BOOKS

Getting the Axe

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Methodist Hatchet, Ken Babstock, House of Anansi

by Abby Paige
15.05.2011

According to the Dictionary of Newfoundland English, a bad dancer is said to have “Methodist feet” and a “two-edged (two-faced) axe” is called a Methodist hatchet. Apparently Methodists aren’t altogether popular on The Rock.

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DVD

Stripped and Scary

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Burlesque, DVD

by James Gartler
14.05.2011

Despite what you may have heard, the problem with Burlesque isn’t so much that Christina Aguilera acts in it. Truth is, this was the ideal film project for the vocal powerhouse and provocateur: a sexy musical in the style of her throwback album Back to Basics, co-starring another singer who made the crossover into acting [...]

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ART

The Greater Beast

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Marc Nerbonne, Galérie 2m2

by Shawn Katz
13.05.2011

Marc Nerbonne’s new exhibit, La Ménagerie, is a tour de force of a show, and a harrowing survey of the wreckage upon the natural world left in humanity’s gritty wake. His carefully crafted canvases, which utilize photomontage and acrylic paint to seamlessly integrate photos taken of animals found dead and mangled

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THEATRE

Musical ‘Lies’ Scores

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Lies My Father Told Me, Segal Centre

by Alex Woolcott
12.05.2011

The publicity will tell you that Theodore Bikel is the star of Lies My Father Told Me, the new musical playing at the Segal Centre. Don’t be fooled. Composer / lyricist Elan Kunin is the real star of the show. Kunin, who showed great promise with his score for Houdini a few years back, continues [...]

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MUSIC

A Beethoven Marathon

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Complete Beethoven String Quartets, Montreal Chamber Music Festival

by Crystal Chan
10.05.2011

Canada’s young Afiara string quartet kicked off a six-concert Beethoven marathon last night with plenty of enthusiasm. It’ll be the first time in over a decade that Ludwig’s string quartets will be performed as a complete cycle in Montreal.

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VIDEO

Mashup Montréal

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Imagine Montréal, by Marianne Ackerman, Blue Metropolis

by Leila Marshy
10.05.2011

10 actors. 25 writers. 1 night in Montréal. The worlds of fiction, theatre, music – and now film – overlapped in Marianne Ackerman’s Imagine Montréal. Staged for the second time on at the Blue Metropolis, the words were culled from over two dozen works published since 2000. All set in Montreal, it portrays a city about to fall and about to fly. A contradiction we know all too well.

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BOOKS

Crisis, what Crisis?

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Mid-Life, Drawn and Quarterly, by Joe Ollmann

by Heather Leighton
09.05.2011

On the fun scale, everyone in Montreal seems to have had a better time than sleep-deprived John, whose new parent role has created both a cranky husband and an absentminded employee, pushing him closer to the edge of an emotional and professional abyss.

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FESTIVAL CITY

Electric Versions

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Elektra 12 International Digital Arts Festival

by Kallee Lins
08.05.2011

Art tends to be associated with an expression of all things human, but the Elektra 12 International Digital Arts Festival aims to demonstrate the artistic capacity of machines, robots, and light and sound compositions that consistently challenge the place of the human body in contemporary art and highlight its physical limitations. 

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BOOKS

Out of Nowhere

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Bats or Swallows, Invisible Publishing, by Teri Vlassopoulos

by Mark Paterson
08.05.2011

“I learned early on that things don’t come out of nowhere,” says the narrator in “Baby Teeth,” one of eleven stories in Teri Vlassopoulos’s Bats or Swallows. “There is always a buildup.”

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DANCE

Unlocking Lock

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La La La Human Steps, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier

by Tao Fei
07.05.2011

After a four-year wait since Édouard Lock’s last creation, hyped-up Montreal dancegoers streamed into Salle Wilfrid Pelletier on Thursday night for the North American premiere of Lock’s New Work, featuring international ballet star Diana Vishneva.

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EVENTS

Underdog Charm And Crazy Animal Rites

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David Sedaris, Théâtre Maisonneuve

by Megan Stewart
06.05.2011

David Sedaris strides confidently onstage, stands at the podium, and begins to tell a story about a cat and a baboon. His small, lilting voice matches his stature and his unassuming air. The cat goes to a hair salon and experiences the utter monotony and discomfort of having to interact with the baboon hairstylist, with [...]

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THEATRE

Laugh Out Loud Funny

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The Book Club, Freestanding Room

by Anna Fuerstenberg
05.05.2011

His play might have been called the Real Housewives of Literature. Ned Cox has finally found his theatrical voice and it is farcical. The Book Club sashays to a ragtime rhythm of set ups and deliveries brilliantly shot out by a dream cast of this city’s most sparkling actors.

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PODCAST

Sampling David Sedaris

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David Sedaris at Théâtre Maisonneuve

by Marc Seltzer
04.05.2011

Many of us remember where we were when we heard about historic events.  How about our memories of reading or listening to literature?  

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THEATRE

À corps défendant

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En découdre, Théâtre de Quat’Sous

by Mélanie Grondin
04.05.2011

Après le Théâtre Jean-Duceppe et sa pièce Elling, c’est au tour du Théâtre de Quat’Sous d’explorer le thème de la santé mentale, sujet encore tabou à bien des égards. Alors qu’Elling racontait avec humour l’histoire de la réintégration sociale de deux hommes ayant passé un certain temps dans un hôpital psychiatrique, En découdre offre un [...]

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THEATRE

Eternal War Bride

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Mary’s Wedding, Persephone Theatre

by Anna Fuerstenberg
03.05.2011

Canada is currently at war in Afghanistan and preparing for war in Libya; it might be a good idea to review some war history. Canada is a nation whose identity was defined by the First World War. Although Canadian soldiers were treated like cannon fodder they fought well and comported themselves brilliantly.

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