Events: July 2009 Archives

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Toronto International Film Festival announcements come thick and fast in the months leading up to the festival each year, and it quickly becomes hard to work out just what’s being announced and why you should care. After all, it’s not until the festival’s been going for a few days and enough buzz has built that you realize that you’ve got tickets for exactly the wrong unheard-of director, or this year’s un-coolest country, or all of the films that Cameron Bailey selected (that last one’s a killer). Yeah, if we could bet on TIFF, I’m sure we’d end up broke—did you foresee Slumdog Millionaire winning everyone’s hearts and minds at Toronto only to go on and nab a ton of Oscars a couple of months before TIFF 2008 even started? If so, you should let us know what your picks are (maybe in the comments? Actually, no, wait, just tell us, the Oscar odds right now must be insane). Anyway, we’re going to try to pick over the announcements so far and work out what’s interesting before we reach the festival, which runs this year from September 10 to 19. Warning, though: we’re going to concentrate on the best-known names because in most cases they’re all we have to hang on to.

FUNDRAISER: Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) presents Pikin News: Out Loud!, a celebration of a youth-run Sierra Leone newspaper. Pikin (Children's) News—a government agency and UNICEF-funded project—was launched in 2006 to serve as a platform for youth in Sierra Leone to discuss issues affecting them. Proceeds from tonight's event will support the young journalists who conceived and contribute to this publication. In addition to music and a performance by a traditional Sierra Leonean dance group, the event will feature guest speakers reading articles and poetry from the newspaper, providing insight into the experiences of a generation of children who have been impacted by the country's eleven-year civil war. Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas Street West), 8 p.m., $10.

WORDS: Shane Koyczan is a Canadian-born spoken-word poet who's made a huge impression both on the world stage and at home. His poem "We Are More" was commissioned by the Canadian Tourism Commission for Canada Day in 2007, and his book, Visiting Hours, was named among the best books of the year by The Guardian and the Globe and Mail. With all this in mind, Koyczan will be performing tonight in the group Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long. Expect a mix of folksy, lyrical music and brazen, edifying spoken word. The Drake Hotel, Underground (1150 Queen Street West), 7:30–10:30 p.m., $10.

COMEDY: Having just been nominated for four Canadian Comedy Awards, Monkey Toast: The Improvised Talk Show is still going strong after several years as one of Toronto's foremost comedy shows. The premise is simple: the host, David Shore, interviews a few local celebrities (past guests include Mayor David Miller, writer/actor Don McKellar, and musician Peaches), and then a team of improvisers create skits based on the interviews. Tonight, musician Big Rude Jake, Susan Fischer character Evelyn Reese, NDP leader Jack Layton, and MP Olivia Chow will sit down with Shore. The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom (1214 Queen Street West), 8 p.m. (doors at 7:30 p.m.), pay-what-you-can.

FILM: Edgar Wright—still in town for the final days of shooting the very hush-hush Scott Pilgrim vs. The World—presents one last "Wright Stuff" double bill at the Bloor Cinema, this time with Scott Pilgrim Director of Photography Bill Pope. Wright has chosen two films from Pope’s cinematographic oeuvre, namely Sam Raimi’s Army of Darkness (7 p.m.) and Trey Parker (with Matt Stone)’s Team America: World Police (9:30 p.m.). Between screenings, Pope and Wright will have a sit-down discussion about Pope’s experience on the films. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., $10 per film or $18 for both.

MUSIC: Stars songstress Amy Millan graced Harbourfront's stage two weeks ago with seventeen of her closest friends—members and comrades of Broken Social Scene—and now she's back with a hometown solo performance as part of the Canadian Voices series. Millan, joined by labelmate Gentleman Reg, will bring her melancholy blend of country and folk to the stage tonight before embarking on a North American tour this fall to promote the upcoming release of her sophomore album, Masters Of The Burial. The first single from the new album, "Bruised Ghosts,"—which may sound familiar from BSS's 2004 Live At Radio Aligre FM in Paris release—is available for free on the Arts & Crafts Sampler Volume 6. If you can't make it out tonight, CBC Radio 3 will be providing live coverage of the show. SIRIUS Satellite Radio Stage, Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West), 8 p.m., FREE.

              

If you've never been to a library opening before you might be surprised to realize that they tend to attract crowds. At yesterday's reopening of the Bloor/Gladstone branch, for instance, a throng of eager readers was waiting in the rain a half-hour before they were to be let inside, and once the doors did open it took twenty minutes for the line to clear. Kids ran downstairs to check out their colourful new play areas, longtime patrons set off to find the new locations of their old favourite sections, and the social butterflies settled into the sparkling computer lab for a status update or two. You could hardly blame them: they'd been without their library for nearly three years, and the enthusiasm with which the branch was welcomed back was delightful to behold.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

ART: The Stephen Bulger Gallery hosts the opening reception for a solo exhibit of photographer Scott Conarroe’s new large-format colour series, “By Rail.” Conarroe grew up in Edmonton and earned his art degrees on both the east and west coasts of Canada, giving him a pretty good foundation in landscape appreciation. His signature shots of empty infrastructure continues with this documentation of North American railways. (The exhibit is accompanied by free rail-themed movie screenings on Saturdays at the gallery’s adjacent Camera Bar, on through September 12.) Stephen Bulger Gallery (1026 Queen Street West), 5–8 p.m., FREE.

WHERE: Lake Shore Boulevard West and Burlington Avenue.

FAMILY: The snakes are slithering off the pages of books from the 597 shelf at the library this afternoon. During "The Mystery Of Snakes," children (ages 7–12) will learn about these reptiles through a live presentation and slide show. Today's event is part of a series of free summer programs happening at Toronto Public Library branches across the city, which include storytelling, author and illustrator visits, the children's mystery-themed TD Summer Reading Club (detectives-in-training even receive a free "spy kit" with a poster, stickers, and an activity book), and the Word Out! teen reading program. If you can't make it out to your local library, TPL also offers some at-home options with oodles of online activities at KidsSpace and Dial-a-Story, available twenty-four hours a day in eleven languages. Palmerston Library (560 Palmerston Avenue), 1–2 p.m., FREE. Register by calling 416-393-7680.

                            

This past weekend one of Toronto's most vibrant events, the Festival of India, was forced from its traditional venue on picturesque Centre Island by the ongoing city workers' strike. Unable to transport as many as forty thousand people across to the island, organizers relocated the festival to a car park at the foot of Yonge Street on the lakefront. The hard asphalt ground, pock marked with cracks and repairs, and the sometimes sickly sweet smell of the nearby Redpath sugar factory, both did nothing to diminish the enthusiasm of attendees.

THEATRE: The Harder They Come, the '70s cult-classic film that made Jimmy Cliff a star, has since transformed into a critically acclaimed London musical, which has landed in Toronto for a limited time starting tonight. The Harder They Come is the story of a hard-up reggae singer who goes to Kingston, Jamaica, to fulfil his dreams, only to become a notorious outlaw after he gets caught up with the more unsavoury parts of the music business. Most of the original actors are still part of the cast, and the show features a reggae band that's said to get even the stuffiest of audience members out of their seats to dance. Canon Theatre (244 Victoria Street), 8 p.m., $25–$95.

                     

Toronto's Caribana parade is known the world over, drawing more than one million revellers every year for its bumper crop of imagination; it is spectacle after sparkling spectacle, accompanied by joy-inducing, waist-winding, and inhibition-loosening calypso/soca music. Of lesser fame is the Junior Carnival parade—which this year was held in the under-celebrated Jane-Finch area—but it remains fertile ground for future generations of mas masters.

HISTORY: The Beach is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Toronto, and its distinct charm and small-town-in-a-big-city feel are the main reasons (besides the whole beach aspect) that make this area so popular. As an exploration of the unique people and experiences of this area, seasoned journalist Glen Cochrane wrote The Beach: An Illustrated History from the Lake to Kingston Rd. with his wife, Jean. Today, he and the Beaches Library present the life and history of the Beach neighbourhood. He'll be sharing photos from the book and personal stories of the places he and his wife have lived in for four decades. Beaches Library, Program Room (2161 Queen Street East), 7–8 p.m., FREE.

MUSIC: Monthly all-capabilities DJ night Everyone’s a DJ joins forces with youth-based gallery Whippersnapper to raise funds for the heroic East Metro Youth Services centre. EMYS is a community-based children’s mental health centre that works together with at-risk youth, their families, and health professionals to help the kids reach their full potential. Some of these kids will be showing off their hot track abilities at the all-ages benefit this afternoon. Whippersnapper Gallery (587A College Street), 2:30 p.m., by donation ($5 minimum).

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

It's not often you see a textile artist take part in an architectural exhibit. But Thea Haines's installation fits perfectly at Building for the Economy, the latest in Harbourfront Centre's series of untraditional and interdisciplinary architecture shows. Dispelling the notion that an economic downturn need only spell doom and gloom, her repurposing of tea towels and napkins of all types and colours—some still stained—suggests we rethink what we consider luxury versus necessity and return to a time when "making do" was common. The recession can, Haines suggests, provide artists and designers opportunities to seek beauty in frugality. That each piece of linen is embroidered with a single letter to spell out synonyms for "save" that are both contemporary ("scrimp") and archaic ("stint") suggests looking to the past to solve present-day concerns. These are all themes addressed by the three participating architectural firms.

            

While walking around the city recently, we couldn't help but notice the abundance of non-Summerlicious restaurants advertising prix fixe promotions with names that reference the City's program, but carefully avoid infringing on the trademark. It made us wonder just how difficult it is for restaurants to get accepted into the 'liciouses, and how the City decides who's in and who's out.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

ART: Esther Simmonds-Macadam’s latest series of paintings seeks to re-examine the visual language of the erotic male as seen through the eyes of heterosexual women. The resulting work, inspired by the artist's own interviews with other Toronto women, demonstrates that it's the simple things in life women find attractive in their male partners. The Toronto School of Art’s Launch Projects presents the first solo exhibit of “Red Hot! Painting the Erotic Male Body,” opening tonight. Launch Projects Gallery (404 Adelaide Street West), 6–9 p.m., FREE.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Shhh—listen, do you hear them? The silences echoing through the air are the songs of the bluebirds, wrens, swallows, and purple martins, migratory birds whose populations are declining at alarming rates. Before stepping into the sunlit gallery at the Toronto Botanical Garden, you might go to the grocery store, the gym, or the pub oblivious to the plight of these birds, blithely accepting the pigeon as our emblematic avian.

MUSIC: Neko Case—of New Pornographers notoriety—is back in town after a couple of stellar shows last April. Case's Middle Cyclone is easily one of the best CDs out this year, and she puts on a great show. At the time of writing there were still tickets available, so pick them up if you can! Massey Hall (178 Victoria Street); 8 p.m.; tickets $29.50, $35.50, or $40.50.

                               

The South African War Memorial in the middle of University Avenue was the unusual venue for this year's Newmindspace Bubble Battle. The location was transformed from a stately, somewhat imposing monument, topped by a winged figure overlooking the intersection with Queen Street to a lively space, ringing with laughter and sparkling with bubbles.

HEALTH: It's the first day of Mad Pride Week—a week celebrating the work of "mad" people and furthering the understanding of psychiatric survivor/consumer/ex-patient movement—and they're kicking off the celebrations on a sombre note, with a tour of the patient-built wall guided by York University professor Geoffrey Reaume, followed by a memorial. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (1001 Queen Street West), wall tour, 6 p.m.; memorial, 8:30 p.m. FREE.

There are a lot of funny shows at the Fringe this year, but Morro and Jasp Do Puberty might just be the funniest. The two red-nosed clowns (whose shows are typically semi-educational and meant for young audiences) get bold and ballsy in this adults-only show that is basically all about menstruation. And it's popular. So popular, in fact, that even though its Fringe run is technically over, it won the coveted Patron's Pick spot at its venue (the Tarragon Extra Space) and will be doing an extra performance tonight at 6:45 p.m. (For a complete list of Patron's Pick shows, see here.)

ART: The mammoth Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition continues—despite the ongoing strike—for its third and final day in Nathan Phillips Square. Approximately five hundred artists compete for more than thirty-five thousand dollars in awards, and try to sell some art in the process. If you get tired of wandering and wondering, Steam Whistle Brewing plays host at the beer garden set up near The Archer. Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West), 10:30 a.m.–6: 30 p.m., FREE.

Last night's performance of In a Magic Kingdom was, in a sense, an archetypal Fringe experience. Having just missed entry into the show we had been aiming for we simply decided to roll with the theatrical punches and see whatever was playing next. The audience was small in number (fourteen in all), but made up for in camaraderie. (Upon hearing the clatter of a dropping piece of gum a woman in the first row turned around to see what was up. The stovepipe hat–wearing clumsy culprit leaned across two rows of empty seats and promptly offered her a piece.) It is moments like this—an actor facing a nearly empty house, an audience relaxed enough to start chatting—which reveal both the frustrations and the charms that are found at the festival.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

As we approached the Glen Morris Theatre for one of the early showings of BAGS: Obsessions of a Hoardaholic, an intense, sinewy man with earbuds jammed in his ears strode across our path, half singing, half screaming. Only when he bypassed the ticket lineup to enter the back door did we realize it was Lee Michael Buckman, actor and writer of the one-man show we were about to see. With energy like that we thought, "This has got to be good."

The Gladstone Hotel launched a new weekly music series last night (meaning Peter Styles can only hijack your karaoke harmonies on Fridays and Saturdays now), and while throwing another night of bands and beer into the city's already saturated mix might seem exhausting before you even get to it, the price (always free!) and promised performers for Thursday Night Confidential are, in the very best meaning of the words, a 100% safe bet.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

One of the best things about this year's Fringe is that it’s the first to be fully Twitter-enabled. Using the #FringeTO tag, anyone can easily get announcements from the official Fringe office (@Toronto_Fringe) as well as real-time reviews from audience members and press alike. What’s also super fun is peeking into the tweets of performers as they prepared for and live through Fringe week. They're tweeting about everything from pre-performance jitters to post-show euphoria. Here are a few of our favourites.

Candida is, without question, one of the hits at this year's Fringe. The show had picked up some buzz before it even opened, and the raves have been rolling in ever since. And, more or less, we agree.

DANCE: This summer Dusk Dances launches a GTA initiative to introduce its site-specific dancing-in-the-park festival to a wider audience. Earlscourt Park denizens get the initial treatment to five days of dusk dancing under the guidance of host Lisa Anne Ross, who will tour the audience through five different dance pieces by five different dance teams in different areas of the park. Percussionists Samba Squad contribute pertinent beats. Earlscourt Park (1200 Lansdowne Avenue), 7 p.m., pay-what-you-can.

It's official: Fringe has taken over the city. And while we aren't sure about numbers yet, attendance this year has seemed especially high. In past years, getting tickets during the opening weekend of the fest has been a cinch; this year, we noticed a ton of shows that were opening-night sellouts, and many have continued to pack houses, even in tough time slots such as weekday afternoons and Sunday nights. Once again, Drama Club forsakes its usual format to bring you a special Fringe edition to tell you what's been going on in the Fringe venues (and at the beer tent).

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

PERFORMANCE: Miranda Mulholland and The Roaring Girl Cabaret kick off their month-long residency at The Cameron House tonight, showcasing a mix of classical musicianship and contemporary jazz, with some folk and opera to round out the sound. Mulholland is a virtuoso fiddler and has worked and performed with the likes of Jim Cuddy and Sarah Slean and appeared in the acclaimed show Bowfire. The Cameron House (408 Queen Street West), every Tuesday night in July, 6–9 p.m., pay-what-you-can.

Due to the climate-controlled museum that shares a wall with St. Vladimir's Theatre, the event space was as chilly as sea air or the review Bert and I received from Eye Weekly on Friday. This must account for the low attendance on Saturday night because the performance surely does not. John E. Nelles, accomplished performer and Hollywood drama coach to the stars (Sam Neill, William Hurt, Jude Law, etc.), can act circles around anyone at Fringe, and he poured his heart and soul into the script, which he adapted from 50s-era humouristic stories centred around the Maine lobster fishery.

FILM: Given that the world's stash of oil is finite (and some say nearing depletion), and that mining oil is proven to be hazardous to the environment, the production of oil in Alberta is a hot-button issue among activists and economists alike. Tonight, Olivia Chow will be hosting a screening of the 2009 documentary, H2Oil, followed by a discussion with H2Oil Director Shannon Walsh, Indigenous Environmental Network activist Clayton Thomas-Muller, and HERO Project advocate David Booz. They will be discussing the environmental impact of oil sands development in Alberta, among other issues surrounding oil production in Canada. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 7 p.m., FREE (reserve tickets by emailing Chowo1c@parl.gc.ca or by calling 416-533-2710).

Shadows in Bloom is one of the best, and certainly one of the bravest, shows you will have the chance to see at this year's Fringe. A woman alone on stage, in street clothes, without scenery or significant staging, with just a single prop—this is the kind of performance where there is literally no place to hide. Fortunately, Gemma Wilcox doesn't need it.

DANCE: Burlesque troupe The Harlettes Burlesque Entertainment take it all off for Canada with their fifth annual Tribute to Canada show. Taking their cues from the national colours—fiery red passion and pure white innocence—the Harlettes embrace the symbols of their beloved country in each dance routine about hockey, Trudeau, lumberjacks, and more. Revival Bar (783 College Street), 8 p.m., $15.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

Urban Planner is Torontoist's daily guide to what's on in Toronto, published every morning. If you have an event you'd like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you've got any—to events@torontoist.com.

              

For the second time in a few days, Dundas Square was again home for fans and mourners of Michael Jackson. Unlike the impromptu dance party that landed at the intersection of Dundas and Yonge on Friday, last night's event—a tribute to Jackson and his music that was also billed as a Canada Day celebration, hastily organized by The Manifesto Festival—was prepared a bit more in advance and lasted three hours, concluding just before 11 p.m. with a moment of silence for Jackson.

To celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, and Toronto’s 175th birthday, Heritage Toronto is offering ten new tours as part of its free historic walking tours program. Although the walks have been ongoing since April, there are still several new tours to look forward to during the summer schedule, including Union Station and the Railway Lands, Fringe Festival Sites, and Mackenzie’s 1834 Toronto (a tour of the city as it was 175 years ago, during William Lyon Mackenzie's term as mayor). "We’re trying to increase the number of walks we do across the city," Peggy Mooney, Heritage Toronto’s executive director, told Torontoist. "We want to make people realize—from one part of the city to the other—that there’s a lot of interesting history there. Since amalgamation, we are responsible for promoting heritage across the entire city. It isn’t just about early nineteenth century buildings…we’re trying to make people think about the city they live in, not just about Victorian Toronto, but about more modern buildings, more modern heritage."

“Farce” is one of those love/hate words in the theatre. Done well, a farce can provide an evening of light-hearted entertainment and belly laughs, with the occasional touch of commentary on morality and human behaviour. Done poorly, the audience is subjected to tired jokes and situations that strain the limits of credulity. Because I Can falls in the middle, its energetic performances countered by a script that might have been stronger as a five-minute sketch than as an hour-long production.

MUSIC: The Toronto Music Garden presents free concerts every Thursday evening in celebration of its ten years of sweet musical environment. Tours of the garden, led by Toronto Botanical Garden volunteers, are scheduled at 5:30 p.m. before each Thursday music performance, starting tonight (until September 10—see the web site for the full summer programme). Korean drumming and dance ensemble Samulnori! are scheduled to play, but call 416-973-4000 to confirm in case of poor weather. Toronto Music Garden (475 Queens Quay West), 5:30 p.m. (tour), 7 p.m. (concert), FREE.

Don't try to fool us, Canada Day! While this Hump-Day Holiday means a day off work for some, it means the exact opposite for tons of theatre folks, since it also happens to be the opening of the twentieth annual Toronto Fringe Festival. Gadzoooks! Drama Club is abandoning its usual format today to bring you a special Fringe edition, with all the hot tips and cool buzz we can muster. Check back during the festival for Torontoist's coverage of the festival, running until July 12, where our team will be bringing you fresh reviews daily.