Sergio goes to Memphis, Susan comes to T.O. and Mr. Ondaatje gets ready for Theatre Passe Muraille

OUR TOWN: Art director Pat Flood moderates a Theatre Museum Canada free-admission workshop on the state of artistic collaboration in contemporary

HYATT: at Statler's

Canadian theatre tonight at 7 pm at the Design Exchange … filmmaker Omar Majeed is here this week for Q&As after Royal Cinema screenings of his new doc, TAQWACORE: The Birth of Muslim Punk Rock. Novelist and Muslim convert Michael Muhammad Knight, the guy who penned the book that gave birth to underground Muslim bands, will join him in a panel discussion on Saturday … Chicago-based singer and songwriter Susan Werner — she of ‘agnostic gospel music’ notoriety — is set to perform in her first Toronto concert in three years at Hugh’s Room this coming Sunday. To mark the occasion she’ll accompany herself on a

BEDFORD: as Lady Bracknell

baby grand loaned to Hugh’s Room by Skydiggers member Michael Johnston … and my spies tell me Pam Hyatt has agreed to join piano man Ken Lindsay for another serenade of cocktail hour show tunes this Thursday at Statler’s.

STRATFORD ON SALE: They’ve had a phenomenal season with great ticket sales, but if you still haven’t been to the Stratford Festival this year, here’s a deal you definitely need to know about. Right now you can buy $29 tickets for plays or $39 tickets for musicals on any of the remaining performances until the Stratford season ends on November 8. See Colm Feore

CULLEN: at the Forum (photo: David Hou)

as Macbeth and Cyrano de Bergerac, catch Brian Bedford’s Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest, follow Sean Cullen in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Forum, choose from Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and West Side Story, or choose them all — but don’t delay, because this special offer ends tomorrow, October 20! So click here for the Stratford

ONDAATJE: Divisadero workshops

season calendar and order your tickets now.

FOOTLIGHTS: Acclaimed theatre director Daniel Brooks is working with acclaimed novelist Michael Ondaatje to adapt the latter’s most recent novel, Divisadero, for the stage. Ondaatje fans can get to see three workshop productions of When My Name Was Anna, the theatrical adaptation, at Theatre Passe Muraille’s Mainspace November 6-8.  To order tickets, click here … Sampradaya Dance Creations hosts the world premiere of its newest work, Samvad, collectively

TRUJILLO: opening tonight

created and performed by dancers Meena Murugesan, Nadine Jackson and Shelly Ann McLeod, this weekend at the Enwave Theatre … and one fan who attended a preview performance of Memphis, a new musical about the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in the ’50s, says he was “FLOORED by the choreography! The lighting design was spectacular, and some of the vocal performances were brilliant!” Has choreographer Sergio Trujillo summoned up his Jersey Boys magic to light up New York again? Fingers crossed. Memphis, which also features a brand new score with music by Bon Jovi founding member David Bryan, opens on Broadway tonight at the Shubert Theatre.

MAPLE LEAF JOKES? WE’VE GOT A MILLION OF ‘EM:

Q: What do the Leafs and the Titanic have in common?
A: They both look good until they hit the ice.

TOMORROW:

The good that men do.

(And the women who do it with them.)

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All about Jian & Joan & Liz & Elizabeth & Mel & The Missus

 NO PEOPLE LIKE SHOW PEOPLE:  Man-about-media Jian Ghomeshi is set to host the 30th (!!!) anniversary of the Dora Mavor Moore Awards on Monday, June 29, 2009 at 8pm at the Winter Garden Theatre. Ghomeshi, as if you didn’t know, hosts CBC Radio’s flagship show, Q … and speaking of Q, Liz Smith profiles Joan Collins in the layest issue of Q (aka Quest magazine) and tells an interesting story on herself.

 “In 2000,” she recalls,  “Joan appeared in the TV movie These Old Broads with Debbie Reynolds, Shirley MacLaine and (in what was little more than a cameo) Elizabeth Taylor. I’d heard, from what I considered a good source, that Joan had made unkind remarks about Elizabeth, who was in declining health, and that Elizabeth had countered back with her own wisecracks. Imagine my surprise on the day the item appeared — Joan herself called my office, weeping, sobbing, ‘Liz, I would never say such things about Elizabeth! etc.” More stunning was a call from Elizabeth! She said, darkly, ‘Liz, Joan and I are old friends.  I know she’d never say those things, and I know for sure I’d never respond, even if she did.’ Needless to say, I retracted. (This was a gentle chiding from La Liz, but still enough to freeze my blood!) ”

 

THEY COME TO PRAISE CAESAR, NOT TO BURY HIM:  Tomorrow’s Stratford Shakespeare Festival Live webcast at 6:30 pm salutes the fest’s upcoming production of Julius Caesar –  “the ultimate political thriller,” says Stratford chief Antoni Cimolino. On tomorow’s 6:30 pm webcast Director of Literary Services David Prosser interviews actors Ben Carlson (Brutus) and Jonathan Goad (Mark Antony). If you have questions you can ask them during the live webcast or send them in advance to askantoni@stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

 

HAIL TO THE QUIPSTERS: Ever since Ronald Reagan traded in his General Electric spokesman gig to run for president, movie stars are asked if they would consider running for president.

Well-heeled Republican stalwart Bob Hope admitted he’d given it some thought, but that his wife had nixed the idea.

“Dolores liked the idea of being First Lady,” he added, “but she doesn’t want to move to a smaller house.”

When Dolly Parton was asked if she would ever consider running for president, she just shook her head.

“Oh honey,” she said, “we’ve had already enough boobs in the White House!”

 

A COLONEL OF TRUTH:  He’s made more than his share of unfortunate headlines over the last few years, so I was sorry to hear that Mel Gibson‘s marriage is on the rocks. I was even sorrier to hear of  his remark that his long-suffering Anglican wife  Robyn, the mother of his daughter and six, count ’em, six sons, won’t be able to join him in paradise because she’s not a Catholic, although he admits that she is “a much better person than I am.”  Now BetOnline.com is posting odds, known as the “over/under,” on the amount of his divorce after 28 years of marriage, as Mel and Robyn divide their houses in Malibu, Fiji, Costa Rica and a South Pacific Island, plus his personal fortune, estimated at $350 million plus.

It’s always sad to see a winner play a losing streak, but regardless of what Mel may have lost, his sense of humour appears to be intact. A while ago he ‘guest-starred’ in a short film that had its late-night premiere on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. In it he played one of the most famous southern gentlemen in American history – and yes, I am indeed referring to Col. Saunders.

To watch Mel go plantation, click here.