Tag Archives: Vue Weekly

Laini Giles’ ‘The It Girl and Me’ Book Launch Preview for Vue Weekly

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I got the chance to chat with biographical fiction author Laini Giles about her latest novel, The It Girl and Me. Over on Vue Weekly, you can read my preview of her book launch event happening this weekend.

The It Girl and Me is the second novel in a series about starlets in the silent film era from Edmonton-based author Laini Giles.

It tells the story of Clara Bow through the eyes of her Hollywood secretary, Daisy DeVoe. Giles landed on Bow as a subject from the title of her previous work, The Forgotten Flapper.

“You say ‘flapper,’ people think about Clara Bow automatically,” Giles says. Read more

I haven’t had a chance to finish the book yet, which launched last Saturday, but the first few chapters definitely drew me into the story. Giles will be signing and reading from her book at Audrey’s Books this Sunday at 2pm.

‘Models of Diversity’ Western Canada Fashion Week preview for Vue Weekly

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Photo by JProcktor

I had the chance to dip my toe back into the fashion world with this week’s Vue Weekly cover story. Benveet Gill will join other models with disabilities and injuries on the Western Canada Fashion Week catwalk this season.

This spring’s Western Canada Fashion Week (WCFW) turns its focus towards a different kind of diversity than the one it has championed for 13 years.

WCFW Creative Director Sandra Sing Fernandes tried to orchestrate a fashion showcase for models with disabilities and injuries a year ago, and was disappointed when it ultimately fell through.

Then, two months ago, she received a serendipitous call from an old friend who previously worked as a WCFW makeup artist, Benveet “Bean” Gill. She had been struck by a virus-induced autoimmune disease in 2012, and the transverse myelitis in her spinal chord paralyzed her lower body.

“I’m in a wheelchair, but I’d love to model,” she told Fernandes over the phone. Read more

Gill and Fernandes reunited and materialized an important fashion showcase that challenges the stigma around people with disabilities. I’m glad I got the chance to tell a bit of their story.

Jude Griebel’s ‘Crafting Ruin’ Art Exhibition Preview for Vue Weekly

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Here’s my first big local break. I wrote the cover story for Vue Weekly this week about a sculpture exhibition by prairie-bred artist Jude Griebel.

After installing exhibitions around the world, Jude Griebel returns to Edmonton this week for his first solo exhibit at the dc3 Art Projects gallery.

With seven-foot resin figures and bone sculptures the size of a human head, the Alberta-bred artist’s 12-sculpture installation, Crafting Ruin, tackles modern environmental issues like consumption and wastefulness. Read more

His exhibition opens today at dc3 Art Projects, and it’s filled with provocative figures that make us think about our place in the environment. I had a lot of fun writing this preview, and I’m glad I could share some of Griebel’s perspective with a wider audience.

‘Soliciting Temptation’ Theatre Preview for Vue Weekly

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Here’s a preview I wrote for Vue Weekly about an exciting looking play called Soliciting Temptation opening at the Varscona Theatre tonight.

Soliciting Temptation tackles the social complexities of sex tourism from the inside of one nondescript hotel room set in an exotic country. And that hotel room shuttled from Calgary to Edmonton this week for a new crowd to see. Read more

The Jason Mehmel-directed play is coproduced by Calgary’s Sage Theatre and Edmonton’s Shadow Theatre, starring Patricia Cerra and Mattie Overall. The 90-minute, two-person performance opens at 7:30pm tonight and runs until Mar. 26.

‘Sister Sister’ Theatre Review For Vue Weekly in November

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This review is for one of my all-time favourite pieces of modern theatre. I critiqued Northern Light Theatre’s Sister Sister for Vue Weekly back in November.

When it comes to Northern Light Theatre’s mandate of dark and provocative productions that challenge audiences, Sister Sister delivers and satisfies.

Playwright Barbara Blumenthal-Ehrlich’s script about two sisters’ reconnection after 15 years sets a grim theme, as the women come together to celebrate their deranged mother’s death. Read more

The two-woman performance from Louise Claire Lambert and Arielle Rombough was intense, and I’m glad I got to share my opinion with the community.

Edmonton’s Struggle with its Secondary Sports Feature for The Griff in October

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Edmonton’s got a mixed record when it comes to attending its smaller professional sports teams. I broke down the complex issues back in October for The Griff magazine.

Kyle Brodziak of the Edmonton Road Runners had the greatest wrist shot of all-time — or so my 12-year-old self would tell you. Caught in the midst of the NHL lockout during the ’04-’05 season, I was exposed to great athletes in person for the first time in my life. My jaw dropped and I tugged at my friends’ Road Runner hoodies every time Raffi Torres laid a big hit. Those hoodies were $20. The tickets to Rexall Place were free via a promotion with my minor hockey team.

And the arena was only half-full. Read more

There are so many interesting things to do in our city, so while writing this feature I found it interesting to consider why Edmontonians don’t widely patronize the little guys in the sports world — whether they’re winning, or not.

Monster Pro Wrestling Profile for Vue Weekly Last September

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This week, I’m fleshing out my clips directory with some older freelance work I completed in the last six months.

Here’s a profile of the Edmonton’s Monster Pro Wrestling that I wrote and shot for Vue Weekly in September.

Only a handful of active independent Canadian wrestling promotions can say they’ve been going strong for 14 years with no signs of slowing. Edmonton’s Monster Pro Wrestling, founded by Sean “Massive Damage” Dunster in 2002, just crested that milestone. Read more

Dunster and his team run a truly entertaining monthly docket of fights. You can find out more about all their upcoming events on the Monster Pro Wrestling Facebook page, Twitter, and website. The promotion has a big event coming up this Saturday at 7pm. Tickets are $20 in advance, and $25 at the door at The Ranch Roadhouse.

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BalletBoyz’s ‘Life’ Preview for Vue Weekly

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This week I previewed a contemplative ballet called Life from  London-based company BalletBoyz. The preview just went live this morning on Vue Weekly.

The 10-member, all-male BalletBoyz company comes to entertain this weekend with physical questions about what it means to be alive.

The company’s 80-minute performance, Life, is split into two halves, separately choreographed by Swedish artist Pontus Lidberg and Venezuelan Javier de Frutos. Edmonton marks the last stop on the North American leg of its current international tour. Read more

The company is putting on two performances on Friday and Saturday at the Northern Jubilee Auditorium, organized by Alberta Ballet. You can snag tickets on their site.

‘La Cenerentola’ Opera Review for Vue Weekly

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I reviewed Edmonton Opera’s production of La Cenerentola for Vue Weekly earlier this month. I’ve never heard so many laughs in an opera house.

Edmonton Opera’s rendition of Cinderella is a funny, modernized take on Gioachino Rossini’s 1817 masterpiece La Cenerentola that’s as much a display of great theatre as it is a demonstration of the beautiful limits of the human voice.

Every acting performance in Cinderella is superb. Don Magnifico (Peter McGillivray) is great as a bumbling idiot who respects food and wine more than he respects people, and Tisbe (Sylvia Szadovski) and Clorinda (Caitlyn Wood) play their obnoxious sister roles perfectly. But it’s Dandini (Michael Nyby) who really steals the show. Read more

The La Cenerentola production already finished it’s run, but Edmonton Opera already announced its 2017-2018 line up. You can check it out on their website, featuring Les Feluettes, HMS Pinafore, and Don Giovanni.

Wildfire Teen Improv Festival Preview for Vue Weekly

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I missed this preview going live on Vue Weekly earlier in the month, but the Wildfire Teen Improv is still ongoing. The junior high division finals of the competitive festival are on Saturday with additional performances tonight and tomorrow.

“Wildfire Teen Improv Festival is very strange,” says 17-year-old Darby Gynane.

She’s heading into her fourth run at the festival alongside her teammates from Louis St. Laurent. The improv competition, running from Feb. 7 to 25 at the Citadel’s Ziedler Hall, pits teams of junior and senior high students from across Edmonton and Alberta against each other to see who’s the most spontaneously entertaining.

“You see people who are creating art in front of your eyes that they’re never going to do again and you’re never going to see again,” Gynane says. “It’s very much an in the moment kind of thing.” Read more

Rapid Fire Theatre is an absolute force in Western Canada, and their festival that develops youth is no exception. You can get tickets for the last three shows of the festival through Eventbrite. Each performance starts at 7pm in the Citadel’s Ziedler Hall.