Posted on March 26, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music, Theatre
For evidence that Blue Man Group might be more than just Stomp with Smurfs, we turn to its musical director Julian Cassanetti. For starters, he says, Blue Man Crew is more like a rock show than people might realize. Starting an eight show run at the Jubilee Auditorium Tuesday night, a lot of what happens […]
Posted on March 23, 2012
By Mike Ross
The Latest, Visual Arts
Quilting with granny is not usually on the itinerary for your average hip party – but no average party is a Refinery Party. Saturday night at the Art Gallery of Alberta, the conversational topic over drinks, rock ‘n’ roll singalongs and various good times shall be the merits of “textile art.” Consider the obvious: Textile […]
Posted on March 23, 2012
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider, Theatre
What do you say if you’re such a convincing drag queen that a guy asks for your number? “911.” What do you call a drag queen’s girlfriend? A fruit fly. What do you call a group of drag queens? An embarrassment of bitches. Darrin Hagen has a million of them. Edmonton’s Transvestite Laureate and founder […]
Posted on March 15, 2012
By Albert Smith
Music
Let’s think of other cultures whose stereotypes we can hang a day on like we do as an excuse to get drunk with the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. Better yet, let’s not. No sense letting political correctness get in the way of a good excuse to get drunk. Besides, as prominent local Irish person […]
Posted on March 5, 2012
By Albert Smith
Lit, Music, The Latest
“Don’t do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts.” “Hope is the last thing a person does before they are defeated.” “I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not […]
Posted on February 28, 2012
By Mike Ross
Comedy, Front Slider, Theatre, TV and Radio
Everyone’s a comedian – that’s one cliche come true in the age of the internet. What will NEVER become a famous saying, according to Canadian comic actor Kevin McDonald, is this: “Everyone’s a GOOD comedian.” But he’s here to help. The Kids in the Hall member perhaps best known as the “Slipped My Mind” Guy […]
Posted on February 25, 2012
By Robin Schroffel
Front Slider, Music
The only sign of Peter Case’s punk background was the fact that he wore a denim jacket underneath his pinstriped blazer. That, and some well-chosen anecdotes from back in the day. No surprise, really: the veteran songwriter has four entire decades of material to draw from – which fans heard just a slice of when […]
Posted on February 25, 2012
By Albert Smith
Film, Theatre
The months, weeks, days, hours and moments leading up to the Academy Awards are far more exciting than the Academy Awards themselves – which is why it’s so crucial to watch the show in good company, to use your powers of imagination to make an “event” out of the biggest non-event of the year. “I […]
Posted on February 23, 2012
By Adrian Lackey
Front Slider, Theatre
Let’s not pussy-foot around. Cats is designed for one purpose only: It’s theatre for people who normally don’t go to the theatre. This statement will anger and offend some, but it’s true. Want proof? The only recognizable Edmonton theatre regulars amongst a crowd of 2,000 at opening night at the Jubilee Auditorium Wednesday were the […]
Posted on February 22, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music, The Latest
When you’ve been on the road more or less continuously since 1973, as Peter Case has, you meet a lot of people – a lot of famous people, in this case, so to speak, and he doesn’t want to be a name-dropper. Case is one of these unusual figures in the music world who are […]
Posted on February 22, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
At this point in human development, one hopes that the idea of grouping female singers by gender alone is simply a “celebration” of said gender and its music, rather than a novelty or political statement or some vague but marketable combination of both. But enough about Lilith Fair – Women of Folkways is a different […]
Posted on February 3, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music, The Latest
Every time Black History Month comes along, we hear the same questions: Why do we even need a Black History Month, and if we do, why is it in the shortest and coldest month of the year? Dismissing the latter as coincidence, we trot out that now famous Morgan Freeman quote: “I don’t want a […]
