Category: Events

Kirk Hammett. Photo by Ross Halfin

Where: Royal Ontario Museum
When: July 13, 2019 – January 5, 2020
Cost: It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection is a separately ticketed exhibition. For ticket info visit www.rom.on.ca

Details: On July 13, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) unveils the Canadian-exclusive presentation of  It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection, with presenting sponsor Cosmo Music. This otherworldly exhibition features a trove of rare artwork and collectible objects amassed over decades by consummate collector Kirk Hammett, lead guitarist of Metallica. Exploring the interplay of creativity, emotion, and popular culture, the exhibition includes more than 100 pieces from 20th century cinema, ranging from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1921) to Alien (1979).

The exhibition features rare cinema posters from the 1920s to1980—including the only surviving copy of the original 1931 Frankenstein poster—as well as one-of-a-kind electric guitars from Kirk Hammett’s personal collection and authentic movie costumes with life-size mannequins. The exhibition traces how, decade by decade, horror and sci-fi cinema responded to a number of broad cultural events and developments. Each section of the exhibition uses poster art to convey underlying anxieties of particular eras, including the fear of mortality around the Great Depression of the1930s; scientific progress in the mid-20th century; the fear of invasion and espionage post-1945; and the rise of feminism in the 1960s.

It’s Alive! Classic Horror and Sci-Fi Art from the Kirk Hammett Collection will next travel to Columbia Museum of Art, where it will be presented from February 13, 2020–May 17, 2020.

More Info: www.rom.on.ca  @ROMtoronto @ROMtoronto @KirkHammett

Dandelion: Aaron Malkin and son Julian Falkin. Photo by Chelsey Stuyt

Where: Randolph Theatre, 736 Bathurst Street
When: July 5-13, 2019
Cost: Tickets are $11 + service fee. Available at the Randolph Theatre before the show, or online at www.fringetoronto.com, phone 416.966.1062 or in person during the festival at POSTSCRIPT, the patio at the Toronto Fringe. Located in the Hockey Rink at 275 Bathurst Street (Dundas + Bathurst).

Details: Dandelion is a touching exploration of Father-Son growing pains and glory. Malkin uses quotes from his son, Julian, as inspiration in this unique and hilarious one-man show featuring stand-up comedy, storytelling, physical theatre and live science experiments. Behind all the exciting visuals and theatrics comes a heartfelt tale of this relationship, and the surprising parallels every relationship we navigate as humans.

Dandelion is written by Aaron Malkin, directed by Christache Ross, starring Aaron Malkin and 
stage managed by Emily Smith.

More Info: www.fringetoronto.com  @jamesandjamesy  @jamesandjamesy

Photo Credit: Telia Nevile

Where: St. Vladimir Institute, 620 Spadina Ave
When: July 5 -14, 2019 (Preview is July 5)
Cost: Preview tickets $6, Main Season $11 (+$2 Service fee per ticket). Can be purchased online at fringetoronto.com, call 416.966.1062 or in person at the Fringe main box office, Scadding Court, 707 Dundas Street West

Details: Are you a success? How do you know? If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night worrying about what you’re doing with your life, then this infinitely relatable fairy tale full of pop culture poetry, punk rage and a healthy dose of interpretive dance, is for you.

Award-winning Australian performer Telia Nevile is making her Toronto Fringe debut with a joyfully ridiculous fairy tale about the curse of potential and the holy grail of success. Untitled No. 7 is chock full of pop culture poetry, punk rage and a healthy dose of interpretive dance.

Features song and dance numbers such as “Disney Taught Me to Want What Won’t Come True and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” and “How Do You Spell Success Without the Suck?” the show combines storytelling and cabaret to take a light-hearted look at how we define success, and how that can come to define our life.

Written and performed by Telia Nevile, with dramaturgy by Ash Flanders and composition by Andrew Callaghan. Telia earned two award nominations for Untitled No. 7’s premiere season at last year’s Melbourne Fringe (Best Performance nominee, Melbourne Fringe; Best Cabaret Writing nominee, Green Room Awards).

More Info: www.fringetoronto.com
@poetlaureatetn  @poetlaureatetn #untitledno7 #FringeTO

Rick Jones (Hal), Charlotte Moore (Nelly). Photo by Pierre Leclipteux.

Where: Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse, 79A St. George Street (South of Harbord)
When: July 4-14, 2019
Cost: Tickets are $11 and and can be purchased at fringetoronto.com or 416-966-1062

Details: Spend Your Kids’ Inheritance is a reverse coming-of-age musical about four seniors who plot to regain their independence. 2019 Canadian Comedy Award winner, Andrew Lamb, director of the hit musical My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, directs this new musical premiere at the Toronto Fringe.

In Spend Your Kids’ Inheritance, a newcomer upsets the status quo at a retirement home, unleashing repressed desires and igniting conflict between staff, residents and their adult children. A trio of seniors go AWOL from the home, embarking on a journey that forces them to wrestle with the power of choice and its consequences, and challenges stereotypes about age, love, family, friendship … and freedom.

The team has collectively worked on over 40 Toronto Fringe Shows. The stars of this musical, Charlotte Moore, Denise Norman, Jillian Rees-Brown and Rick Jones, are talented actor/singers who each bring decades of experience to the stage.

Book and lyrics by Catherine Frid, music by Frank Horvat, directed by Andrew Lamb, musical direction by Giustin MacLean. Stage managed by Malcolm Byrne, design by Megan Cinel.

More Info: www.SpendYourKidsInheritance.com @frankhorvat www.frankhorvat.com

Where: Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street
When: July 3-14, 2019
Cost: Tickets are $11 and can be purchased at www.fringetoronto.com

Details: Inspired by Philippine mythology, Through the Bamboo is an action-packed adventure about the value of storytelling, and how families deal with loss. The world premiere of Through the Bamboo will take place at the Toronto Fringe at the Factory Theatre Mainspace.

When Philly’s Lola (grandma) dies, she finds herself in the fantastical land of Uwi. Will Philly be able to end the reign of the Three Sisters, find her Lola, and bring her back home? Through the Bamboo is a Filipinx-Canadian tale suitable for the whole family 7+, told in the style of The Wizard of Oz, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Alice in Wonderland while rooted in Philippine mythology.

Saving the world – one grandma at a time! 

Directed by Nina Lee Aquino (Artistic Director, Factory Theatre and 2019 recipient of the Margo Bindhart and Rita Davies Award), Through the Bamboo is co-written by wife and husband team Andrea Mapili (Cassettes 100) and Byron Abalos (Good Morning, Viet Mom) who met and fell in love at the first ever Next Stage Theatre Festival at the Factory Studio Theatre.

More Info: www.throughthebamboo.ca @throughbamboo
 @throughbamboo