David Sherman’s Joe Louis: An American Romance is the perfect event to kick-off Black History Month. Thematically and visually complex, the play explores the life of Joe Louis—the African-American heavyweight boxing champion of the world—through flashbacks, fictional scenes, and historical footage, to comment on the racial prejudice that still resonates[Read More…]
Arts & Entertainment
Keep up to date on local art, new albums, and everything entertainment-related.
Midseason Sitcom Roundup
poptower.com poptower.com Episodes While its concept sounded great, the Episodes pilot is not as exciting and hilarious as it should have been. The show, starring Matt LeBlanc of Friends fame and some Brits, plays off a familiar Hollywood theme: taking a British comedy hit and bringing it over to America.[Read More…]
Iron and Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean
Stepping out of his element, Samuel Beam—a.k.a Iron and Wine—broadens his musical approach on his latest album, Kiss Each Other Clean. As in his previous work, Beam maintains his whispery vocals throughout the album, making it clear that this is an Iron and Wine record. Kiss Each Other Clean should[Read More…]
Talib Kweli: Gutter Rainbows
Alternative rapper Talib Kweli’s Gutter Rainbows displays the best qualities his subgenre has to offer. The lyrical flow is fast-paced, the message isn’t overly materialistic, the production is heavily inspired by neo-soul, and Kweli’s attitude is, as he puts it, “cool like Fonzie.” Throughout Gutter Rainbows, Kweli touches on the[Read More…]
Song and dance for the tortured soul
Alice Walker What do you do when you’re trapped in a Buenos Aires prison? You fantasize about movie stars, of course. That, at least, is how Molina—a gay window-dresser in prison for “corrupting a minor”—has gotten through his darkest hours. When Valentin, a hunky Marxist revolutionary accused of attempting to[Read More…]
Sparkle and glitter for Diamond Rings
aux.tv This week, Toronto-based performer Diamond Rings will open for Scandinavian dance-pop giant Robyn as part of a multi-city North American tour that promises to be anything but boring. Diamond Rings, also known as John O’Regan, has become famous in recent months for his outlandish costumes, energetic performances, and infectious[Read More…]
In Goethe-inspired opera, a fatal attraction
Opera of Montreal Shortly after the curtain rises on Opera of Montreal’s production of Werther, a young boy wheels a bicycle across the stage, laughing and carousing with his friends. The bicycle remains onstage through the first act, occasionally pedaled by the boy but mostly left in a corner, untouched[Read More…]
Before there were hipsters…
Holly Stewart Though it usually operates on a smaller scale, this week Opera McGill will debut a big-budget, big-cast version of what is arguably the world’s biggest-name opera: Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème. “It’s the world’s favourite opera, in some way,” says Patrick Hansen, the director of McGill’s Opera Studies program.[Read More…]
Rewriting the classics
Perhaps inspired by the trials of his conflicted protagonist, director Max Zidel ambitiously attacks Aeschylus’ three-part tragedy in The Oresteia Rewritten, now on at Players’ Theatre. The result of his efforts: a powerful and unexpectedly fast-paced reproduction full of sound and fury. From early on in the play it is[Read More…]
Writing, directing, and performing a play…all in 24 hours
Anna Katycheva Even if you’ve never heard of McGill’s Tuesday Night Cafe Theatre (TNC), you’ve probably wondered why there’s a 50s-inspired neon sign on the otherwise pleasant ivory tower that is the Islamic Studies building. But within the walls of this subtle structure is a world of student ingenuity and[Read More…]
