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April 16, 2009
Hope you all had a wonderful long weekend and are looking forward to all the
good weather predicted for us cold Torontonians. Could it be that the
warmer months are almost upon us!?
Did you all hear about the British church worker who slayed the judges on Britain's Got Talent? You HAVE to see the performance - look under TOP STORIES.
What about Jamie Foxx's fears almost realized in his portrayal of cellist Nathanial
Ayers? Check under FILM NEWS. And speaking of film, look at the
coverage of ReelWorld Film Festival - look under TOP STORIES.
OK, so I'll get right to it - Check out all the exciting news so please take a
walk into your weekly entertainment news!
This newsletter is designed to give you some updated entertainment-related news
and provide you with our upcoming event listings. Welcome to those
who are new members.
::TOP STORIES::
Tonya
Lee Williams: Gets ‘Reel’ About Films
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 15, 2009) *Canadian actress, Tonya
Lee Williams is best known for her role as
Dr. Olivia Barber Winters on “The Young and the Restless.” She’s starred on the
daytime drama for more than 15 years taking a short hiatus and then returning
to the show in 2007.
*While Williams admits that she stepped away from the long-running series to
take a break, the actress never really stopped working, thanks to the film
festival that she founded in 2001.
The fest, called the Reel
World Film Festival, has been
taking place in Toronto, Canada for almost a decade. Williams founded the event
in 2001 after deciding to do something in her native Canada to bring attention
to the talent north of the States.
“I wanted to do something in Toronto because I spend a lot of time there and I
wanted to create more opportunity for filmmakers of color,” she told EUR’s Lee
Bailey, “and by ‘of color’ I mean from Aboriginal to Asian to Black to Middle
Eastern to South Asian; multiracial on every level. That was the impetus of
what started this festival.”
Williams is no stranger to the film festival circuit admitting that she’s been
to them since she was 17 years old.
“I’ve been to festivals all over the world, and I found that most festivals
have a segregated slant to them. Even if they say international in scope, it’s
not to this ethnic diversity,” she described. “Toronto is such a melting pot of
ethnically diverse people; I wanted to create something where the audience
there had an opportunity to share the images together.”
And since, the Reel World Film Festival has been going strong. This year’s fest
begins today, April 15 and runs through Sunday, April 19 and features events
such as an opening day gala affair, industry panel series, a music video
program, an awards ceremony, and of course film screenings.
“It’s been tremendously successful on many levels,” Williams said, one success
being that the festival serves to showcase some hidden Canadian talent.
“At least 50% of our programming focuses on Canadian talent,” she said. “A lot
of the festivals in Toronto focus on movies outside of Canada. So we’ve created
a nice initiative and a platform that brings a great deal of attention to our
Canadian filmmakers.”
“On top of the films, there are other
focuses,” she continued. “We have industry series panels that are very specific
about how people do things in Canada with the government funding, how the
distribution works; it works differently in every country. We like to focus a
bit of our panels so people get more out of it from a Canadian perspective.”
The Reel World Film Festival awards ceremony also includes honors to a Canadian
film industry trailblazer and to six up-and-coming film artists.
There are a lot of people who have done a lot in the trenches of the Canadian
entertainment industry with no recognition,” Williams said of the Visionary
Award the festival bestows on an unsung film legend. “So it’s about giving
attention to the Canadian talent that’s there.”
The festival features a plethora of films from the new to the not so new, in
its quest to bring and little northern exposure to films and the film industry.
Actor Giancarlo Esposito’s directorial debut, “Gospel Hill,” is the festival’s
opening night featured film. The new movie stars Angela Bassett and Danny
Glover. The fest will also be screening Tyler Perry’s “The Family That Preys,”
though it has already gone to DVD.
“I wanted audiences to see it. The impact of Tyler Perry has not hit Canada the
way it has in the US [because] he’s marketed differently. [His films here] tend
to go straight to DVD,” Williams said. “We use Reel World as a tool for that
that as well; to bring a little audience attention to movies that get a lot of
attention in the states, but we don’t know as much about them here in Canada.”
The five-day event also features films from 45 other films from Turkey, India,
Spain, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Iran, Mexico, Switzerland, the Bahamas,
and the UK, and is expected to draw thousands.
“I’ve always seen the world as one place,” Williams said reflecting on the
‘Reel World’ double entendre. “I never divided it by countries, or the people
and ethnicities. Of the places I’ve lived, mostly when I came to the US, there
is such a great deal of segregation that goes on; lots of people together, but
living separately. Between my time living in the UK and Toronto, it’s a very
different sensibility. People tend not to be divided by their ethnicity. They
tend to live together more and blend together more in the different activities
that they do. I wanted the festival to reflect that.”
For more information about the Reel World Film Festival, founder Tonya Lee
Williams, or to buy tickets, visit the website at www.reelworld.ca.
ReelWorld Puts Global
Diversity Front And Centre
Source: www.thestar.com - Susan Walker, Special To The Star
(April 15,
2009) ReelWorld is closing in on a decade of
showcasing young filmmaking talent and highlighting the stories of diverse communities.
Its ninth annual festival opens tomorrow with a gala screening in the
Scotiabank theatre of the American movie Gospel Hill.
This year's fest boasts a particularly rich trove of 19 features and 28 short
films shown at 38 screenings in a mere five days. They range from drama to
comedy to documentary, and include films for young people, animation and music
video.
Hollywood seems to have shunned Gospel Hill, a movie made in 2008 with a
big-name cast. The film has gone to DVD without a commercial release.
Actor Giancarlo Esposito, who cast himself as one of the main villains of the
piece, directs. The 2008 film stars Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Adam Baldwin,
Julia Stiles and hip-hop artist the RZA.
But Gospel Hill is not just a story about race relations. Esposito is
Dr. Palmer, pawn of developers who are about to tear down the homes in the
black neighbourhood of Gospel Hill to make way for a golf course. Esposito will
be present Friday at 7:30 at Reelspeak in the Carlton Cinemas.
Also at the festival:
Swiss director Cristina Karrer, an Africa TV correspondent, paired up with
Werner Schweizer to make Hidden Heart. The documentary tells the story
of Hamilton Naki, the South African who played a pivotal role in the world's
first heart transplant in 1967. Dr. Christiaan Barnard got all the credit for
the history-making surgery, but he chose Naki, a labourer who was a self-taught
surgeon, to be his assistant.
Shades of Ray is an American comedy from Jaffar Mahmood. Ray's mother is
white and his father is Pakistani. When dad (the hilarious Brian George) comes
to visit, after his wife (Kathy Baker) has thrown him out, he admonishes Ray
(Zachary Levi) not to make the same mistake he made (marrying for love,
presumably). He arranges a date for Ray. Romantic mayhem ensues.
Among the ample Canadian offerings at the festival is Shirley Cheechoo's Sweet
Blood, a documentary about the alarming dilemma of the James Bay Cree
communities where diabetes is rampant and striking people at a younger and
younger age.
Homelessness in America is the subject of Skid Row. The doc follows Pras
Michel of The Fugees as he spends nine days living on the streets. He's in
conversation at the Carlton on Saturday at 8 p.m.
There are stories of child soldiers (Souljah); a prison choir in South
Africa (The Choir); Caribbean pan music (Panman: Rhythm of the Palms);
Hinduism on the Canadian prairies (Mad Cow, Sacred Cow) and native
stereotypes (Thomas King's I'm Not the Indian You Had in Mind).
For full details, go to reelworld.ca
Father Grieves Death Of 22-Year-Old Angel : Nick Adenhart
Source: www.thestar.com
- Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times
(April 10, 2009) As darkness gave way to
dawn, the doctors delivered the awful news: There was nothing more they could
do to save his son.
Jim Adenhart found his sanctuary where his son found joy.
The hospital was no place for a grieving father, not in the hour after death,
not when there was solace in life – and in baseball. And so the Angels unlocked
their Anaheim stadium – and their clubhouse – for a private sunrise service
yesterday morning.
Nick Adenhart had walked through those doors only eight hours before, all smiles. Jim
Adenhart walked through those doors just after dawn all tears.
Mike Butcher, the Angels' pitching coach, led Jim to his son's locker. Butcher
stepped back, leaving a respectful distance. This would be Jim's first memorial
service for his son, all his own.
He saw. He touched. He prayed. He cried.
Ken Higdon, the Angels' clubhouse manager, handed him the jersey his son had
worn Wednesday night, when Nick pitched six shutout innings, the finest game of
his young life. He was 22.
Perhaps Jim thought about what his son had told him a few days ago. He lives in
Maryland, but his son urged him to fly to California for his first start in
this new season. "You better come here, because something special is going
to happen," Nick told his father, according to agent Scott Boras.
If the son had not been looking out for the father, then the father would not
have been minutes away from the hospital when he got that 3 a.m. call, with the
horrible news that his son had been critically injured in a traffic accident.
Jim was not alone in those predawn hours. Butcher was at the hospital. So was
Tim Mead, the Angels' vice-president of communications. So were Boras and two
of his lieutenants, Mike Fiore and Jeff Musselman.
The men accompanied Jim to the stadium and into the clubhouse, then left him
alone at his son's locker. Five minutes passed, then 10, then 15.
And then cellphones started ringing, almost all at once. The word had gotten
out. The world demanded confirmation, details, reaction.
Boras, an agent for 25 years, said he'd never had a day like this one.
"This is an industry that is largely youth," he said. "We're
just not very prepared. It's just shocking to get the phone call."
Nick Adenhart was a passenger in a silver Mitsubishi Eclipse that was
broadsided in an intersection by a minivan that apparently ran a red light,
police said.
The minivan driver fled the crash on foot and was captured about 30 minutes
later. Police identified him as Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside, Calif.,
and said he had a suspended licence because of a previous drunken driving
conviction.
Preliminary results indicated Gallo's blood-alcohol level was
"substantially over the legal limit" of .08 per cent, police Lt.
Kevin Hamilton said.
Gallo was interviewed by investigators yesterday afternoon. Hamilton said Gallo
would be booked on three counts of murder, three counts of vehicular
manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and driving under the influence of alcohol.
With files from Associated Press
Singer Wows Reality Judges
Source:
www.thestar.com - Jill
Lawless, The
Associated Press
(April 14,
2009) LONDON–A
middle-aged volunteer church worker with the voice of an angel is Britain's
latest unlikely showbiz star.
Susan Boyle,
47, wowed judges and audience alike when she performed on the television
contest Britain's
Got Talent.. (See video HERE.)
By Tuesday, a video clip of Boyle's performance on Internet site YouTube has
been watched more than 2.7 million times.
The unemployed Scot, who said she'd "never been kissed," drew titters
when she told the judges her ambition was to be a professional singer.
But her soaring rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from the musical Les
Miserables astonished the show's hard-to-please judges.
They were captivated by the singer from Blackburn in western Scotland. Usually
acerbic judge Simon Cowell dubbed her singing ``extraordinary." Fellow
judge Piers Morgan said her "stunning" performance was "the
biggest surprise I've had in three years of this show."
The show, the first in a new series of Britain's Got Talent, was watched
by 11.4 million of Britain's 60 million people on Saturday night.
British bookmakers made Boyle the early favourite to win the series.
She is the latest in a proud tradition of underdogs who win the heart of the
British public.
Britain's Got Talent made a star of its first winner, an unassuming
mobile phone salesman named Paul Potts. He wowed audiences with his rendition
of the aria "Nessun Dorma" and has become a global recording star
since winning the series – and signing to Cowell's record label – in 2007.
The program, produced by Cowell, is the sister show of America's Got Talent.
Both are old-fashioned talent shows that resemble the singing contest American
Idol but with the addition of dancing, comedy and other forms of
performance.
Santo Domingo Has Cool Cafes, Plus Historic Walks And Lovely
Cathedrals
Source: ww.thestar.com - Robert Crew, Special To The Star
(April 04, 2009) SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC–It's a city most sun-seeking
North Americans
pass through quickly, if they spend any time here at all. But this
ultra-friendly, slightly rough-around-the-edges city has a lot to offer.
For history buffs, Santo Domingo is
magic. It has the first cathedral built in the New World, its first vice-regal
palace, its first paved street and much more. It's all within the 12-block Zona
Colonial, which dates back to the 16th century.
The Catedral Santa Maria la Menor dominates the Parque Colon (where there's
also a statue of Columbus). You'll be approached by freelance guides (the
licensed ones will have blue shirts and ID), and by amiable hustlers, who will
offer you taxi rides, guided tours and their opinion on every Dominican who has
ever played for the Blue Jays.
The sturdy cathedral, with its coral-limestone façade, was started in 1514 and
is a mix of styles. The atmosphere inside is serene; the high altar is hammered
silver.
The square itself is a pleasant, tree-lined place to sip coffee and watch the
world go by. For rather better coffee, however, La Cafetera Colonial is a short
stroll away on the pedestrian-only Calle el Conde. Once the haunt of Spanish
intellectuals fleeing the Franco regime, it retains a funky atmosphere.
That first paved street is the Calle Las Damas (the street of ladies) where 30
or so Spanish court ladies used to take the evening air just as they did back
home. En route to the Plaza Espana you'll pass houses that once belonged to
Hernan Cortes, conqueror of Mexico, and Nicolas de Ovando, the first governor
of the Americas, as well as the excellent Museo de las Casas Realas (everything
from pre-colonial Taino artifacts to colonial furnishings, coins and weapons).
The Alcazar de Colon in the Plaza de Espana was built in 1517 as a vice-regal
palace for Diego Colon, Christopher Columbus' son. Reconstructed after it
collapsed in the mid-20th century, it now has 22 rooms instead of the original
55.
On the other bank of the river across from the Zona Colonial is the
206-metre-high Faroa a Colon. Built in the shape of a cross, this monument now
houses what are said to be the remains of Christopher Columbus (Seville
Cathedral is another claimant). It was inaugurated in 1992 and has 149
searchlights and a beam that can be see for nearly 70 kilometres.
There are good restaurants aplenty in the Zona Colonial. Try dining by
starlight in the brick-arched courtyard at La Bricola (Arzobispo Merino/corner
of Padre Bellini) or on the patio of one of the half-dozen restaurants
(formerly warehouses) looking out over the Plaza de Espana.
For more information: www.godominicanrepublic.com
Robert Crew is an Oakville-based freelance writer. His trip was subsidized
by the Dominican Republic Ministry of Tourism.
CHUM's Rock 'N Roll Shuffles Off Dial
Source: www.thestar.com
- Greg Quill, Entertainment Columnist
(April 15, 2009) For the first time in 50
years there's a strange and ominous silence in Toronto's air.
Elvis, Motown, Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin,
Roy Orbison, The Righteous Brothers, The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival,
the Stones ... they were all just a dial punch away, cloistered in the golden
play lists of Toronto's once unstoppable rock 'n' roll-era oldies AM radio
station, 1050 CHUM.
Now it seems the formative musical creations of the most progressive artistic
generation in history have all but vanished from local airwaves.
1050 CHUM disappeared without ceremony March 26, the victim of changing media
times, an all-time low ratings performance and the decreasing demographic clout
of the boomer generation.
We loved having 1050 CHUM around. In its heyday in the late 1950s through the
early 1970s, it was a hit-after-hit powerhouse in Canadian broadcasting, and an
iconic model of Top 40 radio.
In this part of the world, CHUM ruled back then.
It was the city's heartbeat-with-a-backbeat, both an omnipresent, electric
force in the daily lives of post-World War II teenagers and a defining element
in Canada's cultural life.
And even if it slipped into self-parody in recent years – after a disastrous
flirtation with a sports and talk format in 2001 – it was a comforting reminder
of pop music's glory days.
But apparently we didn't love it enough to listen for more than a few minutes
at a time. At the bottom of the local radio heap, with a 0.7 share of total
hours tuned by listeners over the age of 12, and just 60,000 faithful who tuned
in for more than 15 minutes a week, 1050 CHUM died quietly after a long and
steady decline last month.
Even its home at 1331 Yonge St., a local landmark for decades, has been sold to
condo developers.
"Well, times change," says Chris Gordon, president of CHUM Radio,
which is now owned by media conglomerate CTVglobemedia. Replacing 1050 CHUM is
CP24 Radio 1050, an audio stream from the CP24 local live TV news channel
that's part of the Citytv property also taken over by CTV.
Given the success in the most recent BBM ratings book for Rogers-owned 680News
– an increase to a 6.5 share from 6 last winter and a winning reach of 1.1
million – it's perhaps not surprising that the new CP24 Radio is taking notice
of the growing appetite for local news.
"Talk and news is where AM is going," says Gordon. "We're
building a ubiquitous, seamless brand across three platforms: television, radio
and online."
Besides, adds Gordon, it's difficult for AM stations, with weaker, static-prone
mono signals, to play music and operate profitably.
"AM isn't where people are going to listen to music."
Not that CP24 Radio, still in its infancy, is a shining example of local news
radio. It's more like television without pictures. Anchors and reporters,
playing to a TV audience, occasionally urge listeners to "take a
look" at images they can't see or to reference filmed events without audio
narratives.
There are odd moments of dead air on CP24 Radio, a big-time radio no-no, and
the "station" lacks the kind of drama, spontaneity and reactivity
that real, live and dedicated radio must accomplish.
It's early days yet, says David Bray, senior vice-president of the Toronto
advertising company Hennessy & Bray Communications, and CTV's CHUM Radio
may well be hedging its bets.
"The goal is to hold on to the AM licence until radio goes digital,"
Bray says. "That will open up a new world of possibilities. Till then, the
clever idea is to put the machine in park and find the cheapest way to
operate."
Who might pick up the golden oldies slack in the Toronto listening area is
anyone's guess. The 55-plus demographic might be substantial – 27 per cent of
the population – but less than 1 per cent of advertising dollars target that
age group. In radio, servicing boomers isn't a risk many broadcasters want to
take, Bray says.
"Subscription satellite radio, XM and Sirius, have dedicated classic hits
channels, but that's niche technology and a niche market."
The audience for Moses Znaimer's AM 740, with a wide-ranging adult "pop
standards" play list that brackets out the harder sounds of the rock era,
is too sedate for CHUM-vintage hits, Bray believes.
However, AM 740's program director, Gene Stevens, concedes that "as CHUM
was fading in the last year or so, we've been continuing to add what we call
`zoomer gold' – The Beach Boys, early Van Morrison, The Beatles – that overlaps
CHUM's core material.
"We've always played Elvis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry and other artists
from the innocent '50s and '60s, music that we consider evergreen."
AM 740 also airs a Saturday night program focusing on gospel, soul and R&B
music from the 1960s.
"That was a big decade," Stevens says. "It means different
things to different people."
Corus Entertainment's classic rock station Q107, which is holding down fourth
place in Toronto's radio ratings, is doing too well with its
"best-of-the-best in the rock zone" format to take on pop hits from
CHUM's load, says program director Blair Bartram.
"We're in a nice pocket right now. We don't want to make any changes. But
there's definitely a hole now in Toronto for a classic hits format on FM."
Long-time music journalist Larry LeBlanc agrees.
"A classic Top 40 format in Toronto would work, but it would have to be on
the FM band and singles-driven, one hit after another, the way CHUM and CKEY
were in their heyday."
Failing that, LeBlanc says, for his classic golden-era fix he'll be tuning in
more frequently to Hamilton's oldies station CKOC (1150 AM), recently acquired
by Astral Media as part of its Standard Radio purchase.
"It's basically the same playlist as 1050 CHUM's. And it beams right into
Toronto. You can expect to see their audience numbers increase in the next few
months."
This Mouse Rocks The House
Source: www.globeandmail.com - Brad
Wheeler
(April 14,
2009) The best-laid plans of mice and men are not for Joel Zimmerman.
The electro-dance maverick, who goes professionally by the name Deadmau5
(pronounced "dead mouse" and arising from an incident in which a
mouse crawled into his computer), has earned a Juno Award and a 2009 Grammy
nomination. He has performed the world over and often shares chilled
Jägermeister with notorious Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee. And yet the former
tech-geek from Niagara Falls, Ont., denies any schemes to dominate dance music.
"These random things have happened my whole life," says Zimmerman,
"They just keep fitting in."
Speaking in the sky-lit Toronto loft he calls home - scattered about are
skateboards, a BMX bike, laptops, sound equipment and unpacked luggage - the
tired but talkative producer-musician answers a question about his signature
headpiece, a giant, foam mouse head that rests atop his boyish frame when he
performs. Zimmerman, knowledgeable about 3-D animation, originally used the
big-eared logo for earlier ventures, including a stint providing music clips
for sound libraries and website applications.
When an online friend e-mailed a picture of himself passed out on a couch,
Zimmerman manipulated the photo to include a dazed mouse head (with eyes X-ed
out, as in cartoons) and shot it back. The pal, who thought it hilarious,
suggested that Zimmerman wear the mouse head if he ever performed live.
"This was before I had even decided what kind of music I was going to
play," he says, drawing temporary energy from cigarettes and Coca-Cola.
The rodent-wear phenomenon is just one of many happenings that shaped
Zimmerman's unscheduled career. But while mouse and musician are now
inseparable, his relationship with dance music is not. Not only is the star
outspoken in his attitude toward song-merging DJs - "I don't see the
technical merit in it" - he finds his fandom ironic.
"Sometimes I look out at a crowd of 70,000 people," he remarks,
envisioning one of his stadium appearances. "I focus on a middle spot and
I'm thinking that it's my idea of hell."
That his audiences would pay to put themselves in a sweaty, jostling throng and
pay silly amounts of money for bottled water is an odd notion to the laid-back
Zimmerman, who no longer dances much himself. "I don't get it, but I don't
question it any more," he shrugs. "They're all smiling, they're all
jumping, so I'll throw 'em music."
The music comes in the form of an album (2008's Random Album Title, a
trance-disco soundscape that earned a Juno nomination), remixes (his remake of
Morgan Page's The Longest Road got him his Grammy consideration) and
live performances. At Friday's headlining appearance at Toronto's Kool Haus, he
did his excitable thing, using a laptop computer and other devices to shape and
squeeze sounds, while adding clanking percussion on top of driving beats.
Nobody really danced, except for a curvy, undulating woman on a podium at the
room's centre. She was part of the show, as were the swivelling light fixtures
and the multicoloured tubular bulbs onstage.
Zimmerman, who moved to his own grooves as he tweaked knobs and mixed music on
the fly, spoke earlier in the day about the importance of presenting sights as
well as sounds. "If I went to see somebody live, it would have to be
better than me buying a CD and listening to him in my studio," he says.
"Part of the live thing is being in the same room and seeing the guy - I
get that. But a ticket is $50; I can get the CD for $12."
Laying out the details of his ad hoc ascent, Zimmerman mentioned working his
way through dance clubs as a teenager on the Niagara Peninsula. Although he was
a rock fan (of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead), he filled in as a dance-club DJ.
Even as a teen, when it came to the technical aspects of dance music, he was
"the dude" when it came to lighting systems and software questions.
Later, he learned from the "mullets" (long-haired sound engineers)
and forged online relationships by logging into Internet forums populated by
electronic sound pioneers.
"The Internet is a brilliant learning tool," he says. "It's the
largest encyclopedia of all things to do with audio engineering."
His relationship with tattooed rocker Lee came about when another colleague
(Steve Duda, the head audio technician at Zimmerman's Mau5trap Recordings
label) passed on an electronic folder of "little weird ideas" to the
outlandish drummer. They hooked up in person at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum when
Lee was in town with Motley Crue and later formed a side-project with Duda and
Lee's cohort DJ Aero.
The group, which locked itself in a basement for five days in 2007 to record a
bleepy EP, calls itself WTF? You can figure out the acronym yourself, but the
reference is to an X-rated expression of bewilderment.
Zimmerman is a little dazzled by his lofty dance-world status. "Who would
have thought five years ago that you would have a sea of people saying
'Deadmau5,' " he says. "It's like they're talking about somebody
else. It's too wild."
Actually, it's just wild enough. It's quite likely that Zimmerman's career is not
as random as he'd lead you to believe, or even as random as he himself
believes. Talking to him, you get a sense of his determination. Perhaps he
wasn't always sure of his destination, but he was moving toward something.
*****
A better mouse head
Toronto electro-dance producer and musician Joel Zimmerman (Deadmau5) is
identifiable by the Muppet-y mouse head he wears onstage. It's not unusual for
Zimmerman (who has performed in some 30 countries) to meet fans with rodent
regalia even more spectacular than his own. But no longer, says the
Grammy-nominated artist, who plans to unveil the mightiest mouse lid yet in
about three months' time. "It will exploit some technology unseen to human
eyes," declares Zimmerman, "and nobody will be copying it any time this
decade."
Tell us more, please, we're all ears! "Sorry, I can't get it into it right
now," he replies, with a cheese-eating grin. "It's gonna be crazy,
that's all I can say." B.W.
Bow Wow Giving Up Rapping For
Acting?
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 14, 2009) *At the ripe old age of 22, Bow
Wow says he may give up his rap career and focus on his
Hollywood hustle full time. Why? Because, the music industry is full of
too many haters.
"I think I have a better chance at
getting an Oscar before a Grammy. The music industry is so fickle, there's so
many politics. I think a lot of people don't pay attention to the credits or
the artistry no more," the hip hop star said in an interview with the Associated
Press. "I think there's so much concern about what's going on right now
instead of the actual artistry. But that's how the record business is. But for
acting, I got that covered."
Bow Wow, born Shad Gregory Moss, returns
to HBO's "Entourage" this summer and appears in the Hurricane
Katrina-inspired basketball drama, "Hurricane Season," with Forest
Whitaker, Taraji P. Henson and Lil Wayne, later this year.
Meanwhile, his just-released eighth
studio album, "New Jack City II," is a reflection of just how much
he's grown since his last album, "The Price of Fame," in 2006.
"I told myself that I would never force it upon people to make them
think or make them believe that I'm grown (and) I said I'll just do it all
through my music and that's something I always preach," he told the AP.
"I never acted out with my actions to show people that I'm getting grown,
you never see me with a cigarette, or see me wilding out or doing anything like
that."
On the other hand, could "New Jack
City II" be the source and/or reason for Bow Wow's seemingly
rash decision to abandon rapping? She first reported that sales of the
CD were less than 25,000 which prompted some testy, er,
nasty "back and forth" between him and blogger Sandra Rose.
Jamiel
Cox CD Finally Out
Source: www.Top40Charts.com / www.jamielcox.com
(April 15, 2009) *Dallas, TX. - It's been approximately four years since
Urban R&B artist JaMiel
Cox took the victory on stage at the legendary FAMU
Homecoming Talent Contest.
JaMiel's passionate evoking solo of Musiq Soulchild's, "Love" removed
each and every one's doubt and quieted all chatter of his lack of vocal prowess
and talent.
JaMiel Cox is a virtual blast of talent waiting to burst on the world of music.
JaMiel is not just another artist/songwriter/producer fighting for media
attention.
JaMiel Cox spent years being tutored by, the great Reverend Watkins, of
"The Drifters" fame, and T-Boz's of TLC's father as well. Reverend
Watkins gave JaMiel the credibility he needed to set him apart in a globe
inundated with hit maker hopefuls. Mr. Melvin of "BET" fame, who
trained the cast of dancers for the "Brothers to Brutha" video,
trained JaMiel, in dance and stage presence.
JaMiel, has sung back up for "Angie Stone, and sung at the Trumpet Awards
in Atlanta as well. JaMiel pre-released his first single in November of 2008 to
test the market for his musical acceptance and the song "Lost" soared
to the top of the Internet R&B charters at No 14, and his music is still
soaring up the charts in Japan and Europe. JaMiel Cox is now signed to LS
Records - President Terry Copley (Grammy Award Winner). Konsonant Film and
Television music licensing signed JaMiel Cox to an artist contract and JaMiel
Cox has joined Southern Coalition Movement.
Mr. Cox's credits for the upcoming CD project titled "The Up and Downs of
Me" read like a Who's Who of the American Music Business. His producers
include Firestarter Productions - Producers for Bobby Brown; Walter Earl -
Producer for Santana and Kanye West; and Tim German - Producer for Ralph
Tresvant. "The title of the CD speaks for itself. It is about life as I
know it and I am sharing that with the people I love, and my fans," he
said. "Love, Being Lost, Finding the right Woman, Making a living, etc. is
what my project is all about". Walter Earle, say this is the most
versatile and vocally pleasing Urban R&B CD released in years. JaMiel is an
amazing talent and we look forward to hearing more from him in years to come.
Win a Dell Adamo Laptop with the purchase of JaMiel Cox's EP for 4.99 at www.jamielcox.com,
containing the hit single "You."
Letoya Embraces Fans With
'Lady Love'
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 15, 2009) *(NEW YORK) - Having established herself as a
chart-topping, platinum-certified artist, songwriter and entrepreneur, LeToya is ready to make her next move on June 23 with the
release of the singer's sophomore album "Lady Love" on Capitol
Records.
Already shaping up as the female anthem of 2009 is the album's lead single,
"Not Anymore." Written and co-produced by Grammy Award-winning artist
Ne-Yo, the track pulsates with empowering determination as LeToya's soulful
voice reaches out to females who are "fed up" with straying
boyfriends. "That drama … I don't want it anymore," she declares.
"I dried my eyes and realize/I deserve somebody who treats me right."
Out the box, "Not Anymore" finished No.1 Most Added at Media Base.
Among the 42 urban stations that have added the song include such powerhouses
as, WJLB/Detroit, KBXX/ Houston, KBFB/Dallas, WPEG/Charlotte, WWPR/New York and
WOWI/Norfolk.
Showcasing a more powerful LeToya, "Not Anymore" is a fitting next
chapter in Letoya's evolving career. A founding member of the multi-platinum
group Destiny's Child, LeToya forged her solo status in 2006 with the emotional
ballad "Torn." The No. 1 urban mainstream hit about the travails of a
strained relationship spent a record-breaking 24 days at No. 1 as the most
requested video on BET's "106 & Park."
It also paved the way to gold- and platinum-certified success for the singer's
self-titled debut album. Featuring production by Bryan-Michael Cox and Jermaine
Dupri, the set bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums charts. LeToya went on to garner accolades as Top Songwriter of 2006 by
ASCAP and one of AOL's best new artists that same year.
The video for "Not Anymore' was shot in Los Angeles under the direction of
Bryan Barber. In addition to Ne-Yo, "Lady Love" boasts production
contributions by (Tank, Oak, Bei-Maejor, Neff-U). LeToya also makes cameo
appearances on albums by two of her label-mates: "Somebody Else" from
Avant's recently released self-titled album and "Love Rollercoaster"
from MIMS' upcoming sophomore set "Guilt."
Born and raised in Houston, LeToya (née Luckett) sang her first solo in church
at the tender age of five. After meeting Beyoncé Knowles in elementary school,
the pair later joined forces as members of Destiny's Child. During LeToya's
seven-year stint, she co-wrote two of the group's gold singles, "Bills
Bills Bills" and "Say My Name," and appeared on the group's
breakthrough album, "The Writing's on the Wall."
Not only is she a talented singer, LeToya's also a successful entrepreneur. She
owns and operates two upscale women's boutiques called Lady Elle. Now in its
sixth year, the clothing store is located in Houston's Uptown Park shopping
center.
This summer, Luckett will co-star in her first feature film debut; The
Preacher's Kid and is set to begin pre-production on a comedy from Lionsgate
Films.
Atlantic
Signs Jason Castro; Slated To Release Debut Album Later This Year
Source: Warner Music Canada
(April 14,
2009) Atlantic Records has announced the signing of singer/songwriter Jason Castro.
The Texas-based tunesmith – best known as the third runner-up on the 2008
season of Fox’s American Idol – is currently hard at work on his debut
album, set for release later this year. Among his creative collaborators are Grammy
Award-winning producer John Fields (Lifehouse, Switchfoot, Soul Asylum) and a
number of acclaimed songwriters, including Kara DioGuardi (Kelly Clarkson,
Jewel, Santana), Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall), Sacha Skarbek (James
Blunt, Jason Mraz), Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams), and Jason Reeves (Colbie
Caillat).
A multi-talented singer and guitarist, Jason Castro was among the most popular
and talented artists in American Idol history, entering the record books
as the first contestant ever to play an instrument on the show. His performance
of the Leonard Cohen-penned classic "Hallelujah" proved such an
audience favourite that cult hero Jeff Buckley’s rendition of the song hit #1
on the iTunes chart the following week, selling an astonishing 178,000 digital
singles. Jason scored a chart-topping single of his own a few weeks later, when
his interpretation of "Over The Rainbow" also hit #1 on iTunes after
a show-stopping performance of the song on American Idol. Upon the
season’s conclusion, Castro was among the stars of the hugely successful
"American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008."
Since then, Jason has been busy writing and woodshedding the new songs that
will appear on his debut album. In December, he teamed with Amazon.com to
release a free download of "White Christmas" as a special holiday
gift to his fans. Castro has also recorded a new version of
"Hallelujah," which will be featured on the soundtrack to the film, Amar
A Morir, to be released theatrically this summer.
In addition, Jason has been a prominent supporter of a variety of charity
organizations. Last December saw him starring at a Garland, Texas Christmas
concert benefitting the city’s Best Education Foundation. He has also been an
active supporter of The Recording Academy’s MusiCares Foundation.
For up-to-the-minute information, please visit www.jasoncastromusic.com
and www.myspace.com/jasoncastromusic.
Artists Offer Concert
Discounts
Source: www.globeandmail.com - John Gerome, Associated Press
(April 9, 2009) NASHVILLE, Tenn. — If you want to sit in the really good
seats for a Keith Urban concert this summer, a pair of tickets will put you
about back about $170 (U.S.). But in a nod to the tough economic times, the
country superstar has also priced some tickets as low as $20 a seat, so fans
won't stay home because they can't afford to go.
“They may be to the side, but they still have a good view of the stage,” Mr.
Urban said of the discount tickets. “It's a way for us to allow those people
that are a little hard up for cash to come and see the show.”
“It's a balance for me,” he added, “because we want to put on a good show. I'd
make every ticket $10, but we'd be up there with a megaphone and a flashlight
with some coloured paper over it.”
The concert industry has been impervious to the recession and high
ticket prices over the years. Last year in North America, the average
box-office gross was up 18 per cent and the average attendance up 6.3 per cent,
according to Billboard magazine. But with the economic news getting worse by
the day, artists and concert promoters are trying to make sure fans come out to
the stadiums, arenas and concert halls this year by offering ticket deals and
other incentives.
No Doubt is giving away a digital download of their entire catalogue in
exchange for the purchase of a premium ticket ($42.50 before taxes and fees).
Coldplay plans to give concertgoers a free live album, while U2 is pricing at
least 10,000 tickets to every show in the $30 range (though the top price will
still cost a hefty $250 a ticket).
And alt-country star Lucinda Williams, also worried about the economy and
miffed about fees tacked on to her concert tickets, is offering a credit on
concert merchandise, about $7 on clothing and $5 on CDs, and on merchandise on
her online store, lucindawilliams.com. The offer is through July 31 to
accommodate people who attended her shows before the announcement.
“I understand that this may only be a small gesture and in no way solves the
problem long-term, but I feel that it is important to try and do something to
make it a little easier during this time,” she said in a statement.
Promoters are also offering deals. The Stagecoach country music festival in
Indio, Calif. (with Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and more) cut the cost of
two-day passes to $99 from $167 two years ago. Two other popular U.S. summer
festivals, Bonnaroo and Coachella, are offering tickets on layaway.
Summer is a busy time for the concert business. Live Nation, the world's
largest promoter, estimates that more than 50 per cent of its annual profit
comes in the summer months.
But with this year's economic uncertainty, promoters could have a tougher time
filling seats.
“In a crowded marketplace in difficult economic times, you want your show or
event to stand out as something people recognize as a deal,” said Gary
Bongiovanni, editor-in-chief of the concert industry publication Pollstar.
Rocker Stevie Nicks, who's currently on a reunion tour with Fleetwood Mac, said
times are so bad, the band doesn't know if it can afford to go overseas: “It's
so expensive to do that that you put people out of business to go play for
them. It's affecting everybody.”
Live Nation offers a $10 Tuesday promotion for some shows and is expanding its
four-pack plan, where fans can buy four tickets for the price of three. Last
year, Live Nation offered the four-pack deal at 66 per cent of concerts in the
venues it owns. This year, Live Nation plans to expand it to at least 75 per cent.
“Through this we're saying, ‘If you reward us by bringing your friends, we'll
reward you by bringing you a cheaper ticket,”' said Jason Garner, Live Nation's
CEO for global music.
AEG Live president and CEO Randy Phillips said the entire industry is more
price-conscious this year, including artists. As an example, he cited Michael
Jackson's summer shows at the O2 arena in London.
“The top ticket price is ($110). People think I'm crazy because we can get
($220). But we'd rather play before more fans and have a lower gross,” Mr.
Phillips said.
In some ways, Mr. Phillips said, an ailing economy can help the industry. When
people splurge in hard times, they're more likely to go to a concert or a music
festival than take a vacation or buy a car.
Still, Mr. Phillips predicted, “The other shoe is going to drop ... this
rampant unemployment has to affect our business.”
Live Nation's Mr. Garner is more optimistic. He said the $50 average ticket
price for a concert is a good value compared with sporting events and other
live entertainment. Based on early ticket sales, he expects business to remain
strong in 2009.
Rascal Flatts' Jay DeMarcus agreed, saying concerts and other forms of
entertainment may provide some relief for those going through hard times.
“People will always need that break, that escape from reality, I think that's
why people have continued to buy tickets and show up at our shows,” he said. “I
think it's an opportunity for them to take the whole family for at least a
couple of hours and forget about (everything) that's going on.”
The Voice That Launched 1,000 Sighs
Source: www.thestar.com
- John Terauds, Classical Music Critic
(April 11, 2009) She has her own perfume, La
Voce by Renée Fleming. There is a dessert called La Diva Renée. If your nose and
palate aren't happy enough, there's the Renée Fleming Iris to delight your
eyes.
But this would all be nothing if there wasn't the voice to launch a thousand
sighs.
It's there in spades, a rich, lyric soprano attached to a winsome personality
that has turned a girl from Rochester, N.Y., into the reigning queen of the
vocal world.
Recently 50 (on Valentine's Day), the diva is at the peak of her vocal power
and artistry, celebrated on the world's most glamorous stages – invited to sing
for royalty and heads of state.
Her last high-profile public appearance was at the Lincoln Monument concert
given in honour of President Barack Obama's inauguration in January.
But she doesn't float around in a bubble of silks and brocades. She works hard,
and makes a point of showing up where most opera divas fear to tread. Her
appearances on television have included Sesame Street and The View.
She loves jazz and Broadway. She even recorded several songs on Howard Shore's
soundtrack for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
Over the course of a 25-minute phone conversation, Fleming is free of pretension,
focused on the responsibilities of her craft and on raising two daughters.
The soprano returns to Roy Thomson Hall after a nearly five-year absence on
Friday night. She'll sing a program of opera arias and art songs with her old
teacher, Hartmut Höll, on the piano.
The visit is part of a spring break from opera. There are recitals and concerts
in North America and Europe until May.
Friday's planned program is not an easy collection of operatic warhorses.
Instead, it mixes favourites by George Frideric Handel and Richard Strauss with
three new songs written for her by French composer Henri Dutilleux (Le
temps, l'horloge – Time, the clock) and John Kander (A Letter from
Sullivan Ballou), as well as four of the gorgeous Poêmes pour mi by
Olivier Messiaen.
"The Toronto audience is cultivated and knowledgeable," says Fleming.
"I certainly wouldn't sing this program everywhere."
The singer says that putting together a recital program is a "painstaking
process" for her, and she likes to include newer compositions.
"My heart belongs to 20th century music," she says. "It's been
part of my sensibility since I was a child."
The Kander song is on the program "because people are incredibly touched
by it," Fleming explains.
It takes its lyrics from a letter written by a Union soldier to his beloved
during the American Civil War, containing a message as relevant today as in
1861.
"People would be moved even it I just read the letter," says the
diva.
Fleming admits she is a bit nervous about her Toronto visit.
She has not sung the Messiaen songs in public before, and they're not easy.
"I'm beginning to wonder if I bit off more than I can chew," she
admits with surprising candour.
In previous interviews, and in her biography, The Inner Voice (released
in paperback by Penguin in 2004), Fleming makes no secret of how difficult it
was to hone her voice and dramatic talent. She would leave master classes with
legendary soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in tears.
She has also never hidden the fact that her voice-teacher mother pushed her
talented daughter hard. Would Fleming encourage her two children, Amelia, 16
and Sage, 13, to follow in her footsteps?
"My younger daughter wants to be a singer, but not an opera singer,"
she says, laughing.
"She's only 13, so she could still change her mind several times. My older
daughter could have the talent to be an opera singer."
Fleming sees herself as a nurturer rather than dictator. She wants to expose
her girls to as many options as possible, so that they can make up their own
minds.
"My children have travelled 100 times more than I ever did. I try to
facilitate their interests."
Domestically and professionally, Fleming says she has finally found a measure
of comfort: "Recently, I've really, really been enjoying my work."
The performer says this means "that I can go on stage and trust that what
I want to sing would actually occur. It's come after years of trying to learn
to give a total performance.
"I'm only just getting it in time to retire," she laughs.
"That's the great irony of this life."
Not that she's about to turn her back on the spotlight. She has engagements
stretching well into the future at the world's top opera houses, including her
main home, the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where she has even been
host of several of the company's live broadcasts into movie theatres.
"At the Met, we've blocked out a master plan that goes to 2016 – 2016!
That's mind-boggling," she exclaims.
Like a good character actor, the singer talks about how she tries to become an
operatic character, rather that showing off La Diva Renée.
As during Hollywood's so-called Golden Age, when Bette Davis was always Bette
Davis, in opera "the style used to be to maintain one's personality,"
says the singer. "Audiences today want a more authentic story; the
aesthetic has changed."
Fleming is the very model of that modern major opera star.
"I'm not the goddess-on-a-pedestal type," she asserts.
But that doesn't mean her fans can't treat her like a goddess anyway.
Randy Cain, Member Of The Delfonics,
Dies At 63
Source: By Dan Gross, Philadelphia Daily News
(April
13, 2009) Randy Cain, who was a founding member of Philly soul band the Delfonics and who
sang on such hits as "La La Means I Love You," and "Didn't I
(Blow Your Mind This Time)," died Thursday. He was 63.
No cause of death was yet known for Cain, who formed the Delfonics with
brothers William and Wilbert Hart while attending Overbrook High in the 1960s.
Cain left the group in 1971 and was replaced by Major Harris.
In the 1980s, Cain returned for a later incarnation of the group, and for the
past several months Cain had been again performing in the Delfonics with
William Hart, the group's lead singer and songwriter and the sole owner of the
name of the group.
The reunion was somewhat surprising. In 2002 and 2005, Cain and Wilbert Hart filed
and won civil suits against William Hart and against Arista Records/Sony BMG
for back royalties.
"I'm gonna miss him. We grew up together since 1968," Wilbert said of
Cain, whom he last saw four or five months ago.
"We're gonna have to do what we're doing until God brings us
together," said Wilbert, who now performs with a group as "Wil Hart
formerly Delfonics."
Cain had lived for a while in Willingboro with Wilbert and his family, and
according to Wilbert had recently moved into an apartment in Maple Shade.
Wilbert said he hopes Cain will long be remembered through the Delfonics'
music.
The group's timeless tunes had a resurgence in popularity after several songs
were featured in Quentin Tarantino's 1997 film "Jackie Brown."
"That three-part harmony with the falsetto sound was phenomenal," DJ
Jerry Blavat said of the Delfonics.
Blavat said he was the first DJ to spin "La La Means I Love You," and
also had Cain and the Hart brothers performing on his TV show "Jerry's
Place," which was broadcast on WFIL.
Chuck Gamble, an executive with Philadelphia International Records (PIR) -
Kenny Gamble's and Leon Huff's record label - said last night that "Gamble
and Huff have fond memories of working with Randy and the group."
Ginuwine
Shares His 'Thoughts'
Source: www.eurweb.com -
(April
13, 2009) “I try to be
exactly who I am and that’s a gentlemen,” Ginuwine said. “I don’t want to have people in
general thinking of me as anything but a gentleman. I’m not going to disrespect
women; I’m not going to do something that will disrespect my wife. I’m always
trying to handle things as a gentleman and I’m going to continue to do that.”
Multi-platinum artist Ginuwine broke onto the scene in
the ‘90s and garnered a fan base of females thanks to his smooth tenor vocals,
sexy lyrics, and infectious tracks.
The fact that he makes women swoon didn’t hurt either. Ginuwine’s debut album,
titled “The Bachelor,” released his first hit single, “Pony,” which saturated
the airwaves in 1996 as he and producer Timbaland became a hit duo.
Now, “the bachelor” is a married man, with children. And with five albums and a
few hits and collabos later, the showman is prepping a new disc called “A Man’s
Thoughts.”
“I wanted something that would intrigue people,” he said of the new album’s
title. “I did about 40 songs and once I started picking the songs I wanted to
be on the CD, it kind of all tied into a man’s thoughts – how a man thinks and
how a man does things in certain situations.”
However intriguing the CD title or the music of the new disc, the latest buzz
on Ginuwine has not been about his forthcoming album. In early March, reports
surfaced that Ginuwine and actress LisaRaye – who stars in his “Last Chance”
video from the forthcoming disc – were snuggled up in a restaurant in Beverly
Hills. The story was soon revealed as bogus and perhaps even a publicity stunt
set up by “other people.”
“The media really takes things and runs with it,” he said of the wild reports
of kissing and hanging at a hotel with his longtime friend. “I just didn’t know
that it was like that now. I’ve been out the game for a while, but I’m no
stranger lies or the paparazzi, but for them to just say things just like that,
without actually knowing what’s going on, was really amazing to me.”
Ginuwine confessed to EUR’s Lee Bailey that he thinks LisaRaye is a beautiful
girl, but explained that the two were never an item.
“I admire her and I admire her work, but we were never together. We were doing
a video and that’s really it. I don’t even know where it came from.”
He said that in addition to never wanting to lose the love and respect of his
children and his wife, former rapper Sole, Ginuwine said that being a player -
now that he has a family - would threaten the respect level of his fans.
“I try to be exactly who I am and that’s a gentlemen,” he said. “I don’t want
to have people in general thinking of me as anything but a gentleman. I’m not
going to disrespect women; I’m not going to do something that will disrespect
my wife. I’m always trying to handle things as a gentleman and I’m going to
continue to do that.”
What he’s also continuing to do is fundamental R&B music, though he’s
working with the changes of the music industry.
“It was ’96 when I came out, so it’s been 13 years. I’m still learning. Things
are changing dramatically. It’s definitely different,” he said. “The computer
age, has really put a dent in [music] careers.”
Ginuwine complained of how the work of music artists is often accessible due to
the fact that music is done through computer technology, although that same
technology gives artists another medium to distribute and create their work.
“Kids can get your album before it hits the stores. It’s affecting us in a bad
way. So you have to try to find your way around and think of different things,”
he said as he listed car or money giveaways as incentives. “We’re thinking of
things that will make people go in the store and buy the record. If they can
download it, why would they? We’re trying to package things and give the people
more than just a CD.”
While there are no marketing details to the release of the new disc, Ginuwine
guarantees R&B, straight, no chaser. Along with the lead track “Last
Chance,” there are ballads and slow jams that will not disappoint fans.
“My strength has been slow ballads, so I wanted to come back and secure my base
and let people know that I’ve not forgotten the true essence of R&B.”
Look for “A Man’s Thoughts” to hit shelves the first week of June, 2009. And
for more on Ginuwine, visit his MySpace page.
Cult Of Neko Case Grows With Latest Album
Source: www.thestar.com
- Ben Rayner, Pop
Music Critic
(April
12, 2009) A few years ago, a 28-year-old Neko Case was dangled a recording contract
with the venerable major label Elektra Records, only to have it torn from her
grasp at the last minute when the company suddenly ceased to exist, a casualty
of corporate consolidation.
It didn't necessarily feel like it back then, but it was probably the best thing
that could have happened to her.
"Elektra wanted me to sign for a little while, and then they just
disappeared," recalls Case. "But I would have taken it,
unquestioningly, because I thought that's how things were done. And luckily for
me, I didn't get it, and even though it was very disappointing at the time, I
ended up learning how to do it the right way instead."
Flash forward to the present and Case, now a still-tomboyish 38, has just
scored the highest indie debut of the year on Billboard's U.S. album chart with
Middle Cyclone – her sixth album and third for the artist-friendly Anti-
imprint – which rocketed in at No. 3 upon release early last month. Here in
Canada, it SoundScanned its way to the No. 5 position. At a time when people
have supposedly stopped buying records, they're still buying records by this
singularly dark and strange country siren.
The peripatetic Virginia native now enjoys a level of acclaimed notoriety
sufficient to move an impressive 200,000 copies of her last album, 2006's Fox
Confessor Brings the Flood. She spends her downtime recording and
occasionally touring with the equally popular New Pornographers. High-profile
friends like M. Ward and the Band's Garth Hudson drifted out to Case's newly
purchased farm in Vermont along with such usual suspects as the Sadies and
Carolyn Mark during the 10 months of piecemeal sessions for Middle Cyclone. Tickets
to her two shows at Trinity-St Paul's United Church this coming Friday and
Saturday sold out so quickly that reviewers were asked to submit their requests
to attend back in early February.
Case has managed quite nicely, thank you, without that contract. She's probably
right in her guess of what would have happened if she'd inked a deal with
Elektra: "I would have made a record, they wouldn't have put it out, and I
would have been very disappointed. I would have ended up shooting myself in the
foot to get out of the deal."
The album she would have handed in to the label, after all, is 2000's Furnace
Room Lullaby, a set of black- and broken-hearted traditionalist-country
laments that was worlds apart from her boisterous 1997 debut for Mint Records, The
Virginian, and featured a cover photo of Case lying dead on a floor.
It didn't exactly scream "hit record," but reviews were ebullient,
praising the singer's full-throated hurtin' wail and the transporting Gothic
poetry of her lyrics. The devoted Cult of Case began growing in earnest. It's
been adding members ever since, hence the mainstream breakthrough she seems to
have attained with Middle Cyclone.
"I'm always really worried about people showing up for the shows, and the
presales for these shows we're doing right now are going really well," she
says modestly. "So that has made me feel a lot – a lot – more
relaxed."
Although she jokes that she's developing a "desire for compromise,"
Case has doggedly continued to propel her unique vision of
"Americana" beyond such catch-all labels on Middle Cyclone.
Steeped in animal, elemental and fantastical imagery – killer whales, amorous tornados
and an off-duty Death are among the songs' protagonists – the disc offers a
dreamlike blur of styles ranging from old-time twang to mystic pop to
psychedelia, even a hint of cabaret. Easy points of reference are few because
Case sounds like no one these days so much as Neko Case. The former punk-rock
drummer is now queen of her own peculiar niche.
"I don't really know what I'm doing a lot of the time," she says,
summing up her formal musical training as nine months of violin in grade school
("I know how to hold the bow"). "Since I'm not an educated
musician as far as theory or things of that nature go, I feel like the only
thing I can do is try to show some marked growth with everything.
"Records get harder to make every time you make one. It just becomes more
challenging because your senses are enhanced by every time you do it. You
become more picky and more microscopic about things and then the ideas multiply
like rabbits – which ones to chase and which ones not to chase? And that's why
I like taking a long time to record. You don't have the pressure of `We only
have so much time.' I think that's very stilting."
One of the only luxuries of success that Case has allowed herself is her spread
on a former sheep farm in Vermont, a rural property in the middle of nowhere
complete with its own studio in the barn.
She spends a lot of solitary time there with her four dogs so it's not
surprising that recurring natural motifs dominate Middle Cyclone, nor
that she chose to end the record with a half-hour of crickets chirping around a
swamp.
"I've always been a real nature freak. I think that just makes me feel
comfortable."
Sailing Along, But With An Eye On The Edge
Source: www.thestar.com
- John Terauds, Classical
Music Critic
(April
13, 2009) With the recession in full swing, it's time to look at how the
arts and entertainment industry is coping, and how various sectors plan to keep
their audiences in the months ahead. This is the fourth story in a series.
"Long after you and I are dead and buried, there will still be a Toronto Symphony," is Mike
Forrester's assessment of the risks of the current economic recession.
In the short term, however, our town's flagship orchestra is "battening
down the hatches," says Forrester, vice-president of marketing and
business development at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. "In the words of
our CEO Andrew Shaw, `This is not business as usual.'"
These sentiments are echoed by Toronto's other top presenters of classical
music and opera.
It may be a rough ride over the next year, but the consensus view is that
everyone should come out okay, assuming they continue to offer performers and
productions that people want to pay for.
The city is coming out of an unprecedented boom in musical performance, with
subscriptions and single-ticket sales to concerts, recitals and productions
sitting at or near all-time highs.
The Canadian Opera Company has
raised the curtain on 99 per cent capacity houses since moving to the Four
Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in 2006. Its subscription renewal rate
is 75 per cent – roughly double that of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Opera Atelier is also doing well at
the Elgin Theatre. "We've sold 31 per cent more subscriptions this year
than last," says Opera Atelier general manager Jane Hargraft.
The symphony has increased attendance above 85 per cent at Roy Thomson Hall and
is working toward jointly establishing a summer performance venue at
Niagara-on-the-Lake with Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Music Toronto has been turning
ticket buyers away from its string quartet recital series at the Jane Mallett
Theatre. The 111-year-old Women's Musical Club of Toronto sold out this year's
season at University of Toronto's Walter Hall several months before it opened.
The Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra has
bumped its subscription renewal rate above 80 per cent, which is about 20 per
cent more than the norm for orchestras.
Tafelmusik managing director Tricia Baldwin says that her group had "its
highest ticket revenues in history this year."
Recently returned from a Canadian Arts Summit, Baldwin says that the performing
arts have not been greatly affected by economic turmoil, so far.
Since subscriptions for the 2009-10 season have only recently gone on sale, no
one will have a definitive answer on what next year will look like until the
summer. But early results are encouraging.
"A month ago, I thought it was just okay," says the TSO's Forrester
of next year's subscription tally. When he looked again last week, subscription
sales had surged (single tickets aren't on sale yet). "Of our $9.5 million
in projected ticket revenues (for 2009-10), $4.5 million was in already,"
says Forrester.
But Forrester and Baldwin are not taking any chances.
"The Earth is flat for a performing arts organization," Forrester
explains. "You sail along until you go off the edge."
This explains why even old, established and well-endowed orchestras in the
United States have had to tighten their belts in dramatic ways. The
Metropolitan Opera has cancelled one of next season's new productions. Just last
week, the Atlanta Symphony announced a hiring freeze, and 5 to 10 per cent cuts
in salaries for both administrators and musicians.
So far, no one in Toronto is thinking about cuts. But people are taking
precautions.
Baldwin says Tafelmusik has set aside a $700,000 contingency fund to allow it
to keep up its growing international touring schedule, even if fundraising
falls short.
"You don't want to hide under your desk and say what if the sky
falls," Baldwin explains.
Tafelmusik's Carnegie Hall debut this winter has led to other engagements, as
did the group's visit last year to Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. "It
was rough on the travel budget," Baldwin admits, but worth every penny.
Tafelmusik's top manager says the secret to managing the recession is
"having one-on-one contact with people, having a contingency plan and
offering exciting programming."
Forrester concurs. He points to music director Peter Oundjian as a particular
asset. Now in his fifth season with the TSO, "Oundjian has managed to
connect with the city," he says. "If he is on the bill, it instantly
means an extra 10 to 15 per cent increase in single-ticket sales."
Many Canadian arts groups are in a better position to weather a recession
because of two additional factors: they had to cope with massive cuts in
government arts support in the 1990s and are less dependent on endowment income
to cover annual expenses.
"That's where the TSO's accumulated deficit came from," says
Forrester of the last decade's government cuts. The organization has been
running in the black the last few years. "We were hoping to grow our way
out of that deficit," he adds. "Now it may take a little
longer."
In an informal conversation a few weeks ago, Canadian Opera Company general
director Alexander Neef said that the smaller endowment funds held by Canadian
arts organizations mean that when the stock market crashes, there is less money
to lose.
Artists, long accustomed to making do with as little as possible, know a silver
lining when they see it.
MUSIC TIDBITS
Peas
Top Hot 100 For The First Time
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 10, 2009) *The Black Eyed Peas have scored their first No. 1 record
on Billboard's Hot 100 with the 39-1 rise of "Boom Boom Pow," the
first single from their forthcoming album "The E.N.D. (The Energy Never
Dies)." The act's prior best showing on the Hot 100 was a No. 3
peak for both "Don't Phunk With My Heart" and "My Humps" in
2005. The Peas pushed Lady GaGa's
"Poker Face" down to No. 2 this week, while Flo Rida's "Right
Round" shifts down to No. 3, Soulja Boy Tell'em feat. Sammie's "Kiss
Me Thru The Phone" moves down to No. 4, Jamie Foxx feat. T-Pain's
"Blame It" holds at No. 5, and T.I. featuring Justin Timberlake's
"Dead and Gone" falls to No. 6.
Rounding out the top 10 are Kid Cudi's "Day 'N' Nite" at No.
7, the All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" at No. 8, The Fray's
"You Found Me" at No. 9, and Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" at
No. 10.
We Remember 'Pop' Winans
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 10, 2009) *David
"Pop" Winans Sr., the Grammy-nominated patriarch of gospel's famed Winans family, died
Wednesday at a Nashville hospice, where he had been since January after
suffering a heart attack and stroke last October. He was 74. His wife Delores, known as Mom Winans, was
at his bedside when he died, according to a statement from the family's
LA-based publicist. In
1999, David Winans was nominated for a Grammy for his solo CD
"Uncensored." Ten years earlier, he and his wife received a
nomination for their CD "Mom & Pop Winans." He was the father of BeBe and CeCe
Winans, who formed a duo and delivered such hits as "Addictive Love"
and "I'll Take You There." Four other children — Michael, Marvin,
Carvin and Ronald — performed as The Winans, recording such songs as
"Ain't No Need to Worry" featuring Anita Baker. Altogether, the
Winans had 10 children. Son Ronald died in 2005. David Winans was born in Detroit and joined
a gospel quartet when he was 18. Through the years he worked as a car salesman,
taxi driver, custodian and a barber before becoming a preacher. After four of
his children signed a recording contract, he worked as their manager for a
while. He also helped to start youth groups in Detroit. "The Winans family wishes to thank
everyone for their prayers and continued support, but would appreciate privacy
at this time," read a statement from the family publicist. Memorial services are planned for next
Tuesday and Wednesday at Perfecting Church in Detroit where Marvin is the
senior pastor. Click HERE for a complete schedule of those events.
Eminem
To Perform At MTV Movie Awards
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 14, 2009) *Eminem has been booked to perform at the 2009
MTV Movie Awards which takes place next month preceding the May 19 release of
his anticipated new album, "Relapse." Hosted by "Saturday Night
Live's" Andy Samberg, the 18th annual ceremony will air on Sunday, May
31st at 9 p.m. (Live ET/Tape Delayed PT.) Presenters and additional performers
will be announced at a later date.
For the first time in Movie Awards history, MTV is letting fans
participate in the nominee process. Voting opened Monday allowing viewers to
select the nominees from an eligibility list of over 200 movies on
movieawards.mtv.com.
MTV Mobile will also enable viewers on the go to text VOTE to 66333 to vote for
nominees in the Best Movie category from their mobile phone. Voting for this
round will close on April 20.
On May 4, the 2009 MTV Movie Awards nominees will officially be
announced. Viewers will also have the opportunity to vote on the winners online
and on their mobile phones. This second round of voting will close on May 18,
with the exception of Best Movie which will remain open through the show.
Ben Mulroney To
Host National Radio Show
Source: www.thestar.com - The Canadian Press
(April 15, 2009) Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney is once again following in the footsteps of
his American Idol counterpart, Ryan Seacrest. CTV says Mulroney, co-host
of ETalk, has co-created a new syndicated radio show called ETalk20 that kicks off this weekend in 11 cities
across the country. All but two of the radio stations running the program are
properties of CHUM, which is part of the CTVglobemedia family. Like Seacrest's
radio shows in the U.S., Mulroney's two-hour program offers entertainment news,
celebrity interviews and runs down the country's hit songs. Producer Trevor
Hammond is the other co-creator of Mulroney's new show. ETalk co-host
Tanya Kim and the entire team from the TV show will also be part of the radio
program.
Foxx Tackles Worst Fear In
'Soloist'
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 14, 2009) *He may be an Academy Award-winning actor, but Jamie Foxx says playing a mentally-unsettled man in the upcoming
film "The
Soloist" was so challenging that even he doubted his
ability to pull it off.
"It was something that I enjoyed, but it shredded me," Foxx revealed
to EUR's Lee Bailey. "I went to places that I never thought I would ever
go. I just remember being in my bathroom broke down, talking to my manager
like, 'I don’t' know if I'll be able to finish this.'"
Foxx described nearly losing his mind while filming the movie, in which he
plays real life homeless schizophrenic cello prodigy Nathanial
Ayers.
"You had to lose your mind every day you're on set, and sometimes you
didn’t have enough time to get your mind back before the weekend, Foxx
explained.
"I just remember calling my manager like, 'I know what it is, I know why
he's crazy!" And my manager's like, "Foxx? Are you okay?" I
said, "No, no, no! He does this because of this, he does that because of
this, and I'm gonna go crazy, and I'm gonna lose everything, and I'm gonna be
homeless, but I'm gonna be able to play the piano great…' [My manager] says,
'Foxx, I'm on my way over.'"
When his manager arrived, along with Foxx's agent, they suggested that he talk
to a psychiatrist, "just so you'll have a way to get out of your
head," they said, according to the actor.
During filming of the movie, Foxx ran into Steven Spielberg at a function and
was asked by the director how he was holding up, considering he was spending
every day trying in the mind of a schizophrenic.
"How's that movie going for you because that's a tough thing, dealing with
schizophrenia. How are you holding up?" Foxx said Spielberg asked him. He
replied, "I'm good. Am I showing something?"
Foxx said he used to blow off the notion of actors needing their own therapists
while filming difficult roles, but he's a firm believer in the concept now,
stating, "I had no idea that the mind could be that fragile."
"The Soloist," also starring Robert Downey Jr., arrives in theatres
on April 24.
Rachel McAdams Like `A Kid In A Candy Store'
Source: www.thestar.com
- John Hiscock, Special
To The Star
(April
13, 2009) BEVERLY HILLS–Rachel McAdams smiles as she recalls the
leading men she has worked with since her film debut seven years ago.
"I've been really lucky. I don't know what I've done to deserve it,"
she said.
The much-travelled Canadian actor has just returned from London where she was
filming Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude
Law. She has The Time Traveler's Wife with Eric Bana awaiting release
and is due to begin work soon on Morning Glory with Harrison Ford. In
her new film, the political thriller State of Play, opening Friday, she
co-stars with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck.
"I've worked with some of the greatest people in the world and I feel like
I'm a kid in a candy store," she said.
Since her U.S. film breakthrough five years ago in Mean Girls, the
London, Ont.-born, 30-year-old actor has been in constant demand and her star power
at the box office has resulted in her being named 2009 Female Star of the Year
by North American theatre owners last month.
She was mountain climbing in New Zealand with friends when she heard the news.
"I was really excited and kind of shocked because I wasn't expecting
it," she said. "I was kind of on another planet altogether and I'd
just come off a mountain. It was very flattering and very exciting."
McAdams was talking in a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles before
heading to the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas to receive the award. Elegant in
a black skirt and black-and-white top, she has an appealing down-to-earth
naturalness and laughs easily.
"I love to get dressed up," she said. "If I could just wear a
dress and my cowboy boots every day of my life I'd be pretty happy."
Although she spends much of her time on film locations around the world, she
returns home whenever she can. "I love my country and I love living in
Canada," she said. "My home is there."
McAdams grew up in St. Thomas, Ont., and took up figure skating when she was 4
years old. She competed in the sport through high school, winning regional
awards.
"It's strange, but it seems like a lifetime ago," she said. "I
don't know if I could do it now because it's not like riding a bike. It takes
practice to get back into the swing of it."
McAdams won her first acting award in 1995 when a high school play, I Live
In A Little Town, was featured in the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. She
continued acting at York University in Toronto and after graduating with
honours, made her feature film debut in the Canadian-Italian production My
Name is Tanino.
She earned a Genie nomination for her role in the Canadian film Perfect Pie and
then appeared in the Hollywood comedy The Hot Chick before returning to
Canada to play a star-struck actor in the TV comedy series Slings &
Arrows.
In 2004, she co-starred in the sentimental drama The Notebook with
fellow Canadian Ryan Gosling. They began an off-screen relationship that lasted
for nearly four years.
Her career slowed in 2006 when, after appearing in The Wedding Crashers,
Red Eye and The Family Stone, McAdams decided to take a break to
spend time at home in Canada with her family and friends.
After breaking up with Gosling, she briefly reunited with him last year, but is
now unattached.
"I have to say I really enjoy my independence," she said. "I
read somewhere that a woman should live alone for at least a year and I think
that's really good advice. It's good to spend some time with yourself and get
to know who you are."
McAdams has always picked her projects carefully and turned down offers many
other actors would have gratefully grabbed, including co-starring roles in Casino
Royale, Iron Man and The Dark Knight.
In State of Play, which was filmed in Washington, D.C., she plays a cub
reporter who teams up with a seasoned journalist (Crowe) as they attempt to
untangle a mystery of murder and corruption among some of America's most
promising political and corporate figures.
At first, the two reporters are wary of each other and, appropriately, McAdams
and Crowe initially clashed on the set.
"The first day we had quite a disagreement about something in the script
and that was kind of fun because neither of us was budging," she recalled.
"The director, Kevin Macdonald, said it was perfect because we were in
character. But as time went on, Russell was very playful and smart and
supportive, and we had a great time."
McAdams' reporter is a blogger who has embraced the technology of the Internet
and the instant access to information that comes with it, although McAdams
herself is no techie.
"I don't spend a lot of time online and I'm not terribly up to date on all
the newfangled stuff," she confessed with a laugh. "I'm falling
behind rapidly. I've only just heard about Twitter and I haven't got into
Facebook yet. I'm still trying to figure out my email. I'm a dinosaur."
She prefers to learn from experience rather than online and she sees her
profession as the ideal learning tool.
Now, with the luxury of being able to pick and choose her roles and return to
Canada whenever she wants, McAdams is feeling happily relaxed about her life
and career.
"I like my life," she said simply. "I think things get a little
easier when you hit your third decade. Something just changes and I guess you
learn to go with the flow and take life as it comes.
"You've got to just try and do the things you love and hope it works
out."
Nicole Beharie :
The “American Violet” Interview
Source: Kam Williams
(April
13, 2009) A recent grad of the acting program at the prestigious Juilliard
School, Nicole
Beharie made her screen debut just last
fall in The Express, a bittersweet bio-pic about the abbreviated life of Ernie
Davis, the first African-American recipient of the Heisman Trophy. Now, in just
her second film, the promising young thespian has already handled her first
leading role.
In American Violet, a riveting drama based on a real-life case of racial
profiling and malicious prosecution in a tiny Texas town, she plays a single-mother
of four falsely accused of dealing drugs. Here, the emerging ingénue reflects
upon her work in the movie which co-stars Alfre Woodard and Charles S. Dutton.
KW: Thanks so much for the time.
NB: I’m grateful that you wanted to speak with me.
KW: The honour is all mine, after I witnessed what a superb job of acting you
did in this film. What interested you in the role?
NB: This particular script moved me. I had a dream about it, and when I went in
for the call back, I met with the director Tim Disney, and the writer Bill
Haney. When they told me about their investment in the project and Regina
Kelly’s actual story, and how she had cooperated with the ACLU, I was just
moved by them as human beings. I knew right then and there that I wanted to collaborate
with them in some way. I told them at the second audition that if they didn’t
want to cast me as the lead, I was willing to play another part because I cared
that much about the story. But the audition went well, and things worked out in
my favour.
KW: Did you have a chance to meet the woman you were portraying, Regina Kelly?
NB: Of course I got to spend a lot of time with her, although we didn’t get to
meet until on set. I also got to spend time with numerous people from the town
in Texas who had gone through the raids, characters you see in the film on the
periphery.
KW: How did she react to seeing her life story being made?
NB: I think she was probably a little bit nervous initially watching me be her,
wondering who is this girl who doesn’t even look like me.
KW: Was she really a single-mom with four children?
NB: Yes, she has four daughters the same ages as the girls in the film, the
whole nine yards. Most of the story is pretty accurate.
KW: Does she still live in Hearne, Texas?
NB: She recently moved, but they did a screening of the film in Hearne a few
weeks ago, right across from the District Attorney’s office.
KW: Where did you grow up?
NB: I was born in West Palm Beach, Florida, and spent time in South Carolina
and Atlanta. I did a lot of moving around because my father was in the foreign
service. So, I also lived in Nigeria, Panama and Washington, DC. I was up and
down the East Coast, and in a few random countries. [Laughs]
KW: When did you develop an interest in acting?
NB: Moving around all the time, you just have to keep yourself entertained. And
I was kind of a bully, even though I’m tiny, 5’ 2”. As a child, I’d boss other
kids around and dress my little brother up, just putting on shows, singing and
dressing up. I recently found a photo of myself in front of my mother’s closet,
trying on her nylons and a feathered boa. So, I think storytelling was always
underneath my skin, burning to get out.
KW: What type of training did you get before Juilliard?
NB: When I lived in Orangeburg, South Carolina, I ended up attending a school
for the arts in Greenville. It was a better school and a better situation. I
guess my ticket to get in there was acting. I wasn’t planning on becoming an
actress. I just wanted to go to a better school. But I fell in love with it,
and my senior year I applied to Juilliard, NYU, Carnegie Mellon and other
schools with theatre programs. I got in, took the risk, moved to New York and
it kinda worked out.
KW: I guess you did a lot of Shakespeare at Juilliard.
NB: I loved doing all the plays, including Shakespeare, which is wonderful for
honing your instrument. I wouldn’t say Shakespeare was my #1 favourite, but you
do feel very alive when it’s done well. Being in front of the camera is nice,
too. I think they’re both beautiful types of performing calling for different
levels of energy. I also enjoy singing in musicals.
KW: Watching American Violet, I though I saw another Juilliard graduate in the
cast, Anthony Mackie, playing the informant, but his name wasn’t in the
credits.
NB: Yes, he and Tim Blake Nelson, another Juilliard grad, are both in the
picture.
KW: You had a great supporting cast, including Alfre Woodard, Charles S.
Dutton, Will Patton, Xzibit and Michael O’Keefe. How was it working alongside
so many seasoned pros?
NB: It was daunting. I was constantly reminding myself that they did cast me. I
remember being nervous out of mind during the first reading. I love acting and
I’m always doing readings, but this time, I knew the stakes were high. And
after working with them, I took away so much from the experience because
everyone was so generous with me. Michael reached out to me. Will took me to
see some independent films. And Alfre was an absolute jewel.
KW: Well, I think the camera likes you, you have a natural chemistry and
powerful presence. I noticed you the first time you came on screen in The
Express. I sort of thought, hey, who is that?
NB: Thank you. I skipped my graduation at Juilliard to do that film.
KW: Your debut was the scene when you walked into the party with a girlfriend
and the two of you were introduced to Ernie Davis.
NB: Wow! You’ve got quite a memory.
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?
NB: That’s an awesome question. What do I want you to ask me? Hmm… I’ll have to
think about that.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
NB: Yes, I think this whole process has you constantly facing your fears and
being courageous. But it’s also exciting.
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
NB: Yeah, I’m really enjoying my time, and my family is really excited for me.
I was raised by a single-mother, and my sister was a single-mom, too, so I
think that’s one of the things that help me understand my role in American
Violet. And having them see the fruits of my labours is really exciting. I just
feel really blessed and humbled, even that you want to talk with me right now.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
NB: Right now, I’m reading a spiritual essay by Ralph Wood Emerson, Self
Reliance, and Strange Pilgrims, a collection of short stories by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez.
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What music are you listening
to?
NB: I’m always listening to Nina Simone.
KW: One of her songs is in the movie at the end.
NB: Yes, and I didn’t know that when I first saw it. That thrilled me. That
made me so happy. It was so perfect. Besides Nina Simone, I have some Common
going on, some Joni Mitchell, and Beyonce’ when I’m working out.
KW: What has been the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
NB: Underestimation.
KW: The Rudy Lewis question: Who’s at the top of your hero list?
NB: My mom, Colleen.
KW: Teri Emerson would like to know when was the last time you had a good belly
laugh?
NB: After my grandmother had a heart attack and all my relatives came back
home. We did everything in our power to lift her spirits, and it did something
for me too. My sister absolutely cracks me up. I was rolling on the floor.
KW: How is your grandmother doing now?
NB: Much better, thanks.
KW: The Laz Alonso question: Is there anything your fans can do to help you?
NB: By just giving me a chance. I’m new. I don’t know that I have a fan base
yet.
KW: How do you want to be remembered?
NB: As an ever-changing person, like the weather and the seasons. I want to
have room to grow and morph and learn as I’m figuring it all out.
KW: Have you thought about a question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone
would?
NB: Yes, It’s sort of abstract, but I would like to get creative feedback at
www.MySpace.com/NicoleBeharie about the film in the form of words, music or any
other artistic expression from people who have seen it.
KW: Well, Nicole, thanks again and best of luck in the future.
NB: Thank you.
To see a trailer for American Violet, visit HERE.
American Violet : Dramatization
Revisits Infamous Case of Racial Profiling and Malicious Prosecution in Texas
Source: Kam Williams
(April 13, 2009) On November 2, 2000, drug enforcement agents executed a
sweep of the black community in the tiny town of Hearne , Texas , arresting 27
African-American residents, including a grieving father who was taken into
custody during the funeral of his young daughter. The bench warrants had been
issued by the county on the word of an informant who claimed to have purchased
crack from each of the accused, despite the fact that the ex-con was the sole
eyewitness, had a history of mental illness, and was himself facing criminal
charges at the time.
Nonetheless, The District Attorney aggressively pursued convictions in all of
the cases, generally succeeding since most of the defendants couldn’t afford to
make bail, let alone hire a lawyer. What generally transpired was that after
languishing in jail for several months while awaiting trial, many succumbed to
the pressure of their court-appointed public defender to plead guilty to a
lesser charge in return for leniency, rather than face the possibility of a
lengthy prison sentence.
In actuality, these unfortunate folks from the projects had all simply been
victimized by a state-sanctioned scheme to incarcerate innocent
African-Americans. Ultimately, the ACLU would clear their names with the help
of one of the defendants, an intrepid woman willing to risk further incurring
the wrath of the local authorities by testifying against them in a lawsuit
proving a color-coded pattern of malicious prosecution.
The intimate details of her lengthy ordeal, set against the backdrop of that
landmark case, is the subject of American Violet, a gripping dramatization of
the events surrounding the sad tragedy which ruined many a family in Hearne.
Directed by Tim Disney (Blessed Art Thou), great-nephew of the legendary Walt
Disney, the movie stars newcomer Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old
single-mother with four daughters whose life comes apart at the seams when she
finds herself suddenly ensnared in a dragnet designed to rid the town of black
people entirely.
We see that before being framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Dee had been
getting along if not exactly flourishing, caring for her girls while trying to
save enough money from waitressing to study cosmetology someday. But
afterwards, she’s soon without the financial resources or the emotional support
needed to handle the situation.
In matter-of-fact fashion, this brilliant bio-pic effectively illustrates the
likely fallout visited upon a law-abiding but unsophisticated person like Dee
up against an impersonal legal justice system unconcerned with the truth. For
when she is falsely accused of distributing narcotics and held on $70,000 bail,
the ripple effect of the ensuing nightmare means that she stands to lose her
dignity, her job, her savings and custody of her children in fast order.
Besides the powerful performance of Ms. Beharie, a Juilliard grad, American
Violet features a smorgasbord of equally-engaging efforts on the part of a
talented supporting cast topped by such veteran thespians as Alfre Woodard,
Charles s. Dutton, Will Patton, Tim Blake Nelson, Xzibit and Michael O’Keefe.
A movie which earns high marks simply for being the first feature film
with the guts to tackle the subject of racial profiling in such an honest
fashion, especially given the similar allegations levelled at the neighbouring
town of Tenaha just last month.
Fair warning: Do yourself and family a favour and steer clear of that racist
oasis if you happen to be black and passing through Texas .
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, violence, drug references and mature
themes.
Running time: 102 minutes
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
To see a trailer for American Violet, visit HERE. To see a news report about Tenaha , Texas ,
go HERE.
Out Of Touch Is Just Where He Likes To Be
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Johanna Schneller
(April 10, 2009) It's hard to get a handle on
actor Peter Sarsgaard, and he likes it that way. I first noticed him in Boys Don't Cry,
where his rough-edged character proved even more ambiguous than Hilary Swank's
transgendered one. In subsequent roles – generally smaller-budget dramas with
smart scripts, including Kinsey, Shattered Glass, Garden State
and The Dying Gaul – he's continued to discomfit and impress. I love how
his boyish face is at odds with his silky, insinuating voice, and the way his
characters are never what they first seem to be. In a phone interview this week
from Brooklyn, where he lives with his wife, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, he was
also funnier than I thought he'd be, and more genial.
“I think it's more interesting to play someone who is out of touch with who
they really are,” said Sarsgaard, 38. “I think that's pretty common. And they
create a fantasy, either by lying or acting out, that they and everyone else
believe in. I'm very interested in people who construct their personalities.
“I call it the Blanche DuBois syndrome,” he continued. “For the whole play [
A Streetcar Named Desire], she can speak in a funny voice and wear crazy
clothing and talk about crap, and then there's one moment where she suddenly
talks in her own voice and seems her age, and we see who she really is. As long
as you have that moment, even if it's only 30 seconds long, then all the rest
of the fabrication will seem interesting. So that's what I'm always fighting
for: Give me a chance to express, in any way that's interesting, what the flip
side is.”
There's a wonderfully subtle flip-side moment in Sarsgaard's new film, The
Mysteries of Pittsburgh, and it was his idea. Based on an early novel by
Michael Chabon ( Wonder Boys), it's a coming-of-age story in the
tradition of The Great Gatsby and Sophie's Choice: One restless,
mid-1980s summer, a naive yearner named Art (Jon Foster) falls under the sway
of a glamorous, volatile couple, Jane and Cleveland (Sienna Miller and
Sarsgaard). Cleveland, a small-time hood with a motorcycle and rebel hair, is a
man of great appetites for short durations. There's no sexual partner, drug or
activity he won't try, and for a time he's happy to have Art around as a
witness.
“Art gives Cleveland a kingdom to be the king of,” Sarsgaard said. “If you
think of Cleveland by himself, he suddenly deflates somewhat. But around Art,
he's got a better sense of his fabricated self. He's like, ‘Ahh, I am this,
because you see me as this.'” But Sarsgaard made sure to throw in a moment
where Cleveland freaks out when he can't find his keys. “I didn't want to show
him opening his heart directly, just something to reveal a crack.”
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is part of a growing trend in 1980s
entertainments, including the films Adventureland, 17 Again
(which flashes back to 1989) and the upcoming Lymelife (set in 1979),
and the new Broadway musical Rock of Ages, whose score consists of
eighties-hair-band power ballads. I asked Sarsgaard why the greed decade is
suddenly so popular. Do beepers and bow blouses now represent the good old
days, or are a lot of fortysomething screenwriters having midlife crises?
“I think films may have loved up the sixties and seventies too much, and now we
have to go to the eighties,” he replied. “But if they start doing movies that
take place in the nineties and it's supposed to mean something, I don't know
what I'm going to do. The nineties didn't mean anything. I can barely accept
the eighties as a time that has a particular meaning. I was there, a teenager,
but I have no recollection of the eighties.” He chuckled. “It's funny, my wife
always says that in my heart I'm an eighties man. Like, my secret wardrobe
would be Ray-Bans and white Members Only windbreakers.”
Though Mysteries was shot in only a month, Sarsgaard frequently flew
back and forth between Pittsburgh and New York, because Gyllenhaal was nine
months pregnant with their first baby. “It was this very small airplane, a
Seneca, just me and the pilot,” Sarsgaard said. “The producer really helped me
make it work, because it's very difficult to leave your spouse when she's
having Braxton-Hicks contractions.” Daughter Ramona was born in October, 2006,
three days after Mysteries wrapped.
Sarsgaard finds fatherhood “a lot more fun” than he thought it would be. “But
you only get out what you put in, and they [children] know when you're not
putting in – and it doesn't go over well,” he said, laughing. It's Gyllenhaal's
turn to work, so Sarsgaard will spend the next while on location with her in
England, writing his first screenplay and “puttering.”
Asked to define puttering, Sarsgaard launched into a gleeful recitation about
starting to make Pakistani food for dinner, going out to find orange-flower
water, getting distracted by his patchy lawn, deciding to plant periwinkle,
ordering the periwinkle, digging up the grass to make way for the periwinkle,
remembering the pot on the stove, deciding to get some writing in while the
food simmers for four hours, getting tired of writing after two hours, deciding
to get some exercise, getting distracted by a Spanish soccer game, realizing
that the food is burning, and running downstairs to finish it up. “But then I'm
a hero, because I made dinner,” he said.
Sarsgaard's pretty content with his career, which this past year included an
acclaimed Broadway run of The Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas, an
off-Broadway production of Uncle Vanya opposite Gyllenhaal, the upcoming
horror thriller Orphan with Vera Farmiga, and the new Nick Hornby movie,
An Education. “I don't know if people get me,” he said, “but in my
latest forays into theatre, I felt like I was doing as much acting as I had
ever dreamed of doing. I feel completely satiated at the moment. I certainly
have gone through periods where I was disappointed, and periods where I
couldn't find an opportunity, or express myself fully. But this latest one,
Maggie and I just created it, in a 200-seat East Village theatre, with a
fantastic director, Austin Pendleton, and it was so much fun. So that's all I
need.”
He planted the periwinkle, by the way. “It's excellent ground cover; it'll grow
anywhere and it's got pretty little flowers,” he said. “It looks great.”
Randolph Lizarda : A
Jedi from Scarborough
Source: www.thestar.com - Robyn Doolittle, Staff Reporter
(April 15, 2009) Who is the Jedi knight?
Luke Skywalker
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Randolph Lizarda
All of the above
The answer: D, all of the above – or at least it will be by the end of the
summer.
George Lucas's elite Jedi Academy was "looking for a few good
Padawans" – you can check, it's right there on the website. One they found
was 21-year-old Randolph Lizarda, a Sheridan college student enrolled in the applied arts and animation
program.
The Scarborough resident applied to the prestigious internship at Lucasfilm
studios in February. Every year, about 1,500 applications from around the world
flood the studio's San Francisco office. Only four are selected for the arts
program. Lizarda has just learned he was one of them.
"I'm very excited. I'll be working in the LucasArts division animating
video games, although I don't know what we're working on. They wouldn't tell me
– it's confidential," Lizarda said on a break from class yesterday.
The force has always been strong with Lizarda, the baby in a family of eight
artistic kids.
When he was 6 years old, one of his older brothers – an up- and-coming comic
book artist – died of cancer. From then on, for whatever reason, Lizarda says
he knew he was destined for a career in the arts.
Lizarda's family immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, settling down in
Scarborough when he was 12 years old. He brought his love of art along with
him.
"I was into it when I was little, then I got more into it in high school.
In Grade 10, I took one of those career surveys to find out where you fit in. I
fit into the animation industry," he said.
As a child he was never much interested in cartoons – he just liked to draw
them. His appreciation for the art of animation – comedic timing, movement and
skill – came later. After being accepted at Sheridan, he is learning to
transfer his two-dimensional ability to the computer, creating Shrek-esque
shorts (although his favourite is the 2004 superhero family movie, The Incredibles).
Lizarda aspires to one day work for a company such as Pixar or DreamWorks.
Dave Quesnelle, one of his professors at Sheridan, says the young artist is
well on his way.
"He's an excellent student. He has a really good sense of design and
animation," said Quesnelle, who teaches third-year animation. Lizarda
stood out after handing in his first assignment, an action analysis sequence –
the first segment on the demo reel he submitted to Lucasfilms.
In a traditional drawing format, Lizarda created a 10-second clip of a
comically muscular circus performer balancing on a ball, before jumping through
a hoop of fire.
"I had a really good sense of his storytelling. He had the basic
principles of animation (but) it was also comical. And that's our job. Anyone
can make a picture move, but to make it entertaining, that's the craft of an
animator."
To view Lizarda's demo reel visit: http://animation.sheridanc.on.ca/portfolio/2010/lizarda/
It's Been A Gas
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Andrew Ryan
(April 10, 2009) The stand-up mind of Brent Butt never shut down during the run of Corner Gas. It just got sharper.
Several years playing a nice guy on a wildly successful sitcom — a successful
Canadian sitcom, mind you — has in no way dimmed Butt's skewed comedian
perspective. He sounds genuinely touched, for example, while talking about the
kind feedback and support from Corner Gas fans regarding his decision to
end the show after six seasons, but in the next breath, he's riffing on the
sheer, bizarre niceness of people.
"Doesn't that just surprise you sometimes?" muses Butt, speaking from
the office of his Vancouver production company. "In a way, the fact
society even works at all is amazing to me. If the vast majority weren't
intrinsically decent people, this could all easily fall apart."
Corner Gas was a curious detour for Butt on his unplanned vision quest.
The show has brought him mainstream attention in Canada, and some parts of the
United States, but he never strayed far from the comedy-club spotlight. In Corner
Gas shooting breaks, he would faithfully return to stand-up, and he still
does, when he feels like it. There isn't a comedy club in Canada that wouldn't
want him onstage these days.
"I still love the craft of stand-up," he says. "To me, it's all
about the joke. Someone can have that one joke that makes you think, 'Wow, what
a great original thought.' And there's so many great different ways of doing
it. I'm fascinated by it."
Corner Gas was in some ways our Seinfeld, and a perfect fit for
Butt. The setting of fictional Dog River, Saskatchewan, was pretty much his
birthplace of Tisdale, Sask. The central character of good-natured gas-station
proprietor Brent LeRoy was essentially Brent Butt, a wiseacre Prairie
philosopher and polite Canadian everyman; TV Brent's batty parents and quirky
friends provided a sweet-natured version of George, Elaine and Kramer.
Corner Gas held a steady audience of a million-plus viewers for its
six-season run. While it lasted, it was great.
"We always knew we were doing something pretty rare," says Butt, 42.
"It's like winning the Stanley Cup. Some guys spend 20 years in the NHL
and never touch the Cup. Sometimes it was just like, holy crow, we're on a hit
show."
Corner Gas will of course live on forever in syndication. The show
currently airs nightly on the Comedy Network, and none of the charm is lost on
second viewing. "It was always a conscious decision to do a show that
wasn't chronologically pinned down," Butt says. "You can watch a show
from Season 1, or 2 or 5, and it all makes sense."
Unlike your average Canadian comedy, Corner Gas successfully made the
leap south of the border. The show was sold to the Superstation WGN network a
few years back and still airs in wide syndication all over the U.S.
"People have told me the show runs around the clock in Las Vegas,"
says Butt. "I still get calls to do press in Nevada."
Corner Gas redefined the Prairie pastoral myth of Sinclair Ross, but
making a TV series is hard work. Besides playing the main character, Butt also
served a writer and producer on the series, which filmed in the real town of
Rouleau, Sask. The schedule of a regular series was an adjustment for a
professional comedian accustomed to working nights and sleeping days.
"At times, it was incredibly laborious," Butt admits. "It was
never lost on me this show was a crazy, special blessing, but sometimes we had
17- to 18-hour days while in production; I would literally work on Corner
Gas from 5 a.m. to midnight. I won't miss starting work at 5 a.m."
After six seasons and 107 episodes, Corner Gas ends its respectable run
on Monday night with an episode focused squarely on Butt's character. Without
revealing specifics, the plot line has everyone wondering where the big guy has
been sneaking off to on Wednesday nights. Turns out Brent has long been
pursuing a secret passion, which in turn precipitates a momentous life
decision. For everyone else, life in Dog River simply goes on.
"That goes with what I've always said about Corner Gas: Anything
can happen, but at the end it has to be right where it started," Butt
says.
Like his affable TV persona, Brent Butt has moved on. Although Corner Gas
has made his rubbery mug one of the most recognizable faces in this country, he
chose to go behind the camera for his follow-up project.
Taking no time off, Butt wrote and produced the comedy pilot Hiccups,
starring his Corner Gas co-star and real-life wife Nancy Robertson as a
children's author with anger-management issues. The first show has been
completed and awaits the green light from CTV.
"It's going to be a while before we know if the show gets picked up for a
series, on account of the world melting down financially, and media as we know
it changing so quickly," he says.
Meanwhile, Butt has signed a deal with Vancouver's Brightlight Pictures to
write, produce and star in a feature-film comedy — he's now penning the script
— and his production firm, Sparrow Media, is creating Internet projects.
"I'm running a company, so there's not much downtime," he says.
"Sadly, the main product involves me and what I do, so I have to be
present for most of it."
And since we're just talking, why not a Corner Gas reunion movie?
"I would absolutely consider that," says Butt. "There's been
talk of doing a feature film; it's just talk now, but everybody seems to like
the idea. As long as it was a few years down the road. You want to put a little
distance between the show and the reunion."
Even now, six months after Corner Gas filmed its last episode, Butt is
still trying to squeeze in a vacation. Tentative holiday plans have been made
for later this month (though he said the same thing last October). "It
looks like I'm going to Las Vegas for three days," he says, almost glumly.
"That's about the best vacation I'm going to get."
His tone brightens, though, when the subject changes to bare-knuckle brawling.
Butt remains a devotee of mixed martial arts competition, albeit from a safe
distance. "I've never seen it live, and I don't think I want to … There's
a lot of testosterone-juiced goons in those audiences," he says.
More important, Butt believes TV makes a good thing better: "A lot of
mixed martial arts is delicate stuff, which you can only see on
television," he explains. "You can't appreciate the beauty of ankle
locks and kimura arm bars if you're watching from the balcony."
The series finale of Corner Gas airs Monday at 9:30 p.m. on CTV.
Think
Of It As CSI: Survivor 2.0
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- James Bradshaw
(April 11,
2009) LOS
ANGELES — Networks aren't taking many risks these days, but CBS has doubled
down with the serialized murder-mystery Harper's Island, which made its
debut this week. Launched with fanfare - and a strong Web presence - the weekly
serial squeezes TV's sturdy crime-drama genre into the even-more-reliable mould
(theme-wise, at least) of reality television.
It had to happen eventually.
As on American Idol, one person is knocked off Harper's Island each
week, thereby forcing viewers - CBS hopes - to keep coming back. The premise
borrows from Agatha Christie: specifically, her 1940 novel And Then There
Were None. The presentation, meanwhile, is lifted straight from Survivor.
Put them together, say the show's creators, and you've invented a brand-new TV
genre.
"We're doing something never tried on TV before, as far as I know,"
enthused executive producer Jon Turteltaub at the TV critics' tour in Los
Angeles earlier this year. "This is a huge gamble."
Optimistically booked for a straight 13-week run, Harper's Island recalls
another famous crime series - Murder, She Wrote - in the simplicity of
its setup: A group of family and friends travels to an ominous-looking island,
supposedly near Puget Sound in Washington. (The series was filmed in Vancouver
and on nearby Bowen Island). Everyone is burbling about handsome couple Henry
and Trish (Christopher Gorham and Katie Cassidy) and their upcoming nuptials.
Then, someone is brutally murdered. And the characters keep getting murdered,
one per week - although in this week's episode, two people got it: one
beheaded, one bisected - at the hands of an unseen killer. "It's a pretty
straightforward idea: People go to a wedding, bad things start to happen,"
said Turtletaub, who previously produced the short-lived apocalyptic drama, Jericho.
"For viewers, it's about getting emotionally invested in the
characters."
Harper's Island's central storyline spreads out from the requisite
good-girl character of Abby, played by Irish actress Elaine Cassidy, who
returns to Harper's Island five years after her parents were murdered there.
Like the other actors on the show, Cassidy had some concerns before shooting
began last fall, in large part because the cast members were handed the script
for the first show - and given no idea where the story would be going after
that.
"It was my first acting job where I didn't know how long I would be
around," said Cassidy. "It was a unique experience for most of us. It
was like playing the game Clue."
Harper's Island is the only new midseason arrival on CBS, which slid the
show into the now-departed ER's timeslot of Thursday at 10 p.m. The new
show also has the edge of CSI as its lead-in - after nine seasons, still
the most-watched drama on network TV - and faces minimal competition from
either NBC newcomer Southland or ABC's fading Private Practice.
Working against it: There are no truly familiar faces in the cast, save for ex-Deadwood
prospector Jim Beaver as laconic Sheriff Charlie, and former L.A. Law
hunk Harry Hamlin, who plays a character called Uncle Marty.
The campaign to instill Harper's Island into the hearts and minds of
viewers began last month with incessant promos during CBS's NCAA basketball
coverage. Soon after came a billboard campaign and double-page ads in
Entertainment Weekly and other magazines.
Even more ambitious, the network simultaneously launched a Web companion
series, Harper's Globe, on its main website, presumably to pull in
younger viewers early. Well-written and well-acted, with most of the same cast
as the TV show, the Web series expands on the characters and tells a parallel
storyline.
On either platform, grand displays of violence feature prominently in the Harper's
tableau. The weekly victims are dispatched with Saw-style flourish;
weapons of disposal include a chainsaw and a whaling harpoon, in keeping with
the maritime setting. This is TV, of course, so most of the violence happens
off-camera, but you sure know it's happening.
"It's certainly not going to be worse than an episode of Criminal Minds
or CSI," said Turteltaub. "I have seen heads roll down the
street on CSI, so there is not much of an envelope left to push. We are
definitely going to bring in a much younger audience."
Web users can track the body count over the next three months and make their
own predictions on the killer's identity. And if the TV show's a hit, watch
out. Its creators are already talking about franchise extensions.
"It could be Harper's Rocket Ship, and the whole thing takes place
with an alien on a ship on the way to Mars," said Turteltaub, only
half-joking, it seemed. "Once you establish the set length and format, you
just keep changing the cast. That's what they do on Dancing With the Stars and
Survivor and American Idol, and those shows are going pretty
well."
Harper's Island airs Thursdays at 10 on CBS and Global.
EUR
TV Review: Brave New Voices
Source: www.eurweb.com -
(April 14, 2009) *When I was coming of age back in the day,
most of us who were musically-inclined tended to have an interest in either
jazz or R&B.
But the current generation of such
aspiring artists have been profoundly influenced by the idiom known as hip-hop,
so they car about the spoken form than singing.
If you're an old school fuddy-duddy like
me, you probably worry about the toll the mind-crippling mixture of misogyny,
materialism and macho bravado popularized by MTV and BET might be taking on
impressionable young minds.
For, while we might be wise enough to
know not to mimic the assortment of self-destructive behaviours promoted by
millionaire entertainers posing as ghetto gangstas in hedonistic music videos
and on equally-decadent reality shows, it is reasonable to fear for the future
of kids who weaned on such silly folderol.
It is therefore with a sigh of relief I
am happy to report about the first few episodes of Russell
Simmons Presents:
Brave New Voices. Narrated by Queen Latifah, the
HBO series chronicles a 45-city search for the best poetry slam performers in
the country. And what they found was a potpourri of talented up- and-coming
teenagers capable of baring their souls while spinning a lyrical line on stage.
Because rap originally emanated from the
inner city and ostensibly inspired the ensuing rise of slams, I fully expected
the competition to be dominated by youth residing in the ghetto. But no, it is
apparent that this brash brand of expression has gone mainstream, permeating
not only lily white neighbourhoods in the cities but also reaching the suburbs
and rural areas as well.
Consequently, the impassioned young
voices heard rapping here reflect the concerns of a rainbow of ethnic groups:
blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, even Hawaiians and Native Americans. As
fascinating as their diversity, however, is the intimate nature of the subject
matter touched upon in their mesmerizing rhymes. The poems reveal individuals
grappling with personal struggles ranging from typical teen issues like sexual
harassment and dating to questions of survival such as Sickle Cell Anemia and
Cerebral Palsy.
So, don't short-change yourself by
passing on this surprisingly-sophisticated documentary by thinking that the
strident, staccato form of expression profiled is just about booty calls and
drive-bys.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 30 minutes per episode
Studi HBO
Brave New Voices airs at 11 PM (ET/PT) on HBO on Sundays, starting April 5th
(Check local listings)
To see a trailer for Brave New Voices, visit HERE.
::THEATRE NEWS::
Broadway Deals Can Save You From Stick Shock
Source: www.thestar.com
- Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic
(April 11, 2009) You don't have to have big
bucks to have a big time in the Big Apple.
This is the time of year when a lot of people head to New York, and paying at
least one visit to a Broadway theatre is usually high on everyone's list. That said, there are a couple of
things that discourage some folks from taking in a show, the chief one being
the high cost of tickets. Regular orchestra seats for a hit Broadway musical
can go as high as $120 (all amounts in U.S. dollars) and, if you want the
so-called "premium seats," it's double that. Ouch!
While the biggest new hits are still going at full price (especially on
weekends), the recession has dragged down prices elsewhere, meaning there are a
lot of bargains to be found: Disney discounts Heading the list is
Disney's brand new "15 for $15" program, which is celebrating the 15
years Disney has been producing Broadway musicals. It's a real boon to parents:
If you buy one regular-price ticket to The Lion King, Mary Poppins or
The Little Mermaid, you'll get another seat for $15. This offer can only
be purchased until April 19 and is good for seats at selected performances
between April 21 and May 31. Go online to get details at offers.disneyonbroadway.com.
Booth bargains TKTS is among many a savvy New Yorker's favourite things.
On the day of a show, these discount ticket booths offer unsold tickets for up
to half price. Details online at: tinyurl.com/tktsny Rush seats, discount
codes Certain shows have deeply discounted rush seats available on the day,
as well as standing room (which is how I saw shows all through high school and
college). To find out which have which, visit talkinbroadway.com/boards and
scroll down to your show of choice.
Also, if you're willing to see certain shows on certain days, there's a crazy
(but totally legit) world of discount codes to help ease your financial burden.
Click on the show you want at: broadwaybox.com.
Want a reliable list of what's playing at what theatre on Broadway? Go to
tinyurl.com/timeslist for the answer.
Stratford, Shaw Lighten Up During Tough Times
Source: www.thestar.com
- Richard Ouzounian, Theatre Critic
(April 11, 2009) Big, bold and leaning toward
the light side.
That's how both of Ontario's major theatre festivals are trying to bust the recession this season.
Previews start today for the first mainstage shows of the Shaw and Stratford
festivals and, although optimism surges at this time year like sap through
maple trees, expectations are tempered a bit by a slippage in advance sales (17
per cent for Shaw, 15 per cent for Stratford) that can largely be laid at the
door of their suddenly vanishing friends, the American audiences.
So, what's a festival to do?
Shaw is turning to Noel Coward, dividing his famous "Tonight at
Eight-Thirty" collection of nine one-act plays into three evenings,
tossing in a 10th forgotten play at lunch hour and presenting all 10 of them in
a 14-hour endurance test on three days this summer, an experience dubbed
"Mad Dogs and Englishmen." "We're always trying to create a
major event on our terms," says artistic director Jackie Maxwell,
"and it's interesting to note that the three marathon days are nearly sold
out."
The first bill of Coward's, "Brief Encounters," directed by Maxwell,
starts previews today and includes Still Life (the play that inspired
the 1945 weeper film Brief Encounter), the strangely charming We Were
Dancing and the good old-fashioned romp Hands Across the Sea (allegedly
inspired by the unorthodox entertaining habits of Lord and Lady Mountbatten).
Of course, you'll also find a couple of Shaw plays, a Sondheim musical, some
classic American scripts of the period and even a Michel Tremblay.
Over at Stratford, Shakespeare continues to set the scene with Macbeth, Julius
Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream. And there's a lot else on the
bill as well, including Oscar Wilde, Ben Jonson and Anton Chekhov.
But a lot of people are most interested in what Stratford is doing when it
comes to musicals. At their best, these tuners reach great heights and pour
millions of dollars into the box office. The financial implications, I'm sure,
are among the major reasons Stratford moved one of its major musicals, West
Side Story, back to the Festival Theatre, where it starts previews today.
The big news is the director for the project: Gary Griffin. I've often sung his
praises in describing the work he did with Sondheim musicals for the Chicago
Shakespeare Theatre, and Torontonians got to sample his work when his
heart-bursting production of The Color Purple recently played the Canon.
Griffin is thrilled to be at Stratford and sees no problem with moving a musical
like West Side Story back to the Festival stage. It underscores that
this is a classic piece of theatre, he says, one "that belongs in the
repertoire of Shakespeare and Rostand and Wilde."
Rick Miller : Giving Us The
Hardsell
Source: www.globeandmail.com - Kate Taylor
(April 15, 2009) When Canadian comedian Rick
Miller was offered a spot hosting ABC's version of the
candid-camera show Just for Laughs he thought about it for a grand total
of 10 minutes before accepting. It was a nice gig, great exposure and good
money for easy work. On the other hand, the American network is owned by the
Walt Disney Company; and Miller dislikes Disney programming and doesn't let his
two young daughters watch commercial TV. So, what do you call that? Hypocrisy -
or just real life?
And there is the dilemma at the centre of Hardsell, Miller's new one-man show created with director Daniel
Brooks and opening at Canadian Stage in Toronto tomorrow.
"We pay taxes that pay for a war that we may not support. We are
complicit. We drink Coke but we ignore what these corporations do ... Coke
tastes good. We choose to ignore things because it is so tiring to think about
them," Miller, 39, said in a recent interview before heading into
rehearsals.
The director and the performer had worked together previously creating Miller's
2003 hit show about Christianity, Bigger Than Jesus, and Miller said
their starting point this time was Brooks's concern about how inescapable
commercialization has become whether you're a parent picking suitable viewing
or a theatre director accepting corporate sponsorship.
Brooks, the son of a Toronto ad man, and Miller, the son of a Montreal
office-furniture salesman, figured that these days everything is a sell.
"We are so enmeshed in this culture of the sell that is partly based on
lying, it's hard to determine what is true. There is always a spin, always an
angle," Miller said, pointing to the current economic crisis as proof that
people in positions of power lie.
But this is not an I-told-you-so show, nor a moral judgment on its audience.
No, it's a comedy, with fart jokes no less.
To create it, Miller has fashioned an alter-ego for himself, one Arnie, an
older and more cynical version of the comic, a stand-up who has spent his life
on the road making people laugh as he ridicules anything and everything. This
devil twin is contemptuous of "Rick Miller," that well-meaning family
man who drives a Toyota Prius and gives money to the Stephen Lewis Foundation
to help fight AIDS in Africa. Still, the all-knowing Arnie has nothing to show
for his cynicism.
"His realization is that cynicism has a cost," Miller said.
And it's hardly a pure position itself because Arnie is a salesman too, just
like Miller and Brooks and every other showman. "Every lighting cue, every
word is a sell."
Straddling these contradictions and self-contradictions might seem like a
stretch, but Miller has always been a jack of all trades who can reach high or
low or in both directions at once. He is the intellectual who studied
architecture at McGill because it is, in the words of Frank Lloyd Wright, the
mother art, and he is the guy who can do a great Bugs Bunny imitation. He is
the comic who is hosting a candid-camera show that generates laughs by tricking
people, and the man whose wife works for Roots of Empathy, a charity that
reduces aggression in children by teaching social skills. He is the comic
impersonator who has toured internationally with MacHomer, his one-man
version of Macbeth performed by the voices of The Simpsons, and the
trilingual actor who has collaborated with both Brooks and Robert Lepage, two
of the most cerebral theatre directors in the country. He is the performer
whose spring season includes touring MacHomer to Alberta and speaking no
less than five languages in Lipsynch, Lepage's nine-hour show about the
human voice that makes its North American premiere in Toronto in June.
"I'm a bit of a hack at many things, architecture and languages, and I
have my cartoon voices I do," said Miller, who is trilingual thanks to
growing up in francophone Quebec with an Irish mother and Austrian father.
He met Brooks in 1999 on the set of Lepage's film adaptation of the John
Mighton play Possible Worlds, which Brooks had directed in Toronto, and
the two hit it off, agreeing to collaborate on Miller's idea of a comedy about
Jesus that would draw on the Catholic liturgy he had stored in his memory since
childhood. Now, they turn, at least indirectly, to Brooks's Jewish roots with
their tradition of moral questioning. How do you live a just life? By making
theatre?
"Daniel was very interested in this idea, why are we doing this. Why
aren't we working for Stephen Lewis?" he said, explaining that in Hardsell,
the hour on the stage becomes a metaphor for action, for what we do with our
lives, whether admirable or not. "Why am I ridiculing people on stage? The
game is that this character asks us these questions."
His hope is that the audience will not feel judged by Arnie's uncomfortable
questions but rather changed by them, emerging from the theatre in a different
psychic spot than they entered. After all, every one of us lives on the same
shifting moral sands that provide our contemporary world with its unstable
foundation.
"You can't go live in a field somewhere," concludes Miller, the
master of the contradiction.
Hardsell opens tomorrow in Toronto at the Berkeley Street Theatre.
THEATRE TIDBITS
Delroy Lindo Runs 'Dry' In New York
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 9, 2009) *Tony nominee Delroy Lindo and Roslyn Ruff will co-star in New York
Theatre Workshop’s forthcoming production of Naomi Wallace’s Things of Dry
Hours, reports Broadway.com. The
play, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, tells the story of Tice Hogan (Lindo),
an out-of-work Sunday School teacher and member of the Communist Party in
Depression-era Alabama, his daughter Cali (Ruff) and how their lives get turned
around when they take in a mysterious white factory worker on the run. "Hours" will begin previews on May
22 and open on June 8. The limited off-Broadway engagement is scheduled to
continue through June 28. Lindo,
a 1988 Tony Award nominee for Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, will be making his
first New York stage appearance in more than 20 years. His film and TV work
includes The Cider House Rules, Heist, A Life Less Ordinary, The Exonerated and
Kidnapped. Lindo also appeared in the HBO adaptation of Santiago Hudson's
Lackawanna Blues, directed by George C. Wolfe.
He was most recently seen Tuesday night in an episode of "Law &
Order: SVU."
::TECHNOLOGY NEWS::
Wii Want Silent Hill
Source: www.thestar.com
- Marc Saltzman, Special To The Star
(April 11, 2009) Halloween is still seven
months away, but Konami Digital Entertainment has still scared up a big
announcement this week: the popular Silent Hill horror game franchise will make its debut on
the Nintendo Wii this fall, along with the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation
Portable.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories will feature an interactive user
interface – taking advantage of the Nintendo Wii's innovative motion-sensing
controls – as well as an improved puzzle system and a "psych profile"
that changes the experience based on gameplay choices.
Gamers play as Harry Mason, who is searching for his missing daughter, Cheryl.
While roaming the snow-covered streets of Silent Hill, Mason must search for
clues related to her disappearance and face off against the twisted creatures
that populate the town.
While the graphics won't be in high-definition because of hardware limitations,
Konami says the game offers fluid and realistic gameplay and promises to be the
most frightening instalment of the decade-old series.
Composer Akira Yamaoka returns in this sequel to deliver a chilling soundtrack
to add to the game's creepy atmosphere.
PSP 2 getting ready for play?
Speaking of the PlayStation Portable, online rumours are swirling about Sony's
next-generation portable gaming system.
The word on the cyber street is that a true successor to the PSP is in development
– for a planned fall launch – that is much slimmer than the current hardware
because it does away with the Universal Media Disc drive that can drain
batteries and cause long load times because of its moving mechanical parts.
Instead, the PSP 2 will only contain a Memory Stick Duo card slot for flash
memory, and allow players to download games from an Internet store through its
built-in Wi-Fi connectivity (similar to the Apple iPhone and Nintendo DSi).
There's another rumour that the PSP 2's controls will have "dual analog
sticks," and will therefore feel much like a PlayStation 3 game
controller.
If these rumours carry any weight, Sony could officially announce the device at
the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, being held in Los Angeles from June 2
to 4.
::OTHER NEWS::
City's Lone French Bookstore To Close
Source: www.thestar.com
- Paola
Loriggio, Staff
Reporter
(April 14,
2009) Almost
half a century has gone by since Librairie Champlain opened shop in downtown
Toronto, selling books and music to francophones and francophiles.
Now, two generations and three relocations later, the city's lone French
bookstore – one of only eight in the province – is shutting down.
"It's all very sudden," owner Marcel Arsenault said yesterday.
Arsenault, who took over the store from his parents in 1993, plans to shutter
it on April 30.
"We looked at the (account) books, we tried to lower our rent, but we
can't even afford to move," he said in French.
The bookstore, on Queen St. E. near Parliament St., gets less and less business
from school boards and public libraries, which previously accounted for roughly
70 per cent of sales, Arsenault said.
"Now they buy from wholesalers and chains that offer better prices, but
the community pays the cost."
While all independent retailers feel the squeeze of big-box stores, Ontario's
French bookstores – already few and far between – are particularly at risk, due
to added competition from Quebec, industry groups say.
Meanwhile, Quebec stores are bolstered by school boards and libraries, which by
law must purchase books at retail price from certified local bookstores.
"It's a terrific system," and one Ontario should consider, said Susan
Dayus, executive director of the Canadian Booksellers Association.
The association discussed a similar policy with the Ontario education ministry,
but "it hasn't gotten anywhere," Dayus added.
Last summer, the province committed $80 million in additional funding for
school libraries over four years.
Based on criteria from prices to return policies, the ministry selected 73
booksellers to supply elementary schools.
The Toronto District School Board took from that list and made its own,
demanding discounts of at least 20 per cent as well as free shipping, Dayus
said.
For niche stores, like Champlain, such steep discounts mean little to no profit
margin, she said. "There's little room to manoeuvre."
School board chair John Campbell said it's the board's job "to get the
best price it can for goods and services so it can stretch each dollar as far
as it can go."
At the same time, the board favours Canadian businesses, said Campbell, who
called Champlain's imminent closure "very unfortunate."
Arsenault, who dedicated 30 years to the family business, said giving it up
will leave a void in his life.
Reaction from the public has been overwhelming, he said. "I feel kind of
guilty. I wasn't expecting this strong a response."
The store's employees, which include several family members, got a practical
goodbye gift from their boss: job applications for McNally Robinson, the
bookstore set to open later this month at Don Mills Rd. and Lawrence Ave. E.
As for Arsenault, he has no plans. "Maybe I'll take a sabbatical."
Giant Amazon Error Spurs PR Storm
Source: www.thestar.com
- Vit
Wagner, Publishing
Reporter
(April 14,
2009) If
Amazon's
de-ranking of gay and lesbian themed books from its bestseller lists on the
weekend was indeed the result of a "cataloguing error," as the
company finally admitted yesterday, it was an error that had much of the world
twittering.
In the age of social networking, somebody is bound to notice and is going to
start spreading the word.
That somebody in this case was Mark R. Probst, who reported on his blog early
Sunday that gay and lesbian themed books were disappearing from Amazon's sales
rankings. It was then discovered Amazon had de-ranked titles by such acclaimed
authors as Gore Vidal, James Baldwin and Jeanette Winterson, as well as a
biography of openly lesbian TV host Ellen DeGeneres.
The news spread quickly via Twitter and other social networks. By yesterday,
Amazon's public relations were in a world of hurt.
Initially it was explained that the books were designated "adult" and
therefore excluded from the bestseller lists, though still available for
purchase. Later, a company spokesperson sent an email to some media outlets,
chalking it all up to a "computer glitch." Some previously de-ranked
titles began to reappear with a numerical ranking.
Finally Amazon insisted the culprit was a "cataloguing error" that
has affected nearly 60,000 titles across various genres.
"This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloguing error," said
corporate communications director Patty Smith, in an email received by the Star.
"It has been misreported that the issue was limited to gay and lesbian
themed titles. In fact, it impacted 57,310 books in ... broad categories such
as health, mind and body, reproductive and sexual medicine and erotica.
"This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally.
It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books
from Amazon's main product search."
University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, who writes a column on online
issues for the Star said Amazon's expanded explanation sounds credible
to him.
Amazon.com, the Seattle-based global online retail giant that sells books, CDs
and other products, spent much of yesterday defending itself against charges it
had dropped books on gay and lesbian subject matter from its rankings.
Now, there are signs the outrage has been stemmed.
Probst told the New York Times yesterday he accepted an error was
made and didn't perceive "anything malicious" in Amazon's intent. And
playwright and gay rights activist Larry Kramer reportedly shelved a planned
boycott of Amazon.
"Many books have now been fixed," said Amazon's Smith, "and
we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we
intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur
in the future."
Amazon rankings affect the likelihood of a book popping up in searches,
particularly if these are general or by category rather than by title or
author. The DeGeneres biography, for example, wouldn't come to the attention of
a consumer generally searching for biographies, unless it has a numerical rank.
This could limit its chances of being bought on impulse.
Book Review Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man
Source: Kam Williams
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man:
What Men Really Think about Love Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment
by Steve Harvey
Amistad/Harper Collins Publishers
Hardcover, $23.99
240 pages
ISBN: 978-0-06-172897-6
“I want every woman who truly wants a
solid relationship… to forget everything she’s been taught about men—erase the
myths, the heresy, everything your mother told you, everything your girlfriends
told you, all the advice you’ve read in magazines and seen on television—and
find out here, in these pages, who men really are… If you’re tired of being
played with, then I want you to use this book as a tool—to take each of the
principles, rules, and tips in this no-nonsense guide and use them to
anticipate a man’s game plan.
No matter how good you are to a man, no matter how good you are for him, until
you understand what his makeup is, what drives him, what motivates him, and how
he loves, you will be vulnerable to his deception and the games he plays. But
with this book, you can get into a man’s mindset and understand him better, so
that you can put into play your plans, your dreams, and your desires, and best
of all, you can figure out if he’s planning to be with you or just playing with
you.”
-- Excerpted from the Introduction
(pages 6-7)
(April 14, 2009) Stand-up comic/sitcom star/TV show host/stage performer/movie
actor/radio DJ/producer Steve Harvey was already a true Renaissance Man before
he recently added relationship advice guru to his bag of tricks. After its
release in January of this year, his book, Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What
Men Really Think about Love Relationships, Intimacy and Commitment skyrocketed to #1 on the New York Times Best
Seller list, and still enjoys that lofty spot as we go to publication (see HERE).
Apparently, the secrets about men he reveals on the pages of this much-needed
how-to-tome are resonating with frustrated females of every demographic. As a
result, Steve is not only making the rounds of the top talk shows like Oprah
and Ellen, but expanding his own entertainment empire as his eponymous, nationally-syndicated
morning radio show enters new markets, most recently replacing Tom Joyner in
Chicago .
Let’s face it, Steve Harvey is a juggernaut who’s on quite a roll. And this
critic is not at all surprised by this development, given that I’ve immensely enjoyed
his last two stand-up DVDs and have also found the brother to be both hilarious
and insightful every time I’ve had the opportunity to interview him.
As for the content of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, the title drops a big
hint as to the sort of common sense advice inside. Still, every bit as
important as the tough-love brand of relationship advice Steve has to share is
his folksy, down-home tone which practically leaps off the pages in
Technicolor, because he has convincingly translated his trademark charismatic
anecdotal style to print despite the inherent limitations of the literary
format.
But the big question remains: will the book deliver on its promise of helping
you land Mr. Right? I’m not comfortable speculating about that, after all, I’m
not a woman and thus not really a part of the target audience. That disclaimer
aside, I’d say that he does have guys pegged, so his ideas at the very least
are likely to prove valuable to impressionable young ladies who have been
raised without a father figure in their lives, since Steve’s basic function
here is to shed light on the difference between what men say and how they
behave.
Traitor.
Shaun Robinson Takes An 'Exact' Approach To Uplifting Girls
Source: www.eurweb.com
(April 10, 2009) *Shaun Robinson, the Emmy Award winning television co-host of “Access Hollywood,” has
put some of her celebrity interviews to paper in a new book. The tome, however,
is not about stardom, fame, or Hollywood rumours.
Robinson’s new book, titled “Exactly As I Am: Celebrated Women Share Candid Advice with
Today's Girls on What It Takes to Believe in Yourself” shares stories about the self-esteem
struggles and triumphs of some of the world’s most talented, most famous, and
most notable women.
“I’ve been working on this book for the last three years. One of the main
reasons is because through my work here at ‘Access Hollywood’ and through the
charity organizations I work with, including Girls, Inc., I have so many girls
who ask me about the stars of Hollywood; if they are as perfect as they look on
TV or in the movies and magazines,” Robinson said of her motivation to author
“Exactly As I Am.”
“We have become a pretty celebrity-obsessed culture and many of our young girls
think that people like me, on TV, or any of their favourite actresses are
perfect and have never had struggles,” she said. “What I wanted to do was show
them that we all go through things, we all have these times where we struggle
with whether we’re good enough or we’re pretty enough.”
The entertainment reporter told EUR’s
Lee Bailey that she shares a few of her own personal stories in the book, which
hit shelves last week, in addition to the tales of some superstar friends.
“I talk about when I first tried out at ‘Access Hollywood’. I remember feeling
like, ‘There’s no way they would hire me’ and really beating myself up thinking
I didn’t do good enough,” Robinson confessed.
It might be surprising that a seasoned journalist with a solid live television
persona had little confidence in scoring a spot on the “Access Hollywood” team.
“I knew I had the ability. I knew I had the credentials, but I was still
fearful, and I was still thinking I wasn’t good enough,” she said, and now
she’s celebrating her 10th anniversary as a correspondent and weekend anchor on
the entertainment news show.
“Exactly As I Am” reveals that Robinson is certainly not the only television
personality or entertainment star to have self-esteem issues. The book includes
interviews and advice from dozens of women of all ages, races, ethnicities, and
backgrounds.
“I don’t think there is a woman out there who says that she has never ever
dealt with self esteem issues in her life,” she said. “I emailed or called each
and every one of them and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about your latest movie.
I don’t want to talk about your latest television show, your latest magazine
cover, or CD. I want to talk about something that will uplift our girls. These
are all of the women who answered the call.”
Robinson’s book features remarks from famous females such as Oprah Winfrey,
Jamie Lee Curtis, Celine Dion, Diane von Furstenberg, Janet Jackson, Patti
LaBelle, Queen Latifah, Nicole Miller, Julianne Moore, Mandy Moore, Martina
Navratilova, Nancy Pelosi, Sally Ride, Diane Sawyer, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius,
Gabrielle Union, Meredith Vieira, Vanessa Williams, and India.Arie, who
provided Robinson’s favourite statements in the book.
“India.Aria talked about how the music industry did not validate her beauty. It
never told her that the girl with the dark skin and the dreadlocks was the
pretty girl; the girl that was pursued by the guy in the video or the one that
was on the magazine cover. She said, ‘Society told me there wasn’t a place for
me, so I made a place for myself,’ which I think is such a powerful, powerful
quote.”
“Exactly As I Am” also highlights the advice and stories of some not-so-famous
women who are pioneers in their profession, including a fire chief, FBI agent,
car designer, planetary scientist, a female Rabbi, and more. Robinson also had
conversations with girls from all across the country about their fears and
pressures.
“The girls talked honestly with me about the things that make them feel good
about themselves and the things that make them feel they have a challenge to
their self-worth, and the media images ranked very high. They see something on
television that is telling them they need to be different; that they need to be
wild to be popular; that they need to be thin to be pretty.”
“The thing is, and the reason I love the title of the book, you have to be
comfortable with who you are,” Robinson concluded. “I know that sounds cliché,
but the message to girls is, you have to set your own standards of beauty, of
value, your morals, etc., to live the type of life that you are going to be
comfortable living. If you’re constantly comparing yourself to the next person
– there is always going to be somebody taller, thinner, more talented. You have
to look within yourself to find the power to succeed.”
“Exactly As I Am”, a collection of advice and stories of self-esteem
journeys of some of the world’s most celebrated women, is available at most
bookstores.
For more info and to check author event dates, check out Shaun's website: www.ShaunRobinson.com or her area on the Randomhouse site.
OTHER TIDBITS
Quill And Quire Editor Dies
At 40
Source: www.thestar.com - Vit Wagner, Publishing
Reporter
(April
13, 2009) The
Canadian book world has lost a respected, thoughtful and knowledgeable
observer. Derek
Weiler, editor of Quill
and Quire and frequent contributor to the book pages of the Star, died
suddenly at home in Toronto on Sunday at the age of 40. Although no specific
cause of death was given in the announcement on the periodical's website, he was reported
to have been in poor health for several years. Weiler joined the staff of Quill and Quire,
Canada's leading publishing industry periodical, in 1999 as a writer, assuming
the editor's chair five years later. He also wrote reviews for the Star, his most recent
appearing this past Sunday.
A Serious Look
At One Of Baseball's Real Originals
Source: www.thestar.com - Garth Woolsey
Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee
By Allen Barra
(Norton, 480 pages, $31)
(April 13, 2009) It is not uncommon in popular culture for the myth to
obscure the man. That is particularly true when the man becomes universally
known by his nickname. It's as if he is defined by it, somehow stuck in time. Lawrence Peter
Berra was given the nickname "Yogi" by a childhood friend
who saw a resemblance with a Hindu holy man they had seen in a movie. The name
was at odds with his Italian-American roots in St. Louis, but it became married
to his penchant for uttering malapropisms while at the same time capturing the
public's imagination by excelling in all aspects of baseball. Berra won 10 World Series with the Yankees
and three most valuable player awards, and became a successful manager after he
retired. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers of all time and
one of the most beloved Yankees, yet until the aptly named author, the
accomplished Allen Barra, tackled the project no one had done a comprehensively
"serious" book about Berra.
(Barra already has written several well-regarded sports books, including
one about another nicknamed titan – legendary college football coach Bear
Bryant.) There was a danger of delivering a hagiography, but Barra has not
placed Berra on a pedestal or worshipped him as some sort of ... um, yogi. To
be sure, it is no easy task to separate fact from fiction. To quote Yogi:
"I didn't really say everything I said."
Downtown Street Sign To
Honour 'Honest Ed'
Source:
www.thestar.com - The Canadian Press
(April 14,
2009) A new street sign honouring theatre magnate Ed Mirvish will be unveiled
tomorrow in Toronto's entertainment district. "Ed Mirvish Way" will
be unveiled at noon at the corner of King St. W. and Duncan St. Elicia
MacKenzie, star of The
Sound of Music, is scheduled to attend and sing the title song from
the show. Mirvish was born in the United States and came to Canada with his
family at age nine. He founded a bargain store in 1948 called Honest Ed's
emporium and got his start in the theatre business in 1963 when he bought the
Royal Alexandra Theatre. He later built the Princes of Wales theatre with his
son David. Mirvish died in 2007 at the age of 92. Read his obituary.
DANCE TIDBITS
National
Ballet Cancels Tour Of Western Canada
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- James Bradshaw
(April 13,
2009) The National Ballet
of Canada has cancelled its five-city, 13-performance tour of Western
Canada to avoid “undue financial risk,” the company announced Monday afternoon.
The company had planned to mount the crowd-pleasing Sleeping Beauty in
Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver between Sept. 17 and Oct. 3.
For the first time in several years, the National Ballet is faced with running
a deficit. Executive director Kevin Garland said in a release that the move was
necessary given the economic climate. The hope, the release said, is to
reinstate the Western Canada tour in future years when a more predictable and
stable economic situation returns.
::SPORTS NEWS::
Isiah Thomas Returns To Coach First Division's FIU
Source: www.thestar.com
- The
Associated Press
(April 14,
2009) MIAMI
– Isiah
Thomas is back in the coaching business.
The former New York Knicks president and coach Isiah Thomas was hired as
Florida International's basketball coach Tuesday, a move that gives the Hall of
Fame player another chance to revive his career.
Financial terms of his five-year contract weren't immediately released. A news
conference to introduce Thomas was planned for Wednesday.
Thomas helped the Detroit Pistons win two NBA championships as a point guard
before becoming part-owner and executive vice-president of basketball for the
expansion Toronto Raptors. He went on to coach the Indiana Pacers before taking
over in New York, where an array of problems marred his tenure. He has never
coached at the college level.
Undeterred, FIU moved quickly to lock up their top choice for the job.
"We are very excited to have such a legendary athlete and proven winner in
Isiah Thomas to lead our men's basketball program," FIU athletic director
Pete Garcia said. "There is no doubt that Isiah will give FIU a tremendous
opportunity to take the basketball program to the highest level."
Thomas comes to FIU after several years of losing and legal problems in New
York.
The Knicks finished 23-59 a year a go, prompting Thomas' firing. They never won
a playoff game in his stay as president or coach, and his overall record in New
York is 56-108.
In 2007, a jury ordered Knicks owners Madison Square Garden to pay $11.6
million to a former team executive who was sexually harassed by Thomas. That,
along with all the losing by the Knicks, brought on a wave of "Fire
Isiah!" chants that would typically start soon after tip-off at MSG.
Then this past October, Thomas had to deal with a new issue. Officers responded
to his New York-area home after a 911 call reporting an overdose on sleeping
pills. According to police reports, those officers found a man passed out on
the floor and gave him oxygen until an ambulance arrived.
Authorities never publicly identified Thomas as the victim, but a person
familiar with the case later confirmed to the AP that it was the former NBA
star.
FIU is hoping Thomas can build a winner.
The Golden Panthers have lost 20 games in three of the last four years, and
haven't had a winning record since going 16-14 in the 1999-2000 season. FIU
finished fifth in the six-team Sun Belt East Division this past season, and
only averaged 693 fans for its home games – one of the lowest totals in
Division I.
"I think we can get good players from across Florida and around the
country to buy into our plan to make this a top-tier basketball program,"
Thomas said in a statement released by the school. "I'm committed to
growing something here, and strongly believe that over time, we'll put a team
on the floor that everyone at FIU can be proud of."
Thomas replaces Sergio Rouco, who was reassigned Monday after posting a losing
record in each of his five seasons as coach
And even before the hiring was announced, the mere mention of Thomas coaching
at FIU was a galvanizing topic for conversation in South Florida.
"This is bigger than basketball and bigger than athletics," said FIU
president Modesto A. Maidique. "Having a nationally-recognized coach like
Isiah at FIU will have a positive impact on our university as a whole, helping
us achieve additional national exposure."
With Thomas on board, national exposure is certain.
He played his college ball at Indiana for Bob Knight, helping the Hoosiers win
the 1981 national championship. From there, he spent his NBA playing career
with the Pistons, appeared in 11 all-star games and was the MVP of the 1990 NBA
finals, when Detroit won its second straight title.
"Coming back to the college game has always been a dream of mine, and I
didn't want to pass up an opportunity to go somewhere where we can build a
basketball legacy together," Thomas said.
His overall NBA coaching record ins 187-223. He led the Indiana Pacers to the
playoffs in three straight years from 2000-03.
Boxing's 'Golden Boy' De La Hoya Retires
Source: www.thestar.com
- Beth
Harris, The
Associated Press
(April 14,
2009) LOS
ANGELES–Oscar
De La Hoya called it quits in the ring Tuesday, ending a career in
which he won 10 world titles in six divisions and became boxing's most popular
fighter.
He announced his decision at an outdoor plaza across the street from Staples
Center, where a statue of the 36-year-old Golden Boy stands.
"I've come to the conclusion that it's over," the native of East Los
Angeles said before hundreds of fans. "It's over inside the ring for
me."
De La Hoya retires four months after he was thoroughly beaten by Manny
Pacquiao, his fourth loss in his last seven fights. It's been several years
since De La Hoya beat a truly daunting opponent. He finished with a record of
39-6 and 30 knockouts.
"This is the love of my life, boxing is my passion, boxing is what I was
born to do," he said. "When I can't do it anymore, when I can't
compete at the highest level, it's not fair. It's not fair to me, it's not fair
to the fans, it's not fair to nobody."
De La Hoya said he based his decision on not wanting to let down his fans or
himself. But he admitted he struggled to make the final decision.
"Now I understand why athletes have such a tough time retiring from
something that you feel so passionate about, from your sport that you're always
thinking you can try one more time," he said.
"I can still train hard and I can still compete, but when you're an
athlete that has competed on the highest level for a lot of years, it's not
fair. It's not fair to step inside the ring and not give my best."
De La Hoya maintained the same stern expression on his face throughout his
remarks, with his voice breaking only when he thanked his father, Joel, who sat
on the stage with the boxer's wife, Millie.
"I remember the times when he would take me to the gym and never gave up
on me," De La Hoya said. "We've lived some tough moments inside the
ring, we've been through everything, but my father was always there for me.
"Thank you for pushing me as hard as you can."
De La Hoya began boxing at age five, following in the path of his grandfather
and father. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, launching
a pro career that brought him worldwide fame and riches.
He will stay involved in the sport as a promoter with his successful Golden Boy
Promotions company. He had been juggling the roles of boxer and promoter in the
last few years.
De La Hoya's retirement means the end of a cash cow for cable network HBO,
which broadcast 32 of his fights – most of any boxer – and generated millions
in pay-per-view profits.
