Torontoist » “Toronto Entertainment District”

Off Key Comedy Aims to Fuse Stand-Up and Song

Chris Dart — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:15:44 +0000

A musical-comedy showcase tries to shake the genre's lame reputation.

Even with the success of acts like Lonely Island and Flight of the Conchords, people still tend to view musical comedy with some suspicion, and not without reason. Those high-profile success stories aside, at the club level, musical comedy is too often the province of people who aren’t quite good enough to make it as musicians, but not quite funny enough to make it as comedians.

Two local comics, Robert Keller and Rush Zilla, are out to change that perception with their show, Off Key Comedy, which features a wide variety of acts whose only commonality is that they combine music and comedy in one form or another. The third edition of the monthly show will take place on May 23, at Comedy Bar.

Of a Monstrous Child is Caught in a Complex Romance with Lady Gaga

Carly Maga — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:00:29 +0000

Alistair Newton's new play dives into the history of performance art to explain our cultural fascination with the House of Gaga.

Despite the fact that the last show in Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s 2012/2013 season is titled Of a Monstrous Child: A Gaga Musical, Lady Gaga herself takes a secondary role. There are no homages to raw-meat dresses and gold-plated wheelchairs here. Instead, writer and director Alistair Newton uses the House of Gaga as a pathway into the history of the notable performance-art stars that came before her in the pantheon of queer iconography, and how she is and isn’t a construct of all of them put together.

Twin Showcases at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Herald Student Filmmakers

Kevin Scott — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:30:46 +0000

TIFF presents a night of films by directors who are still in high school or university.

It’s entirely possible that an early work by the next Atom Egoyan or David Cronenberg will screen on Wednesday night at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. With the 2013 Student Film Showcase featuring the best from post-secondary schools around the country and the Next Wave Presents: Jump Cuts Young Filmmakers Showcase kicking off the evening with Toronto-area high-school students’ films, the night will be a coming-out party for a new crop of talent. Judging by the polished creativity of some of the entries, it’s safe to say that young people are more prepared than ever to start telling stories on film from an early age.

Shy Captain and the Nightlife of Tomorrow

Alex Nino Gheciu — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:30:00 +0000

Photo by JaMmcat from the Torontoist Flickr Pool

Shortly after a series of shoot-outs and drug busts in Clubland last year, Councillor Adam Vaughan made a stout-hearted attempt to allay citizens’ fears: “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. And it’s not a strobe light coming from the next club, but a better tomorrow.”
Well, shield your eyes: it appears that light is now shining brighter than ever. Yesterday, the Toronto Entertainment District Business Improvement Area (BIA) hosted the first of many collaborative dialogues on the best methods for creating “the safest and most enjoyable nightlife area in North America.” The roundtable discussion, which ironically took place in that hotbed of sin called CiRCA, included nightlife business owners as well as representatives from the City of Toronto, the Toronto Police Service, and the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (Liquor Enforcement Branch). Captain Vaughan, however, was mysteriously absent from the meeting, despite vowing to be there. Nevertheless, the Justice League plowed on, hashing over a draft “Best Practices For Nightlife Establishments” document tabled by the Toronto Entertainment District BIA.

“We believe that it’s really important to maintain a vibrant, lively, safe, and enjoyable nightlife—not just to the Entertainment District, but to the city as a whole,” said BIA Executive Director Janice Solomon. “We thought it made sense to bring all of the stakeholders together to help create a standardized ‘best practices.’”

Toronto Entertainment District BIA representative Rob Ireland preaches peace, club, and unity. Photo by Nino Gheciu/Torontoist.

Modelled after similar inclusive processes in New York, San Jose, and Vancouver, the document, once finalized, will be circulated to the city’s nightlife businesses as a common set of guiding principles on everything from liquor licensing to conflict resolution.
Here are some of the draft’s commandments:

A list of all large scale scheduled events outside of routine operations should be sent to the designated officer in the local precinct.
Persons who are apparently under the influence of alcohol or drugs should be denied entry into the establishment.
Security should be mandated to separate and remove all potentially violent patrons in a manner designed to prevent a continuation of violent activity inside or outside the establishment.
Establishments should install anti-theft environmental designs such as drawers, shelves and hooks for customers who choose not to check bags.
Identifying information on ejected and/or arrested patrons should be retained on a “banned list” database. These patrons should not be allowed subsequent re-entry.
A sidewalk queuing plan must be enforced. All individuals in admission lines should be informed that if they are not orderly, they may not be admitted.
Signage, staff communication and DJ announcements at closing time should be done to remind patrons they are in a residential neighbourhood and they should move quickly, quietly, and safely out of the area.

Aside from the standard spewing of introductory platitudes (like “I think this is a very forward-thinking solution” and “I think it’s great we can all collaborate on this”), the noise-control issue seemed to be of particular interest yesterday, with several participants stressing the need to be mindful of the glut of new hotel and condo developments in the District. At one point, Vaughan’s constituency assistant Jennifer Chan noted that a major priority was to “ensure that a good night out and a good night’s sleep can peacefully coexist.”
“There’s obviously a shift in the Entertainment District where we do have a lot more development taking place, whether it’s residential or commercial,” said Solomon. “So, all of our nightlife operators and enforcement agencies have to take into consideration that we’re also a community that’s in flux and we have to be adaptable to the changes that are taking place.”
The same overseers of nightlife peace and security will reconvene monthly at the CiRCA Watchtower to refine the details of their “best practices” declaration. Meanwhile, an incensed mob of 905-ers will slowly rise for their right to blare Eurotrash beats and catcall hood rats during after-hours.