What's Happening

There's quite a few diverse musical happenings sched'd for this week...

The Reveries are at the Tranzac Saturday night for a CD release party, followed by a reggae dance party.

A cappella group Wibi is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a concert at the MilesNadalJCC on April 5. You can buy the $15 and $12 tickets online.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra features Love and Betrayal: Handel Opera Arias with Daniel Taylor and Carolyn Sampson with a run that begins Wednesday at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor St. W.

Also at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, Toronto Consort offers The Glory of St. Mark's with works by Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli. Fri. & Sat. 8 p.m., 416-964-6337.

At Trane Studio at 964 Bathurst St. Ainiké is joined by ex-Shuffle Demon Perry White for an evening of world-fusion and jazz Fri. 9 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Victor Wooten hits Lee's Palace Monday. Tickets are $25.

For film fans, the Bloor Cinema has some interesting things going on this week... Monday is Varsity Day and admission is $3 if you show your U of T student ID. The line up is Lars and the Real Girl at 4:30 pm, Persepolis at 7 pm and There Will Be Blood at 9 pm. The latter two get Tomatometer readings in the 90s; not too shabby.

Also, if you want to revisit some classics, or introduce your kids to them, Wednesday night's double bill is Sunset Boulevard and A Streetcar Named Desire. I've heard nothing about the intriguing sounding Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Way of The Tosser, but it screens Saturday at 9:30 pm.

History buff? You might want to attend the final event in the Building Toronto: Archives and Architects lecture series (a .pdf flyer is available online). Andrew Waldron discusses Researching the Recent Past: Modern Architecture and the Archival Record Saturday at 1:30 p.m. It's free, but you have to register at 416-392-0558. City of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Rd.

Most Mondays you can enjoy improv comedy at the aptly named Clinton's, which is on the corner of Clinton and Bloor. Catch23Improv starts at 9 pm and the cover is just $5.

Whatever you do, enjoy it!
Vanessa

What's Happening

This Saturday there's a Spring Shopping Spree at 69 Olive Gallery (at 69 Olive Ave., natch!) from 2 to 4 pm.
And we quote: "You can meet the creator of Anarres Natural Health products, Tracey TieF, Certified Natural Health Practitioner. Sample cocoa, shea, almond and avocado butter and wonderful bath and body products made naturally without compromise.
Shop for lotions, creams, massage and bath oils, soaps, essential oils and palm wax candles. Anarres Natural Health is a member of Green Enterprise Toronto and supports local, Fair Trade and Certified Organic suppliers."

On Monday, the Bloor Cinema has a free screening for members of His Girl Friday at 7 pm. The 1940 "screwball comedy" features Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.

Dave Clark's Woodshed Orchestra takes to the stage at The Tranzac tomorrow night at 10 pm. Admission is $5 or PWYC and it's just one event on The Tranzac's always full calendar, including two Colours of Comedy shows on Saturday night.

The singers, actors and dancers of The Randolph Academy present Footloose starting Friday and running until April 13th at the Bathurst Street Theatre. $20 tickets are available at Ticketmaster.

The Central, in Mirvish Village, is one of the venues for the Pitter Patter Music Festival this weekend. Sounds intriguing!

Baroque orchestra Tafelmusik presents Beethoven Symphonies 7 and 8 tonight through Saturday night with performances beginning at 8 pm and Sun at 3:30 pm. It takes place at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre on Bloor St. west, just west of Spadina. Tickets are $29 to $78, but there's a PWYC performance on March 28 for ages 18 to 30.

Our area's Walmer Road Baptist Church is just one of the sites for the Toronto Festival of Storytelling, which kicks off tomorrow and runs until April 6th.

As usual, there's lots of stuff happening at the MilesNadalJCC at Spadina and Bloor including a play, an exhibition, an art show and an outing for seniors.

Also, just a reminder of the acoustic Earth Hour concert Saturday at The Trane Studio on Bathurst.

Whatever you do, enjoy it!
Vanessa

What's Happening (Inc. March Break)

It's Varsity Day at the Bloor Cinema on the 10th. U of T students pay $3 admission, but you must show ID.
Screenings include The much ballyhooed The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, No Country For Old Men and Starting Out In The Evening. Great line up!

Speaking of the Bloor Cinema, this in from area artist Deb Wiles:
"A fine art auction is taking place in the upstairs lobby of the Bloor Cinema at 11:00 am sharp on Sat. March 8th.
The work has been up for viewing since Feb. 18th. Artists' Direct Auctions is the brainchild of John Romano who, after many years in the art business as an artist and a dealer, has decided to start an auction house. This auction will therefore be the first of many. Mr. Romano's intent is to sell work for artists as efficiently as possible, to get money into their pockets so that they may focus on producing more work rather than having to focus on selling their own work." [VR: Noble concept, that!]

On March 9th at the Miles NadalJCC, our neighbour, Jordan Klapman, continues with his Great Jewish Composers Music Lecture series. He tackles the topic of Yiddish American Swing in the Postwar Era from 11 am to 12:30 pm. Admission is $9 and includes bagels and coffee.

On the same day, you can meet at the Fitness Desk at 10 am to head down to Nathan Philips Square to skate en masse.

The performers of The Randolph Academy are mounting One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest the 11th to the 15th at the Bathurst Street Theatre. Tickets are $22 and are available through Ticketmaster.

Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, which makes its home at Trinity-St. Paul's Centre, 427 Bloor St. West, is offering In the Garden of Delights: Music from the Song of Songs this weekend. Call 416.964.6337 for details and tickets.

MARCH BREAK ACTIVITIES
Yes, it's that time again... time for the "mid-winter" break. Those with children, gird your loins. Those without children, gird your loins -- and, for pity's sake, stay away from any large public institutions!

The Toronto Public Library has a slew of March Break events, including Dan the Music Man at the Palmerston Branch and an Origami workshop at the Spadina Road location.

And the theatre in the Palmerston Branch plays host to Little Red Theatre's Goldilocks and the Three Canadian Bears on Monday at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $11 and $9; 416-533-8848.

The ROM has tons to do, including a Medieval Fair where you can try your hand at calligraphy and watch some medieval-style dancing. The Bata Shoe Museum has an Around the World In Five Days theme. Kids can dress up in kimonos or saris, paint miniature clogs and much more.

Casa Loma features pirate-themed activities for the gaffers, including a treasure hunt and a pirate show.

For events out of our area, Toronto.com has great listings and suggestions, as well as Toronto4Kids.com.

Whatever you do, enjoy it!
Cheers,
Vanessa

What's Happening

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Neighbourhood resident Audry Kalman's art show opens at Lennox Contemporary gallery on Feb. 21 and runs until March 2nd. There's a reception from 7 to 10 pm on the opening Thursday.

There's a few celebrations in the offing for our first Family Day, Monday the 18th. MP Olivia Chow is inviting everyone to strap on their skates and join her at Christie Pits rink from 2 to 4 pm for a "fun afternoon of free skating and hot chocolate." (NB: there's no skate rental at Christie Pits, so bring your own blades).

The ROM opens two new galleries in the Crystal this weekend, the Wirth Gallery of the Middle East and the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery. Also, to mark Family Day weekend, the museum is offering special programming "centered around dazzling dinosaurs and wicked weather" to its members.

Just down the street, at the Bata Shoe Museum, you can enjoy Family Day shenanigans, which include making an animal paper lantern or a slithery hanging snake, all based on a Chinese lunar calendar/Zodiac theme.
If you're a rat -- based on the Chinese calendar, that is -- just bring proof of birthdate and you can get in free.
(The Raymond-Moriyama designed building is worth a visit in and of itself, BTW.)

Casa Loma offers children, accompanied by a paying adult, free admission on Family Day.

Other events just happen to coincide with the Family Day weekend, such as the new ceramics exhibit opening tomorrow at the Gardiner Museum, called Man Eating Tiger.
It features Staffordshire figurines made between about 1790 and 1840, including "conniving cut throats, bare-knuckle brawlers, run-away brides, hen-pecked husbands, dancing bears and other colourful characters from 19th-century Britain."
Sounds very action-packed for a ceramics exhibit!

We're privileged to have a stellar baroque music orchestra in our midst... Tafelmusik, which makes its home in the Trinity-St. Paul's Centre at 427 Bloor St. W, just west of Spadina. This weekend Tafelmusik presents Mozart, Haydn & Bach with a Twist with guest director and soloist Sigiswald Kuijken. 8 pm performances, except for Sunday at 3:30 pm.

Tickets are $29 to $68. Call 416-964-6337 for more details.

At the same location on Monday at 7:30 pm, members of the TSO present one in the Five Small Concerts series called From the Hacienda to the Salon. Tickets range from $10 to $17. Call 416.221.8342 for more info.

On Sunday, as part of its Books and Bagels series, MilesNadalJCC at Spadina and Bloor features a reading by author Nick Maes of his "elegant fiction," Dead Man's Float. It starts at 11 am, tickets are $6 and the book will be available to purchase.

Also on the 17th at the MilesNadalJCC there are two screenings of The Ritchie Boys at 4 and 7:30 pm. It's a documentary about a group of young men who fled Nazi Germany and returned to Europe as soldiers in U.S. uniforms. (As the tagline says: Their courage and heroism were matched only by their chutzpah.)
The documentary is presented by the Jewish Film Society and "Ritchie Boy," professor Guy Stern, is the guest speaker.
Rush seats will go on sale 15 minutes before screenings for $15 and $10 for those ages 18 – 29 (7:30 pm screening only). For more info contact Esther Arbeid, 416.924.6211, ext 606, esthera@mnjcc.org.

Now, it may not be entertaining, but it could be quite informative: Confused about the new blue bin program? There will be an Open House at Scadding Court Community Centre February 19 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm and another one in the theatre of the Palmerston Library on the 20th during the same hours.
During the open houses, Toronto waste management staff will be on hand to answer questions, including "what size of new box do I order?" and "what do I do with my old boxes?"

Whatever you do, enjoy it! And enjoy it with your family!
Cheers,
Vanessa