The year 2000 motion picture Gladiator, starring Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, won five Academy Awards. This included Best Picture and Best Actor (Crowe). The storyline revolves around Crowe's fictional character, loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius. He is betrayed when the emperor Marcus Aurelius's ambitious son, Commodus, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his emperor.
Justin Freer
Now Montrealers can look forward to seeing this movie at the Place des Arts on Saturday, February 21 and Sunday, February 22 (8 p.m.) in a very unique and entertaining way. It will be projected on a giant HD screen and brought to life by an orchestra of 82 musicians and the St. Lawrence Choir, under the direction of Justin Freer.
The music by Hans Zimmer remains one of his best known and praised scores with millions of copies sold. Zimmer also composed memorable music for numerous Oscar winning films such as 12 Years a Slave, Thelma and Louise, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and The Lion King.
American conductor/composer Freer, also well-known as a record producer, oversees an organization called CineConcerts which is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of musical scores for cinema and television by combining images to live music as in Gladiator Live.
The St. Lawrence Choir is a 70-strong, mixed-voice ensemble that performs
music from the classical choral repertoire as well as contemporary works by
Canadian and other composers. Established in 1972 by Iwan Edwards and a group of singers
residing on the West Island of Montreal, concerts were presented in Lachine
until 1983 when the Choir relocated to downtown Montreal.
Phillippe Bourque
Phillippe Bourque, the new choir master, conductor, pianist, pedagogue and music director of the St. Lawrence Choir, says he is proud to be part of an amateur group which performs at a professional level. "Gladiator is a unique gig for us," said the Laval resident, who by day teaches music at Vanier College. "When I was told about this opportunity I said 'we have to do it.' This will also be great publicity for us."
Bourque has been in touch with Freer. "We spoke on the phone and he asked me how many singers there would be for this show," he explained. "I told him 60 and he sent me 60 vocal scores very well written. We have been rehearsing now for two months. Justin will meet with the choir twice before the first concert. It is an honour to work with him. He travels all over the world."
Tickets range in price from $54.50 to $157. For more information go to www.placedesarts.com or call 514-842-2112.
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts in Montreal has developed a well earned reputation for presenting top-notch musicals. Last fall prominent producer Allan Sandler and his company, Copa de Oro Productions co-produced the absolutely spectacular of Les Belles Soeurs the Musical. It was such a gigantic success, a Canadian tour is being mounted for 2016. Now they have brought us Forever Plaid, the hallmark doo-wop musical, which plays the Segal through Feb. 22 with an extension very likely.
I attended the premiere and let me just say that this was the type of quality production one could expect to see at the Place des Arts. It is no wonder that Sandler already has it booked at the prestigious Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto beginning next September. While I enjoyed Book of Mormon and Jersey Boys, I must say I rank Forever Plaid at the same level entertainment-wise.
Forever Plaid is a lighthearted musical homage to the golden age of close harmony groups, told through the deliciously goofy story of a 1950s all-male singing group, “The Plaids.” Killed in a car crash on their way to their first big concert (cleverly depicted via a big screen cartoon), the quartet of high-school singers - Jinx, Smudge, Sparky and Frankie- are miraculously revived to get one final chance at musical glory and perform the show that never was. Stars Chris Barillaro, Gab Desmond, Michael Daniel Murphy and Jonathan Patterson are beyond superb in their roles. They can sing, dance and dish out pure comedy. I’d go see it again just to experience the brilliant three minute and 11 second spoof on a typical series of skits from the legendary Ed Sullivan Show.
Patterson, Desmond, Barillaro and Murphy
There is a big team behind this production, with Sandler`s eldest son Sean steering the ship and the revered Roger Peace in the director`s chair. The 79 year old actually has the distinction of having appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.
“If I had to use one word to describe this show it would simply be ‘fun,’” said Sean Sandler, who was warmly saluted by his dad during a post-show presentation. “There is a good reason why Plaid has captured the hearts of audiences for decades. Forever Plaid is a musical that manages to be modern and nostalgic at the same time.
Says Allan Sandler: “We have made a few changes to the show. But it really is the same shtick. I am approaching the end of my career now and I wanted to do a few more of my own musicals. The Belles Soeurs took me five years to get on stage and now it’s Forever Plaid. I was deathly ill not too long ago. I almost did not make it. Somehow I was able to beat this and come back.”
Sandler believes audiences will eat up Forever Plaid (I agree), specifically its medley of 1950s pop hits played in perfect harmony as the quartet bob-shoo-bops their way to fame. This 1990 musical creation was inspired by such iconic vocal formations as The Four Aces, The Four Lads, The Hi-Lo’s and The Crew Cuts.
Forever Plaid was born as an off-Broadway musical revue in 1990. It played The Centaur twice in the 1990s and there was a motion picture version in 2009.
Some of the songs audiences can look forward to are Love is a Many Splendored Thing, Three Coins in the Fountain and Moments to Remember? The performance of Matilda is lots of fun and by the time the finale rolls around the entire audience is up on its feet moving to the beat.
Of course presenting this show at the Segal Centre promises everyone who attends the best seat in the house.
Tickets are $32 to $64. Call 514-739-7944 or visit www.segalcentre.org. It runs 80 minutes, with no intermission.
Georges Laraque has adapted nicely to life after professional hockey. The former NHL enforcer concluded his NHL career with the Canadiens during the 2009-2010 season and immediately threw himself into community action. At the time his native Haiti was in tatters due to the earthquake which battered the country and he launched a campaign to build a new hospital – something he succeeded in doing.
Georges Laraque
As a vegan, Laraque advocated for animal rights. He was drafted by the Federal Green Party and became deputy leader. The Mira Foundation, which provides guide dogs to the visually impaired signed him up as a spokesperson. Besides becoming a regular interview on sports talk shows, he also took up acting and had roles in CBC’s Battle of the Blades, Haiti Untold, the motion picture Goon and the Super Channel comedy series Tiny Plastic Men. Filmed in Edmonton, where he spends half the year to be with his children, the sitcoms focuses on a company that makes everything from video to board games and the bizarre people who walk through their doors. Laraque portrays a gay football player named Gaston Laboeuf. “It is my way to speak out against homophobia,” he told me.
Laraque’s latest feat is a professional hockey comeback. He has signed a contract with Fana IHK of the Norwegian Second Division. He has been training for a month and must report for duty March 1. “I will be there for the final two games of their regular season and then the playoffs,” he says. “The GM called and asked. I am a man of challenges. I like new things. And there is no fighting allowed there.”
When Laraque was released by the Canadiens he still had hopes of being picked up by another team. But in 2010 his back had given out and he formally retired. “After I retired my herniated disc gradually got reabsorbed in my system and I was able to skate, run marathons and take a pounding,” he says. “I do not know how it will feel in Norway. Sure there is no fighting, but it is still physical play and I am pretty sure that since I played in the NHL I might be a target.”
“Athletes are regarded as role models for young people,” commented Melpa Kamateros, the executive director of the Shield of Athena Family Services (SOAFS). “What they say does make a difference. It is also an extension of including more men in such campaigns as violence against women is everybody’s business.”
Left to right: Chris Nilan, Melpa Kamateros, Nadia Saputo, Vince Guzzo and Georges Laraque.
Nilan, who moved to Montreal full-time a few years ago and hosts his own early afternoon talk show on TSN 690, feels very strongly about the cause. “There is no place for conjugal violence in our society and I have zero tolerance for anyone who is violent against their partner,” he said. “I came up with the slogan ‘Never Ever,’ because that is how I feel about this issue. I think when an athlete talks, people listen. People who chose to lay their hands on women and children have no place in our society.”
Added Laraque: “When I see that figure of 17,000, I find it totally unacceptable. A real man should respect women.”
Heppell confided that he has a sister who was a victim of conjugal violence, so the issue is really close to home. “This year’s case of conjugal violence in the NFL shows us the severity of this problem and that it touches us all,” he says. “We have all come in contact with a victim in some way or another in our lives and so we do not need to be afraid to talk about it. We need to take action.”
Campaign supporter Nadia Saputo thanked Vince Guzzo for stepping forward to show the public service announcements. The highly successful movie theatre mogul believes he has a captive audience. He hopes that the videos will have an impact on the young people in the audience in particular. “It is at the youngest age possible that we need to show our youth that this kind of behavior is totally unacceptable and its during their first dates that respect for girls must be established,
Kamateros said there are 17,000 cases of conjugal violence each year in Quebec. Founded in 1991, the Shield of Athena Family Services is a non-profit community organization with a network of services that includes Montreal and Laval offices, an emergency shelter (Athena’s house), and a community outreach department. Services and information are available in up to 17 different languages.
The Laval Police were represented by Lieutenant Ana Isabel Rodriques.
For information about Shield of Athena, call 514-274-8117 or 450-688-7584 or log on to www.shieldofathena.com.
Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour sets up shop in Dollard des Ormeaux on Saturday and Sunday. The two-day hockey celebration gets underway at noon Saturday from the DDO Civic Centre and concludes Sunday at 6 p.m. following the Rogers Hometown Hockey outdoor viewing party. The game features the Canadiens hosting the Arizona Coyotes. Ron MacLean will host a special live pre-game show from the Sportsnet Mobile Studio at 12:30 p.m. on City.
I spoke to PJ Stock last week and he was pretty pumped for the experience. He is, in my opinion, a logical heir apparent to Don Cherry. It might be time to replace Coach’s Corner with The Stock Exchange.
PJ Stock
Local broadcasting personality Bob Babinski, who last year brought the local City television station and Breakfast TV to life, is the coordinating content producer of Rogers Hometown Hockey. He provided me with a nice sneak peek at what to expect. Not only did a camera crew go to the home he grew up in, but during the second intermission of Sunday’s Habs - Coyotes game we will learn about PJ’s brother Dean who has been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord for which there is no cure.
PJ and Dean want to bring the fight against ALS back into the forefront to help raise awareness for this disease, much like it was last summer with the Ice Bucket Challenge. Claudine Cook, executive director of the ALS Society in Quebec, urges readers to check out teamstock.ca, a platform for the family to help spread awareness and raise funds. "It is hard to see a young family afflicted - we won't give you until we find a cure," she says. "Until then we will keep supporting families living with ALS and every stage of the illness."
Other highlights of the broadcast will include an essay and interview with the great Dick Irvin by Stephen Brunt. Dick lives in Pointe Claire and had a legendary career on Hockey Night in Canada, as the radio voice of the Habs and sports director of CFCF TV.
Dick Irvin
Graham Rynbend, the head athletic therapist for the Canadiens, will be profiled. He was born on the West Island, went to school at Concordia and has been working with the team for almost two decades. His experience in dealing with some severe injuries over his career is one of the reasons Graham is so well-respected by his players and considered one of the best in the business.
Vincent Lecavailier of the Philadelphia Flyers grew up playing on the outdoor rinks in West Island Ile-Bizard. Years later he realized the dream of many NHL stars, bringing the Stanley Cup home to share with his hometown.
Jonathan Drouin
Jonathan Drouin opened some eyes in his rookie 2013 season. He won the Canadian Hockey League MVP and Memorial Cup with the Halifax Mooseheads. But before Halifax, Drouin played for the Midget AAA Lac St-Louis Lions. The Rogers team sat down with Drouin as he reflected on his time in Dollard and how it prepared him for the road to the NHL Here is a preview link
It is great to hear that Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is pledging $11 million to whip the city’s baseball diamonds into shape with Montreal’s new baseball policy.
"Montreal is a baseball town," the mayor told a City Hall press conference.
Mayor Denis Coderre
I have not had a chance to read Montreal's new baseball policy, but it would nice to see one of the city's diamonds retrofitted sufficiently in order for us to attract a minor league professional team. If Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres can be the home to Can-Am League minor league squads, then why has Montreal had nothing since the Expos left town 10 years ago? Yes, the Montreal Baseball Project and Expos Nation keep hoping that the major leagues will return here one day. The Big Owe was filled to capacity for two Toronto Blue Jays exhibition games against the New York Mets last April. It will be interesting to see if they can duplicate that feat when the Jays host the Cinncinati Reds. April 3 and 4.
Over the last few years I have made two trips to Vancouver, going to see their "A" level affiliate of the Blue Jays twice. They play in a cozy 5,000 seat stadium in a June to September schedule. It's a great place to watch a ball game and they have a loyal clientele.
All those people working towards this dream of an Expos 2.0 should get on the phone to Coderre. Ask him to retrofit Claude Robilliard Stadium for baseball or perhaps a spot like Riverside Park in LaSalle. If we can get a small complex with at least 3,000 seats, a minor league team would be within reach and the true baseball fans could get their fix.
"Baseball is part of Montreal's DNA," says Coderre.
If that's true then let's get a franchise at any level of pro ball.
Sid Milech is taking a step back. The legendary long-time boss of the Y Country Camp (YCC) now has the title of Director of Emeritus, with Stephen Rabinovitch coming forward as the interim director.
Sid Milech
After over 20 years at the helm of Milech will focus his attention on the strategic development of the YCC. A press release states how he will be " instrumental in ensuring YCC continues to produce future Jewish leaders of our community - while working at camp in the summer - and from our Montreal offices during the off-season."
Milech will continue in his role as a key member of the executive staff of the Montreal Y and as the senior Jewish educator.
Rabinovitch has been at the camp as Associate Director for the past 13 years, and brings a wealth of experience and energy to this position. Over the years, he has developed meaningful connections with the campers, parents and counsellors and is known as a caring and sensitive individual who is always there for the kids.
Stephen Rabinovitch and family.
As interim director , Rabinovitch will be responsible for all the overall operations of the camp, working hand-in-hand with the Milech in his new role. The duo will continue to function as a team.
"I’m very excited about this new challenge, and I look forward to continuing my strong relationship with our current families, campers, staff and alumni while actively recruiting new families and bringing them into the fold,” said Rabinovitch, whose wife Miriam, daughter Livia, 5, and son Ashton,2, are raring to go to spend another summer at their home away from home.
The YCC is a residential sleeping camp that offers a full range of activities and outstanding facilities to over 500 campers every summer. It provides versatile programming in a Jewish ambiance ensuring a meaningful summer experience for all who attend. I have seen Milech in action when as a parent I checked out the camp. He is a very thorough individual who has a way of making campers feel totally at ease.
For my very first time, I took a walk on the “Wildside” January 9 – The Centaur Theatre’s (453 St. François-Xavier) 18th annual Wildside Festival to be more precise, taking in two productions: Rachel Mars’ The Way You Tell Them and the rock opera Johnny Legdick.
Dubbed “the 10 hottest days of winter,” the Wildside Festival delivers boundary breaking theatre. With a keen eye for the new and unusual, local playwright and actress Johanna Nutter has curated a program from mime and movement to Legdick’s rock opera and comedy.
Hannah and Johnny.
The Centaur’s Roy Surette sums it up best this way: “Wildside is Centaur’s no-holds-barred blast off into the new year, an open invitation to the audacious and curious."
As the bizarre storyline goes, Johnny Legdick is a young man (played by Colin Macdonald) fighting against oppression, prejudice, and a hoard of vicious basset hounds, all while struggling with the mechanics of having three legs – that third one being in the place of his most intimate private part. His love interest Hannah (Arielle Palik) has a hand where her private part is. They team up with a half man, half horse named Steve the Steed (Travis Martin) to best the evil circus ringleader Suckadecocka (Tadzeo Horner-Chbib) and escape to the all-accepting isle of Diversus Homo.
Hannah, Johnny and Steed.
Martin, in my opinion, absolutely steals the show with his zinger of one liners and the ongoing gag of him having no pants.
Jonah Carson, lead singer of The Jem, says he thought of the idea while singing one of his many ditties at Dawson College's Professional Theatre department with Jimmy Karamanis, co-founder of Playwright Hero. "When I first saw Vindictive Vice-President," Carson says of Playwright Hero's first production, "I knew: these are the people who can bring the Legdick to life!"
The entire rock opera was subsequently written based on just a single line: ‘He has a leg where his dick is supposed to be.’ "We're appealing to anyone who has been called a freak or otherwise outcast," Carson continues, "wear it proudly!"
Beneath the seemingly juvenile exterior there is a serious message about oppression, power struggles and the definition of what is normal. "The relevancy in the work evolved over time," says director Karamanis. "It started out simply as a story about a guy who, you know, has a leg where his naughty bits are supposed to be. But once the characters were developed, the theme of being comfortable with who you are came out. To quote Johnny Legdick, 'We can be heroes, the whole world will see, that even as freaks, we can be free!'"
I really enjoyed the music in this show. Macdonald in particular displayed a very impressive singing voice. A shout out as well to Côte Saint-Luc native Zachary Guttman, whom I saw perform a number of years ago when he was in high school. Zack is now studying acting in New York City and at the show I attended he made a pretty funny cameo appearance on stage.
Martin notes that most of the crew reside in the West End. He was nice enough to provide me with short snippets of some cast and band members, all of which will be fodder for follow up stories as I really want to see what comes up next for these folks. Martin, for instance, went to Willingdon Elementary School, Royal Vale High School and the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program.
Tickets are $15, general admission and $12.50 for students/subscribers/under 30. To purchase: (514) 288-3161 or online at www.centaurtheatre.com/wildsidefestival.php, Remaining shows are Sunday, Jan. 11 (4 p.m.); Thursday, Jan. 15 ( 7 p.m.) and Saturday, Jan. 17 (9 p.m.).
The Way You Tell Them
As for The Way You Tell Them, presented by Montreal’s Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre, I was curious to see Rachel Mars bring her United Kingdom act to Canada for the first time. As she told the audience at the very beginning of the solo performance, “this is not a comedy; it is a show about comedy.”
Mars, 33, brings her Jewish background into the routine. She even found a way to solicit laughs when she recounted a funeral in which the hole in the ground was not large enough to accommodate the coffin. It came to the point where the rabbi actually jumped up and down in the coffin until it went down, after which he had to hauled up himself. She wondered how Christian friends in attendance at their first Jewish funeral now thought.
Mars told me in an interview a few weeks back how she is still very involved in Jewish culture and community back home and has just finished producing the UK's first Jewish Comedy Festival. She always throws in some classic Jewish jokes, a few extracts from the Yom Kippur service and discussion about repentance, and stories about her very own Jewish family who - when she phones – does not ask how she is, but whether she’s heard the one about the little old Jewish woman who got flashed.
“This is a performance piece, not a comedy show,” Mars explains. “It's absolutely got funny bits in it, and it borrows from the rhythms and fluidity of a stand-up show, but it is about comedy/humour and why we use it as humans and as families I made it when I realized that I could never be serious -in life and in performance- without undercutting myself; so I went in search of why that might be, and the joys and pathologies of joking as a way of connecting with people. The sole purpose of a stand-up routine is to get laughs. The purpose of this show is to interrogate the role of the joke-teller; to explore laughter in an accessible and entertaining way, but without needing to make gags every few seconds.”
Rachel Mars
Joseph Shragge, the co-artistic director of Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre, believes audiences will very much appreciate the one hour presentation. “The show is comedy, but it’s also self-reflexive, innovative and very moving,” he promises. “It resonates with me personally, having grown up in the Jewish community here. I know our usual audience will love it, but I think other people who’ve grown up in the Jewish community will really appreciate Rachel’s work as well.”
Remaining performances are Saturday January 10 (2 p.m.), Tuesday, January 13 (9 p.m.), Wednesday, January 14 (7 p.m.) and Friday, January 16 (7 p.m.). For more information call 514-288-3161 or log on to www.scapegoatcarnivaletheatre.com.
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