If you noticed I did not post last weekend, so this weekend I will make up for it with an explanation - and a bit of a diversion from what I normally write about in this space.
I took a one-week vacation and my far better half and I jetted off to England for a six-day tour of the English countryside, ending up in London for the final night prior to the return home. So this week a bit of a travelogue and collected thoughts from the week away.
It all began last February when Sophie, a devoted WNED watcher and supporter, saw an ad for a tour in August entitled To The Manor Born. Basically, you would tour some of the sites and locations for some of her - and my - favourite British television shows we watch regularly on PBS. The tour was guided, of course, and not inexpensive. Airfare, I might add, was not included. Sophie said at dinner one night she wanted to go - whether I wanted to or not!
Well faced with a dilemma like that, I knew the only correct answer was "Yes, dear", meaning of course I would accompany her on the tour. Truth be told, I have wanted to get back to the U.K. for some time now, as my first trip was 41 years ago and the last one 28 years ago. In other words, two generations and one generation ago respectively.
It took some stick-handling to get an unscheduled week off from work at a time when I normally can't get time off, but it all somehow came together and after a lot of online booking, searching, booking some more and checking, we were all set to go.
First off, let me say international travel is not my friend. I find the flights too long and since we're flying economy, there is simply not a lot of room for stretching out hours on end. You really are crammed in like sardines these days. Add to that a very long lineup for both checking in and clearing security at Pearson in Toronto and you are already feeling tired and stressed out before you even leave the ground.
An overnight flight is not my favourite, but at least I timed it right so we arrived at our first hotel in Windsor, just outside of London, in time to simply walk in, grab our room key and go for a well-deserved rest.
We added an extra day on to the front of the tour so as to relax and rest up before hitting the road, and it certainly proved to be the right plan. The first night there, Sunday, we were both too tired to do much more than take a walk around the area and enjoy a quiet dinner in the hotel dining room.
Those first two nights were spent at the splendid Castle Hotel Windsor, situated right in the heart of town with a view from our hotel room of Windsor Castle across the way. In every way, the hotel is exquisite and I highly recommend it when you are in Windsor. We definitely plan to return again in the future.
Monday the tour group met and we basically had the day to explore Windsor and tour Windsor Castle before meeting for a group dinner at the hotel that night. We discovered far too many shops to explore in town, and even discovered a new pub that had opened just a few months ago described as an 'art bar.' Art by local artists was on display and all for sale, and the Scottish theme of the pub was reflected in the music and the menu. I ordered the vegetarian haggis, actually, and it was far better than the real thing, in my estimation.
The Tuesday morning we embarked on the first part of our road tour, stopping late morning at Highclere Castle, the setting for the phenomenally successful Downton Abbey. As the bus made its way down the long, winding drive, the tour guide wisely popped the Downton Abbey soundtrack CD into the system and with the theme from the series filling our ears, we approached the castle.
Sophie was very emotional at the site of it, as she is totally into the entire series. Because of the time it aired on Sunday nights I usually didn't get to see many episodes so I was not quite as into it as she was, until we got inside.
The first thing you notice upon arriving is aside from the rolling countryside and distant gardens, there is no visible vegetation anywhere surrounding the castle. It is all simply gravel, which seems rather barren. The second thing you discover is no picture taking is allowed inside the castle.
Still, the tour is well worth it, and each room used in the show has a large, full-colour picture depicting a scene from the series shot in that particular room. But you will also notice, as I did, the amount of wear and tear the carpets are experiencing with all those visitors traipsing through every day. They are positively threadbare in spots, and together with some rough spots on the walls and some peeling paint on parts of the ceiling, you can see the grand old lady is still in need of repair after all this time.
The 8th Earl of Carnarvon and his wife are the present occupants of the castle, yet they live there only part-time now. Most of their time is spent at a cottage elsewhere on the grounds and the castle is for all intents and purposes a museum of sorts. But what a magnificent museum!
Later in the afternoon we departed for the city of Bath, described as the second most-visited tourist destination in England after London. Upon arrival it was easy to see why. Bath, famous for the ancient Roman Baths in the centre of town, is equally famous for the music in every public square in town pretty much all the time.
Walking extensively both that evening and in the morning before departing, Sophie and I were amazed by the sights and sounds of Bath, from the Bath Abbey where Chorus Niagara sang several years ago to Number One Royal Crescent, where a tour reveals how fashionable Georgian society lived.
Our night in Bath was spent at the Abbey Hotel, a compact art-inspired hotel in the centre of town with a bar area featuring wine glasses suspended from the ceiling. While the room was nice, it was a bit of a let down from the clean elegance of the Castle Hotel Windsor, but it was nicely appointed and since we were only there one night it was not a big problem.
Prior to leaving the next morning, following our walk around town Sophie stopped back into the hotel to use the main floor women's washroom off the lobby, and after a rather lengthy period inside, she came out and dragged me in to see the room. Thankfully we were alone at the time, but it was a picture of elegance and grace with a view outside that was quite stunning. Yes, there is certainly a great divide between mens and women's washrooms the world over it seems...
Leaving Bath Wednesday morning with great reluctance, Sophie and I decided we simply have to return again some day as there is simply so much more to see in the city. We travelled first to Cricket St. Thomas, an elegant Regency mansion built c1820 and surrounded by spectacular gardens and even a lawn bowling green.
The mansion was chosen by the BBC as the location for the popular British sitcom To The Manor Born several years ago, and today is a popular country house hotel. We enjoyed a cream tea and tour of the gardens during our mid-day visit there.
Later in the afternoon it was off to Devon and our hotel for the next two nights, Boringdon Hall. This manor house hotel features dramatic Elizabethan architecture complete with imposing stone towers, secret archways and curious arrow slits that hint at the hotel's rich history.
Boringdon Hall was a pleasure to stay at, with extremely comfortable accommodation in the more modern wing and exceptional dining both nights we were there. There is also a newer spa wing added on not too many years ago.
Thursday morning we departed for what was for Sophie and I perhaps the highlight of the entire tour, a day-long visit to the Cornish coast and a tour of the seaside village of Port Isaac, used for many years as the setting for the popular TV show Doc Martin. Known as Port Wenn in the show, Port Isaac is hilly with narrow streets and quaint little cottages you can rent much of the year.
In fact, most of the inhabitants in town are people renting those cottages. Our tour guide is one of only about 25 people who actually live in the town now, and on his street he says he is the only permanent resident.
The guide took us around to most of the outside settings for all the familiar locations in the show, from Doc Martens house (actually owned by people in Australia, we're told) to the iconic apothecary in town which is actually a fudge and gift shop the rest of the year. All of the indoor scenes for the show are shot in a barn not far from Port Isaac, so only the outdoor filming is actually done in town. The next season will start shooting next May, I'm told.
The weather was cool and windy for our visit there and it threatened rain most of the day, which seemed appropriate given the location, but it is easy to see why the Cornish coastline can be an unforgiving one for those not too careful about where they go.
Upon returning to Boringdon Hall for our second night, we were treated to a falconry demonstration by one of the locals, an eccentric gentleman with a large owl by the name of Merlin, several hawks and lots of stories about local lore.
The Friday morning we left Boringdon hall, again with much reluctance, for a mid-day visit to The Greenway Estate in Devon, the summertime home for Agatha Christie and her second husband. It is a large historic estate with sprawling grounds used as the setting for Christie's Dead Man Walking, starring of course her signature detective Hercule Poirot. You can take pictures without flash in the home, and the tour reveals a grand yet still modest lifestyle enjoyed by Dame Agatha in her final years. I couldn't help but notice a picture in one of the rooms of Slipper, the final cat to reside at The Greenway Estate with her.
After lunch at the estate we departed for Sidmouth, a charming seaside town, although last weekend being a bank holiday in England it was decided we should forego the crowds of Sidmouth for the charms of Torquay, part of what is referred to as the English Riviera. Here, we passed by the Grand Hotel on our way into town, where Agatha and her husband spent their honeymoon, apparently.
The weather had turned rather cloudy and windy while there, with a threat of rain, but we did explore the boardwalk a bit and the collection of amusements, including a lovely carousel not unlike what we have here in Port Dalhousie. Eventually we ducked into a local cafe for a light bite before rejoining our tour group for the final leg of the tour that day.
We hit a lot of holiday traffic on that stretch, so our arrival at our hotel for the night, Tortworth Court was later than expected. But once we arrived, our collective jaws dropped. Tortworth Court is huge, with over 200 stately rooms in an historic setting that just screams history. There was a wedding underway that evening so lots to see as we wandered the estate prior to dinner and afterwards. The room was beautiful with every nicety you could imagine.
The Saturday morning, our final full day on the tour, we departed for Hampton Court Palace on our way in to London for the final night. Hampton Court Palace was not originally intended as a royal residence and in fact it isn't now, either. It was built by Thomas, Cardinal Wolsey, minister of King Henry VIII and appropriated by the king when Wolsey failed to bring about the king's divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
The grounds are sprawling, with gardens to welcome you first as you make your way to the palace itself. The tour takes you through the palace, courtyard and art gallery, so there is a lot to see while there. There was also a food festival on the grounds that day, so crowds were particularly heavy while we were there. But it was certainly worth stopping for!
Finally we departed late afternoon for London, a city I first visited in 1977 and last in 1990. It is still the same multicultural, dynamic city as always, but you cannot escape the tension and sense of urgency while there given the world events of the age we live in.
Our final hotel stay was at the strikingly beautiful Amba Hotel, Charing Cross, adjacent to Charing Cross rail station and close to just about everything you want to see in London. The reinvention of the old Charing Cross hotel is nothing short of spectacular, although I found the lighting system in our particular room rather troublesome.
Another wedding in that hotel Saturday night so it was again a busy place, but the staff is amazing there, helpful in the extreme. For our final group dinner together we left the hotel, in fact, and walked a few blocks to a French restaurant near The Strand for a lovely late-evening dinner.
Upon returning to the Amba hotel, we found the large winding staircase in the main lobby was festooned with candles in glass holders along most steps to light your way up or down in the evening. It was a spectacular display of attention to detail at this historic yet modern hotel.
After breakfast on the Sunday morning I left for a walk around town to get some pictures of familiar places I had visited in the past such as Trafalgar Square and St. Martin-in-the-Fields Church, both just steps away from our hotel. It was a cool, grey day in London, and the rain started falling just as I was concluding my walk. Upon checkout shortly afterwards the rain was pouring down as our car picked us up for the trip to Heathrow airport.
It was great to be back in such a vibrant city again if even just for one night. I must return again!
The return home was again an adventure, but for different reasons this time. We were early enough to avoid the lineups we experienced on the way over, but upon our arrival in Toronto late in the afternoon, it proved to be all for naught as my luggage didn't make the flight although Sophie's did. Amazingly and without logic, her bag was on our flight but mine was on the next flight to Toronto three hours later!
After a very long wait in Toronto for a bag that was still in the air, we left for our car to come home, and Air Canada, to their credit, delivered my bag directly to the house around noon on Monday. No idea why this happened and it was a first for me, but it made for an rather interesting end to the week away.
So there you have it. A week full of memories, and a strong desire to return and experience some of the locations again.
The tour operator, Transcendent Travel, is first-rate and treated us all very well. Tour director Andrew Lennard is knowledgeable and things of just about every detail. It was an unforgettable experience being on the tour with Sophie and I don't regret it for a moment.
Have a great weekend!
September 2nd, 2018.
Sunday, September 2, 2018
Saturday, August 18, 2018
Foster Festival Finale leaves the best for last
The third and final offering of the 2018 Foster Festival opened just over a week ago, and it is quickly proving to be the hit of the season. It is also the second of two World Premieres at the Festival this season.
Canadian playwright Norm Foster has outdone himself this time, crafting a play with an intricate and complex plot, brilliant scene melding and some absolutely spot-on characterizations that take summer theatre to a whole new level. Expect to see Renovations For Six on many summer theatre playbills starting next season and for several years to come.
Foster clearly knows what his audiences want, and then he takes them to places they never knew existed. With Renovations For Six he pushes the comedic and dramatic envelope even further, providing us with perhaps his best play to date.
Renovations For Six involves three adult couples, each at different stages of their lives. The first, Grant and Shayna Perkins, have moved here from Vancouver where both had successful careers. However, while Grant has a new position as manager of a furniture store, his wife is feeling cast adrift in a way, and contemplates starting up her own Pilates business. But before that happens, she thinks meeting some new people in their new city is overdue. After all, they have been here six weeks and have yet to make any new friends.
Maurice Dudet and his wife Veronica Dunn-Dudet have a tense, acidic relationship due in large part to the fact Maurice has quit his well-paying engineering job in order to write a novel. His wife, a psychiatrist who feels put upon for now having to shoulder the entire financial load of the family, is firmly in sarcastic mode from the moment we meet her.
Billie and Wing Falterman, meanwhile, are the gem couple in the trio. Billie is outgoing, suspicious of others and just plain earthy. Husband Wing (we never do find out why he is named Wing, incidentally) is a more down-to-earth sort who works hard for a living as the top salesman at Grant's furniture store. Together they used to have a successful song and dance act, which Billie longs to return to.
All three couples come together in one generic home, with furniture covered for renovations. This cleverly allows director Patricia Vanstone to skillfully have all three couples use the same set with no changes, oftentimes appearing in the same home at the same time yet in their own dwellings. The set design by Peter Hartwell is creatively outfitted with oversize paint chips depicting colours each has chosen for their chosen renovations.
Vanstone keeps the pace lively and takes advantage of every opportunity to accentuate the conflicts furthering the plot, culminating in the trademark Foster finale of exposing the demons in each of the characters and how it affects the others in the cast. It is brilliant writing on the part of Norm Foster.
The characterizations are uniformly good and finely drawn, although I found Wes Berger's portrayal of Grant Perkins strangely stiff and wooden in the early going, a fact that seems at odds with his readiness to jump into the sack for a 'quickie' with his wife Shayna at every opportunity. As the play progresses and we find out why he is not spending more quality romantic time with his wife, his meanness and nasty streak makes his characterization much more believable. For her part, Cosette Derome as perky Shayna is beautifully portrayed, particularly when her world starts to fall apart as the play progresses.
Real-life couple Peter Keleghan and Leah Pinsent are a pleasure to watch as Maurice and Veronica. Their painful relationship, culminating in their own revelation at the end, mirrors people I suspect we have all met at parties and ultimately try to avoid.
The pairing of Shaw veterans William Vickers and Nora McLellan as Wing and Billie Falterman is a stroke of genius. Vickers perfectly captures the essence of Wing, a humble man in a humble position, yet comfortable in his humbleness. Nora McLellan has and always will be a national treasure, and I still have memories of her spectacular turn in Gypsy at the Shaw Festival several years ago. She imbues Billie with the fun and games demeaner of the kid who was always the class clown in school. Her overly creative imagination and suspicious nature easily plays off William Vickers' more stable portrayal as Wing.
The culminating scene of Renovations For Six is described by director Patricia Vanstone as the "cocktail party from hell" and indeed it is. It reveals all in this telling comedy and leads us to the wordless finale when five of the six characters support Shayna in her time of grief.
Renovations For Six plays for another week in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and if you have yet to catch it you really should. It is the highlight of not only this year's Foster Festival, but really, the summer theatre circuit that I've experienced so far.
Tickets are available by going to www.fosterfestival.com or calling or visiting the FirstOntario PAC box office. The number is 905-688-0722,
Enjoy your weekend!
August 18th, 2018.
Canadian playwright Norm Foster has outdone himself this time, crafting a play with an intricate and complex plot, brilliant scene melding and some absolutely spot-on characterizations that take summer theatre to a whole new level. Expect to see Renovations For Six on many summer theatre playbills starting next season and for several years to come.
Foster clearly knows what his audiences want, and then he takes them to places they never knew existed. With Renovations For Six he pushes the comedic and dramatic envelope even further, providing us with perhaps his best play to date.
Renovations For Six involves three adult couples, each at different stages of their lives. The first, Grant and Shayna Perkins, have moved here from Vancouver where both had successful careers. However, while Grant has a new position as manager of a furniture store, his wife is feeling cast adrift in a way, and contemplates starting up her own Pilates business. But before that happens, she thinks meeting some new people in their new city is overdue. After all, they have been here six weeks and have yet to make any new friends.
Maurice Dudet and his wife Veronica Dunn-Dudet have a tense, acidic relationship due in large part to the fact Maurice has quit his well-paying engineering job in order to write a novel. His wife, a psychiatrist who feels put upon for now having to shoulder the entire financial load of the family, is firmly in sarcastic mode from the moment we meet her.
Billie and Wing Falterman, meanwhile, are the gem couple in the trio. Billie is outgoing, suspicious of others and just plain earthy. Husband Wing (we never do find out why he is named Wing, incidentally) is a more down-to-earth sort who works hard for a living as the top salesman at Grant's furniture store. Together they used to have a successful song and dance act, which Billie longs to return to.
All three couples come together in one generic home, with furniture covered for renovations. This cleverly allows director Patricia Vanstone to skillfully have all three couples use the same set with no changes, oftentimes appearing in the same home at the same time yet in their own dwellings. The set design by Peter Hartwell is creatively outfitted with oversize paint chips depicting colours each has chosen for their chosen renovations.
Vanstone keeps the pace lively and takes advantage of every opportunity to accentuate the conflicts furthering the plot, culminating in the trademark Foster finale of exposing the demons in each of the characters and how it affects the others in the cast. It is brilliant writing on the part of Norm Foster.
The characterizations are uniformly good and finely drawn, although I found Wes Berger's portrayal of Grant Perkins strangely stiff and wooden in the early going, a fact that seems at odds with his readiness to jump into the sack for a 'quickie' with his wife Shayna at every opportunity. As the play progresses and we find out why he is not spending more quality romantic time with his wife, his meanness and nasty streak makes his characterization much more believable. For her part, Cosette Derome as perky Shayna is beautifully portrayed, particularly when her world starts to fall apart as the play progresses.
Real-life couple Peter Keleghan and Leah Pinsent are a pleasure to watch as Maurice and Veronica. Their painful relationship, culminating in their own revelation at the end, mirrors people I suspect we have all met at parties and ultimately try to avoid.
The pairing of Shaw veterans William Vickers and Nora McLellan as Wing and Billie Falterman is a stroke of genius. Vickers perfectly captures the essence of Wing, a humble man in a humble position, yet comfortable in his humbleness. Nora McLellan has and always will be a national treasure, and I still have memories of her spectacular turn in Gypsy at the Shaw Festival several years ago. She imbues Billie with the fun and games demeaner of the kid who was always the class clown in school. Her overly creative imagination and suspicious nature easily plays off William Vickers' more stable portrayal as Wing.
The culminating scene of Renovations For Six is described by director Patricia Vanstone as the "cocktail party from hell" and indeed it is. It reveals all in this telling comedy and leads us to the wordless finale when five of the six characters support Shayna in her time of grief.
Renovations For Six plays for another week in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and if you have yet to catch it you really should. It is the highlight of not only this year's Foster Festival, but really, the summer theatre circuit that I've experienced so far.
Tickets are available by going to www.fosterfestival.com or calling or visiting the FirstOntario PAC box office. The number is 905-688-0722,
Enjoy your weekend!
August 18th, 2018.
Saturday, August 11, 2018
Shaw Double-Bill offers up laughs along with food for thought
Most people - myself included, I must admit - have sort of a love-hate relationship with George Bernard Shaw. You can admire his creativity and ability to tell a good story, but when it comes to sermonizing on subjects near and dear to his heart, which is quite often, well, most of us check out at some point.
It is, therefore, a delicate balancing act now for his namesake festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake to present Shaw's plays. In an age when attention spans often last at most through the first couple of paragraphs of one of Shaw's patented diatribes, how do you you keep the public interested and coming back for more?
The answer, in recent years at least, appears to be avoid Shaw altogether whenever you can. When you must, find someone to reimagine Shaw's work for a modern age. Not a bad idea, in theory at least, but oftentimes it seems to muddy the water even more.
So kudos to the Shaw Festival and director Philip Akin for playing it straight with a comedy double-bill at the Royal George Theatre this season. Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill brings together two short Shaw plays demonstrating Shaw's interesting views on marriage, fidelity and relationships.
This is not the first time these two short plays have been paired together. Indeed, the great Arnold Daley did just that at Toronto's Princess Theatre all the way back in 1904. The first play, How He Lied to Her Husband, was first produced in New York in 1904; the second, The Man of Destiny, was first produced in England in 1897.
For this production pairing, Aiken has assembled a strong cast of Shaw actors, including David Adams, Krystal Kiran and Shawn Ahmed for the first play, and Fiona Byrne, Martin Happer, Andrew Lawrie and Kelly Wong for the second.
The first play, How He Lied to Her Husband, is about half an hour in length and full of lighthearted banter and unlikely scenarios. It is perhaps the better of the two in terms of comedy. The story involves young 18-year old He, played by Shawn Ahmed, who is hopelessly in love with She, Krystal Kiran. Alas, She is married to Her Husband, David Adams. The triangle intensifies over the course of the half hour, reaching an improbable conclusion before intermission.
In a clever bit of theatrical gamesmanship, director Aiken has the closing scene of the first play reprised as the curtain raises for the start of act two, before the cast of the second play shoo them offstage and orchestrate an enjoyable scene change that sees the set move from a flat in London to an inn on the road from Lodi to Milan in northern Italy run by Giuseppe Grandi. The change offers much of the comedy relief to be found in act two.
The Man of Destiny involves Kelly Wong as Napoleon Bonaparte, fresh from another military victory, stopping at the inn run by Grandi for some rest and good food before moving on to his next military conquest. While there he learns his hapless Lieutenant, played by Andrew Lawrie, has lost the important communiques he was to deliver to him. Well maybe lost is not the correct term to use here, as another military man tricked him into turning them over and then he was gone.
But Bonaparte meets a Strange Lady at the inn, played by Fiona Byrne, who offers to return the communiques to him. She claims to know who this military officer is. Bonaparte sees through the ruse and realizes the man and the woman are in fact one in the same.
What ensues is the patented Shavian wordplay and exchanges that make up the better part of the hour-long act. In true Shaw fashion they do tend to get a bit tedious, but to this audience member at least, following the many twists and turns as they verbally spar back and forth is part of the fun. Just when you think you've figured everything out, Shaw lobs another verbal shot at you and throws the doors open to more speculation.
The cast for both plays are uniformly strong, with the first act team getting top marks for keeping things moving in such a short space of time. In the second act things seem to drag a bit, but overall the cast does a fine job with Shaw's barbs.
The set design is simple and elegant for the first play, transformed in the second act to a rustic inn with grape vines and a sky backdrop that gradually darkens from day to night as the play unfolds.
While I have not seen everything Shaw has to offer this season, this double-bill was for me, at least, a little more entertaining than the other two we attended this season. And it was good to get a laugh or two out of Shaw's plays presented here pretty much as Shaw wrote them.
Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill continues at the Royal George Theatre until September 2nd, and rates a respectable 3 out of 4 stars. Tickets are available by calling the Shaw box office at 1-800-511-7429 or by going to www.shawfest.com.
Have a great weekend!
August 11th, 2018.
It is, therefore, a delicate balancing act now for his namesake festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake to present Shaw's plays. In an age when attention spans often last at most through the first couple of paragraphs of one of Shaw's patented diatribes, how do you you keep the public interested and coming back for more?
The answer, in recent years at least, appears to be avoid Shaw altogether whenever you can. When you must, find someone to reimagine Shaw's work for a modern age. Not a bad idea, in theory at least, but oftentimes it seems to muddy the water even more.
So kudos to the Shaw Festival and director Philip Akin for playing it straight with a comedy double-bill at the Royal George Theatre this season. Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill brings together two short Shaw plays demonstrating Shaw's interesting views on marriage, fidelity and relationships.
This is not the first time these two short plays have been paired together. Indeed, the great Arnold Daley did just that at Toronto's Princess Theatre all the way back in 1904. The first play, How He Lied to Her Husband, was first produced in New York in 1904; the second, The Man of Destiny, was first produced in England in 1897.
For this production pairing, Aiken has assembled a strong cast of Shaw actors, including David Adams, Krystal Kiran and Shawn Ahmed for the first play, and Fiona Byrne, Martin Happer, Andrew Lawrie and Kelly Wong for the second.
The first play, How He Lied to Her Husband, is about half an hour in length and full of lighthearted banter and unlikely scenarios. It is perhaps the better of the two in terms of comedy. The story involves young 18-year old He, played by Shawn Ahmed, who is hopelessly in love with She, Krystal Kiran. Alas, She is married to Her Husband, David Adams. The triangle intensifies over the course of the half hour, reaching an improbable conclusion before intermission.
In a clever bit of theatrical gamesmanship, director Aiken has the closing scene of the first play reprised as the curtain raises for the start of act two, before the cast of the second play shoo them offstage and orchestrate an enjoyable scene change that sees the set move from a flat in London to an inn on the road from Lodi to Milan in northern Italy run by Giuseppe Grandi. The change offers much of the comedy relief to be found in act two.
The Man of Destiny involves Kelly Wong as Napoleon Bonaparte, fresh from another military victory, stopping at the inn run by Grandi for some rest and good food before moving on to his next military conquest. While there he learns his hapless Lieutenant, played by Andrew Lawrie, has lost the important communiques he was to deliver to him. Well maybe lost is not the correct term to use here, as another military man tricked him into turning them over and then he was gone.
But Bonaparte meets a Strange Lady at the inn, played by Fiona Byrne, who offers to return the communiques to him. She claims to know who this military officer is. Bonaparte sees through the ruse and realizes the man and the woman are in fact one in the same.
What ensues is the patented Shavian wordplay and exchanges that make up the better part of the hour-long act. In true Shaw fashion they do tend to get a bit tedious, but to this audience member at least, following the many twists and turns as they verbally spar back and forth is part of the fun. Just when you think you've figured everything out, Shaw lobs another verbal shot at you and throws the doors open to more speculation.
The cast for both plays are uniformly strong, with the first act team getting top marks for keeping things moving in such a short space of time. In the second act things seem to drag a bit, but overall the cast does a fine job with Shaw's barbs.
The set design is simple and elegant for the first play, transformed in the second act to a rustic inn with grape vines and a sky backdrop that gradually darkens from day to night as the play unfolds.
While I have not seen everything Shaw has to offer this season, this double-bill was for me, at least, a little more entertaining than the other two we attended this season. And it was good to get a laugh or two out of Shaw's plays presented here pretty much as Shaw wrote them.
Of Marriage and Men: A Comedy Double-Bill continues at the Royal George Theatre until September 2nd, and rates a respectable 3 out of 4 stars. Tickets are available by calling the Shaw box office at 1-800-511-7429 or by going to www.shawfest.com.
Have a great weekend!
August 11th, 2018.
Saturday, August 4, 2018
Enjoying the holiday weekend in Niagara
The midway point of summer is upon us this weekend...well not really, but the August holiday weekend feels like the midway point of summer, doesn't it? So time to take a bit of a break from the usual business and look at some things, musical and otherwise, going on in Niagara at the moment.
First off, Music Niagara continues in Niagara-on-the-Lake with lots of great performances planned on the weekend and continuing until the end of the summer music festival on August 11th. Tonight, for example, a highlight of the festival will feature a traditional Last Night of the Proms concert at St. Mark's Church at 7:30 pm, when Kerry Stratton conducts the Niagara Proms Orchestra in a collection of popular classics. Yes, these will include all your favourite patriotic British musical gems like Rule, Britannia!, Jerusalem and of course, Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1.
The ever-popular Sunday in the Park series continues tomorrow afternoon at Simcoe Park in the Old Town, with Frog & Henry, two musicians who collectively play seven instruments, presenting their take on American popular music from the 1920s and 30s. Bring your lawn chair and a picnic lunch and enjoy the music and ambiance. The event is free and begins at 11 am. Tomorrow afternoon at 3 a concert entitled Remembering Sasha will take place at St. Mark's Church. The concert, featuring everything from Bach to Piazzolla, is a tribute to the late Alexander Sevastian of Quartetto Gelato fame. Members of the group will perform the tribute to the long-time and multi-talented accordion and bandoneon player.
Monday, Toronto's All-Star Big Band will perform at Ravine Estates Winery in St. Davids at 7:30 in the evening. The group revives the spirit, sound and style of the 30s, 40s and 50s, when the big bands were king. The rest of the week sees the Music Niagara season wind down with performances Tuesday through Saturday, with the Season Finale featuring music by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich at St. Mark's Church Saturday night at 7:30 pm.
The soloists for the finale include pianist Victoria Kogan and violinists Bora Kim and Artistic Director Atis Bankas accompanied by the Canadian Chamber Academy Orchestra.
Tickets and more information can be had by going to www.musicniagara.org, or by calling the Shaw Festival box office at 905-468-2172.
Elsewhere in Niagara, we have the St. Catharines Rotary Ribfest happening all weekend long at Montebello Park in downtown St. Catharines, with musical acts taking to the stage all day every day. This is an annual fundraiser for Rotary to continue their good works in the community and it has grown tremendously over the years. You can also purchase tickets to the Hospice Niagara 5-Car Draw on site at Montebello Park; the draws take place about 3 pm on Monday afternoon.
Up in Port Colborne, one of my favourite summertime escapes, things are hopping all weekend long with Canal Days, featuring music on stages throughout the downtown and at H.H. Knoll Park overlooking Lake Erie. But for me the real charm of the festival is where it all began at the Port Colborne Historical Museum, where the grounds come alive all day today with all things nautical and otherwise, and Arabella's Tearoom is busy all weekend long serving afternoon tea.
And on Monday, the third annual Facer Street European Festival will be in full swing all day from 12 noon to 9 pm, all along the historic street running through the part of St. Catharines affectionately known as Little Europe. Lots of food vendors will be on the street selling their wares, many closely associated with the multicultural community there. There will also be contests and other family-friendly events, and of course, music from the likes of our own Walter Ostanek along with John Gora and a host of others.
The Facer Street European Festival is designed to bring people back to the historic area and rediscover their roots here, and also help fund much-needed repairs and upgrades to the streetscape, making it even more of a destination in the future.
All over the Region people are enjoying the time off and spending it with family and friends doing whatever suits them. Be it structured fun or simply a walk through Centennial Park in St. Catharines for example, to check out the refurbishments done recently, it is a great time to get out and enjoy what we have to offer right here in our own backyard.
We are lucky to be here and have a great arts community to tap into. But more than that, we have what it takes to become even more of a destination point for people both far and near than Niagara already is. We just need to embrace the amazing things we have going for us right here, right now.
Have a great holiday weekend!
August 4th, 2018.
First off, Music Niagara continues in Niagara-on-the-Lake with lots of great performances planned on the weekend and continuing until the end of the summer music festival on August 11th. Tonight, for example, a highlight of the festival will feature a traditional Last Night of the Proms concert at St. Mark's Church at 7:30 pm, when Kerry Stratton conducts the Niagara Proms Orchestra in a collection of popular classics. Yes, these will include all your favourite patriotic British musical gems like Rule, Britannia!, Jerusalem and of course, Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance March No. 1.
The ever-popular Sunday in the Park series continues tomorrow afternoon at Simcoe Park in the Old Town, with Frog & Henry, two musicians who collectively play seven instruments, presenting their take on American popular music from the 1920s and 30s. Bring your lawn chair and a picnic lunch and enjoy the music and ambiance. The event is free and begins at 11 am. Tomorrow afternoon at 3 a concert entitled Remembering Sasha will take place at St. Mark's Church. The concert, featuring everything from Bach to Piazzolla, is a tribute to the late Alexander Sevastian of Quartetto Gelato fame. Members of the group will perform the tribute to the long-time and multi-talented accordion and bandoneon player.
Monday, Toronto's All-Star Big Band will perform at Ravine Estates Winery in St. Davids at 7:30 in the evening. The group revives the spirit, sound and style of the 30s, 40s and 50s, when the big bands were king. The rest of the week sees the Music Niagara season wind down with performances Tuesday through Saturday, with the Season Finale featuring music by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich at St. Mark's Church Saturday night at 7:30 pm.
The soloists for the finale include pianist Victoria Kogan and violinists Bora Kim and Artistic Director Atis Bankas accompanied by the Canadian Chamber Academy Orchestra.
Tickets and more information can be had by going to www.musicniagara.org, or by calling the Shaw Festival box office at 905-468-2172.
Elsewhere in Niagara, we have the St. Catharines Rotary Ribfest happening all weekend long at Montebello Park in downtown St. Catharines, with musical acts taking to the stage all day every day. This is an annual fundraiser for Rotary to continue their good works in the community and it has grown tremendously over the years. You can also purchase tickets to the Hospice Niagara 5-Car Draw on site at Montebello Park; the draws take place about 3 pm on Monday afternoon.
Up in Port Colborne, one of my favourite summertime escapes, things are hopping all weekend long with Canal Days, featuring music on stages throughout the downtown and at H.H. Knoll Park overlooking Lake Erie. But for me the real charm of the festival is where it all began at the Port Colborne Historical Museum, where the grounds come alive all day today with all things nautical and otherwise, and Arabella's Tearoom is busy all weekend long serving afternoon tea.
And on Monday, the third annual Facer Street European Festival will be in full swing all day from 12 noon to 9 pm, all along the historic street running through the part of St. Catharines affectionately known as Little Europe. Lots of food vendors will be on the street selling their wares, many closely associated with the multicultural community there. There will also be contests and other family-friendly events, and of course, music from the likes of our own Walter Ostanek along with John Gora and a host of others.
The Facer Street European Festival is designed to bring people back to the historic area and rediscover their roots here, and also help fund much-needed repairs and upgrades to the streetscape, making it even more of a destination in the future.
All over the Region people are enjoying the time off and spending it with family and friends doing whatever suits them. Be it structured fun or simply a walk through Centennial Park in St. Catharines for example, to check out the refurbishments done recently, it is a great time to get out and enjoy what we have to offer right here in our own backyard.
We are lucky to be here and have a great arts community to tap into. But more than that, we have what it takes to become even more of a destination point for people both far and near than Niagara already is. We just need to embrace the amazing things we have going for us right here, right now.
Have a great holiday weekend!
August 4th, 2018.
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Foster Festival World Premiere worth the wait
The second production of the third season for the Foster Festival at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre is up and running, and you should be running downtown to catch it before it's gone.
Canadian playwright Norm Foster, for whom the festival is named after, has hit all the emotional buttons with Come Down From Up River, the first of two World Premieres this season. The characters are richly drawn and show even more depth than usual for a Foster play, which is saying something.
Norm Foster excels at holding a mirror up to the audience and showing us ourselves, but occasionally his witty dialogue may not run as deep as you might like in order to produce light and breezy summertime theatre fare. That's not the case here, as this play proves to be one of his best and most thought-provoking plays.
Come Down From Up River tackles many issues, including bigotry, same-sex marriage, dealing with the death of a family member and ultimately settling long-standing differences between family members. A lot to handle within two hours? Not for Foster, who offers up some of his most sophisticated writing in this latest play.
We're introduced to Shaver Bennett, sort of the black sheep of the family who has lived a rather solitary existence as a logger in the woods of the Miramichi in northern New Brunswick. But before we're actually introduced to him we're set up to dislike him due to the fact, according to his niece Bonnie Doyle, he appeared to be somewhat of a bigot in his younger days. Not only that, Bonnie doubts he would approve of her same-sex marriage to Liv Arsenault.
This discussion comes out of news Shaver has written Bonnie to say he is coming south for a short visit in order to attend to medical matters at the neighbourhood hospital. He has asked if he can stay overnight for a day or two before returning home.
When we're finally introduced to Shaver, darned if he isn't really kind of likeable after all. And not in a bad boy sort of way. He is older, wiser and a little amused by what Liv has learned of him from Bonnie. When he arrives Bonnie just happens to have an important meeting to attend and leaves the ice-breaking to Liv alone. She fails to see why Bonnie has not been in touch with him all these years.
What follows is an exploration of family values, acceptance and tolerance, all deftly handled by Norm Foster in a way that makes the rather bitter pill easier to swallow. A pivotal scene pits Bonnie and Shaver in a one-on-one conversation as he awaits his appointment at the hospital, and they discuss their differences and the time that has passed by while apart.
The upshot of this hospital visit is Bonnie gets a new appreciation of Shaver, while he gets a diagnosis that is rather grim. To me it's not quite realistic he would get the serious news he does on the same day as the visit, but I'm told that aspect of the play is based on actual events, so hey, colour me jaded. At any rate, the hospital visit makes all three of them realize time has been passing them by.
Not wanting to give too much of the ending away, Shaver leaves for up north after he and Bonnie have reconciled somewhat, with a promise Bonnie and Liv will come up for a visit soon. That would have been unheard of at the beginning of the play.
Director Patricia Vanstone has assembled a fine cast here, with Amanda Parsons making her Foster Festival debut as Bonnie. Returning Festival favourites Kirsten Alter as Liv and Peter Krantz as Shaver also seem right at home in their roles. Whether Foster wrote the play with these particular actors in mind is open to debate, I suppose, but all three actors are perfectly suited to their roles.
The simple set design cleverly depicts three locations, the central one being the century home where Liv and Bonnie live together.
There is a reason the Foster Festival is growing by leaps and bounds after only three years of existence: quality work by all involved makes for a guaranteed pleasurable afternoon or evening of live theatre in the heart of the city.
Come Down From Up River continues until August 3rd, with matinee performances at 2 and evening performances at 7:30. You can order tickets by calling the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722 or online by going to www.fosterfestival.com.
Enjoy your weekend!
July 28th, 2018.
Canadian playwright Norm Foster, for whom the festival is named after, has hit all the emotional buttons with Come Down From Up River, the first of two World Premieres this season. The characters are richly drawn and show even more depth than usual for a Foster play, which is saying something.
Norm Foster excels at holding a mirror up to the audience and showing us ourselves, but occasionally his witty dialogue may not run as deep as you might like in order to produce light and breezy summertime theatre fare. That's not the case here, as this play proves to be one of his best and most thought-provoking plays.
Come Down From Up River tackles many issues, including bigotry, same-sex marriage, dealing with the death of a family member and ultimately settling long-standing differences between family members. A lot to handle within two hours? Not for Foster, who offers up some of his most sophisticated writing in this latest play.
We're introduced to Shaver Bennett, sort of the black sheep of the family who has lived a rather solitary existence as a logger in the woods of the Miramichi in northern New Brunswick. But before we're actually introduced to him we're set up to dislike him due to the fact, according to his niece Bonnie Doyle, he appeared to be somewhat of a bigot in his younger days. Not only that, Bonnie doubts he would approve of her same-sex marriage to Liv Arsenault.
This discussion comes out of news Shaver has written Bonnie to say he is coming south for a short visit in order to attend to medical matters at the neighbourhood hospital. He has asked if he can stay overnight for a day or two before returning home.
When we're finally introduced to Shaver, darned if he isn't really kind of likeable after all. And not in a bad boy sort of way. He is older, wiser and a little amused by what Liv has learned of him from Bonnie. When he arrives Bonnie just happens to have an important meeting to attend and leaves the ice-breaking to Liv alone. She fails to see why Bonnie has not been in touch with him all these years.
What follows is an exploration of family values, acceptance and tolerance, all deftly handled by Norm Foster in a way that makes the rather bitter pill easier to swallow. A pivotal scene pits Bonnie and Shaver in a one-on-one conversation as he awaits his appointment at the hospital, and they discuss their differences and the time that has passed by while apart.
The upshot of this hospital visit is Bonnie gets a new appreciation of Shaver, while he gets a diagnosis that is rather grim. To me it's not quite realistic he would get the serious news he does on the same day as the visit, but I'm told that aspect of the play is based on actual events, so hey, colour me jaded. At any rate, the hospital visit makes all three of them realize time has been passing them by.
Not wanting to give too much of the ending away, Shaver leaves for up north after he and Bonnie have reconciled somewhat, with a promise Bonnie and Liv will come up for a visit soon. That would have been unheard of at the beginning of the play.
Director Patricia Vanstone has assembled a fine cast here, with Amanda Parsons making her Foster Festival debut as Bonnie. Returning Festival favourites Kirsten Alter as Liv and Peter Krantz as Shaver also seem right at home in their roles. Whether Foster wrote the play with these particular actors in mind is open to debate, I suppose, but all three actors are perfectly suited to their roles.
The simple set design cleverly depicts three locations, the central one being the century home where Liv and Bonnie live together.
There is a reason the Foster Festival is growing by leaps and bounds after only three years of existence: quality work by all involved makes for a guaranteed pleasurable afternoon or evening of live theatre in the heart of the city.
Come Down From Up River continues until August 3rd, with matinee performances at 2 and evening performances at 7:30. You can order tickets by calling the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722 or online by going to www.fosterfestival.com.
Enjoy your weekend!
July 28th, 2018.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Stage Kiss at Shaw Festival a fun play, but not perfect
Much anticipation accompanied my latest visit to The Shaw in Niagara on the Lake, as the Festival was staging a modern play dating back to just 2011 by Sarah Ruhl, entitled Stage Kiss. The play within a play concept has been mined many times before, of course, but looking at the classic juxtaposition through a more modern lens was one I was especially looking forward to.
Stage Kiss, at the compact and cosy Royal George Theatre, is in exactly the right space. It would be totally lost on the huge Festival Theatre stage; here the intimacy of the space helps to magnify the intimacy shared by the two lead actors known simply as She and He.
In a nutshell, Stage Kiss introduces us to Fiona Byrne as She, who has been out of the acting profession for about ten years to raise a family, and Martin Happer as He, an actor who has not been working all that much as of late. They both need this job, and as it turns out, each other too.
Both He and She were formerly lovers in what passes for real life in this play, a parody of actors actually in that former state. At a dank rehearsal hall, both He and She come together to audition for the two lead parts not knowing the other was going to be there. Indeed, neither has kissed the other in years and with good reason. Things did not end well for them years ago, apparently.
But here they are, together again, kissing on stage in a play that portrays two actors falling in love and...kissing on stage.
It begs the question: can actors kiss and not feel some sort of chemical interaction between them? Or can those same kisses ignite passions either for the first time or all over again?
The answer appears to be the latter. Yes, He and She fall in love all over again in spite of past history suggesting they will not succeed. Problem is, She has a husband and a daughter; He has a girlfriend, who just happens to walk in on them in the second act as they awaken in his scruffy apartment and does not immediately put two and two together, discovering it does not add up to three.
There are lots of complications in this play within a play, not all of them deftly handled by playwright Ruhl. But taken at face value it can be a lot of fun as the audience feels they are in on the gag and voyeurs of sorts at the same time.
The cast, under the clever direction of Anita Rochon, does a magnificent job with the script for the most part and have great fun in the process. Fiona Byrne hits all the right notes as She; Neil Barclay is solid and quite understated as the Director of the forgotten 1930s melodrama the actors are auditioning for. I couldn't help but think, however, he was just a bit more understanding and tolerant than some directors I have come to know over the years...
Other supporting cast members putting in solid work are Jeff Meadows as Kevin, the gay actor who perhaps has a non-professional connection to the director although it is never clearly spelled out, and Rong Fu as He's girlfriend Millicent. She has one big scene in the play and makes the most of it. Meadows, by mocking a gay actor's supposed inability to kiss a woman in a sensual way is hilarious to watch but one can't help but think he is doing a great disservice to those in the profession who actually find themselves in that position.
That leaves us with the role of He, and here I have a problem with the performance I attended. I could imagine Martin Happer in this role and being a genuine love-interest to Fiona Byrne's She. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the performance I attended featured understudy Sanjay Talwar in the role of He, rather than his usual role of She's husband.
Talwar is a talented, solid actor with lots of memorable performances at Shaw and elsewhere on his resume. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. He gives a solid performance here as He, but for me there simply was no chemistry between him and Fiona Byrne's She. True he is only the understudy but still, in a pivotal role such as this I feel the entire dynamic of the play was altered more that I would have liked.
In Talwar's place in the role of the Husband, Andrew Lawrie gave a credible performance.
Oh well, no idea if it was an unscheduled absence on the part of Happer or not, but he was clearly missed at the performance I recently attended.
So, is Stage Kiss worth the visit? If you want a fun afternoon or evening of light theatre that doesn't make you think too hard and get a behind-the-scenes look at the world of theatre, sure, it is well worth the visit. But if you're looking for more proverbial meat on the bones as it were, I suggest you look elsewhere this season.
Stage Kiss continues at the Royal George Theatre until September 1st, and rates a moderate 2 out of 4 stars.
Enjoy the weekend!
July 21st, 2018.
Stage Kiss, at the compact and cosy Royal George Theatre, is in exactly the right space. It would be totally lost on the huge Festival Theatre stage; here the intimacy of the space helps to magnify the intimacy shared by the two lead actors known simply as She and He.
In a nutshell, Stage Kiss introduces us to Fiona Byrne as She, who has been out of the acting profession for about ten years to raise a family, and Martin Happer as He, an actor who has not been working all that much as of late. They both need this job, and as it turns out, each other too.
Both He and She were formerly lovers in what passes for real life in this play, a parody of actors actually in that former state. At a dank rehearsal hall, both He and She come together to audition for the two lead parts not knowing the other was going to be there. Indeed, neither has kissed the other in years and with good reason. Things did not end well for them years ago, apparently.
But here they are, together again, kissing on stage in a play that portrays two actors falling in love and...kissing on stage.
It begs the question: can actors kiss and not feel some sort of chemical interaction between them? Or can those same kisses ignite passions either for the first time or all over again?
The answer appears to be the latter. Yes, He and She fall in love all over again in spite of past history suggesting they will not succeed. Problem is, She has a husband and a daughter; He has a girlfriend, who just happens to walk in on them in the second act as they awaken in his scruffy apartment and does not immediately put two and two together, discovering it does not add up to three.
There are lots of complications in this play within a play, not all of them deftly handled by playwright Ruhl. But taken at face value it can be a lot of fun as the audience feels they are in on the gag and voyeurs of sorts at the same time.
The cast, under the clever direction of Anita Rochon, does a magnificent job with the script for the most part and have great fun in the process. Fiona Byrne hits all the right notes as She; Neil Barclay is solid and quite understated as the Director of the forgotten 1930s melodrama the actors are auditioning for. I couldn't help but think, however, he was just a bit more understanding and tolerant than some directors I have come to know over the years...
Other supporting cast members putting in solid work are Jeff Meadows as Kevin, the gay actor who perhaps has a non-professional connection to the director although it is never clearly spelled out, and Rong Fu as He's girlfriend Millicent. She has one big scene in the play and makes the most of it. Meadows, by mocking a gay actor's supposed inability to kiss a woman in a sensual way is hilarious to watch but one can't help but think he is doing a great disservice to those in the profession who actually find themselves in that position.
That leaves us with the role of He, and here I have a problem with the performance I attended. I could imagine Martin Happer in this role and being a genuine love-interest to Fiona Byrne's She. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the performance I attended featured understudy Sanjay Talwar in the role of He, rather than his usual role of She's husband.
Talwar is a talented, solid actor with lots of memorable performances at Shaw and elsewhere on his resume. This, unfortunately, is not one of them. He gives a solid performance here as He, but for me there simply was no chemistry between him and Fiona Byrne's She. True he is only the understudy but still, in a pivotal role such as this I feel the entire dynamic of the play was altered more that I would have liked.
In Talwar's place in the role of the Husband, Andrew Lawrie gave a credible performance.
Oh well, no idea if it was an unscheduled absence on the part of Happer or not, but he was clearly missed at the performance I recently attended.
So, is Stage Kiss worth the visit? If you want a fun afternoon or evening of light theatre that doesn't make you think too hard and get a behind-the-scenes look at the world of theatre, sure, it is well worth the visit. But if you're looking for more proverbial meat on the bones as it were, I suggest you look elsewhere this season.
Stage Kiss continues at the Royal George Theatre until September 1st, and rates a moderate 2 out of 4 stars.
Enjoy the weekend!
July 21st, 2018.
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Music Niagara's 20th Anniversary Season now in full swing
Last Saturday evening I was invited to the Opening Gala for the 20th anniversary season for Music Niagara, the little music festival that could, and does great things each and every year. Rather than hold the inaugural concert at St. Mark's Anglican Church in the heart of Old Town Niagara-on-the-Lake as was the case last season, this year they opted for the larger, more modern confines of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre.
While not oozing history like venerable St. Mark's does, the large and airy community centre, located next to the public library on your way into town along highway 55 proved to be an ideal location for the season kickoff. It also has the advantage of a proper stage and requisite sound system in order to make the concert a pleasure to see and hear.
The featured artists for the gala were the acclaimed Hannaford Street Silver Band, a Toronto-based professional-calibre brass band making its home base at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. To say they entertained the audience royally would be an understatement - their full, rich sound and precision made for a totally enjoyable evening of music-making. Whether playing a spirited Suite from Bizet's opera Carmen or more contemporary works by The Beatles or Harry James, they come prepared to play and executed the programme with panache.
That being said, I was a little disappointed by the length of time it took to actually get the concert underway. A scheduled start time of 7:30 did indeed bring the musicians to the stage, but so too a few opening remarks from Music Niagara's founding Artistic Director Atis Bankas, a welcome from the concert sponsors, a concert introduction by James Tupman and further welcoming remarks by the conductor. All told, it was almost 20 minutes before we even got to stand for our national anthem.
Now I know all artistic pursuits reliant on sponsorship from many levels of government and corporations want to acknowledge them in person as well as in the programme, and make sure everyone is fully informed before the concert begins, but this time it just seemed to be verbal overload before we actually got to the music. I am not criticizing the content or the necessity of it, but I think a little more brevity or at the very least spreading it out over the evening a bit better might have been a better option.
As for the size of the audience, I was glad to see a very good turnout for the concert - not a full house by any means but it is a larger venue to fill and there was another event just down the road at Jackson Triggs to contend with.
This, however, brings up a concern I have written about before and will touch on again here - the aging population of concert-goers for events such as this. Music Niagara is not alone in this regard; indeed all classical and similar events are struggling with some measure of declining attendance as their core audience simply dies off. I don't claim to have the answers to how to solve the problem, but clearly all arts organizations have to pay heed to the changing attitudes of the music-loving public and tailor their approach to better serve it.
I worry there will come a time when an organization such as Music Niagara and many others face a crisis of declining attendance. It is certainly not immediate and no need to push the panic button now, but it might be wise to devise a game plan sooner rather than later as to how to successfully address the aging population of concert-goers and attract more of those younger individuals who increasingly expect to be entertained online for free through such channels as YouTube.
For now, though, it is wonderful to see so many welcome the 20th season of Music Niagara at many venues in and around Niagara-on-the-Lake. Music Niagara is a jewel of the Region, offering a wide variety of musical styles to suit most tastes, so if you have never been, what's holding you back? Try it, you might just like it!
Coming up today, for example, a concert entitled Great Romantics will feature Norbert Heller and Alexander Dobson along with Artistic Director Atis Bankas performing music by Dietrich, Brahms and Schumann. The concert begins at 3 pm in the Market Room of the Court House in the centre of town.
A good introduction to some of the music and artists featured during the festival can be had at the regular Sunday in the Park concerts at Simcoe Park in the centre of town. The events are held in the bandshell and are free of charge. Just bring a lawn chair and pack a picnic lunch if you wish and enjoy the music. Tomorrow's noon-hour concert features The Retro Ramblers, a barbershop quartet performing classics from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Tomorrow afternoon at 3 pianist Victoria Kogan performs next in the Great Romantics series, along with the Gould String Quartet. The concert, at lovely St. Mark's Church, will feature a programme of music by Liszt, Wagner and Schumann.
Tickets for all Music Niagara concerts and events are available online by going to www.musicniagara.org or by calling the Shaw Festival box office at 905-468-2172. You can also access the entire lineup online at www.musicniagara.org.
Music Niagara offers some of the best, affordable high-quality summer entertainment in a picturesque setting in Niagara-on-the-Lake. For many it remains a gem yet to be discovered. Why not take some time this year to introduce yourself to the joys of live classical music at a very attractive price?
Music Niagara continues until August 11th.
Enjoy your weekend!
July 14th, 2018.
While not oozing history like venerable St. Mark's does, the large and airy community centre, located next to the public library on your way into town along highway 55 proved to be an ideal location for the season kickoff. It also has the advantage of a proper stage and requisite sound system in order to make the concert a pleasure to see and hear.
The featured artists for the gala were the acclaimed Hannaford Street Silver Band, a Toronto-based professional-calibre brass band making its home base at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts. To say they entertained the audience royally would be an understatement - their full, rich sound and precision made for a totally enjoyable evening of music-making. Whether playing a spirited Suite from Bizet's opera Carmen or more contemporary works by The Beatles or Harry James, they come prepared to play and executed the programme with panache.
That being said, I was a little disappointed by the length of time it took to actually get the concert underway. A scheduled start time of 7:30 did indeed bring the musicians to the stage, but so too a few opening remarks from Music Niagara's founding Artistic Director Atis Bankas, a welcome from the concert sponsors, a concert introduction by James Tupman and further welcoming remarks by the conductor. All told, it was almost 20 minutes before we even got to stand for our national anthem.
Now I know all artistic pursuits reliant on sponsorship from many levels of government and corporations want to acknowledge them in person as well as in the programme, and make sure everyone is fully informed before the concert begins, but this time it just seemed to be verbal overload before we actually got to the music. I am not criticizing the content or the necessity of it, but I think a little more brevity or at the very least spreading it out over the evening a bit better might have been a better option.
As for the size of the audience, I was glad to see a very good turnout for the concert - not a full house by any means but it is a larger venue to fill and there was another event just down the road at Jackson Triggs to contend with.
This, however, brings up a concern I have written about before and will touch on again here - the aging population of concert-goers for events such as this. Music Niagara is not alone in this regard; indeed all classical and similar events are struggling with some measure of declining attendance as their core audience simply dies off. I don't claim to have the answers to how to solve the problem, but clearly all arts organizations have to pay heed to the changing attitudes of the music-loving public and tailor their approach to better serve it.
I worry there will come a time when an organization such as Music Niagara and many others face a crisis of declining attendance. It is certainly not immediate and no need to push the panic button now, but it might be wise to devise a game plan sooner rather than later as to how to successfully address the aging population of concert-goers and attract more of those younger individuals who increasingly expect to be entertained online for free through such channels as YouTube.
For now, though, it is wonderful to see so many welcome the 20th season of Music Niagara at many venues in and around Niagara-on-the-Lake. Music Niagara is a jewel of the Region, offering a wide variety of musical styles to suit most tastes, so if you have never been, what's holding you back? Try it, you might just like it!
Coming up today, for example, a concert entitled Great Romantics will feature Norbert Heller and Alexander Dobson along with Artistic Director Atis Bankas performing music by Dietrich, Brahms and Schumann. The concert begins at 3 pm in the Market Room of the Court House in the centre of town.
A good introduction to some of the music and artists featured during the festival can be had at the regular Sunday in the Park concerts at Simcoe Park in the centre of town. The events are held in the bandshell and are free of charge. Just bring a lawn chair and pack a picnic lunch if you wish and enjoy the music. Tomorrow's noon-hour concert features The Retro Ramblers, a barbershop quartet performing classics from the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Tomorrow afternoon at 3 pianist Victoria Kogan performs next in the Great Romantics series, along with the Gould String Quartet. The concert, at lovely St. Mark's Church, will feature a programme of music by Liszt, Wagner and Schumann.
Tickets for all Music Niagara concerts and events are available online by going to www.musicniagara.org or by calling the Shaw Festival box office at 905-468-2172. You can also access the entire lineup online at www.musicniagara.org.
Music Niagara offers some of the best, affordable high-quality summer entertainment in a picturesque setting in Niagara-on-the-Lake. For many it remains a gem yet to be discovered. Why not take some time this year to introduce yourself to the joys of live classical music at a very attractive price?
Music Niagara continues until August 11th.
Enjoy your weekend!
July 14th, 2018.
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