Opera creator speaks of forbidden love
People who’ve never seen opera before are being drawn to Lilies (Les Feluettes) – maybe because it’s billed as “Canada’s first gay opera.” But in the upcoming Edmonton Opera production based on Michel Marc Bouchard’s 1987 play, the opera’s creator isn’t making a big deal about the gay thing. It’s an opera. As such, it […]
PLAYBILL: Shockers Delight! revives, renews
When you’ve written dozens of plays over 35 years like Stewart Lemoine, you’re entitled to a few reruns – but, like Star Trek, occasionally you want to get some fresh faces into the story. Shocker’s Delight! was a hit when it was first produced in 1993, and will now enjoy its third remounting at the […]
REVIEW: The Sound of Music fresh like alpine stream
Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music may not be a sound that’s been sung for a thousand years, but it certainly has been around for a long time. It debuted on Broadway almost 60 years ago and, overcoming charges of saccharine sweetness. For years Christopher Plummer referred to the 1965 movie he starred in […]
PLAYBILL: The Hills are ALIVE! Aieeee!
If you didn’t know what comes after “The hills are alive …,” you might get the wrong idea and think you’re at a horror movie. What aforementioned sentient buttes are alive with is of course the title of one of the most famous musicals of all time, The Sound of Music – the Broadway Across […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Say Yes to Yes
Eight members of the progressive rock band Yes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame earlier this year, in what some would argue was the apogee of their historic musical career. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the British prog-rock band – yes, 50th – and they’re already planning an […]
INTERVIEW: Yes by any other name
Shall we do this again? Who’s in the band? No, not the Who. Yes. What? The name of the band. Am I supposed to Guess Who? No, it’s Yes, it’s them. Them is playing? No, Them broke up a long time ago. The band is Yes. Oh, I love The Band. No! Not The Band. […]
REVIEW: Beck where it’s at in Edmonton
If you’re expecting the unexpected at a rock concert, is having it fulfilled still a special thing? What if the focus of your high un-expectations does something surprisingly normal – like rocking out four-on-the-floor with a great rock band for a rockin’ old school rock concert at the Jubilee Auditorium, for instance – and says […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Forever Rock
Classic rock is on its way to becoming the new classical music. Think about it: Life is a Highway will be remembered long after it’s been forgotten as “that cool Rascal Flatts song.” Melodies will become more famous than their composers. Quick: Who wrote Raise a Little Hell? Took you a second, didn’t it? In […]
REVIEW: Phantom raises goosebumps
Thirty one years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece opened in London’s West End. It went to Broadway two years later. Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel of great intrigue and captivation, Le Fatôme de l’Opéra, the show was a hit. This edge-of-your-seat piece about the dark side of the human condition remains the longest running show […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: A different kind of ’90s love
Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows were at the very pinnacle of the music scene in the 1990s, and the latter were particularly popular in Canada, with three songs reaching the top 3 during that time – Mr. Jones, A Long December, and Hanginaround. Round Here was another popular anthem that received significant airplay during that […]
REVIEW: Ryan Adams the real deal
Ryan Adams may be too country for rock ‘n’ roll, too rock ‘n’ roll for country and a bit too much of both to properly fit into the dreaded “alt-country” genre, but you’ll rarely find a more genuine personality on the whatever-you-want-to-call-it scene today. For an enthusiastic, beered-up crowd at the Jubilee Auditorium Friday night, […]
MUSIC PREVIEW: Ruth B hits the A list
That’s quite the little song Ruth B came up with – by herself, in her bedroom in Edmonton, on her cheap Yahama electric piano. You may have heard her ode to Peter Pan on the radio: Lost Boy. Professional producers left the song mostly untouched from the her original homemade YouTube video she posted in […]
