Tirza at TIFF and How We Inadvertently Watched the Santa Claus Parade

Got tickets from a friend to go to the TIFF Bell Lightbox Sunday morning to see a movie that was part of their World Cinema series. You are shown a foreign film that is not announced until you get there, followed by a discussion and Q&A about the movie. Our movie was Tirza, a tense drama about a father searching for his missing daughter that is Netherlands' 2010 submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar. The movie was full of political messages and symbolism and required you to pay close attention since things are not as they initially seem. This generated very interesting dialogue between the host, the guest film critic and the audience.

To get some exercise, we decided we would try to walk home from King & John St to Yonge & St. Clair. We knew that the Santa Claus parade was happening some time during the day but were not sure of the schedule or the route. We first ran into the parade at Yonge & Queen, in front of The Bay and tried to avoid it by walking through the Eaton Centre. Coming out at the SW corner of Yonge and Dundas, we were met by a mob of people that blocked our path. We considered trying to dash across the parade, but didn't like the prospect of trampling on some little kids just to get mowed down by a bunch of dancing penguins.

In trying to escape the crowds but unable to cross the streets to go in the direction that we wanted, we inadvertently ended up following the entire parade route backwards - west on Dundas to University, north on University to Bloor, and then west on Bloor to Bathurst where the parade started. It actually turned out to be a very efficient and warm way to watch the parade quickly, walking towards the approaching parade rather than standing in the freezing cold waiting for the parade to slowly come to you. We got to the end of the parade just in time to see the big man himself. If you're wondering where Santa Claus lives, I'm convinced it's in Honest Eds. At that point, we were so off course that we gave up on the walk and hopped on the subway, which we were now finally able to reach once the crowds dispersed.

Art Gallery of Ontario Membership

Rich and I became members of the Art Gallery of Ontario at the end of last year since it seemed like the most economical way to see the King Tut exhibit. Having the membership allows us to drop in regularly for a few hours to see the new exhibits, without having to feel like we need to spend the entire day there to make the admission worthwhile. You also get 10% off at the gift shop, the Frank restaurant and the excellent cafeteria in the basement that serves the most delicious soups.

We've taken all the regular guided tours, such as the architectural tour of the newly renovated Frank Gehry design featuring the Galleria Italia, and the tour of the AGO's most prize possessions, highlighted by Ken Thompson's donation of Peter Paul Rubens masterpiece "Massacre of the Innocents" as well as an over-abundance of Krieghoff paintings which all start to look the same after wandering through 4 huge rooms full of them. There are also great "mini-tours" that focus on either the Canadian, African, European or Contemporary collections.

Taking a tour of the Contemporary collection (which changes quite frequently) is the most fun, since you have someone explain to you why you are admiring a pile of rocks or a totally black canvas with a single dot just off centre. We witnessed quite a surreal scene at our visit this weekend. There were a group of "paintings" by Agnes Martin on the wall, each one basically a white canvas with horizontal lines of varying thickness running across them. Seated in folding chairs were a group of art students(?) sketching these paintings. I stared at them, and then back at the paintings for a while wondering if I was missing something. Perhaps they saw something deeper and more meaningful that what I did? Perhaps the point was to imagine what could have been? I sneaked up to one of the sketchers and peeked over his shoulder at his pad, and there was a drawn a rectangle and some carefully shaded horizontal lines. I still don't get it...

Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical

Absolutely loved watching Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical which is playing at the Princess of Wales.

Based on the campy 1994 movie "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert", the musical is about 3 drag queens (Mitzi/Tick, Bernadette/Ralph and Felicia/Adam) on a road trip through the Outback in Austrailia driving a bus named Priscilla, enroute to meet Tick's son Benjamin. The musical features disco music from the 70s and had too many costume changes to count, each one stunningly colourful, extravagant and outlandish.

Where the movie used songs mainly to show the performances of the drag queens, the musical did a great job of incorporating extra songs to advance the story, picking songs that blended well with the overall genre and era of the rest of the music. The best addition was the tear-inducing Elvis Presley ballad "You were Always On My Mind", sung by Tick to his son Benjie. It perfectly reflected the thoughts and emotions of the character in that moment and was my favourite song of the show. Other songs that made you want to get up and dance included "I Will Survive", "MacArthur Park", "Boogie Wonderland", "It's Raining Men". The entire last song, "Finally" and following bows and encores were performed to a standing ovation.

The musical first premiered appropriately in Austrailia (where the movie is considered a cult classic), then moved to London, and is now showing in Toronto as a warmup for a run on Broadway. It is interesting to note that as the show moved through each continent, the music was changed slightly to reflect the popular music of the new locale. By the time it hit North America, songs by and references to Kylie Minogue were replaced by Madonna.

Some of the scenes and costumes, especially earlier on in the show, might be a bit risque for young children or elderly patrons, but the show is so much fun and full of energy that hopefully no one will mind. It was fun to see people in the audience decked out with souvenir feather boas and martini glasses, both of which were featured prominently in the show. I need to go out and rent the movie again!

Theatre: Forever Plaid at Calvin Presbyterian Church

Watched a stellar performance of the musical Forever Plaid at the Calvin Presbyterian Church, presented as a fund raiser for a new roof for the church. Forever Plaid is about 4 members of a 50s band called "The Plaids" who return from the dead to perform a final show. It featured 3 cast members of the show from the Thousand Islands Playhouse, plus a special guest star from The Jersey Boys playing the 4th member.

The fifth member of the ensemble was the piano player that provided musical accompaniment for songs such as Three Coins in a Fountain, Chain Gang, Sixteen Tons, Day-O and the grand finale Love is a Many Splendored Thing. Audience participation was courted on the songs Matilda, as well as Heart and Soul where they got a woman to play half the tune on the piano. The funniest skit was a fast-paced montage of acts that could be seen on the Ed Sullivan show that involved a slew of props and costume changes.

It was a unique experience to sit in a church pew and watch these talented actors singing and dancing on the altar. The show was modified to fit the limited space, lighting and sound that could be provided within the church.

Eiffel Tower Soup Can Scuplture

This Eiffel tower sculpture made totally out of soup cans and jello boxes was on display in front of the Yonge Eglinton Centre. It was supposed to celebrate the launch of the American Express Gold Rewards card. I could not figure out the relationship between the card and the soup cans, except maybe that after spending on this card, this will be all you can afford to eat??

Anyways, it was an interesting sighting ... hopefully the soup will go to the homeless shelter afterwards.

Nuit Blanche 2010

Nuit Blanche, the all night art exhibition got off to a slow, uninspiring start for us this year. We saw a bunch of exhibits that sounded very lofty and meaningful in the writeups, but just didn't measure up when we saw them, mostly because we didn't understand the point. For example, there was the the big log fire at Yonge Dundas Square as well as a large burning metal acorn at Campbell House. There were the "interactive" lights in the lower Bay subway which didn't really do anything. It was cool to see the secret second subway platform where many movies have been filmed, but not worth the huge lineup. At Atrium on the Bay, we watched either 3 people and a dummy (or 4 people with one in a very suffocating mask who didn't move) sitting around not doing too much while a video screen showed upside down images (intentionally or not??)

From our early viewings, I liked "Smile" - the collage of faces broadcast on the Holt Renfrew building while the jazz song of the title played. Rich liked the visual display on the ROM crystal. I didn't really understand what I was looking at there either, but I find anything displayed on the ROM crystal to be interesting since it is such a unique structure to begin with.

While walking away from the ROM, we came across the ultimate of street foods - a stand selling "Cheese burger Spring rolls" by no less than Chef Susur Lee. Although we're both supposed to be on diets, this was too special an offering to pass by. We rationalized it with the fact that we had been walking around since 1pm that afternoon (having gone to the ROM to see the Terracotta Warriors on free ROM day for AGO members), and would continue to walk until 1am.. that should be worth splitting of a spring roll! And as expected, it was extremely tasty!

Two of my favourite experiences of the night were not even officially part of Nuit Blanche, but just choice to display at the same time to take advantage of the huge crowds passing by, without having to go through the selection process of being chosen for the event.

The first was the art exhibit in the Church of the Redeemer at Bloor and Avenue Road which displayed these beautifully painted spheres with chains attached to them, leading to a series of keys. The balls and chains represented our daily burdens and the message was that we held the key to unlocking them and reviewing the beauty of life - or at least that's what I got out of it.

The second was "Shorts under the Stars" (http://queenstwestbia.ca/shorts-under-the-stars/) where a set of Canadian short films were being shown in the parking lot of the CTV (and new Chum) building at Queen and John Street. The screen was erected underneath the iconic sculpture of the car crashed into the wall. We sat down and watched about 8 of the 12 movies being shown and loved most of them. They ranged from comedy to drama, live action and animation and were all very unique in story, style and tone. We walked in just in time to hear the final line of the film called "Family First" where some dark secret was told to the family at the dinner table and they all sat around stunned and devastated until someone decided that what was told had to be a joke. The two secret tellers looked at each other and decided to lie in order to spare their family.. I never found out what the secret was and it's driving me crazy! Our favourite film was a funny and sexy teenage vampire spoof called "You're so Undead" - a play on the phrase "You're so dead" that teenagers use when they're in trouble with their parents. The final line caused a gasp and burst of laughter. We would have stayed to watch them all except we didn't know how many were left and it was freezing to be sitting still outside at almost midnight.

So we left and got to the Bell Lightbox just in time for the last showing of "clean version" of Singing in the Dark, a sing-a-long to famous movie musicals led by comedian Shawn Hitchins, who was hilarious and a dead ringer for Conan O'Brien, although he claimed he was always mistaken for Tilda Swinton (a joke Conan makes as well). As we all sang lustily to songs like Summer Nights from Grease, Do Re Mi from Sound of Music, Day-O from BeetleJuice and so forth, the host pranced up and down the audience making funny quips, singing at the top of his lungs and passing the microphone around for the audience to sing into.. Luckily we were safely sitting in the middle of a row where he couldn't reach us! People were getting up to dance and act out parts of songs, and then the entire crowd got up to do the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show. It is not easy to "Jump to the left, and take a step to the right" while standing in a packed theatre.

Then after midnight came a new round of darker movies such as Reservoir Dogs (singing Stuck in the Middle with You while cutting off a guy's ear), Clockwork Orange (singing Singing in the Rain while violently beating up on a couple), and more explicit lyrics (Team America, F**k you, South Park's Blame Canada). The night ended with a rousing rendition of Life of Brian's Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. The two sing-a-longs were the highlight of the evening for us. All in all, it turned out to be a good Nuit Blanche year after all.

Bell Lightbox - Essential Cinema Top 100

The Bell Lightbox is a wonderful new addition to Toronto, especially for film buffs like Rich who like the old classics. It has 5 regular movie screening theatres and an entire floor of smaller theatres to be used for educational purposes.

The ground floor is currently hosting an exhibit called "Essential Cinema Top 100 Movies" where the movies were selected in a very unique fashion - TIFF program directors were polled to pick their top 100 films, while at the same time the general public was asked for their picks. The public list is as to be expected with Citizen Kane, Casablanca, etc at the top. The expert list was vastly different with Citizen Cane being #15 and most of the 14 previous movies were ones I've never heard of before! The two lists were combined to form the Essential Cinema Top 100, and the Bell Lightbox is showing all of them between September and December. Some will have special commentaries before or after the film and some of the silent films will be accompanied by live musicians. The exhibit, which is on display until Oct 23, 2010, has movie posters and other memorabilia from the 100 movies. There are also selected videos, movie artifacts such as Darth Vadar's helmet and the dresses from the Leopard and some other movie, the model ship from Videodrome, toy tank from Life is Beautiful, etc. Iconic soundclips from movies such as Jaws and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly play occasionally.

As one of the free events for Cultures weekend (Sept 25/26), there was a showing of the 1924 Buster Keaton silent film called Sherlock Jr, about a young film projection operator who wants to be a detective. While courting his girlfriend, he is framed for a burglary by a rival suitor and is unable to solve the case since he is a bungling inept dectective. Back at his real job, he shows a movie about Sherlock Holmes and dreams himself into the role. There was a 6 piece live band who composed a brand new modernized score and played it in time with the movie. It was rather surreal to watch, since we were watching a movie with a live band, that depicted the showing of a movie with a live band.

In addition to the Essential Cinema series, upcoming showings at the Bell Lightbox include a Tim Burton festival and a special Halloween series of movie showings. For Nuit Blanche, they held sing-a-long movie clips all night. There are several hot new eating spots within the Lightbox including The Canteen for casual dining/quick meals and Luma for more upscale dining. The Bell Lightbox is quickly establishing itself as a happening place in Toronto and will probably be the new central location for future Film Festivals.

The Ultimate Jane Walk to Jane Jacob's Annex Neighbourhood

Participated in what I thought was the ultimate in this year's Jane's Walk offerings - a tour of the annex where Jane Jacobs lived. Since I grew up in the annex, it was a bit of a homecoming for me too. Started in 2007 as the perfect tribute to this iconic woman, Jane's walks are led by local tour guides through neighbourhoods across Toronto and other Canadian, US and international cities.

We learned to look out for buildings of red brick from the Don Valley Brickworks and turrets that are scattered through the Annex. We were shown beautiful churches which have now been re-purposed into other uses such as theatres, schools and multi-dwelling units. And the grand finale of the walk took us to view a small, hidden and extremely innocuous plaque in tribute of Jane, and then finally her house. Along the way, we were given some insight into this amazing woman, her passionate personality, and her fight to stop the Spadina expressway.

Lumin-"eat"o At the Distillery

Luminato, now in its second year, is Toronto's "Festival of Arts and Creativity" that runs for 10 days in June. The Distillery District was a great place to partake in multiple Luminato events, which seemed to cater to all the senses. There were the usual street dancing and musical acts to be enjoyed by the eyes and ears. But this year, for the first time, a culinary component was added to stimulate your senses of smell and taste.

The concept behind One City, One Table was to promote diversity in dining opportunities in Toronto, while supporting the concept of a united community, by having everyone dine at a single 500ft long table that spanned across Mill Street. Top-named chefs from high-end restaurants across Toronto (e.g. C5, Perigee, Edo, etc) provided their versions of street food tastings for $5 per serving. A secondary motivation could have been to prove a point that these chefs have been making recently, which is that street food does not have to be confined to the boring hotdog carts that currently litter our streets.

Instead, we were treated to such delicacies as Crab and Lobster corn dog in an avocado aioli sauce, Kobe beef hotdog with sauerkraut, wild mushroom risotto topped with osso bucco served in a plastic champagne flute, and plantain chip wrapping a salad of chopped tomato, zucchini, red onion and avocado, topped with a jumbo shrimp skewered by a sugar cane. Granted, I think we'd be holding our breaths to expect such treats to start showing up on regularly on street corners, but it does open the imagination to what improvements could be achieved in this area.

In addition to this eating feast, there were many other fun events available at the Distillery for Luminato. Visual arts ranged from a 100 ft continuous mural, to drawings by school children, to "performance art" involving shoes thrown on telephone wires, and the stories behind them, which were posted on the telephone poles.

Inside the Young People Theatre, we watched 3 original short skits written, acted and directed by young, up-and-coming talent from Toronto. The skits ranged from insightful dialogue about a withering relationship, to witty repartee between two distant cousins discussing the implications of one cousin's job as a call girl, to a 10 minute reenactment of all four books of Tolstoy's War and Peace. Each skit came with live musical accompaniment and foley sound effects.

A fascinating demonstration of glass blowing showed a non-descript blob of glass being transformed into an exotically decorative drinking goblet.

All in all, the Distillery District provided a one-stop location chock-full of interesting events that clearly fulfilled the goals of the Luminato festival.

Night-time stroll through Forest Hill

My friends and I decided to take a night-time stroll through the near-by Forest Hill neighbourhood to walk off our dinner and look at the gorgeous homes. Along the way, we encountered some really interesting sights and sounds.

First we were amazed by the size and beauty of the homes, with their immaculately landscaped front yards. We saw houses as big as churches; some with turrets or eyebrow windows, others with huge stone walls or hedges to protect their privacy from nosy voyeurs like us.


On one of the front lawns, nestled in midst an oasis of foliage was a bronze McElchern statue, depicting his iconic businessman seated and reading a newspaper. The house was even for sale. If only I had the money .. I would have bought it for the statue alone!

We passed by three teenage girls approaching us in the other direction, giggling and chatty happily. Something seemed unusual about the way they were dressed, but in the dark I couldn't quite register what it was. But as they passed as, they suddenly started to tug down on their tee-shirts self consciously and it became apparent that these girls were not wearing any pants!

As we turned the corner, we caught sight of a chauffeur, dressed in a navy blue uniform including the stereotypical chauffeur's cap. Melodic sounds of jazz brought the street alive, and as we got closer to the source, we saw the front of a home that had the entire walkway lit by glowing lanterns. Men in tuxedos and women in designer gowns started flowing out of the home towards their awaiting limos. Walking past the backyard, which was surrounded by tall hedges, we could barely make out the images of a garden party, complete with a sparklingly lit pool, champagne flutes and a live jazz singer and band. I felt a giddy euphoria at my sudden and unexpected exposure to the lives of the upper class.

Continuing on, we passed by Upper Canada College and heard loud chatter coming from the football field. Expecting to see a late night match, instead we encountered a group of tipsy students, seemly leaving their prom or formal. The girls were dressed in short tight glittering dresses while the boys had on tailored slacks and jackets. They looked like they had just stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Finally, the highlight of the evening for my friend occurred when he stumbled over a fully sealed bottle of beer that someone had accidentally dropped at the edge of their lawn. As he pocketed his souvenir from the walk, he happily pronounced this one of the best walks he'd ever been on, and that Forest Hill was the most hospitable neighbourhood which even provided free beer!

My only regret is that I did not bring my camera along to capture any of these memories.

William McElcheran Exhibit at the Burlington Art Centre

Went to the Burlington Art Centre to see an exhibit and lecture of William McElchern's Businessman sculptures. A delightful selection of statues had been assembled, dating back from 1970 through 1997. The statues showed the business man in a range of positions, usually in motion and ranged from small desktop versions to life-size ones. It was interesting to see that some of the statutes were significantly less portly than others. At first I thought that the statues grew fatter as the years past, perhaps mirroring the artist or his model, but this was not the case. Some of the later pieces of work were skinnier than the older ones, so I guess it was just whatever suited his mood at the time.

The curator talked about how McElcheran began by satirizing the business world as a "rat race" (the name of his first piece) after witnessing the streams of people rushing around on Bay Street in the 1960's. His statue called "The Crowd" perfectly depicts the sight he has have witnessed and the feeling it evoked in him. When I saw it, I knew the exact feeling since this sea of nameless workers have streamed by me many times when I've tried to walk towards Union subway station while they were going the other way. Eventually though, McElcheran began to sympathize with his caricultures and their plight and saw them as iconic heros in "a non heroic age".

He described the typical process for creating a statue, starting with a wire armature which is covered with clay or plaster, and then filled with fiberglass. When the plaster is hardened and then chipped away, the form of the sculpture is revealed. This form is then sent to a foundry where molds are created to produce bronze versions of the statues. As dictated by the artist, each mold was only allowed to create up to 9 castings of a statue. The entire process to create a statue seemed to take about 2 months.

While hearing the curator was interesting, an unexpected treat occurred when it was revealed that William McElcheran's sister was in the audience. She told personal stories about the artist including reading his last letter that he wrote to her before he died, and describing his frustrations on working over 3 years in one of his final commissions, a huge relief carving spanning 3 walls of the Dundas subway station. He literally had to invent a new type of terra cotta/ceramic tile that would not break. The results are breathtaking and should be viewed slowly, taking in the details of each figure. She also showed photographs of some of his other works including huge carvings at Waterpark Place (at the foot of Bay and Front), and a set of 3 nudes consisting of a man, woman and child which he did as a commission for the city of Guelph. This created some controversy at the time. Living much of his life in Italy, McElcheran did not think much of carving nudes. But for the conservative North American community where such things were less common, it came as a bit of a shock.

The Art of William McElcheran

The late William McElcheran is a reknowned Canadian sculptor, best known for his "Businessman" sculpture series. These bronze statues depict one or more portly business men dressed in 1950s style trench coats and fedora hats, shown in various poses and situations. Their faces are usually bland and expressionless, but there is something about oddly compelling about them. Maybe it's because they represent the white-collared corporate common man, and therefore are easy to relate to.

I saw my first McElcheran statue in Yorkville in front of the Kinsman Robinson Gallery and was immediately fascinated by it. It was a life-sized statue of the business man looking at his watch. Entering the art gallery, I found that it represented the estatate of William McElcheran, and therefore had multiple articles of his work on display and for sale. It was very interesting speaking to the curator, who was rather an expert on the subject.

After this first sighting, I began noticing more Businessman statutes scattered throughout Toronto. There is actually a small one of the business man in full stride, at the corner of Yonge and St. Clair, just a block from my home. There is another lifesized one of a pair of businessman bumping into each other, on the grounds of Commerce Court. There is also supposed to be one at Water Park Place, at 10 Bay Street. I have not seen this one yet, but plan to go look at it. Apparently McElcheran was commissioned to create pieces that now reside across Canada, United States, Italy, Germany and Japan. Maybe one day I will see statutes from other cities and countries.

From October 15 through November 20, there will be an exhibit of McElcheran's Businessman statues on display at the Burlington Art Centre. A Curator talk and tour will take place on Sunday October 30 at 2pm. I will be going to this and will report more on this subject as I learn more from this tour.

Burlington Art Centre
1333 Lakeshore Road
Burlington, On L7S 1A9
(905) 632-7796 Mon-Thu 9am-10pm; Fri/Sat 9am-5pm; Sun 12-5pm

Theatre: Billy Crystal - 700 Sundays

Last weekend, I saw the last showing of Billy Crystal's Tony Award Winning One Man autobiography called 700 Sundays, playing at the Canon Theatre. What an amazing performer he is, standing on stage and pouring his soul out for almost 3 hours as he relayed story after story about his years growing up in New York. His tales made you roar with laughter at one moment, and then choke back tears of emotion the next.

Billy Crystal's childhood was absolutely amazing as he got to grow up interacting with some of the Jazz legends of the times including Billy Holiday and Oscar Peterson, because of his father, uncle and grandfather's work in the music industry.
Surprisingly and perhaps admirably, the show focuses very little on Billy Crystal's own rise to fame in the entertainment industry. He glosses over that accomplishment in a mere sentence as he goes on to regale one anecdote after another about his beloved extended family, sometimes taking on their personnas to hilarious results.

The title "700 Sundays" refers to the early death of Billy's father when he was only 15, and reflects the approximate number of Sundays he got to spend with his dad before he died. His father worked hard during the week, but Sunday was the special day reserved for Billy and his brothers. His mother died a few years ago, which is probably what triggered him to write this show, as a cathartic tribute to those who are now gone.

Perhaps because it was the last show, Billy waited out the seemingly endless standing ovation so that he could make a final speech at the end. He talked about how how he purposely made Toronto his first stop in a continent-wide tour. He mentioned playing in the past at Massey Hall and how he felt the floor boards creak with ghosts of past Jazz greats and how he felt an affinity to Toronto.

Fueling My Love of Musicals in Toronto

I’ve had a love affair with musicals ever since I was young. When I was ten, my sister took me to see my very first theatre musical.  We took the bus from Toronto to the Stratford Festival to watch The Man of La Mancha.  I was fascinated with the story within the story … where the imprisoned playwright/actor Miguel de Cervantes relates the story of Don Quixote de la Mancha, a madman who believes he is a knight on a mission to “right all wrongs” and “dream the impossible dream”.   Back at home, I would reenact the scenes from the play.  I'd sing “The Impossible Dream” at the top of my lungs as I climbed from my sofa onto the top of a dresser until I could touch the ceiling to “Reach the unreachable star”.  Ok, so I was a geek … still am when it comes to loving musicals.

That first experience watching a live musical has led to a life-long obsession.  Luckily in Toronto, there are ample opportunities ranging from the mega-blockbuster shows, to smaller professional theatres, to semi-pro and community theatres. 

We can thank the Mirvish family for bringing so many great musicals to Toronto, including some of the latest from London or New York.  On a few occasions, Toronto has even presented the world premiere for a new musical before it heads to Broadway or goes on the road.  The latest example of this will be The Lord Of the Rings, coming in February 2006.  (See my previous blog entry titled Epic Musical Les Miserables is Back in Town for more details about the Mirvish subscription series). 

Having seen so many musicals including all the blockbusters, I’ve recently found that some of the smaller shows playing at smaller theatres are more unique, innovative and entertaining.  A few of my recent favorites include The Last Five Years and Urinetown at the CanStage Theatres, and Tick Tick Boom at the Poor Alexandra Theatre.

The Last Five Years depicts 5 years of courtship and marriage that ends in divorce.  The unique twist is that the woman sings of the relationship from the day of divorce remembering back to the day they met, while the man sings from the day they met moving forward.  The only time they are on stage at the same time is when they meet in time and space together on their wedding day.  Urinetown is a hilarious musical comedy about a futuristic town where water rationing has made peeing a luxury for the wealthy.  It is extremely witty and spoofs the musical genre while it revels in it.

I love musicals so much that I watch as many as I can afford.  A nice inexpensive way to get a “musical fix” is to watch semi-pro or community shows, with average ticket prices ranging from $20 to $25.  The two that I go to on a regular basis are the Etobicoke Musical Productions (www.e-m-p.net) and Curtain Call Players (www.curtaincallplayers .com)

Feeling “musical withdrawal” after seeing a play, I’ve found that if I listen to the music again on CD, I can actually see the show replaying in my head.  In fact, when I can, I prefer to listen to the music before I go a show, so that I can familiarize myself with the lyrics.  This way I don’t miss any of the storyline by being unable to make out what words are being sung.

Through the years I have developed an impressive collection of over 100 musical soundtracks, many times buying CDs of musicals that I have never even heard of.  Sometimes this leads to a few duds but most are winners.  I especially like musicals where the songs string together to tell a comprehensive story.  Since I already own all the common CDs that you can get from the local HMV, I have to look harder for the more obscure or newer musicals including the latest ones coming from Broadway in New York or London’s West End.  I’ve found a gem of a store called Song and Script, located the corner of Bay and Bloor, that has just about anything I might be looking for.  I’ve also recently discovered that Amazon.ca carries an impressive collection of musical CDs, sometimes at a significantly discounted price.



My husband has threatened to limit me to storing my CD collection within a single drawer within our wall unit so in desperation, I've been replacing all the full sized CD cases with the thin ones. He makes up my birthday and Christmas lists by checking out the Tony nominations for best musical each year.

So there are many opportunities to feed a musical addiction in Toronto. If you want a review about a musical, ask me .. I've probably seen it, or at very least I probably own the CD!