Finster Finds

I have been spending the last few weeks painting the set for The Weir at Walterdale Playhouse . This has been a terrific challenge for me.  I have designed a set before and painted it ( Village of Idiots ), I have been Master Painter before for another designer ( Wyrd Sisters) and I have painted on many other sets, usually under the umbrella of a Master Painter, but sometimes I have been pretty much in charge ( Nine ), but this set really took it up a notch for me.  When Director, Anne Marie Szucs, was putting together her team back in the late spring she asked me if I wanted to be on it.  When Jim Herchak stepped forward as Set Designer I knew that the best place for me would be Master Painter since I know that Jim doesn't paint. It's also a tough position to fill since there are few people who want to take on the responsibility or feel they have the expertise to do it ( many paint, but few will master paint. ..). Also, I figured it would be a good challenge. The set h

This weekend was a great weekend for using my Vue Weekly Ticket prize pack.  I sent Oliver and Mark off to see Joel Plaskett at The Arden on Saturday night and then I took my mother to see A Few Good Men at The Citadel Theatre on Sunday night. The boys quite enjoyed their night of music, buying CDs and getting them autographed and the boys have been listening to the opening act, Mo Kenney, as we drive home from school each day.  They each have a favorite song and we bounce back and forth between track 3 and 8 as many times as we can before we reach home. Both my mother and I were quite impressed with A Few Good Men .  It was a tightly run ship - quickly paced, which I love and which I felt the script calls for, and committed performances.  I found the direction the outstanding part of the show.  The script, with it's quick cuts and film like dialogue, is not easy to stage but Director James MacDonald keeps it moving and the use of the revolve is clean and sharp.  I really liked

Sherbrooke Liquor Presents Ron Sherbrooke's 2nd Annual Talk Like a Pirate Rum Festival September 19, 2012 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm All proceeds to benefit Free Will Players Theatre Guild Come down to the Tucker Amphitheatre at the Citadel Theatre and enjoy a rum tasting Entry Ticket Prices * $25 + service charge *tastings not included with entry ticket price Tickets available at the Citadel Theatre Box Office, 9828 101A Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 3C6 or by phone 780-425-1820 online: https://tickets.citadeltheatre.com/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent1689.html Meet Captain Morgan, enjoy fabulous food, drink some rum, and enter to win fabulous prizes! Contests include a treasure hunt, best pirate costume (male and female) and best "Talk like a Pirate"

I took Oliver to Cavalia for opening night last week.  It's strange, because just a few months earlier was the first time I heard about Cavalia and it wasn't because I heard they were coming to town. It was from a friend who had seen it in Quebec last summer.  She showed me the program and raved about it. Later that week I heard that it was coming to Edmonton, so it seemed fitting that we should go. Based on her description I expected something like Cirque du Soleil but with horses and I thought Oliver was the right kid to take (especially since it was a school night and Gibson had gone to Mary Poppins ). I think I made the right choice as Oliver seemed very happy to be there and I think some of the more sophisticated sections would have gone over Gibson's head. It was really quite wonderful to watch.  Not a traditional play with a story, but a series of vignettes which demonstrate acrobatics, horse skills or a combination of both.  It's gorgeous and filled wi

This weekend I was happy to take in The Passion of Mary at Theatre Network.  I always love to see new works by local playwrights and as this is the first show I have seen written by Annette Loiselle (from her bio I even think it might be her first) I was quite impressed by her voice.  It must be challenging to be both playwright and lead actress of a play. Loiselle handles both those challenges well.  She had a great team to work with as Bretta Gereke's set is so cool and Glenda Stirling's direction is really tight and magical.  Sian Williams, who shares the stage with Loiselle in a variety of roles, shifts effortlessly from accent to accent and body to body. I loved the way she seemed to appear and disappear - that was the magic part. I like plays like this that make me think.  This certainly challenged what I thought about Mary, Queen of Scots, but to be fair, I mostly know about her from the Phillipa Gregory books and Gregory's Mary is quite a bit different than Lois

Theatre Network opens The Passion of Mary this week as part of their performance series.  I wrote a bit about the show earlier when I went to the launch of Skirts Afire a few months back. As part of this run there are a couple of special nights that will also support some good works.  The first is tonight (FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2012) and if you go to the show tonight and 20% of your ticket will be donated to the One Thousand Women, A Million Possibilities campaign. Tomorrow (SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 8, 2012)20% of your ticket will be donated to SkirtsAfire, herArts Festival. So, not only will you be seeing a brand new work by local playwright, Annette Loiselle, but you will also be able to support a couple of good causes! The Passion of Mary by Annette Loiselle Mary Queen of Scots is caught in an act of treason which may force Elizabeth to finally execute her. Alone in her prison, during imagined red wine sessions with Elizabeth, as the scaffold is being built, she re-lives signi

The kids got back to school yesterday, but I didn't go back until today.  I am taking Drama 308 (The Modernist Stage) this semester and I think it is going to be a good adventure.  We are starting with Ibsen and I am 1/3 of the way through The Wild Duck .  I am familiar with the plot as I had to look it up when doing A Little Night Music ( my character made a reference to it ) so as I read the play it feels very deja vu. It was great to see so many familiar faces from all of my 4 previous years in the U of A Drama Department.  I have staked out the front row with Gil (just like 208/209) and we were joined by Harley from my 257 class.  I like the tone of the Prof. and the class itself promises to be good.

What a great trip!  I am home now, after a long day of travelling, but it was indeed a great first time to New York City.  The first day I was a little nervous, but after negotiating the subway and walking around Times Square and Lincoln Centre and taking cabs I felt pretty good about getting around.  My friend Julie was great to travel with as she is pretty laid back and both of us were happy just to see what we could instead of seeing everything so that made it nice. We saw Warhorse , Nice Work if You Can Get It , and Peter and the Starcatcher .   We used the TKTS system and paid half price for all of them.  I highly recommend.  The nice thing about not having been there before is that I hadn't seen anything so it made finding shows I wanted to see pretty easy.  I went knowing that I really wanted to see Warhorse , so I did.  Julie loves Gershwin so Nice Work was her top pick, so we saw that.  Peter and the Starcatcher was on the list and available for the matinee so we gr