Sunday, January 25, 2015

Toronto arts updates

I guess it is a pretty clear indication of how rarely I see live jazz (compared to live classical music) that it isn't until just this weekend that I realized that the two main jazz clubs in Toronto closed down years ago (Top of the Senator and Montreal Bistro).  Sadly I didn't go to either while I lived here in the early 90s.  There really isn't a single venue in the city that offers multi-night residences to visiting musicians from New York or Chicago (pretty sad considering how close it is and that Montreal still has its jazz clubs).  The Rex is basically the only game left in town, and from what I can tell, it only offers one-night stands and generally odd times at that.  Atomic is coming in in February and the start time is 9:45 (compared to an hour earlier in Montreal the day before and in Hamilton the day after -- and at 3:30 in Hamilton during their Winterfest Kick-off if I decide to make a road trip).  Same thing with Dave Liebman later in the month.  It's not that I can't stay up until midnight, but it just seems wrong not to have an 8 o'clock set and a 10 o'clock set for major jazz musicians.  Anyway, Toronto is really no better than Vancouver any longer in terms of jazz and perhaps even worse when you look at the fairly lame line-up they have at the Toronto Jazz Fest in the summer.

It is better in terms of movies, particularly art movies, with TIFF being pretty amazing (except during the film festival itself, when it becomes overbearing and lame).  It might even slightly edge out the Siskel Film Center in Chicago, which is saying something. 

Anyway, I'm just back from seeing my first play at Canadian Stage -- The Other Place by Sharr White.  While there is one scene I think probably should have been cut (a bit too much spoon-feeding of the audience) it was good.  There are two things I'll probably see later in the season (though not enough to justify a subscription), but I don't really like the look of the 2015/16 season.  Also I have to say that after I learned more about their new artistic director, I was less impressed.  He basically is bored with conventional theatre and wants everything to be multi-media.  I don't mind so much if it is just a slightly enhanced backdrop, as in The Other Place or in Chinglish, but many of his offerings are theatre/dance or theatre/film, and I just don't find this particularly appealing.  He may be the right person to try to hook the Millennials on Canadian Stage, but I probably will only be a very occasional visitor.  I much, much prefer Soulpepper and Tarragon.

I managed to just miss some art installation in the main VIA area of Union Station (though the reviews weren't particularly encouraging).  I was sure it said through the weekend, but everything was coming down on Sat. morning.  My daughter and I continued on our way to Harbourfront where we did some ice skating (very badly) and then saw the video installations at The Power Plant, which I didn't particularly care for, and then some mixed media work at the Billy Bishop Artport which went over a lot better.  I may be able to post one or two pictures later.

I had known about the Kubrick exhibit over at TIFF, but I just either would forget or was working crazy hours, particularly over the past two weeks.  So I thought I would sneak in today, but it was the last day of the exhibit and basically everyone else had the same idea as me.  So I just couldn't get in.  It's probably for the best.  I very rarely have really thought these movie-themed exhibits are that thrilling.  About the only one that I really liked was the Croenenburg one at ROM years and years ago.

I've gone into some detail about various local art shows.  I'm curious about the Basquiat, which opens at the AGO in about two weeks.  My kids don't seem to be too interested, but my wife might go if we can bundle it with some other activity where we have hired a sitter.  And I'll soon see whether MOCCA gets the cool rooms from the Coupland exhibit.

Slightly further afield, I had seriously considered going up the National Gallery for the Jack Bush exhibit, but after checking out the slides, I decided his art was kind of bush league (ok, poor joke) and definitely not worth a winter trip.  There is a Chagall exhibit of considerable more interest in the summer, so perhaps that will be the time to go.  If we do make it to Montreal in April (a combined museum/theatre trip), then Montreal will edge out Ottawa by a couple of months.

I've mentioned elsewhere some of the interesting upcoming theatre shows, but perhaps I will circle back and actually list the ones where I've gotten the tickets as a kind of show of support.  There are a few more I should probably add to the list, especially now that the summer Shaw and Stratford seasons have been announced and are on sale, but I guess I should wait until all my tickets are booked, just in case I inadvertently spark a rush on some show.  You never can tell, as they say.

Curiously, you never can tell is the catchphrase of a waiter in Shaw's early comedy of the same name.  While I probably won't actually go down for this (as the times just don't pair up with the two plays I will be seeing), there is a small chance that I would take off on the Friday beforehand and see the evening performance.  I'll wait on the reviews before making a determination one way or the other.  However, it is time to try to start buying up the rest of my tickets, so that I can manage to fit everything in.  My calendar is getting pretty complicated...

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