Bella Donna at Tarragon’s Extraspace
| May 10, 2019 | Filled under Events |
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Where: Tarragon’s Extraspace, 30 Bridgman Ave
When: May 16-June 1, 2019
Cost: Regular Previews $20, All Other Shows $37. Under 30/Senior/Arts Worker Previews $20, All Other Shows $25. PWYC available Tuesdays & Sunday Matinees. To purchase tickets visit www.belladonnaTO.com **Wheelchair accessible venue.
Details: Bella Donna flips the script on passion, poison, and dirty politics in this award-winning dark comedy by David Copelin. Ten years after Bella Donna won Best New Play and Patron’s Pick at the Toronto Fringe Festival, a female-led collective of intergenerational and multidisciplinary artists come together to re-vision the story of scandalized historical figure Lucrezia Borgia for audiences in 2019.
Recent recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Prize for Emerging Female Director Anita La Selva envisions the production with Dora Award nominated Costume and Set Designer Jan Venus, joined by Lighting Director Waleed Ansari and celebrated Fight Choreographer Daniel Levinson, founder of Canada’s oldest stage combat school Rapier Wit.
Sex, secrets, and power plays abound with Françoise Balthazar as Lucrezia Borgia, who faces excommunication alongside her egoistic husband and partner-in-crime Duke Alfonso D’Este of Ferrara, played by Paul Hopkins. Their ward, Angela Di Ghilini, Chelsea Russell has her sights on the Borgia throne, but her attention is diverted when Giovanni, played by Dewey Stewart, enters the picture. Giovanni may have evidence of a guilty secret even more devastating to Lucrezia than excommunication, and she gets her confidante Sister Bibiana, Martha Chaves caught in the crossfire trying to protect it.
Bella Donna Artists Collective rewrites the rules on female empowerment, centering on sex-positive feminism with this irreverent and provocative take on the “modern-day” Borgias at Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace.
More Info: www.belladonnaTO.com
ANARA Hemp Denim Jeans for Mother’s Day!
| May 8, 2019 | Filled under Style & Beauty |
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What: For the mindful Mom! Meet the new wave of sustainable fashion – ANARA hemp denim jeans – designed in Canada and ethically manufactured in Australia. This newly launched hemp denim line is sure to become a wardrobe staple for any eco-conscious and equally as stylish shopper.
About: ANARA jeans are incredibly unique, as each pair makes a positive impact on the planet. Made with over 50% hemp in their fabric blend, and zero pesticides or herbicides, ANARA uses 4x less water and 2x less land than most traditional all-cotton jeans. Hemp is a stellar textile that’s lightweight, breathable, moisture wicking and super durable.
Bonus: Features a mid-rise waist, cigarette leg, vegan leather patch and 32” length. ANARA jeans offer a stiff denim style while offering moderate stretch; as you wear ’em, they’ll soften and adjust to your shape without losing their original structure.
Where: They retail for $244.95 CAD and can be purchased online at www.anara.co
Risk Everything at Red Sandcastle Theatre
| May 7, 2019 | Filled under Events |
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Where: Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen Street East
When: May 14-25, 2019
Cost: Tickets are $25 (advance) and $30 (cash at door). To purchase visit www.cementfactorytheatre.ca or www.brownpapertickets.com
Details: Cement Factory and NightShift Theatre assemble a dynamite ensemble to bring Risk Everything to the east end’s Red Sandcastle theatre. Written by acclaimed Toronto playwright George F. Walker and directed by award-winning performer and designer Allan Michael Brunet, this dark comedy about family ties and personal values comes to Leslieville for a limited run.
Risk Everything is the last instalment in George F. Walker’s Suburban Motel series, which explores the darker side of our capitalist society from the underdog’s perspective. This fast-paced comedy follows Denise as she tries to free herself from a troubled past and become a respectable member of society. When her grifter mother shows up with a dangerous scheme and starts recruiting her TV addicted ex-con husband as an accomplice, it will take all of Denise’s resources and determination to keep from lapsing into her old ways. Throw an angry mob boss and a porn director neighbour into the mix and the family may have to risk everything to avoid losing it all.
For this production, Allan Michael Brunet will transform the Red Sandcastle theatre on Queen Street East into a seedy east end motel room. “I found a house that was about to be torn down. It looked like it had been decorated in the ‘70s. I stripped it of its fake wood panelling and floor to ceiling drapes. Perfect decors for a cheap ‘90s motel room.” Building a set from recycled materials found on Kijiji also makes sense for an environmentally conscious company with a limited budget.
As a special bonus, Cement Factory is reviving the tradition of presenting a short story before the feature event by inviting some of its friends to perform a 10-minute play before each show.
More Info: www.cementfactorytheatre.ca
Made with Love National Finals Tour will be in Halifax
| May 6, 2019 | Filled under Food & Drink |
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Where: The Halifax Club, 682 Hollis St, Halifax
When: May 13, 2019 @ 6pm
Cost: General Admission is $65 (+ Service + Processing Fees + HST). Discount Ticket for two events – Made with Love National Finals + Drink Atlantic cocktail festival – is $77.21 (+ Service + Processing Fees + HST). One ticket, two amazing cocktail-inspired events! Only 200 tickets available for this event. All tickets include access to all the cocktail creations, and a few hors d’oeuvres. Guests will also have the opportunity to vote for their favourite! To purchase visit www.facebook.com/enjoymadewithlove/ *19+ // Non-refundable*
Details: The 2018-2019 tour of Made with Love, the most extravagant mixology competition in Canada, comes to its end with the ultimate and most spectacular stage of the competition – the National Finals. Halifax will be hosting the final event at The Halifax Club where the 10 finalists who seduced the public and the judges during the 5 Regional Finals across the country this year will be challenged in order to win the coveted title of MWL’s Best Bartender in Canada.
Every year, there is a unique challenge planned for the National Finals. This year will be no different. For this final challenge, which brings together Canada’s most passionate cocktail-makers, the event will take form in a 6-course liquid dinner, where guests will have the chance to savor all 10 cocktail creations by experimenting a gastronomic dinner… in cocktails! The finalist bartenders will have to create the best cocktail they can imagine by drawing upon one of the 6 different courses usually found in a gastronomic dinner – Hors d’oeuvre, Soup, Crudo, Meat, Cheese, Dessert.
Following the path of a traditional gastronomic dinner, guests will move from room to room in order to taste and discover the 10 cocktail creations, starting with the Hors d’oeuvre and finishing with the dessert. Judges will also walk around the halls of the beautiful Halifax Club to live the same experience as the audience. The finalist with the most points will win the title of MWL’s Best Bartender in Canada, along with the first choice on our affiliated trips.
Quebec City
Judges’ Choice: Kevin Gaffney – Le Sam, Bistro Evolutif
Public’s Choice: Luc Pouliot – TBC
Halifax
Judges’ Choice: Thomas Yeo – TBC
Public’s Choice: Andrew Keyes – Lot Six Bar & Restaurant
Montreal
Judges’ Choice: Alexandre Lindsay – Bar le Jockey
Public’s Choice: Jérémie Dussault – TBC
Ottawa
Judges’ Choice: Quintana Taylor – Eldorado Taco
Public’s Choice: Matt Azevedo – ati Ottawa
Toronto
Judges’ Choice: Mpilo Ferreira – Bar Sazerac
Public’s Choice: Derick Dubblestyne – Antler
The Made with Love 2018-2019 finalists will give all they have this May 13 to win the coveted title of MWL’s Best Bartender in Canada, and get to choose one of these 10 trips: 2 trips to Italy with Campari ; 2 trips to Nicaragua with Flor de Cana ; 2 trips in New-Orleans with Sazerac; 2 trips to Kentucky (USA) with Woodford Reserve ; 2 trips with Made with Love.
More Info: www.facebook.com/enjoymadewithlove/ @madewithlove_ @_MadeWithLove_
Welcome to My Underworld at Tankhouse Theatre
| May 2, 2019 | Filled under Events |
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Where: Tankhouse Theatre, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane
When: May 8-25, 2019
Cost: Ticket prices range from $25-$40 for performances. Student, Arts Worker, and ODSP Card Holder prices also available. To purchase tickets online, visit www.soulpepper.ca or call phone 416.866.8666, or in person at the box office at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.
Details: In Soulpepper’s fifth partnership with RARE Theatre Company, Canadian theatre pioneer and two-time Governor General award-winner Judith Thompson directs and dramaturges the World Premiere of Welcome to my Underworld, taking the Tank House theatre stage by storm.
The production is a beautiful odyssey that erupts with heightened, illusory and playful language, as it follows Willow, a 10-year-old girl, as she gracefully weaves from one unique story to the next in search of her truest self.
Nine blazing hot works written and performed by new Canadian dramatists have been woven into one spectacular play. Each playwright brings their own gate-crashing ideas and compelling characters who have never been seen on our stages until now.
Join the riveting performers Bilal Baig, Nikoletta Erdelyi, Radha S. Menon, Grace Thompson, Maddie Bautista, Samson Brown and Carolyn Hetherington as they dive fearlessly into their particular Underworld. What each piece has is the joyous discovery of a unique self, whether it be gender fluid, queer, proudly disabled and Roma, non-human, wounded, or an elder; in the face of social oppression they are unafraid to roar: This is Me. I am Here. Deal with It.
Accompanying director Judith Thompson on this journey is Irish and Anishinaabe from Nipissing First Nation composer, Olivia Shortt, award-winning choreographer, Monica Dotter and set designer, Brett Haynes. RARE Theatre is thrilled to welcome emerging lighting designer, Sharmylae Taffe-Fletcher to the RARE family.
With humour, honesty, rich writing and dynamic performances by an all-star cast of emerging and seasoned Canadian artists, Welcome to my Underworld is a theatrical experience that will thrill and entertain.
Live ASL interpreted performance on Saturday, May 25 @8pm
Live Audio Description performance on Saturday, May 18 @2pm
More Info: www.soulpepper.ca @rare_theatre @soulpepper @raretheatre @soulpeppertheatre
