Downtown Lion King

 Last week I realized that The Lion King musical that had been showing at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto was closing at the end of August.  It opened in November 2024, and it's been advertised on TV, in the papers, on the internet, on the buses and the subway, everywhere and I really wanted to see it. And everyone who has seen it, loved it.

But tickets were expensive and so it just didn't happen. But I found a last minute ticket on a single seat so off I went.

First, drive and park at the nearby GO station. (GO is Government of Ontario.) Then the GO train to downtown. Then the subway to the stop near the theatre. Then a 6 minute walk.

I had a great seat, 3rd row of dress circle, right in the middle. The Lion King is a breathtaking experience with stunning visuals, innovative puppets that are actually worn by the actors. The animals are so real! Elaborate costumes and wonderful special effects.

The opening number "The Circle of Life" was so emotional I found tears running down my face. I had to have a quick look around just in case anyone saw me being so silly.... but I think everyone reacted in the same way.

The story is fairly simple, and has a theme of identity and responsibility. Of course there are the good guys and the bad guy, and some very funny comedic parts.  Wonderful music, powerful performances, colourful visuals, I'm so glad I went, I would not have missed it for the world!

The Lion King was absolutely the best show I have EVER seen in a theatre!

A couple of shots of King Street... where the theatre is. I don't very often get downtown so I got a bit excited with all the big buildings!

 

Let's Sing!

Take 19 vibrant young people between the ages of 11 and 18, put them on the stage and give them a list of songs and some very creative choreography, and it's a wonderful concert. The performers are all part of Sarah's Singing Studio, and they showed their many talents at our local theatre yesterday.

It's the Summer Vocal Outreach Initiative, a volunteer based programme that gives the music students an opportunity to perform for an audience, especially for a senior audience. The young people are performing at eight different senior residences in the area and certainly create moments of shared joy and reflection.

Songs ranged from top of the pops of the 1950s all the way to the 2020s, finishing with an emotional "One Day More" from Les Mis. The concert was a full hour of non-stop music and colour and fun, and those kids could really sing! 

There was even a visit from the Backstreet Boys. I spoke to some of the kids after the show, they were full of smiles and so excited and happy to be part of this event. Well done everyone, this was a marvellous concert, and it had everyone in the theatre tapping their feet. Good luck to all those talented young people... follow your dreams and keep singing!

Listen to the Music

Open House and a free concert at the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. All the familiar orchestral hit parade pieces.... Beethoven's Fifth, excerpts from Swan Lake, some Strauss waltzes, Pomp and Circumstance of course, Offenbach's "Can-Can", lots of foot tapping themes.  Finishing up with a rousing chorus of "O Canada", Elbows Up!

As well as the familiar classical music, North Atlantic Drift played some Celtic selections. Dan Macdonald on fiddle, Brian Taheny on guitar and banjo, Ross Griffiths on Uilleann pipes. The concert hall was full, I was there with Older Son and 17 year old grandson.

It was a Petting Zoo for instruments! Grandson tried out the drum kit, I investigated lots of different percussion rhythm instruments, and we both had a go on the trombone, it sounded pretty awful! I'm sure the trombone player's ears were hurting. There were lots of instruments to try; violin, cello, clarinet, trumpet, oboe, French horn.  This all took place at the Chinese Canadian Cultural Centre so some Chinese instruments were available too.

An enjoyable afternoon. Thank you CBSO.

Markham Fair - Toronto Banjo Band

 

Are you ready for the Toronto Banjo Band?  You can sing along to "The Sunny Side of the Street" and "Pennies from Heaven". All the good old golden oldies. 

Walking Through the Fire

Walking Through the Fire.... in collaboration with Sultans of String and the Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra. What a great concert yesterday.... loved every minute of it.

A very unusual and effective combination of a 50 piece symphony orchestra, the Sultans' lively international music, and the music of the First Nations people of this country.

Alyssa Delbaere-Sawchuck. She can sing, play the fiddle and step dance at the same time.

Sweet Violets...

 Sweet Violets,

Sweeter than all the Roses.

Covered all over from head to toe, 

Covered all over with Sweet Violets....

Anyone remember that old song?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtnLvrmyh3E&t=39s

The chorus is taken from the song "Sweet Violets" by Joseph Emmet, from his 1882 play Fritz Among the Gypsies. The song was recorded by Dinah Shore with Henri René's Orchestra & Chorus in Hollywood on May 20, 1951. Sweet Violets was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-4174A (78 rpm record), 47-4174A (single) (in USA), by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10115 in the UK, and EA 3997 in Australia.

Winter Weekend

I was able to spend a few fun days with YoungerSon and family at their country property despite the Covid.... yes, it's February and it's COLD! Temperatures at night were around -17C, that's 1.4F, definitely chilly. And I was sleeping in the bunkie!

There's a small pond fed by a stream at the low point of the field, and the kids have been skating on the ice. They are missing their hockey at the moment due to the Covid lockdown. YoungerSon is out there at all hours smoothing the ice. We call him the Human Zamboni.

This is what the same pond looked like in the middle of July!

In the evening there was a fierce game of Monopoly.... I was doing really well at first, but I crashed when I rolled a double and landed on a very expensive hotel, then rolled again and scored a 2.... I had to pay up for a visit to the next very expensive hotel..... I never recovered.  Bankruptcy was inevitable. 

Advice: never trust the banker when she keeps dropping the money under the table. There's definitely something dodgy going on.

All three of my grandies have been teaching themselves to play the ukulele using a teaching CD and song book, and various YouTube videos. They were using two ukes, one was a Christmas gift to Emma, the other was a used one bought by Max from Kijiji. So I found a couple more for sale from a neighbour, both used, so now they have four, one for each ukulelist (what a great word!), and one for their Dad (who is playing and singing at the same time.... awesome!). 

I'm looking forward to the summer singalongs around the camp fire!

Music Selection

Happy September!
A visit to Fred's Record Store in St John's..... a selection of local music, including the late and great Ron Hynes. Never heard of him? He was regarded as one of Canada's premier singer-song writers, and many of his songs have become part of the fabric of Newfoundland culture. He was Newfoundland's poet. He passed away in 2015, far too soon.

But if you prefer your music live, a visit to the Rocket Bakery on Water Street on a Tuesday lunchtime.... traditional tunes being played around the table by some of St John's best known musicians.

The Crow's Nest

One of the best hidden secrets in the City of St John's is the Crow's Nest Officer's Club. The entrance can be easily overlooked as you walk down the steps on the left of the National War Memorial on Duckworth Street. A plaque tells part of the story.

At the height of the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII, in 1942, St John's was the home port for the Newfoundland Escort Force, a handover point for the critical supply convoys across the Atlantic.  The Crow's Nest Officer's Club served as a retreat for the remainder of the war where allied naval and merchant officers could relax, share stories of victory and loss, and have a home cooked meal.  The Club has become a living museum owned and supported by volunteer members. It commemorates the contribution of the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy Reserve,  and the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve during WWII.

The Crow's Nest was originally known as the Seagoing Officer's Club during WWII, opening it's doors on January 27 1942.  It was a safe space where officers could relax with other officers who understood the horrors of war only too well.  It still maintains it's war-time look and feel with an extensive collection of gunshield art and memorabilia from the Battle of the Atlantic.

I dropped in for lunch one Friday, and spent a couple of hours sharing a table with some fascinating people. The Club Secretary, Margaret Morris, was a fountain of knowledge about the history of the Club, and is passionate about preserving the stories and sacrifices of the men who served on those Naval ships so long ago.  And not only was there good conversation to be had, I enjoyed moose stew for the first time, washed down with an ice cold QV Iceberg Lager!

A couple of days later, I noticed that even though the Crow's Nest is usually closed on Mondays, there was a concert there that Monday evening.  Kelly Russell would be sharing his Tunes and Tales.  Kelly Russell is a leading musician in Newfoundland and has been part of many well known bands playing traditional music, and has been awarded the Order of Canada.  Kelly recreated the unforgettable characters of Uncle Mose, Grampa Walcott, Aunt Sophy, Skipper Bartle, and King David (a billy goat)..... great stories of the imaginary outport community of Pidgeon Inlet originally written by his father, storyteller Ted Russell. And shared the living traditional music of Newfoundland on his fiddle and his concertina.

Every seat was taken, and the audience were spellbound by his playing and his storytelling. What a lovely amusing and talented man.  Totally unforgettable evening, well worth my walk in the pouring rain to get there.

Live music

Back in the Dark Ages when I was a youngster in England, I hung out at a lot of folk clubs. I loved live music, and saw lots of folkies perform including Martin Carthy, Peggy Seeger and Ewen McColl, Alex and Rory McEwen, loads more whose names I've forgotten. I always wanted to play the guitar but never learned, although I was given a guitar that I strummed along on and actually memorised 3 chords, but the musical gene has definitely missed me.

I was recently reading a list of live music concerts that my bloggie friend Suldog has enjoyed, so I thought I'd try and remember all the concerts that I've seen.

Here's my list.... fairly short and in no particular order. Lots of Canadian performers. If I remember any more I'll add them. Anyone else like to offer up a list?

Liona Boyd - classical guitar 1974
Andres Segovia - classical guitar... Portsmouth UK early 1960s
Ray Charles ... Portsmouth UK early 1960s
The Beach Boys ... Rama Casino 2017
Rolling Stones/Everley Bros/Little Richard/Bo Diddley ... Gaumont Southampton UK October 1963
Tina Turner ... Toronto 1980s
Simon and Garfunkel ... Exhibition Stadium, Toronto  July 21 1983
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee/Ramblin Jack Elliott ... concert at Royal Festival Hall in London in the 1960s.
Boy George and Culture Club ... Toronto  Maple Leaf Gardens 1984
James Taylor ...The Forum, Ontario Place Toronto early 1990s
Jully Black ... 2016
Dave Brubeck Quartet ... Massey Hall, Toronto March 15 1969
Alex Cuba ... 2016
Itzhak Perlman - violin
Gordon Lightfoot ... Peterborough Ontario 2001
Natalie McMaster and Donnell Leahy
Leahy - the next generation ... 2017
Jimmy Rankin
Ashley McIsaac
Dave Swarbrick and Jason Wilson
The Nylons
Shirley Bassey ... 1964
Michael Kaeshammer ... piano
Victor Borge ... piano and comedy, late 1970s, Ontario Place, Toronto

Annual Art Show and Sale, WooHoo!

I've been a non-blogger for a while mainly because I've been busy getting myself in gear for our local Annual Art Show and Sale which happens this weekend, Friday 4, Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May. But that doesn't mean I haven't been doing other things.

• I went to see the Moscow Festival Ballet's production of "Giselle". Fabulous! My toes hurt just watching those ballerinas en pointe.
• I saw a junior production of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in our local theatre, totally performed by young people 18 and under. Again, fabulous! So many words to remember.
• I saw the movie "Loving Vincent", an animated feature film created from thousands of fine art oil paintings in the style of Vincent Van Gogh. Impressive art and a fascinating story.
• One of the local churches staged a Murder Mystery play.... yes I know, sort of strange activity for a church. There were many twists and turn in the dialogue, and in the end the audience was asked to write down "whodunnit". Of course, I got it completely wrong.... but it was lots of fun trying to decide who the baddie was.
• And I went to a concert by The Ennis Sisters, three singing sisters from St Johns, Newfoundland, beautiful harmonies and witty commentary, loved the whole evening!

But back to the Art Show and Sale.....

I arranged most of my paintings on the bed as they all had to be tagged with the price card and my business card. I also have some matted lino prints for sale and some original watercolour greeting cards with envelopes. I hope to sell it all..... ha ha wishful thinking probably!!!!!!

Come From Away

Have you heard about the musical production Come From Away? It's the story of the more than 7,000 passengers and airline personnel and some travelling animals on 38 wide-body planes that were stranded at the small town of Gander in Newfoundland in the days after the 9/11 tragedy in 2001. You can read about how all the travellers were taken care of by the good people of Gander and the surrounding small towns here.

Ten years after 9/11 in 2011, there was a reunion of the passengers, airline personnel and the townspeople in Gander, and an idea was born. Canadian writing team Irene Sankoff and David Hein created the musical Come From Away to tell the incredible story of how a small town of 10,000 souls selflessly fed, housed, clothed, and generally cared for more than 7,000 bewildered and frightened travellers from all over the world who didn't know what was happening or what to think.

Tickets for this popular musical are hard to get, and also pretty expensive, but last January I got together with some friends and we bought tickets for April..... and earlier this week we saw the show. We went downtown on the GO bus and train (I hate parking in Toronto so public transport is the best option), enjoyed a yummy dinner at Marche, then headed to the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street.

We got to our theatre seats, and immediately I recognized a woman who I worked with more than 15 years ago.... she was sitting in the row right in front of me! Small world, right?

The opening set of Come From Away. No photos during the performance, of course. The chairs that you see are mostly used as chairs, but can magically become school buses, planes, cars, beds, a lookout over a beautiful view, seating for a party, stage for a musician. And each actor can become many different characters depending on what hat or jacket he's wearing. The show runs 100 minutes with no intermission. There were side-splitting hilarious moments, and heart-breaking moments too. A wonderful show, I enjoyed it so much. It was worth waiting for.
If you have a chance to get your hands on a ticket.... it's a must-see show!

Fifty Four Years Ago!

Tuesday October 29,  1963. I remember it well.
Through the late '50s and early '60s I loved the Everly Brothers' music and could sing along with all their songs.... in fact I still do. I loved their harmonies. And they were so darn handsome!! So when I heard that Don and Phil were coming in person to the local Gaumont Theatre in Southampton, I desperately wanted tickets. This was going to be my very first live concert seeing performers that I would normally hear when I was lying in bed at midnight listening to Radio Luxembourg on my mother's old radio, keeping the volume down so I didn't wake my dad up.
I managed to persuade my boyfriend John to take me to the concert. There were two concerts at 7:00pm and 9:30pm, I think we went to the early concert. It was mostly teenage girls in the audience, and typical of the 1960s, they were all screaming as soon as any of the performers came on stage. Well, I was a teenage girl too, so I felt right at home.

Don and Phil sang their classic songs "Bye Bye Love", "Be Bop A Lula", "Dream", Cathy's Clown" but they could hardly be heard over the screaming! I loved it.
Also on the bill was Little Richard... oh yes, he was awesome. He took his shirt off, jumped onto the piano and played it with his feet! I was screaming at that point, boyfriend John was not amused. Little Richard launched into wild rocking versions of "Lucille", "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Long Tall Sally", "The Girl Can't Help It", competing successfully with the screaming. By now I had a sore throat.
Bo Diddley was there too, but somehow I can't remember him on the stage, perhaps he wasn't very well known back then in England. Sorry, Bo.

But one of the opening acts drew more screams than ever.... it was a virtually unknown band who had been playing in the London pubs and clubs and were just starting out on their first concert tour. They were starting their climb up the Hit Parade, and had just signed a recording contract with Decca. The name of the band was The Rolling Stones. And over fifty years later they are still performing and making music. If you're a Stones fan, you can read about their first concert tour here. And I was there!
(illustrations borrowed from the magical internet)

Still Singing! and update

Some pics of this morning's performers at the 16 day Longest Concert Ever by Multiple Artists record breaking event for a Guinness World Record. Only a couple of days to go now. See the countdown clock in the top right corner? Days... hours... minutes... seconds.

Johnny Mack.....  sadly not the R&B Johnny Mack I expected who I've seen playing at the local theatre.... this is another Johnny Mack. Pretty good though.

The Victoria Bachlowa Band

Bill Black. This is the fourth time Bill has performed at this event.... Go Bill! And the Global News guy was there with his big camera, so I'll have to watch Global tonight.

OOOOPS! Almost forgot..... HAPPY BIRTHDAY today to YoungerSon! Poor lad has to wait a whole month for his birthday to arrive.

 Update Monday April 3: the concert's continuing until midnight Tuesday April 4. The 16 day record was reached on Sunday morning at just after 7:00am and has to be confirmed by Guinness... meanwhile the extra couple of days are a sort of insurance policy, I think! Read about it HERE.

Update Tuesday April 4: over $85,000 raised now!

Music Marathon

I'm back from my vacation, but before I show any pictures, let me tell you about an important event going on in my small town.

There's an attempt going on upstairs at the local pub to break the record for the Longest Concert by Multiple Artists. The live music concert started on Friday 17th March and is currently still going strong, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, aiming for 16 days finishing on 1 April, or perhaps longer, if the stamina (and the coffee) holds out.
Audience members are charged $5.00 and the money goes to a different charity each day. Today it goes to the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The current record is held by an Irish Pub in Las Vegas since October 2014. The Las Vegas concert lasted 372 hours and 10 minutes, beating the previous record of 360 hours. We can beat that!

There's a lot of rules and regulations to comply with the Guinness records people. No more than 5 minutes between acts, and only 30 seconds between songs, and no song shorter than 2 minutes. No time to chat to the audience between songs or tune the guitar! And if the guitar string breaks or some other disaster occurs, no stopping.... keep going.
The same song can't be performed more than once every 4 hours, and there has to be minimum 10 audience members at all times, even at 3:00am, and they all have to be awake!
Official timekeepers have to record the start and finish times of each song.

This crazy event is featuring over 400 bands and solo performers over the 16 days, and has over 100 volunteers making sure everything runs smoothly. The music ranges from classical to opera to heavy metal and everything in between. I was there to watch my friends perform this afternoon, and then stayed for the next couple of gigs. Great music. Great fun.

The Albert Street Four - folk rock

Mark Thackway and Garth Dynes - R&B and blues 

J. Paul Adams - piano and pop songs.... and some funny songs too.

Update March 29: I'll be back at the concert today as my friend's daughter is singing at 1:00pm. Live streaming video of the concert at https://epidemicmusicgroup.ca/#

Update March 30: To date more than $50,000 has been raised for charities from this concert. The concert will go on until Tuesday April 4 to try and beat a record set last week by a concert in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Update 6pm: $60,000 raised now!

The Hippy Hippy Shake

Remember that song... The Hippy Hippy Shake?
As a teenager I remember the song being a huge hit by The Swinging Blue Jeans in England in 1963, but apparently was performed by many other artists.... the Beatles, Little Tony, Chan Romero, Mud, Billy Childish, Davy Jones, Jesse and the Rippers, The Georgia Satellites, most of whom I've never heard of.

I've got my own version of the Hippy Hippy Shake.... here. Six months in and everything's looking good.

Leonard Cohen

No words, just my tribute to a beloved novelist, poet, songwriter, recording artist, performer and above all a great Canadian.
Sorry Leonard, I know it's not the best likeness.

Remembering

Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel John McRae wrote this poem on May 3, 1915, after presiding over the funeral of his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer who died in the gun positions near Ypres.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

The poem has been set to music many times, but this is my favourite version.

Oh What a Night!

Back on a rainy day in September I went on a bus trip with my friend Ms VS to the Walters Dinner Theatre in Bright, near Woodstock, Ontario. After a yummy buffet lunch of roast turkey and dressing and spuds and veg and cranberry sauce, with apple crisp to follow, we saw "Oh What a Night", a tribute to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, supposedly direct from Las Vegas. 
I'm never quite sure about those tribute shows. It seems they are trying to make a buck copying performers from the past, and never quite replicate the original, but this show was really good. An assortment of different performers present this show in many locations, but the cast featured here were talented and acted and sounded just as amazing as Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons back in the 60s and 70s.
Do you remember Walk Like a Man, Oh What a Night, Can't Take My Eyes Off You, My Eyes Adored You, Sherry, Big Girls Don't Cry.....

And of course, we both took advantage of the inevitable photo op after the show.

The youngest member of the group was awesome... he was the son of the tall chap on the right..... the one who reminds me so much of Donny Osmond.

BTW, in case you need to know, Frankie Valli was born Francesco Stephen Castelluccio in New Jersey in 1934, and is still touring with the Four Seasons. Tommy DeVito, Frankie Valli, Nick Massi and Bob Gaudio were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

St Catharine's Church - Prague

The final concert given by the Men of Note on their 2015 concert tour was at the Church of St Catharine of Alexandria (Kostel svaté Kateřiny Alexandrijské) which is located on the premises of the University General Teaching Hospital in Prague.

Saint Catharine of Alexandria is also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel. Tradition says she was martyred at the age of 18 in the early 4th Century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius. The emperor condemned her to death tied to a spiked wheel, but the wheel shattered at her touch, and eventually she was beheaded for her Christian beliefs. The firework Catherine Wheel was named after her.

Charles IV established this church in 1355 as part of the convent of the Order of the Shoed Augustinian Nuns in thanksgiving for a battle won on St. Catharine's Day. Although the church's current Baroque appearance dates back to it's rebuilding in 1737-1741, certain original Gothic elements can still be seen, such as the tall octagonal tower, often called  the "Prague Minaret".

The unique Baroque hall structure has a transverse nave, and a rich fresco ceiling.
Ornate statues of Bishops look down on the congregation.

The Men of Note concert tour included free concerts performed in Venice in Italy, Bled in Slovenia, Bad Tatzmannsdorf in Austria, and this last concert in Prague. I went to all the concerts. Even though the music content was often repeated at each concert, the different venues made each performance special and unique. The acoustics in this spectacular old church were marvellous. The men's voices melded together and reverberated throughout the building giving me chills, beautiful!

The gentleman standing in the centre of the front row (6th from left, 6th from right) is 94 years old and still singing! Bravo!

 The harmonica featured in the concerts, and also in singalongs on the tour bus!

More pictures to come.... eventually!