Part of the thrill that comes from live musical theatre is knowing that something could go wrong at any moment, but rarely does. The best theatre uses this to its advantage, radiating a sense of jubilant spontaneity that wriggles its way into the audience’s hearts and leaves them humming the[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Deep Cuts: Time Warp
My Same Artist: Adele Album: 19 Released: January 28, 2008 Adele has made a name for herself with her soulful and powerful voice, bringing new beauty to pop ballads. In “My Same” Adele’s vocal muscles were not flexed as far as on other tracks, but the cool vintage piece highlights[Read More…]
Album Review: Bjork – Vulnicura
Björk’s Vulnicura manages to pull off an admirable feat by balancing intricate production with emotive rawness. The album offers a brutally comprehensive forensic analysis of Björk’s failed relationship with famed visual artist Matthew Barney. The tracks thematically capture the slow death of a long-term relationship and gradual acceptance[Read More…]
Still Alice avoids tropes, commits to stark realism
At its most basic level, Still Alice is a film about a woman with a disease. Look deeper and you’ll find a story about a woman not only fighting against a disease, but fighting to find who she really is. Deeper still, and it’s a story about love reframing itself[Read More…]
Stemple Pass: A discomforting, compelling exposition
The VOX gallery, also known as “Centre de L’image Contemporaine,” is known for its self-reflexive art, experimenting with colour, shape, form, and technology to facilitate public discourse on the nature of image in today’s society. As a nonprofit organization, entrance to the gallery leaves your pockets untouched, making the[Read More…]
Pop Rhetoric: Oscar backlash misses the mark
The 2015 Oscar nominations were announced recently, and with them came the inevitable hand-wringing that always accompanies news regarding the awards. Many critics cried racism, and the news was generally treated by denizens of the internet as symptomatic of the gross racial inequalities that continue to plague North America and[Read More…]
Album Review: George Ezra – Wanted on Voyage
George Ezra makes his way across the pond this month—physically and digitally—first through his performance last week in Montreal opening for “Stay With Me” singer, Sam Smith; and then by the release of his debut album, Wanted on Voyage, to the North American market. The album was previously released[Read More…]
Album Review: Dan Mangan – Club Meds
Club Meds constitutes the fourth studio album for Canadian musician Dan Mangan—the first with Blacksmith as his backing band—and takes a departure from the songwriter’s folky style into more abstract musical genres. Attempting to convey a darker, atmospheric flair through eclectic melodies and slow vocals, the album falls spectacularly[Read More…]
A night at the opera
As part of their 2014-2015 season, l’Opéra de Montréal produced Camille Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah, a biblical tale of lovers’ deceit and the might of God. Sung entirely in French, Samson and Delilah tells the story of the Hebrew Samson (Endrik Wottrich), who used his God-given strength to free[Read More…]
Uneven script limits Players’ production’s promising potential
The Creation of the World and Other Business is a deep cut of Arthur Miller’s work. The self-serious American playwright tried his hand at comedy, and what followed was nothing if not memorable and confusing. In fact, director Kirsten Kephalas admits that the play is “one of the worst[Read More…]
