Majumder raises the roof, Atwood tells tales of Twitter, Alice fever sizzles & Rivers takes another bite of Reality

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: Howcum funnyman Shaun Majumder keeps shining in dramas? First it was 24, then his recent stint on Republic Of Doyle, and now the ABC series 187 Detroit. (187 is police code for homicide.) Can Shaun do a spot-on impression

MAJUMDER: raising the roof

of series star Michael Imperioli (a.k.a. Christopher on The Sopranos)? Ask him yourself when he jets in from L.A. to headline his favourite comedy fund-raiser Raising the Roof, April 16 & 17 at The Rivoli … it’s not her fault, okay? Margaret Atwood sez her Twitter pals egged her on. Which is why she’s finally telling all – okay, almost all – about her adventures in TwitterLand in the New York Review of Books, right here …  …. Jake Doyle’s prodigal brother Christian returns to the Rock, much to his younger brother’s dismay, on Allan Hawco’s hit series Republic Of Doyle tonight at 9 pm on CBC-TV … and Joan Rivers and her producer daughter Melissa are reportedly set to do a new reality show about Joan moving in with Melissa, grandson Cooper and Melissa’s current squeeze Jason in L.A.. Says blogger Paula Froelich: “This will rock harder than Poison at Spring Break.” Froelich joined Rivers & Co. for their Passover seder at Melissa’s house in Pacific Palisades. To read her Daily Beast report, click here.

ALICE: Disney classic

BALLET HIGH: Highlight of the National Ballet’s summer season next year should be British Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s new full-length, two-act interpretation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a co-production between the National Ballet and The Royal Ballet (UK). with a commissioned score by British composer Joby Talbot. Neither Tim Burton nor Johnny Depp have anything to do with this one as far as we know — but isn’t it odd how Lewis Carroll’s peculiar heroine has returned to the collective consciousness? Now Disney, whose magicians created the original Un-Birthday song, is celebrating the Un-Anniversary of its 1951 animated classic by

KAIN: a once-and-future Alice

reissuing it on DVD before Burton’s wacky new 3-D Alice hits the stores.  The new ballet version, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, will debut first in London in February 2011 and then here in Toronto, June 4 – 12, 2011 …  meanwhile, NBOC chief Karen Kain sent the company’s notable outreach mini-show Dance About to Ontario’s Near North District School Board yesterday for two performances, at Maple Ridge Public School in Powassan and Sundridge Centennial Public School in Sundridge … and happy anniversary to the American Ballet Theatre, set to celebrate its 70th (!!) season May 17-July 10 at the Met. And speaking of Twitter, and aren’t we always, at both the ABT and the New Yotk City Ballet there are no policies on dancers’ increasing participation on Twitter. Says New York Times writer Gia Kourlas: “At the moment the relationship between tech-savvy dancers and company administrators seems to be akin to a child showing a parent how to use e-mail.”  To read her amusing account of young ballet stars who “now tweeter as well as flutter,” click here.

PETERSON: in memory

THE LEGACY LIVES ON: One aspiring musician entering a music program at York University this fall will be the lucky recipient of the first $40,000 Oscar Peterson scholarship, allowing them to pursue their dreams. The new Peterson program will also offer up to four $10,000 annual scholarships for current undergraduate music students. Meanwhile, Peterson acolytes Peter Herrndorf, Brian Robertson, Bob Rae, Bill Davis and Tommy Banks are among the boosters soliciting donations for a life-size bronze sculpture of the jazz great to sit outside the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The statue of Peterson at a grand piano — created by Canadian sculptor Ruth Abernethy, the artist responsible for the stunning bronze of Glenn Gould outside the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto — will be unveiled on June 30 as part of Canada Day celebrations.

TOMORROW:

Is Justin Bieber just too hot?

And, celebrating ‘Tony’s’ first lady.

-/-

Advertisement

De Niro goes to the Middle East, Mercer goes indoor skydiving (!?!) and Martha goes to war

NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE: It took filmmaker Brigitte Berman to get the ball rolling, but after the Toronto International Film Festival premiere

DOWNEY JR: Playboy material?

of her documentary on Hugh Hefner, a major Hollywood biopic is finally going ahead. Producer Brian Grazer (24) recently met with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody about the project, and Brett Ratner (X-Men) is apparently lined up to direct, with Robert Downey Jr. favoured to play Hef … shhhh, it’s a secret, but my spies tell me irresistible funny girl Monica Parker is currently fine-tuning a new one-woman show cunningly called The Weight Is Over.  Can’t weight, uhhh, wait … and Rick Mercer and Rush rock legend Alex

LIFESON & MERCER: indoor skydiving

Lifeson go skydiving tonight — the hard way — by attempting to float atop 225 km/h winds generated by a jet engine (!!!) at the Niagara Freefall Indoor Skydiving challenge. And believe me, ‘freefall’ is the word for it. Catch them tonight at 8 pm on the Rick Mercer Report on CBC.

UP IN ARMS: On Thursday night Toronto theatergoers will see the Canadian premiere of Strange News, a 30-minute multimedia work about the plight of

SWANK: as Amelia Earhart

child soldiers. The work, composed by Norwegian Rolf Wallin with text by Belgian actor/director/writer Josse de Pauw, is narrated by the young Ugandan actor Arthur Kisenyi, and comes to us after breaking theatrical ground in Oslo, Birmingham, Porto, Chicago, and Copenhagen. Filling out the bill is a performance of Igor Stravinsky¹s classic A Soldier¹s Tale, narrated by the legendary Martha Henry and directed by Peter Moss. For tickets call the St. Lawrence Centre box office at 416-366-7723 or just click here.

FLICKERS: Why does news of a Tribeca Film Festival in the Persian Gulf remind me of a New Yorker cartoon? Nonetheless, the 31-film festival opens this

DE NIRO: in Doha

week in Doha, Qatar’s capital, with Robert De Niro, Tribeca’s co-founder, expected to be on hand for the opening film, the Hillary Swank-Richard Gere opus Amelia. Unlike red-carpet filmfests in Dubau and Abu Dhabi, Doha is looking to showcase independent films (Steven Soderbergh’s Informant, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story) — but hey, it’s still the middle east. Both Doha and Abu Dhabi programmed Bahman Ghobadi’s No One Knows About Persian Cats, a film shot covertly in Iran, but none of the Gulf festivals have programmed a film from Israel, and if your passport is Israeli, you can’t get there from here. Intrigued? Yeah, me too. To catch up with Larry Rohter’s report in last week’s New York Times, just click here.

GET ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT, HOT, HOT: Finally got a chance to see Brad (Love & Human Remains) Fraser’s new comedy about family secrets at

KEELEY & STEWART: hit show

Factory Theatre at a packed Sunday matinee, and now I know what all the fuss is about. Everything about this witty, provocative production is absolutely top-notch, from Bretta Gerecke’s cleverly engaging set to playwright Fraser’s fast-paced cinematic staging and direction. Ashley Wright and Julie Stewart are spectacularly good as the parents, Andrew Craig and Susanna Fournier are outstanding as their confused offspring, and David W. Keeley’s subtle but sly portrayal of the returning restauranteur who unhinges all of them makes this laugh-out-loud dramedy work brilliantly. Don’t miss it. But you will if you don’t act now, because counting tonight there are only six (6) performances left. To snap up your last-chance tickets just click here. And enjoy!

TOMORROW:

Come to the Cabaret.

Kiefer comes home, Kevin hosts the Inn crowd, Regis goes Rama & Bette’s Rose blooms again

HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS: When director Norman Jewison founded the Canadian Film Centre 20 years ago, who knew where it would lead?

SUTHERLAND: new Chair

Now CFC alumni are everywhere, and 90 percent of them are working, so they must be doing something right. Its latest venture, the new Actors Conservatory, may be the CFC’s most ambitious undertaking to date. Funded by Canwest and The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, the new program is designed to provide collaborative, in-depth, professional on-screen training for Canadian actors. And it also provides a chairman who knows all about all of those things. Kiefer Sutherland, currently

MAJUMDER: 24 alumnus

shooting the eighth season of his hit series 24, flew in from LA earlier this month to officially accept his new role as chair of the Conservatory.

“I am honored to contribute to Norman Jewison’s legacy,” Kiefer told 2,000 guests at the annual CFC barbecue, “by offering my passion for storytelling, for Canada and for its talent.” CFC chief Slawko Klymkiw noted that the award-winning actor has consistently hired Canadian actors for key roles on 24 (e,g., Leslie Hope, Shaun Majumder, Elisha Cuthbert, Carlo Rota, Colm Feore.) “Kiefer’s experience,” he added, “will greatly enrich this program.” Michael Levine, executor of Brian Linehan’s estate, said Linehan would be delighted with Sutherland’s new role. “He loved Kiefer,” said Levine. “He thought he was a great actor, and a very generous and

BETTE: The Rose

intelligent young man.” The first eight actors chosen to participate in the inaugural five month session are Sarah Allen and Simon Baker of B.C., Sean Morrison, from Cape Breton; Jesse Aaron Dwyre, from Kingston; and Zoe Doyle, Michelle Giroux, Jean-Michel Le Gal and Abena Malika from Toronto.

Stay tuned.

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME: Remember Bette Midler’s dazzling Oscar-nominated screen debut in The Rose? Hmmm – you’re older than I thought. The Rose celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special Academy of Arts and Sciences screening tonight at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Hollywood.

 

FRANKISH: hosting tonight

OUR TOWN: Remember the Inn On The Park? After a significant restoration it’s now an events venue, and tonight Breakfast Television host Kevin Frankish hosts a celebration of its return at Grand Opening Soirée of Events On The Park. CFRB’s Bill Carroll will co-emcee during the night, with performances by Andy Kim, pianist Terence Gowan and The Anita Rossi Band. Executive Chef Ray Nolan is overseeing the cocktails and canapés … … set to sparkle next weekend at Casino Rama: Bill Cosby and Regis Philbin …  glory-voiced ex-Nylon Mark Cassius sings at Statler’s tonight accompanied by popular piano man Ken Lindsay. “What a talent!” confides Lindsay. “And what a privilege to play for him!” … and Daryn Jones and Johnny Guardhouse are among the laff-makers set to perform at the East End Comedy Revue next Friday at The Dominion on Queen.

 

SONDHEIM: T.O. hat trick

SEPTEMBER SONGS: The first in a series of three ‘in-concert’ theatrical evenings premiered last week to raves from a near-capacity house, as some of this country’s greatest musical comedy talents dazzled in an evening devoted to Stephen Sondheim musicals.  On Monday they’ll perform the second evening, reprising classic tunes from Follies, A Little Night Music, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd and more. All three evenings are staged at the audience-friendly Metropolitan Community Church and all proceeds benefit the Actors Fund of Canada. For more info, and to order tickets while you still can, just click here.

Have a great weekend!