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Urban Planner: December 7, 2009
Urban Planner is Torontoist’s guide to what’s on in Toronto, published every weekday morning, and in a weekend edition Friday afternoons. If you have an event you’d like considered, email all of its details—as well as images, if you’ve got any—to [email protected].
One of The Frantics’ best-loved characters, Mr. Canoehead. Courtesy of Planet3 Communications.
COMEDY: The Frantics comedy troupe are reuniting tonight, thirty years after they first took the stage together, for a one-night-only performance at The Royal Theatre. Peter Wildman, Rick Green, Paul Chato, and Dan Redican will team up to re-create their classic characters, like Mr. Canoehead, and skits like “Boot To The Head.” Together, the group is best known for their CBC radio show Frantic Times, TV show Four on the Floor, and comedy album, also called Frantic Times. Separately, they’ve been involved in some of Canada’s funniest TV shows (The Red Green Show, The Kids in the Hall). The Royal Theatre (608 College Street), 7:30 p.m., $10 in advance ($15 sat the door).
MUSIC: Leon Redbone is a musician who brings new life to the jazz, blues, and pop music of the 1920s and ’30s—he’s also a well-known liar. Tonight is the second of three solo shows from Redbone—a rare treat from this generally reclusive entertainer. Redbone is not just a jazz and blues musician, he’s also a consummate performer, dressing in vaudevillian clothing and obscuring his own identity in order to perpetuate the myths he’s created around himself (he’s said that he was born on October 29, 1929—the day of the U.S. stock market crash—and there were rumours in the 1970s that he was actually comedian Andy Kaufman). Although he started playing clubs in Toronto in the ’70s, Redbone rarely makes appearances here so this may be one of your last chances to see him. Pianist Paul Asaro will accompany Redbone, while poet and humourist Holmes Hooke will open the show with some spoken word. Hugh’s Room (2261 Dundas Street West), doors at 6 p.m. (show at 8:30 p.m.), $47.50 in advance ($55 at the door).
FILM: Celina Agaton created Films That Move because she saw the potential in new media for community engagement and thought a film series would be a perfect way to get people involved and informed. The series is billed as a “free social change film series,” where all types of people—”education, non-profit, communications, and government communities”—are welcome. Tonight is Films That Move’s launch, and the inaugural screening will be director Marc Colucci’s Lemonade. Lemonade is about how, with a little creativity, people who once worked in large advertising firms are still thriving despite the recession. George Brown Financial Services Building (290 Adelaide Street East), 6 p.m., pay-what-you-can.
THEATRE: Impromptu Splendor—the Toronto group that creates improvised plays for every show—kicks off their Christmas special, A Very Mamet Christmas, tonight. Special guest star David Ferry will be joining the group as they curse, monologue, and generally try their best Mamet Speak while creating a completely improvised story. Theatre Passe Muraille (16 Ryerson Avenue), 8 p.m., $10.