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LE NEWSLETTER
March 4, 2010
Apologies folks! Very few graphics this week - a web
issue that I can't resolve while I'm in sunny St. Maarten. BUT
all the graphics are on my site at www.langfieldentertainment.com.
Welcome to March! I'm currently
in St.
Maarten to cover the live music element of the 30th Heineken Regatta with
Maxi Priest performing for the closing party. The weather is just
gorgeous and the island is full of experienced sailors and lots of excited
patrons. So I'll keep these short and sweet!
So, there's lots of new entertainment news so have a
scroll and a read.
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. Want your events listed by date? Check out EVENTS.
::HOT EVENTS::
Soweto Gospel Choir (SGC) In Partnership With World Vision
Canada Brings Africa To Canada For Two Special Appearances – Kelowna
Source: Full Capacity Concerts
(March 1, 2010) Soweto Gospel Choir (SGC) in partnership with World
Vision Canada brings Africa to
Canada for a remaining special appearance – SOWETO GOSPEL CHOIR - LIVE IN
CONCERT -MARCH 13, 2010 in Kelowna at the Kelowna
Community Theatre (1375 Water Street).
The two-time Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, is heralded as one of
the most exciting groups to emerge in world music in recent years. Drawing from
the best talent that Soweto, Africa, has to offer – churches and surrounding
communities --the choir’s vibrancy comes from the culmination of individual
talent and life experiences that makeup the diversity of the group.
Under the direction of choirmaster David Mulovhedzi, SGC performs in six
different languages, including English, Xhosa, Zulu and Sotho. Through
vibrant rhythm, movement and its renowned vocal tapestry, the Choir performs a
repertoire that reflects some of the history of their Rainbow Nation, songs of
remembrance for the past, as well as songs of joy and praise for the present
and future.
Their repertoire is rich, soulful and honest. SOWETO GOSPEL Choir has
expanded to include 52 members
who are divided into two choirs made up of 26 members each, for international
touring. With worldwide acclaim the choir has experienced colossal success
appealing to sold out audiences worldwide -- the UK, Australia, Denmark,
Sweden, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands as well as the USA & Canada to
name a few.
They have shared the stage with music industry notables: Bono, Queen,
Annie Lennox, Dionne Warwick, Jimmy Cliff and Celine Dion, shared top billing
in Paris with South African legend, Johnny Clegg, was the support act to the
Red Hot Chilli Peppers in Germany and recorded with Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant
for the Fats Domino tribute album, “Going Home” and Peter Gabriel on the Disney
Pixar Wall-e soundtrack.
The choir has sung on numerous occasions for the father of democracy in South
Africa, Nelson Mandela, was the guest stars at Oprah’s famous
2007 New Year’s party at Sun City, performed for Bill Clinton and sang
Happy Birthday to its beloved Patron, Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
A portion of the proceeds from each Soweto Choir Show will go to World Vision’s
Haitian Emergency Relief Fund.
World Vision is a development and
advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities
to overcome poverty and injustice. World Vision’s goal is to encourage the
Canadian public to join the work of combating poverty and improving the lives
of children and their families around the world. (www.worldvision.ca)
For more information on Soweto Gospel Choir: www.sowetogospelchoir.com
For more show information: www.fullcc.com
“A singularly joyful sound” - O Magazine”, USA
“These absolutely thrilling singers need nothing but their voices
to make dazzling music” - “Billboard” CD Review
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MARCH 13, 2010 |
::TOP STORIES::
Genie Nominations Offer Surprises, Emotion
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Guy Dixon and Gayle MacDonald
(March 2, 2010) Denis Villeneuve’s harrowing
drama about the 1989 Montreal massacre Polytechnique led
the field with 11 nominations at yesterday’s Genie Awards announcement,
while the highly acclaimed J’ai tué ma mère (I Killed My Mother) was
conspicuously incognito, receiving just one special award from The Academy of
Canadian Cinema & Television.
A major success on the film festival circuit, director Xavier Dolan’s story of
the explosive ties between a mother and her teenage son had been Canada’s
official entry for a best foreign-language film Oscar.
But J’ai tué ma mère didn’t make the final Oscar nomination list, nor
did it receive any Genie nods in the regular categories. Instead, the Canadian
academy’s jury, composed of film professionals, technicians and critics, will
give Dolan the Genie’s special Claude Jutra Award for outstanding work by a
first-time feature filmmaker at the Genie Awards gala on April 12 in Toronto.
"It definitely was considered in all the categories," said Sara
Morton, chief executive officer of the Canadian academy. "There is a
significant difference between a film that does well on the festival circuit
and one which is in a competition against other films. I don't think you can
generalize from festival success to Genie success."
Those at the press conference in downtown Toronto could be forgiven for
thinking that director Charles Officer’s Nurse.Fighter.Boy was the runaway success. It
came in second with 10 nominations. Each time Nurse.Fighter.Boy was
named in categories such as best motion picture and best direction, a host of
producers and artists associated with the film cheered, unusual for the
quiet-as-church nomination announcements of past years.
“I don’t think I’ve had so many goose pimples on my body,” said Justine Whyte, Nurse.Fighter.Boy’s
executive producer and a director of feature filmmaking at the Canadian Film
Centre. Why the excitement over Nurse.Fighter.Boy in particular this
year? Whyte said, “It has such emotional integrity. I know it affected me over
and over again in the edit room.”
After the nominees were announced, more rare emotion surfaced when Officer, Nurse.Fighter.Boy’s
director and a former National Hockey League prospect, had to turn away from a
reporter to stop from crying.
“This film is something about hope, especially coming out last year with [the
election of President] Obama and winning. There was this sort of energy,” said
the Canadian-Caribbean director. “I hope that [the film] continues this
spirit.”
He added that the Genie nominations can be frustrating because, unlike the Oscars, his film and
others have already had their theatrical release and have also long been out on
DVD, so it's difficult to capitalize on the award.
Among the other multinominated films were the haunting Inuit drama Before
Tomorrow with nine nods; Grande ourse: La clé des possibles (The Master
Key) about a fantastical search for a magic key with eight nominations, and
Canadian-made Irish political drama Fifty Dead Men Walking with seven.
“It feels fantastic,” said Fifty Dead Men Walking director Kari
Skogland, whose film is up for best achievement in direction and other
categories. “[Film critic] Roger Ebert said something: He did a very wonderful
review of Fifty Dead Men Walking. And [Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war film] The
Hurt Locker was doing it’s run at the time. And he said that Kari Skogland
and Kathryn Bigelow have just blown the lid off the notion that women can’t
direct action.”
That was like scoring the winning goal, the Toronto-based Skogland said.
Her next films, currently in the development and financing stages, include such
diverse action dramas as William the Bastard, a depiction of the Battle
of Hastings of 1066, and another film about the mob, which Tom Cruise is
considering Skogland said.
She is also an example of how the Genies can have an impact beyond Canada.
“People love the story of awards. …There’s no question that ratcheting up the
awards is bottom-line oriented,” she said, as she talked about securing
financing for her new projects in Hollywood and abroad.
Junos Go Crazy For Michael Bublé
Source: www.thestar.com
- Ben Rayner
(March 3, 2010) A few of the expected names are there, but there’s a lot of new
blood rubbing shoulders with
the usual CanCon royalty in this year’s crop of Juno Awards nominations.
International hitmaker Michael Bublé looks to continue his long Juno winning streak when the hardware
gets handed out in St. John's on April 17 and 18, having notched a
field-leading six nominations this time around. The nominees were announced Wednesday
morning in Toronto.
The Vancouver crooner is up for artist of the year, songwriter of the year,
single of the year for “Haven't Met You Yet” and pop album of the year for Crazy
Love, with Crazy Love squaring off against Billy Talent's III,
Diana Krall's Quiet Nights, Johnny Reid’s Dance With Me and
Justin Bieber’s My World in the all-important album of the year
category.
Bublé will also battle Ginette Reno, Johnny Reid, Maxime Landry and Nickelback
for the viewer-voted Juno Fan Choice Award. Crazy Love, meanwhile, also
earned Bob Rock and David Foster a nomination apiece for producer of the year.
Fellow Juno hoarders Billy Talent are likewise back in the running for a ton of
awards, nabbing four nominations. The Toronto rockers will once again go for
group of the year (this time against Blue Rodeo, Hedley, the Tragically Hip and
Metric) while III is in the running for rock album of the year in
addition to album of the year and “Rusted From the Rain” competes for single of
the year.
Toronto rapper Drake (new artist, single of the year for “Best I Ever Had” and two
separate nominations for rap recording of the year) and country singer Johnny
Reid (Juno Fan Choice, artist of the year and both album of the year and
country album of the year for Dance With Me) have elbowed their way into the
big leagues with four nominations of their own apiece. Likewise, teen upstart
Justin Bieber, local indie-pop crew Metric, K’Naan and Classified can now claim to
move in the same rarified orbit as Diana Krall and the Tragically Hip; all have
three nominations.
And, rather impressively, 94 of this year’s total nominees are first-timers, so
the Junos aren't quite the old boys' and girls' club they used to be.
Precious Is Big Winner At Image Awards
Source: by Kam Williams
(February 27, 2010) *A year ago, newly-elected President Barack Obama dominated
the NAACP Image
Awards. But this go-round, the movie Precious enjoyed that honour, walking away
with a half-dozen trophies in the movie categories, including Best Picture,
Director (Lee Daniels), Independent Film, Actress (Gabby Sidibe), Supporting
Actress (Mo’Nique) and Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher).As for television, Tyler
Perry’s House of Payne proved the voters’ favourite, netting four awards.
Among the evening’s highlights were an array of gracious acceptance speeches,
especially those by Mo’Nique and her teary-eyed co-star Gabby Sidibe, and by
their director/producer Lee Daniels who brought down the curtain by continue to
speak until the closing credits began to roll. Tyler Perry dedicated his
accolade to his late mother who just passed away last December.
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, who’s been wheelchair-bound since the 2001 motorcycle
accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, choked up while
expressing how much winning for his work on the comedy series “Brothers” meant
to him. Meanwhile, comedian Chris Rock might have gotten off the funniest joke
when he feigned presenting an award “for the best light-skinned actress in a
mini-series,” especially given that when his own picture, Good Hair, won for
Best Documentary, he called it “the blackest movie of all time.”
Complete List of NAACP Image Award Winners:
Outstanding Comedy Series: “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (TBS)
Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series: Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, “Brothers” (FOX)
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series: Cassi Davis, “Tyler Perry’s House of
Payne” (TBS)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Lance Gross, “Tyler Perry’s
House of Payne” (TBS)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Keshia Knight Pulliam,
“Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” (TBS)
Outstanding Drama Series: “Lincoln Heights” (ABC Family)
Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series: Hill Harper, “CSI: NY” (CBS)
Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series: Jada Pinkett Smith, “HawthoRNe” (TNT)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Delroy Lindo, “Law & Order:
Special Victims Unit” (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: S. Epatha Merkerson, “Law
& Order” (NBC)
Outstanding Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special: “Gifted Hands”
(TNT)
Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special: Cuba
Gooding Jr., “Gifted Hands” (TNT)
Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special:
Kimberly Elise, “Gifted Hands” (TNT)
Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Drama Series: Cornelius Smith Jr., “All My
Children” (ABC)
Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series: Debbi Morgan, “All My Children”
(ABC)
Outstanding News/Information – (Series or Special): “The Inauguration of Barack
Obama, 44th President of the United States” (BET)
Outstanding Talk Series: “The Mo’Nique Show” (BET)
Outstanding Reality Series: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (ABC)
Outstanding Variety – (Series or Special): “The Michael Jackson Memorial:
Celebrating the Life of Michael Jackson” (ABC, BET, CNN, MTV, NBC …)
Outstanding Children’s Program: “Dora the Explorer” (Nickelodeon)
Outstanding Performance in a Youth/Children’s Program – (Series or Special):
Keke Palmer – “True Jackson, VP” (Nickelodeon)
Outstanding New Artist: Keri Hilson (Mosley Music Group/Zone 4, Inc./Interscope
Records)
Outstanding Male Artist: Maxwell (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Female Artist: Mary J. Blige (Matriarch/Geffen)
Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration: The Black Eyed Peas (Interscope
Records)
Outstanding Jazz Album: “He and She” – Wynton Marsalis (Blue Note Records)
Outstanding Gospel Album – (Traditional or Contemporary): “Still” – BeBe &
CeCe Winans (B & C Records)
Outstanding World Music Album: “Black President” – Sila and the Afrofunk
Experience (Visila Records)
Outstanding Music Video: “I Look To You” – Whitney Houston (Arista Records)
Outstanding Song: “God In Me” – Mary Mary (Columbia Records)
Outstanding Album: “Stronger With Each Tear” – Mary J. Blige (Matriarch/Geffen)
Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction: “The Long Fall” – Walter Mosley (Riverhead
Books)
Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction: “In Search of Our Roots: How 19
Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past” – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
(Crown)
Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author: “A Question of Freedom” – R. Dwayne
Betts (Avery Books)
Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography: “Michelle Obama” – Deborah
Willis (W. W. Norton)
Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional: “Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man”
– Steve Harvey (Amistad)
Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry: “Bicycles” – Nikki Giovanni (William
Morrow)
Outstanding Literary Work – Children: “Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of
Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change” – Michelle Cook (Author)(Bloomsbury
Children’s Books)
Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens: “Michelle Obama: Meet the First Lady”
– David Bergen Brophy (Collins – An Imprint of HarperCollins Children’s
Publishing)
Outstanding Motion Picture: “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”
(Lionsgate)
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: Morgan Freeman – “Invictus” (Warner
Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Gabourey Sidibe – “Precious: Based on
the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Adam Rodriguez – “Tyler
Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself” (Lionsgate)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Mo’Nique – “Precious: Based
on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Outstanding Independent Motion Picture: “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by
Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture: “The Stoning of Soraya M.” (Mpower
Pictures)
Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical or Television): “Good Hair” (Roadside
Attractions)
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series: Halsted Sullivan and Warren Lieberstein
– “The Office” – Café Disco (NBC)
Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series: Shonda Rhimes – “Grey’s Anatomy” –
What a Difference A Day Makes (ABC)
Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television): Geoffrey
Fletcher – “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series: Ken Whittingham – “30 Rock” – The
Funcooker (NBC)
Outstanding Directing in a Dramatic Series: Chandra Wilson – “Grey’s Anatomy” –
Give Peace a Chance (ABC)
Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television): Lee
Daniels – “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Roger Ebert Uses Computer To Speak On Oprah
Source: www.thestar.com
- Peter Howell
(March 02, 2010) Roger Ebert has a blunt message for anyone who has trouble with the machine
that has
restored his voice: get over it.
"Hey, I use a computer to talk," he told the Toronto Star in
an email interview.
"Live with it. I do."
The Chicago Sun-Times movie critic, never one to mince words, will
doubtless offer similar sentiments when he appears Tuesday on The Oprah
Winfrey Show, to discuss the technology that promises to make him a TV
regular once again.
Ebert, 67, has long been popular both for his print and television reviews, the
latter including his famous "thumbs up/thumbs down" judgments with
the late Gene Siskel and more recently with fellow Sun-Times scribe
Richard Roeper.
But since 2006, when surgical complications from thyroid cancer treatment left
him with only a partial jawbone and no voice, Ebert has been unable to reclaim
his TV perch.
His syndicated show At the Movies was reprogrammed in 2008 and both Ebert
and Roeper sheathed their thumbs. The famous balcony set that Ebert and his
partners had used for decades was smashed up by show producer Disney-ABC and
put out with the trash.
Now a breakthrough in technology, provided by a Scottish firm called CereProc
that Ebert chanced upon while web surfing, is offering Ebert a chance at a
second broadcast life, something that seemed impossible until very recently.
In a nice poetic touch, CereProc technicians used old movies to assist Ebert.
The pristine commentary tracks he recorded over the past decade for DVD
releases of Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Floating Weeds, Dark
City and even Beyond the Valley of the Dolls were analyzed and
digitized to produce a large vocabulary that Ebert can summon up simply by
typing the words on his Macintosh laptop's keyboard.
The words sound remarkably like him, he said, a vast improvement from other
text-to-voice programs he has used, including one he calls Alex that plays on
his Mac.
CereProc demonstrates its technical prowess with samples of the synthesized
voices of Barack Obama and Arnold Schwarzenegger on its website, www.cereproc.com.
Ebert and his wife Chaz plan to take it to the next level by creating a new TV
movie review show in which Ebert would once again be heard as well as seen. But
it would be different from his past shows with Siskel and Roeper, in which he
passionately argued the pros and cons of movies.
"I would not appear live," Ebert said. "The show we are producing
will use two great critics, neither of them me. I think I will be able to do
voice-overs on some reviews and video essays."
Ebert has bravely allowed his face to be seen in public, despite significant
disfigurement caused by illness and surgery. The current issue of Esquire
has a full-face portrait of him, without the neck scarf he usually wears.
His lips no longer move, which may cause some TV viewers to wonder who is
talking. Asked if this presents a potential problem, Ebert responded with the
"live with it" comment above.
But he hasn't lost his sense of humour. Asked if he considered making his new
show a one-man review stand, he responded: "It would be impossible. The
sight of me typing has limited entertainment value."
There's no name for the new show yet ("we're noodling a couple of
titles") and no set premiere date. But the show is definitely a
"go," he said.
"Autumn 2010 for sure, maybe sooner. Everything is lined up."
When he appears on the Oprah show, talking with the famous woman he used to
date many years ago, Ebert will be using both his new CereProc voice and his
older Alex one.
The CereProc one will announce his predictions for the winners of Sunday's
Academy Awards, which leads to another question: What does he think of the academy's
move this year to double Best Picture nominees from five to 10?
"Pointless," Ebert replied.
"It may dilute the vote enough for an indie with very strong backing to
win, which is probably what the academy hoped to prevent. To figure out the
five `real nominees,' match the 10 nominees with the five Best Director
nominees."
Before long, Ebert will be able to make such zingers with his old familiar
voice once again.
Russell Peters Lands Role In Sci-Fi Film Source Code
(March 1st, 2010) (Toronto ) Fans will soon be able to catch
global comedy rock-star, Russell Peters (www.russellpeters.com)
on the big screen in the Sci-fi thriller, Source Code, directed
by Duncan Jones (Moon) featuring Jake Gyllenhaal (Jarhead),
Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye) and
Jeffrey Wright (Quantum of Solace).
Originally scheduled to start shooting after Peters’ Australia and New Zealand
tour, his shoot dates were moved-up when the producers decided to expand
his role in the film with additional scenes and dialogue. Peters
rescheduled all of his March dates, including Australia , New Zealand and Las
Vegas to May, in order to participate in the film.
"Moving the tour wasn't an easy decision to make – I’ve never had to do
this before,” says Peters. “I've been looking for good film roles for a
while now and this one’s really good.”
With over 30,000 tickets already sold for his Australia and New Zealand tour,
Peters was set to perform the largest comedy show in Australian history, with
over 11,000 fans scheduled to attend his Sydney show at the Acer Arena
In February, 2009 Peters broke the UK record for the highest attendance for a
comedy show when 16,000 fans attended his O2 Arena show in London ..
For Peters new tour schedule visit, www.russellpeters.com.
Source Code centers on a soldier who wakes up in the body of
an unknown commuter and is forced to live and relive a harrowing train bombing
until he can determine who is responsible for it. The film is scheduled
for a 2011 release.
Peters’ current tour, titled “The Green Card Tour,” features all new material
since the release of his latest DVD, Red, White and Brown. In 2009
he was ranked by Forbes -- along with Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock --
as one of the top ten highest grossing stand-up comics in the U.S. With
his signature irreverent take on race, culture and all of our so-called
differences, Peters has gained a devoted global following and has been packing
theatres, arenas and clubs worldwide for two decades including two sold out
shows at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall in January 2010 and Los Angeles’
Nokia Theatre in February 2010.
For more information on Russell Peters, visit www.russellpeters.com
::MUSIC NEWS::
Re-Experiencing Jimi Hendrix
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Larry LeBlanc
(February 28, 2010) Forty years after his untimely death at 27, Jimi Hendrix’s musical legacy
continues to
thrive.
“In two years, Jimi would have been 70,” reflects his stepsister Janie Hendrix,
president and CEO of Seattle-based Experience Hendrix, which safeguards the
singer/guitarist’s legacy for an estate worth over $80-million (U.S.). She
adds, “That’s hard to imagine.”
Hendrix’s catalogue sells about 1.2 million units annually worldwide. His songs
have been recorded by Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Paul McCartney, Sheryl Crow and
Bob Dylan in recent years.
“People are still interested in picking up Jimi Hendrix’s catalogue,” reports
Ken Kirkwood, director of purchasing at HMV Canada, which operates 128 stores. “Without
any new releases last year, his catalogue sold a bit less than Bob Dylan’s and
half of what the Rolling Stones sell. That’s still pretty big.”
“The older fans are now teaching the younger generation about him,” says Janie.
“We now have pre-teens
wanting Jimi’s music.”
Under a new eight-year licensing deal between Experience Hendrix and Sony Music
Entertainment, the album Valleys of Neptune is being released worldwide
March 9th. Produced by Janie Hendrix, John McDermott and Jimi’s former engineer
Eddie Kramer, it features 12 previously unreleased studio recordings by the
Jimi Hendrix Experience band.
“The tapes were in excellent shape ... we didn’t have to ‘bake’ any tapes
or get into any extensive restoration,” says McDermott. “Everything we needed
was right there.”
Valleys of Neptune chronicles a turbulent period for Hendrix in mid-1969
as the Experience was developing songs for an album left uncompleted when its
bassist, Noel Redding left the band. (Redding died in 2003.) Hendrix then
recruited an army buddy, Billy Cox. “There was a real shift in the music,” says
McDermott. “This record captures that shift.”
Interviewing the Experience backstage at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver in
1968 for CBC-TV, Terry David Mulligan was startled when Hendrix asked, “Do they
still have Dawson Annex School here? I used to go there … My grandmother, her
boyfriend and my cousins are out there. I haven’t seen them yet. I will see
them later on tonight.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” says Mulligan, now host of Mulligan Stew for
the CKUA radio station in Edmonton. “The marketing of the Jimi Hendrix
Experience had been out of London. Nobody made the connection between Seattle
and Vancouver with him.”
Jimi’s father Al Hendrix was, in fact, born in Vancouver in 1919. His parents,
Zenora “Nora” Moore and
Bertram Philander Ross Hendrix, were vaudeville performers who had moved there
in 1912 after their Dixieland troupe had disbanded in Seattle. All four of
their children were born in Vancouver. In 1922, Ross and Nora Hendrix became
Canadian citizens.
Ross Hendrix worked as a steward in two of Vancouver’s most prestigious private
clubs, the American Club and the Transportation Club of Vancouver, before
becoming first porter at the newly opened Quilchena Golf & Country Club in
Richmond, B.C., in 1925. He held this position until his death in 1934.
Following their father’s death, the Hendrix children went in separate
directions. After a few years of attempting to find regular work in Vancouver
and Victoria, Al moved to Seattle, where he married Lucille Jeter on March 31,
1942. Jimi was born later that year on Nov. 27.
While much of her family came to resettle in Seattle, Nora Hendrix remained in
Vancouver where she was a well-known figure in the city’s black community. She
helped form the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Vancouver’s first black
church.
Jimi had a close relationship with his grandmother Nora. His parents had
divorced when he was 9; and his mother died in 1958 at age 32. Jimi often
stayed with Nora in her home on East Georgia Street. He attended Grade 1 at Sir
William Dawson Annex in Vancouver's West End.
“Jimi stayed with grandma because my dad was working such long hours,” says
Janie. “It was hard for him to be there for Jimi. He didn’t want him to be a
latchkey kid.”
After a one-year stint in the U.S. Army in 1961, Jimi often visited Vancouver,
playing as a sideman in local clubs, including Dante’s Inferno with Tommy
Chong’s band, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers.
After Jimi’s death, Al Hendrix continued taking his family to visit Nora.
“Every other weekend, we were in Vancouver,” recalls Janie. “We went to the
PNE, rode around the bus for a dime all day long, and went to Chinatown.”
Overseeing Jimi Hendrix’s legacy is a massive task. Janie Hendrix, adopted by
Al Hendrix in 1968 when he married her mother, has drawn unfavourable
comparisons to John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono. Janie laughs, “The evil one,
right? Without me, my dad would have signed away everything.”
The estate has been involved in conflicts for decades. “It is kind of like the
Kennedy family curse; this is the Hendrix curse,” says Janie.
Two years ago, Janie was sued unsuccessfully by Jimi's younger brother, Leon
Hendrix, Leon's children and seven other members of the Hendrix family, who
claimed Janie schemed for years to have Leon cut from Al Hendrix's will. Many
of the estate’s legal wrangles can be traced to 1966, when Jimi Hendrix
appointed Yameta, a Bahamas-based company operated by British nightclub owner
Michael Jeffery and producer Chas Chandler (bassist of the Animals), to be his
manager; and he granted the company exclusive rights to his performances.
Legal tangles would ensue after Jeffery was killed in 1973 in a mid-air collision
over Nantes, France, while aboard an Iberia Airlines DC-9.
At the time of Hendrix's death on Sept. 18, 1970, in London, a coroner recorded
an open verdict, stating that the cause was “barbiturate intoxication, and
inhalation of vomit.”
However, details about Jimi Hendrix’s death have remained in dispute for
decades. In 2009, there were even reports in the U.K. media about allegations
that Jeffery had murdered Jimi Hendrix by plying him with pills and a bottle of
wine.“I remember hearing about all of these conspiracy theories when I was a
kid,” says Janie. “They were really heartbreaking for my father.”
She recalls the immediate effect of Jimi’s death on the family. “My dad was 50,
and he loses his 27-year-old child. So we had to ship Jimi’s body back. Jimi
had a studio in New York (Electric Ladyland) but it still owed [mortgage
payments]. Jimi wrecked two cars, and they were in the auto shop. Now dad flies
back from London [where Jimi died] to New York to gather his things up. He’s
distraught. His son died. It was a very hard time.
“Do I know if he was murdered? Do I want to point fingers today? Well, [almost]
every person that was involved with Jimi is dead now. There’s no way of us
proving if it is true or not.”
After Jimi’s death, a friend put Al Hendrix in touch with Leo Branton, Jr., a
celebrated Los Angeles-based civil-rights litigator, and entertainment
attorney. A handshake between the two led to Branton being hired to untangle
the various contracts Jimi had signed and to oversee his musical legacy. Al
Hendrix would receive $50,000 (U.S.) annually.
“My dad was an eighth-grade graduate,” says Janie. “He had his own gardening
business and had a great clientele. His son dies with this massive estate. My
dad didn’t know anything about the music business.”
In 1993, Al Hendrix filed suit in federal court in Seattle against Branton as
well as the Bella Godiva, Inherit, Elber and Are You Experienced companies. He
charged that Branton had wrongly transferred Jimi Hendrix’s assets to the co-defendant
companies. In 1995, a settlement was reached that transferred ownership of all
Hendrix musical works to Al Hendrix. He died in 2002 leaving Janie Hendrix in
control of Jimi’s heritage.
Since 1995, Jimi Hendrix’s catalogue has been continuously issued under the
officially sanctioned Experience Hendrix and Dagger Records imprints.
Also being released on March 9 are CD/DVD versions of the Experience albums,
Are You Experienced?, Axis: Bold As Love, Electric Ladyland and First Rays of
the New Rising Sun.
Special to The Globe and Mail
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Games Closers A Mystery But Michael Bublé, Nickelback Safe Bets
Source: www.thestar.com
- Nick Patch
(February 28, 2010) VANCOUVER – If the opening ceremonies of the
Olympics were like a meticulously
organized dinner party, the closing is being billed as something more like a
kegger: boisterous, unpredictable and relatively light on decorum.
The big question surrounding this Sunday's bash, then, concerns the guest list:
Who's invited?
On Friday, the head of the Vancouver
Olympic organizing committee was careful not to tip his hand. John
Furlong predicted that the festivities will be young, light-hearted, and would
poke fun at Canada.
And he promised they will showcase some "pretty amazing Canadian
talent."
"The idea is to have a light-hearted, fun-filled (show), and it's likely
at the end of the show – again, especially if you're not a Canadian – you will
come face to face with people you might have thought were from somewhere
else," Furlong said.
So, who might he be talking about?
Well, local crooner Michael Bublé is a fairly safe bet.
His latest album, Crazy Love, hit No. 1 around the world. He's here
already, contributing commentary on hockey for Australian TV. And he's
associated with manager Bruce Allen, who is serving as headline talent producer
for the opening and closing ceremonies, and whose clients Bryan Adams and Anne
Murray both factored into the opening bash.
When reached, a spokesperson for Bublé declined to comment, citing a
non-disclosure agreement.
Another local artist to watch for might be Diana Krall.
The sultry B.C.-born chanteuse matches Bublé's international acclaim, having
won Grammys and released platinum albums in the United States and Canada. And,
like Bublé, she's connected: her manager, Sam Feldman, is serving in the same
capacity as Allen, and another of Feldman's clients, Nelly Furtado, was
involved in the opening ceremony.
Toronto rockers Rush, also members of Feldman's flock, are factoring into the
rumour mill, as well. A publicist for the trio cited a non-disclosure agreement
when asked to comment on rumours of their involvement.
The third headline talent producer for the show is Dan Fraser of Nettwerk
Management, a company whose roster includes Sarah McLachlan (another of the
opening ceremonies' headline performers) and k-os, the Toronto hip-hop artist
whose possible involvement in the closing has incited whispers on Twitter.
Or how about Nickelback? To the chagrin of some, Canadian rock bands don't get
much bigger than the divisive Hanna, Alta., hard-rockers, and frontman Chad
Kroeger has been spotted about town over the past week.
So has Avril Lavigne, who has a new album due in June, and who represented
Canada during the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin,
Italy.
There are rumours country superstar Shania Twain is in town, and some fans are
holding out hope she might make an appearance. Twain carried the Olympic torch
through her hometown of Timmins, Ont. And she's also been spotted out and about
in Whistler, B.C., this week.
But another of Canada's most popular exports won't be making the trip.
A publicist for Celine Dion has confirmed to The Canadian Press that she won't
be in Vancouver for Sunday's festivities. Neither will Joni Mitchell, whose
publicist similarly confirmed her non-involvement.
Another thing viewers won't see? Token French content shoehorned in to appease
critics who felt the opening ceremonies were too English-centric, Furlong said.
But it so happens that the closing may include more French, regardless.
"We will be delivering the show that we've planned for the past two years,
but you will be under no doubt at the end of the show that in respect to the
question of French and English, we are a bilingual country and we celebrate
it."
David Atkins, executive producer of the ceremonies, told The Canadian Press:
"The closing ... is a very different ceremony, and it's allowed us to have
a greater content in terms of the French component."
Those who took issue with the sometimes stereotypical view of Canada presented
at the opening – Mounties, mountains and maple leaves, oh my! – it sounds as
though the closing could take a light-hearted approach to some of the same
material.
"We will probably poke a bit of fun at ourselves, you will probably come
away from the ceremonies knowing a bit more about us than you did if you're not
from Canada, and we will probably bust a few Canadian myths," Furlong
predicted.
However, there will still be some proper Olympic protocol to interrupt the
party.
The athletes will march in, though in an informal fashion this time, the
national anthem of Greece will be played, the flame will be extinguished and
the Olympic flag will be handed over. Organizers of the 2014 Winter Games in
Sochi will also have the chance to make a presentation.
For the athletes, there's no question which ceremony is more fun.
"The closing ceremonies - I've been to four of them, this will be my fifth
- it's just celebration," said six-time Olympic medallist Clara Hughes
earlier this week.
"Everyone's done. I've been lucky that every Olympics I've gone to, I've
felt that I have brought my best, so it's been pure celebration and joy. It's
always a good time."
– With files from Stephanie Levitz in Vancouver.
Source: thestar.com
Wale Dealing With His Double-Edged Sword
Source: www.thestar.com
- Ashante Infantry
(February 28, 2010) The name of Wale's debut disc could
not be more appropriate.
Titled Attention Deficit for the Washington, D.C. rapper's assertion
that "the consumer is really stingy with their attention span," the
disc has been lauded by critics for his inventive rhymes and catchy music, but
has sold less than 100,000 copies. Consequently, the emcee lags behind in last
year's batch of hip-hop freshmen, behind Kid Cudi and Drake (who has yet to
drop a studio album).
Here last fall opening for Jay-Z, Wale, the youngest of two sons of Nigerian
immigrants, returns to Toronto for a club gig at Tattoo Rock Parlour on
Tuesday, ahead of a tour with K'Naan which kicks off in New York March 31.
The Star chatted with Wale (pronounced Wah-lay) by phone from Winnipeg.
Q: How did you connect with Canadians K'naan and Melanie Fiona for Attention
Deficit?
A: It was really just being around them. I did what a lot of people should do:
go with who sounds good and who has the best vibe, over who has the biggest
name. I could easily have brought in insert-super-famous-rapper here or a Mary
J. Blige. It's about who I felt represented the record and my brain, and what
I'm trying to do; and I felt like those two people did. I'm the biggest K'Naan
fan. I've listened to the Troubadour album at least 30 times. I think
it's just so unfortunate that you got guys that can really have great melodies
and great songs and making incredible, monumental stadium kind of music and it
gets overlooked. Melanie's young and represents where I'm going.
Q: Has the response to the album met your goals?
A: I'm kind of happy, critically, though I still think it went over a lot of
people's heads. I read one review saying that it wasn't personal enough and I'm
like 'Every song was directly about me.' Obviously, I wish it sold more. I
think when my celebrity builds up people are going to go back and (say) 'That
first album was amazing.'
Q: Is it celebrity you want or just more money?
A: It's not about a money thing, it's not even about a celebrity thing; that's
my way of saying notoriety. I enjoy what I'm doing and I just want my family to
be comfortable. It's always my art over me. I wish a million people did hear my
album, but I wouldn't care too much for the million dollars. That would be
nice, but I'm less concerned about that.
Q: Is there a downside to exposing so much of yourself in your music?
A: Sometimes, because I leave myself too susceptible to fans offending me, or
people going against me. I'm really in touch with my fans and I try to give
them more of me than the average artist, and sometimes it affects me a little
bit; like people using things against me, or saying things about me. It could
be someone I just gave free tickets to and two months later I don't respond to
his Twitter and he's mad.
Q: That's the double-edged sword of celebrity; imagine if you actually sell
a million copies.
A: Exactly!
Tom ‘T-Bone' Wolk, Long-Time Bass Player For Hall & Oates,
Dies
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Associated Press
(March 2, 2010) Los Angeles — Tom “T-Bone” Wolk, who performed with scores of musicians but was
best known as the long-time bass player for the band led by pop-rock stars
Daryl Hall and John Oates, has died. He was 58.
Wolk died Sunday in New York, hours after completing a recording session with
Hall, who was working on a solo album, the duo's manager, Jonathan Wolfson,
said Monday. Wolfson said the cause of death was believed to be a heart attack.
Wolk had been scheduled to appear Monday night on Late Night With Jimmy
Fallon with Hall and Oates.
A busy session musician, he appeared on literally scores of recordings with
such varied artists as Bette Midler, Billy Joel and Avril Lavigne. He played
bass on several of Elvis Costello's recordings, accordion on Robert Palmer's Heavy
Nova and guitar on Carly Simon's Coming Around Again.
He was also the bass player in NBC's Saturday Night Live house band from
1986 to 1992 when it was led by guitarist G.E. Smith.
On his website, Wolk described himself as “that guy
with the hat” who people had seen performing with Hall & Oates since 1981.
In later years he also became the band's music director.
“Daryl used to refer to him as the ampersand in Hall & Oates,” said
Wolfson, adding both members of the duo were crushed by the loss.
“It's not if I will go on, but how,” Hall said in a statement posted on the
Hall & Oates website. “T-Bone was one of the most sensitive and
good human beings that I have ever known.”
Oates called him “peerless.”
“Any instrument that he touched resonated with a sensitivity and skill level
that I have never experienced while playing with any other musician,” Oates
said. “He possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of styles and musical history
which he referenced to support all the artists that he played with over the
years.
“He became our band's musical director over time, leading by example and by the
deference and respect that everyone who played alongside him so rightfully
accorded him. He made everyone he played with better.”
Wolk grew up in the New York suburb of Yonkers. His family played the
accordion, he told Guitar Digest in 2003, and he won a statewide championship
on the instrument at age 12.
But it was seeing the Beatles perform on television's Ed Sullivan Show
in 1964, he said, that led him to talk his father into buying him an electric
guitar.
He studied art briefly after graduating high school, then turned his full
attention to music.
Wolfson said information on funeral arrangements and survivors was pending.
Four Hundred Pounds Of Hurtin’ Love
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Brad Wheeler
(March 3, 2010) “I’m six-feet-two, 400 pounds, of a man that’s full of love,” sang
the mountainous Matt
Andersen, last weekend at
Glenn Gould Studio. “I might look like a guy on the Ten Most Wanted, but you
know I’m nothing to be scared of.”
On the jaunty, forthright parlour blues of One Size Never Fits All, the
New Brunswick strongman was gay about his girth, believing that a woman can
never have enough of him. “I’ll do more for you than those other guys could,”
he pledges heartily, “I’m gonna love you pound for pound.”
Andersen, a gust of fresh air on the blues and folk scene who returns to Glenn
Gould on Monday, wryly described the tune as the closest thing he has to a
protest song. True enough, his set featured no agitated music – what he does is
rootsy singer-songwriter fare, towering acoustic soul, and three-chord blues
that are finger-picked mostly, but sometimes thumped and other times played
with a glass slide.
His songwriting is nothing spectacular, so he enlivens the material with
big-hearted vocals, mischievous guitar virtuosity and a firm understanding of
dynamics. He’s a one-man show, sure thing.
Andersen’s cover of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine was an eclipse in
itself – his sorrow so profound as to black out the theatre.
Squeezed in among in his 200 or so dates a year, the young artist recently won
a trophy and applause at the annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
You see, Andersen, the most thrilling thing in Canadian blues since Jeff
Healey, is not only big – he’s a big deal. Brad Wheeler
Matt Andersen, with Calgary singer-songwriter Wil as guest, plays Glenn
Gould Studio, March 8 (8 p.m. $29.50, 250 Front St. W., 416-872-4255).
Other dates: March 10, Studio Theatre, Hamilton; March 11, Sean O’ Sulllivan
Theatre, St. Catharines, Ont.; March 12, Gibson Cultural Centre, Alliston, Ont.
A Doubtful Muse Delivers Big Tunes
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Robert Everett-Green
Mountain Tiger Wolf
Bradley
Drip Audio/Fontana North
(March 3, 2010) This cracking good album from Vancouver’s Bradley Ferguson opens with
a song that
feels like alternating audio snapshots from two different phases
of the same relationship. The first is blurred and kind of sweaty, crowded with
dirty guitar and machine-gun beats and a guy’s obsession with the person he
can’t stop thinking about. The second is brutally clear, just the lightest of
strummed guitar chords and a few touches on xylophone to frame a man lying
broken on the rocks of love and barely able to sing: “When she calls out my
name, all she feels is shame.” Somehow, you get the feeling he thinks he
deserves nothing better.
Asking whether you’re worthy, while suspecting you’re probably not, is one of
disc’s dominant themes. Your Money is a pushy electro-rock number
bristling with attitude, but it’s really about a guy trying to prove he’s
kicking the unhealthy dependencies that have made others write him off. Padma
breaks from its woolly rock verses into a waltzing chorus that gently insists:
“You want to, but you know you can’t.” Daylight’s Finally Night gives an
awestruck account of a woman who “says she sees all the good in me,” which in
this context sounds frankly incredible.
All these doubts come out in songs that couldn’t be more freshly conceived or
confidently brought off. Bradley’s musical outlook encompasses the
craft-conscious ethos of an old-school songwriter, the playground mentality of
someone who likes to mess with synthesizers, and the tear-it-up sensibility of
an unreconstructed punk. You may have already heard some of his music on
television shows such as The L Word.
Black Shirt must be the most radio-ready thing ever recorded by Drip
Audio, a small Vancouver label that mostly specializes in albums of free-range
improvisation. The heavy two-chord verses open into a striding loose-limbed
chorus that seems guaranteed to get the club jumping.
The disc’s latter half spans the extremes of the dance number Hit the Floor,
the most brittle electronic thing on the album, and the extended
self-medicating Lullaby, an acoustic number that tinkles directly out of
Hit the Floor. I’m not so keen on the chordal ballad Little Voice
or the folkish Broken, both of which feel a bit dull and conventional.
Bradley is at his best when he’s not tethered to any genre.
Bradley plays the Media Club in Vancouver on March 4, Lydia’s in Saskatoon on
March 11 and Broken City in Calgary on March 18. For more dates and streaming
tracks, check myspace.com/bradleyonmyspace.
Herbie Hancock Celebration Part of NYC Jazz Festival
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 2,
2010) *Herbie Hancock will be honored
at a belated 70th birthday party at Carnegie Hall this
spring that will double as the revival of a major summer jazz festival in the
Big Apple.
The pianist, who turns 70 on April 12, will be joined by comedian Bill Cosby,
saxophonist Joe Lovano, trumpeter Terence Blanchard, and saxophonist Wayne
Shorter, Hancock’s bandmate in Miles Davis’ famed 1960s quintet, with more
guests to be announced.
The June 24 concert, “Herbie Hancock, Seven Decades: The Birthday Celebration,”
will benefit The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
“That will be a very exciting night — perhaps one of the unique nights in the
history of the festival with a lot of people coming just to salute Herbie,” the
festival’s producer, George Wein, told the Associated Press Friday.
The concert will be followed by a festival first — an old-time midnight jam
session paying tribute to Hancock — at the City Winery nightclub.
The CareFusion Jazz Festival will run from June 17 to 26 with some 45 concerts
at 20 venues, including concert halls, parks, museums and libraries in four
boroughs. Carnegie Hall will be the site of three other high-profile concerts
featuring trumpeter Chris Botti, Brazilian bossa nova maestro Joao Gilberto,
and the trio of pianist Keith Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack
DeJohnette.
There will also be several free outdoor concerts, with Latin jazz star Eddie
Palmieri performing in a Bronx park and pianist McCoy Tyner’s quartet featuring
saxophonist Ravi Coltrane and the Stanley Clarke Band with Japanese pianist
Hiromi playing at Central Park’s SummerStage.
The festival is paying the musicians and letting the clubs collect the gate,
asking only that ticket prices be kept at a recession-friendly $15 for most
events.
“It’s helping the clubs and the musicians,” said Wein. “Its our own stimulus
program.”
MUSIC TIDBITS
Maxwell, Jill Scott Team For Spring Tour
Source: www.eurweb.com
(February 26, 2010) *Grammy Award winning superstars Maxwell and Jill Scott will join forces for a 20-city
arena tour that launches May 21 in Cleveland and will wind across the U.S.
through June. Maxwell will continue to promote his platinum album
“BLACKsummers’night,’ while Scott will be performing hits spanning her 10 year
career. The tour is being produced nationally by Live Nation. Tickets go on
sale in select cities at LiveNation.com http://www.livenation.com/artist/maxwell-tickets or http://www.livenation.com/artist/jill-scott-tickets
Details on dates, venues and on-sale information will be announced shortly for
tour stops in Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Seattle,
Oakland, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Miami, Washington DC,
Philadelphia and New York.
Peas Reach Chart Milestone With Imma Be
Source: www.eurweb.com
(February 26, 2010) *The Black Eyed Peas have become the first duo or group in 19 years to score three Billboard
Hot 100 No. 1 singles from one album, as “Imma Be,” from the act’s “The
E.N.D.,” moves 3-1 this week. The quartet held a record-setting 26 successive
weeks at No. 1 last year when “Boom Boom Pow” (12 weeks) was followed by “I
Gotta Feeling” (14 weeks) atop the chart. The Peas’ third single from “The E.N.D.,”
“Meet Me Halfway” peaked at No. 7 in November. BEP unseats Wilson Phillips, the
last duo or group to score three No. 1s from an album, when its self-titled
debut spawned “Hold On,” “Release Me” and “You’re In Love” in 1990-91. After
nine weeks at No. 1, Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK” tumbles to No. 2, one week shy of
matching Debby Boone’s 1977 hit “You Light Up My Life” for most weeks at No. 1
by a female’s debut single. Young Money’s “BedRock” rises a spot 4-3, as does
Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” (5-4). Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Know” returns to
the top five with a 6-5 upswing. After debuting at No. 2 last week, “We Are The
World 25: For Haiti” by Artists for Haiti slips 2-6, though it holds at No. 1
on Hot Digital Sales for a second week. After moving 267,000 downloads in just
over two days of sales last tracking period, the title sells 208,000 in its
first full week of digital availability. The next three titles in the Hot 100
top 10 all remain in place; Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister” (#7), Ludacris’ “How
Low” (#8) and Jason Derulo’s “In My Head” (#9). Trey Songz reaches the Hot 100
top 10 for the first time with his lucky 13th charting title, “Say Aah”
(12-10). And Rihanna takes dual Airplay and Digital Gainer awards as “Rude Boy”
rockets 64-23.
One World One Love: Michael Bolton
Source: www.thestar.com
- Ashante Infantry
(Universal Motown)
(out of 4)
(March 02, 2010) It's been 17 years since Michael Bolton rated a Top 10 slot on Billboard's
singles or album charts, but on his 18th the voice of this American balladeer,
who has sold more than 50 million records, is as raspy and beseeching as you
remember. Though he paired up with young producers and co-writers – Ne-Yo,
Canadian Nasri Atweh and Lady Gaga – whether hip-hop or electro undertones, the
result is mature message pop. The feel-good theme is exemplified by "Just
One Love" – "We can learn from each other/ If we just find that one
love." There are also a couple of good covers: a pulsing Latin remake of
Terence Trent Darby's "Sign Your Name" and a subdued take on Van
Morrison's "Crazy Love." An easy-listening vibe from a vocalist
coming to Casino Rama April 1. Top Track: Unexpected, but authentic,
roots-reggae ballad "Ready For You."
Badu to Perform ‘Window Seat’ Tonight on
Fallon
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 2, 2010) *Erykah Badu will kick off a run of TV appearances
tonight on NBC’s “Late Night with
Jimmy Fallon” with a performance of “Window Seat,” the lead single from her
forthcoming album “New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh,” due March 30
from Universal Motown. [Listen
to "Window Seat" below.] The singer is also booked for
“The Wendy Williams Show” (March 25), “Good Day New York” (March 26), “Jimmy
Kimmel Live” (March 30), “The Wanda Sykes Show” (April 3), “Chelsea Lately”
(April 5), and “The Mo’Nique Show” (TBA). “Window Seat” was co-produced by Badu
and features James Poyser on keys and Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson from The Roots
on drums. Speaking of The Roots, which moonlights as Fallon’s house band, the
group’s third-annual
Roots Picnic featuring headliner Vampire Weekend is set for June 5
at Philadelphia’s Penn’s Landing pier.
Smooth & Sexy Sade Covers April
Ebony
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 2, 2010) *Ebony magazine has landed
the sizzling hot Sade for April, 2010 cover and feature
story. The reclusive singer who’s topping the charts with her first
recording project in 10 years, “Soldier of Love,” gave Ebony a peek at what
goes on in her world. “I’ve had my ups and downs in the years between
these albums, said Sade. “That’s partly why I’m able to write songs that people
in some way can hear. I express feelings, real feelings.” Look for the
April issue on newsstands March 9.
:FILM NEWS::
Sarah Polley Pulls Name Off Heart Film
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Gayle MacDonald
(March 2, 2010) Five days before her short film
promoting better heart health was set to air during the Oscars,
Toronto director/actor Sarah Polley has pulled her name off the two-minute feature.
In a tersely worded press release issued Tuesday, Polley said she removed her
name from the credits of the film - titled simply The Heart, and made to
support The Heart and Stroke Foundation - after she learned her work will also
promote “a product” when it airs during the award’s show ceremony, seen by
hundreds of millions around the world.
The film was commissioned by Becel (the "love your heart" margarine
brand from Unilever) to inspire women
to take better care of that particular vital organ.
The margarine also sponsors the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s healthy living
campaign. A spokesperson for Unilever was not immediately available for
comment.
On Tuesday, Polley said in the press release she’s “never actively promoted any
corporate brand, and cannot do so now.” The Academy Awards air March 7 on CTV.
"I was thrilled, as I was proud to be associated with the work of this
incredible organization [The Heart & Stroke Foundation]," said Polley,
who was nominated for an Oscar for her adapted screenplay for Away From Her,
a film she also directed.
"However, I have since learned that my film is also being used to promote
a product. Regretfully, I am forced to remove my name from the film and
disassociate myself from it."
Polley was joined in making the film by the same production team who worked on Away
from Her, including Toronto’s Jennifer Weiss (Chloe) and Simone Urdl
(Sabah).
The short film stars Sarah Manninen (The Line) and Jean-Michel Le Gal (Shanti
Baba Ram and The Dancers of Hope). It follows a woman through phases
of her life and explores the chambers of her heart. The film is meant to shed
light on Heart Month (February) in North America.
A Bronzed Aussie God, And A Gentleman
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- R.M. Vaughan
(February 28, 2010) If you were
watching television in the spring of 1983, you were very likely watching the
torrid, and torrentially popular, miniseries The Thorn Birds. And no
matter what your predilections, you could not have helped being impressed by
the often-shirtless presence of Australian actor Bryan Brown.
Tall, athletic, and blessed with a crooked grin, Brown introduced world
audiences to the “bronzed god” stereotype of Australian masculinity.
A quarter-century later, Brown has still got it, and is as bronzed as ever. In
his latest film, the Australian psychological-thriller-cum-road-trip Cactus
(opening next week), Brown makes the surly-muscle-boy leads look about as tough
as Justin Bieber. A cross between No Country for Old Men and a Jason
Statham flick, Cactus is one long pan across the scratchy Australian
outback, a landscape awash in tumbleweed and testosterone.
Of course, Brown has been very busy since his half-naked-on-a-clam-shell Thorn
Birds debut: starring opposite Tom Cruise in Cocktail; Sigourney
Weaver in Gorillas in the Mist; Peter O’Toole in the underrated Dean
Spanley; Nicole Kidman (and Brown’s obvious filmic heir, Hugh Jackman) in Australia;
and more than 50 Australian and international films and television shows, many
of which Brown produced.
Chatting with him, I hoped to provoke him to say something Crocodile
Dundee-ish, like “squiz”, “troppo” or at least “Crikey!” But no luck. He’s the Sean Conneryof the
Antipodes, a gentleman under the burlap.
The way Australia is shot in this film won’t help tourism. The outback looks
awfully bleak.
You mean isolated? It’s a pretty big country, you know. I think isolation is a
big part of what a country like Australia offers. Now, whether that’s offered
as a challenge, well, something’s only good, bad or indifferent depending on
how you make it. But a big country, you can get lost in it. You know that, you
come from one too.
You are often cast as grumpy authority figures. For good reason?
I couldn’t answer that. You’d have to ask people that know me. Ha! The truth of
the matter, though, is if you look at my characters I don’t think you can say
that. They are often characters who don’t like authority, who don’t necessarily
agree with authority. Now, whether that makes them grumpy, or just stubborn. …
But you do play cops and military men a lot.
Yeah, well. … I’m trying to think how often I’ve played a cop, truthfully. … I
think probably you’re right in thinking that, but I always wonder where it
comes from, because I’m not exactly sure that my characters absolutely present
that. But they are characters who get on with life.
You have kept a career in the United States and in Australia, unlike some
Australian actors who, once they make it in Hollywood, never go back.
I like telling Australian stories. I get much more fun out of them. I’ve been
around a while, and when the resurgence of the Australian film industry
happened in the sixties and seventies, I was one of those people who was,
luckily, involved in that. I was there before there was an industry, when we
didn’t tell our own stories and you never saw an Australian character on
screen. The excitement to play an Australian on screen has never left me.
You’re one of the executive producers of Cactus. Did you cast yourself, and
what perks were in your contract?
Um, Ha! Not a lot of perks, let me tell yah. I do produce films, and have for
about 30 years, and as an actor I like seeing stories that I think are good and
try to make them. With this one, the director [Jasmine Yuen Carrucan] asked me
to play the cop. I liked the cop, but I asked her, “How much money have you
got?” She only had a few grand. I said, “Look, you’ve got something here. I
think you’d do yourself a favour by trying to get as much money as you can.”
So, no white scented candles in your trailer?
What trailer?
Your character makes a choice at the end of the film that I found puzzling,
in the good way. Without spoiling anything, can you talk about that choice?
Well, my character says something at the beginning of the film: This land is
his territory, and don’t mess up in it. And that has a lot to do with the
ending.
Here’s the difficulty: Some people say, “I wanted to know who it was who did
this, for these reasons.” And what we say is that [those questions] are what
will either not satisfy people, or make the film fresh. I think a lot of people
will come up with theories.
After so many movies, is there anything you have not done in a film that you
would really like to do?
Surf. But it would have to be a very good day, with a lovely wave. And they
would have to give me a lot of time to get a great wave and ride it well. But
they’ll probably just shoot one where I absolutely mess up, and that will go in
the movie.
The Messenger: Bad News Bearers Bring The Iraq War Home
Source: www.thestar.com
- Peter Howell
The Messenger
(out of four)
Starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Samantha Morton. Directed by Oren
Moverman. 105 minutes. At Cumberland 4. 14A
(February 26, 2010) A mother stifles a cry, tears choking her words. A
father falls to the ground, seized with
shock. A wife holds a hand over her mouth, already knowing what the men at the
door have come to tell her.
These are scenes from The
Messenger, a masterful drama about the
bringing of bad news and the toll it takes on both bearer and receiver. The
film is premised on the verbal communication of urgent information, yet its
many non-verbal moments provide the greatest strength and clarity.
This feature directing debut by I'm Not There co-scripter Oren Moverman
plays in many ways like a stateside version of The Hurt Locker, sharing
that film's taciturn stoicism, but it deals with explosions of the emotional
kind.
It follows members of the U.S. Army's Casualty Notification Office, whose grim
task is to immediately notify next-of-kin of battlefield casualties in Iraq,
before the news media and Internet can broadcast the bad news.
Reactions from next-of-kin – NOK in army jargon – range from simple tears to
threats of physical harm, but these messengers of gloom cannot flinch or depart
from protocol.
They are required to maintain the highest standards of military dress and
decorum at all times.
They must not vary the details of their well-rehearsed message, except to
change the name of the deceased and the time and place of death.
They must not allow their own emotions to show, even by offering a consoling
hug.
Few volunteer for the assignment, especially not walking wounded like Staff
Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), who recently returned from Iraq carrying
baggage both physical and emotional.
He was heroic in battle, an exemplary soldier, but now he's back home dealing
with shrapnel wounds, post-traumatic stress and a ruined home life. His
girlfriend (Jena Malone) got engaged to someone else during his absence.
Montgomery isn't the kind of guy you'd expect to be delivering sensitive news
to fragile people, but army logic often works in reverse. He's paired with
Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a veteran of the notification office who
long ago learned to separate his job from his life – although the alcoholism
problem he's fighting suggests otherwise.
Moverman, who also co-wrote the script (with Alessandro Camon) might have taken
the standard view of this arrangement. This would have involved dwelling upon
the differences between the brash Montgomery, who distrusts army rules, and the
granite-hard Stone, who works strictly by Uncle Sam's playbook (but he plays
more in tune with Hugh Hefner's).
And to be sure, the differences between the two men are plainly in view, as in
a scene where Montgomery runs into a dead soldier's parents in a shop and
impulsively breaches protocol – and incurs Stone's wrath – with his spontaneous
sharing of heartache.
But the film's real message comes through in moments of silence: in the long rides
between homes, in the contained grief of the bereaved or just several beers
past debate. The two men have more in common than they knew, and it begins with
loneliness.
Montgomery tries to address that problem with yet another rule breach: he seeks
the comforts of a soldier's widow (Samantha Morton), the mother of young son
who is still too much in pain to know where her heart is.
The Messenger has an unspoken line on the Iraq War. This isn't a
conflict like World War II, where at least the bereaved had the comfort of
knowing their sons died for a noble cause.
The Iraq mission is more about politics than peace, and selling its bloody
result to a disenfranchised American populace is no easy task. (The
Messenger could just as easily have been set in the era of the Vietnam War,
another conflict lacking popular support.)
Speaking of tough sells, it's a sad fact that The Messenger isn't
getting more attention this awards season because any film remotely connected
with Iraq is doomed to small audiences.
That's another thing it has in common with The Hurt Locker, an expected
Best Picture winner with vastly more kudos than cash on its balance sheet.
The Messenger does have two Oscar nominations, for its screenplay and
for Harrelson's bravura performance. But it's missing a least three other nods:
for Best Picture, and for the acting by Foster and Morton.
Foster, best known as one of villains of 3:10 to Yuma, is a study in
repressed anger. He says more in a single look than a dozen pages of script
could convey. His acclaim is just beginning.
Morton, an asset to any movie she's in, personifies the interior disarray of a
woman forced to contemplate a new life even as she mourns the one suddenly
taken from her. If there were awards given for brave choices, she'd be in line:
she gained pounds and dimmed her usual lustre for this unflattering but
essential performance.
The Messenger is a movie of which much can be said, yet which succeeds
so admirably with the fewest of words.
The Envelope Please: Who Will Win, Who Deserves to Win, Who Was
Snubbed
Source: Kam Williams
(February 28, 2010) Although Avatar and The Hurt Locker landed 9 Academy Award nominations each, I
foresee the former and director James Cameron enjoying a clean sweep. Breaking
all box-office records, Avatar is a juggernaut that nobody will be able to stop
on Oscar night. This means that The Hurt Locker, which was directed by
Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, might very well be shut out entirely,
unless the Academy decides to split their votes between the two in the Best
Director and Best Picture categories.
The most hotly-contested of the major categories is Best Actress, where the
least deserving, Sandra Bullock, is the sentimental favourite. However, I
anticipate that perennial-nominee Meryl Streep (16) will prevail in the most
difficult contest to handicap. That’s not the case for the other three acting
categories where nominees Jeff Bridges, Christoph waltz and Mo’Nique may as
well be making room on the their mantels for a new
trophy.
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards, co-hosted by Alec Baldwin, are set
to be broadcast on Sunday, March 7th from the Kodak Theatre in
Hollywood .
Without further adieu, allow me to predict the winner in each category. I also
indicate which among the nominees, in my humble opinion, is actually the most
deserving. And because so many great movies and performances are invariably
overlooked, I also recognize several among the snubbed which were certainly
worthy of Oscar consideration.
Best Picture
Will Win: Avatar
While some say Avatar is only a slight favourite over The Hurt Locker, common
sense says a flick which made over billion dollars is a shoo-in.
Deserves to Win: Precious
Overlooked: Taken, Drag Me to Hell and My Sister’s Keeper.
Best Director
Will Win: James Cameron (Avatar)
Since this category is ordinary coupled with Best Picture that makes James
Cameron this critic’s, although the oddsmakers have installed his ex, Kathryn
Bigelow as a slight favourite for The Hurt Locker.
Deserves to Win: Lee Daniels (Precious)
Overlooked: Pierre Morel (Taken), My Sister’s Keeper (Nick Cassavetes) and Sam
Raimi (Drag Me to Hell)
Best Actor
Will Win: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
This is an easy category to handicap, even though it’s not Bridges’ best
performance, because the Academy is inclined to reward never-recognized actors
late in their career for their body of work.
Deserves to Win: Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)
Overlooked: Liam Neeson (Taken) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer)
Best Actress
Will Win: Meryl Streep
It’s great that Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) got all the early accolades,
but Academy-darling Streep’s delightful impersonation of Julia Child is apt to
prove irresistible when it comes time to cast ballots.
Deserves to Win: Gabby Sidibe (Precious) will be ignored because she’s a
newcomer, despite being absolutely mesmerizing in her acting debut.
Overlooked: Tilda Swinton (Julia), Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist) and
Gwyneth Paltrow (Two Lovers) and Zoeey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer)
Best Supporting Actor
Will Win: Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Not much competition here for Waltz’s nonpareil performance, other than Woody
Harrleson (The Messenger) who will run a distant second.
Deserves to Win: Christoph Waltz
Overlooked: Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker)
Best Supporting Actress
Will Win: Mo’Nique (Precious)
I said, “Just give Mo’Nique the Oscar!” the same day I saw Precious back in
October, and nothing I’ve seen since has made me regret making that premature
call.
Deserves to Win: Mo’Nique (Precious)
Overlooked: Cameron Diaz (My Sister’s Keeper) and Famke Janssen (Taken).
Predictions in Secondary Categories
Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Up in the Air)
Animated Feature: Up
Art Direction: Avatar
Cinematography: Avatar
Costume Design: Nine
Documentary Feature: The Cove
Film Editing: Avatar
Makeup: Star Trek
Original Score: Avatar
Original Song: Crazy Heart (“The Weary Kid”)
Sound Editing: Avatar
Sound Mixing: Avatar
Visual Effects: Avatar
Note: I only passed on four categories: Foreign Language Film (which I have an
abysmal history f handicapping) and the three short categories: Live-Action,
Animated and Documentary.
Film Wizard's No Homophobe
Source: www.thestar.com
- Michael Kuchwara
(February 28, 2010) NEW YORK – Daniel Radcliffe is
explaining why he has just filmed a public service announcement for The Trevor Project, the
leading organization focusing on suicide prevention efforts among gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgendered youth.
Because his parents were both actors, "I grew up knowing a lot of gay men
and it was never something that I even thought twice about – that some men were
gay and some weren't," the Harry Potter megastar said Friday.
"And then I went to school and (for) the first time . . . I came across
homophobia. . . . I had never encountered it before. It shocked me.
"I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or
bisexuals," he added. "Now I am in the very fortunate position where
I can actually help or do something about it."
The result is a PSA that was filmed Friday at the organization's Wall Street
offices. The announcement is scheduled to air sometime this spring.
Radcliffe first became aware of The Trevor Project, founded in 1998 by three
filmmakers, while he was appearing on Broadway in the 2008 revival of Equus.
Their movie, Trevor, which won an Academy Award for best short film,
concerned a gay teen who attempts suicide. The Trevor Project allows young
people to call in for counselling or just to talk.
"I have described myself as being 'gently eccentric' and slightly
different as a person just because I've had a very different set of influences
growing up than anybody else in my peer group did," the 20-year-old
Radcliffe said. "I've always felt very lucky to have the life that I've
had. I never had to cope with anything serious about my religion or sexual
orientation or anything like that.
"I think it's important for somebody from a big, commercial movie series
like Harry Potter and particularly because I am not gay or bisexual or
transgendered. . . . The fact that I am straight makes not a difference, but it
shows that straight people are incredibly interested and care a lot about this
as well."
On the Net: www.thetrevorproject.org
Wesley Snipes : The “ Brooklyn ’s Finest” Interview with Kam
Williams
Source: Kam Williams
Born in Orlando on July 31, 1962 to Marian, a teacher’s aide, and Wesley, Sr.,
and an aircraft engineer,
Wesley Trent Snipes was raised
in the South Bronx, although the family moved back to Florida before he was
able to graduate from NYC’s famed, Fiorello La Guardia High School of Music and
Art. Still, Wesley went on to study drama in college at SUNY Purchase’s
prestigious acting conservatory.
However, he dropped out during his junior year to pursue his passion
professionally. In Hollywood , the versatile thespian’s stage and Shotokan
karate training came in handy in helping him land a variety of roles. The
accomplished actor/black belt’s long list of credits on his enviable resume’
include the Blade Trilogy, Jungle Fever, White Men Can’t Jump, U.S. Marshals,
Waiting to Exhale, Mo’ Better Blues, New Jack City, Murder at 1600, The Fan,
Demolition Man, Passenger 57, To Wong Foo and The Art of War.
Wesley’s many accolades include a couple of NAACP Image Awards and making
People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World List. And he and his
second wife, artist Nikki Park, are raising their four children both in the
U.S. and South Korea . Here, he talks about his latest film, Brooklyn’s Finest,
a gritty, NYC crime saga, directed by Antoine Fuqua, which co-stars Don
Cheadle, Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Ellen Barkin, Lela Rochon, Will Patton and
Vincent D’Onofrio.
Kam Williams: Hey, Wesley, thanks for the time. We met last year in New
York when you were receiving an award at the Jacob Javits Center .
Wesley Snipes: Oh yes, wonderful.
KW: Laz Lyles asks, what drew you to Brooklyn’s Finest’s script,
especially with the screenwriter [Michael C. Martin] being a first-timer?
WS: Well, it wasn’t as much the script, as it was working with this cast
and with Antoine Fuqua. So, I’d have to say that the idea of working with them
motivated me more so than the script.
KW: Why so?
WS: I wanted to work with the ensemble of great actors that Antoine
Fuqua had assembled. He and I had talked about doing a film together maybe
about three or for years prior to actually working on this one. We were trying
to find the right project. He was working on other things. I was working on
other things, and was out of the country. Then there was a window if
opportunity, and he said, “Wes, I want you to play this.” I had some
reservations, because of that Nino Brown reference [the character he played in
New Jack City ]. But he basically explained to me, “that’s part of the reason I
want you to do this. The characters have some overtones of that old Nino’s type
of lifestyle.” When he told me that Don [Cheadle] would be playing the other
character, and who else would be in the cast, I was like, “Well, let’s do
this!” [Chuckles]
KW: Richard Gere… Ethan Hawke… Ellen Barkin...
WS: It’s always great when you can work with an ensemble of very, very
talented people. And Ellen and I had worked on The Fan together.
KW: Don’t you sometimes have a clash of egos, when you have so many
stars on the same set?
WS: I didn’t experience that. I actually love the ensemble environment.
That’s what I come from, the so called “bus and truck” repertory theatre. So,
you put me in with a group of artists, and it’s like a breakdance battle.
“Let’s go!”
KW: I know that your family moved back to Florida while you were
attending a prestigious acting academy in NYC. How did you prevent that
disruption from spoiling your dreams?
WS: After I finished high school, the first chance I got, I caught a
Greyhound bus back to New York where I ended up being accepted to a program in
drama at the State University at Purchase.
KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls says that from The Waterdance to
Blade you have handled many different roles. She wants to know which one
is your all-time favourite?
WS: That is.
KW: Jimmy Bayan asks where in L.A. do you live?
WS: [LOL] What, does he want to come over for dinner? I’m a universal
man, but tell Jimmy I’m back and forth between the East and West Coasts a lot.
KW: Documentary director Hisani Dubose is interested in knowing how you
positioned yourself to play Blade, the first high-impact, black superhero. She
said she knows that your company, Amen-Ra, co-produced it, but it still must
have been a major task.
WS: It was challenging. It was one of our firsts, and it was early on in
the game. I had an inkling that it was something that hadn’t been done before,
and some of my management at the time didn’t approve of the idea. They actually
told me I shouldn’t do it. But I reflected on the fact that we had never seen a
film like that before, not just a black superhero, but a black, vampire
superhero who fights martial arts. I thought, “We gotta try this, even if just
for the fellas around the way.”
KW: Larry Greenberg, says, after I receive my black belt in Kempo, I am
considering looking at another martial art form. Which one would you recommend?
WS: Shu-to Kwon Do. [Laughs] No, that’s a joke. I would recommend, Yoga.
KW: Yale Grad Tommy Russell asks: "Do you think Obama will be able
to resuscitate the healthcare reform bill?”
WS: Resuscitate it? Doesn’t something have to be alive first to
resuscitate it?
KW: Tony Noel asks, as a martial artist, who do you see as the next
generation of martial arts actors coming into prominence?
WS: That’s a difficult question. It’s hard to tell because a lot of
martial artists aren’t strong actors, and a lot of actors aren’t strong martial
artists. But we hope to be able to produce some of them through our company in
the near future.
KW: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone
would? WS: Nothing that comes to mind.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
WS: Yeah!
KW: The Columbus Short question: Are you happy?
WS: I am full and well.
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When was the last time you had a good
laugh?
WS: [LOL] Yesterday.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
WS: ”From Fatigued to Fantastic” by Jacob Teitelbaum.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1583332898?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1583332898
KW: The music maven Heather Covington question: What are you listening
to on your iPod?
WS: The Larry Levan Story, the whole series.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CQJYZ4?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000CQJYZ4
KW: When you look in the mirror, what do you see?
WS: A beautiful expression of God having a wonderful human experience.
KW: What is your favourite dish to cook?
WS: Grits and eggs. [Chuckles]
KW: The Ling-Ju Yen question: What is your earliest childhood memory?
WS: [Whistles] Oh man… Playing with my babysitter’s toes.
KW: If you could have one wish instantly granted, what would that be
for?
WS: Long-lasting health.
KW: Thanks again, Wesley, and best of luck with Brooklyn ’s Finest and
all off your endeavours.
WS: Thank you.
To see a trailer for Brooklyn ’s Finest, visit HERE.
The Maid: Catalina Saavedra Magnificent In Chilean Family Tale
Source: www.thestar.com
- Linda Barnard
The Maid
(out of four)
Starring Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón and Mariana Loyola. Directed by
Sebastián Silva. 95 minutes. At Canada Square. 14A
(February 26, 2010) The nature of live-in domestic Raquel's relationship with
her employers is evident early
on in The Maid, when she's summoned from the kitchen to
the dining room to blow out the candles on her birthday cake by the relentless
tinkling of a bell.
Sullen and surly, she's worked for the upwardly mobile family in Santiago,
Chile for 23 years. Now she's 41 and the bourgeois couple and their four
often-bratty kids have become stand-ins for the family she never had.
Raquel knows all their secrets – and decides which ones she'll keep. She truly
believes this family loves her and couldn't survive without her. The assertion
fuels her martyrdom as she rises at dawn in her small basement room to wake the
children and bring the couple breakfast in bed.
So when her debilitating headaches worsen, her solicitous employer Pilar
(Claudia Celedón) hires a young helper to ease Raquel's burden (and their
guilt). Raquel goes into furious emotional lockdown. Her little jaw set, she
sets about sabotage, comically locking her replacement out of the house and
pretending she can't hear her frantic knocking. A cat gets stuffed in a drawer.
The next maid fares even worse.
Although she works for the entire household, it's Pilar's responsibility to
keep Raquel happy. Firing her isn't an option.
Catalina Saavedra, who wasn't nominated for an Oscar to the disappointment of
an international cheering section, is magnificent as the bitter Raquel, a
social misfit who spends most of her time swinging between barely suppressed
fury and self-pitying persecution. And she's found novel ways to use housework
as a form of punishment against those she feels have wronged her.
As unlikable – and unstable – as the character is, Saavedra finds a way for the
audience to care about Raquel deeply and even to root for her to come out on
top with her childish evil plots.
It's not until a third maid arrives, the no-nonsense Lucy (Mariana Loyola),
that Raquel sees there's a world she's missed out on and realizes that perhaps
her isolation isn't her fault.
Lauded at Sundance in 2009 and a Golden Globe nominee, The Maid is shot
in a documentary style, the hand-held camera sometimes claustrophobically
close, peeking into showers and around doorways like a spy.
Writer-director Sebastián Silva establishes intimacy with his characters, using
humour in unexpected ways while exploring a modern-day look at the Upstairs,
Downstairs world of the people who run a house for those who live in
it.
::TV NEWS::
Corner Gas Stars Out From Behind Butt
Source: www.thestar.com
- Rob Salem
(February 28, 2010) Those of us who have, comedically speaking, been
running on fumes for almost a year
will be relieved to hear that the pumps at Corner Gas are back up and
running. Sort of.
At least, the key personnel who fuelled the late, lamented CTV sitcom are back,
most significantly its star and writer/creator, Brent Butt, in support of his
top-billed actress wife, Nancy Robertson, in their newly minted mutual vehicle, Hiccups.
And also, in the follow-up Monday-night time slot – the new shows air at 8 and
8:30, respectively – former co-star and now series lead Fred Ewanuick, along
with a trio of writer/producers from Corner Gas (and This Hour Has 22
Minutes), unveil their own new half-hour, Dan for Mayor.
This is, for CTV – to further belabour the obvious gas-station metaphor – the
series equivalent of topping up
the tank, changing the oil, checking the brakes and rotating the tires.
It remains to be seen just how well and how long the vehicles will run. Will
either or both shows stall on the on-ramp, or careen out of control like a
recalled Toyota?
"I hope it works out," allows Ewanuick. "It'll be great, if
people get behind both shows, to have a good Canadian comedy night."
It can't hurt that the new homegrown comedy hour precedes the two top-rated CBS
sitcoms, Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory.
But let's give credit where it is due. Though this country has proved itself
more than capable of producing high-quality situation comedy, there was always
reluctance by our own mass audience to embrace it in any significant numbers –
certainly not in proportion to the American onslaught of prime-time network
sitcoms that dominate the dial.
"I don't know why," Ewanuick shrugs. "I mean, before us, there
was King of Kensington and The Beachcombers and stuff. But
somehow all our talent ends up south of the border. It's like, `Sure, Canadians
can do comedy.' But when we do it at home, they don't want to have anything to
do with it."
Until Corner Gas. Right out of the box, the show attracted an unheard-of
million-plus viewers, becoming the country's most-watched sitcom, U.S. or
Canadian, by a whopping 33 per cent.
But pre-existing popularity, especially on this scale, is very much a mixed
blessing. I can remember two-time loser Jason Alexander (Bob Patterson,
Listen Up and now, in another sense entirely, as spokesman for diet giant
Jenny Craig), addressing for the umpteenth time the so-called "Seinfeld
Curse," complaining that too much or too little George Costanza in any
subsequent sitcom role would equally alienate the formerly faithful.
Of the two Corner Gas grads, Robertson's task is the easiest: Hiccups'
Millie Uptown, an emotionally erratic children's author, is softer, sillier,
more scattered and less cynical than Wanda Dollard, and infinitely better
dressed.
"Not that I've ever been a super `girlie' gal," Robertson qualifies.
"If you came to my house you wouldn't find one doily. But it's nice to
wear clothes that I would wear myself.
"I mean, when we wrapped Corner Gas, they asked me if I wanted to
keep my wardrobe. And I'm, `Oh really? You mean I get another T-shirt?' But I
never wanted Wanda to have a ton of new clothes. I always thought she should
have a layer of dust on her."
In that sense, Millie is Wanda's polar opposite. "She's much more
theatrical," Robertson agrees. "Which I love – I mean, I am an actor.
"There are more things, I think, that Millie can get away with, and more
things she can experience. To Millie, because she's so childlike herself,
everything is a new experience ... even if she's already seen it 20 times. She
lives in the moment. Like a goldfish. And then she's on to the next
thing."
Helping Millie navigate her crisis-crammed existence – the "hiccups"
of the title – is bumbling self-proclaimed "life coach" Stan Dirko,
familiar to fans as the former Brent Leroy, and to Robertson as her real-life
husband, writer and co-producer Brent Butt.
Butt had not planned to play the role, or any role, himself. But CTV, quite
understandably, insisted.
Behind and/or in front of the camera, Robertson is just happy to have him along
for the ride. "We work really well together," she affirms. "Even
before we were a couple – I mean, that's how we first got to know each other on
Corner Gas. So it's an easy place to go to.
"When we're on set, I never really think of him as my husband. I actually
flirt more with the crew than with him."
Good for the goose, if not so much the gander, especially when the gander is
cavorting on screen with a very hot Latina screen spouse (episodic actress
Paula Rivera).
"I remember coming onto the set one day, and they're in bed
together," Robertson laughs. "And I'm, like, `Excuse me.' And then I
thought, `Wait a minute ...'"
Fred Ewanuick's campaign for Dan for Mayor is perhaps more inherently
problematic, surrounded (except in the writers' room) by unfamiliar faces,
playing a character fairly far removed from the dimly adorable Hank Yarbo of Corner
Gas.
"I have no way of judging (how audiences will react)," Ewanuick
allows.
"I mean, hopefully we've made him likeable enough that people will want to
get on board.
"He is completely ... well, I wouldn't say opposite to Hank. I mean, there
are similarities. They're both pretty honest guys. He's the same kind of
character. They're both guys that you want to see do well."
Which in affable bartender Dan Phillips' case means winning over the voters of
fictional small-town Wessex, Ont. (exteriors Kitchener, interiors Toronto).
"He seriously thinks he can be mayor," Ewanuick says. And in 13
weeks, we'll find out if he's right.
"Actually, we don't know," the actor acknowledges. "All 13
(first-season episodes) have been shot, but the way we wrote the last script
... well, all I can say is that there's an election.
"If the show is a success, and we do a second season, I guess we would
have to have him actually become mayor. Or go on to something else."
Dan for Premier? Perhaps even Prime Minister?
"I'd be into that," Ewanuick enthuses.
"That would be awesome."
Marie Osmond Devastated Following Death Of Son, 18
Source: www.thestar.com
(February 28, 2010) LOS ANGELES–Marie Osmond confirmed Saturday
that her 18-year-old son, Michael
Blosil, is dead.
The entertainer said in a statement that her family is devastated by the
"tragic loss." She did not provide details on the death.
However, the TV show Entertainment Tonight reported on its website that
Blosil jumped to his death Friday night from a downtown Los Angeles apartment
building.
Officers responded to an apparent suicide jump in the area, but the victim had
not been identified Saturday, Los Angeles police officer Gregory Baek said.
"My family and I are devastated and in deep shock by the tragic loss of
our dear Michael and ask that everyone respect our privacy during this
difficult time," Osmond said in the statement.
Blosil reportedly left a note that referred to a lifelong battle with
depression.
In 2007, Osmond said Blosil was treated at a rehabilitation facility, but she
didn't disclose the nature of his problem.
Donny Osmond, Blosil's uncle, told Entertainment Tonight: ``Please pray
for my sister and her family.''
Blosil is one of Osmond's five adopted children. She also has three children
from two marriages. She divorced Brian Blosil in 2007 after two decades of
marriage. She and first husband Stephen Craig divorced in 1985.
Osmond starred with her brother on television's Donny and Marie Show
during the 1970s. More recently, she appeared on Dancing With the Stars,
and is currently performing with Donny in Las Vegas.
'It Has To Be The Most Authentic Cop Series Going’
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Michael Posner
(March 1, 2010) It’s hard to think of a new
Canadian TV series that has generated as much preliminary buzz
as CTV’s The Bridge.
Billed as a hard-hitting take on life inside a major urban police force, it
comes with an impressive creative pedigree, including lead actor Aaron Douglas
(Battlestar Galactica), five-time Gemini Award-winning writer Alan Di
Fiore (Da Vinci’s Inquest) and producer Laszlo Barna.
But everyone associated with the production –- it premieres with a two-hour
pilot on Friday night and continues for another 11 episodes – knows that its
soul belongs to former Toronto police officer Craig Bromell, who is executive
producer for the series.
“ The key thing is it has to be real – every little detail. You
have to really believe that you’re with the cops out there. ”— Craig Bromell
A constant thorn in the side of the force’s leadership, Bromell led a brief
wildcat strike in 1995, protesting a decision to charge two constables with
mistreating black citizens. Later, as president of the 7,500-man Toronto police
union (1997-2003), he spearheaded a campaign to tackle crime and corruption –
not just on the street, but inside higher command. He became a powerful and
polarizing figure, adored by much of the rank-and-file, feared and detested by
many senior officers and local politicians.
It’s that internecine element Bromell and his team are trying to inject into
the popular, but crowded, genre of cop drama. The show’s central character,
Frank Leo (Douglas), is largely based on Bromell. The title comes from the
actual bridge that separates the verdant lawns of Toronto’s upper-crust
Rosedale neighbourhood from its hard-core crime zones south of Bloor Street –
an area Bromell patrolled for part of his 26 years on the force.In the series,
the physical bridge becomes a metaphor for other dualities, including the gulf
separating commanding officers from the rank and file.
“Few institutions are as political as a major metropolitan police force,”
says Bromell. “Cops hate drug dealers, that’s true. But they hate brass even
more. The tough part of the job is inside the building. And it’s the same
everywhere.”
As a TV project, The Bridge was born shortly after Bromell left the
police force in 2003. He made a segue into radio, hosting a talk-show on
Toronto radio station AM640 (where he still serves as a part-time consultant on
police issues).
One day, at his favourite watering hole, Toronto’s upscale Bistro 990 – “all of
my important union decisions were made there, over fish,” says Bromell – he met
TV producer Adam Shully (Blood Ties, Odyssey 5). Both thought the
Bromell story had series potential and took the concept initially to Barna and,
with him, to CHUM, which commissioned 10 episodes. When CTV acquired CHUM in
2006, the project was temporarily shelved, but later revived. CTV ordered a
two-hour pilot, shot in the summer of 2008. Later, they ordered the rest of the
series and sold it to CBS. The U.S. network has yet to announce an American
launch date.
“It’s actually better that we had that delay,” Bromell explained in an
interview on the set. “It needed more time. And it gave us a chance to get Alan
Di Fiore on board. The key thing is it has to be real – every little detail.
You have to really believe that you’re with the cops out there. It has to be
the most authentic cop series going, because everyone will be coming after us.
Because of my background, this thing will be picked at, picked at, picked at.”
Bromell grew up in Oshawa, the son of a city employee. Influenced by the
writing of Joseph Wambaugh, the former Los Angeles policeman turned novelist,
and by TV cop shows, which he consumed voraciously as a teenager (The Rockford
Files, The Mod Squad, Police Story, Dragnet), he joined the force at 18.
Di Fiore was an obvious candidate for the writing assignment, having been a key
part of the team responsible for Da Vinci’s Inquest, CBC’s long-running
series about a cop turned crusading coroner, and CBS’s short-lived FBI series The
Handler.
He’d always wanted to write and, convinced that writers should write what they
know, hit the road after college to gain life experience. He worked as a union
organizer among Mexican-Americans, and then came to Canada, employed variously
as a fish-packer, as a herring fisherman, in a dog food factory, as a log
salvager and finally as part-owner of a jazz club, Pagliacci’s in Victoria.
It was a visit to the club by actor-director Stuart Margolin that led to Di
Fiore’s first TV credit – Vendetta, a miniseries shot in Rome.
When The Bridge was in development, Barna, who produced Da Vinci,
recommended him to Bromell. “I’d never met him or even known about him,” says
Di Fiore. “But when Craig told me the bones of his story, I was riveted. Except
for Wambaugh, in prose, no one has ever done the story of the ordinary street
cop.”
Approaching the pilot script, Di Fiore said he had a brief chat with Bromell,
but cut him off at a certain point. “I felt if I knew too much about his
particular story, it would limit me creatively. So most of the storyline and
most of the other characters are invented.”
He wrote the first draft in 21 days. “I wanted to contemporize the story,
because the truth is, rank and file cops today are still battling the brass as
much as they’re battling the drug dealers on the street.”
Lead actor Douglas, a Vancouver native, didn’t try to model the character
directly on Bromell. “I just wanted to make Frank Leo a real guy. It’s a
fictional character based on Craig’s life. I don’t put a lot of forethought
into the scene. My approach is to say the words as simply as you can. Don’t try
to act. Just be naturalistic.”
Ultimately, naturalism is also Bromell’s ambition – to accurately depict the
true, hugely complicated nature of a cop’s life.
“No one,” he promises, “will be able to come back to us and say: ‘That’s not
how it is. It’s not that way.’ No, I’m sorry. It is that way and that’s how
we’re going to show it.”
The Bridge premieres Friday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, then moves to a regular
Friday, 10 p.m. ET/PT timeslot on March 12.
The Marriage Ref Is Seinfeld All Grown Up
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Andrew Ryan
(March 2, 2010) Los Angeles — In some ways, the inspiration behind The Marriage Ref sounds like a
Seinfeld episode.
Consider the plotline: Newlywed couple invites a friend over for dinner.
Everything is civilized until the couple revisits a disagreement, which turns
into a spat, which turns into a full-tilt argument. The friend naturally feels
uncomfortable and tries to leave. Husband insists the friend stay, hear both
sides, and declare a winner and loser. The wife and friend exchange puzzled
expressions.
“But that’s exactly what we did,” said Jerry Seinfeld, who has
transformed the incident early in his own married life into the new series The
Marriage Ref (Sunday, NBC, CITY-TV at 10:30 p.m.). “I said my side, and she
said her side. I believe I lost, but that’s not the point. The point is it was
better, because it was over.”
The Marriage Ref is Seinfeld all grown up. For nine seasons, his
much-celebrated sitcom explored the complexities of New York single life (the
only character even coming close to marriage was George, and he killed his
fiancée by accidental poisoning). One year after voluntarily folding the show,
Seinfeld wed Jessica Sklar. Now 55 and a father of three, the comedian’s
perspective has, by necessity, shifted.
“After 10 years of marriage, I realized the comedic potential of this topic is
quite rich,” Seinfeld told visiting TV critics. “Really, 85 per cent of marital
difficulties are ridiculous problems. But the ref idea … really, it was not my
idea to do it as a TV show. It was my wife’s.”
Heavily promoted during NBC’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games, The
Marriage Ref debuts in a sneak preview following the network’s coverage of
Sunday night’s closing ceremonies, before moving into a regular timeslot next
Thursday. The concept merges reality, comedy and a panel format – a peculiar TV
amalgam, admits Seinfeld.
“No question people are going to watch us and go, ‘Well, this is unlike
anything I’ve ever seen’,” he said. “That to me is job one if you’re going to
try and make television. It’s got to feel unlike what’s already there.”
Most likely the promos already have some viewers confused. How it works: A
married couple with a dispute allow cameras to pre-tape their bickering (NBC
put out the call for disagreeable duos on their website several months ago).
Next, it’s game on. The resulting reality footage is shown simultaneously to a
studio audience and a celebrity panel – Seinfeld, 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwinand talk-show
host Kelly Ripa appear in the first episode – who offer up observations and
personal reflections for viewer consideration.
The panel is allowed replay clips in slow motion and use the telstrator to
point out highlights in the argument. “We felt the simplicity of sports was
missing in marriage,” said Seinfeld, who serves as as executive producer on the
series.
Future guest panelists on The Marriage Ref will reportedly include Tina
Fey, Larry David, Matt Lauer, Martin Short and – seriously – Madonna, whose
spokesperson has confirmed her future appearance. With two marriages (to Sean
Penn and Guy Richie) behind her, the Material Girl is something of an authority
on the subject.
But it also raises the question: Why a panel of celebrities instead of
counsellors or marriage experts? “Because experts are helpful,” said Seinfeld.
“And that’s not our thing. This is a comedy show.”
Working toward that goal, the weighty role of Marriage Ref falls to
standup comic Tom Papa, one of Seinfeld’s best friends, who presides over the
proceedings and considers the panel’s observations before declaring a victor.
“The job of the judges is to convince me which way to go, but ultimately I make
the call,” said Papa. “As comedians, we’re always looking for the truth and I
have to come up with a real reason as to why this one is right and this one is
wrong, and then just make the call. And if people get angry, that’s just the
way it goes.”
Once a winner is declared, a prize is awarded, with veteran sportscaster Marv
Albert performing the honours. “The prize will always be completely appropriate
to the argument itself,” said Papa.
For obvious reasons and TV purposes, none of the arguments presented on The
Marriage Ref are of a serious nature. In the first few shows, a man bridles
at his wife’s insistence on keeping her ex-husband’s ashes on the mantel, and
his prosthetic leg in their bedroom closet. A woman rails at her husband’s
habit of parking his Harley in the living room. Or the couple at odds wonders
whether or not to have their recently-deceased dog stuffed by a taxidermist.
“Now, a fight like that could go on for a year,” said Seinfeld. “And we just
end it. It’s like in baseball. I kind of like it when the ump blows the call,
because that’s part of the game. This is a game about human beings and we’re
just going to make the call. Let’s move on.”
And very often the laughs become too far apart in a marriage, which appears to
be the game plan behind Seinfeld’s return to television. The Marriage Ref
has sombre network competition in its regular Thursday at 10 p.m. position –
specifically, from CBS’s crime-drama The Mentalist and the maudlin
medical drama Private Practice on ABC – but Seinfeld believes there must
be enough married-couple viewers out there to support the real-life concept.
“Anyone who’s married, or was married, will be able to relate,” he said
confidently. “And it is very pro-marriage. The show ends in a way where you can
see how we’re really rooting for them and want them to hang in there. And you
can see that the fight was really just a passing moment in their life.”
Jay Leno Returns To Tonight Show
Source: www.thestar.com
- Rob Salem
(March 3, 2010) What a difference a time slot
makes.
Jay Leno made a triumphant
return to 11:35 on Monday night, reclaiming his Tonight Show throne
after a
brief abdication to Conan O'Brien.
I have never been a big Leno fan – at least, not of his hosting skills. He is
one of the great stand-up comics of all time and, recent bad press
notwithstanding, is still apparently the same easygoing (perhaps too
easygoing), car-crazy Average Guy his fans adore.
But his Tonight Show was always too "vanilla" for me. I can't
forgive his network masters for choosing him over David Letterman 18 years ago
and for elbowing out Conan O'Brien a few months ago.
That being said, Monday night's Tonight Show saw Leno back at the top of
his game – very much unlike his ill-fated 10 o'clock show, on which he was
visibly ill at ease, inexplicably unprepared and obviously embarrassed. All
with good reason, since, in the transition to the earlier time slot, his cadre
of high-priced writers seemed to forget that comedy tends to be more effective
when it's actually funny.
Leno said it himself, just a few minutes in, following the de rigeur lemming-like
standing ovation: "Isn't 11:30 a lot more fun?"
It was for us and even more so for him. The guy was clearly relieved and seemed
to be enjoying himself.
Even the manipulated video and pre-taped segments – perhaps the lamest part of
the 10 o'clock show – seemed to have a new vitality. Particularly when Leno,
desk-less in the earlier half-hour (and thus required, he cracked, to wear
extra-long socks), conducted surprise home invasions to check out other
people's desks, complete with tag-along guests including the always-irreverent
Adam Carolla.
Leno's inaugural in-studio guest was Oscar and Grammy winner Jamie Foxx, an odd
and underwhelming choice, with nothing in particular to plug. As if to
compensate, Foxx spent most of his excessive air time bouncing off the walls,
inciting audience chanting, spraying champagne and knocking stuff off Jay's
desk in his over-abundant exuberance.
"Why don't you take an Ambien and we'll go to commercial?" Leno
kidded.
I would suggest that perhaps Foxx was taking the title of his Grammy hit,
"Blame It (On the Alcohol)," a bit too literally.
Leno's follow-up guest, U.S. Olympic gold-medal skier Lindsey Vonn, was a more
traditional choice, albeit in a sequined miniskirt that was frankly more
Lindsay Lohan.
She was charming, interesting, inspiring and humble. She even brought her twin
medals, which she let Foxx and Leno get their fingerprints all over. And I
couldn't help but notice, before bringing out country star Brad Paisley to
close out the show, that Leno never did give that medal back.
Perhaps he thought he deserved it. And who am I to argue? Millions of Leno fans
can't all be wrong. His Monday-night audience of 6.6 million viewers scored a
whopping 80 per cent over CBS competitor Letterman and the Nightline/Kimmel
combo on ABC.
The ratings bump spilled over into the 12:35 a.m. slot, with Jimmy Fallon
celebrating his first anniversary on Late Night, topping Craig Ferguson
by 40 per cent.
Of course, the curiosity factor propelled the debut of the 10 o'clock Leno
Show to a record viewing audience of 18 million, which five months later
ended up pulling in barely a third of that.
Still, with Leno now back and buff at 11:35, Letterman may never regain the
lead he gained during the abortive O'Brien regime.
The more things change ...
BUTT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS The numbers are in for Monday night's domestic double
debut of Hiccups and Dan for Mayor on CTV, starring Corner Gas
grads Nancy Robertson and Brent Butt in the former and their ex-Gas
co-star Fred Ewanuick in the latter.
And the ratings were, according to CTV, beyond outstanding: 1.9 million viewers
each, beating out House, The Bachelor finale, and CBC's 18 to
Life and Little Mosque comedy block to win not only the 8 to 9 hour,
but the highest numbers of any debut of any scripted Canadian show this season
(not all that wide a field, but still).
That's well behind Corner Gas at its peak – the series finale was
watched by nearly 3 million – but it beats Gas's 2004 debut of 1.1
million.
On the other hand, it's still a little shy of the 2.3 million U.S. imports Two
and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory each pulled in at 9 and 9:30
on CTV.
Of course, the real test will be to see who tunes in again next week. I know I
will.
Kindred the Family Soul Announce Six is It! — A Web-based
Reality Series
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 2, 2010) *Aja & Fatin Dantzler,
known to music fans as Kindred the
Family Soul, officially
announced today the arrival of their sixth child and the launch of their web-based
reality series Six is It!
The series premier is available On-Demand beginning March 3, 2010 at the newly
revamped www.KindredtheFamilySoul.com and partner site www.blackandmarriedwithkids.com.
The bi-weekly episodes which return to the roots of “reality” TV in a
documentary-style narrative format, have been hailed as ground breaking in the
honest depiction of an African-American family.
“Finally, a real representation of a Family of Color.” – Lamar Tyler, www.blackandmarriedwithkids.com
The Dantzlers were surprised last summer by the word that Aja was pregnant with
her sixth child, a second boy. They decided that now was the time to share the
story in a long contemplated reality series. “People have been asking us for
years ‘How do you do it?” says Aja of the balancing act of being celebrated
Recording Artists with their role as parents of a small tribe. “We don’t think
about it,” chimes in Fatin “unlike others, our Family is our life – not the
other way around.”
Six is It! is produced by Aja & Fatin under their KTFS Unlimited
Productions. After canvassing various funding sources, and receiving ‘recession
themed’ rejections for their literal labor of love, the Soul Train™ Award
nominated duo grabbed their Flip™ camera and started shooting in December 2009.
In the first episode, Kindred and their then 5 children drive 800 miles from
Pennsylvania to Georgia to perform, then during their trek home share a tender
family moment by the side of the hi-way celebrating the Dawn of the Decade
alone in the 15 passenger Ford van.
In keeping with the reality presented by the show, the proud parents will be
performing promotional duties from their home beginning on March 3rd with an
interview on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show.
Interviews with bloggers such as L. Michael Gipson, Patrick Riley, Terry Bello
and other outlets will follow where Aja and Fatin will share the stories of
their real lives as chronicled in Six is It!
Advance Notices
“I must say that I’m not a big fan of most reality shows these days. I was
absolutely touched in a big way watching “Six is It”. It is such a joy to see a
family of music & God trying to do good things in life and raise a healthy
& happy family. This won me over!!!”
Greg Scelsa
Greg & Steve
2010 Grammy Nominees
Best Album for Children with Music
“Reality shows are oxymoron’s, which is to say most of them are fake. That’s
why it’s so refreshing to watch Fatin, Aja and their brood of six wrap us in a
loving, creative and refreshingly real hug on their new show, Six is It.”
Annette John-Hall
Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia, PA
“Six is It! is beautiful and brilliant. Fatin and Aja are honoring us with an
inside look at the balancing act between the entertainment business and an ever
growing family. I will be taking notes, wiping tears from laughter, and
hoping to follow in their footsteps.”
Eric Roberson
2010 Grammy Nominee
Best Urban Alternative Performance
EricRobersonMusic.Com
“‘I’ve always loved Kindred’s music and as reports of their steadily-expanding
family have unfolded over the years, I often wondered how they manage it all.
Well, the first episode of Kindred’s web based reality series Six is It!
answers some of those questions and then some. I’m excited to see more of the
adventures of this neo-soul Jon & Kate + 6!”
Patrick L. Riley
“A Day in the Life of Riley: pop culture & possibilities”
New York, NY
TV TIDBITS
Jason George Books New Shonda Rhimes
Pilot
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 2, 2010) *Jason George is preparing to move from one Shonda
Rhimes medical drama to another.
The actor, in a recurring role on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” this season as
anesthesiologist Ben Warren, has joined Rhimes’ new ABC pilot, “Off the Map.”
Written by Jenna Bans, “Map” revolves around three doctors who leave the
comfort of the U.S. to work at an isolated tropical clinic, Cruz del Sur,
according to the Hollywood Reporter. George will play Dr. Otis Abbot, a
brilliant ER doctor at the clinic who likes women, cigarettes, and the
occasional dirty joke and works closely with the clinic’s founder, Ben Hanley
(Martin Henderson). While he is described as very talented, Abbot’s brilliance
is not quite evident in his motto: “When in doubt, give Ibuprofen.” George,
whose character on “Grey’s” has hit it off with Miranda Bailey (Chandra
Wilson), is a favorite of Rhimes, who also cast him in her pilot last year,
“Inside the Box.” He’s also a favorite of ABC where he has co-starred on three
series, “What About Brian,” “Eli Stone” and, most recently, “Eastwick.”
::THEATRE NEWS::
The Man In The Mask Is Back
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Elizabeth Renzetti
(February 28, 2010) London — This
is what the Phantom has brought with him across the Atlantic Ocean: the
life-size mannequin of his lost love, Christine Daae; the cunning white mask
that covers his disfigurement; his magnificent pipes; and his rage. Oh, yes.
The Phantom may have moved to America, but he hasn’t traded his gothic
obsession for a golden retriever and a pair of slippers.
Near the beginning of Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new sequel to Phantom of the Opera,
the Phantom, high in his crazy-villain lair above Coney Island, stands in front
of his Christine doll and sings a great belter of a song called Till I Hear
You Sing Once More. It’s a temple-crumbler, and the audience at a preview
at the Adelphi Theatre this week received it with great appreciation.
They could not know that Ramin Karimloo, the young Canadian actor originating
the role of the Phantom in this show, once brought equal passion to singing in
a Tragically Hip cover band, or that his obsessions extend to hockey, not opera
ingénues, or that, unlike the Phantom he has never been driven to murder, but
does like driving a motorcycle. He doesn’t hate the world, but does loathe
buffets. So no real resemblance to the Phantom, then, except for those pipes.
Here is proof of Laurence Olivier’s wise observation: “It’s called acting, dear
boy.”’
Next month, when Love Never Dies officially opens in London, the beady
eyes of every critic and musical-theatre aficionado will be trained on Karimloo
and his co-star, Sierra Boggess. After all, Phantom of the Opera was not
merely a musical but – in the producers’ words – “the most successful single
piece of entertainment of all time.” In certain quarters, the knives are
already drawn; in others, the Kleenex boxes are being stockpiled. It’s a heavy
weight to carry for a 31-year-old with no formal vocal training, who is vague
about whether he actually graduated from high school, who paid his dues singing
on a cruise ship and whose main dream, at one point, was to meet the Hip’s Gord
Downie.
“I’m very calm, actually,” says Karimloo. “When I was onstage for the first
time in the mask and the makeup, I wasn’t nervous. My stomach wasn’t flipping,
I wasn’t worried about opening. I was thinking, ‘I can’t wait for people to see
this. I’m ready.’”
The sense of calm is a recent acquisition. Last fall, Lloyd Webber announced
the new musical to a packed theatre in London, as the Phantom of the Opera’s
bona fides were trotted out like poodles at a dog show: longest-running musical
on Broadway, 40 million albums sold, productions in 49 cities, 50 theatre
awards. Afterward, Karimloo came out onstage to perform Till I Hear You Sing
Once More for the first time in public – and in front of jackal-eyed
reporters, no less. “That’s the hardest song I’ve ever had to do,” he says,
shaking his head. “I couldn’t sleep the night before.’’
At the same event, Love Never Dies’ veteran director, Jack O’Brien,
talked about the difficulty of casting: “Finding the actors to do this was not
easy. These are daunting roles, and vocally punishing.”
As it turned out, the producers had to go to America to find Boggess, their
Christine, but the Phantom – as is his wont – was hiding right under their noses.
Karimloo was playing the title role in the Phantom of the Opera onstage
in the London production in 2008 when, one day, he noticed a series of missed
calls from his agent on his phone. “Where are you?” the agent shrieked. “Andrew
wants to see you at four.” It was 2:30; Karimloo joked that he’d try to make
it. He didn’t need to ask who Andrew was.
It was no secret that Lloyd Webber had long been tinkering with a sequel to the
Phantom, which opened in London in 1986. That musical, based on the 1911
novel by Gaston Leroux, follows a tormented musical genius who lives in the
Paris Opera as he pines after a young singer, murders a couple of annoying
people and causes a large light fixture to plummet to the floor. It ends with
the Phantom broken and alone.
For the sequel, Lloyd Webber first worked with novelist Frederick Forsyth on a
version that had the Phantom moving to Manhattan, but he abandoned that. Later,
lyricists Ben Elton and Glenn Slater stepped in. On the afternoon when Karimloo
was summoned, he had no idea what he’d be singing for Lloyd Webber. He got to
the office, and because he doesn’t read music, had someone sing him the part –
one of the new songs, which he then performed for the composer. Lloyd Webber
listened intently and said, “That’s how it should be done.’’
It was not a fait accompli. Karimloo sang the new songs at workshops, at Lloyd
Webber’s house – all while performing eight shows of the original Phantom
every week – and still didn’t know if he had the part. He wondered if they’d
cast an unknown for the biggest new role in musical theatre. “Deep down I kept
thinking, they’ve at least got to entertain getting a big name for the
Phantom.”
Then the call came; he had the part. “That’s when the nerves started,” he says
with a laugh. He soon began recording the cast album in London, while
performing at night and trying to make time for his wife and two young sons.
Karimloo, whose family moved to Canada from Iran when he was two years old, is
trim, handsome, exceedingly polite even by Canadian standards, constantly
fretting about “tooting my own horn.” He’s a success story for the American
Idol generation: With no vocal training except what he’d learned from rock
’n’ roll, he arrived in London, found an agent and began a steady climb from understudy
to leading man.
In looks and temperament he’s less Phantom, more Raoul – the romantic lead in
the Phantom and its sequel, a captain-of-the-fencing-team type. (In fact, he
was once cast as Raoul in the London production of Phantom, despite the
reservations of producer Cameron Mackintosh.)
The new role brings Karimloo full circle: He only became interested in musical
theatre after being dragged, with a teenager’s sullenness, to a production of Phantom
of the Opera at the old Pantages Theatre in Toronto. It was a revelation.
Here was a way to sing like a rock star, and act, and get chicks. Had he never
been interested in musical theatre before? He shoots an incredulous look. How
many boys love musicals? “Um … no.”
This lifelong devotion to Phantom puts him in a vast company of people,
many of whom have seen the musical onstage or on film, and own the CD (and
possibly the T-shirt and pillow as well.) A vocal minority of those people have
already loudly protested against Love Never Dies, prior to its opening
on March 9 (see, for example, the Facebook group Love Should Die). As O’Brien,
the director, said at the launch, “No one is going to thank us for doing this.
We’re playing around with aspects of people’s memories that are sacrosanct.
We’d better know what we’re doing.”
Already, the road has been bumpy. There’s been talk of insufficient preparation
time for such a complex production. The initial performances were postponed,
and when the first preview finally opened this week, a technical glitch delayed
the performance. As well, Lloyd Webber suffered health problems, announcing
last fall that he had been treated for prostate cancer.
For almost 20 years, on and off, the composer’s been working on a sequel, ever
since Maria Bjornson, Phantom’s designer, had told him she disliked the
ending. That ending – with the murderous Phantom sobbing as his true love
Christine leaves with drippy Raoul – plagued many of the creative team. “She
goes off with the cute guy,” says O’Brien, ““But isn’t the real story between
the Phantom and Christine? That’s where the knife goes in. We never find out
why he’s so unpleasant.”
Well, if you ask Karimloo, the Phantom’s not unpleasant, just misunderstood –
for a clinical reason. The actor likes to come up with a backstory for his
characters, and he decided that the explanation for the Phantom’s behaviour –
his brilliance and social awkwardness, his obsession, his inability to fit in
with the world – stemmed from Asperger’s syndrome, a form of high-functioning
autism. When he announced this publicly, he received both letters of support
from people with Asperger’s, and howls of outrage.
“There was a bit of backlash about that,” Karimloo says. “But I thought, why?
I’m not saying he’s a killer because he has Asperger’s. … It humanizes him.
That, married with the fact that he’s deformed, was why he was hounded. But the
darkness doesn’t come from Asperger’s, his genius and his beauty does.”
In the new production, the Phantom is still a genius, but he’s a little more at
home in the world, because he’s chosen to live among the freaks of Coney
Island. No lighting fixtures were harmed in the making of the show, but
something impressive does drop from the ceiling. And because it’s set at the
seaside, and not in a subterranean lair, the Phantom gets his moment in the
sun.
Filipina Caregivers React To Stage Portrayal Of Their Lives
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- James Bradshaw
(March 2, 2010) Their work in Canada’s Live-in
Caregiver program is the subject of Future Folk, a 
multidisciplinary work premiering at Toronto’s Theatre Passe
Muraille.
Ana Kristine Cagas
CAREGIVING, OFF STAGE
Originally from Oroquieta in the Philippines, the 28-year-old arrived in Canada
two years ago and is still in the Live-in Caregivers Program. She worked 11
months for a “very good family,” taking a leave a week before her
seven-month-old son was born. She expected to go back to work soon, but her
employer needs someone with more flexibility than a new mother, so she has to
look elsewhere to complete her remaining 13 months in the program. Her
eight-year-old daughter is still in the Philippines.
CAREGIVING, ON STAGE
“The play is very true. It’s emotional.” The moment that struck her most – when
one of the characters sends money to the Philippines for her family. “I’m
sending money for my family. It’s very difficult because they think that our
work here is easy and good money. I have a sister who’s finished nursing school
already, and a brother in university, so they always ask for money to buy this,
buy that.”
WHY SHE THINKS YOU SHOULD CARE
Cagas hopes audiences will understand the lives of live-in caregivers better,
especially because “some Filipinos don’t complain – that’s why their employers
take advantage [of them].”
Victoria Dela
Sierra
CAREGIVING, OFF STAGE 
Born in La Libertad, Dela Sierra was a Ministry of Health midwife for 20 years
in Saudi Arabia. She came to Canada a widow in 2008 and is very happy in her
job as a caregiver. The 58-year-old finishes her 24 months of service in late
November when, “Inshallah, I can have my papers.”
CAREGIVING, ON STAGE
What spoke to Dela Sierra most about Future Folk was “being far from
your family.” On watching the play: “Oh my God, with a teary eye, because that
is true.”
WHY SHE THINKS YOU SHOULD CARE
For some, Dela Sierra says, caregiving is “a very sad life. They are unlucky.
But we are always praying for them that they should have, sooner or later, a
nice life.”
Tita Honrado
CAREGIVING, OFF STAGE
Honrado came to Canada back in 1998 by way of Italy, where she was living with
her two sons. She arrived on a Thursday, rested on Friday, visited a caregiver
agency on Saturday, and was working by Monday. The 56-year-old is now a
Canadian citizen.
CAREGIVING, ON STAGE
“They got it right,” says Honrado of a scene where a mother greets her two
children after years spent apart. “For my daughter-in-law [Kay Evangelista], it
was exactly like that. They were small kids, and they travelled alone.”
WHY SHE THINKS YOU SHOULD CARE
Immigration officers, in particular, “need to have more compassion toward the
caregivers.”
Kay Evangelista
CAREGIVING, OFF STAGE 
Honrado’s daughter in-law, 33, came to Canada in 2003 to become a caregiver –
but wasn’t able to bring her children for nearly five years. Her third child
was born here.
CAREGIVING, ON STAGE
“Everything is true,” Evangelista says of the play. What really hit her: “The
two boys, always calling home,” she said, referring to the sons of one character
phoning their mother, who works in Canada, “because I’ve got two boys.”
WHY SHE THINKS YOU SHOULD CARE
“[Canadians] should respect us. It’s not an easy job. You need to tell
everybody, we left behind our families.”
‘A Male Perspective On A Female Perspective’
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- James Bradshaw
(March 3, 2010) Daniel MacIvor isn’t exactly shy
about talking. The Governor General’s Award winner –
originally from Cape Breton, N.S., but now a playwright-in-residence at the
Tarragon Theatre in Toronto – has written more than a dozen plays, including Marion
Bridge, House, and How It Works. Confronted with silence, he
admits, he is often a runaway chatterbox.
But in his new play, the 47-year-old master of the monologue fills the stage
with another kind of lopsided dialogue – between therapist and patient. Premiering
tonight, Communion tells the story of Leda, a woman who turns to her
therapist, Carolyn, to finally unburden herself of a secret and reconcile with
her estranged, zealously religious daughter, Ann.
The Globe and Mail’s James Bradshaw sat down with MacIvor and his cast –
Caroline Gillis as Leda, Stratford Festival regular Sarah Dodd as Carolyn and
Athena Lamarre as Ann – to chat about the show in Toronto, before it moves on
for a second run at Alberta Theatre Projects (where MacIvor will be passing the
directorial reins to Linda Moore).
How does “communion” figure in this play?
DANIEL MACIVOR You know, there is a discussion of communion à la
Catholicism, the idea of connection with a higher power. But the communion in
the play is really about the communion that we come here [to the theatre]
looking for, the contact – taken to a more physical place, human contact, which
I think we all understand.
I heard this play described as “a love letter to therapy.” Is that apt?
DM It’s a love letter to therapists on some level.
SARAH DODD I think Daniel said the character of the therapist is how he would
like to have therapy.
DM [Laughs.] Don’t say that, my therapist will read that. Oh my, now I’m
manipulating my therapist through the press.
SD I like, in the play, that it’s therapy where advice isn’t given, but that we
as humans have to find the answers ourselves, within ourselves. Because if we
can’t find the answers and we have to constantly go to someone to get advice,
then we’re not really helping ourselves. And the fact that somebody, at the end
of the play, who you would never expect to turn to therapy, turns to it as
well.
DM I had an interview with someone yesterday. He had read the play, and he
said, “It’s not a very flattering portrait of therapy.” And I totally disagree.
I’ve had very different kinds of therapy, and some have been incredibly
forthright in their humanity – some more than they should have been – but I
think with this type of therapy, I think what I find compelling is that we see
[Carolyn’s] humanity. I think good teachers can change your life, and I think
good therapists can do the same thing.
Backing up for a moment, what were some first impressions of the script?
DM It’s surprisingly funny. It’s being done at Alberta Theatre Projects as
well, and in one of the brochures they wrote “surprisingly funny” in describing
the play.
SD Which is never a good sign. [Laughs.]
DM It’s like, who’s to say [what’s funny]? Luckily, it’s turning out – without
putting any jugglers or clowns or unicycles in it – to be funny.
CAROLINE GILLIS Because I’ve worked with Daniel a lot of times, I thought [the
script] was an interesting new direction in writing what he and I would refer
to as more of a “play play” – beginning, middle, end, structurally. It’s three
scenes, but it feels like three acts.
DM You know what’s funny? Watching it, I thought that too, it's very
traditional. But there’s actually something quite subversive about it.
ATHENA LAMARRE I sat in my dad’s backyard in Minneapolis, birds tweeting, it
was sunny, and I read it very quickly. I couldn’t stop, didn’t take breaks. And
I’ll admit it, I don’t like reading plays. I’m not good at it, I get distracted
really easily, and I didn’t with this one.
DM The first draft was very different. And actually, when all three of you were
on board, there was a fourth character, a character got cut.
SD My girlfriend. She’s gone.
DM We cast someone, then they got another job they had to take, and then we
cast someone else who didn’t know if she could commit to a run. And I thought,
those were the two best people for it. And then I thought, well, what if I just
cut the part? Then I won’t have to cast it. And it was such a gift, it’s so
much better.
How much more exciting, or frightening, is it doing a world premiere?
AL Well, I find there’s nothing to live up to. We’re the ones setting the bar,
which is the scary part about it, but there's no ”Oh, there's a great
production of it...” and then you have to match that.
SD I feel very lucky that I get to do a premiere of a Daniel MacIvor play. And
it really makes me, as an actor, want to do my best.
CG Ah, you'll get over that. (Laughs)
DM For me, I get a draft out of the rehearsal. I had some language that Ann,
Athena’s character, uses and it was problematic because it was too
sophisticated. They were great jokes, they were good turns of phrase, but they
were not helping her. If I was just the director, I would have tried to make
her fit that. But I’ve also wanted to change things and they’ve said, “NO!”
SD Sometimes you can spot a little panic in a writer and you say no, no, no,
don’t second-guess yourself. This is actually something good.
CG Sometimes we say no because we have that paranoia of, it’s how I'm doing it,
right? You just can’t bear to, like, figure out how to make me say it
correctly.
DM I promise I haven’t done that.
Will men and women relate to this differently?
CG I wouldn’t call it a play for women. A certain religious type of person is
going to react differently than an agnostic or an atheist. Someone in therapy
is going to react differently than someone who was never been in therapy. So
it’s maybe drawn along those lines. But even though it’s from a female
perspective, it’s written by a man.
DM That’s a point, the fact that it’s a male perspective on a female
perspective. That sort of opens it up. Why do I write for women so much? I
can’t answer that.
CG “Caroline Gillis really needed work.”
DM Yeah, it’s all about you, Caroline.
Is this play vintage MacIvor, or a departure?
CG A brilliant monologue or speech is always vintage MacIvor. And I do mean
vintage. [Laughs.] I don’t know. Maybe all that’s new about it is that Daniel
is very good at incorporating what he is dealing with in his own life. He’s
constantly keeping up with the times, and his own discoveries along his own
personal journey, and I think he’s a great writer because he’s willing to share
a lot of pain on stage. I think it’s interesting that his next project is
called This is What Happens Next. All his plays could be called This
is What Happens Next, on some level.
THEATRE TIDBITS
National Arts Centre Responds To
Concerns Of Disabled Artists
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- J. Kelly Nestruck
(February 28, 2010) In response to protests from a group of disabled artists, the National Arts Centre has now removed all references to
"legless cripples" from its promotional material for the play Une
Fête pour Boris. Online descriptions of the provocative 1968 play by Thomas
Bernhard originally described the French Theatre production as being about
"a legless cripple who invites a bunch of legless cripples to a birthday partyfor a
legless cripple." After Ottawa-based performer Alan Shain followed up an earlier
letter complaining about the "extremely outdated and also offensive"
language with another letter listing 140 supporters, the NAC responded by
putting the phrase in question in quotation marks and adding a footnote
explaining that the words came directly from a 1990 English translation of the
work. Last week, however, after further contact with Shain, the NAC decided to
take down the language in question entirely. ”The National Arts Centre
has always been sympathetic to Mr. Shain's concerns,” said Rosemary Thompson,
NAC director of communications and public affairs.
::TECHNOLOGY NEWS::
Alice In Wonderland Video Game: Weirdoes Make Great Heroes
Source: www.thestar.com
- Darren Zenko
Alice in Wonderland
Nintendo DS
$29.99
Rated E
(February 27, 2010)b Not to be a downer, but the idea of “Wonderland” as a
video-game setting seems to
me kind of pointless. The “wonder’ of Wonderland — and the lunacy, and the
humour, and the bite — comes straight from the wonder and lunacy of language
itself; taken literally, the “fantastic” beings and places of Wonderland aren’t
all that strange, especially considering we live in a world where a outer-space
body-swapping movie about giant blue cat-people with psychic ponytails just
made more money than anything ever. And as for video games — growing,
shrinking, invisibility, alternate dimensions and animate animals? Gamers eat
that stuff for breakfast.
So, Alice in Wonderland for the Nintendo DS — “inspired by the Tim
Burton film!” — gets no bonus points for imagination. Wonderland — “Underland”
as its denizens call it — is, like Middle Earth, pretty familiar. Setting aside
that crankiness, though, I quite like what they’ve done with the place in this
substantial exploration/puzzle platformer. This particular Wonderland is a
cartoony, cute-dark world of Burton-esque curlicues and shadows (very much a Patapon
visual vibe, here), and through it our heroes — Rabbit, Caterpillar, Cat and
Hatter — lead Alice in her quest to Fulfill the Prophecy and blah, blah,
blah.....you know how it goes with these prophecies; bolting this kind of
Chosen One boilerplate onto the Wonderland framework is actually the
worst thing about the game.
Hey, did I say “her quest”? I mean “their quest”; Wonderland DS is very
much a lead-the-sheep kind of game, with the Wonderlanders as agents of action
and Alice following along like the bewildered and fragile stranger she is, in
need of constant defence and assistance. If that sounds like a drag, it’s not.
Sure, you’ll probably get sick of Alice’s plaintive “Hey-yo!” as she begs to be
hauled up to yet another ledge, but centring a Wonderland game around a theme
of guidance and protection makes all kinds of sense. Not only does it fit with
the source material, but it adds another dimension to what might otherwise have
been flat puzzles, and adds a sense of concern and purpose to what might
otherwise have been another listless Metroid-knockoff backtracking
platformer. And let’s face it: magical weirdos are always going to be more fun
to play than clueless little girls.
Ah, the weirdos. These guys make a good superhero team. The well-known
storybook attributes of the characters have been excellently refracted into
video-game powers. The White Rabbit can manipulate the flow of time with his
pocketwatch; the Cheshire Cat makes things vanish and reappear; the Mad Hatter
twists the world and shows you the other side; and the Caterpillar — well, not
to put too fine a point on it, the Caterpillar gets you high or brings you down
via his mastery of magical green smoke. These abilities allow for some
interesting if not terribly difficult puzzles, often requiring multiple
manipulations while worrying about leaving Alice alone too long. It’s a good
thing, then, that switching characters is quick and easy, and the stylus-only
controls actually work more or less as advertised — this in itself is a minor
triumph in DS development.
Alice in Wonderland is a decent game in itself; in the context of what
we might expect from tween-targeted movie-marketing tie-ins, it’s pretty much a
masterpiece.
::OTHER NEWS::
Luminato 2010 Unveils Triple African Bill
Source: www.thestar.com
- Martin Knelman
(March 01, 2010) The world premiere of The Africa Trilogy — a triple
bill of linked plays produced by
Toronto’s Volcano Theatre — will be a theatrical highlight of Luminato,
Toronto’s annual arts festival, in June.
The ambitious new work, which will run at Harbourfront Fleck Dance Theatre from
June 10 to 19, was commissioned by Luminato and the Stratford Shakespeare
Festival.
Inspired by the 2005 series of Massey Lectures delivered by Stephen Lewis, the
program examines the complex relationship of Africa to the West from three
different perspectives — with an international team of writers, directors and
designers.
The project, one of four theatrical events announced Monday by Luminato, was
initiated by Ross Manson as a follow-up to Volcano’s play Goodness,
which earned a prize at the Edinburgh Festival.
Another world premiere is One Pure Longing: Tahirih’s Search, also
commissioned by Luminato. It’s about a 19th century Iranian poet and teacher
who defied the rules by removing her veil – and was subsequently executed.
Directed by Erika Batdorf, the production will be on stage at Buddies in Bad
Times Theatre from June 11 to 14.
Best Before, from Germany’s Rimini Protokoll, promises to combine video
game playing with live theatre to create an original audience-participation
experience. It will run June 16 to 19 at the Berkeley Street Theatre.
The fourth play, Homage, concerns a large outdoor work created by
Canadian sculptor Hadyn Davies. The production, which comes from 2b theatre
company in Halifax, will be at the Imperial Oil Opera Theatre from June 17 to
19.
Headlining Luminato’s dance program is Syria’s traditional Enana Dance Theatre.
The company will present the North American premiere of Julia Domna --
about a Roman emperor’s wife who became a folk heroine. It will be performed
June 18 and 19 at the University of Toronto’s MacMillan Theatre.
Australia’s Chunky Move dance and theatre company offers Two Faced Bastard.
Half the audience will get one experience, and the other half another — depending
on who sits where. This production will be at the Imperial Oil Opera Theatre
from June 11 to 13.
::COMEDY NEWS::
Comedian Nile Séguin Finally Recording His Show
Source: www.thestar.com
- Garnet Fraser
(February 28, 2010) Nile
Séguin has charm, he has talent, and he has a niche (or two) for
himself. Now it's
finally time to make his calling card.
The wry 37-year-old comedian wants a few more doors to open for him, but right
now he lacks an essential bit of currency for a modern stand-up performer: his
own DVD.
"It was a little embarrassing, to be honest with you," the Toronto
comic recalls of opportunities missed simply because so little of his work is
properly documented. Even YouTube has only a few minutes of his work for the
curious, so this Tuesday and next, Séguin and his comedy pal Gavin Stephens are
each taping their one-man shows at Supermarket.
In Séguin's case, the show is Fear of a Brown Planet, about his
experiences (in showbiz, in love and beyond) as a biracial guy. It won the
award for the best solo comedy act at the San Francisco Fringe, and got
nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award, but if you've never seen it live, it's
just been a rumour until now.
"This should have happened years ago, but owing to psychological luggage
it never did ... probably fear," says Séguin.
So starting at 8 p.m. each Tuesday, Séguin and Stephens (who'll be taping his
own one-man creation Spectacular! Spectacular!) will take the stage in
front of cameras, to give their shows a more permanent form. No big network or
even a publisher is behind it – "we're just calling our own numbers"
– but Séguin's take on race will at least be available for purchase, or
inspection by the various gatekeepers in Chicago and New York, two cities whose
comedy scenes he's keen to explore.
Such a document might prove better for his career than an attempt to explain
what he does, because there's at least three aspects of his material. There's
the racial matters explored in the show, but there's also a universally
relatable comedian lamenting his romantic problems, like his onstage riff on
how dating is an inadequate preparation for a real intimate relationship:
"My problem with that is, some people interview well. We have all worked
with someone whole only gift in life is to hide their craziness just
long enough to get the job. Right? We have all been at the workplace looking at
this person thinking 'how did you get this f---ing job, man?' Whose nephew are
you?"
The third aspect of his material couldn't really get explored until a show last
year in Toronto with Stephens. Nerdgasm was a night of comedians performing
their thoughts on Tolkien, Iron Man, Battlestar Galactica, etc.
Stephens openly obsesses about such things ("he's out and proud,"
says Séguin) but Séguin is more abashed, and his appearance at Nerdgasm was
something of an admission; his material included thoughts on the likely racial
attitudes of Captain America and a joke about role-playing games that is so
geeky he has beseeched us not to print it in The Star.
Such material is for a pretty exclusive audience, but Seguin knows what does
and doesn't work for the broader masses; he's done brief bits for CBC TV's The
Hour, now writes for CBC Radio's Irrelevant Show and taped a Comedy
Now! special last month.
Nerdy jokes or not, though, he's under no illusions that greater stand-up
success will land him a sitcom:
"Oh yeah, a Rwandan-French-Canadian! It's not like there's a huge mass of
Hutus and Tutsis waiting for this in the U.S."
Attack of the One Man Shows tapes at 8 p.m. at Supermarket, 268 Augusta
Ave., March 2 and March 9. Admission $10.
::DANCE NEWS::
The Man For All Seasons
Source: www.globeandmail.com
- Paula Citron
(March 2, 2010) Rex Harrington is truly seeing
clouds from both sides now.
In 1997, he was the most famous male dancer in Canada – winning accolades for
his triumphant performance as the Man in James Kudelka’s acknowledged masterpiece
The Four Seasons. In his current job as the National Ballet of Canada’s
artist-in-residence, he’s now responsible for staging that same ballet – and
training a new cast of “men” to take over his signature role.
Part of the National’s mixed program tonight – which also includes Marie
Chouinard’s 24 Preludes by Chopin and Jerome Robbins’s A Suite of
Dances – this will be the seventh revival of The Four Seasons. The iconic
ballet was the first work Kudelka choreographed for the National after he took
over as artistic director, and it defined his era.
“ I’m trying hard not to be the kind of anal-retentive
coach I hated, fixated on minute details. ”— Rex Harrington
The complex choreography, perfectly matched to Vivaldi’s beloved score, is a
metaphoric journey through life: The central character, simply called the Man,
finds youthful innocence in spring, passionate romance in summer, a contented
middle age in autumn, and the coming of death in winter – personified by a
different woman in each season.
This being Kudelka, the emotional demands of the ballet are as great as the
physical ones. But in an injury-plagued world like ballet, there also have to
be two casts or more on hand. Harrington’s alternate in 1997 was principal
dancer Aleksandar Antonijevic, who at the remarkable age of 40, will be
performing the Man on opening night. He will also have three other colleagues
in the role – Guillaume Côté, Patrick Lavoie and Noah Long – all of whom will
be making their debuts in the role.
To a man, the four see performing in The Four Seasons as a privilege.
“It’s one of the most important roles in the male repertoire,” says
Antonijevic. It’s also among the more challenging roles.
“The ballet is an aerobics class,” says Harrington. “It’s like using the
treadmill and lifting weights at the same time. The Man runs for almost an hour
and has to throw girls around to boot. And when you’re trying to catch your
breath the few times you’re in the wings, you have costume changes. Until I found
how to pace myself, when I got to winter I was practically throwing up. The
first time I was even crying.”
Harrington’s job, then, is to pass the new kids the torch of his wisdom. “I’m
trying hard not to be the kind of anal-retentive coach I hated, fixated on
minute details. I see myself as an information highway for the new guys. I can
show them the short track of how to dance it, like the grips that help in
partnering. The most important thing is to let them be who they are.”
And the coach, it appears, is making all the right moves. “Rex is very
generous,” says Lavoie. “He’s not attached to his way. He’s open to new
perspectives”. Long agrees: “He lets you adapt the choreography to what feels
right to you. In partnering, he helps you to do the right thing, at the right
place, at the right time.” Even veteran Antonijevic has benefited from
Harrington’s experience. “He has a good artistic eye and I trust him,” he says.
“He’s respectful in correction.”
Côté sums up the biggest challenge facing the new dancers “The role of the Man
was so defined by Rex’s performance that we really have to work hard to find
our own voice. Rex is helping us do that.”
The National’s mixed program runs at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre from
Wednesday through Sunday.
::SPORTS NEWS::
SPORTS TIDBITS
Jordan Buys Bobcats From Johnson
Source: www.eurweb.com
(February 27, 2010) *Michael Jordan is finally THE man as in the owner of an NBA franchise, the Charlotte
Bobcats. In the early hours of Saturday morning, Bobcats majority
owner Bob Johnson announced he’s selling control of the team to Jordan, the
Hall of Fame player who has overseen the Bobcats’ basketball operation the past
few years. Jordan beat out former Houston Rockets president George
Postolos, who led an investor group looking to buy the team. Johnson contacted
Postolos late Friday to inform him that Jordan would be buying the team.
“I remain committed to becoming an NBA owner, and I’m glad that Michael will
continue to bring his talent to the sport and the league,” Postolos said.
It was not immediately clear who will be in Jordan’s ownership group. Sources
said he was still recruiting investors in the past few days through various
intermediaries. Read the full story at the Charlotte Observer.
Sixers Dump Allen Iverson for the Season
Source: www.eurweb.com
(March 3, 2010) *Allen Iverson’s short return to the Philadelphia 76ers
has ended. The point guard, who
once led the team to the NBA finals, will not come back to the organization for
the rest of the season, the Sixers announced Tuesday. The decision follows
Iverson’s month-long absence from the team in order to deal with the
undisclosed illness of his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah. Iverson, who returned
to the 76ers as a free-agent in December, has not played since Feb. 20. “After
discussing the situation with Allen, we have come to the conclusion that he
will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer
wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very
deeply,” team president Ed Stefanski said. “It has been very difficult for
Allen and the team to maintain any consistency as he tries to balance his
career with his personal life.” Iverson has returned to Atlanta to be with his
family. Coach Eddie Jordan said at practice it was best for Iverson to move on
and put his focus on his daughter. “I think it was the right thing to do at the
right time,” Jordan said. “His body of work has proven to be a terrific body of
work in the history of the NBA.”
