Staying in Toronto!

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I’m still having a great time in Toronto. There is just so much to do and see, my legs are like jelly, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Especially since, I just caught sight of the Calgary weather forcast. It’s been beautiful in my home-base, but it looks like things are about to change….and quick.
Check out the long-term forcast, pay close attention to Saturday and Sunday.

Yes, it says 10 cms of snow. Sigh.

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Being Mike Meeting Erica!

>I’m so freaking excited!!!! Later on today I’m going to be visiting the Being Erica set and getting a chance to meet with the cast including, Erica Karpluk!

So so cool.
I’ve already showered, put on twice the deodorant and have a brand new camera to take as many pictures as I can.
My goal for today?
Not make an ass of myself.
I’ll be back later today with a ton of pictures and hopefully some scoop. Check back soon!

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Nominations Open!

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The nominating portion of CBC Radio 2′s Great Canadian Song Quest has finally opened. Check out their website and nominate you favorite spot in Canada and it might be immortalized in a song!

On second thought, I guess you could do that, but what’s the point? You already know where…rather, what is going to win.

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Review: The Boys in The Photograph

>Also available on The National Post’s The Ampersand.

It’s not very often that you get to see a new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. This weekend however, Torontonians were treated to the premiere of the Broadway legend’s and Mirvish Productions newest show, The Boys in The Photograph.

If you’re a fan of the musical, you won’t be disappointed by Boys. There is love and death. There are boisterous chorus numbers (The Beautiful Game) and heartbreaking ballads like the one sung by one of the show’s leads, Erica Peck. If her rendition of If This Is What We’re Fighting For doesn’t break your heart, then you are a cold, cold person.
Unfortunately, since The Phantom of the Opera’s heydey, the world of theatre has changed. In today’s economy, you are going to need more than Andrew Lloyd Webber’s name to make sure a musical sticks around and plays to full houses night after night. For a show to be successful, you have to be able to make it appeal to all – to boys and girls; to gay and straight; to young and old. Luckily The Boys in the Photograph, which was directed by the world-renowned Ben Elton, has something for everyone to enjoy. Here’s hoping that it continues to play with standing ovations, just like it did opening night!
How does it manage that, you say? Well, if you fall into one of the categories below, here are some ways in which it may appeal to you:
For the Soccer fan: I truly believe that you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a soccer match made into a dance number. It’s no World Cup final, but it’s definitely a close second. It’s like West Side Story’s fight scenes, only with bicycle kicks and over the head throw-ins.
For the History Buff: The show does a great job portraying the frustration and exhaustion of the youth living in Belfast in the late sixites and early seventies. By giving faces and names to the inter-communal violence that plagued the Irish capital, the musical almost made the country of Ireland another character to the story. I wish my knowledge of this time in Ireland’s history was better, only so that I would have appreciated the context of the play even more. Otherwise, make sure you Wikipedia IRA, just to be sure.
For the Ebay sellers: Watching the young and all-Canadian cast, it’s obvious that many of them will be around for a long time. Hang out by the stage door and get Tony LePage’s and Tracy Dawson’s autographs, anyone can see that they are stars-in-the-making. Trust me, your EBAY account will thank you.
The Boys in The Photograph is playing at the Royal Alexandra Theatre until November 1st. Click here to buy your tickets.

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Gum Disease

>Eww!
Um…this is gross, right?

I mean has anybody actually tried this gum? Tell me, it is it gross? It looks really gross. I’m assuming it’s gross. Yeah, it’s gross.
What flavour are they going to come up with next? Cheese Fondu?

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A reason to scream!

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There isn’t very many things that would make me squeal like a little girl.

They include:
  • Having brunch with Mandy Moore.
  • CSI being taken off the air.
  • Nickelback would finally fail.
  • And Scream 4 with the entire cast.
Oh wait. That last one is happening. That’s right, Neve Campbell has finally seen the light, and signed up to play Sydney Prescott for the fourth time!!! David Arquette and Courtney Cox had already committed, but now they will all be doing the movie together! Oh and they have all signed up for another THREE movies.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEAL!

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The Big Night!

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One of the hardest parts of being a Canadian Entertainment Blogger, is that sometimes, I have a hard time suppressing my excitement for meeting cool people. You see, there is an unspoken rule for meeting celebrities if you are in the media. You cannot act like a fan. You have to be a peer. Or at least try to be.

I have broken this rule at least once. I think the previous time was fair because Sarah McLaughlin was standing right beside me, what else was I supposed to do? I obviously took a picture.
Tonight was another really hard night, to try to be “cool.” I was invited to the Opening Night Gala of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show The Boys in the Photograph. Yes, I went twice in a row. It’s that good. At the VIP reception afterwards, Ben Elton was mingling about. Ben Elton wrote the show, as well as other shows like We Will Rock You and television shows like, Mr. Bean and the Black Adler. He is pretty much British Royalty.
Acting as cool as a rotten cucumber, I approached him and congratulated him. And we talked briefly about the show. I told him that after two consecutive viewings, that it was a very strong show that he should be proud and we cheersed our wine glasses. Yes, I cheeresed with Ben Elton. Suck on that high school drama teacher that gave me an 75%, because “I tried to hard.”
Unfortunately, I didn’t take a picture, because I was trying to be cool and not a fan. It was so hard to do, but sometimes it’s part of the gig. I did get a picture with the star of the show, Tony LePage!! I’ll have a full blog about the show ASAP. But for now, I felt privileged to see the show again. Thanks to Sue from Mirvish Productions for helping me out!

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M.Dot from the T.Dot

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Guess where I am!

That’s right! Toronto! For the next week, I will be blogging from the Street Meat capital of the country. Now from what I witness already, that can mean MANY different things.
I have some really cool things lined up, and I’m really excited to tell you about them. But why spill all the beans at once? Where would the fun be in that?
First off, I got to get a chance to see a sneak peek of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s newest show, The Boys in the Photograph. I’m going to do a full review on it really soon, but I can tell you right now that if you are in the Toronto area, you must add this to your must-do list!
And I’m not just saying that because my friend Tony has the lead role. And yes, I did just type that so you know that I’m friends with a semi-famous person. Plus U2′s Bono even dropped in on the rehearsals this week, and you aren’t going to argue with Bono are you? No, I didn’t think so.

The show opens officially tonight and will be running at least until November 1st.
It’s not your typical musical, mostly because it’s about soccer players. And I can now say that you truly haven’t lived until you’ve seen a soccer match as an interpretive dance. Trust me.

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Dirty Facebook

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I was trying to spam my friends on Facebook yesterday about visiting my blog (no, I’m not above that), and I got that security check box from the Admin team. However the words I was asked to enter rather concerned me. Now it was a direct threat, but it might as well have been.

Yikes. That’s an image eh.

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Overshadowed by a couch?

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For the last couple of weeks I have been doing a little campaigning for CBC’s Great Canadian Song Quest. Radio 2 is looking for the best places in Canada to write songs about, then they are going to make an album based on those locations, performed by Canadian artists. To sum up: Lots of Canada, Lots of Canadian Music, Canada.

My choices for the top places in Canada included The Annex in Toronto, Baddeck, NS, Field, BC and more importantly, My couch.
Yes, my couch. The same one that has been enjoyed by many of my friends and one over-zealous homeless person.
Well CBC has heard my pleas and now me and my couch are currently featured on the Great Canadian Song Question webpage! Ahhh just look at it! So comfy!
I’m totally going to win right? I mean how could Patrick Watson or Joel Plaskett not write a song about such a glorius creature. The couch, not me. Sickos.

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