Torontoist » “j.k. simmons”

CBC Music’s First-Ever Festival Will Be a CanCon Love-In

Chris Dart — Tue, 21 May 2013 17:30:30 +0000

The CBCMusic.ca Festival will feature Sloan, Kathleen Edwards, Of Monsters and Men, and roving appearances by Jian Gomeshi and Matt Galloway.

According to CBC’s Chris Boyce, the goal of this weekend’s CBCMusic.ca Festival is twofold. First and foremost, the CBC wants to celebrate Canadian music. Second, it wants to celebrate CBC Music, the broadcaster’s online music service, which launched a little over a year ago.

The Barber of Seville is Not the Sharpest Shave

Carly Maga — Tue, 21 May 2013 15:30:32 +0000

A reworked version of Beaumarchais' play makes for an uneven production, on now at Soulpepper Theatre.

In 1996, Theatre Columbus premiered playwright Michael O’Brien’s “freely adapted” take on the famous Beaumarchais play The Barber of Seville, which was written in 1775. O’Brien’s version mixed in music from the 1816 opera of the same name by Gioachino Rossini, as well as original tunes by composer John Millard. The adaptation also propelled the story forward a couple centuries, with pop culture references galore. With Theatre Columbus co-founder Leah Cherniak at the helm, the musical ended the season with six Dora Award nominations (it won three) and plenty of critical acclaim.

Seventeen years later, Soulpepper Theatre is remounting this zany reimagination of The Barber of Seville, updated once again by O’Brien, Millard, and Cherniak. But, for some reason—the change in decade, or company, or sense of humour—whatever had made the original so magical, has faded, save for a few key performances.

A Beginner’s Guide to Endings

Ryan West — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:49:00 +0000

Still courtesy of TIFF.

A Beginner’s Guide to Endings

Directed by Jonathan Sobol (Canada, Gala Presentations)

Niagara Falls is a particularly fitting setting for A Beginner’s Guide to Endings, whose impressive talent lineup includes names from both sides of the border. The Canadian comedy from Citizen Duane scribe Jonathan Sobol mixes some notable American names (Harvey Keitel, Scott Caan, J.K. Simmons) with a crack team of homegrown celebs (Tricia Helfer, Paulo Costanzo, Jason Jones, Wendy Crewson), generally to hilarious results. If not for the occasional flash of red and white in the background, one would be hard pressed to tell on which side of the Falls the story was actually set.
When five brothers return to their hometown to deal with the passing of their inveterate gambler of a father (Keitel), they’re in for a shock—due to one of their father’s many bad decisions, three of them are left with only a year to live. Counselled by their beleaguered priest uncle (Simmons), the three eldest cope in their own respective and oft hilarious ways. Caan and Costanzo don’t stray far from their comfort zones as gregarious, philandering Cal and responsible, buttoned-down Jacob respectively, but Jones trades in his usual Daily Show suit and tie for a cowboy hat and trucker ‘stache as eldest Nuts, a gravel-voiced, hot-tempered pugilist.
Sobol enhances the snappy pacing of his script with a repertoire of clever editing conventions, from multi-panelled screens to a sardonic overlay of arrows and graphs. A strong undercurrent of humour keeps the story from being bogged down by its otherwise relatable reflections on brotherhood, father issues, and mortality, all carried by excellent performances from the varied cast. Unfortunately, Sobol’s tonal house of cards comes crashing down at the climax, when the story jumps the shark—or, more literally, the Falls.
Want more TIFF 2010? Torontoist’s complete coverage of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival is all right here.