the cottage is closed, the bikinis packed away and the kids herded off to school: time to sort through fall’s bounty of Attendance-mandatory openings, hyped performances and make-it-or-break-it debuts. How to choose between battlefield movies and battling political memoirs, killer barbers and lissome ballet dancers, goth rock survivors and the latest Queen East hangout? Here, the pick of the croP By Jason Anderson, Claire Cooper, Gillian Grace, Gerald Hannon, Andre Mayer, Jason McBride, Alec Scott, Courtney Shea and StÊphanie Verge
Illustrations and Lettering by Nate Williams
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Best of Fall
Star Turns The best in Russian mobs, six-shooters and fart jokes Eastern Promises With A History of Violence, David Cronenberg eschewed his trademark gore and creepiness in favour of a deft exploration of the crime thriller genre. This follow-up suggests he’s not through with it yet. Violence star Viggo Mortensen is also back, this time as a ruthless Russian mob boss who runs afoul of a midwife (Naomi Watts) unwittingly drawn into his London sextrafficking operation. In theatres Sept. 14
Into the Wild Sean Penn’s characteristically macho fourth feature adapts Jon Krakauer’s best-seller about the true tale of a young man (played here by up-and-comer Emile Hirsch) who abandons his comfy middle-class life for one of dangerous adventure and selffulfillment, arriving eventually in the Alaskan wilderness. Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener and William Hurt cameo. In theatres Sept. 21
Lust, Caution
The Shape-Shifter LITTLE MOSQUE’S CARLO ROTA ON CANDY-COATED MUSLIMS He plays an anti-terrorist operative on 24 and a dotty Lebanese-Canadian contractor in Little Mosque on the Prairie. Some remember him as the travelling epicure in the now-defunct Great Canadian Food Show. On a break from shooting, Carlo Rota muses on his idiosyncratic career. What’s been your toughest role thus far? It’s always a challenge to get the most out of the screen time I get. It takes as much work to make it look like you’re having the best time you could possibly have eating flipper pie on a food show as it does to sell a torture scene on 24.
So how do you sell a torture scene? I get out all the anger and frustration that cannot come out in my personal life—or I’d be locked up. It’s quite cathartic.
The first season of Little Mosque averaged over a million viewers per episode. Were you expecting that sort of success? We knew it was going to be noticed; we had no idea how much it was going to be noticed. And we had no idea how big a hurdle we’d leaped by mak80 Toronto Life | torontolife.com | OCTOBER 2007
ing this comedy about Muslims. In trying to steer clear of hurt, we made the show unusually sweet.
How much of your identity is wrapped up in your facial hair? I was in a significant relationship that broke up, so I went away for three months. I was in places with no electricity, no running water; a beard grew, funny enough. Then I came back to Toronto and did At the Hotel with Ken Finkleman, and I was doing something else, and all the shows just piggybacked while the beard stayed constant. When I started on 24, they said, “You’ve got a beard. Are you going to keep it?” I said, “I still have to finish this thing up in Toronto, and I kind of want to keep it.” And they said, “Well, then you have to keep it for the whole season.” And I said, “Fine.” It’s a lucky beard.
No, not a Bill Clinton biopic, but rather the latest from Ang Lee. Post–Brokeback Mountain, the eclectic auteur returns to China for this espionage thriller set in World War II–era Japanese-occupied Shanghai. Hong Kong heartthrob Tony Leung (Hero) plays a highranking official in the puppet government, with newcomer Tang Wei the young woman recruited to seduce and assassinate him. In theatres Sept. 28
The Heartbreak Kid The original Elaine May film, written by Neil Simon and starring Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd, is a comedy classic. In the Farrelly brothers’ remake, Ben Stiller reprises Grodin’s role as a feckless newlywed who, on his honeymoon, realizes he’s married the wrong woman (The Comeback’s babealicious Malin Akerman). The Farrellys promise much more slapstick—and the requisite fart jokes. In theatres Oct. 5
photograph (rota) by raina kirn and wilson barry
Best of Fall
Margot at the Wedding Noah Baumbach proved his talent for comedy as sharp as a shiv with The Squid and the Whale. His latest tale of familial angst features Nicole Kidman in the titular role as a successful writer whose younger sister, Pauline (Baumbach’s real-life wife, Jennifer Jason Leigh), is about to marry a smartass slob—Jack Black, playing outside his usual comedic comfort zone—whom Margot deems unworthy. In theatres Oct. 12
No Country for Old Men A stranger pairing than the Coen brothers and Cormac McCarthy might be hard to imagine, but they fit together here as comfortably as a six-shooter in a holster. In this modern western, set in southwest Texas in 1980, a drug deal gone bad unites an inover-his-head Vietnam vet (Josh Brolin), an aging sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) and a sociopath (Javier Bardem, sporting an insane pageboy coif) hell-bent on retribution.
WarMeasure
Directors Robert Redford and Paul Haggis go headto-head this fall with a pair of left-leaning movies
that examine the fallout from America’s Middle East misadventures. Here’s how they match up
Nov. 9
Lions for Lambs
In the Valley of Elah
Robert Redford
Sept. 14
Paul Haggis
A professor (Redford), a journalist (Meryl Streep) and a senator (Tom Cruise) are thrown into conflict when two American soldiers fall behind enemy lines in Afghanistan.
A model soldier (Jonathan Tucker, of Haggis’s TV show, The Black Donnellys) goes AWOL upon his return from Iraq. His father, a career officer (Tommy Lee Jones), enlists his wife (Susan Sarandon) and a police detective (Charlize Theron) in an effort to get to the bottom of the boy’s disappearance.
Pack the picture with all the A-list muscle you can muster. Worked well for Redford in the past. The distant past, that is; his 1980 Ordinary People won four Oscars, while more recent efforts, such as The Legend of Bagger Vance, were middling.
In first, out last. An early release date might help obliterate the competition.
Tom Cruise. His fiery right-wing congressman will make you temporarily forget the Suri-andScientology travails of ’06.
Tommy Lee Jones. With a part in No Country for Old Men, out a couple of months later, the grizzled veteran’s got a double shot at an Oscar.
3:1
5:1
In theatres Nov. 16
x Sestr-sieae TlVBDeobuts Mu
The Torrid Soap
The Busty Procedural
The Heroes Challenger
The Classic Sitcom
Dirty Sexy Money
Women’s Murder Club
Journeyman
Back to You
CTV, Sept. 26
E!, Sept. 28
Global, Sept. 24
Global, Sept. 19
Pushing Daisies
The usual blood and guts spectacle aside, this is a smartly written drama about four crime-fighting friends who happen to be women. Vancouver native Laura Harris plays a DA, Angie Harmon (ex of Law and Order) a detective, and unknowns Paula Newsome and Aubrey Dollar a medical examiner and an investigative reporter. They pool resources to help each other solve cases, always in heels.
For Dan Vasser (Rome’s moody Kevin McKidd), a newspaper reporter who time travels, superpowers become a hazard when his wife attributes his frequent absences to drinking binges. Worse, she doesn’t believe his visits to the past are what enable him to gather leads about the cases he’s trying to crack. The show is fast-paced enough that you need to pay attention, but not so much that you need to consult a blog to decode clues.
Kelsey Grammer’s new vehicle, from Frasier vets James Burrows and Christopher Lloyd, has him playing an anchor who returns to his local Pittsburgh station after he’s fired from a major L.A. network. As his co-anchor, Patricia Heaton shows more comedic range than she ever did on Everybody Loves Raymond. Fred Willard is a goofy sports anchor. Proof the classic half-hour sitcom formula still has legs.
CTV, Oct. 3
There’s a whiff of Jackie Collins novel to this nighttime soap about the Kennedy-esque Darling clan, comprising patriarch Tripp Darling III (Donald Sutherland, in fine form), his booze-fuelled wife and their five manipulative adult kids. Into this moral vacuum wanders Nick George (an angsty Peter Krause in his first major post–Six Feet Under role), who replaces his murdered father as the family lawyer. Tough job.
The Catch-It-BeforeIt’s-Cancelled Oddity
A self-consciously quirky dramedy about a baker (Wonderfalls’ Lee Pace) who brings dead people back to life with a touch—but only long enough to find out how they died. Bright, saturated colours, a kindly old man narrator and whimsical music underline the make-believe quality. The pilot was written by Bryan Fuller, whose CV (Heroes, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls) shows a yen for the supernatural.
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Stage Rites Tales of demon barbers, clingy ghosts and impulsive orthotics salesmen Benevolence The ever-cynical Mark Twain once said, “We do no benevolences whose first benefit is not for ourselves.” Morris Panych tests this theory in his latest comedy, examining whether acts of kindness are ever truly free of self-interest. After paying it forward by giving away 100 big ones to a homeless man (played by Stephen Ouimette) outside a porn theatre, an impulsive orthotics salesman (Tom Rooney) is stunned by the unexpected results. Maybe Twain was right after all. Sept. 18 to Oct. 27, Tarragon
Blithe Spirit
The Renegade Playwright Hannah Moscovitch breaks into the tarragon This fall, indie theatre queen Hannah Moscovitch takes on the establishment when her latest work, East of Berlin, premieres at the Tarragon (Oct. 16). No light fare, it’s the story of the son of a prominent Nazi living in Paraguay who learns about his father’s role in the Holocaust. Some playwrights avoid rehearsals. Will you be there for East of Berlin? I have mixed feelings about it. I want to let the actors make discoveries, and it drives me mad listening to them try to work out what’s going on in each scene when I could just tell them. I always want to ask, “Are you really going to do that? This is just part of your process, right?” So it’s best, as a rule, not to be there. But this time around I want to. We have a four-week rehearsal process; I guess this is what it means to do established theatre.
Karenina was on it. I feel ashamed when I haven’t read the business section of The Globe and Mail.
A lot of people haven’t read Anna Karenina. You have to know where you came from, though. I’m always trying to get hold of the history of art forms, of theatre in particular. I know many playwrights are purists about not reading and writing at the same time, but I’m all over the place.
What do you read for inspiration?
You’re also working on an episode of Afghanada for CBC radio and a project with the Winnipeg Prairie Theatre Exchange. Do you ever lose steam?
I have a shame list, and I’m working through it. I just read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and Cannery Row. Now I’m reading Aristotle’s Poetics. It’s a long list. Really embarrassing ones. Until recently, Anna
I take Epsom salt baths and drink. Sometimes it’s good to just drink for a while. I like simple things. Men cheer me up sometimes. It sounds very Dorothy Parker, vodka and men, but it’s not untrue.
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Master of the bon mot, Noël Coward proved that death could indeed be funny with this 1941 play about mortality, marriage and mediums. After holding a seance that’s meant to help with his latest novel but ends up summoning his dead wife (Brenda Robins) instead, writer Charles Condomine (Joseph Ziegler) can’t rid himself of his ex’s clingy spectre, a fact his current spouse (Fiona Reid) doesn’t exactly relish. The busy Morris Panych directs this Soulpepper production in which Nancy Palk takes on the comic goldmine that is spiritualist Madame Arcati. Nov. 7 to Dec. 15, Young Centre
The Drowsy Chaperone A fictional soon-to-be-married starlet, a bewitched 1920s album and one fanatical musical theatre enthusiast form the backbone of this eight-year-old work that turned Bob Martin into a Broadway star. Originally created by Lisa Lambert, Greg Morrison and Don McKellar for Martin and his then-fiancée Janet Van De Graaff’s stag, the sketch-turnedFringe phenomenon quickly gained momentum, leaping from incrementally grander Toronto productions to New York to London. Back in town, the retro treat is now setting its sights on a North American tour. Sept. 19 to Oct. 14, Elgin
photograph (moscovitch) by raina kirn and wilson barry
Best of Fall
The Elephant Man The story of Victorian-era sideshow attraction John Merrick has captured the imagination of many eccentrics over the years, from Michael Jackson (who was rumoured to have tried to purchase the Elephant Man’s remains for $500,000) to David Bowie (who portrayed him onstage in Bernard Pomerance’s Tony Award–winning play, the work currently being mounted by Canadian Stage). Brent Carver (pictured) portrays the titular outcast turned society darling, while Slings and Arrows’ Geraint Wyn Davies tackles the role of his greatest advocate, Dr. Treves. Oct. 8 to Nov. 3, bluma appel
Sweeney Todd Subtitled The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, this 19th-century tale of revenge and murder has experienced a renaissance of late with the advent of a Tim Burton– Johnny Depp film version, as well as a celebrated, streamlined Broadway revival—seen here— of Stephen Sondheim’s 1979 musical. At once a comedy and a chilling thriller, Sweeney Todd focuses on the eponymous shearer (David Hess) and his bloody business of slicing unsuspecting clients while his helpful neighbour (Judy Kaye) dices the bodies into meat pies. You’ll never look at tourtière the same way again. Nov. 6 to Dec. 16, Princess of Wales
The Real McCoy Penned by actorplaywright Andrew Moodie— who made a name for himself 12 years ago with Riot, his explosive work based on the Toronto fallout from L.A.’s infamous Rodney King beatings— The Real McCoy finds the drama in thermodynamics and one of its early experts, 19th-century inventor Elijah McCoy (Maurice Dean Wint), the Canadian-born son of runaway American slaves. Against all odds, he went on to patent some 50-odd items, including a self-lubricating cup for steam engines, the ironing table and the lawn sprinkler, though not without significant personal cost. And yes, that’s where the saying comes from.
SHOW BOUT
David mirvish and aubrey dan battle to fill seats After Livent’s spectacular Garth Drabinsky–helmed implosion in 1998, Mirvish Productions became the city’s only purveyor of big-budget, for-profit theatre. Until now. With a full season of splashy Broadway shows lined up, budding Dancap Productions impresario Aubrey Dan has tossed his hat into the ring. So how does the new kid measure up to the old guard?
MIRVISH
VS.
DANCAP
1963
FOUNDED
2002
Sixty-three-year-old David Mirvish, only child of Honest Ed Mirvish. Opened the now-shuttered David Mirvish Gallery at the age of 18; he joined his father in the theatre biz in 1986.
LEADING MAN
Forty-four-year-old Aubrey Dan, middle child of pharmaceutical giant and billionaire Leslie Dan. Claims to have fallen in love with his wife and theatre on the same night, at a Canadian Stage play 19 years ago.
Ed bought the crumbling Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1963, and by the late ’80s had the strongest subscriber base in North America. The opening of the Princess of Wales Theatre in 1993 and a 2001 multi-year deal to manage the Pantages, now the Canon, cemented Mirvish’s position as the biggest show in town.
THE BACK STORY
Dan financed a tuneful (but money-losing) threesome with Canadian Stage—2004’s Urinetown, 2005’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ and 2006’s Hair—before striking out on his own. He enlisted CS’s Paul Shaw as Dancap’s producer and managing director.
Six productions (including two musicals): Dirty Dancing, Sweeney Todd, Twelve Angry Men, Nicholas Nickleby Parts I and II and The Ha’Penny Bridge.
THE NEW SEASON
One “concert presentation” (3 Mo’ Divas) and five musicals: The Drowsy Chaperone, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, My Fair Lady, Avenue Q and Jersey Boys.
1) Take a cue from London’s West End: half of the programming has been tested by the Brits first. 2) Name recognition: it’s hard to deny the power of the Mirvish moniker—the proof is in the 40,000-plus subscriber pudding.
THE STRATEGY
1) Take a cue from New York’s Great White Way: with the exception of 3 Mo’ Divas and London’s My Fair Lady, the season’s offerings were all hits on Broadway. 2) Think big picture: in July, Dancap joined an American production alliance with the goal of creating new Broadway musicals. Now it will get first dibs on such shows as The Addams Family and Saved.
Dirty Dancing sold almost $2 million in tickets on the first day of box office sales, crashing Mirvish’s phone and Internet systems. In the immortal words of Patrick Swayze, nobody puts Baby in a corner. The two-part adaptation of Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby was a smash hit in the U.K., but will Torontonians sit through all six and a half hours?
THE SURE THING
THE RISK FACTOR
Jersey Boys, the doo-wop megahit about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, won last year’s Tony for best musical.
The Drowsy Chaperone’s recent London flop (it closed after only 12 weeks) has raised eyebrows.
Oct. 11 to Nov. 4, Factory
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High Notes
Voices from beyond, two irrepressible divas and one long trip home Esprit Orchestra Toronto’s only orchestra devoted to new and contemporary music looks ahead with its 25th anniversary celebration, featuring work by Canadians John Rea, Alexina Louie and music director Alex Pauk, who will receive the Canada Council’s Molson Prize the same evening. There’s one glance backward: Colin McPhee’s Tabuhtabuhan, “world music” from 1936, still fresh as morning. Oct. 19, Jane Mallett
International Vocal Recital Series Toronto’s a stop on New Zealander Kiri Te Kanawa’s farewell tour and home to a splashy appearance by relative youngster Measha Brueggergosman, she of the irrepressible voice and unstoppable ’fro. Te Kanawa hasn’t announced her program but seems sure to feature the Mozart and Strauss she’s practically trademarked. New Brunswick’s Brueggergosman, meanwhile, is testing 20th-century waters with Benjamin Britten, Ned Rorem and Francis Poulenc, among others. Kiri Te Kanawa
The Music Man
Te Kanawa, Oct. 19; Brueggergosman, Nov. 25; Roy Thomson
Peter Oundjian on family, fantasy and baton malfunctions
Opera Atelier
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s maestro conducted the world premiere of Luminato hit Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy), his contract with the TSO has been extended another four years, and ticket sales are up by 30 per cent. No wonder everyone loves the guy. How many batons do you have? I think 25 or so. I keep 10 in my desk at the TSO. They’re flimsy and can break. That happened when I was conducting The Rite of Spring—it just suddenly snapped and almost hit one of the viola players. I’d never used a baton before for that piece. I think it was trying to tell me something.
Any other odd moments? I was conducting Yefim Bronfman playing Rach maninov’s Third Piano Concerto in Detroit. He was in the middle of the cadenza when he just suddenly stopped playing and said, “I cannot continue playing on this piano.” Apparently a D key wouldn’t repeat. So we had to entertain the audience while a technician came onstage to fix it. Luckily, Bronfman’s a very funny guy. 84 Toronto Life | torontolife.com | OCTOBER 2007
Your cousin Eric Idle, who wrote and starred in Not the Messiah, is also very funny. Yes. Eric tends to swear—it was funny hearing him curse onstage at Roy Thomson. And he broke up the audience when he told them that the original draft of our national anthem was “Oh, Sorry…”
What would your dream concert be? There’s nothing more magnificent than the slow movement of Bruckner’s Eighth, but how could you skip Beethoven’s Ninth or Mahler… And you can’t do all that in one evening. But you can definitely do festivals. I’m planning one pairing Bartók with Strauss. That’s dream programming.
Which part of the fall season inspires you? I know Carmina Burana is an audience favourite, but I love Pictures of an Exhibition.
If you can get past the odd brochure photograph (a man’s naked crotch leaning against the back of a woman’s head), order tickets for Opera Atelier’s The Return of Ulysses. Claudio Monteverdi’s opera has Shakespearean heft: high drama, low comedy, gods and mortals sharing the stage, all moving us inexorably toward the tender reunion, after almost two decades, of husband, wife and son. Olivier Laquerre, at six feet five inches, promises to be an imposing Ulysses. David Fallis also conducts the accompanying Toronto Consort. Oct. 27 to Nov. 3, Elgin
Takács Quartet Music Toronto’s string quartet series has long been one of the city’s must-hears, thanks to ensemphotograph (Oundjian) by Cylla von Tiedemann/TSO
Best of Fall
Leaping Wizards
bles such as the Takács Quartet. In town for its eighth visit, the three-time Gramophone magazine award winner will be showing off Geraldine Walther, a new violist in an ensemble famous for its stability (two of the current players were among the founders in 1975). On tap: Joseph Haydn and Johannes Brahms, as well as Leoš Janᡠcek’s exhilarating old-guy-in-love masterpiece, Intimate Letters.
Four of the faces—and rock-hard bods— behind the National Ballet’s fall season
Every year, young dancers leave their small towns and families behind, hoping to become principal dancers at the National Ballet of Canada. Current crop Guillaume Côté, Greta Hodgkinson, Nehemiah Kish and Heather Ogden got to centre stage thanks to their strong work ethic and (it must be said) considerable sex appeal. This November, they’ll fill leading roles in a tribute to late American choreographer Jerome (West Side Story) Robbins, and in The Merry Widow, a lushly costumed, belle époque romp. Here, thumbnail portraits of the indomitable quartet. They don’t just think they can dance—they know it.
Oct. 11, Jane Mallett
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra The term “baroque” became synonymous with gorgeous excess for reasons you’ll understand when you hear Tafelmusik let loose on some of the era’s big (and not so big) names. Concerts the group is calling musical “tightrope walking” will feature the expected Antonio Vivaldi and Luigi Boccherini, but will also open a window on Jan Dismas Zelenka and Francesco Maria Veracini. Nov. 14 to 18, Trinity–St. Paul’s Centre
Heather Ogden, 26
Guillaume Côté, 26
Nehemiah Kish, 25
Greta Hodgkinson, 34
IN A NUTSHELL
The classic ingenue, she’s sensible, sweet and determined
Wholesome, athletic and exuberant, he’s a stand-up guy who plays stand-up guys
A New World Billy Elliot, he’s graceful, suave and aristocratic
Girlfriend’s got game—precise, fierce and sensual, she could easily busk a week’s wages in an hour
HAILS FROM
Toronto
Lac St. Jean, Quebec
Caro, Michigan
Providence, Rhode Island
DEFINING ROLE
The doomed heroine in Romeo and Juliet
Prince Charming in Cinderella
The caddish Count Albrecht in Giselle
The title courtesan in Manon
OFFSTAGE PURSUITS
Guillaume Côté, reading, brunch at the Senator, hanging out in the Beach
Heather Ogden, composing classical music, rocking out to heavy metal, playing around on the piano, clarinet, guitar, violin and cello
Shilling for Lululemon (“I rehearse in their yoga pants”), taking in jazz shows at the Rex, painting, rooting for the Raptors
Shopping for designer handbags, going to the movies, hosting cocktail parties, travelling
CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKE
Reese Witherspoon
Oddly, Juliette Binoche
Sylvester the Cat
Kristin Scott Thomas
Ben Heppner and the La Scala Philharmonic Two names to set opera fans drooling. The orchestra of Milan’s legendary opera house, under Riccardo Chailly, makes its first visit here since 1921, bolstering our big Ben in scenes from Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre, then revelling in Italian sunshine with selections from Ottorino Respighi’s Roman trilogy. Oct. 9, Roy Thomson
Canadian Opera Company The French liked their opera big, long and grand, and with Don Carlos, Giuseppe Verdi gave them what they wanted. We usually get to hear his later, slimmer Italian revision, but the COC is betting we’re ready for four-plus hours of frustrated passion, father-son torment, beastly Catholics, burnings at the stake and voices from the tomb as it mounts the original five-act Gallic version. Adrianne Pieczonka, as Elisabeth de Valois, leads a strong cast. Oct. 12 to Nov. 3, Four Seasons Centre
QUOTE/ UNQUOTE
“I like how extreme Balanchine’s choreography is. You have to move big and quick and hard— or else”
“Rex [Harrington] was my idol, but I have to say I’ll be nothing like him”
“Sure, I faced some teasing in my hometown, but when I saw Baryshnikov dancing in the movie White Nights, I knew that’s what I wanted to do”
“In places like Italy and Japan, there are people literally storming the stage door, wanting your autograph”
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Best of Fall
Lit Picks Sex, death and a very grumpy detective For the political junkie Two former PMs dish on their stints at 24 Sussex and beyond. In Brian Mulroney: Memoirs 1939–1993, our chinniest leader recounts his ascent from blue-collar beginnings to father of that guy from Canadian Idol. With My Years As Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien zeroes in on the decade of his greatest power, 1993 to 2003, when he won three majority elections. Mulroney, Sept. 10; chrétien, oct. 16
For literary patriots The protagonist of St. Catharines author Richard B. Wright’s October helps a former friend, a beloved daughter and a whole heap of disappointments go gentle into that good night. Torontonian Elyse Friedman’s Long Story Short: A Novella and Stories teems with subversive wit and weird sex; in the novella, A Bright Tragic Thing, a teen befriends a C-list former sitcom star with alternately hysterical and uncomfortable results. wright, oct. 18; friedman, oct. 15
For pop culture addicts
The Fabulist novelist Michael Winter tackles rivalry and romance In his new book, The Architects Are Here (Sept. 8), Newfoundlander Michael Winter oscillates between Toronto and Corner Brook with a tale of two friends drawn together and then pulled apart by an impetuous young woman. It’s brainy and ambitious—just like its author. There’s an anxiety in the book about our transition from a commodity economy to one of information and ideas. Do you share that anxiety? Madame Bovary, c’est moi. I’m both of my protagonists, Twombly and Gabe. Trouble is interesting on the page. Anxiety is interesting.
Like your narrator, Gabriel English, you studied economic geography. Ever feel like returning to that field? God, I hope not. I was a city planner for a while. I painted crosswalks for a summer. Very mundane. Not evocative for me. But the theory that the whole built world is planned is fascinating, to see people creating possible worlds. The fact that that scenario governs things was a real eye-opener. 86 Toronto Life | torontolife.com | OCTOBER 2007
Cars are very important in the book, as both metaphor and image. What do you drive? A ’94 Ford Ranger. It’s a dogged little thing.
The novel is the first to be serialized on Facebook. Is that kind of promotion at odds with the book’s temperament? Well, I’m reducing each chapter to 300-word posts. And that reduction is kind of antithetical to fiction. But I like the interactive aspect. I’m not precious. It’s bullshit to think that there’s a god in me that creates from on high. Lots of people contribute to a book; it’s a communal effort.
Moose make appearances in much of your fiction. Favourite recipe? “Samoosas.” A light Indian curry in pastry. It’s really very good.
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta, Little Children’s expert chronicler of suburban angst, takes on the Christian right, liberal soccer moms and everyone in between. True to Perrotta’s gleefully corrosive form, no one gets off the field unstained. oct. 16
For those who like to go out with a bang Philip Roth’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, has been grappling with professional success and personal failure since the 1970s; his ninth and final appearance is in Exit Ghost. Ian Rankin’s irascible Detective Inspector John Rebus takes his conclusive, blood-and-regretbathed star turn before retiring in what’s being billed as Rebus XX. roth, oct. 2; rankin, oct. 1
Best of Fall
Gallery Greats
Kelly Jazvac A partial reference to the Toronto Sculpture Garden’s past life as a parking lot, Jazvac’s Upgrade is a Pontiac Sunfire coupe that has been transformed, inside and out, into a 2007 Porsche 911 with the aid of adhesive vinyl graphics. More of this recent University of Victoria grad’s cheeky works can be seen at Diaz Contemporary (Nov. 22 to Dec. 22).
Barnyard animals, star-studded fundraisers and pimped-out rides Art With Heart
Oct. 3 to April 15, Toronto Sculpture Garden
Kim Dorland
One of the premiere art events of the fall, this 14th annual fundraising auction for HIV/AIDS hospice Casey House features work by a host of emerging artists, as well as contemporary Canadian art’s leading names (Ed Burtynsky, Douglas Coupland and the Royal Art Lodge, to name a few). This year, talented local ceramicist Julie Moon provides the inaugural June Callwood Artist’s Multiple, named after Casey House’s late, great founder. Oct. 16, Carlu; public previews Oct. 9 to Oct. 13, Ritchies Auctioneers & Appraisers
Marcel Van Eeden
Ben Reeves An aficionado of the brush stroke, Reeves’ impressive graphite drawings take figurative paintings and break down their surface textures in minute detail. His new exhibit is a collection of oil works, similarly concerned with both the literal and representational quality of painterly gestures: globs of white paint are applied to figurative studies to suggest real things, like cigarette smoke or a splattered cream pie. Sept. 15 to Oct. 6, Jessica Bradley Art & Projects
This local artist had one of the city’s best painting shows last year: blending acrylic and oil— often using the former for a base and the latter in thick, frenzied surface applications—he depicted idiosyncratic rural and suburban environments, occasionally populated by working-class teens or animals. Dorland’s new exhibit elaborates on his interest in lonely, rambling landscapes. Oct. 19 to Nov. 17, Angell Gallery
Daphne Odjig
This Dutch artist has met with considerable acclaim since his Toronto debut two years ago: a group of his works was recently purchased by German curator and art historian Heiner Bastian, ex–private secretary to conceptualist Joseph Beuys. Van Eeden’s adroit, profuse charcoal drawings—he creates at least one piece a day—recount events and images that occurred before his year of birth, 1965. Sept. 14 to Oct. 31, Clint Roenisch Gallery
Micah Lexier Lives and Works 5: And Sing Myself The Winnipeg-born, New York– based artist’s practice encompasses a variety of approaches and media, from conceptual photography to water jet–cut aluminum and steel lettering and symbols. Here, he presents both a solo
show and group show, which he curates. For the latter, Lexier selects notable work by Eric Cameron, whose objects—which sometimes have more than 1,000 layers of paint on them—take several years to complete. Also participating is the ascendant David Altmejd, who represented Canada at this year’s Venice Biennale. Oct. 20 to Nov. 17, Birch-Libralato
Flash Forward 2007 A yearly exhibit co-hosted by the Magenta Foundation and TD Bank Financial Group (and accompanied by a glossy publication), Flash Forward honours the best emerging photographers from Canada, the U.S. and Britain. The strong list of Canadian parti cipants includes Adrian Fish, who shoots the interiors of old theatres; Rob McInnis, who takes pictures of barnyard animals in the style of Annie Leibovitz; and Guggenheim fellow Don Weber, best known for his Bastard Eden series on present-day Chernobyl.
A pioneer of contemporary Aboriginal art, the 89-yearold’s stature was officially confirmed this spring when she was awarded the Governor General’s Medal for Visual Arts. In conjunction with a National Gallery–sponsored retrospective at the Art Gallery of Sudbury, this exhibit focuses on all of Odjig’s major periods: her canvas and paper works from the 1960s and ’70s, her Picasso-influenced paintings of the ’80s, and her fanciful, often humorous recent work. Oct. 20 to Nov. 1, Gallery Gevik
Oct. 4 to 21, Lennox Contemporary OCTOBER 2007 | torontolife.com | Toronto Life 87
Best of Fall
Hot Concerts
Harmonizing, fiddling and trilling top the pops Jethro Tull
Whether a flute solo has ever rocked is debatable. But no one can say Ian Anderson didn’t try his damnedest to make it so on “Aqualung” and other radio staples by this British prog-rock stalwart. With its elaborate, unabashedly fanciful sound, Jethro Tull has rarely been cool—indeed, a great many were stunned when the band swept the inaugural Grammy for best hard rock–metal performance away from Metallica back in 1988. That being said, no one else has ever trilled with the same brio. Nov. 24, Massey Hall
Spoon
The Lone Star BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE’S KEVIN DREW DEMYSTIFIES HIS MUSIC MAGIC What makes Broken Social Scene so rousing is that it throws itself into the creative process with utter abandon. The collective’s honcho, Kevin Drew, is channelling that ethos on Spirit If… (Sept. 18), the first solo disc to appear under the imprimatur Broken Social Scene Presents. What do you think it is about Broken Social Scene that resonates with fans?
There’s a dreamy quality to the music. How do you achieve that?
I think we started as a celebration and it just continued. If you go to our shows, it seems like people know, no matter what, they’re going to have a fun time, they’re going to feel alive.
It’s the Hope and Fun Chords—I’m addicted to them. Musicians know what they are. There’s a bit of a law that says you can’t give them away.
Describe your process for Spirit If…
It’s D, G and C.
I was always the kid who never did his homework; I was always late. There is something about the slacker ideal of sitting down and not concentrating and letting whatever emotions you’re feeling that day just come out. That’s what this record is.
What would you say is the album’s main lyrical theme?
It sounds like songwriting for you is a physical release rather than a cerebral pursuit. I very much like what you just said. I might use that on a sticker. 88 Toronto Life | torontolife.com | OCTOBER 2007
Edging ever closer to a mainstream breakthrough, these long-time indie-rock mavericks have a knack for writing songs that are short, sharp and straight to the point. On Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), the Austin band’s sixth studio album since 1994, lead singer and songwriter Britt Daniel perfects his minimalist-minded approach as he builds ingenious pop wonders out of skeletal guitar riffs and percussive piano parts. Live, that spare sound tends to get bulked up slightly, but it’s still easy to hear why Spoon is the rock cognoscenti’s favourite utensil. Oct. 15, The Phoenix
Aww, come on.
Obviously, this is the “you and I” record. Some days I feel really good about it, and some days I feel as if I copped out a bit. I believe that in every songwriter’s lifetime there’s a “you and I” record, and I suppose this was mine. But if I start to write more “you and I” love songs, I’m going to request that some 19-year-olds beat the living shit out of me. photograph (drew) by Jesse Senko
Best of Fall
The Cure
Mariza
Perhaps the gloomiest band to emerge from Britain’s incredibly fertile late ’70s music scene, this group didn’t start out as anyone’s idea of an arena-filler. Nevertheless, the Cure’s mopey, atmospheric sound has engendered fierce loyalty among millions of fans who’ve been known to enjoy a good wallowing from time to time. Front man Robert Smith breaks out his trademark eyeliner as the band tours in support of its upcoming 13th album.
Born in Mozambique and raised in Lisbon, the Portuguese singer with the close-cropped blond locks sounds as striking as she looks. Thanks to her contralto voice and unfussy take on the melancholy traditional music known as fado, Mariza is equal parts defiance and devastation. While the glossy production on such recent recordings as Transparente (2005) can make her music seem overly polite, Mariza’s live performances leave no doubt as to her power. Oct. 3, Massey Hall
The New Pornographers This Vancouver band’s salacious moniker belies an approach to pop that’s cleanly classicist by nature. Since forming in 1997, the New Pornographers have favoured bright melodies, equally sunny vocal harmonies and tempos that aim to thrill. Indeed, it might all get too syrupy if not for the acerbic wit of Carl Newman, the band’s lead creative force. The presence of part-time Pornographer and full-time alt-country belle Neko Case adds further edge. oct. 21, the phoenix Sept. 27, Air Canada Centre
Raised in rural Ontario by a fiddle-playing father and stepdancing mother, the eight brothers and sisters of Leahy know their fair share about tradition, too. The siblings are not, however, averse to mixing country, folk, jazz and rock into their own New World Irish stew.
The Chieftains and Leahy Though one hails from Ireland and the other from Lakefield, both of these acts can be depended upon to supply audiences with generous servings of Celtic revelry. The Emerald Isle’s premiere musical ambassadors for more than 40 years, the Chieftains have popularized many of that country’s most cherished traditional songs.
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The concept: Sconces overlook intimate tables for two, while couches in the front draw lounge lizards looking for an east-end lair. Beyond that, the ambience is left to DJs who spin house, electronica and funk, a rarity on this pubfriendly side of town. The crowd: Ahead-of-thepack lofties—mostly film industry and media types— who opted for the undiscovered joys of Leslieville over the creature comforts of Liberty Village. The cocktail: Grace Kelly martinis (Stoli Raz, pomegranate liqueur, Grand Marnier and prosecco) may be the best way to channel your inner princess. The west-end equivalent: All the sparse sleekness of Queen West’s Habitat.
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The concept: When plans to call this haunt Booze Emporium got nixed by the alcohol police—apparently having the word “booze” in your name is a big no-no— owners redubbed it with a healthy dose of damn-theman cheek. Any similarities to the era of Al Capone end at the door: the contraband flows freely, and the feel is somewhere between pub and keg party. The crowd: On weekends, a Piano Man–style playlist woos the “Sweet Caroline”– loving sorts. The cocktail: With 10 beers on tap and rooms sponsored by Jack Daniel’s and Belvedere, old standards are a safe bet. The west-end equivalent: Like the Madison with a dash of the Drake.
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703 Queen St. E., 416-778-7662
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2. Soma
696 Queen St. E., 416-406-2669
ham
1. Prohibition
Leahy, Sept. 29, Living Arts Centre; Chieftains, Oct. 2, Massey Hall
While skinnyjeaned scenesters do battle over Queen West, a formerly forgettable strip just east of the Don River is fast becoming Toronto’s latest hub of hip. Here’s the dish on four new arrivals
3. The Citizen
4. The comrade
730 Queen St. E., 416-465-0100
758 Queen St. E., 416-778-9449
The concept: If the sign looks familiar, it should. Restaurateur-slash-cinephile Rodney Bowers has named a second venture (the first being Queen West’s Rosebud) after his favourite film. Inside, the black and white colour scheme is both fitting and newly updated, thanks to a facelift by the Restaurant Makeover team. The crowd: Rosebud devotees and a peppering of young professionals dominate a sheltered patio during the warmer months. The cocktail: For the Rodagarita, Bowers adds cherry syrup to a classic margarita recipe. The west-end equivalent: An inventive tapas-style menu and restrained stylishness recall College Street’s Mini Market.
The concept: Two of the three co-owners are also in the decorating business, and it shows. The art deco room is narrow, the lighting moody and the walls adorned with vintage propaganda posters. But check your hammer and sickle at the door: despite the political decor, the concept is more casual cocktail session than Communist Manifesto. The crowd: A mix of neighbourhoodies—finally, a local to call their own!—and curious west-side cool kids. The cocktail: Manhattans, Golden Cadillacs, grasshoppers and the like are a welcome nod to yesteryear. Here’s hoping your hangover is equally nostalgic. The west-end equivalent: The Communist’s Daughter, naturally.
OCTOBER 2007 | torontolife.com | Toronto Life 89