Finster Finds

This past summer I directed two shows at Fringe, one of which I wrote ( Little Monster s) and one written by my friend Anne Marie Szucs ( Crack ). Over the last several weeks a few lines from the latter have been rattling in my head, making me think hard about what my time is filled by.      ANGELA: Sometimes I wish there were 2 of me - just to do everything I want to do.      PAM: What you want to do.      ANGELA: Yes. Isn't that what I said?      CHRISTINE: Pam.      PAM: Sometimes I think you do what everyone else wants you to do – Andy, the kids, church.  Where do you fit into the list? I find myself coming back to that question... what is it I want to be doing?  I have many things I 'have' to do.  Some are things I have put in place, some are work or store related, some are volunteer commitments, some are things that people have asked me to do and I couldn't say no to...  I woul...

Tonight Previews for Kim's Convenience started at the Citadel Theatre.  Last night, I got to watch the final Dress Rehearsal. As part of my job, I had read the play and thought it quite a nice story on the page, but it was so lovely to see it realized on the stage.  Beyond the picture-perfect corner convenience store and the sounds of the Toronto street, seeing the story live on the stage really emphasized for me the the play was truly a Canadian story.  So many of us here are from somewhere else and the freedoms and hopes of the immigrant coming to Canada for their children is a story that I certainly understood.  It was also both funny and touching.  I didn't know that I would laugh so much -  in recognition of things in my own world, in the deliberate misunderstandings between people, and in the unique relationships between parents and their children. I also didn't realize, despite reading the play, that I would get a little teary-eyed. Because C...

I took in the ridiculous and excessive  Fatboy by John Clancy (not to be confused with the author of The Hunt For Red October ) directed with controlled abandon by Dave Horak and presented at Theatre Network by the Edmonton Actor's Theatre. This is not a show for the faint of heart. It's rude, and bawling and lusty and violent and irreverent and full of more curses per minute than any of show I have seen in my life. I will admit, at first I wasn't sure what I was watching.  The show starts with a belligerent bang of a shouting match between Fatboy (Frederick Zbryski) and his extremely buxom wife, Fudgie (Melissa Thingelstad). It's over the top - not in a Broadway musical kind of way - but in a nightmarish, twisted circus of lechery and violence.  Once acclimatized to the phenomenal patter of cursing interspersed with cries for Sausages!! and Pancakes!! I just held on and went for the ride. They are joined by a multitude of characters played brilliantly by Ian Leu...

This Sunday I will be starting a smallish project for Walterdale Theatre.  When I was asked to be Master Painter for the first show of the season way back in the early summer I had to say No.  I knew that I would be too busy with the advent of the new theatre season and my new position at the Citadel.  However, a request from the set designer, former student Brendan Boyd, for help with painting the floor made me do a slight reversal. It's hard to say No to former students, especially those like Brendan. I came in with conditions, because my time is tight, but this Sunday I will go in and start the process.  I have yet to see the set design, so I am hopeful that I will have the right colours in the shop ( it's a wood floor and there were a lot of varied browns in the paint shop ). It should only take a couple days - for me, this month,that means Sundays.  There are a couple of wrenches in the works with the theatre being over-shared and the surprise of finding ou...

Last night a group of readers met on twitter for an hour and chatted about Michael Hingston's The Dilettantes .  This was the first of our two summer reading choices.  It was a lively discussion with many threads and side roads and the hour flew by.  It was a great way to spend a snowy evening in September ( yes, there was snow! ).  The conversation swerved from favorite weird sodas, to student newspapers (comparing U of A's The Gateway to SFU's The Peak) and angst... plenty of angst.  Michael joined in and it was great to have the author chime in and answer questions. If you want to check out the conversation, use the #yegbookclub on twitter to search.  You should be able to pick up most of it. If you want to check out the book, here's a link to find out more. Next week we tackle our second summer reading choice, Marty Chan's The Demon Gate .  I think you have time to get it read and join in! See you on twitter on Monday, September 15th at 7 p.m....

Yesterday was the 1st Annual Northern Light Theatre's BATTLE FOR THE LIMELIGHT - An Amazing Race style fundraising event which took place in the Old Strathcona district. Theatre companies and related organizations across the city were invited to enter a team to up to four competitors to participate in challenges whereby they would earn points to see who was the winner. They would also use the event as an opportunity to fund raise for their particular organization. The winning team was presented with The Golden Handjob (there were silver and bronze handjobs for 2nd and 3rd place finishers, as well).  Northern Light Theatre did all the organizing and the event ended with a BBQ at Queen Alexandra Community Hall and a great party for all involved.  I was unable to participate in the actual event due to Mom-related Obligations (i.e. Piano Lessons) but followed the tweets and FB posts and swung by the BBQ at the end.  The energy was fabulous and it was great to see so many pe...

Sometimes I feel like I am unusual, because I generally wake up very happy to go to my job.  It's a terrific fit for me.  I work at the Citadel Theatre in the Marketing Department, so right off the bat you have me working in a theatre, and I love that. It's also a theatre that produces a wide variety of work and at a very high level so that's a super double bonus.  For the actual work I do, it's a great fit for me in that it uses my organization skills, my people skills, my problem-solving skills and I get to work with a lot of fun people.  It's also busy, and while some people are not as fond of that, I do like a fast pace, and there are periodic lulls to recharge when you need to. Anyhow, I really like my job, but on Friday I had one of those I LOVE MY JOB days.  We had a photo shoot for the upcoming ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS which stars John Ullyatt and for a couple of hours in the afternoon we were entertained my his antics in front of the camera.  He kep...