Mike's Bloggity Blog

If you’re like me and you’ve been a fan of Degrassi your whole life, you’ve always wondered what happened to the characters after they graduated?  Fans of the original series got a taste of life after Degrassi when the still controversial movie School’s Out premiered in 1992.  And, while it was never declared a Degrassi spin-off, the long forgotten Liberty Village featured a grown up Pat Mastroianni continuing to figure out life in Toronto.

Tonight, in a dual broadcast with CTV and Much, The L.A Complex will look to tell the stories of characters so similar to those we’ve grown to love in Degrassi, it’s hard to believe that it too is not a spin-off.

When I started to write this blog post, I didn’t want to mention Degrassi. It’s not really fair to compare the shows, because they aren’t even about the same thing.  But since both shows are produced by the same production company, use some of the same sets (I’d recognize The Dot coffee shop anywhere) and even feature a Degrassi alumni (Cassie Steel), there are bound to be some similarities.  Luckily, all the things that Degrassi does well, The L.A Complex does almost better at. The show follows a wide ranging group of aspiring performers pursuing stardom in Hollywood, who all happen to live in a Melrose Place-esque complex, no doubt making it easier for the show’s writers to find ways of keeping the actors, dancers and comedians tangled in the The L.A Complex’s deliciously twisty story lines. Another benefit of not being a Degrassi spin0ff is that the show doesn’t haven’t to appeal to the Teen Nick demographic, nope, this show oozes sex ans sunshine, which is never a bad thing.

The creators of Degrassi have always been applauded with pushing limits and with The LA Complex, they are given a whole new palatte in which to play with.  Compared to Toronto, Los Angeles is darker, it’s dangerous and it offers up limitless problems for our little Canadian actors. Cassie Steele, who we all grew to love as the sweet Manny Santos on Degrassi, essentially curb stomps that character to death with her new role as Abby Vargas, the stripping, esctasy taking, cheating, unprotected sex having and not to mention homeless actress, who can’t seem to catch break.  It’d be easy to not like her character, because seriously who would, but Steele is able to give the character a breath of sincerity and honesty, which makes you want to root for her, even though you know, as a person with a moral code, you probably shouldn’t.

In the first two episodes, there are a whole lot of characters to digest, but one that stuck out for me was Raquel, who’s played by Vancouver native Jewel Staite.  Sci-fi fans will recognize the actress from Firefly and Stargate:Atlantis.  As the veteran actress in the resident, Raquel is a formidable foe for Cassie Steele’s Abby, who unbeknownst to her, does not always have her best interests at heart. And why should she, after all they’re already competing for the same roles and men. It will be interesting to see the tension between the two grow until the inevitable all out, fall into the pool cat fight.

And a just to tease you a little bit, the last thirty seconds of the second episode offers a shock so big, I let out a whoop and then a holler.

The current state of Canadian television is dreary, but The L.A Complex is not. It’s bright, fun, energetic and while I’ve never been a struggling actor in LA, seems to come from a real place. The first season will offer up only six episodes, and I’m hoping that this fantastic show quickly finds an audience, so we can continue to see what happens to the kids of Degrassi, when the city of L.A gets ahold of them.

The L.A. Complex premieres tonight at 9PM ET/PT on MuchMusic.

Unless you were inundated by press releases like I was, you probably didn’t know CBC’s Cover Me Canada premiered tonight.  But that’s not your fault, it had heavy competition going up against the Emmys, leaving most of eastern Canada to choose between the popular award show and the unheard of reality singing competition.

Luckily, those of us in the western part of Canada got to take advantage of time shifting and were able to watch both the Emmys and Cover Me Canada.

But in case you didn’t get to watch, here are my immediate thoughts.

Three things I liked:

-The talent:  The bands up for the top prize of $100,000 can actually sing.  If this show is going to stand out among all the other singing shows, then focusing on the this country’s amazing talent is the best way to do it.  With just a brief segment with each of the show’s bands, producers have chosen a great variety of exciting contestants, that seem to be break today’s pop idol mold. Which means yes, they skipped the audition process and I’m really, really thankful.

-The set:  Picture what you thought the set of a CBC rock concert show would look like and then immediately forget it.  Weak lighting, a lame set and the show’s overall production would have been easy reasons to change the channel, but Cover Me Canada is proof that the network has been getting our tax dollars.

-The winner: I like how Cover Me Canada will let the judges pick which band will be eliminated each week.  Thanks to every single winner of Canadian Idol, Canadians have been proven that we can’t be trusted when given the power of the vote.

Three things I didn’t like:

-Nicole Appleton’s accent: If you can identify it, you win.

-The judges:  It’s not that I don’t like the judges completely, I think they are just finding their “characters.”  Jordan, I’m over it.  We don’t need you to just be nice.  Deborah Cox said that she liked the first band because she “could hear every word they sang.” Ron Fair is awesome, except that he also told the first band that they were the ones to beat. If that’s not producer manipulation, I don’t know what is.

-Song length: I’m not sure how long the bands were allowed to sing, but it felt like they were only singing for ten seconds, enough to sing the chorus and maybe a few other lines.  I know the show has a lot of bands to get through, but the judges’ elaborate critiques seemed pretty in-depth for the likely sixty second performance. This problem will hopefully be fixed as more and more bands get eliminated.

Final thought:  I’ll be honest, I went into watching Cover Me Canada wanting to hate it and afterwards, it really surprised me. It wasn’t that bad.  The producers, judges and contestants seem to know what they are doing and it’s remarkably watchable.  Like I said, I really wanted to hate it. If done with Simon and Paula, then Cover Me Canada is singing your tune.

When it was first announced that Katy Perry was coming to Calgary for the Stampede, I believe my initial reaction was a resounding “meh.” While I had downloaded some of her songs in the past, I couldn’t imagine Russel Brand’s wife would able to justify an entire concert.   When the show almost immediately sold out the Saddledome, I was left in shock. Really?  Did that many people want to see Katy Perry? Apparently so. Which meant that I immediately had to go.

Luckily the super nice folks at Ubisoft, whose Just Dance 2 will feature Katy Perry songs, had some tickets lying around so I got go, but it still felt like I was going more out of curiousity than actual excitment.

Once the show started, I don’t really know how it happened, but I looked to my friend and I said “I’m in!”  I felt like my membership to Team Perry was signed almost immediately and now the next morning, I’m still kinda surprised how much I loved the Teenage Dream concert.

Here are the three reasons why I fell in love:

1. Live.  Do you know how many pop acts can sing and dance and still live nowadays?  Not very many.  The fact that Katy really sang throughout the entire show, was impressive, which is really a sad statement on today’s entertainment, but that’s something Rolling Stone can write about.  For me, it was amazing to hear that she actually has an amazing voice that was all too often drowned out by the huge production numbers.

2. Theatrics. Speaking of the big production numbers, the set was like a giant Candy Land game.  (Not that I’ve ever played Candy Land….) I can only describe it being as like a show on Broadway but with thousands of people screaming, yelling, dancing and taking photos. Rarely did we sit, mostly because we were having too much fun, with my short attention span, that my friends is a miracle.

3. Fans. One thing that Katy Perry loves is her fans and it shows.  It’s no secret that the music industry is in trouble, people don’t have to buy music anymore, so if you don’t love and support your fans, why should they support you.  The show was filled with special moments just for Katy’s admirers.  Calling up a “hot cowboy” or instigating an impromptu dance party with dozens of fans on stage, are moments that many who saw the show won’t ever forget.

For years I had mistakenly put Katy Perry in the same crowd as Lady Gaga, but now I see how wrong I was.  While Gaga relies on shock value to keep your interest, Katy Perry does it by just being herself.  Now that’s what I call a role model.

Let’s get the dirty and shocking information out of the way first, I’ve never seen The Wizard of Oz.

I’ll give you a moment.

Have you settled down, so to confirm, I’ve never seen The Wizard of Oz.  I mean I get all the references, I know what it’s about, but my parents never showed it to me, so I grew up watching Arachnophobia and The Sandlot instead.  It’s never particularly really bothered me, I mean I get that it’s probably good, but do I have two hours to sit down and watch a movie that I feel like I’ve already seen?  Nope.

Now that we’ve cleared that out of the way, I was so excited to see Wicked tonight, really for two reasons.  One, my parents were in town, so I got to take them to some professional theatre. (Fun Fact: They are also Wizard of Oz virgins.) And two, I wanted to see if the buzz about Wicked was deserved.  Not that I would argue with the show’s countless accolades, but a touring production is something else altogether.

Well I’m happy to say that Wicked is the best and most solid Broadway Across Canada production that I’ve ever seen. Hands down. Sorry Lion King, I hope you enjoyed your long standing reign.

I used to dabble in theatre and the roles of Elphaba and Glinda are simply to die for, they are perfect and in the touring production, they are portrayed exquisitely by a very green Anne Brummel and the ever cheery (and Canadian) Natalie Daradich.  I used to imagine how amazing it would be to see Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth performing Defying Gravity in the roles they originated on Broadway, but since that will never happen, I’m happy to know that I’ve definitely seen the next best thing.

It was great to talk to my mom and dad after the show, my dad essentially introduced me to musicals on our monthly drives to Montreal growing up, and brought up the fact that while he enjoyed it, it was a perfect example of how musicals have changed.  They used to be about the story and the singing, and now, Wicked included, is so much more about the production, the glitz, the effects and yes, the loud music.  He said whenever the chorus sang, it was nearly impossible to hear them, and I have to agree.  I mean it’s chorus, you genreally know what they are singing about, but it was still hard to hear.

I’d also recommend that if you’re like me and my folks, you lose your Wizard of Oz virginity before going to see Wicked.  I could tell there were a ton of jokes that flew over my head like they were flying monkeys. But I’m guessing people who haven’t already seen the movie are few and far between.

Living in Calgary, we don’t always get to see the highest quality broadway shows, it comes with living in the middle of a desert, I get it.  But shows as moving and stirring as Wicked give me hope that more and more shows will come to our fair city.  And if the cast of Wicked is wondering, yes it’s rare to get a full standing ovation in our city, you should be as proud as I was entertained.

Wicked playing Calgary until July 17th.
Edmonton from July 20th until August 7th.
Saskatoon from August 10th until August 21st.
Winnipeg from August 24th until September 4th

Click here for tickets.

Lottery:  Just like the real shows in NYC, there is a lottery for Wicked. Alls (that’s right, alls) you have to do is go to the box office two hours before any showtime and put your name in a draw.  Then they do a lottery for the remaining tickets and the best part is that it only costs you $25.  Such a steal.

When CTV’s Hiccups premiered last year it was a ratings hit. Thanks to constant promotion during the Olympics, the first episode was watched by more than two million Canadians. That is a huge hit. The comedy tells the story of a eccentric children’s book author, Millie Upton (Nancy Roberston) who enlists the help of a life coach, played by series creator Brent Butt. The audience and critics seemed pretty receptive to the show, but then after a relateively quiet first season, Hiccups…disappeared.

Well it took a more than a year, but Hiccups has finally returned to the CTV line up just in time for the network’s revamped summer schedule. The good thing about coming on in the summer is that the competition is far less scary, so it could potentially give a really a hilarious show a chance to shine, Hiccups is not that show…but it’s oh so close.

The chemistry between Butt and Robertson is as solid as always, (working beside your real-life husband will do that), they let the zingers fly almost non-stop and Nancy’s character Millie is gloriously ridiculous and kooky. The two really could (and should) just have their own show. Which is perhaps this show’s biggest problem.

Where Hiccups stumbles is that it focuses too much on the supporting-characters that simply aren’t funny. Nancy Robertson and Brent Butt are obviously stars and some might argue comedic geniuses. So why doesn’t Hiccups just focus on them instead on the rest of the cast that simply can’t keep up. And you can’t really blame them, Laura Soltis, David Ingram, Emily Perkins and Paula Rivera are all known for their dramatic and sci-fi projects, it just feels like a really weird fit. For many, the lulls in laughter, will end up making the whole show not worth watching.

The show’s comparison’s to Corner Gas are unavoidable, the entire cast could deliver a joke and had amazing comedic timing, so much so, that it didn’t matter if the leads weren’t in the scenes, Hiccups isn’t there yet and I’m just not sure it’s worth the wait.

Hiccups premieres tonight on CTV

I’ve always kind of felt bad for theatre.  It seems either you like or you don’t, and it’s a rare production that has something for everyone, even if the thought of watching a play makes them go into a deep coma.  Hey, we’ve all been there.

This week, Forte Musical Theatre Guild, a small Calgary theatre company, opens their new show, [Title of Show].  No, that’s not a typo, Title of Show is the Title of the show. It tells the story of four friends making a musical about making a musical about making a musical, about making a musical….you get the point?  It requires a certain amount of fun concentration and just when you think they’ve made a mistake, they crack a joke and  you realize: “Just sit back and enjoy the ride.”

The cast is solid.   It’s a small cast of four, who the most part, are on the stage for the entire length of the play.  The cast consists of Erin “Damn that voice is amazing” Breen, Scott “Look out Anthony Rapp“ Olynek (Jeff), Ksenia “The comedic chops of a pro” Thurgood (Susan), Guilly “fits like a glove” Urra (Hunter).  It’s the kinda cast that within in a matter of minutes, you know how good of a show it is going to be.

The show kinda reminded of 30 Rock.   Very insidery about the musical industry, lots of mentions of people that I’ve never heard of, but enough comedy and songs to keep a theatre-virgin content.  You can’t really ask for more than that?

Where the play falters is its length, the last twenty minutes aren’t interesting enough to keep the audience 100% engaged. It could be tighter and it could be faster.  It takes turn, when it really could have stopped. It’s not the end of the world, it just leaves you yearning for happier times.  But at the same time, I guess it’s definitely realistic.

At just under 90 minutes, Title of Show makes for a great night.  Especially if you are thinking of dabbling in the world of a theatre-goer.

[title of show] plays until June 4th.

Click here for tickets.

The thing about being media, you get to see a lot of shows. Some are good, some are great and inevitably, over time, you become more and more difficult to impress. Not cynical, just an over-reaching feeling that, “Yeah, I’ve seen that before.”

Well I’m happy to say that at last night’s premiere of Cavalia, I most definitely did not feel that way. Instead, I was blown away at what was visually, one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. A bold statement I know, but not one without merit.

If you’re not familiar with Cavalia, in it’s simplest form, it’s like Cirque Du Soleil with horses, lots of horses. I know what you’re thinking, “Can horses even be trained?” Turns out they can and they can do some pretty crazy stuff. Like Cirque, the show takes place under the big top, the world’s biggest actually. The show isn’t in the round though, instead it is set up like a regular theatre with a stage so big, it is the size of a football field. Granted, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a football field, but the stage was big.

There isn’t really a story to Cavalia, it felt like I imagined Christopher Columbus felt when he first discovered the Native Americans, only instead, the Native Americans are french speaking, horse worshipers, dressed in Renaissance clothing. The rest of the evening plays like a talent show, with some acts stronger and more impressive than others. (Cool: Falling ten stories, only to catch yourself on a rope. Less cool: A girl with a lasso.)

The second act of the show is where you really get your money’s worth, you’ll be left in awe at the amazing things the horses and their trainers are able to accomplish. I’m not going to spoil the surprise but
not only was the impossible made possible, Cavalia made it look easy. The show was made even more impressive by the fact that, many times, the horses were left to their own devices without saddles, harnesses or anything else. The evening’s highlight was most definitely the Horse Whisperer. I’m a believer.

Living in Calgary, you see a lot of shows with horses. They are so frequent that sometimes, the whole thing feels like a one-trick pony. But Cavalia is different, Cavalia is amazing.

Move over Stampede, there’s a new horse in town.

Cavalia plays at COP until June 26th.

Tonight the fast moving fancy-free feet of Riverdance came to Calgary for an exclusive one week engagement.  If I’m being honest, I’ve probably never had Riverdance on top of my MUST SEE list, instead the show was probably always on my HAVE TO SEE list.  Ever since the show premiered nearly seventeen years ago, I’ve had memories of sitting around the TV with my mom watching show after show on CBC. Seeing Riverdance is a Canadian rite of passage and tonight was the night.

Because I’m a good audience member, I didn’t tweet during the show but sometimes, I find myself thinking in short 140 character bursts.  Am I saying that I think in tweets?  Yes, Yes I do.

Here are five tweets that came to mind during Riverdance:

-Are they making it look easy, or is it just easy?
Not that the spectacle of the show wasn’t impressive, but really aren’t they just doing the same five moves over and over?  Intro to Irish Dance must be the shortest class in the entire dance school.

-These dancers easily must have the weakest upper bodies (outside of curlers.)
Even  ballet has a few lifts?  In Irish Dance the hands barely get higher than their wastes.  Their arms are probably 1/32nd the size of their thighs.

-This show has remained untouched since it premiered in 1994.
This is great if you’re like me and you’ve never seen the show. But if you’re a repeat viewer, you might be disappointed.  Kinda like the second time I saw Elton John.  It was exactly the same show two years later. If artists know this is the case, they should post a warning: “Show remains the same, check back soon.”

-Why am I such a sucker for large group dance numbers?
Even the most cynical person would have a hard time resisting the excitement that comes from watching Riverdance’s huge dance numbers.  They are stirring, exciting and dizzying.  They get me every.single.time.

-Poor Riverdance, they really felt the wrath of Calgary’s “I’m not clapping unless everyone else is clapping” unspoken rule tonight.
You may or may not have heard that Calgary has one of the worst reputations for being a cold audience.  I’ve seen people sit through an entire Jason Mraz concert, Swell Season essentially told the audience to fuck off at last year’s Folk Fest and at that same festival, another artist left the stage in tears.  Yes, this city can be brutal. Tonight it took an hour and forty five minutes for the audience to finally get behind the dancers, and that’s after they were essentially begging the crowd to clap.  I’d love to be a fly on the dressing room when they are talking about Calgary crowds.  Even the standing ovation was weak, it’s Canada, you know you are going to get one.  But I think most people in the audience were just getting up. Oh well, a standing O is a standing O.

Riverdance is playing in Calgary until Sunday, April 24th.
Edmonton, AB (April 26 – May 1, 2011)
Regina, SK (May 3 – May 5, 2011)
Saskatoon, SK (May 6 – May 8, 2011)
Victoria, BC (May 30 – June 1, 2011)

With the solidified success of Lost Girl comfortably in its back pocket, Showcase is now risking its potential Hot Streak status with its newest show Endgame, which premieres later tonight.

Endgame is the story of Arkady Balagan (Shawn Doyle), an agoraphobic and World Chess Champion who is mourning the loss of his fiancee after she was murdered in front of him.  Unable to leave his hotel, Balagan becomes an accidental detective and uses his strategy-addicted mind to solve crimes. Oh and he’s Russian.  Not really crucial to the story (or is it?!?), I’ve just always enjoyed the accent.

So why should you watch a crime show about a chess player? Well, before you declare checkmate on Endgame, here are five reasons why I think it might just be worth your time:

1. Chess has never seemed so exciting.  No, seriously. Hell if I knew that I could have used it to become a private detective, I would have picked up the game years ago.

2.  The show is much more exciting than the bland title may imply. Part Veronica Mars with a heavy helping of House (and yes, a dash of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,) EndGame uses clever and often funny flashbacks to fill in the story’s missing pieces…or in this case chess pieces.  (Nailed it.)

3. A crime show with real-twists that leaves out the gore?  Yes, please!  Not as scary as Criminal Minds or CSI, Endgame does what crime shows used to do and focuses on an intriguing story and a solid cast, not the blood.

4.  Fans of Glee‘s missing-in-action Mr. Tanaka will be happy to see that his portrayer Patrick Gallagher, shows up as the defiant hotel security manager.  There doesn’t seem to be any chance that he will bust out a broadway number but it might be worth sticking around, just to be sure.

5. Vancouver, Vancouver, Vancouver.  Not since The Olympics, has the city been shot so beautifully.  The Westin Bayshore is cast as the central hotel, only now called The Huxley.  Fans of Fringe will also have fun pointing out similar shooting locations.  Is it too soon to ask for a crossover episode?

Endgame premieres tonight on Showcase!

Today I’ve got something different for you!  Both myself and Bloggity Reviewer Dan Meades went to hear Malcolm Gladwell speak tonight.  Dan is a big fan, and judging from the huge crowd he wasn’t the only one. I, on the other hand, suffer from FOMO–a.k.a. Fear of Missing Out. It’s a crippling disorder that requires me to see something if everyone else is going to be talking about it.

Thus, I present you with a pair of reviews. If you’re a fan of Malcolm Gladwell’s check out what Dan had to say. If you’re like me and you’ve never heard of him, my review’s for you!

Smartypants: Malcolm Gladwell at the Jack Singer Concert Hall

Malcolm Gladwell sold out the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary. In fact, he sold it out more quickly than anyone else in its history except Sarah McLachlan. I doubt Gladwell has the same sense of pitch as McLachlan, but he was certainly treated like a rock star tonight.

Gladwell is the Canadian-born author of The Tipping Point (2000), Blink (2005), Outliers (2008), and What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009). He’s a sort of public intellectual, a thinker and writer on topics of current and historical significance. This evening he spoke about what he calls “miscalibration,” the idea that so-called “experts” can possess overconfidence that leads them to make mistakes, and that because of their roles as leaders these mistake can have tragic consequences. I would attempt to explain this further but frankly would just screw it up: my pants are not nearly as smart as his.

Gladwell illustrated his point by recalling an American Civil War battle, weaving in stories about the 1929 stock market crash and the recent financial crisis. He even threw in the results of a psychology study for the academics in the crowd. I could go on and on about Gladwell’s seemingly endless knowledge, but instead would like to comment on my overriding impression of the evening: Gladwell’s skill as a storyteller. With an almost boyish charm, Gladwell led the audience effortlessly back and forth between the 1863 Battle of Chancellorsville and the events leading up to the 2008 financial meltdown. One of the only Canadians who possesses similar storytelling skill is CBC’s Stewart McLean, but Gladwell is neither as wholesome nor as accessible. Frankly, I like that about him.

And now for my thoughts:

For me, Malcolm Gladwell was always a name that made my head start nodding whenever I heard it mentioned. Had I heard of him? No. But I knew enough to know that I should at least pretend that I did.  So when tickets ended up in my hand to see him speak I figured, “I’m taping American Idol anyway…I might has well go.” We got to the theatre rather late, but thanks to general admission ticketing and people’s apparent fear of sitting too close I almost ended up sharing the stage with Malcolm. Having fallen asleep in many a college lecture I knew this was probably a bad idea.

But here’s the thing: I didn’t fall asleep. I didn’t even want to–and I always want to sleep. When Gladwell told us he was going to spend the next forty-five minutes talking about the financial crisis and American history I almost stood up to leave, but my friend insisted that I stay. I’m glad I did: Gladwell is a master of the written word, but it’s extremely rare that someone who spends so much time in front of a computer can also captivate a room. Gladwell uses his mix of intelligence, sense of humor, and, yes, Canadianness to quickly become everyone’s really smart friend. Drama kings and queens might say their lives were changed by the lecture. It wasn’t life-altering–I doubt someone can have that much of an effect on your life in so little time–but it was interesting and fun and that was kinda unexpected.

Okay, so I didn’t always know what he was talking about–but really, how often does someone really understand 100% of a lecture? I think everyone pretends like they do, but when you get a good view of a thousand people all at once it’s pretty easy to see that everyone, at least sometimes, simply nods.

At the end of the night Mayor Nenshi arrived on stage to White Hat our guest. In a moment that was sure to be scrutinized on every hipster blog within a hundred kilometers, Gladwell seemed unsure about the whole process but happily went along with it. Turns out Malcolm and I aren’t that different after all!