REVIEW: Richard III feels like Trump I
If ever a play was written for our times it is Shakespeare’s Richard III – even if it was penned in 1593. Now is a time when global politics seems to be sliding deeper into cynicism and gaslighting. “Don’t believe what you’re seeing and hearing – just believe ME!” This production is another in a […]
REVIEW: The Color Purple gets superb treatment it deserves at the Citadel
When I first saw the Broadway production of The Color Purple adapted from Alice Walker’s 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning best seller, I was unimpressed. As is often the way with Broadway, when they get their hands on an intimate story they produce the living daylights out of it. Walker’s tale is certainly a decade-spanning epic but […]
Bill Nye the Science Guy comes to Edmonton
We should encourage scientists to become celebrities. Maybe then people will listen to them. Bill Nye is way ahead of the game. He’s already a household name in some households, inventor, TV host, comedian, educator, best-selling author, and above all, a SCIENTIST! Mechanical engineer, to be exact. He’s literally a rocket scientist. Now’s your chance […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Iron Maiden Keeps Beast Alive in Edmonton
Iron Maiden proves that even if one doesn’t have a new album, a band can still go out on tour and everything will be just fine – as long as they have a solid collection of greatest hits, flashy stage effects, charisma, and an energetic performance. Bonus if they’re all over 60 years old. The […]
PLAYBOT’s final FRINGE fantasy
EDITOR’S NOTE: Shortly after this story was first published in August 2018, the experimental A.I. program known as ‘PlayBot’ turned evil and had to be powered down permanently. This is its last report: *** FRINGE 2018 – By PLAYBOT Speaking as a computer algorithm developed to rewrite press releases in a snarky tone, I am […]
Backstreet Boys karaoke schtick a porcine makeover
On Thursday night, The Backstreet Boys proved that you can put makeup on a pig and that such a porcine makeover can work wonders. The lads (Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson) who cornered the boy band industry with their take on spit-shined gawkery and nabbed the teen market […]
REVIEW: Billy Idol shows off his age in short River Cree concert
It’s a shame that Mythbusters isn’t running on the telly these days, because if there’s one popular fabrication that needs to be debunked, it’s that being a sexagenarian has absolutely nothing to do with sex. All they have to do is trot out Billy Idol as Exhibit A – and silence those age-shaming social media […]
REVIEW: Two-minded winter play sparkles in summer Shakespeare festival
The Winter’s Tale is Shakespeare’s great “problem play.” It has been staged with varying degrees of success for 500-odd years and is still regularly produced today. At the Freewill Shakespeare Festival in Hawrelak Park until July 14, this is the “serious” play to balance the comic one (Two Gentlemen of Verona: READ REVIEW). Actually The […]
Shakespeare sitcom gets a Freewill facelift
Geoffrey Rush’s seedy theatre manager character has a bit of advice for budding young playwright William Shakespeare in the movie Shakespeare in Love. “If you want to succeed as a writer,” he suggests – all you need is “comedy, love and a bit with a dog – that’s all they want.” Tom Stoppard (who won […]
CONCERT REVIEW: Judas Priest rocks new generation in Edmonton
There are three things you can rely on in Edmonton in the spring: unpredictable weather, potholes and a proper heavy metal extravaganza from a classic band. When we found out that Judas Priest was coming to Edmonton in support of their No. 1 album FIREPOWER, I just had to share this local spring tradition with […]
A Little Night Music goes a long way
A Little Night Music whirls to the rhythm of three-quarter time. Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote all the music – mazurka, polonaise, gigue, gallops, waltzes, etc. in different triplicate meters: The “one-two-three” of the waltz. The work is based on Ingmar Bergman’s film Smiles of a Summer Night. The composer was intrigued by the notion of […]
Green light for cannabis at the folk fest
Within today’s announcement for Hozier, Ani DiFranco, Brandi Carlile, Bruce Cockburn and other acts we already knew were coming to the 40th annual Edmonton Folk Music Festival was a big green light for marijuana. Oh, yeah, cannabis is legal now. Almost forgot. Producer Terry Wickham addressed the issue at the annual media launch, where there […]
