Charlypop & Friends : un ��t�� fort occup�� pour Chalypop !

Charlypop & Friends

Les 24, 25 et 26 juillet au Studio Juste pour rire

Montr��al, mardi 7 juillet 2009 - Qui dit Charlypop dit plaisir sonore! Avec son nouveau spectacle Charlypop & Friends, l���humoriste entertainer (nomination ��D��couverte de l���ann��e�� ��� Olivier 2007) nous invite �� un cabaret musical o�� se c��toient beatbox, humour et musique. C���est ��galement l���occasion de belles rencontres ��� num��ros in��dits et duos ��lectrisants - avec ses amis, les humoristes St��phane Fallu, Dave Richer, Alexandre P��pin, le Dj Huggies et le quatuor High Shop. Ce ma��tre du beatbox qui s���est produit �� travers le monde, vous promet une v��ritable c��l��bration de la musique et vous surprendra par son inventivit�� et sa fantaisie. La mise en sc��ne a ��t�� confi��e �� l���auteur humoriste Christian Viau qui, notamment, a particip�� �� l���criture du tr��s populaire one man show de Rachid Badouri, Arr��te ton cin��ma.

Charlypop & Friends est pr��sent�� par le Zoofest dans le cadre de la s��rie Tout show du Festival Juste pour rire, les 24, 25 et 26 juillet, �� 21h, au studio Juste pour rire.

Un ��t�� chaud!

L���t�� est plut��t occup�� pour Charlypop, avec, en particulier, une pr��sence fort assidue au Festival Juste pour rire. Il a ��t�� ovationn�� au gala de Normand Brathwaite les 3 et 4 juillet derniers et il y a fort �� parier qu���il r��p��tera l���exp��rience au gala de Rachid Badouri, les 8 et 9 juillet ou celui de Mike Ward les 10 et 11 juillet. Dans le cadre des Arts de la rue, il initiera les festivaliers aux joies du beatbox gr��ce au Charlypop Workshop les 18,19, 25 et 26 juillet, �� la Place Labatt Bleue.

Les billets de Charlypop & Friends sont disponibles au www.hahaha.com et au www.zoofest.ca ou en composant le (514) 845-2322. Une commandite du Club La Boom de Montr��al.

www.comedieshop.com/charlypop

Classical Caberet at the Old Mill Inn

CLASSICAL CABARET AT THE OLD MILL INN FALL SEASON

LAUNCHES WITH QUARTETTO GELATO, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

Followed by Fiddle on Fire October 20 and

Vera Lynn Tribute with the Grand Salon Orchestra November 3

The Old Mill Inn continues to serve up classical concerts with excellent cuisine. Classical Cabaret at The Old Mill Inn kicks off its fall series with Canada���s internationally celebrated Quartetto Gelato, Tuesday, September 22 at 21 Old Mill Road (minutes from the Old Mill subway; ample free parking).

Dinner is served from 6 p.m., with live music beginning at 7 p.m. For $65, patrons can enjoy the concert and a three-course meal. For information and reservations, call 416-207-2020, e-mail info@oldmilltoronto.com, or visit www.oldmilltoronto.com/entertainment_concert.html.

Classical in intent, eclectic by design, Quartetto Gelato has enchanted audiences and critics worldwide with its exotic blend of musical virtuosity, artistic passion and charismatic presence. The artists ��� Peter DeSotto, tenor/violin/mandolin; Alexander Sevastian, accordion; Kornel Wolak, clarinet; and Carina Reeves, cello ��� thrill audiences with the mastery of six instruments, plus the unexpected bonus of a brilliant operatic tenor. Performed without scores, their shows radiate a sense of spontaneity and excitement rarely seen on the classical stage. (www.quartettogelato.ca)

Violin virtuoso Lance Elbeck takes the stage on October 20 for Fiddle On Fire, a delightfully entertaining musical theatre presentation. The versatile Elbeck stars as ���The Fiddler���, with an accompanying pianist, and a dancer performing in Celtic and modern dance styles. The great Leonard Bernstein recognized Elbeck���s talents at an early age, and conducted the Chicago Symphony and New York Philharmonic with Elbeck as soloist. Fiddle on Fire portrays the historical relationship of several famous violin virtuosi, while the ���Fiddler��� dazzles the audience with a fascinating display of violin wizardry.

Orchestra conductor and Classical 96.3 radio personality Kerry Stratton is the effervescent master of ceremonies for Classical Cabaret at The Old Mill Inn. Having opened the series in April with his elegant Grand Salon Orchestra, he brings the Orchestra back on Tuesday, November 3 for Vera Lynn: We���ll Meet Again ��� an evening of dining and dancing.

As a Remembrance Day prelude, the powerfully moving mezzo-soprano voice of Barbara Sadegur recreates the memorable songs of the ���Forces Sweetheart��� Vera Lynn, which buoyed the Allies during World War II. Such memorable 1940s favorites as White Cliffs of Dover and We���ll Meet Again provide an unforgettable close to the first season of the Classical Cabaret at the Old Mill Inn series.

The Old Mill Inn and Spa, on the Humber River, is Toronto���s premier place for great dance music and excellent cuisine in a party atmosphere. Live dance music has been an Old Mill tradition since 1921. Michael Kalmar, President of The Old Mill Inn, says, ���Music and dancing are fabulous social activities that make you feel great! The element of dining adds an up-close and personal experience that is hard to find today.���

Classical Cabaret at The Old Mill Inn: Historical Notes:

The series concept originated in New York���s ballrooms in the 1960s and lasted 30 years as the ���in��� place to go. Celebrities, such as famed pianist/conductor Skitch Henderson, jazz pianist Billy Taylor, and journalist and broadcaster Alistair Cooke, read the program notes for the audience ��� much as Kerry Stratton does at the Classical Cabaret at the Old Mill Inn series.

The Old Mill became an entertainment hub as a tea garden and place of leisure on the first day of World War I, 95 years ago (1914). A destination for live dance music since the early 1920s, the Old Mill featured the resident duo of pianist Nelson Hatch and violinist Cec Ryder. After playing dance music for patrons since 1921 in the Print Room, in 1929 they expanded to a nine-piece live orchestra.

More info on The Old Mill���s history, with photos is at www.oldmilltoronto.com/History.html.

World Premi��re of One-Woman Cabaret

World Premi��re of Carolyn Guillet's One-Woman Cabaret

Plucked, Hammered and Strung

How many poems, songs, films and plays have been written about love and yet we never tire of the subject in all its mystery. This fall Inifnith����tre explores the topic, from two very different perspectives, both of them female. Running concurrently for two weekends at the Bain St-Michel with Carole Fr��chette's John and B��atrice, is the world premi��re of Carolyn Guillet's one-woman cabaret, Plucked, Hammered and Strung.

A woman, a piano, and five lovers. Six obsessive love songs. Nine dying fathers and a forgotten spouse or two. A theatrical performance event full of passion, lamentation and frivolity. Themes of yearning, absurdity and insanity are played out to the tune of Chopin's Funeral March and Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. This is Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera meeting Aeschylus' Electra; a cross between Peggy Lee and Mozart improvising "Variations on the Theme of Love".

Juxtaposed with Fr��chette's mythic fairytale, Guillet plays it close to the bone with this semi-autobiographical (or is it?) rendering of all the "first loves" of her life�Ķso far. The piano, her closest confidante throughout, plays a major role in her life and the piece, as Carolyn weaves original songs as well as pop ballads and a few choice classical piano solos into the storyline. In an attempt to deal with the death of her father and the subsequent muddy resurgence of all her dead affairs, Guillet takes the audience though a labyrinth of fantasy and reality; funny, dark, brutal and touching. Dovetailing perfectly with the other two themes of Infinite's 2008 ��� 09 season, 'Hope' and 'Faith', Plucked, Hammered and Strung is a story of eternal renewal.

Regarding the issue of semi-autobiographical material, Guillet, the writer admits, "I steal things. And then I lie. I 'use' the truth, twist it just enough to make it entirely believable." However, Guillet, the actor, felt a little over exposed. "I thought the character was a little too close to the real me. But as the work developed, the characters multiplied and I got all these different names to play with, like different hats in a costume box. Every time she [the character] sits down at the piano, she's someone else�Ķor a slightly different version of herself. I have to fall in love over and over�Ķdiscover the pleasures of sex over and over again, as if for the first time."

Guillet, who is working on a sequel to her first original script, Seventeen [Anonymous] Women, entitled Seventeen [Particular] Men asked Diana Fajrajsl to dramaturge the work as she developed it through a CALQ grant. "Diana was indispensable. She kept me at it, kept me laughing, got me out of the mud and into a place of wit, clarity and elegance." Arianna Bardesono, an NTS graduate having just come off her successful directorship of Repercussion Theatre's The Tempest, is directing. Bardesono had attended a reading of Plucked at Playwright's Workshop Montreal and when she and Guillet met last summer at an international master class for directors in Ottawa, they hit it off.

OF SPECIAL NOTE: "Strung Out on Sushi" - an additional fundraising performance of Plucked, Hammered and Strung will be held on Monday, November 10th to raise money to support Infinith����tre's ongoing mandate to discover, develop and produce Qu��becois writers. Sushi dinner at 6:00 PM with the performance following. For those enticed by the play AND keen to support local theatre, this is the perfect combo! Call Infinith����tre for more info at (514) 987 ��� 1774.

NACO, Oct. 9-10: Measha Brueggergosman

Measha Brueggergosman sings Barber���s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and Bolcom cabaret songs with the NAC Orchestra on October 9 and 10

Ottawa (Canada) ��� Marvellous Measha Brueggergosman, Canada���s soprano sensation, returns to the National Arts Centre Orchestra to sing *Barber���s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a musical interpretation of an elegant memory poem by James Agee (poet, novelist and scriptwriter of The African Queen), as well as three cabaret songs by William Bolcom. These opening concerts of the Bostonian Bravo Series on Thursday, October 9 and Friday, October 10 at 8 p.m. in the NAC���s Southam Hall are led by young American conductor James Gaffigan making his NAC debut. Gaffigan will also lead the NAC Orchestra in Rossini���s Overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers and Beethoven���s Symphony No. 1.

James Gaffigan says, ���This program is like the perfect dinner, the audience gets a taste of everything, without getting too full. A Rossini overture is the ideal appetizer in a concert program; it whets the appetite with loads of charming humour and unexpected drama in just eight minutes time. Measha then takes the stage with two contrasting but equally engaging vocal works. The first being the elegiac Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber, followed by the effervescent cabaret songs of Wiliam Bolcom. These pieces will show the depth of diversity in these American composers as well as in Measha���s interpretive abilities. After intermission, the orchestra shifts gears to the classical meat and potatoes in Beethoven���s first symphony. This work combines the intensity often associated with the composer, as well as passages of alluring beauty.���

The cabaret songs by William Bolcom ��� ���George���, ���Total Stranger in the Garden��� and ���Amor��� ��� will be heard in new orchestrations by the composer performed live for the first time in Canada after being recorded by Measha Brueggergosman on her Juno Award-winning Deutsche Grammophon recording entitled Surprise! She says, ���What these songs do so brilliantly is to create highly theatrical mini-dramas in which the music is borne out by the texts ��� not the other way around. It���s catching the sly mix of the casual and the formal in these songs that is their particular challenge.���

Critically acclaimed by the international press as much for her innate musicianship and voluptuous voice as for a sovereign stage presence far beyond her years, Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. Her appearances this season include performances with Ensemble Intercontemporain, London Symphony Orchestra, l���Orchestre symphonique de Montr��al, and concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra in Cleveland, Miami, and at Carnegie Hall. She has performed several times with the NAC Orchestra, most recently this past July during ���Orchestras in the Park���.

James Gaffigan, born in 1979, is the Associate Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony and Music Director of CityMusic Cleveland, a chamber orchestra which presents free concerts throughout the city. His appearances as a guest conductor have included appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Tonhalle Orchestra, and this season he makes his debut with, among others, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony as well as the NAC Orchestra.

Tickets for these Bostonian Bravo Series concerts on Thursday, October 9 and Friday, October 10 at 8 p.m. are on sale now at $19.00, $39.00, $49.00, $59.00, $69.00 with box seats at $86.00 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111. Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC���s website at www.nac-cna.ca.

Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card. Live Rush tickets (subject to availability) for full-time students (aged 13 to 29) are $11 at the NAC Box Office from 2 p.m. the day before the concert to 6 p.m. the day of, upon presentation of a valid Live Rush card.

Groups of 10 and more save 15% to 20% off the regular price of tickets to NAC Music, Theatre and Dance performances. To reserve your seats call 613-947-7000 ext. 384 or email grp@nac-cna.ca.

*Measha Brueggergosman requested a change of programme. The Barber and Bolcom will be performed in place of the previously announced Les Nuits d���t�� by Berlioz.

Pink Martini Kick of Canadian tour in Victoria

PINK MARTINI KICK OFF NEW CANADIAN TOUR IN VICTORIA

Toronto, ON ��� Music sensation Pink Martini are set to perform six dates in various cities across the country. The new tour launches in Victoria, BC, on June 20, 2008, and brings the band's cabaret-style music across Western Canada, ending in Calgary, AB, on June 25.

This 12-person ensemble has gained international success with their eclectic sound, led by vocalist China Forbes. Performing in several languages, the music is sultry and satisfying; with a sound that mixes enchanting melodies with witty lyrics. Their latest album, Hey Eugene! (Audiogram) has captivated fans across the world. Pink Martini's classic sound has garnered them international appeal, most recently performing at the prestigious Governor's Ball at this years Academy Awards.

"This ensemble from Portland, Oregon, wowed the fabulous on the Cannes party circuit�Ķbut that accomplishment hardly addresses the beautiful and sophisticated music of Pink Martini�Ķ. breathtaking."
- The New Yorker

Pink Martini, founded by Thomas M. Lauderdale in 1994, was originally assembled to play political fundraisers for progressive causes in Portland, Oregon. As the band gained popularity, Lauderdale enlisted lead singer China Forbes to complete the ensemble. Fourteen years and three albums later, this 12-person collaboration have toured the world, performing at celebrated venues like the Cannes Film Festival, the opening of Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert hall, and the Kennedy Space Center. Their music has been featured on such hit TV shows as Desperate Housewives, Nip/Tuck and The Sopranos.

Canadian Tour Dates:

June 20 Victoria, BC Royal Theatre

June 21 Vancouver, BC Orpheum

June 22 Saskatoon, SK Bessborough Gardens

June 23 Winnipeg, MB Pantages Playhouse

June 24 Edmonton, AB Winspear Centre

June 25 Calgary, AB Jack Singer

Weblinks: www.pinkmartini.com or www.myspace.com/pinkmartinionmyspace

Find Me a Primitive Man, Cabaret Juste Pour Rire

Sirensongs presents

Find Me a Primitive Man

Written by and starring Marysia

June 14-21, Cabaret Juste Pour Rire

6 shows only!

A scintillating cocktail of comedy and cabaret.

MONTREAL June 2008- Making her Canadian debut, London's talented Marysia is thrilled to bring Find Me a Primitive Man to the Montreal St-Ambroise Fringe Festival after her popular Edinburgh run. From the Cole Porter title tune to original comedy songs, the songs lurch from musical excellence to debauched bitterness. Don't miss Marysia's ludicrous logic, wicked observations and cheeky chansons d'amour in this jazzy, stand-up comedy delight.

In Find Me a Primitive Man, outrageous British beauty Lady Farquahr-Merkin (an ex-showgirl who managed to marry and divorce a minor member of the royal family) offers tips and wicked reminiscences on dating sports stars, European men and other minor members of the Royal Family. Be very scared, now she has come to Montreal to find a real man! Marysia is excited about her first visit to Canada, "I have been reading books on how to be a Canadian and how to date a Canadian- apparently I need to make out in a canoe."

Find Me a Primitive Man is a terrific blend of Marysia's talents; "I love to combine my years of singing cabaret with stand-up comedy. Cabaret is all about fun mixed with slightly uncomfortable truths."

From fatally flawed advice on dress sense ("Weddings are the best places to hook up; I think what puts the men off is my wedding dress.") and behaviour, ("I never go all the way on a first date, I make them wait until the second before I let them get the video camera out.") her memorable tips will last a lifetime.

Whether Marysia is doing mellow jazz or camp cabaret, her greatest passion is ensuring audiences have a great time. She hopes people come away having had a blast, learning some of the best/worst pick-up lines and knowing when to run from the opposite sex! Offer your best pick-up line and win a copy of Marysia's latest cd, If You Can't Make Love, Make Coffee. Pick-up lines can also be submitted via info@sirensongs.co.uk and http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17308871428. If You Can't Make Love, Make Coffee, Marysia's debut cd, shows off her songs and jazz arrangements, highlighting her sophisticated, soulful brand of music.

Don't miss the Out-of-Towner Fringe-for-All where artists from out-of-town preview their shows. Be the first to see Marysia on stage in Montreal. Thurs. June 12, 10pm, Just for Laughs Studio, 2109 St. Laurent. FREE for everyone.

For media, this is an occasion for camera footage, interviews and still photography.

About Marysia

After Marysia's successful two shows a day at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2007 with Find Me a Primitive Man and also hosting The Midnight Carousel, Marysia has turned her sights on Montreal. She is a former bond dealer who left the trading floor for the stage. Marysia has been performing all her life, most recently working as a jazz/cabaret singer and stand-up comic in UK venues. Her series of themed cabaret shows continue to run successfully. Highlights include Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2006 with her show Marysia's Slightly Bitter and Twisted Lessons In Love, complete with cartoons, lectern and a live band; the Lawn Tennis Association Players Party June 07, the All About My Men, All About My Mother Europride film and cabaret night; headlining the Proud Gallery's New Years Eve cabaret party and her various sell-out gigs in London's top clubs. Marysia will next be performing her original songs and cabaret stylings in Paris, Autumn 2008. www.sirensongs.co.uk www.myspace.com/sirensongsuk

What they've said about Find Me a Primitive Man

"Marysia certainly knows how to entertain." ****Three Weeks, Edinburgh Fringe Festival

"With this charismatic hostess, waiting for the perfect prince has never been so entertaining." -Made In Italy 2007

"Britney has better taste in men."-her best friend

"One is not amused." -her ex mother-in-law

"A perfect woman if she had a lobotomy." -her ex

Theatre and Tickets

Venue 2, Cabaret Juste Pour Rire, 2111 Boul. St. Laurent

Sat. June 14th 6:30pm

Mon. June 16th 9:30pm 2-for-1

Wed. June 18th 9:45pm

Thurs. June 19th midnight

Fri. June 20th 3:30pm

Sat. June 21st 8:30pm

Prices: $9, $7 students/seniors (plus $2 service charge)

For tickets: 514 849-3378 or www.montrealfringe.ca

Stratford Summer Music After-Theatre Cabarets

Stratford, Ont�Ķ Some of Canada���s most highly-acclaimed musical artists will take the stage of Stratford���s Church Restaurant to present a variety of musical styles in Stratford Summer Music���s annual After-Theatre Cabaret series. Cabarets are performed Thursdays through Saturdays, beginning at 11:30 p.m, during the four-week festival.

The series opens with Stratford Festival stars Dayna Tekatch and Laird Mackintosh in their new song and dance tribute to two of the last century���s most famous stars from movie musicals: Cheek to Cheek: The Music of Astaire & Rogers. July 24 ��� 26. Week 1.

Dora award-winning actor and singer Jackie Richardson, known as the first lady of gospel, jazz and blues in Canada, appears in her one-woman show about American jazz legend, Mabel Mercer. Mercer had a successful career in the mid-1960s, performing in the U.S., Britain and Europe with the greats of jazz and cabaret. July 31 ��� August 2. Week 2.

Juno award-winning and Grammy-nominated soprano saxophonist, flutist and bandleader Jane Bunnett returns to The Church Restaurant with her Spirits of Havana Jazz Band. Since she released Spirits of Havana, her first Cuban influenced album, she has continued touring inter-nationally and recording a string of critically lauded albums. August 7 ��� 9. Week 3.

Dora award-winning actor, singer and writer Paula Wolfson closes the series with her one-woman show, Between Engagements, with piano accompanied by Jonathan Monro. Between Engage-ments brings audiences behind-the-scenes in pursuit of a career in show business, where the search for love and the search for work in the theatre are paralleled in more ways than one.

August 14 - 16. Week 4.

Cabaret performances begin at 11:30 p.m. Single tickets are $35; all four cabarets can be pur-chased for the special price of $115. Tickets on sale April 15 at 1-800-567-1600.

Stratford Summer Music runs from July 21 to August 17. Complete concert information will be available at www.stratfordsummermusic.ca.