 |
11/02/11
2 Pianos 4 Hands, the global smash hit about two boys who dream about becoming — what else? – big piano stars, returns to Toronto for a limited engagement.
Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, 416-872-1212. Oct. 29–Nov. 20
|
 |
11/02/11
Members of the mayor’s executive committee say they need more time to decide whether they will support a 10 per cent sale of Toronto Hydro. A decision will likely be made in the new year.
[Globe and Mail]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
11/01/11
Mark this coming Sunday on your calendar — and every day before that. These are the remaining days to see FELA! in Toronto, one of the most satisfying evenings of musical theatre in years that is being joyously performed at the Canon Theatre.
|
 |
11/01/11
Taxpayers won’t be on the hook for Mayor Rob Ford’s business cards: he plans on paying for them himself.
[Toronto Sun]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/31/11
With Halloween’s arrival, there is an increased — if fleeting — obsession with the occult. But if actual undead entities start commingling with their flesh-and-blood counterparts this year, it's time to call the Paranormal Investigation Society of Toronto (PIST).
|
 |
10/31/11
Boo. Nope, it’s not a ghost, but rather the way students at a Hamilton elementary school are feeling after principal Linda Chittick banned Halloween costumes. She suggests that festive students wear black or orange instead.
[Toronto Sun]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
10/28/11
The Toronto Archives is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get. We certainly weren’t expecting to stumble across this photo. There are almost too many weird things going on here to list: why is a photographer set up here? Why aren’t the boys wearing shoes on a dirt road? What kind of lecture is the police officer giving? The folks at the archives seem equally as baffled. Toronto, you never cease to amaze.
|
 |
10/28/11
When a band's reunion show at SXSW causes a riot, people talk. And it wasn't long before Toronto band Death From Above 1979 was the talk of the festival circuit, bringing their unique brand of mayhem to stages from Coachella to Lollapalooza. The biggest show this week (month? YEAR?) in town is surely the raging return of legendary duo Sebastien Grainger and Jesse Keeler (MSTRKRFT) to their hometown for two nights at Sound Academy.
|
 |
10/28/11
According to a video and audio release online, hacktivist collective Anonymous is planning an attack on Nov. 7 to “erase” the TSX from the Internet.
[Toronto Sun]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/27/11
Cheesy Halloween movies are decorum for this time of year. Just look at the remake of the 1982 classic, The Thing, which opened recently in theatres. It’s a Halloween cinema confection that’s doled out to supposedly scare the bejesus out of us, but Torontonians might want to check it out just to be smug, since it was filmed at the city’s Pinewood Studios. That got us thinking: what other hokey horror flicks were filmed here?
|
 |
10/27/11
So it’s looking like Rob Ford is probably wishing he had put his foot in his mouth. Again. According to the CBC, the mayor apparently unfurled some expletives at a 911 dispatcher during that 22 Minutes ambush on Monday. It seems like dispatchers got a taste of Rob “The Jock” Ford. How predictable. Actually, busting out any other personality would probably have been better. Here’s a list of suggestions.
|
 |
10/27/11
The saga continues as new reports of Rob Ford’s Monday morning 911 call indicate that he unleashed a not-so-pleasant verbal tirade to dispatchers.
[Toronto Sun]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/26/11
The music of The Danger Bees covers a lot of the same ground as a band like Bright Eyes: failed romance, women being mean to you, booze, you being mean to women, booze, self-pity. But where Conor Oberst wrapped his misery in dark poetic fantasy and quasi-philosophy, The Danger Bees’ singer-songwriter David Macmichael wraps his in humour. And that’s why it works.
|
 |
10/26/11
Toronto will officially be shark-fin free. Councillors voted to ban the Chinese delicacy yesterday in an overwhelming 38-4 majority.
[Toronto Star]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/25/11
All that’s revealed about Doc Wuthergloom’s Haunted Medicine Show is that it features a 142-year-old travelling exorcist and some puppets. And like most other productions of late, it’s playing at a secret location.
Eldritch Theatre. Secret Location on Queen Street. Oct. 19–Nov. 6.
|
 |
10/25/11
Mayor Rob Ford called emergency services yesterday after being accosted outside his home for an interview with parody news show 22 Minutes.
[National Post]
Plus more Toronoto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/24/11
When invited to see a play called Murder on Ossington, it’s safe to say that one expects to see, well, a murder on Ossington. So imagine my disappointment at the play’s curious ending when (spoiler alert) there wasn’t any murder. Actually, there was a murder on Ossington, at one point. It’s what inspired the play, it just didn’t occur during it. So why is Pandemic Theatre’s newest piece called Murder on Ossington? That’s a very good question.
|
 |
10/24/11
GO riders can breathe a sigh of relief, but York Region Transit users, not so much. While a strike was averted with GO, York Region Transit workers walked off the job at 4 a.m. today.
[Globe and Mail]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/21/11
The Toronto Department of Public Health has shut down the Avenue Road location of ultra-luxe grocery store Pusateri’s due to a pesky little problem (or two). The store expects to reopen soon.
[National Post]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/20/11
What a pleasure it is to encounter a near-perfect production of a play by one of the most exciting young playwrights in the world: Sara Ruhl. Still in her mid-30s, she was nominated for both a Tony and the Pulitzer Prize for her witty, raunchy and admirably serious play about 19th century sexuality In the Next Room or the vibrator play. A hit on Broadway less than two years ago, it’s now lighting up the Tarragon Theatre.
|
 |
10/20/11
Some Toronto councillors want to reward the OccupyTO protestors. What for exactly? We’re still trying to understand.
[Toronto Sun]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/19/11
The Morning Thieves would probably be the first to admit that they’re all about the hooks. It’s rare to find a young band that's enthusiastic about personal connection with their audience without coming off as totally superficial. But that’s this band in a nutshell: performers — entertainers, really — who trade in fun pop but don’t water it down too much. Like Hollerado, they’re just a little more complex than what you’d ordinarily hear on the radio.
|
 |
10/19/11
Maple Leaf Gardens no more. When Ryerson University uses the historic landmark for its hockey team next year, the arena will be named after a sponsor. (Please, don’t call it the Rogers Gardens.)
[Globe and Mail]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/18/11
Larry Kramer's landmark play about the rise of the AIDS crisis in New York back in the '80s has been experiencing a resurgence as of late. It was on Broadway earlier this year, and a movie is in the works.
Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander Street, 416-975-8555. Oct. 14-Nov. 6.
|
 |
10/18/11
How to help the city’s financial woes? Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam and scholar Stephen James Kerr suggest starting a City-run Bank of Toronto.
[National Post]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/17/11
Looks like the plug’s been pulled on the Toronto-based hot-mess-of-a-reality-show, Lake Shore, before it even got turned on (no pun intended. Well, maybe a little). The Star reports that the show is a no-go after producers couldn’t secure a network to pick it up. We’re not all that surprised, considering the recent controversy it begat, but we can’t help but wonder what could have been if Lake Shore did make its way into our homes, into our lives.
|
 |
10/17/11
Tip of the day: buy a hockey stick. It could turn out to be the world’s oldest. A hockey stick purchased by a Nova Scotia resident for $1,000 is now valued at over $2 million.
[Toronto Star]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/14/11
With the surge in popularity for vinyl records came a newfound love for the record store (Sonic Boom, anyone?) but what about its cousin, the indie video store? After all, the VHS tape is what brought movies to our homes in the first place. Should it not be shown the same respect? That’s what the folks at Eyesore Cinema thought and swiftly created International Video Store Day, which kicks off October 15.
|
 |
10/14/11
Toronto libraries are safe for now, but hours and services may be reduced to meet Rob Ford’s demand for a 10 per cent budget cut. Libraries could potentially discontinue Sunday services.
[Toronto Star]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/13/11
The coolest thing about this past Tuesday’s Fucked Up show at The Mod Club was the appearance of C'mon — Ian Blurton's killer three-piece outfit with his girlfriend Katie Lynn Campbell (ex-Nashville Pussy) and Dean Dallas Bentley — opening up the show. C'mon is calling it quits, but not before playing a few shows around town this month, including one on Oct. 20 at Cherry Colas and the big one on Oct. 22 at The Bovine Sex Club.
|
 |
10/13/11
It’s time to start getting creative with Toronto’s gridlock problem. Maybe gondolas, or even mimes, would do the trick.
[Toronto Sun / CBC]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/12/11
Here's something we can all attest to: the difficulties of living in a society that promotes such blatant consumerism. We're all weaklings, right? But is it really our fault? The multi-talented Rick Miller plays two versions of himself: the cynic and the do-gooder as he encourages his audience to confront their own involvement with our society's excesses.
Factory Theatre, Extra Space, 125 Bathurst Street, 416-504-9971. Oct.13-23.
|
 |
10/12/11
Toronto’s cost cutting measures and tax windfall may mean a budget surplus of $140 million for the city in 2012.
[Toronto Star]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/11/11
Alberta native Morris Panych is a veteran of all trades in Canadian theatre: he’s had over eighty of his productions and two-dozen plays shown across Canada, Britain and the United States. Now, the playwright, actor, director and winner of two Governor General’s Awards seeks to delight and enlighten audiences with his own adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece, Ghosts. We caught up with Panych, who opened up about what it’s like to take on such a famous work.
|
 |
10/11/11
The historic Flatiron Building, otherwise known as the Gooderham Building (and apparently one of Toronto’s most photographed buildings) has gone up for sale.
[Marketwire]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/07/11
David Hockney once said, “All art is contemporary, if it’s alive, and if it’s not alive, what’s the point of it?” This might explain his usage of some of the most influential innovations of our time — fax machines, laser printers, office photocopiers, Polaroids — to produce art throughout his 60-year career.
|
 |
10/06/11
It was pretty much music to our ears when reports surfaced yesterday that tween superstar Justin Bieber was the dream choice to play Marius in Toronto’s 2012 restaging of Les Misérables. Isn’t “A Heart Full of Love” basically a fancier version of “Baby”? Anyway, all of this got us thinking about other musical roles the Biebs could undertake. Here are our top choices.
|
 |
10/06/11
Torontonians have something new to be smug about. The University of Toronto is the only Canadian university to crack the top twenty in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
[Globe and Mail]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/05/11
Originally from St. John's, the five indie rockers who make up Gramercy Riffs first captured acclaim and attention with their debut album, It's Heartbreak. Singers and songwriters Lee Hanlon and Mara Pellerin trade back and forth between the equally compelling male and female vocals.
|
 |
10/05/11
The multitalented, multilingual Rick Miller reprises his multimedia hit Bigger Than Jesus this week at Factory Theatre. It is the second play in a trilogy of his one-man shows: last month he did MacHomer, and later this month he will be closing with Hardsell. Trained as an architect, this singer-actor-writer can draw a crowd and then some. We went to Factory Theatre and asked this Lennon-quoting rabble-rouser who he thinks he is.
|
 |
10/05/11
Old habits die hard, and it seems as though Mayor Rob Ford is no exception. Once again, he was seen using a handheld device behind the wheel. You’d think after the kerfuffle the first time around, he’d learn his lesson, right?
[Toronto Star]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/04/11
German playwright Marius von Mayenburg’s social satire centres around a man who undergoes plastic surgery, changing his appearance. He enjoys his new beauty until his plastic surgeon offers his face to others. Whoops!
Tarragon Theatre, Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Avenue, 416-531-1827. Oct. 4-16.
|
 |
10/04/11
Although Police Chief Bill Blair and Mayor Rob Ford remain at an impasse regarding budget cuts to the police force, the mayor seems perfectly content in asserting that the requested cuts can be made.
[Globe and Mail]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
 |
10/03/11
Post-rock (read: pretty instrumental rock) juggernaut Explosions in the Sky (October 7 @ Sound Academy) will be plucking arpeggiated heartstrings this Friday. There’s an interview floating around the Internet with another Texan post-rock outfit, This Will Destroy You, where the members discuss the their decision to make music without vocals or lyrics and claim that removing the barrier of specific language allowed them to emotionally connect 100 per cent with their fans.
|
 |
10/03/11
Ontarians may be in for their first minority government in over 26 years. In an open letter to Conservative candidate Tim Hudak, Premier Dalton McGuinty says no to a coalition government.
[CBC]
Plus more Toronto headlines after the jump
|
