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Volume 23 Issue 3 - November 2017

In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!

In this issue: conversations (of one kind or another) galore! Daniela Nardi on taking the reins at "best-kept secret" venue, 918 Bathurst; composer Jeff Ryan on his "Afghanistan" Requiem for a Generation" partnership with war poet, Susan Steele; lutenist Ben Stein on seventeenth century jazz; collaborative pianist Philip Chiu on going solo; Barbara Hannigan on her upcoming Viennese "Second School" recital at Koerner; Tina Pearson on Pauline Oliveros; and as always a whole lot more!

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Could you tell us about your decision to sometimes cast female<br />

performers as male singer-songwriters, for example, Maev Beaty as<br />

David Bowie last year, and this year, Sara Farb as Bob Dylan?<br />

Ultimately we want to pay tribute to the spirit of the artists and<br />

share their words and music with an audience, without – in any way<br />

– trying to emulate or impersonate them. As such, the key criteria –<br />

whether it’s for delivering text from the songwriter, or singing their<br />

songs – is that the artist capture their spirit and intention, both of<br />

which transcend gender or age!<br />

There also seems to be a core group of performers who return to<br />

take part. Is that just by chance or because they have become part of<br />

an Uncovered rep company, so to speak?<br />

Over time we have realized that being a successful Uncovered<br />

performer is harder than it looks! Koerner Hall is spectacular, but its<br />

acoustics are so good that any imperfections are amplified tenfold. So<br />

we need fabulous singers who are also really, really good actors and<br />

who collaborate very well in the rehearsal process, since we start with<br />

a blank slate and build the arrangements together. We also need a very<br />

diverse group of performers so that we can tackle a broad spectrum of<br />

songs and styles.<br />

So we try to find the balance between introducing new artists,<br />

showcasing returning artists who weren’t in the show the previous<br />

year, and bringing back some of the artists from the year prior. Each<br />

artist who has ever worked on Uncovered has brought something so<br />

unique and special to it. So it’s also a case of just trying to find the<br />

group who are interesting as a unit and also right for that particular<br />

songwriter.<br />

Do either or both of you find that working regularly on the<br />

Uncovered series together has changed the way you work together, or<br />

with other collaborators, on other projects?<br />

It has certainly built a very meaningful friendship for the two of<br />

us, and a shorthand which I think comes in handy on other shows<br />

that we do together. It’s also led to a lot of lessons when it comes to<br />

developing our new musicals. Looking at good songwriting from the<br />

perspective of narrative arc has come in handy when looking at new<br />

musical theatre songs.<br />

Do you see the Uncovered series leading in turn to further experimentation<br />

with popular music, perhaps extending to exploring<br />

staging – or do you see it staying at the simpler level of song – words<br />

and music presented/sung live to the audience with the revelations in<br />

the new musical arrangements?<br />

I think Uncovered is meant to stay simple in its concert format, with<br />

an emphasis on teasing out stories while just focusing on the words<br />

of the songwriter. But I think it has illuminated the power of pop<br />

music and so who knows what is possible as we continue to develop<br />

new musicals and new musical projects. We wouldn’t want to create<br />

a Mamma Mia per se, but I think it’s a very interesting exploration to<br />

examine how else pop music can be used to create contemporary and<br />

important musical works.<br />

Elsewhere<br />

This month there is a wide range of music theatre to choose from.<br />

Music is the medium that transforms Shakespeare’s romance of<br />

forgiveness The Winter’s Tale into one of the most effective recent<br />

story ballets, through the choreography of Christopher Wheeldon<br />

combined with the score of Joby Talbot (the same team who brought<br />

us the popular Alice in Wonderland ballet). Winter’s Tale returns to<br />

the National Ballet of Canada <strong>November</strong> 10 to 19, only two years after<br />

its debut, because of its great initial success.<br />

On the opposite side of the spectrum the record-breaking Canadian<br />

Evil Dead the Musical returns to Toronto yet again (to the Randolph<br />

Theatre <strong>November</strong> 9 to 19), proving that a cult classic musical version<br />

of a horror movie can have, perhaps, even greater staying power<br />

than the movie itself. Tickets are already selling quickly but at the<br />

time of writing there is still room in the “Splatter Zone” for the most<br />

ardent fans.<br />

QUICK PICKS<br />

Nov 6 to Dec 31:Young People’s Theatre presents a streamlined<br />

(85-minute) Beauty and the Beast, giving fans of one of Disney’s best<br />

musicals the chance to catch their favourite story live.<br />

Nov 10 to 12/16 to 18: Word has just come in about another new<br />

Canadian musical, Riding Off In All Directions . . . . the telling of<br />

lies, about the relationship between Mazo de la Roche and Stephen<br />

Leacock at Mississauga’s Maja Prentice Theatre. It will be directed by<br />

the well-known stage and screen star Colin Fox, who also plays the<br />

part of Leacock. The cast includes Bó Bardós as de la Roche; James<br />

McLean as Timothy Findley, and Marion Samuel-Stevens as de la<br />

Roche’s cousin and lifelong companion, Caroline Clement.<br />

For more information—call 529-846-2552 or go online to: bit.ly/<br />

TellingLies.<br />

Nov 11 to Dec 3, at Factory Theatre: Trace is a one-man show that<br />

follows three generations of mothers and sons from occupied Japan to<br />

21st-century Canada combining virtuoso original piano compositions<br />

with lyrical text.<br />

Nov 20 to Dec 8: At Crow’s Theatre (345 Carlaw) rock ’n’ roll takes<br />

centre stage in the world premiere of a new rock fable, A&R Angels, by<br />

Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene, directed by Chris Abraham.<br />

Nov 10 to 25, at Hart House Theatre, the first of two musical offerings:<br />

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.<br />

Nov 29 to Dec 1: Also at Hart House Theatre, the now-classic<br />

Canadian musical inspired by the old Astaire-Rogers films, The<br />

Drowsy Chaperone, arrives in a production by the Victoria College<br />

Musical Society.<br />

Toronto-based “lifelong theatre person” Jennifer (Jenny) Parr<br />

works as a director, fight director, stage manager and coach, and is<br />

equally crazy about movies and musicals.<br />

presents<br />

DECEMBER DIARIES<br />

A Choral Drama<br />

Shackleton at the South Pole, Champlain in New France, the<br />

Christmas Truce of 1914... A journey in words and music to<br />

three remarkable Christmases past.<br />

December 9 & 10, <strong>2017</strong><br />

Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts<br />

www.annexsingers.com<br />

featuring:<br />

Roger Honeywell, tenor<br />

Cheryl MacInnis, actor<br />

Anne Lindsay, violin<br />

Alejandro Céspedes, percussion<br />

Maria Case, Artistic Director<br />

thewholenote.com <strong>November</strong> <strong>2017</strong> | 35

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