Gracing The Stage

It is with great pride and pleasure that I announce a weekend of top notch music, comedy, and theatre, to officially launch this website. Yes, we’ve been posting daily (or just about) since January 4th, but on February 20th and 21st, gracingthestage.ca will be announcing its presence in the real world in a BIG way, with two nights showcasing some of Toronto’s best music, comedy, and theatre artists, at two of the newest and most exciting performance spaces in the city.

JUST ANNOUNCED: two  new acts have been added to the bills, one per night! Friday, the music line-up will be bolstered by the addition of Tonka and Puma, AKA April and Dan from Hooded Fang! Saturday, the evening will continue well past midnight with performances from The Bob Kerr Singers, led by stand-up extraordinaire Bob Kerr. Bob, who will be celebrating his birthday that night, is well under way to meeting a New Years resolution to perform more than 100 stand up shows in 2009; the Bob Kerr Singers are, well, whoever BOB invites to share the stage with him!

Maylee Todd leads members of Toronto's indie rock community in a late night, drunken aerobicise routine at the second ever Sweatshop Hop. In this picture are members of Entire Cities, Gravity Wave, Woodhands, Henri Faberge & The Adorables, the Bicycles, sketch troupe Bull Hooey, and more, including yours truly (photo by Joseph Fuda).

Here are the straight facts:

gracingthestage.ca Launch Party Night 1, w/ Entire Cities, The Williamson Playboys, Gravity Wave, Levi MacDougall, Maylee Todd, 10,000 to Flight, Convergence Theatre, Tonka and Puma, and Carnegie Hall, with hosts Iron Cobra, Friday Feb. 20th @ Bread & Circus (299 Augusta Ave), 8pm doors, 9pm showtime.

AND

gracingthestage.ca Launch Party Night 2, w/ Peter Katz, The Remainders, Maylee & Slippers’ Sweatshop Hop, Pat Thornton, Melissa D’Agostino, Makesi Arthur, Jehan Khoorshed, The Bob Kerr Singers, and Kathleen Phillips, with hosts The Flirts, Saturday Feb. 21st @ Comedy Bar (945 Bloor St. W.), 8pm doors, 9pm showtime.

Tickets for both nights are $12 in advance @ their respective venues and at record store Soundscapes (572 College St.), and $15 @ the door.

The venues (Bread and Circus, and Comedy Bar) were chosen for the fact that they are both artist-owned and operated; neither space is particularly large, and tickets will go FAST. Don’t wait long to pick yours up!

(Edit: the following tune is not produced by anyone affliated with Maylee & Slippers’ Sweatshop Hop, but it comes Maylee-approved – have a listen to get in the mood!)

Neon Neon (feat. Fat Lip and Yo Majesty!) – Sweatshop

St. Agatha’s church burned to the ground in a mysterious fire. Its pastor, Reverend Winters, perished in the fire, and the church’s parish found themselves without a home or spiritual leader. In order to raise funds to rebuild the church, the reverend’s widow, Dot Winters, continues to host a regular bingo night, having moved the proceedings to the back room of Clinton’s Tavern. But alcohol and bingo mixed together brings out the worst in some of the regular bingo players and depressed parishioners…

None of this is, of course, real, right down to the powdered wig on Dot (AKA Megan Fraser). The only real thing about “Bingo: The Show” is, in fact, the bingo – and the prizes (yes, there’s prizes – I’m now the dubiously proud owner of a Ricky Martin concert DVD from the last show). But the scenario is perfect for performers, particularly improv actors and buffon clowns, to work in character and create hilarious spontaneous scenes; scenes that can happen anytime in between Dot calling out the letters and numbers from her table top ball dispenser.

From left to right - Jim Taylor, Megan Phillips, Mandy Sellers, Megan Fraser, Inessa Frantowski, Katie Crown, Chantale Renee, Kristen McGregor, & Mike Kiss, in character for Bingo: the Show's Christmas edition.

(More about the dispossessed denizens of St. Agatha’s church after the jump). Read more…

This is the first update available exclusively through the website; the Yahoo Groups site will continue to exist solely as an archive of the last 5 year’s archives. After going through the update, please do poke around the site, and peruse some of the articles; many of them mention weekly recurring shows, and shows yet to appear on the Events Calendar (though that is my next website priority).

(The full week in Toronto’s performing arts events, after the jump!) Read more…