Workin Summer

Hillside Festival and Home County were both wonderful weekends full of fun workshop collaborations with great musicians, and hearing lots of good music…sharing stages with The Brothers Creegan, The Acorn, Rae Spoon, James Gordon, Jenny Whiteley, Oh Suzanna, Catherine McClelland, Melissa McClelland, Coco Love Alcorn, Brian McMillan…and getting to play with my whole band at Hillside, what a treat.

This week, on Augst 7, the SummerWorks Festival opens in Toronto — a festival of independent theatre and music which i have been involved in over the years (it’s where Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine premiered, and won the jury prize — so of course i have sweet associations..). This year, i am taking part in the festival with three different things, all of which i am pretty stoked about:

Number one! The festival is doing a music series this year for the first time, so on August 15th, I am playing (with band) as the opening act for Rock Plaza Central.

Number two! I am directing a show by my friend Morgan Jones Phillips, called The Emergency Monologues. It is all about his experience working as a paramedic in Toronto for the last 5 years — and his stories are AMAZING. you will pee your pants laughing, and be horrified and amused and amazed.

Number three! I am acting in The Pastor Phelps Project: a fundamentalist cabaret. Speaking of horrified, amused and amazed….I play Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of Pastor Fred Phelps, and a leader of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas: the hate-mongering, homophobic church who picket AIDS funerals and dead soldiers funerals…who will apparently be in attendance at the opening of the show this Thursday, picketing at our production (!) en route to Alberta where they’ll be picketing at a production of the Laramie Project. See their press release: 20080801_pastor-phelps-project-toronto

Check out the media frenzy that has happened since we discovered the Westboro Baptist’s intention to picket the show:  The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, CityTV, Global TV all covered it…and then they didn’t show (The Toronto Sun reports).

Come check out the live action: the show takes place in the back room of The Cameron House, August 7-17 www.summerworks.ca

Report from the left coast…

I’ve returned from such an amazing tour out west. Without a doubt, the highlight being the trip to the Yukon, and the very special and beautiful Atlin Festival.…back in Ontario now, i’m missing those long long days that never seem to end…walking home at 3 am wondering if it’s finally getting dark, or if it’s actually getting lighter….

Also a treat to be return to Edmonton, Vancouver, Vancouver Island, and Whidbey Island WA; plus first visits (but not the last!) to the Sunshine Coast BC and Canmore AB. Incredible physical beauty was a recurrent theme of the landscapes we drove and flew and sailed through…as well as delicious, wonderful and generous hospitality from so many old friends and new friends along the way.

When i have a few minutes, i will be posting some more writing and stories about the trip…for now, I am coming down from the west, followed by a lovely weekend at London’s Home County Festival, and getting ready for the big Hillside weekend.

Lots of nice press along the road, too: if you’re interested, check out the articles in the Georgia Straight and The Edmonton Journal

Happy Pride!

Pride Week officially begins in Toronto ..happy queer christmas, to one and all Let the rainbow-flaggin’ and the booty-shakin’ and street partying begin!

Begin? Where to begin? Well …for starters, check out the fun little video story that Xtra Magazine has up on their site, about me and my thing, promo-ing my upcoming western tour…

While still in Toronto for the big weekend, I’ll be performing at Cheap Queers at Buddies on Thursday the 26, and on the Proud Voices stage on Sunday the 29th at 5 pm, at the James Canning Gardens… though I’ll tell you, i feel I’ve been living and breathing the Pride spirit for weeks now,because of PrideCab, the big year-end youth cabaret show at Buddies- which, incidentally, sold out around the block last Wednesday! I’ve never seen such a long line up at Buddies, even on club nights. More than 100 people turned away! What a smash success — another great show by a great gang of youth: this marks year four that I have directing the project, and also my final year. Next year i take a step back from the youth programme, to concentrate more on my own work, and wear a new hat at Buddies: that of “Associate Artist”. I’ll be directing the Young Creators Unit again, directing Mark Shyzer’s new show “Fishbowl: a concise, expansive theory of everything” as part of the 30th Anniversay season, and…working on my own writing and other projects…actually i’m going to be writing a play for Buddies for 2009/10. So it’s exciting times for me. Sad to be letting go of the apron strings of my beloved youth programme…but the time is right. Chy Ryan Spain takes over, and that’s all good.

After we’re all done with being proud…next week I head out west for a two week music tour with the marvellous David Celia; he’ll be my one-man back-up band, and we’ll do a series of double bills together:  can’t wait.   Then back for more festivals back in Ontario. I am SERIOUSLY excited about the line up for my Hillside band: we had a jumpin’ show at the neighbourhood joint Not My Dog on Friday night, and it made me really really excited…there is a new sound developing, with David Celia on electric guitar, and the addition of upright bass (ahhh…the lovely Trevor Mills is back in the band!) and Beth Washburn on her little mini-tuba as well as the cornet…and of course Brad Hart playing drums. Adam Warner will actually be playing drums at Hillside, since Brad is on tour with Claire Jenkins Avec Band for a month…so Brad will be missed but Adam will be a great addition. With the new instrumental elements, and several new songs, i think things are really coming together in a slightly new and definitely exciting direction…and you know how i love new and exciting….

mystery of the crumbly spelt and…

Alright, three things.

Number one is that i was doing a bit of internet research about baking bread with spelt flour, and to my great delight, i discovered why my two previous attempts to make bread using spelt were extremely crumbly, and not as great as i thought they should be, considering my past bread baking successes. Those were always with wheat flour — and i had (mistakenly) been assuming that spelt flour functions very much like wheat flour. Oh, i knew that rice and soy and buckwheat and kamut and all those were really different to bake with - my partner is allergic to wheat, so for many years we’ve been using alternatives — but my past experience of cookies or cakes with spelt have been very easy! Seemed like it was very wheat-like. But apparently, the internet tells me, it’s not good to KNEED your spelt bread dough too much (unlike wheat dough, which you can kneed almost indefinitely, if you want to); it makes it crumbly. Because it’s gluten structures are fragile! Do not over-kneed! Mystery of the crumbly spelt bread… SOLVED! If you know me, you know how incredibly pleased i am when i solve these small but mysterious little every day mysteries. So the happy ending which i felt compelling to share, here, on my blog, is that i just made the best loaves of spelt bread EVER. I hope those of you who have been similarly plagued with spelt bread failures will be as excited as i am. Here’s the recipe i found, it’s good.

Okay, number two. I got a lovely piece of mail yesterday, which was a letter and a cheque from the Ontario Arts Council supporting this spoken word thing I’m working on. Hazah! Two Wheeled Words (the working title) will get a little workshop performance at the end of September….and i’ll get to spend some of the summer and fall working on it. Exciting. This is the piece that uses a bicycle as percussion, and metaphor. Ideas related to “spin” and “cycles”, that’s what I’m working with. You can see that I really must be pleased about my spelt mystery solving, since number two really is so good, it could be number one. Thank you Ontario Arts Council!

Number three: this is my laugh of the week. There is a nice little review of my record, Small Theatres, in Shameless Magazine this month. I really like Shameless, it’s an awesome publication, so i was pleased to be reviewed in there. What is hilarious is just one small but funny editorial misinterpretation. There is a comment about the song Honey, which is I sometimes introduce, when i’m playing live, as being a story told to me by my uncle-in-law, Rod, who was a wrestler with the WWF. That is, the World Wrestling Federation. You may be familiar with it. Anyway, in the review it mentions “a man who wrestles bears for the World Wildlife Federation”. Heh heh. I thought that was funny.

february

Well there’s been some “issues” going on with the website for the last few weeks — hope you haven’t been looking for things you couldn’t find…and hopefully i’ll have everything working all hunky-dory again soon. I’m heading off to see Veda Hille’s cd release tonight, can’t wait. It’s been a jam jam jam packed few weeks for me (perhaps the website’s problems are like a virtual representation of the inside of my head: too many things going on! everything gets jumbled! nothing links properly anymore! malfunction!) but it’s all been pretty fun. Girls with Glasses completed our tour, The Aunties held a very successful and fun fundraiser, and I directed a show at Buddies for the Young Creators Unit which had it’s one-night presentation last night as part of Rhubarb!. Extremely fun…and i’m a tired cookie. Now i hunker down and get writing.

Basket No. 2

F is for FEBRUARY and FUNDRAISING!

MONDAY FEBRUARY 11th The Independent Aunties present
The “Up Your Auntie” Fundraiser
at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen (at Dovercourt, entrance on Dovercourt, south of Queen)
Doors @ 7 pm
Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine @ 7:30 pm
John Millard and Happy Day @ 9 pm
followed by cheap beer, cupcake bake sale and good times.

Tickets are by donation
(Suggested donation of $20;  all donations of $25 and over will receive a charitable tax-receipt.  This event is an effort to fundraise for the Auntie’s upcoming production “Breakfast” at the Theatre Cenre in May 2008.  Any and all donations are gratefully accepted.)

to reserve email info@independentauntie.ca  or call 416-538- 0988

About Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine:
Written and performed by Anna Chatterton and Evalyn Parry, directed by Karin Randoja and designed by Sherri Hay, Clean Irene has toured to great acclaim from Halifax Nova Scotia to Dawson City, Yukon…it’s our last time doing it EVER in Toronto!

“..beneath the show’s whimsy lies a subtle, satirical sting that spares no one.” ~ Eye Magazine”

“Wickedly funny…great physicality, smart satire and snappy, spot on performances!” ~ NOW Magazine

“You’d be hard pressed to find a better pairing of performers on stage than Parry and Chatterton.” ~  THE GLOBE & MAIL

“ …just the right mix of deadly earnestness and naughty knowingness.”  ~ The Toronto Sun

More about us at  www.independentauntie.ca

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About John Millard and Happy Day

“like a mixture of the Lone Ranger and Kurt Weill” ~National Post

“The music rolled out like a ballerina and a soldier from a Swiss clock, like a hodgepodge of stone and wood and rusty tin and cracked glass that somehow fit perfectly together. And the sound? Country and Kurt Weill, mazurka and bluegrass, Celtic ballad and marching band music, all at once. ” ~Globe and Mail

I say, hearing is believing — John Millard rarely plays in these parts, and although his performance with Happy Day really defies description,  it’s got to be both the happiest and the saddest music ever, one of the most original and wonderful things you’re likely to hear this February!

www.johnmillardandhappyday.com

Girls with Glasses 2008!

Catch the last of the GWG 2008 tour Feb 8 in London! Feb 9th is sold out! Karyn Ellis, Eve Goldberg, Allison Brown and I have had good times and great shows in Peterborough, Creemore, Toronto, Kingston, Montreal and Ottawa… we’ve got ourselves a nifty Facebook group, if you’re the Facebook kind, you can join, and see photos and things…

bicycle band

A very fun show was had at the Tranzac Club in Toronto: with band and bicycle: ..the opening set was trying out a new series that I’m working on called “Two Wheeled Words: a spoken word cycle” or maybe it’s a song cycle, I’m not totally sure yet what it is, but it includes playing the bicycle as a percussion instrument and it’s all about the idea of “spin”.

Brad Hart plays the bicycle like a pro!  Second half of the show was songs with the band.  David Celia, his beautiful voice and magic guitar were a brilliant addition…Jenn Gillmor did birthday bass duty, and Suzie Vinnick sat in for a couple of songs on the fly.   Always a treat to have the mini-tuba, played by Beth Washburn.   Thanks to all who  played and those who listened for a lovely time.  There will be a monthly show in 2008…find out all the details here.

newfoundland

Leaving St. John’s later this afternoon. I’ve spent a beautiful and relaxing week on the rock, my first visit out here… which will certainly not be my last.

Arrived last Tuesday: played a show at the Ship Pub Wednesday Folk Night. Super fun.
Crazy buckets of rain only added to the adventure of visiting the Battery home of my friend Chris Brooks, home of Battery Radio; along a tiny, windy street on the other side of Signal Hill, a cluster of little colourful houses clinging to the rock on one side, ocean on the other. Torrents of water pouring down the rock outside his narrow, tall wooden house, making you feel like your inside of a ship. The sound of the fog horn in the distance.

Who knew St. John’s would be home to the best Montreal-style bagels (better than in Montreal), croissants and artisan breads: The Georgetown Bakery, yes my dear, that little place makes the most ridiculously delicious baked goods, I’ve been eating them like they are going out of style….breakfast lunch and dinner, while catching up with my friend Leah (her brother happens to own the bakery — just one of the many points that will be covered in the song I am writing a song for her called “Queen of Newfoundland” ). Dinner party, neighbourly visits (in St. John’s, it appears artists can afford to own houses!), a lovely evening of jazz courtesy of local darling Mary Barry, dinner and a brunch at The Sprout (very good veggie food). (Funny random fact: St. John’s has the most supermarket’s per capita of any city in Canada.) Lots of hiking around with Fogo the dog, and Iorek the Puppy:  Signal Hill, Ladies Lookout, Cuckolds Cove trail; the incredible, endless view over the Atlantic ocean on the one side, all rugged coast, rock, sea and sky….and city of colourful wooden houses on the other side.

Friday, a drive out to the picturesque, coastal town of Brigus. A few cases of talking to people who might as well have been speaking another language for all I could understand — I love the Newfoundland accent, and I especially love that feeling that suddenly, as you’re listening to someone, you’ve lost all ability to comprehend the english language. Beautifully disorienting. Beautiful island. A week of putting the ocean inside me.

Basket No. 1

December 1st is World AIDS Day

This photo is from a World AIDS Day march in Lusaka, Zambia;  it is part of a forth-coming book by writer and photographer Suzanne Robertson, entitled  “The Social”. For more information, email suzrobertson@hotmail.com