Oh, y’know, just hangin with Charlotte Diamond during rehearsal for the Massey Society 65th Anniversary Gala concert.
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Road Rage Remedy
Everyone has been stuck in traffic. Whether it is as a driver, passenger in a car, or even on public transit. Today, was one of those days for me. Two hours in traffic when it would normally take 45 minutes. Yikes!
I was reminded of a Vlogger that I came across about a year ago. More people should do this to lighten the mood:
In The Heights
For the third time in two months, I have made a point of going to see a theatre show that I am not familiar with and to make the experience more authentic, I did not cram the cliff notes just prior to going.
This one was the Arts Club’s production of In the Heights.
I thoroughly enjoyed so many aspects of this production. Set on a street in Washington Heights, this show tells a story of a bodega owner, Usnavi and the folks of his neighbourhood. Throughout the show, I did not feel there was one weak link. Standouts for me were Kate Blackburn (Nina), who’s voice was crystal clear with such a rich tone, Sharon Crandall (Abuela Claudia), who gave a believable performance as an elderly grandmother/matriarch, and Elena Juatco (Vanessa) who belts out her songs with perfection.
The band was tight, as always, led by Ken Cormier. Normally, I complain that this company usually doesn’t use any woodwind players, but opts to synthesize the parts, however in this particular production, I did not bat an eye to the heavy brass sounds needed to capture the flavour of this work.
Ted Roberts’s sets were cleverly utilized without any awkward and unnecessary movement and Lisa Steven’s choreography around them was refreshing to standard musical theatre because of the ethnic nature. The only thing that I was mildly disappointed in was, at the end of their month long run, they were having sound issues. Mics were crackling and not being turned on when needed. Of course, this was live theatre and knowing that, it certainly did not ruin the show in any way, shape or form.
In the Heights seemed to be received well by the audience and quite often the Arts Club will remount productions. If this happens, I would likely see it again and tell all my friends!
Dislike for Kale?
Hehe. For a good laugh.
Storm Rages Through Woodwind Section of Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Musicians. Ha! This article certainly doesn’t help dissolve the stereotypes of players of certain woodwind instruments.
Punctuation
Fell off my chair lauging:
Buy the damn bikini
This has nothing to do with nothing except that I applaud my friend for posting this on her own blog today. It takes courage and a lot of faith to do this. Check it out, it may just make you feel something good.
Balls
Once again I took a leap of faith in going to see a show I knew absolutely nothing about except that a friend of mine was directing it and it was called Balls to which all the marketing materials were a seemingly naked man with the title of the show covering up his nads.
As it turns out, this show was part of the rEvolver Festival at The Cultch. And it was “all about taking RISKS”. And it was a risk that probably shouldn’t have been taken.
After learning more about the show, it certainly was an interesting concept, but it didn’t transfer well from idea to stage. The show was unscripted, for the most part and centred around the fears of cast members and how they reacted to facing them live. I don’t think the risks were high enough or edgy enough to make a show out of. One cast member was challenged to order a pizza because he had never ordered for delivery before. Another was challenged to go on a date with an audience member (during the duration of the show) because of her fear of relationships. It turned out that the man chosen was actually one of her best friends and played for the other team.
Did I enjoy it? Yes. For the most part, but mainly because of the supportive friend that I am. If I didn’t know anyone involved, I probably would have not mentioned it at all.
How Playing Music Benefits Your Brain More than Any Other Activity
Great article on promoting music education and involvement for our youth!
How Playing Music Benefits Your Brain More than Any Other Activity
Rode-no
I was hoping to report on the Cloverdale Rodeo today. I have lived in the Fraser Valley for so many years now that it seemed silly to have not gone to check out the Rodeo. Ever. So, this would be the year! I grabbed a friend who sais she had never been to the Rodeo either. Unfortunately, we arrived too late and discovered that events had already finished for the day. No matter. We decided to check out the fair and were pleasantly surprised with the amount of live music (even though country music is not on the top of our list) and variety of foods available.
We arrived just in time to hear the Chris Buck Band on the outdoor stage. This band played a lot of covers, mostly pop/contemporary country. When they announced that they were going to play an original, I was a little hesitant because I have been to many concerts where the band does extremely well on covers, but then fizzles out on their original songs. This was not one of those times. The original songs were executed with the same energy and style as some of the well-known covers, like ‘Sweet Home Alabama’.
Eventually, we made our way into the Longhorn Saloon where there were even more live bands. In here, we heard Ettinger & Big 50 and the Ken McCoy Band. The latter was better in terms of overall performance and quality, buth the first band was also talented in its own right. High energy from both drew large crowds to the dance floor.
So, even though we didn’t get to see the cowboys get thrown off the bulls, we had our own party with Buck & Big McCoy. There’s still next year!
Longhorn Saloon concert stage with the Ken McCoy Band
#katiestewart
Maybe not our finest moment…..
Kevin Woo 