Finster Finds

Impossible Mongoose Productions present 35 MM, a multimedia exhibition where photography inspires music & lyrics, while the songs inversely inspire the photographs. They say a picture is worth a thousand words... but is it worthy of a song?  This Off-Broadway hit is presented by Impossible Mongoose Productions in its Canadian Premiere, and the fourth production. With a local cast and crew 35MM is entirely produced by Edmonton actors and MacEwan Graduates. Directed by Corben Kushneryk ( Avenue Q  - Two One Way Tickets to Broadway) it's a play based in photography, rock music, poetry slam and art exhibition.  It premieres tonight at the PCL Studio in the FTA-Arts Barns. The production also features Rebecca Merkley ( Babes in Toyland  - Promise Productions), Chris Scott (Songs for a New World - Threeform Theatre), Naythan Berteotti, and Kayla Gorman ( The Fourth Graders Present and Unnamed Love-Suicide - NLT ; bare - Patient  Mango).   The s...

Saturday night I took in Where the Blood Mixes at Theatre Network.  I needed to take a little time before I wrote about it though, because I was challenged by the piece. Overall it was a very thought provoking night of theatre, but I had to balance my reaction as a theatre goer with my reaction as a human being. As a theatre goer, It was challenging for me because there are many beautiful artistic things about this production that I appreciated, but it was also flawed so I was frustrated by it dramatically.  The images of the skeletal creatures floating above Cory Sicennes' gorgeous set were magic and combined with Dave Clarke's sound design conceptually the production was exceptionally strong.  Lorne Cardinal, as the angry and frequently drunk Floyd, is brilliant.  He is such a  phenomenal talent - a true Canadian treasure.  His moments of realness in both anger and shame were heart-breaking and so very, very real.   My major issue, however, is wi...

When the Citadel announced their season last spring and Ride the Cyclone was on the list, I have to admit I over-looked it.  It's description referenced the tragic deaths of 6 teens at an amusement park in a small town in Saskatchewan and I thought it was probably a sad piece about the loss of young lives.  However, in January, I started to read things in my twitter and FB feed from friends in Calgary about the show.  Few specific details were mentioned, but the overwhelming response was WOW.  So I reread the description: "Ride the Cyclone spotlights a teenage chamber choir from Uranium, Saskatchewan who died in a roller coaster accident at a traveling fair. Karnack, a mechanized fortune-telling machine, feels responsible for the young choir’s demise, and gives the teens a chance to express themselves to the world after death. Ride the Cyclone is their final recital, where they celebrate their individuality while coming to terms with their untimely demise." Hmmm...

A little over a week ago I was listening to my messages on the phone when the caller says something pretty close to the following: Hi, I'm ________.  I got your name from a friend of mine.  I just moved back to  Edmonton from ______ and I live in the Whyte Avenue area and I really want to  get into acting again.  My friend said that you know everything about auditions and  stuff,  so I was hoping you could help me out.  I probably don't know everything, but I do like to keep my ear to the ground so to speak, so I called back and left a message but haven't heard back from him. This is not the first time I have gotten a request for this kind of information and while I don't think I know everything, I do think that I am pretty good at getting back to people with useful tips and point them in the right direction.   Since I get these questions, it got me thinking.  I do know where to look for auditions and maybe some people don't ...

I don't know about you, but one of the things that I find most challenging about playwriting is the solitude - the being alone in it.  You have to do that part when you are actually writing, but I have found in the past that there are a few things that help me write better (or even at all).  The first is a deadline.  I write to deadlines and they help me considerably.  There's an important one coming up in a week and that has me motivated to get to work on a couple of my scripts.  That's the APC (Alberta Playwriting Competition) which has a March 1st, 2013 deadline. The second is what produced The Easy Road - a 24 hour Playwriting Competition.  I have written two plays this way.  Ideas that noodled around in my head for months suddenly took shape and made their way onto the page.  I am glad that there are plans to repeat last year's Play in a Day so that I might get another play out of that. The third is a Playwriting Circle.  APN hosts ...

I found out this last week that one of the two scripts I submitted to Skirts AFire - Peep Show was selected.  The Easy Road , which I wrote during the Play in a Day competition during the 2012 Edmonton Fringe was selected, and an excerpt of it will be presented along with three other scripts at Peep Show on March 10th as part of the first ever Skirts AFire Festival.  I am thrilled as this is providing the necessary motivation for me to spend more time on my writing.  Too many other things in my life have caused me to shove my writing to the back-burner so my plans to write more this year have not come to fruition.  I will also get to hear a section of my play read by some of Edmonton's top actresses.  It is always so thrilling to hear your work interpreted by other people.  I find that is when I discover the most about where the play must go.  The filter of collaboration tends to clarify the direction of the piece. So, stay tuned and I will provide m...

I am out and about most evenings.  I consider myself lucky that I get to see so much theatre, but because of the kids and the need for someone to be home with them, my husband does not get to see nearly as much as I do.  I wangled a nice exchange with my Mother, taking her to Private Lives on Thursday night in exchange for her babysitting the boys so that Mark and I could go out together on Friday.  To be fair, she probably would have babysat on Friday without the bribe, but this way I could say thank you in advance! So in a rare night out for both of us we took in Trunk Theatre's Days of Wine and Ros es at the Varscona.  It was a new version of the teleplay by J.P. Miller by Irish playwright Owen McCafferty ( Mojo Mickybo ) - Donal (Cody Porter) and Mona (Elena Porter) are a young Irish couple new to the adventure of their lives in London.  They meet on the journey from Belfast and fall in love and marry and drink and their mutual inability to handle alcoho...

If you try hard enough, you can do this.  I managed to see two shows today by hitting the matinee of The Missionary Position at the University of Alberta Timm's Centre and then going to the evening performance of Private Lives at The Citadel.  They are two very different pieces of theatre so separating thought about them was not that difficult. The Missionary Position is a new work by Lee Playwright in Residence, Greg MacArthur, written specifically for the 2013 graduating BFA Class.  I found it a thought provoking cautionary tale supported by strong acting and a creative set and lighting design. It deals with a fictional group of Christian missionaries who travel to an unnamed South American country that has been struck by devastation in the form of an earthquake and tsunami.  The missionaries are there to bring God to the orphans and save them both physically and spiritually.  Unfortunately their journey takes a terrible turn and they are imprison...

Just a quick mention about what I am up to these next few days.  Auditions for From Cradle to Stage 2013 are being held tonight and tomorrow at Walterdale Playhouse.  More information about these can be found here on my other Blog. I am Coordinating and Production Managing this festival and we have created an enthusiastic and talented team to bring the two new works to life on our stage. There is a trickiness to coordinating multiple productions within a festival but having been involved in 5 of the past 7 of them in a variety of roles (actor, playwright, director, etc...) I feel like I understand what is required. Edmonton also does Theatre Festivals well and this is a feature of the Walterdale Season that I am especially proud of. There are still spots open tonight (later in the evening) so feel free to contact me to book one or walk-in and we will fit you in.

Tonight I was at Walterdale to work FOH for Summer and Smoke and to see the show.  I try to work FOH at least once for each of the shows and because my time this month is so full I did Coffee Bar because I could see the show at the same time.  I am not sure what I will do when my Proserve expires as I actually do not love doing Coffee Bar but that's for the future so I am not thinking about it much now. I worked with Joan Hawkins who co-designed and painted the gorgeous set and I always love a good visit with her so all was good.  It always feels kind of weird to be there working for a show that you didn't work on, but Walterdale has been my theatre home for a few years now so there is also a feeling of home when I am there. The show was sold out, actually it oversold, so that was great for the theatre and the show.  It's the 6-Pack show and it's Tennessee Williams so it is hard to argue with the extreme saleability of the piece. In that light, I recommend...

Last night I caught RIDE at the PCL Theatre in the Fringe Theatre Adventure Arts Barns.  The production is the latest from Northern Light Theatre and I was looking forward to it.  When you see as much theatre as I do, you want to see not only good work but also work that challenges you expectations.  I can usually depend on NLT to shake things up - at least in the kinds of scripts they choose. RIDE was no exception.  The story begins simply - two people wake up together, naked in bed, after an evening which neither can remember - what follows is not predictable or anticipated.  In fact there is a strange but cool surreal quality that slides in and out of the realism created by Director Trevor Schmidt.  Schmidt, by the way, is the only person I know in town who can stand by the door to the theatre saying to everyone who goes in: " Read this sign, the whole thing, and do what it says or I will lose my Sh%t ." and have everyone laugh and do what he say...

Next week,  Trunk Theatre presents the Canadian premiere of  JP Miller’s Days of Wine and Roses in a new version by Owen McCafferty at the Varscona Theatre from February 14 th -23 rd , 2013.   A young Belfast couple moves to 1960s London, where they fall love with life, each other and drink.  Their exciting new life spirals out of control as alcohol takes its grip.   Why am I excited to see this? Well, because   Days of Wine and Roses stars two of my favourite local actors - Cody Porter ( The Weir, This Lime Tree Bower ) and Elena Porter ( The Tudor Queen: A Burlesque, Lend Me a Tenor, Hamlet ) and is directed by multiple Sterling Award nominee Amy DeFelice ( Dying City, A Number) who directed This Lime Tree Bower  at the 2010 Fringe,  which I loved .   Trunk Theatre is also the company that produced one of my 2012 Fringe Highlight shows - Mojo Mickybo .  “In Days of Wine and Roses , McCafferty shows us, with beauty and...

So I got this information today!  Knowing so many talented women in the Edmonton Theatre community I was excited to see this come to my in-box.  I love the idea of this festival and look forward to seeing what's on the ticket!  They are looking for people to help out - so check it out if you are interested in lending a hand! PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT Until March 7, 2013 Volunteers Needed to Help Ignite the Spark! Edmonton’s newest festival,  SkirtsAFire, herArts festival  is in need of helping hands to launch its first season! From March 7 to 10 ,  Alberta Avenue (118th avenue)  hosts a   celebration and showcase of women’s stories and the female voice in art. SkirtsAFire   is   looking for help leading up to and during the festival. Whether you can volunteer your time at the festival, a few hours stuffing envelopes, or one of your many valuable skills … as a wise woman once said, many hands make light work. ...

Today I had a great meeting with Tracy Carroll from APN.  I am working with Tracy in a variety of capacities.  She and Brian Dooley are dramaturges for Walterdale Playhouse's From Cradle to Stage Festival so I have been lucky to work with her for 3 of the past four years - primarily coordinating, but pleased none the less with getting to know her and having her work with the playwrights. I am also working with Tracy to coordinate a Partnership with APN and Walterdale.  Exciting stuff and I am really looking forward to the kinds of things we can bring to the membership. Of course, we talked of many things.  These kinds of meetings are what I love about Edmonton and it's Arts Scene.  There are so many talented and skilled people who are so willing to share information and feedback and just talk about things going on.  Tracy is working with Skirts Afire on their upcoming festival, as well as with the ADFA (Alberta Drama Festival Association).  Sh...

Yesterday I took in Evie's Waltz at Shadow Theatre.  It's a difficult play about a challenging topic and left me with much to think about - too much really.  The script (by Carter Lewis) is rhetoric filled with comments on parenting ( good and bad ), judgement, bullying, gun control, kids with guns, school shootings, dancing, vegetarianism, infidelity and a few other things.  I think it did a lot in terms of leaving you things to think about, but by focusing so much on the 'issues' it also had a lot of unbelievable dialogue which challenged the actors. They rose to the occasion, with Coralie Cairns (Gloria) being the most successful at consistently making the jargon sound like something a real person might say.  She also has the biggest journey and she is worth the price of admission as she moves from frustrated, angry and disengaged to regretful and desperate.  Doug Mertz (Clay) and Karen Mott (Evie) do their best with it, but are no...