Updates from Arts

• Arts

  Operanation fundraiser shows hipper side of Carmen

  

  Posted by Christina Butty at 1:47 pm on March 4, 2010
  No Comments 15 images
  

  Last Friday the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts was transformed into a pop-up club, the way sellers transform random spaces into pop-up shops, as the Canadian Opera Company threw their sixth annual Operanation bash, titled Habanera.

  This year’s theme was George Bizet’s Carmen, the well-known and instantly hummable opera about a seductive gypsy who lures her lover into deserting the army, only to reject him.

  The event’s name is based on “Habanera”, the instantly-familiar aria from Carmen which looks at the passion and uncertainty of love.

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• Lifestyle

  Let me count the ways to say ‘Bah!’ to Valentine’s Day

  

  Posted by Jocelyne Dignard-Saleh at 9:37 pm on February 15, 2010
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  It’s the day after St. Valentine’s day. There were no flowers, chocolates, jewelry or a card. I spent most of Feb. 14 preparing lasagna for my husband, who was gone a good part of the day. I even mae a very high end desert: Rice Krispies squares.

  I thumbed my nose at the restaurants, flowers and innumerable “places to go, things to do and meals to cook” articles in every newspaper and magazine. Also off my radar are romantic stories and relationship advice, the 10 best gift suggestions, the 10 most romantic places in Toronto, and any other 10-best list that can be linked to St. Valentine’s Day no matter how convoluted or twisted it has to be to fit the theme.

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• Arts

  Fiery Robin visits old hood, heats up Winter City

  

  Posted by Deeanna Charrion at 5:01 pm on February 9, 2010
  2 Comments 18 images
  

  She came with a flash of fire and flame that would knock your socks off, and burn them up too.

  Robin Hood – yes, that’s her real name – came all the way from San Francisco to perform at Toronto’s seventh annual Winter City arts and culture festival. Hood and her all-girl arts group the Flaming Lotus Girls took over Nathan Phillips Square last Friday, lighting the grounds ablaze with their fire installation Angel of the Apocalypse.

  Hood, who lived in Toronto for a couple of years in the 80’s, claims that all cultures and creeds can relate to fire and need it.

  “Fire is that one little thing that keeps everyone connected,” she said.

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• Arts

  Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Mozart Unmasqued a night fit for royalty

  

  Posted by Christina Butty at 5:22 pm on January 28, 2010
  No Comments 24 images
  

  The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s volunteer committee hosted an Austrian ball fit for royalty at the Royal York Hotel to celebrate Mozart’s birthday this week.

  The benefit, titled “Mozart Unmasqued”, sought to raise $200,000 for the TSO. The fairytale evening was hosted by the elegant Marianne Ounjian, cousin of TSO conductor Peter Oundjian, a classical music enthusiast herself.

  Oundjian and her committee began planning the event last spring.

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• Arts, Lifestyle

  Audi IDS industry party a stylish hit

  

  Posted by Christina Butty at 9:34 pm on January 26, 2010
  No Comments 14 images
  

  Audi Canada chose an ambitious task when they decided to throw the industry party for the 2010 Interior Design Show, and they did not disappoint.

  The car maufacturer threw a stellar bash at the highly anticipated Böhmer, chef Paul Boehmer’s pseudo-eponymous restaurant, which isn’t even officially open for business yet.

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• Arts, Lifestyle

  2010 Come Up to My Room exhibition best in years

  

  Posted by Christina Butty at 7:42 pm on January 26, 2010
  No Comments 12 images
  

  Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel outdid themselves with their 2010 Come Up to My Room show, an annual alternative design event which ran from Jan. 21-24 and coincides with the Interior Design Show.

  This year’s exhibitions were a clever, fun mixture from concept to execution. They made creativity look easy, as good design does. It was arguably the best show in years.

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• Arts

  Toronto friends and fans remember Paul Quarrington

  

  Posted by Samantha Butler at 9:39 pm on January 24, 2010
  No Comments 1 image
  

  Canadians are mourning the loss of one of their own as Paul Quarrington, one of the nation’s most dynamic and multi-talented artists, lost his seven-month battle with lung cancer Thursday.

  Here in Toronto, where the award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter made his home, he is sorely missed.

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• Bastard Type

  ‘Vigilante justice’, not the TTC, is the better way

  

  Posted by Mike Crisolago at 2:59 pm on January 23, 2010
  12 Comments

  Let me tell you a little something about the TTC: they’re kind of like Big Tobacco.

  What other two industries can lure you in at an early age, offer their customers a product with little to no regard to the quality of said product, laugh off their detractors, raise their prices and arrogantly pat itself on the back for its public service, all without any major financial and corporate repercussions?
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• Arts

  High Fidelity debuts at U of T’s Hart House

  

  Posted by Samantha Butler at 2:27 pm on January 16, 2010
  No Comments 7 images
  

  Forget everything you thought you knew about High Fidelity.

  We’ve had Nick Hornby’s 1995 book, a 2000 film starring John Cusak, and even an ill-fated Broadway musical in 2006. But the Canadian premiere of High Fidelity: A Musical about Life, Love and Mix Tapes at Hart House Theatre this week is yet another fresh take – one sure to be a smash hit with Toronto’s musical theatre and comedy crowds.

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• Arts

  A skeptic makes peace with Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert

  

  Posted by Samantha Butler at 6:38 pm on January 10, 2010
  No Comments 2 images
  

  Working at Book City’s St. Clair location for the past two years puts one, as Katherine Mansfield once said, on “nodding terms” with many books. I don’t get to read much, but at the very least moving hundreds of titles from boxes to the shelf day after day has provided me with a pretty substantial to-read list.

  But I must admit, Elizabeth Gilbert’s latest book Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage didn’t top the list for me.

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• Arts

  Toronto Little X lectures educate aspiring filmmakers

  

  Posted by Christina Butty at 12:22 am on January 7, 2010
  No Comments 1 image
  

  While the name Little X may not be familiar in most homes, his work is recognizable to just about everyone who hasn’t been living in a cave.

  Born Julien Lutz in Ontario, Canada, this low-key individual is a sought-after music video director. Not only does he have over 100 music videos to his credit for artists like Kanye West and Jay-Z, he has also done commercials for Bacardi and Chrysler.

  

  The Toronto-based group Time and Space Education Exchange puts on lectures featuring Little X, the first of which happened in December.

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• Arts

  2009 in review: Ten Toronto authors that define a decade

  

  Posted by Nastasha Alli at 3:04 am on December 31, 2009
  No Comments 6 images
  

  Here to round out the past decade for bibliophiles, here are 10 writers who best reflect the city’s diverse communities.

  They enjoy various degrees of fame, but all are equally excellent. They are not presented in any hard-and-fast order.

  Anthony De Sa

  De Sa’s 2008 debut collection Barnacle Love is a series of interconnected stories centred on the Rebelos, a Portuguese immigrant family. De Sa writes with great detail, transporting readers straight into Toronto’s Little Portugal.

  Barnacle Love garnered rave reviews among critics and was shortlisted for the 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize. For an interview with De Sa and a peek into his writing process, see this.

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• Lifestyle

  2009 in review: Top 5 favourite online shopping spots

  

  Posted by L.C. Willis at 12:16 pm on December 29, 2009
  1 Comment

  Nothing is quite as satisfying as shopping at three a.m. in your nightie. There’s a world of deals at your fingertips, but here were my favourite places to buy from this year.

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• Lifestyle

  2009 in review: Top 5 favourite Toronto shopping spots

  

  Posted by L.C. Willis at 2:40 am on December 28, 2009
  No Comments 1 image
  

  Toronto has a lot to offer for just about any tastes. Here were a few of my favourite places to shop in the past year, and some of the best deals I found there.

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• Lifestyle

  First-person: Confessions of a deal-a-holic on the best shopping day of the year

  

  Posted by L.C. Willis at 2:11 pm on December 26, 2009
  6 Comments 1 image
  

  For some people, the holiday season conjures memories of family gatherings, presents under the tree and extravagant meals. For others, the season exists for one purpose, and one purpose only: Boxing Day sales.

  Other people frantically scour the stores before December 24 for the perfect gift, and remain snug in their beds the day after Christmas – stomachs full and wearing their new socks. I don’t subscribe to that philosophy. I rest up the week before, saving my money and scouring the sale flyers online.

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