Theatre artist Robert Lepage is preparing to raise the curtain on an epic, multi-year, 360-degree play
to be staged at theatres-in-the-round in Canada and Europe. Global theatre
association 360 Network, a collection of theatre-in-the-round venues,
commissioned the new production from acclaimed the Quebec artist. Entitled
Cartes, the overall work will encompass four parts representing the four suits
(spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds) in a deck of playing cards. The first
instalment — set in Las Vegas in 2003 as the Iraq War is getting underway
— will debut at MadridÕs Teatro Circo Price in May. It is also scheduled
to play TorontoÕs Luminato arts and culture festival in June, at LondonÕs the
Roundhouse in Feb 2013 and other venues across Europe.
Nickelback has suffered
its share of insults in the past but now the Canadian band is being accused of
actually helping to kill rock ÔnÕ roll. The latest slight comes from none other
than the Grammy-winning band Black Keys. ÒRock ÔnÕ roll is dying because people
became OK with Nickelback being the biggest band in the world,Ó Keys drummer
Patrick Carney says in the new edition of Rolling Stone magazine. Long a
popular target for derision, Nickelback has nonetheless sold nearly 50 million
albums worldwide and scooped up 12 Juno Awards. CarneyÕs comments are the most
recent slagging for the Canadian band.
Canadian-born actor Mike Myers is writing
the script for an Austin Powers musical, which is set to have songs created by
Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello. Myers, 48, played Òinternational man of
mysteryÓ Austin Powers in three spy spoof films, but is not expected to star in
the musical, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Instead, he is penning a
prequel to the film story set in 1960s London and detailing how Powers first
acquired his mighty mojo. Myers is also reported to be on board for a fourth
film instalment as Austin Powers, but the script for that film is not yet in
the works.
Legendary game show host Bob Barker says it
will cost $200,000 to move three elephants from the Toronto Zoo to a California
sanctuary, and he doesnÕt mind paying for it himself. Toronto city council
voted in October to move the elephants to a facility run by PAWS (Performing
Animal Welfare Society) near Galt, Calif, named ARK 2000. The 88-year-old
former host of The Price is Right, interviewed on CBC News Network last month,
said the three female African elephants — Toka, Thika and Iringa —
would be better off in a warmer climate. Seven Canadian zoos in Ontario, Quebec
and Alberta currently have elephant programs.
William Shatner is boldly
going back to where he once appeared — Broadway. The Canadian-born actor,
singer and writer best known as James T. Kirk on Star Trek will star in a
one-man show called ShatnerÕs World: We Just Live in It. Previews begin Feb 14
and it runs at the Music Box Theatre until March 4. Producers said Jan 16 that
Òthe two-hour show will take audiences on a voyage through ShatnerÕs life and
career, from Shakespearean stage actor to internationally known icon and
raconteur.Ó
Two major Canadian cultural exports — filmmaker James
Cameron and the Cirque du Soleil —
have teamed up for a 3D film project scheduled to hit theatres in 2012.
Paramount Pictures has announced it will bring Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away to
theatres around the globe later this year, though an exact release date has yet
to be set. The forthcoming film features a story written expressly for the
project and performances drawn from the many elaborate Cirque productions
around the world.
An exhibit focusing on Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is
headed to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and
Painting is set to arrive at the gallery in the fall and will
include 75 key works from the renowned 20th century painters. Drawn mostly from
the collection of MexicoÕs Museo Dolores Olmedo, it examines the lives of the
artists both together and apart, as well as their support for the Communist
movement and identification with their Mexican roots. The exhibit, set to run
from Oct 20 to Jan 20, 2013, is a collaboration with the High Museum of Art in
Atlanta.