This month we were treated to two pieces that weren’t really musical theatre, nor were they strictly concerts. They were cabarets, I guess, but they were really stage-bound musical explorations of people and place by musicians who make theatre and theatre people who make music. Ryan G. Hinds’ Say Grace Sidelined for 6 months after […]
The classic RnB revival gets a boost later this month with Toronto band YUKA‘s fourth release – their first on vinyl – called From the Ancients. For Yuka, the RnB/soul sound is anything but a trend. “Everyone in the band likes that kind of music,” says guitarist James Tayor. “The sound of that music is […]
Facing the garlanded stage with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra warming up, looked down on by the Etobicoke School of the Arts Holiday Chorus, I can’t help but feel the buzz of holiday cheer. I have not had the privilege to attend the symphony since I was a child, and am enjoying the energy of Roy […]
I recently had the extreme pleasure of seeing The Lone Bellow at Boston’s House of Blues, and I can’t have asked for a better way to spend a Wednesday night. The first opener of the show was Hugh Masterson, a singer-songwriter out of my very own Nashville, TN. He said at the beginning of his […]
Two nights in October, I did something I haven’t done in far too long- I went to the symphony. But these were not regular nights at the symphony. There was no Peter Oundjian, an uncharacteristic smell filled Roy Thomson Hall, the average age of the patrons was at least 20 years below expected and, when […]
She came, she sang, and oh boy did she conquer. Frontwoman Brittany Howard led Alabama Shakes in a tour-de-force takeover of the recent Boston Calling Music Festival’s closing act. A gorgeous autumn evening with a full moon lunar eclipse perfectly complimented one of the greatest live shows I’ve ever seen in my life (look at […]
Performing with a symphony orchestra is a tricky thing, especially for a musical theatre performer. On a stage that likely has better acoustics than your usual proscenium, in a space traditionally occupied by concert cellists and world-class operatic sopranos, without the help of your costume or your co-stars, the story or the special effects, you […]
Upcoming concerts: Performing from their 2013 CD Symphony! at Oshawa’s Regent Theatre (Nov 28) and Flato Markham Theatre (Nov 29), accompanied by the Ontario Philharmonic, conducted by Maestro Marco Parisotto. December 4, at Toronto’s Koerner Hall as Part of the Sultans and Divas concert featuring mezzo-soprano and CBC radio host Julie Nesrallah; soprano Miriam Khalil; […]