America’s creepiest bunch, the Addams family, hits the stage in VictoriaWhat can a musical about America’s spookiest family teach us about our own families? A lot, says Pat Rundell, director of a new stage production of The Addams Family: A New Musical Comedy. The world first met the Addams family in The New Yorker magazine in 1938. Charles Addams’ single-panel cartoons depicted a nameless, gothic […] Continue Reading |
Comedian Roman Danylo finds his way back to the stageAlberta-born comedian and actor Roman Danylo has done a lot: standup comedy, theatre, film, his own TV show… But what is Danylo’s niche? What does he like besides water sports, raisins, and some humans? The answer: performing live. After being in front of the camera with enormous pressure placed on him to not waste anyone’s […] Continue Reading |
The Smalls pleasantly surprised at reaction to reunion tourComing face to face with a fan of The Smalls can be a rather intense prospect. The Edmonton punk/metal/rock hybrid band, who tore across Canada with their legendary live show in the ’90s, recently kicked the tires for the first time in 13 years and decided to reform for a Canadian tour. So just imagine […] Continue Reading |
The Slackers bring their ska sounds back to VictoriaUpstairs Cabaret in Victoria was a sweaty mess recently, when the rude and reckless crowd got down to the beat of The Slackers. It was one hell of a night, to put it mildly. The ever-charming Jamaican rock ‘n’ rollers of Manhattan, New York made a stop in Victoria as part of their West Coast […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Exit Verse’s debut proves life after Karate is possibleExit Verse Exit Verse (Ernest Jenning Record Co.) 4/5 Geoff Farina is truly one of the great musical minds of our time. He’s one of a kind: his work in indie-emo pioneers Karate flirted with jazz way before anyone else did… well, no one else ever really did. His solo material, his work with Secret […] Continue Reading |
Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra charm hometown crowdVictoria’s Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra recently played Upstairs Cabaret here in their hometown of Victoria with locals Compassion Gorilla and Carousels opening up. There was a strong sense of community and no shortage of dancing at the show. Carousels, a young, eight-piece orchestral band, kicked off the night with a set of carnival-esque show tunes. Instrumentally, […] Continue Reading |
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Phoenix Theatre takes huge two-person risk and pulls it offOpening night at the Phoenix Theatre was flooded with dapper-looking, well-mannered couples, eagerly awaiting the theatre’s adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The famous tale is an imaginative one about four siblings who discover a magical world, called Narnia, inside a wardrobe. The land of Narnia is under evil reign […] Continue Reading |
Monster truck of operas Das Rheingold hits townRichard Wagner’s 1869 opera Das Rheingold, an epic in the same vein as The Lord of the Rings, is a story of spurned lovers, stolen power, giants, gods, magic, and murder. Drawing on Norse legends of Odin (Wotan) and the gods, it tells the tale of Alberich, a dwarf who steals the Rhinemaidens’ gold to […] Continue Reading |
New York ska group The Slackers bring the skank back to townAfter first hitting the stage in Victoria back in 1998, New York ska band The Slackers formed a bond with the Victoria Ska Society and have been performing in our city as frequently as possible ever since. Saxophonist David Hillyard has nothing but praise for Mile Zero. “Victoria’s got quite a great scene. People are […] Continue Reading |
New Music Revue: Dan MacCormack provides a symphony of rural CanadaDan MacCormack Symphony of Ghosts (independent) 4/5 Halifax-based singer-songwriter Dan MacCormack’s debut solo album is based on Canadian writer David Adam Richards’ novels. The use of many instruments and choirs gives this disc a refreshing edge. MacCormack emits a deep connection to Richards’ novels and translates their ideas from text to song. The first song, […] Continue Reading |
