SIX

 SIX... The Musical.  You would think that it would be difficult task to compose a musical entertainment about King Henry VIII's six wives. After all, it was a sad story for most of them. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. It was a short musical as musicals go.... only 80 minutes with no intermission... but the six wives sang and danced and were absolutely marvellous and full of delicious energy for the whole show.  I loved it!

The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is an historic performing arts theatre located at 260 King Street West, in the downtown Toronto Entertainment District. There are 1,244 seats across three levels. Built in 1907, it's the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.

Lights, Camera.... Action!

 

A TV show being filmed in the park at Port Perry, Ontario. They were filming all week.... this was their last day. The TV show was called...  sorry, I've forgotten already!

Vitaly

I've been a volunteer at our local theatre ever since it opened about ten years ago. I take tickets, show patrons to their seats, hand out programmes, tidy up after everyone's gone home. Consequently, my reward is the ability to see some terrific movies, concerts and shows.

Yesterday it was Vitaly - World Class Illusionist. Illusions? Magic? C'm on...it's not real, is it? But this illusionist is truly World Class. Vitaly Beckman was born in Belarus, and now lives in Vancouver. He's doing two shows here.... last night's astonishing show was totally sold out, and for good reason. He got a well deserved standing ovation.

Vitaly can make people disappear from ordinary photographs and appear on another. He can levitate an apple, and then take a bite out of it. He has a paintbrush that paints by itself. His drawings magically turn into the real thing. He does illegal things with the photos on drivers licences.  He did all this only eight feet from the front row of the enthralled audience. And he's funny, personable and full of character.

Take a look:

R M R at the C B C

If you are any nationality other than Canadian, R M R will mean absolutely nothing to you. But to most Canadians, R M R means the Rick Mercer Report shown at 8:00pm on Tuesday evenings on CBC TV.

Rick Mercer is a Canadian comedian, TV personality, political satirist, social commentator and author, and can easily be described as the Canadian Parliament's "One Man Unofficial Opposition".  I've been a fan ever since he started on CBC's 22 Minutes in the early 1990s. Now he's in his 12th year of the Mercer Report. He gets up to all sorts of antics highlighting the crazy and unusual things that happen across Canada, and each week he delivers his opinion via Rick's Rant while striding purposefully along a downtown alley lined with colourful gaffiti.... here's an example:



YoungerSon, The Bride and I had vouchers for tickets (free of course, thanks Bride!) to watch a taping of R M R at the CBC studios in Toronto. (The Other Grandma was babysitting.)  We found a cosy pub for a beer and a burger and then headed off to the CBC building on Front Street.

Tech display of the current broadcast in the front lobby of the CBC building. We had to line up with a couple of hundred other people to get our tickets, and then up in the elevators to the studio.

Getting the audience seated inside the studio. Rick came out to introduce the show and to chat to the audience before the taping started.

The set of the R M R, I took a couple of photos of Rick, but too blurry to publish, and no photos allowed when they are actually taping..

Looking up inside the CBC building. The green wall houses the elevators. RMR is taped at the top on the 10th floor.

Looking down to the main atrium level. 

I'll be watching Rick's show next Tuesday. Maybe I'll spot the backs of our heads.

Naughty or Nice?

Santa Claus has been taking a short break from supervising the elves in the toy workshop.
He's arrived a couple of weeks early so he can be part of the rehearsals for our annual Christmas Variety show.

Looks like he's having a great time. Ssshhh! I hope Mrs Claus doesn't find out.

Jully Black

I've been doing some more volunteering at the theatre, and this time the concert was Jully Black. OK.... if you don't live in Canada her name may not be familiar, but if she and her band ever come to your town, definitely go and see her! Don't miss it.

Born the youngest of nine children in the notorious Jane and Finch neighbourhood in Toronto, Jully started singing in church when she was little. She's been part of the Canadian R&B music scene for a few years now.... and she is nothing short of DYNAMIC! She performed with a 4 piece band, and a couple of crazy hiphop dancers. As soon as those hiphop guys hit the stage, I knew we were in for a wild night.



Jully performed at the opening of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, opened for Kanye West in Singapore, headlined the Canada Day concert in Trafalgar Square, London, and has sung at a private event for the Queen.
Her show here was sold out, and the crowd were very appreciative, dancing along with her and making the rafters shake with whistles and cheering. The show was ultra-high energy, the best concert I've ever been at, and as our modest little theatre seats only about 150 people maximum, it's a very intimate venue. The audience is very close to the performers.... you can see every bead of sweat!

After the show.... me and my new friend!!

Ashley MacIsaac

I have mentioned that I volunteer at the local theatre..... and yesterday I was taking tickets and showing people to their seats for a concert by Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac.
Never heard of him?
He's a Cape Breton fiddler who started his career about 20 years ago and quickly became the notorious bad boy of the Canadian music scene with his outrageous behaviour, his brush with cocaine addiction and eventual bankruptcy. But he's back performing concerts and he's truly amazing.... sold out theatre and two standing ovations.



I sold CDs for him at the intermission and after the show. He signed my well used copy of the first (and best IMHO!) CD he ever made (20 years ago), and gave me copies of his 2 most recent CDs. I'll be playing them today. A great evening.

Break a Leg!

Has it really been almost two weeks since I posted? Bad me. But I have a legit excuse.... been busy. Up to my eyeballs busy.
Our third annual Christmas Variety Show is history.
We had a Dress Rehearsal last Monday. Let's just say that it didn't bode well for the show. It ran far too long, too many people didn't know what they were doing, we all looked stiff and nervous, it just didn't go so well.

The Director looked worried.

On Tuesday there were two shows for the public, one at 7:00pm and one at 8:45pm.

Will the chorus relax and look like they are having a good time?
Will the skit people remember their lines?
Will anyone turn up to watch us?

We needn't have worried. The first show was sold out... we even had to find more chairs. And what the second audience lacked in numbers, they made up for in enthusiasm.

The Blacklite crew staged a mini version of the "Nutcracker Sweet". I'm in front of the ladder with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Mouse King.

The Blacklite Crew 2011

Two sets of eyes blinked and went to sleep, and dreamed about the Christmas tree growing up to the ceiling and "visions of sugar plums" while the army of mice and the soldiers engaged in a raging battle. Signs saying BOO! and HISS! accompanied the appearance of the evil Mouse King, who was eventually vanquished by the handsome Nutcracker Prince... HOORAY!
And all this had to be accomplished in total darkness (other than the actual blacklites) while wearing black clothing, black gloves and black net hoods over our heads. It was a challenge, but we did it!

Will there be a fourth annual Christmas Show next year? Wait and see.

Shameless Promo

We've been madly preparing for our annual Christmas show since October.... only another couple of weeks of crazy rehearsal schedules and it will be history and I can get back to planning for my own Christmas.
Meanwhile, we have to sell tickets.
And what better way to get the word out to the community than to participate in the town Santa Claus Parade?

The Intrepid Parade Walkers

So we hitched up the big sign, decorated it with some garlands, put on our festive promotional  teeshirts and Santa hats and marched along Main Street handing out 1000 flyers promoting the show.

Each flyer included a $5 off coupon.

Hmmmm... let's do the math....... If everyone who got a flyer decides to buy a ticket, I think we'll have to put on a whole week of shows instead of the two shows that are planned.

Wot I Bin Up To

I seem to have been missing from Blogland for the past couple of weeks. Did you miss me? No? oh, well....

I haven't been anywhere exciting, or done anything really blogworthy, just living life as it comes along I suppose. Which is what most people do.

I've been baking bread....

... and last week my former clock repairing neighbour paid me a visit to have a look at William's movement.... William refuses to tick. He got William started, but the clock won't run for more than 20 minutes, and now he won't tick at all. I'm hoping for a return visit from my neighbour. He told me his father was a clockmaker and he grew up in a house with 60 clocks!

Rehearsals are in full swing for the annual Christmas Variety Show. This is the third Christmas we've put on this kind of event at our local theatre.

 I've been making props for the Blacklite version of The Nutcracker.... here's my Sugar Plum Fairy.

 And of course I've been spending plenty of time looking after these naughty little people.....

 ... and tickling these.

 Aren't I lucky?

Love & Friendship, Chinese Style

I am a frequent volunteer at our local small Centre for Arts and Entertainment. This weekend I was handing out programs and seeing guests to their seats for "Love and Friendship", the 2010 Chinese Dance Recital.

The Canadian Chinese Folk Dance Group has been in existence in neighbouring Markham since 1989 and promotes Chinese heritage and culture to the many children of Chinese ethnicity who have been adopted by non-Chinese Canadian families. I got involved with this event as my Tai Chi instructor is one of the dance teachers.

Little Dai Peacocks dance. Some of the little girls are as young as 3 and 4.

Above... the Dai Water Festival dance.
And below.... Ice Fairies. So sweet.


I lost track of the names of the dances, but I think this might be the Prosperity Dance.

During the next dance, one of the tiniest dancers accidently caught sight of Mummy in the audience and her little face crumpled into tears. "Mummyyyy!" she wailed and dashed into the audience to sit on her mother's knee. The other little dancers carried on with their routine as though nothing unusual had occurred. What troupers!

Below... the Mongolian Prairie Horse Riders dance consisted mostly of vigourous galloping around the stage.

And lastly a Celebration of Love and Friendship and a Tribute to Mothers. It was Mother's Day. And there were a lot of very proud mothers, fathers and grandparents in the audience.


As a finale, each little dancer each was given a pink rose from this gorgeous display and ran into the audience to present the rose to her mother.

What a great way to spend Mother's Day!

Show's Over, Folks!

Music Mania is over for another year... the 50th year to be exact.

I'm happy to get back to doing normal everyday chores, like cutting the grass and weeding the flower beds. And every time the phone rings, it isn't someone wanting show tickets, or asking about costumes, or scheduling a rehearsal.
And yet.... I'm sorry it's over. It's a lot of fun and we certainly do become a "Music Mania Family" after planning the show since last summer, and rehearsing song, dance and comedy since January.
We'll be staging a Christmas show in December. Last year our Christmas show was a huge success so I'd better start thinking snowflakes and elves.

And on a completely unrelated note.... it's Star Wars Day today.
May the Fourth be with you!

Solid Gold

I've been a very remiss blogger for the past couple of weeks, but I have a really good excuse.
Our annual Variety show has kept me busy with rehearsals and as I was crazy enough to take on the role of Producer this year, I've had numerous extra duties.
In 2010 the local variety show known as Music Mania has been entertaining the people of this town for 50 years! That's right, we are celebrating our Golden Anniversary with our SOLID GOLD show. Pretty good record for a small town variety show.

We've had letters of congratulations from the Mayor, and our local Provincial and Federal Members of Parliament. And the Mayor has proclaimed this week to be "Music Mania Week".

Of course, with a Golden Anniversary show, lots of gold sparkle is compulsory!

I'm in one dance number.... Step in Time... from Mary Poppins. What a grand bunch of chimney sweeps. And so clean! Aren't chimney sweeps supposed to be all black and sooty?

These lovely "ladies" had the audience howling with their Fan Dance. Beauty Queens, each one.

The cannibal skit..... of course, there just has to be a cannibal skit...

.... and no Canadian variety show could be complete without a brave Mountie and a beautiful Indian Princess.

We performed a free show for seniors and hospital patients on Tuesday night, and shows on Thursday and Friday nights to large enthusiastic and noisy audiences. Two more shows today (Saturday, matinee and evening) and then it's all over for another year.

It's a great week, I love it, but I'm always relieved when it's all over and normal life can resume. And in a couple of weeks it will be time to start planning for the 51st show.

The Unicorn

Every Saturday morning in April around 10:00am, cars start arriving in my driveway. People carrying pots of paint, brushes, large sheets of cardboard and styrofoam start filing into my garage and workshop.
It's Music Mania Variety Show time again.... and this year the blacklight number is "The Unicorn" recorded by The Irish Rovers back in the 1960s.... or was it the 70s? Remember the words?

A long time ago, when the Earth was green
There was more kinds of animals than you've ever seen
They'd run around free while the Earth was being born
And the loveliest of all was the unicorn.

There was green alligators and long-necked geese
Some humpty backed camels and some chimpanzees
Some cats and rats and elephants, but sure as you're born
The loveliest of all was the unicorn.

This morning the artists took over the whole garage, creating these images with fluorescent paint, so they will glow in the UV light when the theatre is in darkness. This part of the show is a favourite with the kids, of course!

In addition to these props, there's also a huge styrofoam ark. All these props will be transported to the local High School auditorium, where we'll be putting on the show at the end of April. We've been rehearsing the various elements of the show since January, so now we have a couple of weeks to put it all together.
We may not be quite up to the singin'n'dancin' standard of Glee, but we certainly try!

I Know It's Only November, But.......

..... we are already well into rehearsals for our Christmas Variety Show.

This is the first time we have staged a Christmas Show. Our annual variety show is always at the end of April, and in 2010 we are planning a special show to celebrate 50 years of locally produced entertainment in this town. No doubt you'll be hearing more about it on this blog!

So I've hauled the faithful Singer sewing machine out onto the dining room table and we are starting to plan costumes.... lots of sparkle required of course.

And don't forget we all need Santa hats! We'll be singing some fun Christmas favourites, nothing too serious, our dancers are looking good in their "Santa Baby" outfits, and our skit crew are (we hope) practising at being funny.
The tickets are printed for both shows, 7:00pm and 9:00pm, and the posters will be going up around town next week.

The two shows will be staged in our brand new Arts and Entertainment Centre, Nineteen On The Park. It's just a little theatre with 138 seats, but it's perfect for our needs for this Christmas show.
Want a couple of tickets? I'll save some for you.......

Scotland the Brave

We started rehearsals in the spring.
It's been a little chaotic at times, but all those rehearsals were worth it. We had so much fun.
On Sunday our Scottish Country Dance group participated in "Memories of Scotland", a fundraiser for the Richmond Hill Centennial Pipe Band.

In addition to the pipes and drums, there were Highland Dancers, singers and of course, the best part of the show, the Scottish Country Dancers!

I don't have any pictures of our actual dancing.... maybe on a later post... but the whole group performed four dances on the stage (The Piper and the Penguin, Bratach Bana, The Minister on the Loch, and The Reel of the Royal Scots) and the men performed The Reel of the 51st Division. This dance has a fascinating history.

At the beginning of World War II, the 51st (Highland) Division formed part of the British Expeditionary Force's GHQ reserve.
In 1940, the 51st Division was helping the French Army slow the German's advance on Paris. When the situation became hopeless, the 51st decided to fight their way back to the coast, but were unable to cross the channel, and about 10,000 men and officers surrendered to the German army.
Some officers of the original 51st (Highland) Division ended up in a POW camp near Salzburg. Since dancing was always a big part of Scottish military life, the POWs started a dance class to pass the time. At first the dancers were reduced to hand clapping and counts for music, but later on managed to obtain musical instruments such as practice chanters and even an accordion through the Red Cross.
The dance called The Reel of the 51st Division was invented during the winter of 1940 by three officers. One of the officers tried to send a description of the dance to his wife in Scotland, but the German censors suspected that the dance notation was a secret code and spent a lot of time trying to decode it, until the men demonstrated the dance to them.

Since then, The Reel of the 51st Division has been traditionally a men's dance.

Here's the dance notation:

1-8	1C set, cast off two places (2C up) and lead up to 1cnrs
9-16	1C set to 1cnr, turn 1cnr RH, join LH in the middle to BiL, turn 1¼ LH to 2cnrs
17-24	Repeat with 2cnrs, cross to 2pl own side
25-32	2C+1C+3C circle6 and back.

No wonder the Germans were confused!

(btw, I'm in the middle, top left photo.)

Planning for 2010...

Ahhhh! It's all over for another year.
I don't know whether to be sad or relieved!
The planning, the meetings, the phone calls, the emails, the rehearsals, the costume sewing, the props, the makeup, the tickets, the posters, and of course, the performances!
And we'll be doing it all again in 2010.

Thursday was over threequarters full, which is great for a Thursday.
Friday was our best audience night, with Standing Room Only. More and more people arrived and our student helpers had to find more chairs, fast.
Saturday Matinee was mostly seniors and families with young children... a fairly quiet audience.... but on Saturday night we got what every show cast loves to see... a Standing Ovation!

Planning has already started for our show in 2010, and it will be the 50th year of Music Mania in our small town, so we are planning something spectacular..... stay tuned.

Red, White and Blue

On Tuesday evening, Music Mania performed our "Special Show" for nursing home residents and disabled people. We had a full auditorium and did our show "Around the Roundabout" in front of a very noisy, enthusiastic and appreciative crowd.

If only all our audiences would be so responsive!

After the show it was picture taking time.... don't you just love our costumes? Chorus people wore Blue with Union Jacks for the first half, and in the second half, the ladies wore Red with Welsh and Scottish flags, and the men wore Green vests with an Irish flag.

And one of our talented chorus members decided the chorus ladies needed sparkly earrings.... and made these for everyone!

Swarovski crystals too! This pic doesn't really show off the mega-sparkle.