By Stephen Sondheim's Side...

... is where I stood for a few brief, fantabulous minutes last night. It was part of a benefit for APPLAUSE! Musicals Society, which brought in the maestro to talk about his life in the theatre. The talk itself, which was moderated in inestimable fashion by Jerry Wasserman (who had done his research), was at the Vogue, and it was great to see the venue more or less sold out and the audience hanging breathlessly on Sondheim's every word as he traded anecdotes about Oscar and Jerry and Lenny and Arthur and Ethel and Hal; talked about studying Cole Porter lyrics and Mozart symphonies with Milton Babbitt at Princeton; revealed that he is working on a two-volume edition of his complete annotated lyrics for Knopf; and claimed that the greatest American musical of all time remains the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess.

But the talk at the Vogue was actually preceded by an intimate (!) gathering for 75 people or so across the street at Tom Lee Music (a longtime sponsor of APPLAUSE!), each of whom had purchased a premium ticket from APPLAUSE! in order to sip wine and nibble canapes in Steve's presence. And, with the right combination of luck, timing, and hutzpah, actually get a chance to exchange a word or two with him. Which is what Richard and I did at an auspicious moment when the coterie around him momentarily parted and there was a pause in the conversation. Seizing that moment, I thrust my hand forward, introduced myself and Richard, and mentioned that we'd be in New York this weekend (which is true--I'm running the marathon there on Sunday), and did he have any recommendations about what we should see theatre-wise? He seemed to appreciate the question (maybe because it wasn't a query about the rhyme structure and chord changes in "Children Will Listen"?), although he wasn't altogether sanguine about the musical theatre scene in New York at the moment. But he did recommend the revival of Finian's Rainbow, which he's heard very great things about, and which he suspected would be reviewed very strongly when it opens (either today or tomorrow). It is the first time the play is being revived since its Broadway premiere in 1947, so I can imagine the interest (how do they solve the problem of blackface, for instance?).

At any rate, it was only a momentary brush with theatrical greatness, but it was a huge thrill nonetheless. The entire evening will remain a performance high point in my life, without question--even the residue of blood splatter from Evil Dead: The Musical (which is currently playing at the Vogue) that I took home with me on my jacket.

P.

Pollster Shocked by Olympics Fatigue!

In a column by Gary Mason in yesterday's Globe and Mail, the results of a recent poll revealed that over 70% of British Columbians couldn't give a rat's ass about next February's Olympics, and that only 20% continued to think the Games were a good idea. Pollster Greg Lyle said he was shocked by the numbers.

Well, duh?!

When we are being bombarded daily with the latest announcement about how much further in debt we can expect to be after all this is over; when our civil liberties continue to be eroded in increasingly Kafkaesque ways (the latest directive being contemplated is legislation that would give police the right to enter the homes of people living within designated Olympic zones and seize any signs being publicly exhibited that promote a competitor of a Games sponsor); when we've been told that basically we should put a stop to life as usual and barricade ourselves in our homes for the duration of the Games, what did he expect?

Furthermore, given the recent pummeling that the arts and culture, publishing, and social services communities have taken as a result of the provincial government's financial mismanagement (which includes the costs associated with planning for the Olympics), who in their right mind would be in a mood to celebrate anyway? I for one will not be bullied into jumping on any boosterist bandwagons for the sake of our global image and collective civic pride. You'd think we were living in China...

Having got that off my chest, let me mention that colleagues in Urban Studies at SFU have organized another symposium on the Olympics and its legacies. It will take place this Thursday and Friday, October 22-23, at SFU Harbour Centre, and, among other highlights, will feature a "Mayor's panel" with Al Duerr and Valentino Castellani. The former was mayor of Calgary immediately after the 1988 Winter Games and the latter oversaw Torino's winning bid for the 2006 Winter Games. For information, see the following link.

More performance-related posts soon, I hope.

P.

Logocentrism

Can you spot the difference?



P.

Playing Catch-Up

It’s been a while since my last post—no doubt this will continue to be one of the perils of trying to maintain this blog while in full-on teaching mode and, as at present, also trying to juggle home renovations.

A lot has happened in that time, from Mayor Gregor’s announcement yesterday of Vancouver’s rebranding as the Silicone Valley of the new Green Economy to the arrest of Roman Polanski. Rather than trying to summarize it all, let me instead draw people’s attention to one important bit of political news, and two favourite returning cultural events in Vancouver.

The political news concerns the public hearings currently being conducted across the province by the Finance Committee of the BC government. These hearings were, of course, announced with very little notice, and the first of them, held this past Monday at the Wosk Centre for Dialogue here in Vancouver, left members of the arts community scrambling to make their voices heard in all their fulsomeness and all their fury. (I’m told representatives accomplished both tasks admirably.) I reprint the schedule for the remaining hearings below, and I urge concerned citizens in relevant communities to attend and make their own voices heard—and not just about the dreaded HST! If you are unable to make one of the meetings (as in my case), you can also fill out an on-line survey, or make a written, video, or audio submission. Here is the link to do so: https://www.leg.bc.ca/budgetconsultations/index.htm.

The deadline for public input is October 23, 2009. There is still time, before the government finalizes its September budget update, to get the Liberals to reconsider their cuts to the arts. I urge all who can to tell Campbell, Krueger, Hansen and their cronies why culture matters. Again, here is the schedule for the remaining public hearings:

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 8:30 am to 12:00 pm
Date: Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Place: Douglas Fir Committee Room 226, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, British Columbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Date: Friday, October 09, 2009
Place: Community Futures Strathcona, #200-580 Duncan Ave, Courtenay, British Columbia
Agenda: Videoconference public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9:00 am to 1:00 pm
Date: Friday, October 09, 2009
Place: Community Futures East Kootenay, 110A Slater Road NW, Cranbrook, British Columbia
Agenda: Videoconference public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9: 00 am to 1:00 pm
Date: Friday, October 09, 2009
Place: Commumity Futures Peace Laird, 904-102 A Ave, Dawson Creek, British Columbia
Agenda: Videoconference public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Place: Summit Room, Hudson Bay Lodge, 3251 E. Highway 16, Smithers, British Columbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Place: Skylight Ballroom, Ramada Hotel, 444 George Street, Prince George, British Colimbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Place: Somerset Room, South Thompson Inn & Conference Centre, 3438 Shuswap Road, Kamloops, British Columbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2009
Place: Thompson/Shuswap Room, Woodfire Conference Centre at the Best Western Inn, 2400 Highway 97 North, Kelowna, British Columbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services

Time: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Date: Friday, October 16, 2009
Place: Guildford B, Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, 15269 104th Avenue, Surrey, British Columbia
Agenda: Public hearing

Now on to some of the remaining fruits of arts and culture in this province. It’s the beginning of October (where did the last month go?), and so that means that hot on the heels of the Fringe the Vancouver International Film Festival is underway (as of yesterday, in fact). I haven’t yet had a chance to peruse the program in any depth, but my money so far is on Portuguese director João Pedro Rodrigues’s To Die Like a Man, which follows veteran Lisbon trans performer Tonia as she deals with younger competition, a petulant boyfriend, and her estranged son. The festival runs until October 16th.

Finally, DanceHouse, as part of its 2009-10 international dance series at the Playhouse (to which Richard and I have bought season passes, and which begins this November with the Hofesh Shechter Company) is bringing back its very popular "Speaking of Dance" series at the Vancouver Public Library. The talks are Tuesdays, from 7:30-9pm, in the Alice MacKay Room, on the lower level of the VPL,
350 West Georgia Street. The line-up of speakers is as follows:

October 13, 2009
Speakers
> Kaija Pepper, Dance Critic & Author
> Janet Smith, Dance Critic & Arts Editor, Georgia Straight

November 17, 2009
Speakers
> Santa Aloi, Professor Emerita, School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU
> Claire French, Independent Choreographer & Dance Teacher

January 19, 2010
Speakers
> Martha Carter, Director & Choreographer, marta marta HoP
> Emily Molnar, Interim Artistic Director, Ballet BC

April 6, 2010
Speakers
> Day Helesic, Co-Artistic Producer & Choreographer, MovEnt
> Rob Kitsos, Assistant Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts, SFU

That’s it for now. More news soon.

P.