughout the festival's
program of 250 films from 30 countries: Canadian titles Punch Like A Girl
and She's A Boy I Knew; A Jihad for Love, a daring exploration of
queer Muslims; and the Family Day free screening tomorrow afternoon of It's
Still Elementary: the Movie and the Movement, the follow-up to a 1996 doc
about combating gay stereotypes in U.S. schools.
The Icon series is a self-contained unit of six excellent films, focused on
figures strongly connected to the visual arts. Inside Out director of
programming Jason St-Laurent says the series provides a useful niche within the
larger event. "Because we're serving such a diverse and large community,
it's important to help people navigate through it and provide a context for
viewing work," he explains. "As we're watching 600-plus submissions,
we notice certain trends or currents."
The cultural icon idea, St-Laurent admits, speaks to his personal taste and
background as a curator for galleries. "I like challenging film and video
work, and I'm always interested in artist portraits because people rarely get
that kind of insight," he says. Derek, Isaac Julien's exquisite
film about artist-filmmaker Derek Jarman, interweaves a revealing, previously
unseen 1991 interview and a letter written and narrated by friend Tilda Swinton
with archival footage. Black White + Gray: A Portrait of Sam Wagstaff +
Robert Mapplethorpe is a straightforward but solid exploration of the
relationship between the influential curator and the famous photographer as
told by colleagues and such friends as Patti Smith. And With Gilbert &
George offers 18 years of director Julien Cole's footage of the British art
stars, who have lived and worked together since the swinging sixties.
The Icon series was cemented when St-Laurent secured the Canadian premieres of Wild
Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, about the underrated musical
genius whose work spans the experimental and disco genres, and Patti Smith:
Dream of Life. The latter film, which won an award for best cinematography
at Sundance 2008, is a multilayered, often poetic collaboration between
photographer-director Steven Sebring and punk godmother Smith. Filmed over 11
years, after the death of Smith's husband Fred (Sonic) Smith, the doc mingles
casual scenes (backstage banter, jamming with Sam Sheppard, supper with the
folks) with black-and-white dream sequences and concert footage. But the Icon
series isn't all international: It also includes Annette Mangaard's General
Idea: Art, AIDS and the fin de siècle, which screened last month at Hot
Docs - a look back at the renowned artist collective based in Toronto.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival runs through May
25 at various downtown venues. Tickets $9 to $12; youth/seniors $7.50.
416-967-1528; http://www.insideout.ca
A bumper crop of premieres
This year's Inside Out features more premieres and sneak peaks than ever. Here
are some of the best:
Drifting Flowers (a North American premiere), from rising star director Zero
Chou, is a poignant, beautifully wrought film that wraps up three separate but
connected "short stories." Three Taiwanese females, each at a
different stage of life and at a crucial crossroads, struggle with identity and
pangs of love.
May 20, Isabel Bader, 7:30 p.m.
The Witnesses (a Toronto premiere), by French master André Téchiné (Wild
Reeds), is an intricate, perfectly paced ensemble piece about friendship,
love and loss set against the dawn of AIDS in 1984 Paris.
Fri. May 23, Isabel Bader, 9:45 p.m.
Savage Grace (a Canadian premiere) marks the return of director Tom Kalin 15
years after Swoon (1992), a key film in the New Queer Cinema movement.
His latest, based on true events, explores the suffocating, degenerating
relationship between the wife (Julianne Moore) of a plastics heir and her son
as it unravels over four decades.
May 18, Isabel Bader, 10 p.m.
The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela (a Canadian premiere), the feature debut
from Icelandic documentarian Olaf de Fleur Johannesson, won the best feature
Teddy in Berlin this year for its reality-fiction mix. It tells the story of a
transsexual prostitute turned Internet porn star (Raquela playing herself)
looking for love in Iceland and Paris.
May 20, ROM, 5:15 p.m.
Finn's Girl (a Toronto premiere), by Canadian duo Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert,
is a family drama about a female doctor (Brooke Johnson) who becomes a single
mom when her political-activist spouse dies.
May 22, Isabel Bader, 7:30 p.m.
J.P.
Karen Allen Returns To The Blockbuster
Franchise As Indy's Love Interest – Just Don't Call It A Comeback
Source: www.thestar.com -
Peter Howell, Movie Critic
(May 17, 2008)
CANNES, France–Actors normally dodge talk of a comeback. It implies there was a
period where fame and work eluded them.
Karen Allen doesn't play that
game. She's been out of the public eye for years and leaves no doubt about her
delight at reuniting with Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of
the Crystal Skull 27 years after they were first chasing relics in Raiders
of the Lost Ark.
"I immediately was just jumping up and down with excitement. They did not
have to twist my arm!" she tells the Star while en route to the
Cannes Film Festival, where the new Indiana Jones, the fourth in the
series, has its world premiere tomorrow.
"I did sort of retire about five or six years ago. I just moved on to do
other things because it was what I really wanted to do. So, in a sense, this is
the first film work I've done in a while."
And what a comeback this is. The new Indiana Jones – or Indy IV
in sequel speak – is expected to be the year's biggest movie. The debut at
Cannes, four days before its theatrical release, is considered the highlight of
a festival laden with cinema gold.
Allen is once again playing Marion Ravenwood, the tempestuous beauty with the
ready smile and the quick wit who charmed the rascal Jones. When they were last
seen onscreen together, arm in arm after rescuing the sacred Ark of the
Covenant from marauding Nazis, she was 29 and Ford was nearly a decade older.
Now she's 56 and he's 65, she's a single mom (one teenaged son) and he's a
married dad (several times over), and the two didn't see each other much in the
intervening years. Yet it feels something quite like the fun of Raiders
all over again.
"It felt familiar and yet brand new," she says of making Indy IV.
"We're 20 years older and we're in completely different places in our
lives, so there was all the familiarity to make it easy, but it was like there
was this whole other person. At the time that we shot Raiders, Harrison
had never even been married. (Now he has four children, two grand-kids and an
adopted son he's raising with paramour Calista Flockhart.)
"We're all different people in a certain way, and I think in all very
positive and good ways, in the sense that becoming parents and being in mature
relationships and stuff gives people a nice solid base to come from."
For years, fans have assumed Allen resented the Indiana Jones franchise
because she was written out of the series after her debut. The first sequel, Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom, released in 1984, was set prior to Indy's Raiders
adventure with Marion. The lead female role for that film was assigned to Kate
Capshaw, later to become the second wife of series director Steven Spielberg.
For the second sequel, 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the
female lead was played by Alison Doody.
Allen seemed forgotten, but there were no hard feelings on her part. She knew
going into Raiders that there were no guarantees, not even for Ford. She
at first thought she was making some kind of homage to Casablanca, until
Raiders revealed itself as an adventure modelled after old movie
serials.
"I went into that one knowing I wouldn't be in those (sequels). When I
first was cast, they didn't even have an Indiana Jones. Tom Selleck had been
cast and he fell out of the thing because of (the TV series) Magnum P.I.
"They told me from the very beginning when they cast me that my character
would be in the first one. They were going to do three and they were going to
go backwards in time and Indiana Jones would be in all three, but Marion
Ravenwood's character would just be in the first."
The Last Crusade was indeed supposed to be the last crusade for Indiana
Jones, until Spielberg, his production partner (and friend) George Lucas and
Ford finally settled on a idea they could work with for a third sequel. It
involves marauding Russians (led by a blade-twirling Cate Blanchett), South
American ruins, space aliens (yes, really) and, um, crystal skulls.
It wasn't a sure thing at first that Allen would be in Indy IV. The
teaser trailer for the film, released a few months ago, didn't seem to include
her – until fast-fingered Indy freaks, good at hitting the pause button,
realized Marion could be spotted in a single frame, driving a Jeep carrying
Ford and their other co-star, Shia LaBeouf.
Spielberg and Lucas did try at first to keep Marion's return under wraps, she
confirms.
"They've been secretive about it from the very beginning. When Steven
called me to do the film it was just one of these wacky things because I was so
excited, but then he said, `You can't tell anybody, because we want to keep it
a complete secret that you're in the film ...'
"And then once we started to shoot, it was a bit of a drag for me because
I was going to be gone for four months, so there were obviously a few people I
had to tell. But it's very difficult to be involved in something for four
months and have nobody in your life except your son and a couple of close
colleagues know where you are and what you're doing. I found it very
stressful."
It should be noted Allen hasn't spent the last 27 years waiting for her return
as Marion Ravenwood. Her resumé is loaded with movie and TV credits, including
parts in King of the Hill, The Perfect Storm, In the Bedroom,
Malcolm X and Scrooged.
She's also remembered for playing opposite Jeff Bridges in the 1984 sci-fi hit Starman,
a romantic leading role she says brings her as much fan recognition as she gets
for Marion Ravenwood.
But in her most recent years, the ones she refers to as her
"retirement," Allen has been busy in an entirely different creative
endeavour: her own line of knitwear that she calls Karen Allen Fiber Arts. She's
as proud of her scarves and sweaters as she is of playing daredevil femmes.
That's another reason why talk of making her movie comeback doesn't bother her.
"It's a wonderful story, a really cool story, and not a sad one. I've
created this whole creative life for myself that I absolutely adore. Even if I
start to work more in films or in theatre, now that my son has gone to college,
I will still continue to do this. I've created this design studio, and I have
this beautiful line of sweaters, scarves, hats, gloves and things that I
design." The line doesn't include fedoras or whips, so she won't be making
any items for Indiana Jones anytime soon.
But could she imagine falling in love with a real-life Indy, even knowing what
a scoundrel he can be? Allen doesn't hesitate there, either:
"Absolutely!"
Quebec Filmmaker Tackles Montreal Massacre
Source: www.thestar.com - Peter Howell, Movie
Critic
(May 20, 2008) CANNES, France–Quebec filmmaker Denis
Villeneuve has come to the Cannes Film Festival with a short
film about gluttony that has people talking.
Back home in Canada, he's working on a dramatic feature about the 1989 Montreal
Massacre that has people holding their breath: "Everybody I know is afraid
of the movie," he told the Toronto Star in an exclusive interview.
The short about gluttony is called Next Floor, an 11-minute pantomime of
"ritualistic gastronomic carnage," to quote the program notes. The
short is screening at the International Critics' Week festival sidebar, which
continues through Friday.
It shows 11 gourmands chowing down so aggressively on heaps of meat, fish and
other delicacies, they keep crashing through the floors of the multi-level
warehouse where they are dining. The most common interpretation of the surreal
event is that it's a comment on how humans are rapaciously consuming the
Earth's resources to the point of calamity.
The idea for Next Floor came from Phoebe Greenberg, one of the film's
producers. Villeneuve said he directed it for "the pure pleasure of making
cinema" and also because it's a "relief" from the daunting
feature he is currently editing in Montreal.
Called Polytechnique, it dramatizes the Montreal Massacre of Dec. 6, 1989,
in which 14 women were killed, and 10 women and four men were injured by
deranged gunman Marc Lépine, who claimed he was targeting feminists. He then
took his own life.
It's titled for École Polytechnique, an engineering school affiliated with
l'Université de Montréal, where the tragedy occurred. The movie, which is in
English, was shot earlier this year in Montreal under tight security.
It's scheduled for a 2009 release, marking the 20th anniversary of the tragedy,
but it could well debut this fall on the festival circuit, most likely at
either the Montreal or Toronto film fests.
"I think it's going to attract a lot of attention," said Villeneuve,
40, in an interview in a restaurant along the Riviera beachfront.
"Some people love the idea; others hate the idea to make a film about such
an event. But that's what I like about it. I love those kind of movies that
have roots in reality and deal with real events."
Does he think Canadians are ready to see a realistic screen re-creation of one
of the darkest moments in the country's history? It's such a touchy topic, the
film's producer Don Carmody (Chicago) has refused comment on his own
production.
"That's a good question that I can't answer just by the movie," said
Villeneuve, who is known for his visual flair from earlier films Maelström
and 32nd Day of August on Earth.
"I think everybody's afraid; everybody I know is afraid of the movie. But
so far the people who have seen it are relieved. They say, `Okay, that was a
good idea because of the angle you chose and the feeling you get after it.' I
don't know if the audience is going to like it, but I'm doing it because it's a
subject that touched me a lot."
In what way did it touch him? He thinks different generations reacted
differently to the massacre, and there were different responses to the killer's
avowed anti-feminist agenda.
"At the time I was the same age as the people who went through this event.
I know there was a lot of misunderstanding between generations from the people
who lived it and the older generation that judged the people. They judge the
men because they say the men did nothing and they judge the women because they
say the women said they were not feminists (to try to avoid being shot)."
While the work is technically a work of fiction – real names of victims aren't
used – Villeneuve has tried to make it as historically accurate as possible. He
talked to survivors and also to police officers, doctors, teachers and other
students who responded to the attack, and who attended to the dead and wounded.
He doesn't shy away from the horror. "There's a lot of violence in the
movie. If you want to understand what happened you have to see what they've
been through, what I tried to portray."
Yet at the same time, Villeneuve said he's tried to be very subtle in his
approach. He insisted he's not trying to exploit anyone, but instead wants to
offer consolation.
"I think the movie has to deal with consolation for those people. I'm
making the movie for the students of Polytechnique who went through that
day."
It is told from the perspective of the victims, and not from that of Lépine,
who is played by actor Maxim Gaudette, 33. Gaudette was in the cast of Les 3
p'tits cochons (The 3 Li'l Pigs), a comedy smash last year in Quebec.
Polytechnique sounds a lot like Elephant, the dramatic
re-creation of the 1999 Columbine school shootings that won Gus Van Sant both
the Palme d'Or and the directing prize at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.
Villeneuve doesn't deny the influence.
"Elephant for me is a masterpiece. I loved it, but at one point I
said, 'F--- Gus Van Sant!' in my head because I wouldn't be able to do Polytechnique.
It's like trying to make a war movie after Apocalypse Now. So you say
f--- off and you do your own interpretation of it, although it's basically the
same universe of students going through violence."
Whatever the reaction is to Polytechnique, Villeneuve wants people to
know that he has approached the topic with the best of artistic intentions.
"I did it with a lot of humility. It's not a film that I came to with a
lot of ego."
India's Reliance Plans Movies With Hollywood Stars
Source: www.thestar.com - The Associated Press
(May 19, 2008) MUMBAI, India – India's Reliance
Big Entertainment has
signed deals with the production houses of top Hollywood stars George Clooney,
Brad Pitt and Nicholas Cage to co-produce movies, the company said Monday.
The media group will provide about $1 billion to develop and co-produce films
in Hollywood, company chairman Amit Khanna told The Associated Press.
The company has signed separate deals with George Clooney's Smokehouse
Productions, Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment, Nicolas Cage's Saturn
Productions, Tom Hanks' Playtone Productions, Jim Carrey's JC 23 Entertainment,
as well as filmmakers Chris Columbus' 1492 Pictures and Jay Roach's Everyman
Pictures, Khanna said.
"We hope to have 30 scripts from which we are looking at 10 films from
this slate over the next couple of years," Khanna said when reached by
phone in Cannes where the company announced the deals.
There would be different genres of films with different financing structures,
he said.
"The bigger stars have a first-look deal with Hollywood studios, so the
deals could range from co-production to working with the studios," he
said.
Reliance Big Entertainment is the media arm of $100 billion conglomerate
Reliance ADA Group, which also has interests in telecommunications and power.
It is owned by India's leading industrialist Anil Ambani, who was listed as the
world's sixth richest person by Forbes this year.
Over the past two years, India's movie houses have signed several co-production
deals with foreign studios, such as Sony and Walt Disney.
Billionaire financier George Soros bought 3 per cent of Reliance Big
Entertainment for $100 million in February in a sign of growing interest in
Indian entertainment companies.
FILM TIDBITS
Clark Johnson Working On Film With NY Kids
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 15, 2008) *Actor-director Clark Johnson ("The Wire," "The
Sentinel") is teaming with nine New York youngsters to film a short about
youth and masculinity. The film, "Misunderstood," was written by teens
attending the High School of Graphic Communication Arts in Manhattan and was
the winner of Scenarios USA's "What's the Real Deal About
Masculinity?" scriptwriting contest. Johnson will work with a crew of film pros
to shoot on location in New York, reports Variety. After completion, Johnson
and the nine participants will edit the work together. The film is scheduled for a winter premiere
alongside projects from writers and directors of winning scripts filming in
Cleveland, Ohio and Texas. The films will be distributed to high schools and
community groups nationwide, streamed on the Internet and shown on
TV. "Misunderstood" is
produced by Scenarios USA, a non-profit that uses filmmaking to foster youth
leadership, advocacy and self-expression in under-served teens.
Fishburne To Helm, Produce And Star In 'Alchemist'
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 20, 2008) *Laurence Fishburne is teaming with movie mogul
Harvey Weinstein to bring Paulo Coelho's 1988 novel "The Alchemist" to the big
screen in a $60 million-plus adaptation, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The best-selling book tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy,
who while traveling the world in search of treasure meets an alchemist, to be
played by Fishburne. The actor will also direct and produce. The project had
been in development at Warner Bros for years, but Weinstein swooped in and
picked up all rights, and will personally produce the film for the Weinstein
Co, the trade reported. "This is
one of those great turnaround situations," Weinstein said of the project's
long gestation. "The book means so much to people on a spiritual level,
and there is an exciting love story, action." He also said, "I think
there is a bridge to the Middle East in this story. Weinstein plans to bring on a screenwriter
and launch a casting search for the roles of Santiago and Fatima, the woman
with whom the young man falls in love.
::TV NEWS::
Natasha
Eloi Lands The Job Of A Lifetime With SpaceTV
Source: www.swaymag.ca - By: Kristine
Maitland
SHE’S THE FACE that Trekkers, Star
Wars fiends and Battlestar
Galactica aficionados have come to know and love. Canadian Natasha Eloi has carved out her niche as Toronto’s resident sci-fi
queen — but it hasn’t been an easy ascent into the heavens. Sway spoke
with the cosmic girl while on location in Toronto.
Sway: Let’s start at the beginning — you
went to Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute. Didn’t Mike Myers go there?
Eloi: My teacher, Howard Gross, would let new students who entered the radio
and television program know this was the school that Mike Myers got his start
in. And there are other [alumni] before him: Dominic Sciullo, the original
videographer for CityTV — he was an instrumental mentor for me.
S: Did you become a TV intern during
that high-school period?
E: Yes. In your last semester you are asked where you want to go and you are
given three options. Given my short blonde hair, leather jacket and 18-hole
steel toe boots was not the most conservative appearance, I chose CityTV. The
school gave me the telephone number, and I had to do the legwork and I got in.
S: I find it funny that in order to get
in front of the camera you had to hold it.
E: I never wanted to be in front of the camera, originally.
S: No?
E: No, that wasn’t in the game plan. I wanted to be a cameraperson. I took
different roots from my internships to landing on the LiveEye, being one of the
first women on it. I just did everything I had to from pulling cable to
dragging equipment. I wanted the truck and I wanted the camera, but it didn’t
happen that way. I ended up getting the camera, but it was attached to the
LiveEye truck; so I was allowed to shoot, but it was always live. I never got
the camera until I came to SpaceTelevision and to get the camera I had to be in
front of the camera too.
S: So when did you come to Space?
E: In January 2000. When I was first hired for Space, it was to be the
SpaceNews videographer. My background is technical. Truth be known, I was not
good at science in school, but I am not one to let obstacles interfere or
hinder me so I put the demo together. When I got the job, I had to ask myself
if I wanted it as I was in my comfort zone doing news. It was literally my
university, the University of Moses [Znaimer], but you’ve got to leave the nest
and prove that you can do what you have been trained to do.
S: Pam Grier is one of your role models.
Like you, she initially did not intend to be in front of the camera.
E: Really! When I meet new up-and-coming young women who are coming into this
industry, I tell them to learn how television is made. Being in front of that
camera is the cherry on top of the cake. Now, myself as a videographer, I have
done well — I understand the full circle of how that works.
DeGeneres,
de Rossi Engaged After California Ruling
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Lynn
Elber, The Associated Press
(May
16, 2008) Los Angeles — Ellen
DeGeneres
and long-time girlfriend Portia
de Rossi
are jumping at the chance to get married.
DeGeneres announced their engagement during a Thursday taping of The Ellen
DeGeneres Show, telling the studio audience the news that the California
Supreme Court had struck down state laws against gay marriage.
“So I would like to say now, for the first time, I am announcing: I am getting
married,” she said during the show, airing Friday.
The studio audience leapt to its feet for a long ovation, and De Rossi (
Ally McBeal, Nip/Tuck) was sitting in the audience, beaming and clapping.
Then DeGeneres cracked: “Thank you. I'll tell you who the lucky guy is soon.”
The court ruling means same-sex couples could tie the knot in as little as a
month. However, religious and social conservatives are seeking to put a
constitutional amendment on the ballot in November that would undo the Supreme
Court ruling and ban gay marriage.
DeGeneres, 50, has boldly used TV before to make a stand for gay rights.
In 1997, she brought her character on the ABC sitcom Ellen out of the
closet, making the show the first on prime-time network TV to have an openly
gay lead. The move drew cheers from gay civil rights organizations but was
condemned by some religious groups.
A month before, DeGeneres had proclaimed from the cover of Time magazine that
she was a lesbian.
DeGeneres, 50, and the glamorous de Rossi, 35, have been a familiar couple at
Hollywood events, including the Academy Awards. Previously, DeGeneres had a
high-profile relationship with actress Anne Heche.
In a 2005 interview with Allure magazine, the comedian said she hoped she and
de Rossi are “together the rest of our lives.”
“I never would have thought my life would have turned out this way,” DeGeneres
told the magazine. “To have money. Or to have a gorgeous girlfriend. I just
feel so lucky with everything in my life right now.”
TV
TIDBITS
Rupaul To Host New Reality Series
Source: www.eurweb.com
(May 16, 2008) *Noted
drag queen RuPaul, best known for his 1993 hit "Supermodel (You
Better Work)," will host a new reality competition series for MTV
Networks' gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender-themed channel Logo. Titled
"RuPaul's Drag Race." The show will feature contestants competing to
become "America's next superstar drag queen. RuPaul will serve as host, mentor and judge,
according to the Hollywood Reporter. Online voters will help pick one of the
contestants at http://www.RuPaulsDragRace.com.
The hour-long, six-episode series
is expected to debut on Logo's digital cable channel early next year.
::THEATRE NEWS::
David Alvarez, 14, Cast In Much Heralded
Stage Adaptation Of Billy Elliot
Source: www.thestar.com -
Susan Walker, Dance Writer
(May 17, 2008) NEW
YORK–It's a ballet dancer's story with an appropriately dramatic beginning that
bodes well for the future of 14-year-old David Alvarez, cast last month in
one of Broadway's biggest roles.
David is one of three performers picked to play the lead in Billy Elliot
when it opens in previews Oct. 1 in New York. The role will be his, he says,
"until I grow too tall or my voice changes."
He seems mighty calm amid all the attention he has been getting for snatching
such a big role. (The other two Billys are 13-year-old New Yorker Trent Kowalik
and 14-year-old Kiril Kulish from San Diego.)
The role is huge, requiring the actor/dancer to be in almost every scene and
demanding a voice strong enough for some big numbers. The triple-threat Billys
will alternate in New York to save their legs and larynxes. David will spend
the next few months with classes in acrobatics, tap dancing, acting and
singing.
The tale of his showbiz ascension begins before he was born, probably not even
dreamed of, when parents David and Yanek arrived at Montreal's Mirabel airport
in the fall of 1993 bearing only temporary visas.
"We were travelling on an Air Cubana plane so we were still in Cuban
territory," David Sr. recalls. This was the time called "the special
period" in Cuba, after its economy collapsed following dissolution of the
Soviet Union and the end of support for Castro's government.
The Alvarezes met an acquaintance of Yanek's and held a little conference in
the plane's washroom.
"We were so afraid. We had not planned to defect." The Cuban woman
advised them that Canada would treat them well if they applied to land as
political refugees.
Yanek, a theatre director, and David père, a biochemistry student
accompanying his wife to a theatrical job in Montreal, approached an
immigration officer with their intentions and all went well. "Immigration
Canada were very good with us," says David's proud mother at an interview
in the Billy Elliot public relations office.
After the couple settled in Montreal, David's father attended McGill University
and earned his PhD. David was born on May 11, 1994, not long after his
Cuban-born big sister joined them in Canada.
The boy showed talent from the start and, by the age of 8, was enrolled in
classes with Montreal's Ballet Divertimento. When the family moved to San Diego
after his father was transferred there, David continued to take classes.
It was in ballet school in California that he earned his first significant
notice. One among hundreds of boys and girls auditioned by the recently opened
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in Manhattan,
David earned a full merit scholarship and entered the school two years ago. His
parents and younger sister have relocated to New York as well.
David has seen the 2000 hit movie Billy Elliot and went to watch the
stage show as soon as he arrived in London last weekend. Billy Elliot The
Musical, directed by Stephen Daldry with music and lyrics by Elton John,
was a megahit from its 2005 opening in the West End.
The feel-good movie turned musical is a rags-to-ballet-slippers story with
which any boy in tights can identify. In the original screenplay by Lee Hall,
Billy Elliot is an 11-year-old living in a mining town in northern England. The
year is 1984 and the region is crippled by a miners strike. Billy's father and
brother are on the picket line. He's sent to boxing lessons but, hating that,
joins the ballet class. The male members of his family thoroughly disapprove,
but he defies convention, secretly training for an audition with the Royal
Ballet school.
The Canadian Billy says the story was not entirely alien to him. "My
family is very supportive," he says, "but people think ballet should
be for girls, and boys should just play sports like soccer, hockey, football.
So I had to deal with that a lot."
Like his fictional alter ego, David knows how much hard training and
persistence can pay off. He was one of 1,500 young Americans who tried out for Billy
Elliot in eight cities last year over a gruelling series of auditions to
demonstrate dancing, acting and singing.
In the end, he says, a member of the casting team told him they had picked him
from the first time he was seen at an open call.
David's professional career has already launched. In 2007, he danced with
American Ballet Theatre as the Garland Boy in The Sleeping Beauty and
took to the huge stage of the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington as Fritz
in The Nutcracker. Asked what he does best, the stage-loving dancer
admits to concentrating on technique. "I think I have many things I'm good
at."
At the 92nd Street Y School of Music, he is a scholarship student in classical
piano. "I also want to be a composer and a choreographer," says the
dancer, who made a small ballet for a school show in California. He made his
singing debut with "Where is Love" from Oliver! in a master
class with Broadway performer Victoria Clark.
Not surprisingly, National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Guillaume Côté,
also a musician and composer, is one of David's role models. His other ballet
idols are Fernando Bujones, the Cuban-born ballet star who died in 2005,
Mikhail Baryshnikov, and, of course, the Cuban American dancers Carlos Acosta
and Jose Manuel Carreno.
An all-A student for whom English is his third language, David is home-schooled
while he's taking ballet classes. His soft-spoken but confident presence says a
lot about how natural talent, when properly nurtured and driven by a will to
perfection, can produce very young stars indeed.
When the voice begins to crack, expect to see David Alvarez front and centre in
a ballet company.
People With Sway - d’bi.young
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... To understand d’bi.young.anitafrika’s power, you have to see her
perform. Strong, passionate and revolutionary, anitafrika is well-known for her
dub poetry, richly layered poetry and dynamic theatre performances.
Her current projects include completing the second and third plays from her
biomyth-trilogy, three
faces of mudgu sankofa: androgyne, a poetic two-hander and word!sound!powah,
a dub opera (blood.claat:
one womban story was anitafrika’s first piece).
And her power continues. As one of Canada’s most exciting artists, last year
she won the 2007 Toronto Arts Council Foundation Emerging Artist award and
recently released her second print collection of poetry, rivers and other
blackness between us.
However, it has been the evolution from performing to mentoring Toronto youth
in dub theatre (urban griots of t-dot and other projects) last summer that
anitafrika admits has brought her life full circle.
POWER IS...
“I see myself as extremely powerful. I think we all are. I think to recognize
one’s power is even more important, particularly when we are living in a
society that glorifies apathy, so it’s very important to not only recognize
your power but put it to some sort of use.
Occupying the space as a leader, teacher and elder is one of the most beautiful
things about growing older. You recognize you are learning from those who came
before you and from those who came after. I turned 30 in December and to
recognize that as an induction into this new role of power called ‘eldership’
is an incredible process. It’s really important to teach and as you teach you
learn. You not only get to realize the value of yourself, but you get to know
the value of yourself in relation to community.” – S.S.
Nikki M. James Takes On A Classic
Source: www.swaymag.ca - By: Pamella Bailey
AT 26, NEW YORK’S Nikki M. James faces one of her most
challenging roles as a star-crossed lover in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,
opening at this year’s Stratford Festival. With the company’s prestigious
reputation both at home and south of the border, and her first time performing
in a play by the Bard, James admits the task is a daunting one. But not to
worry, this performer is up for any challenge.
A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, James has shown
an affinity with the stage since the age of five, when she belted out Whitney
Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” at her kindergarten graduation. Growing up in
New Jersey, just minutes from Manhattan’s plethora of Broadway shows, James
fell in love with musical theatre and spent her teens performing in talent
shows and community theatre.
While her career has included television roles on Law and Order and Third Watch,
James is most known for her work onstage. Her most exciting role to date was a
funked up, retelling of The
Wiz at La Jolla Playhouse, where she played the coveted role of
Dorothy, winning the San Diego Theater Critics Circle award for Outstanding
Lead Performance in a Musical. The
Wiz was directed by Des McAnuff, one of the current artistic
directors of the Stratford Festival. His encouragement led James to audition
for the role of Juliet.
“As an actor, you find directors who you really click with and can get great
performances out of you and that you want to work for again,” says James. “He
asked me to audition, but I still worked my butt off to get the job.” Under
McAnuff’s direction, James is finding the rhythm of Shakespeare, using her
musical background as a basis.
“Language is poetry. It has a rhythm that you have to honour… If you think of
the text as rhythm, you understand when you can and cannot fall off the beat,
and how you need to drive through the verse to get to the bridge. You need to
take it piece by piece to build up to the different layers, rather than being
paralyzed at the idea of doing Shakespeare.”
People
With Sway – trey anthony
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Last year was a
groundbreaking one for Toronto funny woman trey anthony. With her new play I
Am Not A Dinner Mint in production and Da Kink In My Hair on London
stages, anthony brought her principled beliefs in power to her role as
executive producer and co-creator for her groundbreaking television show Da
Kink in My Hair. Black, queer and feminist, anthony is only too pleased to
break new ground.
POWER IS...
“I use my power to ensure we have people of colour in the writing room and
on staff. For me, it’s about trying to say that I’m here and this is my
opportunity to let other people in.” – J.A.B.
::OTHER NEWS::
People With Sway - Austin Clarke
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Austin
Clarke is a literary giant in the
Canadian and international arts world.
His novel, The
Polished Hoe, won the 2002 Giller Prize, the 2003 Trillium Prize,
the 2003 Commonwealth Literary Prize for Best Book and the 2004 Torgi Literary
Award (by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind).
Known for his richly textured prose mixed with cultural and Caribbean nuances
of the immigrant experience, he has inspired generations of young authors to
dare to tell their own stories. Always working and writing, Clarke’s next novel
More, will be released early this year by publisher Thomas Allen.
Born and schooled in Barbados, Clarke immigrated to Canada in 1955 to study at
the University of Toronto. After leaving university to work as a journalist and
broadcaster, he says he struggled to find his place and style as a journalist
at various newspapers. After being fired from The Globe and Mail for making a
mistake covering a local board meeting, he turned his attention towards writing
his first novel.
The world couldn’t be more thankful.
POWER IS...
“Well, assuming that I have power, I would think my love of language,
especially narrative, is where I have found my best, most peaceful moments. If
I could analyze [my power] at all, it would be in my writing …. The biggest
pleasure is to see and recognize that you have written something that is
beautiful. That is how I judge my work.” – S.S.
People With Sway - Jean Augustine
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Jean Augustine
is a political trailblazer. In 1993, the Grenada-born school principal was the
first African-Canadian woman elected to the Parliament of Canada. Responsible
for Black History Month being recognized officially throughout Canada,
Augustine is now leading the way as Ontario’s first Fairness Co-Commissioner,
responsible for identifying and removing barriers for new immigrants to Canada.
POWER IS...
“Power is the ability to move with people and to move people. I am going to go
back to an old saying: if you want to go quickly, go alone; if you want to go
far, take others with you. And so, I always take others with me.
I think I get my power from within. They say that there are some things that
have to come from the inside. I get power from the fact that I came to this
country knowing exactly who I was with my self-esteem intact. I learned very
early that people cannot put you down, you put yourself down.” – S.S
Comic/Entrepreneur Hopes To Challenge Yuk Yuk's Domination Of
The Comedy Scene
Source: www.thestar.com - Bruce Demara, Entertainment Reporter
(May 18, 2008) There's a new joker on
Toronto's comedy scene who plans one day to challenge the king.
With a new venue opening and a couple of others closing, Toronto's standup
comedy map is changing, as is Canada's, with clubs opening, closing or
rebranding themselves. And at the centre of it all, inevitably, is the chain
that has dominated the country for decades: Mark Breslin's Yuk Yuk's. Though
the chain has outlasted legal battles and former competitors alike over the
years, Ottawa comic/entrepreneur Jason Laurans says he hopes to challenge the chain's domination in the GTA by giving
comedians, in the immortal words of Rodney Dangerfield, "a little
respect."
Laurans opened the Absolute Comedy club, his second, on Yonge St. near Eglinton
six months ago. With The Laugh Resort's future uncertain after 18 years in
business, that could leave the new club going head to head against Yuk Yuk's
flagship club in the Entertainment district.
The new club – in a former Yuk Yuk's location – has been picking up steam since
its November opening at a pace surpassing the successful Ottawa club Laurans
opened in 2004.
"I'm always ambitious. I would say my ambition is to see how this goes. If
this goes well, it would prove that my system works and definitely I would like
to move forward," said Laurans, a thirtysomething standup comic with a
degree in biochemistry.
A former Yuk Yuk's comic himself, Laurans says he aims to outdo the Yuk Yuk's
chain, which also has GTA clubs in Mississauga, Vaughan and Ajax, by providing
the comics with free accommodation and amenities at a nearby condo.
Laurans says the idea came from his own experience working for Yuk Yuk's a
decade ago when a gig in Toronto meant a five-hour drive, no travel expenses
and scrambling to find a place to sleep.
"I worked at Yuk Yuk's for 10 years and when I had to work in Toronto, I
had to find my own accommodations. I had to stay on a couch at a friend's
house. I slept in my car in an underground parking lot in Toronto once (after)
doing a show," Laurans recalls.
He says he also doesn't require performers to sign contracts that might
restrict their ability to work elsewhere, a policy that landed Yuk Yuk's in
trouble with the federal Competition Bureau in 1994.
"I don't have contracts with employees. I only have contracts for the
weeks that they work. That's it," Laurans says.
Veteran comic Doug Funk, another ex-Yuk Yuk's standup, says the club chain's
policy on working for competitors is one of the reasons he left.
"The idea (at Yuk Yuk's) is that you won't work for anybody else, which
doesn't really sit well with me and other people as well. There are a lot of
guys who work for Yuk Yuk's who get a good chunk of work and some of them are
my friends and God bless them, you know," Funk says.
Still, he prefers Laurans' approach.
"(Laurans) is determined to make a good club and to treat people fairly.
It's a mature vibe – you're a grownup. You're not being treated like comedian
sausage 24. It's a healthy environment. It's a lot of fun," Funk says.
"If I were going to put my money on a horse, it would definitely be Jason
Laurans because of his tenacity. ... He's a guy that goes out and gets what he
wants," Funk adds.
Jim VanderBerg, owner of The Laugh Resort, says the club's location at the
Holiday Inn on King St. W. may close since the hotel has been purchased by the
Hyatt chain. VanderBerg says he's looking for a new locale, though the high
cost of rent may prevent it from being in downtown Toronto.
VanderBerg estimates that as a result of the Yuk Yuk's contract policy, about
35 to 40 per cent of comics work there exclusively while the rest work for
independent clubs like his.
"Can we pick from all the comics in Canada working in clubs? Nope, nobody
can. But we get to pick from more than (Yuk Yuk's founder Mark Breslin)
can," VanderBerg says.
Ed Smeall, owner of Giggles Comedy Agency, has been booking comics since the
1970s. He says he left Yuk Yuk's – for the second time – a few years back, taking
many standup comics with him, in part over his frustration with Breslin's
contract policy.
"It stifles the industry. It's a very short-term way of thinking,"
Smeall says.
Laurans' greater openness has worked in Ottawa, Smeall says.
"In Ottawa, (Laurans) set up a room where no one ever thought anyone could
knock Yuk Yuk's out of the number one spot and he clearly has," Smeall
adds.
But Breslin makes no apologies for how he runs his business, including how he
signs new talent.
"One of the first things people do in a free market is that they band
together for mutual protection. And that's what all the comics who work with us
have done. So whatever the comics who don't want to do that . . . they're free
to do whatever they want to do, they are totally free," Breslin says.
While he acknowledges the controversy with the Competition Bureau years ago,
"our position is that the landscape has changed so radically in the comedy
business, that we have competition in just about every major city that we're in
now so it's not really an issue anymore," Breslin says.
But 30 years after Yuk Yuk's opened its first club in Yorkville, the chain is
dealing with controversy and the vagaries of the market.
Franchise operators in Calgary and Edmonton have sought to break away from the
chain, leading to a court battle. It was exacerbated earlier this year when the
club owners launched a defamation suit against Breslin.
"It's a contractual dispute. We have an exit strategy for all our
franchisees," Breslin says. "Divorces do happen, but you can't kind
of just grab the kids and run to mom. You have to play out that exit strategy
as negotiated and as signed. That's what this is about and that's why we're
suing them."
The chain has openings for franchises in Windsor and Moncton, N.B. after clubs
there failed.
But Breslin is also upbeat, pointing to the imminent opening of a new club in
St. John's and the success of relatively new franchises in Vaughan and Niagara
Falls.
Breslin says he set out to "revolutionize" the comedy club business
in Canada three decades ago and has succeeded, creating a chain of successful
operations while fighting for free speech rights – even when that means paying
the legal fees of entertainers.
"When you want to revolutionize things, you shake things up and when you
shake things up, people don't like it," says Breslin, who admits he has no
shortage of detractors.
"You have to develop a tough skin and I've got the skin of a rhino after
all this time."
People
With Sway - Kofi Hope
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Kofi Hope has always used his voice to speak out. Last year the
UofT student was founder of the Black Youth Coalition Against Violence, impressing
many with his passionate battle against gun violence. After winning a Rhodes
scholarship, Hope is currently studying African studies at Oxford University.
POWER IS...
“I’m not really interested in personal power; I’m interested in strength.
Strength to stand up for what’s right, strength to stay true to my values,
strength to speak the truth when no one wants to hear it and finally strength
to resist the way power is abused in our society.” – C.P.
People With Sway - Michael Thompson
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... When Michael
Thompson wants to create change, he
simply speaks up. As city councillor for Scarborough Centre since 2003, and as
Toronto’s only black councillor, his hard work and perseverance has brought
light and attention to the troubling issue of rising violence in the city,
leading to some of his recommendations being incorporated into the mayor’s
Community Action Plan. The plan brought forward a GTA-wide police task force on
guns and gangs, an increase in the numbers of police officers on the street and
a new young offender program designed to divert young people into jobs instead
of jail.
POWER IS...
“Bringing people together from all different backgrounds to recognize common
values to improve everyone’s outcome. It’s the ability to effect change.” –
A.L.
Female-Friendly Mags Continue To Dominate Canadian Market
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- James Adams
(May 20, 2008) Magazines for female readers, and the advertisers
who purvey products and services aimed at those readers, continue to dominate
the Canadian magazine market, according to an analysis of revenues in 2007 completed recently
by industry watchdog, Masthead magazine.
Total revenue for the country's top 10 magazines last year was $300.3-million,
a 3-per-cent increase from 2006, according to the report, to be published this
week in Masthead's May-June issue.
At the same time, no new magazines broke into the 2007 top 10. Only one
switch-around occurred between 2006 and last year, with Quebec's female
lifestyle magazine Coup de Pouce rising to ninth place from 10th, while another
Quebec publication, the supermarket weekly 7 Jours, dropped to 10th from ninth.
However, 7 Jours remained the box-office champion on newsstands, earning almost
$10-million on the racks, the most of any of the top 10 periodicals.
In fact, 7 Jours's newsstand total almost equalled the combined newsstand
revenue (of $10.5-million) enjoyed last year by the top five revenue performers
among Canadian magazines.
Toronto-based Chatelaine, a perennial top-10 performer, and now published 13
times a year, was once again the top Canadian money-maker, revenue-wise, in
2007, earning $59.2-million, up 3 per cent from 2006; 87 per cent of
Chatelaine's 2007 revenues came from advertisers. Number-two-ranked Canadian
Living, a monthly, had gross revenues of $50.1-million, up about 9 per cent
from 2006, with 80 per cent derived from advertising.
Reader's Digest, traditionally the country's top performer by circulation,
finished third in the revenue category, with $39.2-million, up about 4 per
cent.
The monthly has always had a strong subscription base, and last year about 46
per cent of its total gross revenue ($18.2-million) came from that stream, the
highest in the top 10.
Maclean's, the weekly newsmagazine, held onto fourth place, with $37-million, a
modest increase of about $700,000 from 2006. Much of that increase could be
attributed to action at the newsstand, where a single copy currently retails
for $6.95. In 2006, the weekly grossed $1.3-million from newsstands; last year
the total was almost $1.8-million. Placing fifth, as it did in 2006, was
another Toronto-based magazine with a female bent, Canadian House & Home.
According to Masthead, its gross revenues in 2007 were $23.5-million, down
about $700,000, with an estimated 78 per cent of its total coming from advertisers.
The remaining five in the top 10 for 2007 were, in descending order: newsweekly
Time ($21-million, a 9-per-cent drop from 2006); fashion-orientated Flare
($19-million, up 14 per cent); Châtelaine, the francophone equivalent of the
popular English title ($18.1-million, an 8-per-cent increase); Coupe de Pouce
($17.1-million, up 6 per cent); and 7 Jours ($16.1-million, down 3 per cent).
::SPORTS NEWS::
People With Sway - Akil Augustine
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... Akil
Augustine gets excited when he talks about
the young basketball talent bursting out of Toronto.
And Augustine (pictured left), a sports journalist and producer for NBAXL and creator
of Screen Savior Entertainment, with clients like Maple Leaf Sports and Raptors
NBATV, knows his basketball.
Five years ago, he teamed up with star basketball player and King of Toronto
street ball champ Vidal Massiah to create The Hoop Factory, a high-intensity
premier development camp for young basketball players, like Keaton Cole, 18,
pictured right, who will be attending Western Carolina University in the fall.
Now, with a number of their players making the jump to Division I schools in
the United States, an All-Star All Canada tournament set for the spring and a
trip planned to Senegal to shoot a National Film Board documentary with the
players, it’s safe to say it’s become more of a movement than a basketball
camp.
POWER IS...
“We have the power to help the next generation of Canadian basketball players,
and that’s a power you can’t take for granted and you have to take seriously.
I’m proudest of the kids we have worked with and what they have made themselves
into. It’s amazing seeing them get scholarships – an education – from the game
of basketball.” – S.S.
People With Sway - Jamaal Magloire
Source: www.swaymag.ca
POWERFUL BECAUSE... After making
history at Toronto’s famed Eastern Commerce Collegiate Institute and finding
great success with the Kentucky Wildcats, Jamaal Magloire overcame the odds and entered
the NBA as a first-round draft pick. After eight years in the NBA, this former
All-Star remains connected to Toronto through his Youth Deserve a Chance to
Dream charity and his Ontario Basketball Association youth rep team, the JAMBA
Cats. His recent move to the Dallas Mavericks is another big boost to the
career of this NBA big man, who continues to dream of an NBA championship.
POWER IS...
“Power is being respected in your community and trying to educate and empower
the people around you. I say that because being able to help others and being
able to get respect from others is very important. Power is not always
something physical. On the court, power is being able to make a difference for
your team in a game.
One of my mentors was Simeon Mars because of the trials and tribulations that
he has been through playing basketball. Knowing him as my coach at Eastern
Commerce, as a coach at Kentucky and as a personal mentor, I respect his
demeanour, his professionalism and the way he goes about his day-to-day
operations — very calm, cool and collected.” – C.P.
::DANCE NEWS::
Toronto Stage Institution Goes Out With A Bang With Show
Celebrating 30 Years Of His Dance Company
Source: www.thestar.com - Susan Walker, Dance Writer
(May 18, 2008) The arthritic knees are a
constant, painful reminder of how high and how often Danny Grossman used to jump, how many times he dove to the
floor or did daredevil lifts.
"They're fine," he says, easing up out of his chair to get some
relief for his creaking joints. "They just don't want to bend that
far."
Delving into his archives to produce Vanishing Acts, an installation
celebrating 30 years of Danny Grossman & Company, has shown him why his
knees hurt.
"Yes, we've got the videos to prove it," says Pamela Grundy, Grossman's
co-artistic director and a dancer who has spent the past 25 years with the
company. She has been working hard on the logistics and content of an event
that will usher in a new era for Grossman, 65, and his associates.
The show is not just an end to the company as a creating and performing entity.
It marks the beginning of a Grossman foundation and institute for preserving,
documenting, teaching and producing pieces from a repertoire of more than 40
dances. The company has established partnerships with schools and other
companies and plans to expand the market for Grossman's oeuvre with the latest
methods of notation and documentation.
Opening Wednesday in the Fermenting Cellar at the Distillery District, Vanishing
Acts is a performance, an exhibit and a party. Those who come to wander
through the four exhibition areas watch the excerpts from Danny's dances, and
belly up to the bar – the altar from Passion Symphony – will get a
glimpse of what a dance museum might look like.
Historic footage will reel out on two large screens showing Grossman favourites
from the distant past, such as Higher, National Spirit, Nobody's
Business or Bella. With Curious Schools of Theatrical Dancing,
the plan is to show a clip of Grossman working on the 1977 dance in his old
studio on King St., where you can see the broken mirror and the industrial
windows.
At another station, a talk-show host with a sofa will be ready to record
anecdotes from anyone ready to tell them. During a fashion show, dancers will
do a three-minute turn on the catwalk in garments such as a fiery Martinique
yellow dress festooned with hot peppers from the 1991 dance Carnival.
Four imaginary galleries in the Fermenting Cellar will be devoted to the life
and times of Grossman, a demonstration of computer notation of Grossman works,
sets, costumes, contributions from outside choreographers and the company's
amazing lineage of contemporary dancers. There have not been many permanent
members over the last 30 years. Quite a few, such as Eddie Kastrau and Andrea
Nann, stayed for 15 years or more. "It was a family," Grundy says.
Family is the social unit Grossman best understands. Loving son of a pair of
politically active left-wing professionals in San Francisco, he explodes in
raucous laughter as he's reminded of scenes from his past and photos of his
parents at political rallies and demonstrations.
Grossman remembers a lot about his 10 years dancing with the Paul Taylor Dance
Company in New York, before coming to Canada in 1973 to teach at York University.
He was still young and his knees very flexible when he overheard an older
dancer who was famous for her jumps responding to Paul Taylor's request that
she do one in rehearsal. "She said, `I've got about 300 of that particular
jump left in me. Would you like to see it now or in the performance?'"
As the two artistic directors reminisce about the past and wax enthusiastic
about the future in the space above the Grossman studio at 509 Parliament St.,
it's clear they have a vision for preserving 20th-century dance for generations
to come.
"You know the importance of all this stuff to the culture as a
whole," Grundy says. "You want to document that."
If people are inspired to start searching their attics, basements or storage
lockers and get a movement going to open a theatre/dance museum in Toronto,
she'll feel her work has done some good.
This isn't going to be an ugly termination or a slow fade into oblivion for the
company if the two artistic directors have anything to say about it.
Vanishing Acts: The Odyssey and Audacity of Danny Grossman & Company
runs from Wednesday to Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Fermenting Cellar, the
Distillery District. For tickets, from $25 to $100, call 416-973-4000.
Indian Students
From Remote Reserve Work For Months On Hip-Hop Show
Source: www.thestar.com
- Susan Walker, Dance Writer
(May 21, 2008) No matter which way you interpret it, Outside Looking
In is a bold experiment in cross-societal awareness. Toronto gets to
look in on a community most city folk would never have a chance to experience.
Teens from Northern Ontario get to perform in Canada's largest urban centre, a
city most are seeing for the first time.
Most of the five dancers coming from Lac La Croix, an Ojibwa Indian reserve
four hours into the woods outside Thunder Bay, had never been on an airplane
before they arrived in Toronto two weeks ago.
Tonight, on the stage of the Bluma Appel Theatre in the St. Lawrence Centre,
they will dance in a hip-hop show before about 400 people, including about 50
members of their own community who are flying in for the performance.
For all of them, it will be the first time in a professional dance show.
Nine months ago, they didn't know anything about dancing for the concert stage.
Tracee Smith, Toronto dancer, choreographer, MBA candidate and enterprising
show producer worked with them over a long, cold winter in their school
gymnasium in the tiny lakeside community of 400 people.
They learned their routines, danced every day, kept up their school work and
now Kevin Atatise, Lance Geyshick, Shantelle Geyshick, Cody Berry Ottertail and
Jennifer Geyshick are doing their first professional gig. They will dance with
some seasoned dancers picked for their ability to work with youth.
Hectic. Tiring. Chaotic. Those are some of the adjectives the students have
applied to their time in Toronto, a city as far removed from their everyday
experience as you can get. And what have they learned?
"To suck it up," says Cody, of whenever things don't go the way
they'd hoped. "Self-confidence," says Shantelle. Smith went up to the
reserve every few weeks during the nine-month preparation period, but two of
their schoolteachers, Maureen and Carla, have been rehearsing them all winter.
Some students dropped out, or their marks fell too far for them to qualify for
the final cut.
"They called us robots. Tracee's robots," says Kevin. But for those
who persevered and performed in the show for the community at Lac La Croix last
month, the reward was seeing how their family members were moved to tears and
their peers reduced to awe.
"It's been a whirlwind," says Smith. "I didn't expect the
project to grow so fast.
"I had to wear about 10 hats. It's a lot of work, but it's absolutely
amazing to see how far they have come and how much these kids have grown.
They're not so shy. They've been meeting new people all the time, which is something
they don't do at home. They're meeting people on the street, going through
revolving doors over and over again. It's been an amazing journey."
The multimedia jazz/hip-hop show intercuts live dance with video of life in Lac
La Croix, edited down from 35 hours of footage Smith has gathered. An
investment adviser when she launched Outside Looking In, she has
mustered sponsorship from BMO Financial Group, Canada Council for the Arts,
Sodexo and APTN, among others.
"I just wanted (the students) to get the feeling of being on a big stage
in front of a whole audience," Smith says. "I didn't want it to be
just a small artsy show."
Levi Claiborne, once her hip-hop teacher in New York, has worked with the
teenagers to take them from nothing to a fully disciplined little troupe. He'll
also perform in the show.
Next year, Smith wants to expand the project nationwide, auditioning Indian
students from across the country to work on a multi-disciplinary show for
Toronto. They have to be serious about school and they have to be serious about
some art form.
They visited the National Ballet School this week and saw the Alvin Ailey show
Friday night, and they'll go to Dirty Dancing before heading home. At
least one of the Lac La Croix students is bound to apply for a second go-round.
After witnessing the National Ballet School, Cody says he was really inspired.
He's got his sights set now on a dance career.