Volunteer Opportunity at Harbourfront

If you like kids and/or Harbourfront, there’s a great opportunity to get some volunteer hours in this year. A friend of mine is working for the Kids programming department and they’re looking for volunteers to help out during HarbourKIDS! this year. Here’s the info:

HarbourKIDS!
May 17 – 19, 2008

The big idea for HarbourKIDS this May is Fearless! This action-packed festival celebrates and encourages bravery, pluckiness and courage in kids by showing them that anything is possible once they set their minds to it! There are plenty of exciting volunteer opportunities from May 13 – 19 including:

• Preparing décor and craft materials
• Working with our designer to assemble our FUNHOUSE
• Assisting facilitators with the Powerful Poetry and Fearless Funk Styles Dance Workshops
• Helping the kids with their own artistic creations including masks, costumes, noise makers and juggling balls
• Front of House and Usher positions for the amazing performances and presentations including Creepy Critters:Bugmania and the Kids’ Open Mic Poetry Jam
• And much more!

If you would like to be a part of this action-packed festival, please attend a recruitment session

on:    Monday, April 28, 2008
at:    6:30 pm
in:    Miss Lou’s Room, Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay West

Please email to volunteers@harbourfrontcentre or call 416-952-3625 to register for the recruitment session.

The coolest garage sale this season!

A note from a friend of mine:

Looking for some new clothes? A computer? Lamp? Toys? Stereo? Record player? Good book to read? Christmas shopping early? Or just out for a stroll and need to support the upcoming Lab Cab Festival? Then come on down to the Lab Cab Garage Sale!!!!

1550 Queen St. West (next to Mitzi’s Sister @ Dowling)
Saturday, April 19th, 2008
10am-4pm

We will not be undersold!! You will not be disappointed!! Spread the word!! Exclamation!!!

The third annual Lab Cab Festival
May 31st & June 1st, 2008
12pm-6pm
Factory Theatre
FREE!!!

Photo of Yorkville!

I just got an e.mail from Schmap!! Canada saying they had decided to use a photo I had taken of the ROM and posted on Flickr for their website to describe Yorkville. Fun! You can see the site here.

Party for Arts Administrators!

If you work in the arts and wish you could get out there and connect with more people in different disciplines in a relaxed atmosphere with some tunes and drinks … then here is your answer:

The Emerging Arts Professional Network (EAP) is hosting its first ever EAP Connects event which aims to bring those who are in a senior position within the arts and those who are just starting out. This event will be happening on the last Tuesday of every month, so if you miss out this time, there’s always next month, but it should be a blast! I’ll be there (I’m on the EAP Committee) so drop by and say hi …

Text Refashion is looking for YOU!

A good friend of mine is putting together the second installment of “Text Refashion” which launched quite successfully last year at The Gladstone Hotel. It was a fantastic evening of art installations on the second floor of the hotel. More is explained in the details below. I know the deadline is today - but I’m sure you could probably slip in a submission.

(Hope Mike doesn’t kill me for saying that)
Even if you don’t submit, this is definitely something worth checking out when the next installment takes place!

Call for submissions

Skinny Jo Productions is seeking artists of all disciplines to submit for a chance to be part of the collective of SJP’s 2nd TEXT refashion.  In April 2007, SJP held TEXT refashion: Project 1 at the Gladstone Hotel with major success, and now we are ready to hit the 2nd project with full force.

TEXT is a conceptual art/media project that encourages artists’ off every medium to find inspiration through words and art as a whole.  The concept is simple and unique:  Through 1 chosen piece of text, 10 artists’ will express the text’s message through their art medium and will be given 2 weeks each (in sequence) to create the text and the art that preceded them as they see fit.

We are seeking visual and performance artists, writers, designers, and beyond. Beyond can be chefs, carpenters, fashionistas etc?

Your deadline to submit your interest is MARCH 20, 2008

We are also seeking those interested in marketing, producing and funding.

Please contact:
Michael Soulard
textrefashion@mac.com
or
416-455-5753

Tags: Art, Installation, Exhibit, Call for Submission

Where does stuff come from … and go?

So this isn’t so Toronto specific, but more of a global post. Have you ever wondered where all that stuff we collect - you know, the kind that really has no use in our every day life and eventually gets packed away and forgotten about - ever wonder where it comes from, and where it goes?

If your answer is yes (even if it’s not, you should check this out), may I suggest this website: the Story of Stuff.

Remember, you can start your spring cleaning now!

I’m a published author!

Who would’a thunk it, but I’m a published author now!

It was over a year and a half ago - almost two years now - that Sky Gilbert called me asking for a few samples of my writing as he was putting together an anthology of gay playwrights … so I sent him a few things I had written, didn’t hear anything for a few months, gave up, and then got the call that he was going to be using a few of my monologues and scenes in the anthology! Colour me surprise …

So the book has finally been published and there’s a launch party on Tuesday at the Gladstone. If you’ve got nothing else to do that night, c’mon out and enjoy some gay dramatic fun!

Playwright’s Canada Press announces the arrival of
Gay Monologues and Scenes: An Anthology
Edited by Sky Gilbert

Join PCP as we celebrate the publication of Gay Monologues and Scenes, an anthology edited by Sky Gilbert.
This exciting collection of contemporary gay Canadian theatre will be launched at the Gladstone Hotel Art Bar on Tuesday, October 16th, at 8pm.

rief readings from Gay Monologues and Scenes will be performed by Edward Roy, Peter Lynch, David Bateman, Salvatore Antonio, Tony Berto, Jefferson Guzman and Sean Reycraft. The ever-genial RM Vaughan will host the evening, and the even more genial Sky Gilbert will be in attendance, along with the authors, to sign books.

Gay Monologues and Scenes: An Anthology features work by
Salvatore Antonio
David Bateman
Tony Berto
Ken Brand
Gavin Crawford
Julian Doucet
Paul Dunn
Blair Francey
Jefferson Guzman
Peter Lynch
Michael Lewis MacLennan
Jordan Patterson
Sean Reycraft
David Roche
Edward Roy
Colin Thomas
RM Vaughan

For further information, please contact Annie Gibson at 416-703-0013 or at editor@playwrightscanada.com

Queen West Arts Crawl - The Art of Community

Another press release that happened to fall into my inbox today … I’ve never actually been to the QWAC, but this looks like a lot of fun!

Take the famous 501 Queen streetcar, stroll through Trinity Bellwoods Park, discover the hidden treasures of Parkdale and join us for a major launch party at the Gladstone Hotel. Enjoy all of this and more at Artscape’s 5th annual Queen West Art Crawl – a weekend-long celebration of the art of community.

The QUEEN WEST ART CRAWL kicks off with a LAUNCH PARTY at the Gladstone Hotel on Friday, September 14, starting at 7pm. You can take in all of the Gladstone events and party until the last person is left standing!

Artscape is rolling out a series of Welcome Mats along Queen Street West for the weekend of the Queen West Art Crawl. The Welcome Mat Project is a festive way of marking key programming locations, welcoming visitors to our community and demonstrating the hospitality of Queen West.

TRINITY BELLWOODS PARK
Outdoor Art Show & Sale
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, 11am – 6pm
250 artists, artisans, arts and community organizations transform Trinity Bellwoods Park into an outdoor art gallery/market and community meeting place.

Art That Binds curated by Shannon Cochrane
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, 11am –6pm
A wild and hilarious performance art series featuring some of Toronto’s best loved artists. Meet Canadian royalty, kick back with the top 40 beats of a cross-dressing boychoir, play a game of zombie-tag at the supermarket and take an intimate walking tour with local personalities.

ING DIRECT Interactive Kids Zone
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16, 11am – 6pm
Two non-allergenic peanut butter and jam packed days of creative action and interaction for kids including chess, yoga, cartooning, bicycle eccentrification, drumming, jewellery-making, theatre and more!

PARKDALE VILLAGE
PLAY/GROUNDS curated by Elaine Gaito and Chris Reynolds
Saturday 15, 10am - 11pm and Sunday 16, 10am - 8pm
Start your adventure at Parkdale Town Square, home base for PLAY/GROUNDS’ site-specific installations and performance art taking place in Parkdale.

GLADSTONE HOTEL
The QUEEN WEST ART CRAWL kicks off with a LAUNCH PARTY at the Gladstone Hotel on Friday, September 14, starting at 7pm. You can take in all of the Gladstone events and party until the last person is left standing!
Variation One - created and performed by the Gladstone Cooperative
Show Me Yours featuring Queen Street By Numbers, House Call, The Transformative Moment, Artscape Tenant Group Show

CAMH CAMPUS
Annual Being Scene Art Exhibition & Sale produced by Workman Arts
Creative on Queen

ALONG QUEEN
Participating businesses, galleries and art lovers include: Art in the Fall at 401 Richmond, Artscape’s 900 Queen at Crawford St., Artscape’s 1313 Queen at Cowan Ave. ,Good Catch General Store, Woolfitt’s Art Enterprises Inc.,Stephen Bulger Gallery ,IT’S NOT A DELI ,Propeller Centre for Visual Arts Chau Le above the Hong Phat Variety Store, Planet Kid ,Fresh on Crawford, The Paper Place, Tern Art Supplies, Dufflet Pastries, Response, Rumah Inc

For more information, please visit www.torontoartscape.on.ca/qwac

ABOUT ARTSCAPE
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Artscape is a not-for-profit enterprise engaged in culture-led regeneration. Its work includes anchoring creative communities within affordable spaces and building authentic and dynamic places by connecting creative and cultural resources. Visit www.torontoartscape.on.ca for more information on Artscape.

A hilarious Dream in High Park

Friday night, a group of 5 of us took a seat on the hillside at the Dream in High Park around 6pm. It’s important to get there early in order to stake out a place to sit and make sure you have enough space for the people in your group. This is a summer tradition I hadn’t done in quite a few years - I used to go all the time when I was in high school and earlier … but the summer’s had always passed by lately without a wander to The Canadian Stage’s Dream in High Park.

We spread the blanket down, third row centre and brought out the various salads and pastas and chips and dips which made up the picnic we were going to eat for the next two hours before the show began. A nice box of French Rabbit wine made the evening’s feast complete. It was a bit windy that evening and the sand storm that came from the path lead a bit to be desired, but overall, it was a beautiful night for a picnic.

This year’s Shakespeare selection was the ever classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I’ve seen this play a gazillion times, studied it in school, acted in it etc. but I never seem to tire of it. When done properly or with an interesting twist, this can be a hilarious comedy. This year’s production achieves ‘hilarity” status.

Director ahdri zhina mandiela set the Bard’s comedy in a modern day, urban Athen. The Athenian costumes were understated but effective while the faeries garb was anything but.

Puck was punk complete with tattoos from head to toe. Titania’s 3 faerie servants were dressed in magnificent colours - a sort of updated modern take on the 80’s (what the 80’s would look like if we dressed like that today).

But the most striking of all were the faerie King and Queen themselves. Titania, played by the ever amazing Karen Robinson (if you haven’t seen this woman on stage, you must - she is a force on stage to be reckon with) strolled onto the stage in a patch-quilt dress of oranges, greens and white followed by these amazing circular bouncing wings that looked like coils from a train conductors watch.  As playful as Titania’s costume was, Oberon’s was equally proud and larger than life. Outfitted in a blue tuxedo-type jacket, there were enormous leaves like peacock feathers protruding from his back, sticking straight up a good 10 feet into the air. Watching these two celestial figures walk on stage definitely gave the audience the impression that these characters were larger than life.

The Mechanicals - always the scene stealer - hammed it up and had me in stitches with their rendition of Pyramus and Thisbe at the end of the play. But when you have actors such as Steven Gallagher (last seen in CanStage’s The Rocky Horror Show) as Peter Quince and Andrew Kushnir (Hair) as Flute in the mix, you are sure to be in for a laugh. Everyone in the Mechanical ensemble was perfectly cast. Matthew Brown as Snout, Sarah Dodd playing a bitterly funny Starveling, Emberly Doherty as the shy Snug, and Matthew Kabwe as the know-it-all Bottom were all fantastic in their roles.

The Lovers, Hermia, Helena, Demetrius and Lysander, were also very well cast. I have to say that Maev Beatty stole the show out of the four of them with her brilliant comic timing and embodiment of Helena’s awkwardness and longing for Demetrius’ love. Lysander, played by Antonio Cayonne was very well acted including some wonderful rapping using the text provided. Holly Lewis and Richard Harte also performed exceptionally well in their role as Hermia and Demetrius respectively. Sarah Dodd, who doubled as Egeus, played this role perfectly as the executive suburban female constantly on the phone and full of contempt for practically everything. I do have to say though, it seems that she has worn the same skirt in the past three shows I’ve seen her in (the other two being Marion Bridge and A Whistle In The Dark).

The three ladies playing Titania’s faeries were a funny, energetic, mischievous trio of singers. Most of their text were sung with beautiful harmonies. And the master of mischief, Puck, played by Colin Heath, did a most excellent job in the role. His acrobatics alone really gave the character that faerie-like quality intended for the role. He seemed to fly through the air at parts or blend in to the scenery only to pop out later on.

There are times when watching Shakespeare can be tedious and tiring, and even in a comedy such as this, the play can drag. But thanks to the amazing direction from Ms. mandiela there is never a dull moment, never a lag. The almost 2 and a half hour show seems to whiz by and leaves you with a huge smile on your face. It really did seem magical that evening.

My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I would suggest to anyone looking for a really enjoyable evening to check out this production. Bring some snacks, a blanket and get there early. It is one of the summers traditions in Toronto that is definitely worth checking out.

The Dream In High Park is on until September 2.

92nd Annual OCAD Graduate Exhibition

I’ve been to this before and there’s usually a lot of amazing stuff to see and sometimes purchase! Definitely worth the trip down to McCaul - especially if you haven’t acutally been in the new building-on-stilts (which I personally love).

WHEN:
Friday May 11th 11am-8pm
Saturday May 12th 11am-6pm
Sunday May 13th 11am - 6pm

WHERE:
OCAD, 100 McCaul St., Toronto

The Graduate Exhibition takes place at OCAD’s main campus at 100 McCaul Street (at Dundas) on May 11 to 13. NEW THIS YEAR: Open late Friday May 11 from 11 am until 8 pm. Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Admission is pay-what-you-can.