Half-Life and APN

Last night I went to an APN function of sorts. Brian Dooley is the new Edmonton Liaison and he and a number of other APN folks were at the Rice Theatre lobby to meet with members and discuss what the needs of Edmonton members were. Other than "official APN people" there were only 3 members in attendance. One of these was a former APN Board member. Anyhow, it was nice to get a chance to tell what I felt I needed, although I got the distinct impression that they had an idea of their own and much of the meeting was spent brain-storming about that. Although the idea itself was not abhorrent to me, it really didn't address my personal needs. I got the impression they were targeting those playwrights who were already established at a certain level and I really am not there yet. I need help to get there.

After the "meeting" APN had arranged special tickets with The Citadel to see Half-Life. It was an hour and a half with no intermission which felt weird, especially with the 7:30 start. We were out by 9:10! Weird. Anyhow, about the show... It was well-done, however, I had some major issues with it. 90% of the show was staged with people just sitting in chairs talking to each other and having deep conversations. With regards to these conversations, many of them felt very unnatural despite being staged as a realistic and naturalistic play. The older generation was great. Their dialogue worked and was delivered wonderfully. The nurses were also very good in that respect. The adult children and the minister, however, never felt real to me. They were stilted and the words they were given seemed like no dialogue you would ever hear someone say. It really bugged me. It was also in the Shoctor and I have learned not to trust that theatre. There is a moat between the stage and the audience in that space that really damages any connection between the show and the audience. I know that part of this is because I am spoiled by Keyano. I have yet to find a large proscenium with the same intimacy here in Edmonton and area.

The Video I Really Wanted...

I do not know why the next post has the video it has - I thought I changed it! Second try... And yes, that is me you hear laughing... sorry.

A Little Bit of Oliver in Drama Class...

Oliver's drama class finished up last week. The previous weekend was the "show" that they had been working on. I think that Oliver's performance may have been hampered by the vest he was wearing as his costume as he obviously loved it and this affected his participation in the hand actions, but he actually had a lot of lines and he really loved the class. We were quite pleased with Foote Theatre School and plan to get him in again next Fall .

Eggs and Dye and Children

Just finished colouring the eggs with the boys. Gibson has been so excited about it ever since we bought the Dora Colouring pack at Shoppers the other day. The whole colouring thing took about 15 minutes. Next year I may have to make more eggs. The trouble is having all those hard boiled eggs lying around. I am not fond of them myself.

As a child, I loved colouring Easter eggs. I was a bit of the artsy-crafty kind of child so I loved trying to make patterns and doing cool things with the decorations. However, my favorite part of it was throwing the dye on the snow. Living as we did in Fort McMurray, there was a 95% chance of snow on the ground at Easter time. My boys had a blast doing that part today. A big laugh for the yellow dye and the requisite don't eat yellow snow jokes. It was much fun.

A legend dies...

Arthur C. Clarke died. A legend and a visionary.

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/entertainment_clarke_death_col

The Drowning Girls... Submerge yourself!

Yesterday afternoon AM and I went to see The Drowning Girls at The Catalyst Theatre. I am highly recommending it. It was wonderfully written and well-performed and visually amazing. The only disappointing thing was the size of the audience. I think that there is such wonderful theatre in this city and if people really want to support Edmonton as an active Arts Community then they need to be in the seats! This is a show definitely worth seeing and the ticket was less than $20. The show features Vanessa Sanbourin, Natascha Girgis and Beth Graham. All of these ladies are talented and they are so tight as an ensemble.

Here are two reviews independent of mine from their run in Calgary.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/entertainment/story.html?id=f38a8a8e-dce8-4847-a280-e3579132957f

http://jam.canoe.ca/Theatre/Reviews/D/Drowning_Girls/2008/03/07/4937656-sun.html

I highly recommend it. The show runs until next Sunday. Tix can be purchased at Tix on the Square.

Completely Enchanted...

Last night Mark and I took the girls from the store out for dinner as a thank you for the great work this past year. Afterwards we went to WEM and saw Enchanted. I was hopeful ever since I first saw the trailer almost a year ago and I was completely enchanted with it. For a Disneyphile like myself it was perfect! The production number in the park was a major highlight stealing ideas from Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. There were also nods to other Menken show (theme songs on the TV shows, etc...). I also loved that Idina Menzel was the actress who ended up with the Prince. I didn't clue in that it was her until I realized that it was her voice on the soundtrack. DUH! I knew she looked familiar. Great movie!