Travelsmartplanet

The famous Oak Room of the splendid Edwardian era home of Sir Henry Pellatt. The finished panels fruit, flowers, ribbons and birds took 3 years to carve and were so exquisite that in 1913 when they arrived they were first exhibited in Montreal’s Musee des Beaux Arts before being installed in Casa Loma. 

Tags: bird, Canada, carve, Casa Loma, Edwardian, Edwardian era, era, exhibit, famous, flower, fruit, home, house, installed, landmark, Montreal, Musee des Beaux Arts, oak, Oak Room, Ontarion, panels, ribbon, room, sights, sightseeing, Sir Henry Pellatt, Toronto, toronto ontario, tour, tourist, travelblogger

Standing 113 floors high and looking through a glass floor, you can see the Toronto Raptors Jurassic Park, where fans hang out. In 1995, the CN Tower was declared one of the  Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Tags: American, American Society of Civil Engineers, Canada, Civil Engineer, Cn, CN Tower, engineer, fan, fans, floor, glass, glass floor, Jurassic Park, landmark, modern world, Ontario, Raptors, Raptors Jurassic Park, see Toronto Now, Seven Wonders of the Modern World, sights, sightseeing, society, the Six, Toronto, Toronto CN Tower, toronto ontario, Toronto Raptors, Toronto Raptors Jurassic Park, tourist, travel, travelblogger, view, view from the top

Who would guess a shoe museum could be such fun, so informative and so creative? The history, the designers, the famous shoes and the oddities will please just about anyone who comes here.

Tags: art, Bata, Bata Shoe Museum, Bata Shoes, chaussures, creative, design, designer, famous, fashion, footwear, History, history of shoes, informative, Museum, Oddities, shoe, shoe designer, shoemaker, sights, sightseeing, style, tour, tourist, travel, travelblogger, vintage, works of art

Women who love shoes will love this museum. It traces the history of shoes from thousands of years ago to today.

Tags: art, Bata, Bata Shoe Museum, Bata Shoes, Canada, chaussures, city, design, fashion, fashion art, footwear, high heels, History, landmark, Museum, Ontario, see Toronto Now, shoe designer, shoemaker, shoes, sights, sightseeing, Toronto, tour, tourist, travel, travelblogger, traveling, vintage

Strut over to Cote St Luc to catch an over-the-top performance of Cabaret by the Cote St-Luc Dramatic Society. As artistic director, Anisa Cameron remarked, This play is “an important piece which is relevant today.”

The plot is based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood and playwright Joe Masteroff’s story, and centers around a nightclub, the Kit Kat Klub, in 1930’s Berlin. While the fun life reigns inside, the Nazi uprising swirls outside. A performer at the club starts a relationship with an American writer who wants to write a book and has shown up in Berlin looking for a room. The star of the show, though, hands down, is the zealous Master of Ceremonies who commands all the action.

You must get over to see Craig Dalley’s performance as this Emcee. His suave, sexy, funny performance and professional stage presence carries the show. It is rare to give a top shout out to a Choreographer, but Alexa Gourd’s sensual, evocative, electric choreography allows the strong cast to strut the stage with an air of insouciance – and as precise as if they were on Broadway.

It’s fun to see the musicians playing, since even they are having a great time. Benjamin Kwong, Musical Director, is smiling and jiving through the whole show. The score and sound effects are right on. Loved it that John Kovac, playing Herr Schultz (really well!), is back in the theatre after 40 years. It’s never too late to return to your passions, and isn’t it wonderful that community theatre is here for us – especially one as good as this one.

Producer (and Mayor of CSL) Mitchell Brownstein pointed out that “in the theatre we can learn about people who are different, and that different people count.” Also that “we must be vigilant” and that the play “sends out a message of hope in the world if you try to make a difference, and that individuals can make a difference.”

He mentioned the Holocaust Education exhibit in the Cote St-Luc library during the play’s run. It refers to Righteous Gentiles, diplomats of many countries, who saved countless Jewish lives. The exhibit is a joint effort of the Montreal Holocaust Museum and Israeli Foreign Affairs led by Consul General of Israel for Quebec, David Levy.

Production Manager Jordana Dobski noted that the play (unlike the movie) makes the story of the boarding house owner, Fraulein Schneider, and her relationship to the Jewish fruit vendor a major plot line. Dobski says, this “un-acceptance of the others” is a lesson learned, and should be respected today.

So a shout out goes to teachers and schools out there who are reading this. The Cote St-Luc Dramatic Society is opening their doors during the day on Fridays for Matinees for students to witness and learn from Cabaret (14+ suggested).

So many lines in the show give warnings about things which are still happening today (think Bill 21?):

“One can no longer dismiss the Nazis” “They will take nothing away.” “Why can’t they leave as alone?” “Live and let live.” “What does politics have to do with us?”

The strong takeaway is that you have to make choices when you see injustice. What would you do?

Location: Cote St-Luc Library, 5801 Cavendish Blvd, Côte Saint-Luc, Harold Greenspon Auditorium
Dates: May 30-June 16
Price: regular admission $35, students and seniors $28

It’s special when we can get to view a play which was honored with a Tony nomination and garnered a Pulitzer Prize.  Glengarry Glen Ross, now playing at the Mainline Theatre (produced by Acts to Grind Theatre), shows off David Mamet’s ability to write profound dialogue.

This story highlights the cynical, difficult, pushy life of real estate salesmen in Chicago. I was not surprised to learn that the play is also often referred to as “Death of a Fuckin’ Salesman”, because it is notorious for its use of profanity. That hardly resonates in today’s foul language world – on the other hand, today’s politically correct society would flinch at the prejudice shown against East Indians and Polish people.

Mamet’s characters are drawn down and dirty as lying, backstabbing, double-dealing tricksters willing to toss out ethical principles to justify their work. Yet they really are passionate about selling, and especially enjoy the nitty gritty details of closing a deal.  One of Mamet’s goal in writing this play was to highlight the plight of so many people who go about their lives performing regular jobs yet often having to endure indignities while doing so.

Actor Zag Dorison (Shelly Levene) does an amazing job of making you feel his nervousness and despair; we twitch and pull on our lapels right along with him. Dorison, commenting on his character, “This play will always be relevant. There will always be those who exploit others and are out
for a buck at the expense of someone’s savings and dignity. Although the character of Shelly Levene is down on his luck, he believes that
it’s just a streak that will break; he had been a shark and wants to be one again. It is interesting that in spite of this, the audience still
sympathizes with him when his whole world comes crashing down upon him.”

Michael Aronovitch (George Aaronow),  Izak Benrobi (Ricky Roma) and Jake Caceres (Dave Moss) have all been cast well for their parts, and they make their distinctive personalities apparent. Bryan Libero (John Williamson) really makes you dislike him while the company man, Olivier Ross-Parent (Blake/Baylen) is properly detestable.  Davyn Ryall (James Lingk) does well as the meek patsy trying to get his money back.

Be prepared for Mamet’s long soliliquys for each of them – with the other salesmen there mostly as an audience for their rants.  Since this is a small theatre, you too feel as though you are right next to them in the room. Be careful though because as Levene says, these guys are so manipulative, they know how to sell you something you didn’t even want.

Location: MainLine Theatre, 3997 St-Laurent, 2nd floor
Dates: Presented in English: Wed-Sat Nov 7-10, 14, 15, 16, 17, at 8pm. Sun matinees Nov 11, 18, at 2 pm
Tickets: (Prices include taxes and service charge) $22 general admission; $20 Seniors; $18 Students
Tel: 514 849-3378
e-mail: boxoffice@montrealfringe.ca
www.mainlinetheatre.ca/en/spectacles/glengarry-glen-ross
youtu.be/kQOG32GINho
NOTE: mature language. Recommended ages 14+

Tags: audience, backstab, Bryan Libero, buck, cast, closing, Dave Moss, David Mamet, Davyn Ryall, deal, destest, East, estate, ethical, George aaronow, Glengarry Glen Ross, Indian, indignities, Izak Benrobi, Jake Caceres, james Lingk, job, John Williamson, language, lapel, lying, Mainline Theatre, Michal Aronovitch, money, nervous, NYC, Oliver Ross-Parent, part, people, play, polish, politically, prejudice, principle, prize, Pulitzer, rant, real, Ricky Roma, room, salesmen, sell, shark, society, soliloquy, TONY, Trickster, world, Zag Dorison

Let’s start with the aim of the Teersi Duniya Theatre group itself, which is to highlight theater focusing on social justice. Different cultures get to take the stage, whether they be Indigenous, Palestinian, Israeli, Armenian, Rwandan, Iranian, Turkish or whatever. The theatre’s goal, as mentioned by their artistic director Rahul Varma, is that we are all one people and it takes stories of everyone else to see ourselves.  Varma says, “the only way to tell stories in a new way is to get new storytellers into the room”.

So Stephen Orlov’s story Birthmark is about families. In writing this, he was asking himself why Jews who founded Israel to end their centuries of oppression were now dispossessing another people that had lived there for centuries. Michelle Soifer, the director, says we have in this play, “two young adults filled with passion and drive…  and the chutzpah to do something about it”.

Canada as a nation is made up of many communities of people who may have been displaced by war and conflicts. Living here in Montreal we have Jewish and Palestinian cross currents. Though families  may have immigrated here and now raise their families in this safe haven, the memories of their living history or those of their parents will always shape them. The children get stuck between the two solitudes: perhaps the need to avenge their families’ past or to just ride along safely here for their future.

Though this is a story of the Israeli vs. Palestinian conflict, it raises the universal problem of parents or caregivers who live with a family member who thinks differently, or even perhaps might be mentally challenged or elderly, and the parent must learn to live with the pain of not being able to fix things (which they might have caused), or even change them.

Natalie Tannous gives a strong performance as a mother conflicted by secrets in the past and fears for her child ‘s future.  Howard Rosenstein is her gentler counterpart, with his own untold secrets and the consequences of not listening to a child. Stephen Spreekmester creates two very different characters, and does them well – one of an observant Rabbi and one of a tough RCMP officer.  Patrick Keeler  as Nelson, the Jewish child finding solace in religion, and Dalia Charafeddine as Karima secretly planning revenge for her parent’s death, give us two very realistic diametric opposites on both sides of this divide.

The simplicity of Sabrina Miller’s set design, using floor squares and wall hangings to identify rooms, walls and doorways was very effective.

We learn that words matter: why do we refer to the Israelis as extremists but the Palestinians as terrorists?

Location: Mai Centre, 3680 Jeanne-Mance
corner: Milton
Dates: Nov 3-18, 2018
Price: $17 – $25
Tel: 514-982-3386
www.m-a-i.qc.ca

Tags: adult, Armenian, artistic, Birthmark, Canada, children, culture, director, families, future, haven, History, Indigenous, Iranian, Israeli, justice, Michelle Soifer, Montreal, nation, Palestinian, parents, people, play, Rahul Varma, Rwandan, safe, solitude, stage, Stephen Orlov, stories, Teersi Duniya, Theatre, Turkish, war

A half century ago, a creative actor/director and immigrant (from South Africa via England), Maurice Podbrey, together with his equal half, Elsa Bolam (and Herb Auerbach and Peter Duffield) managed to knit together a theater company, Centaur, which was and is no easy feat. If that wasn’t nerve wracking enough for a person, Bolam then went on to start another successful one, Geordie Productions.

In an unintentional but perfect nod to the past, Eda Holmes, Centaur’s new artistic director, brings us Choir Boy set in a boys’ prep school while Podbrey’s first production, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, took place in a girl’s school. The play is written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, who comes with a pretty flashy CV: he’s the Chair of Yale’s School of Drama, where he is also the Playwright in Residence at the Repertory Theatre. and he was also Playwright in Residence for Stratford-Upon-Avon’s Royal Shakespeare Company – and happens to be a member of the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble. And let’s just throw in here that he wrote the story of Moonlight which won Oscars for best picture and for the writing.

The story is mostly about Pharus (played by Steven Charles), a gay student making his way through a very traditional private school. Charles commands the stage throughout, and we can’t wait to see where his star takes him (to the Broadway production?). His fellow students talk, yell, fight and sing a cappella as they share intimacies and rivalries when the old school values conflict with our modern world in rules, nepotism, faith, sexuality and school board traditions.  Tight direction by Mike Payette keeps you riveted throughout, while Lighting Designer Andrea Lundy’s magic creatively moves you around the set (loved the purple).

Floydd Ricketts, the musical director and arranger, was the right man in the right place to be able to create new arrangements of spirituals, gospel and jazz songs for a cappella harmonies.  Ricketts notes, “Even though this music comes from pain, there is also joy in it”. Dayane Ntibarikure, assistant director and choir movement facilitator, did a brilliant job of  having the actors move “slave slowly” around the scenes, adding foot stomping  to song and subtly evoking a chain gang in the shower scene.

Holmes has tweaked the play runs slightly this year by adding (less expensive) preview shows to get the performance just that more perfect for opening night. You know how much I like a deal, and Centaur offers much for FREE with behind-the-scenes info to enrich your  theater experience: Talk Back after the shows , Sunday Chat Up, Thursday Pre-Show Convo and the Saturday Salon.

How perfect that this golden Centaur season started by lifting our spirits with the power of music blended with this timely story. See Choir Boy in Montreal before you can’t get tickets on Broadway (Dec 2018)!

Location 453 St-Francois-Xavier
corner: Notre-Dame
Tel: 514-288-3161
Dates: til Oct 28
www.centaurtheatre.com
Metro: Place d’Armes

Tags: a cappella, actor, Andrea Lundy, Avon, behind-the-scene, boy, Broadway, Centaur, choir, Choir Boy, company, Dayane Ntibarikure, deal, director, Drama, Eda Holmes, Elsa Bolam, England, faith, fight, Floydd Ricketts, foot, free, Geordie, girl, gold, gospel, immigrant, jazz, knit, light, Maurice Podbrey, Mike Payette, Moonlight, music, nepotism, night, Oscar, playwright, power, prep, preview, production, purple, school, Shakespeare, shower, sing, slave, song, South Africa, spiritual, star, Steppenwolf, Steven Charles, Stratford-Upon, student, talk, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Prime of Miss Jean Broday, theater, world, Yale, yell

Odysseo, the horse centric show, is awesome family entertainment which will WOW every member. If you can imagine taking Cirque du Soleil up a notch by marrying it with a team of gifted equestrians, this would be their offspring.

The show has acrobats, blade-running acrobats and horse acrobats – each team outdoing the other in their antics. There are raucous horses racing through jumps and quiet ballet-like riderless horses dancing to the whims of their female horse whisperer, Sylvia Zerbini.

Then why not throw in some African drumming, singing and dancing – for peace. When you combine 70 horses with 50 performers and all the high technology, multimedia and special effects, you create magic on stage.

The carousel pole acrobatics is  a charming setting for the melange of horse and rider/acrobats, but the white fabric/rope acrobatic act is the perfect “10” for each of the costume designer, set designer, lighting, artistic director and the acrobats themselves.

It’s hard to imagine it fitting into a tent setting, but horses appear on mountaintops, in an ice-scape, the woods, walking down hills, in rain storms, galloping as fast as the wind and even and splashing in a waterfront finale.

This time we attended with a youngster who had enjoyed horse camp this summer. She loved figuring out the equine trivia questions before the show started. In her child-like mind she imagined “horses dancing like people at a party”. We glanced occasionally at her face as she sat in awe, riveted to the stage watching instead a seamless ballet of people and horses.  And she was really hoping to get splashed by the playful horses.

Don’t wait – book tickets now as the run has been extended to Oct 21 and the price reduced to $60.  If you can afford it, the Rendez-vous VIP package, including dinner (roast beef and shrimp options) with an open bar, popcorn and drinks to take in to the show, a dessert buffet at intermission

(so Quebec-like with cheese there too), a stable visit, and a souvenir, really makes the evening special. This is a great idea for a do-ahead holiday gift for anyone – take the family, join co-workers or have fun with friends.

Location: Odysseo White Big Top at the corner of the boul. Rene-Levesque and De Lorimier
Tel: 866-999-8111
Dates: til Oct 21
www.cavalia.com
www.facebook.com/cavalia

Tags: acrobat, artistic, ballet, bar, beef, blade-run, camp, carousel, cave, child, Cirque du Soleil, costume, dancing, design, dessert, dinner, drink, entertainment, equestrian, equine, evening, face, family, female, friend, gallop, gift, Hill, holiday, horse, ice, intermission, jump, lighting, mountain, Odysseo, offspring, popcorn, Quebec, racing, rain, rider, roast, set, show, shrimp, splash, stage, storm, summer, tent, ticket, VIP, wind, wood, work

Entertainment has always been the stars – today it is the movie, TV and sports ones, but yesteryear it was the sky kind. For thousands of years, the night sky was everyone’s television or computer screen.

There were the stars, of course, and then the planets – if you were lucky enough to have a telescope. So it isn’t surprising that there were tales made up of the different formations of stars. Same stars but different tales for different countries.

In Quebec, at National Geographic ObservEtoiles (Night Sky Odyssey) you can enjoy a tiny bit of yesteryear by climbing a mountai

n by car and then walking through the trail to a dark sky summit in Glen Sutton. Then in total contrast, you get to experience

futuristic augmented reality through specially designed headsets. You gaze through them to see 3D digital renderings of the planets or the constellations. The show consists of the re-telling of the tales of the bears, a scorpion, a snake, a hunter, the scales of justice and always, a love affair, of course. Then you see and learn about the colorful planets, that Saturn’s rings are made of ice and Uranus is sitting on its side. Later on, a high powered laser pointer is used to pinpoint objects in the actual sky that night. Now we know that the North Star barely moves (so that’s why it was always used it for navigating!)  and that satellites move in orbital paths depending on their functions.

This was Jeremy Fontana’s idea. He found himself in Glen Sutton, one of the only ten places in Canada with a dark sky designation, meaning there is no light pollution – and then that Quebecois artistic Eureka moment  happened. He realized it was time to demystify the night sky to the generations who no longer knew it. So we are the lucky ones to see this first, as he has partnered with National Geographic to export this to national parks and cruise ships.

If you’re lucky, (we were!) you might get to see the space station toodle along. We learned that it circles the globe 16 times a day, giving the astronauts  sixteen sunrises and sunsets. We waved but couldn’t see if they waved back.

In Quebec:  National Geographic ObservEtoiles at Au Diable Vert
169, chemin Staines, Glen Sutton, (Québec) J0E 2K0 Canada
Telephone: 450-538-5639
Price: $45.99 which includes the headsets to take home along with the app
www.observetoiles.com   www.audiablevert.com

Note: Right now the shows in Quebec are predominantly in French