Beautiful Feet

Adaptation   has a pretty impressive cast, including my girl-crush Meryl Streep. Best line is when Brian Cox's writing-guru character advises the struggling screenwriter: "Don't you dare bring in a deus ex machina!" Jury's still out on this Tarkovsky film. Lots of juicy Biblical allusions and themes, but it wasn't as visually postapocalyptically satisfying as I'd hoped. The TIFF audience was hardcore, though: for almost 3 hours, you couldn't hear a pin drop! Every time I go to CanStage, I see something astounding and/or fascinating. Both boxes ticked with Triptyque:  Gravity-defying athleticism, the lyricism of contemporary dance and the poetics of the imagination come together in this virtuosic triple bill from Quebec circus superstars The 7 Fingers ( Cuisine & Confessions, Traces ). For the first time, the innovative troupe joins forces with three internationally-renowned choreographers, weaving together a magical journey...

Judi Dench crush / RIP Tim Pigott-Smith "Cows need their teas, like." Holy crap...

We've come a long way since The Railway Children ...  Wonderstruck is absolutely beautiful.

Omilord, I've been so consumed with work that posting the art I have gotten to has been impossible for months. I've seen a lot, and the title refers to the last three outings. Green Light: Comedy Usually I don't love comedies, but I made this exception because the star of Don't Talk to Irene , Michelle McLeod, is a friend of a friend. Not only was it fun and uplifting, Scott Thompson as the retirement-home director-who-wishes-he-wasn't is understatedly perfect! Yellow Light: Pause for beauty Not saying this is the most important film in history, but I'm glad I saw Loving Vincent  at TIFF. Taking it in full-size and with a sense of wonder was a lovely antidote to current affairs. Red Light: Check your assumptions at the door This was not what I expected, but The Florida Project was very affecting. Insane acting, still sticks with me. Did not see this story or the ending coming. Other recent experiences: Life After  at CanStage ...

I'm starting to think I should go to Iceland. I keep coming across movies and shows made there. And I am going across the Pond next year—hmmm... Meanwhile I'll stick to film. The Deep  (2013, dir. Baltasar Kormákur) could be received anti-climactically, but I found it a quiet rumination on several themes. While it is somewhat an action piece, that's not the bulk of it. If you want a thought-provoking film, eat the popcorn during the first half and then settle down. The star, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, is a sort of Icelandic Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) here, and his understated performance is part of the reason the brakes go on during the narrative based on a true story. Speaking of our late fave actor, I chose God's Pocket  because I LOVE him and really appreciate John Turturro and Richard Jenkins. But a few minutes in, I realized I'd seen it (all Philip's indie pictures tend to conflate for me) and I wasn't in the mood for its violence and disconcerting e...

War propaganda media is an interest of mine, and this is an excellent romp through the area of films being made during WWII. Terrific performances, especially by the wonderful Bill Nighy.

This is a slow, quiet movie but, as an audience member said afterwards, you'll feel like you've lost 80 lbs by the end. 

A few subtitle issues I could have dealt with, but overall great fun if you loved the first one!

Vanessa Wells ‏   @vwellseditor Hootlet More Told @ michaelhmori that I waited @ 10yrs to see #OksanaG since its inception in a @TapestryOpera brief. I knew then it'd be worth the wait! RETWEETS 2 LIKES 5 10:03 PM - 29 May 2017  from  Toronto, Ontario 0 replies 2 retweets 5 likes Reply   Retweet   2 Like   5 View Tweet activity Music by  Aaron Gervais  | Libretto by  Colleen Murphy CAST: Natalya Gennadi – Oksana Keith Klassen  – Konstantin Adam Fisher  – Father Alexander Krisztina Szabó  – Sofiya (Oksana’s Mother) Kim Barber –Aza Aaron Sheppard –Pavlo Jacqueline Wooley– Nataliya Alex Hajek –Yuri Andrea Ludwig –Lyuba Maria Soulis –Clara Neil Craighead –Dima Cairan Ryan –Immigration Officer Erica Iris –Auctioneer A Tapestry Opera Production

They've lost the clown noses but The Return by Circa was an exquisite blend of insanely talented circus art with drama and live Italian baroque chamber music and opera accompaniment. As usual, CanStage brought in innovative programming (and, as usual, some dope brought in their ringing cell phone). At one point, I just sat there being so grateful for the gift of art in my life. Lovely. CREATED BY Yaron Lifschitz with Quincy Grant and the Circa Ensemble MUSIC BY Monteverdi, Grant, Mahler, Pisador and traditional DIRECTOR Yaron Lifschitz COMPOSITION/MUSICAL DIRECTION/ARRANGEMENTS Quincy Grant CIRCA ENSEMBLE Nathan Boyle Marty Evans Nicole Faubert Bridie Hooper Nathan Knowles Todd Kilby Cecilia Martin OPERA SINGERS Kate Howden Benedict Nelson MUSICIANS Pal Banda (Cello) Joe Bronstein (Violin & Viola) Natalie Murray-Beale (Musical Director, Piano, Harpsichord) Cecilia de Santa Maria (Harp) TECHNICAL DIRECTION/LIGHTING DESIGN Jason Organ STAGE DESIGN Yar...

COC PRODUCTION Giacomo Puccini Set in Rome amid the turbulence of the Napoleonic Wars,  Tosca  is a tense psychological drama of  passion and betrayal. Floria Tosca, a famous singer, murders Scarpia, the vicious chief of police, to save her beloved Cavaradossi. But Scarpia’s schemes outlive him with cruel and fatal consequences. CAST AND CREATIVE TEAMS Tosca   Adrianne Pieczonka/Keri Alkema* Cavaradossi    Marcelo Puente/Kamen Chanev* Scarpia    Markus Marquardt/Craig Colclough* Angelotti Musa Ngqungwana A Sacristan    Donato di Stefano Spoletta Joel Sorensen Sciarrone  Giles Tomkins A Jailer Bruno Roy Conductor:     Keri-Lynn Wilson Director:   Paul Curran Set Designer and  Costume Designer:   Kevin Knight Lighting Designer:   David Martin Jacques Chorus Master:   Sandra Horst *May 7, 11, 14, 18, 20, 2017 Adrianne Pieczonka as Tosca in  Tosca  (COC, 2012...

SPOTLIGHT AUSTRALIA meeting DIRECTED, CHOREOGRAPHED & PERFORMED BY  Antony Hamilton Vanessa Wells ‏   @vwellseditor Hootlet More Don't know how 2 describe what I just saw except 64 computerized tapping pencils & 2 Aussie dancers. Insanely cool @canadianstage #Meeting CONCEPT, TEXT & PERFORMANCE Tamara Saulwick SONG-WRITER & PERFORMER Paddy Mann SOUND DESIGNER, COMPOSER & OPERATOR Peter Knight SET & LIGHTING DESIGNER Ben Cobham / bluebottle DRAMATURGE Margaret Trail COSTUME DESIGNER Harriet Oxley PHOTO CREDIT Prudence Upton

LOUIS RIEL By Harry Somers Libretto by Mavor Moore with the collaboration of Jacques Languirand Russell Braun was excellent.

Canadian Stage One of the best pieces I have seen CHOREOGRAPHY Marie Chouinard ORIGINAL MUSIC Louis Dufort SET, COSTUME, LIGHTING, VIDEO DESIGN, PROPS Marie Chouinard

A show by  Fay Ringel & Alex Correia, Founders ZEBRA PUBLIC ART MGMT.     www.ZebraPublicArt.com   2 St. Clair Avenue West, 18th Floor Toronto, ON M4V 1L5     Phone:   416.505.6459   | Email:  Info @ZebraPublicArt.com So ticked that I had to work and miss this! Next time.

Photo by Bill Cooper, featuring Ben McAteer (James) Who called it?! Scottish Opera's Ben McAteer just beat out some fierce competition to win Outstanding Opera Performance at the  MyTheatre Awards  for last season's  The Devil Inside ! Composed by Stuart MacRae with libretto by Louise Welsh,  The Devil Inside  was Scottish Opera's North American debut featuring international artists including Matthew Richardson, Michael Rafferty, Nicholas Sharratt, Rachel Kelly, Ben McAteer, and Steven Page. CONGRATULATIONS to Ben and all involved in bringing this outstanding production to Toronto. We are proud and thrilled. The Nominees for Outstanding Opera Performance: Jane Archibald in Ariodante (Canadian Opera Company) Rachel Kelly in The Devil Inside (Tapestry Opera) Ben McAteer in The Devil Inside (Tapestry Opera) - WINNER! Erin Wall in The Marriage of Figaro (Canadian Opera Company) Sondra Radvanovsky in Norma (Canadian Op...

This is the most intelligent and gripping TV I have watched in years and years. Sorry I missed it when it was first released; glad it's on Netflix now. Devastating and chilling, largely because we're almost there now. (2011, created by Charlie Brooker.)

Scott Belluz and Subiksha Rangarajan (as The Woman)  Photo courtesy of Domoney Artists . Used with permission. In March, countertenor Scott Belluz starred in The Man Who Married Himself , a production by Toronto Masque Theatre in their penultimate season, which the Crow’s Nest website described thus : “ Unwilling to marry a woman, a man fashions a lover from his own left side. He's enraptured by her perfect beauty—a mirror of his own—until he discovers that this new woman longs for freedom and wildly desires another. South Asian and Baroque music and performance traditions meet in a stunning new masque based on a traditional Indian folk-tale. Powerful and timely, The Man Who Married Himself is an allegory of the female and male warring within as told by 2 dancers, 3 singers and 6 musicians.” The show was very engaging, with lots of gestural and sensual stimuli, as well as unexpected humour. As someone in the talkback said, unlike most folk-tales, which in general h...