News and notes in the arts this weekend

I've collected a few notes on the arts locally and beyond the last couple of weeks, none of them big enough for a full column, so I gathered them all together for this week's column to update you on a few items of interest.

First of all, it was nice to see the release this week from the Shaw Festival indicating Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell will be receiving on honorary doctor of laws degree from Kingston's Queen's University for her landmark achievements in Canadian theatre, theatre arts and her promotion of new visions of Canada on the world stage.  The degree will be conferred during the fall convocation ceremonies November 20th in Grant Hall, one of the oldest buildings on the Queen's University campus.  In addition to leading several on-campus workshops, Ms. Maxwell will also give the convocation address after receiving her honorary degree.

Maxwell will be in good company at the convocation, as honorary degrees will also be bestowed on the author of the popular Doonesbury comic strip, Garretson Trudeau, and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.  Should be a nice way to cap a very successful Shaw season for Jackie Maxwell!

Meantime over at the Stratford Festival, Antoni Cimolino took over as Artistic Director November 1st, succeeding Des McAnuff.  One of the first things Cimolino did was unveil a new logo for the festival, a very stylish rendering of Stratford Festival, and the return of simply referring to the Festival as the Stratford Festival rather than the rather cumbersome Stratford Shakespeare Festival, which had been in place for a few years now.

This I think is a good move, for as Cimolino noted when he announced the change, "'Stratford Festival' is the name we have used for most of our 60 years.  It is simple and direct, it resonates with people and it carries our legacy of quality and success.  The name connects powerfully with audiences and allows us to best convey the breadth and depth of the seasons we are planning to present."  It makes me wonder, though, how popular the Stratford Shakespeare Festival moniker had been internally since it was adopted, as they readily changed it back again the moment McAnuff was gone.  Hmmm...one wonders.

Anyway, Cimolino plans to focus his tenure on establishing the Festival as a place to become immersed in the theatre experience, for in addition to the plays themselves, he will introduce The Forum, a wide-ranging series of events allowing audience members to experience a deeper theatrical experience on several levels.  This will help to further his desire to place the Festival more at the centre of society.  This could be a tall order, but we'll see what transpires.  I have a lot of confidence in the new Artistic Director having seen the quality of his work over the years, so let's see what he comes up with during his tenure.

A further note from the Stratford Festival indicated tickets will go on sale to members only online starting tomorrow (Sunday) and general public access to tickets begins January 5th.  In addition, a new Facebook app will allow people to purchase tickets through their personal Facebook page.  The free app can be downloaded at http://apps.facebook.com/stratfordsocial/.  Facebook fans will also be able to buy their tickets a full day earlier than the general public.

There is more and more social media all around us, and not all of it good.  I will be writing about this next week, in fact, as I have some thoughts on the matter, but I think it was only a matter of time before arts organizations capitalized on the popularity of social media in all its forms.  It is here to stay, folks, so we had better get used to it.  Some may call it a necessary evil, but I will leave it up to you to decide.

Anyway, that is it for this weekend; if you have not already done so, you can check out the calendar page on my website at www.finemusic.ca for a very complete listing of events coming up in the area and beyond, newly updated for the fall and winter season.  And I am currently working on updating the Mike's Picks page, which soon will be featuring some (gasp!) Christmas titles new this year!  The season is upon us once again...

November 10th, 2012.