Tag Archives: YEG

‘Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown’ Review for Vue Weekly

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Women The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is my new favourite musical (overtaking Chicago and Rent) and I reviewed it for Vue Weekly.

Plain Jane Theatre Company has always had a knack for reviving musicals that didn’t necessarily live up to their initial potential during Broadway runs, but Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown is a standout.

A farcical tale of love, infidelity, and crime in ‘80s Madrid, Jeffery Lane’s screenplay (based on the 1988 film by Pedro Almodóvar) boasts an abundance of the embellishments that make a great romantic comedy work, while also presenting an endearing human narrative that’s brought to life with surprising continuity by Plain Janes’ cast and crew. Read more

Until now, I’ve never felt like I absolutely need to see a show twice during its run before, but this Plain Janes production absolutely warrants it. The show runs through Saturday at the Varscona Theatre, and you don’t want to miss it if you’re in Edmonton!

Blind Enthusiasm and Small Breweries’ Success Report for Vue Weekly

Dish-LiquorProducers-Jan25.jpgThis week for Vue Weekly, I checked in with Greg Zeschuk, founder of Blind Enthusiasm Brewery (and co-founder of BioWare) to see how business is going under relatively new government supports.

Beer-brewing newcomer Blind Enthusiasm Brewery opened shop almost half a year ago, and owner Greg Zeschuk says business is going well. That’s thanks in part to financial boons offered by the provincial government.

“Brewing in Alberta is thriving, with more breweries and distilleries opening their doors or growing their businesses,” Premier Rachel Notley said in a release this month. Read more

While researching, I found that nearly 85 per cent of Canadian beer sales come from domestic brewers. When small local businesses like Blind Enthusiasm Brewery are empowered to thrive, that stat doesn’t seem so crazy.

‘Chasing the Kind Rhythm’ Feature for MacEwan University’s The Scavenger

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Macewan University’s The Scavenger magazine ran my feature profile of Edmonton’s 2016-17 Youth Poet Laureate today. Nasra Adem is an inspiring artist, and I’m so happy to share part of her story.

On this hot summer day, Nasra Adem gazes out at the 600 demonstrators packed against a precautionary police line at the steps of the Alberta Legislature, and puts her body where her poetry is. Wearing a traditional orange-and-green African dress that hangs past her ankles, and a matching headdress that temporarily tames the frizz of her thick black hair, she looks out from the podium into the faces of the crowd, and finds sympathetic eyes staring back.

This August rally has formed under an “End Racism in Canada” banner. It is, in part, a reaction to the alt-right extremists who had  marched in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., two weeks before, and, in part, a denunciation of the myth that racism doesn’t exist in Edmonton. Adem leaped – as she often does – at the chance to present her work for an important cause. Not necessarily as 2017’s Edmonton Youth Poet Laureate, but as an affected voice trying to change the world for the better.

Some days, she changes the young, urging them to embrace love and question what they see. Some nights, she changes the old, chipping away at their hardened views from a place of vulnerability. And sometimes, she is blocked by a seething lie that has poked at the Canadian psyche as long as she can remember. Read more

Special thanks to several writers who helped me workshop the story over at Flat Worms Writing Studio. And be sure to check out 13 other stories in The Scavenger about the fringes of Edmonton culture.

Good Grief Photo Exhibition Preview for Vue Weekly

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I previewed Good Grief for Vue Weekly today. It’s an exciting debut exhibition by Jay Procktor, an Edmonton photographer I respect immensely.

As a Grade 1 teacher, Jay Procktor sometimes clowns around with his students. But after years of work on the side as a photographer, the 43-year-old local is unveiling his first large gallery exhibition this week, filled with 16 images of clowns in both a literal and symbolic sense.

The Good Grief exhibit is inspired by personal loss Procktor has encountered, featuring 15 self-portraits and one photo of Procktor’s father.

In February 2012, Procktor’s best friend passed away and five months later his father also passed after a long battle with cancer. Read more

My interview with Procktor was one of my all-time favourites. The way he channeled loss into a community project culminating in fantastic art is incredible. I only wish I had more space to share his story.

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Preview for Vue Weekly

Larry Shiu, Cascade Mountain, Banff National Park

Last week I previewed the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour for Vue Weekly. The Edmonton stop of the tour brought documentaries from around the world to a new venue.

Tales of skiers, spelunkers, kayakers and more will hit the big screen in the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour this week. And for the Edmonton leg of this year’s tour, that screen will be in Garneau Theatre.

The main Banff Mountain Film Festival, which began in 1976 under what is now the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, screens international submissions every fall. Following the initial screening, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour shares them with more than 550 communities around the globe. Read more

Track ‘N Trail hosts the festival every year, and it was enlightening to hear about the variety of films they selected this year. The screenings appealed to more than just people who love the outdoors; there was a distinct human interest bent this year too.

Heart of the City Music and Arts Festival Preview for Vue Weekly

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I returned to my musical roots again this week when I previewed the Heart of the City Music and Arts Festival for Vue Weekly.

The annual Heart of the City Music and Arts Festival will take over Giovanni Caboto Park again this Saturday and Sunday as it highlights inner city artists for the 14th year in a row.

Charity Slobod, an organizing board member for the festival, has helped run the event for six years, and she says its primary goal is always the same.

“The main focus, and the most important point, is really giving a platform and helping inspire inner city musicians, artists, slam poets—you name it,” Slobod says. “If you sing it, you can play it, you can be on our stage.” Read more

Goodluck Jonathan Heart of the City 2010I played with a high school rock band (Goodluck Jonathan) at the festival in 2010, so it’s great to hear that it is still growing and supporting artists in Edmonton’s core.

High Level Lit Salon #2 Preview for Vue Weekly

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Jennifer Cockrall-King/ Curtis Trent Photography

I previewed the second High Level Lit Salon this week for Vue Weekly, and the lineup looks as spectacular and as diverse as the first.

Four local writers will converge at The Mercury Room on Wednesday to discuss their work on a non-fiction anthology reflecting on Canada’s 150th birthday from an Edmonton perspective.

High Level Lit: Musings on YEG for Canada’s Sesquicentennial will feature essays and poetry from 12 local authors and be published as a special issue of Eighteen Bridges Magazine this October. The project is organized by the Edmonton Community Foundation in tandem with LitFest Alberta. 

The High Level Lit Salon Series spotlights the anthology’s contributors with a live event, and the second salon will feature food culture writer Jennifer Cockrall-King, former Edmonton poet laureate  Anna Marie Sewell, and local playwright Darrin Hagen. Malcom “Minister Faust” Azania also returns to host the event, after he read excerpts of his anthology contribution at the first salon on Mar. 1. He says the anthology focuses mostly on the Canadian settler perspective. Read more

The Salon Series and High Level Lit: Musings on YEG for Canada’s Sesquicentennial anthology aim to acknowledge that Canada 150 isn’t a celebration for all Canadians. The perspectives of each writer reflect that, and I can’t wait to learn more

SpaceFinder Alberta Workspace Listing Service Report for Vue Weekly

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Photo by Dave Von Bieker

Last week I reported on SpaceFinder Alberta for Vue Weekly. It’s a service brimming with potential, and making it’s way to my province after finding success across North America.

One of the most frustrating barriers to creating art is finding a space to work in. SpaceFinder Alberta is changing this with a listing service aiming to provide a robust solution for Albertan creators.

“We’re kind of referring to it as the Airbnb for non-profits and artists to find the spaces that they require to do their work,” Julian Mayne says. Read more

SpaceFinder Alberta is free to use, growing steadily, and its granular filters should help creatives find the right space for their needs. It seems simple, but execution is everything, so here’s hoping the service succeeds.

Jeff Sylvester’s ‘Signals’ Art Exhibition Preview for Vue Weekly

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I previewed Jeff Sylvester’s latest exhibition, Signals, for Vue Weekly earlier this month.

The work of longtime Edmonton-based artist Jeff Sylvester looks like animated freeze-frames. And Signals, his latest solo exhibition installed this week at The Front Gallery, continues his concept of melding natural and man-made figures with his paintings.

The 44-year-old father of three slowed his exhibition pace after he had kids, but he’s been working steadily on Signals for the past two years and he’s happy with the result. Read more

The exhibition is up until June 5 at The Front Gallery, and both Sylvester and gallery owner Rachel Bouchard say you have to see the paintings in person to really appreciate them.

NorthwestFest Nonfiction Film Festival Preview for Vue Weekly

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Photo by Michael di Benedetto

I previewed Edmonton’s NorthwestFest for Vue Weekly today. The value-added experiences on the festival’s schedule feel like the beginning of something special.

This may only be the second year NorthwestFest is sporting its new name, but as Canada’s longest running nonfiction film festival, its history goes back decades.

Formerly the Global Visions Film Festival, the new moniker NorthwestFest International Documentary and Media Arts Festival has far more heft, as does the festival itself. What was once a three-day event is now a 10-day smorgasbord of variety designed to entice a wider audience, festival director Guy Lavallee says.

“We realized that to really have more of an international festival flavour, you need to be more than three days long,” he says. Read more

The fest opens tonight, and with live podcasts recordings and interactive VR films planned in addition to the traditional films, it should be a lot of fun. You can check the schedule, snag tickets, bundles, and passes, and review award nominations on NorthwestFest website.