Notes on The Dude
There are Lebowski-Fests and books about the Dude’s laidback ethos. Its popularity isn’t surprising, after all, the Dude abides.
Chicago Comes North
The Guild Hall aims to dazzle audiences with popular musical The longest running American musical in Broadway history opens this week at the Guild Hall’s
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Where sex meets the ice
There are four corners of a net that hockey players shoot for to score a goal. The ‘Five Hole’ is that other spot that could
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An Evening With The Carlins
Empty cans of beer dot the surface of a kitchen table positioned centre stage. And only minutes into The Mighty Carlins it becomes evident that
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Get Out and Guild
Imagine you are sitting at your computer at home, one evening. Despite the fact that it’s minus 27 outside, it’s snowing – again. As if
Earnestly seeking that second dimension
We are familiar with the concept of “a face only a mother could love”. Well, The Mighty Carlins has three characters that, possibly, only the
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Stories of the scientific nude
Yes, they know it is cold in the Yukon. The cast of Studies in Motion has been checking out the temperatures here daily. Yet they
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An artistic director returns with a dream cast
He had been in Baked Café for only one minute and had already said hi to three people, and one of them got a hug.
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In the ‘language’ of belly dancing, Raqs rocks
It’s not I Dream of Jeannie—not even close. “The North American image of I Dream of Jeannie is so ‘Hollywood’,” Nita Collins chuckles, but acknowledges
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A case of questionable identity
It is in the fall, off-season for a ski chalet, yet there is still excitement. A woman has disappeared. She returns, but it is not
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Montréal Danse: Up close and personal
It will be an unusual connection between the audience at the Yukon Arts Centre and the dancers of Montréal Danse when it presents On the
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Beer and Beautiful Music … Together
What goes together even better than peanut butter and chocolate, Laurel and Hardy, or ice cream and dill pickles? We think it is beer and
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On this stage, everyone is ‘Ynkluded’
It was like walking onto the set of High School Musical … there are people milling about, laughing and joking around, spinning playfully in wheelchairs
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Bold, dark theatre returns
After a decade of collecting dust in the Guild Society office, the script for Cabaret is finally being used and will be presented at the
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Cam & Legs are ready for their closeup
Cam, that breakdancing Brownie Hawkeye camera; and Legs, the glove that struts and dances like a DJ, have returned to Whitehorse. Cam & Legs creator
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A French Kiss With an English Twist
Whitehorse is known to have an active French community. “You guys are everywhere,” some say in a more-or-less enthusiastic way. Some birds of a feather
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Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion
The Music Arts Drama students swirled in their dresses in the Wood Street Centre hallway and they laughed at the newness of it. Just a
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Still funny after 500 years
In Italy, about 500 years ago, the lower classes liked to present plays that made fun of the higher classes. And the higher classes enjoyed
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Dancing Under an Umbrella
Jude Wong had an elegant epiphany last October. Perhaps the constant query she’d heard from fellow dance artists, “Why should I have to leave in
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P-Wing: Not your daddy’s cover band
Pegasus Wing beckons listeners to recall the profound messages and blissful sounds made by artists whom (unbeknown to them at the time) stood at the
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Theatre Where You Stand, and In Your Ear
Imagine trudging up the terribly endless flight of stairs at the end of Black Street only to be greeted by a small but brilliantly coloured
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Supporting the art of dance
As far as this paper’s mandate reaches – arts, culture, entertainment and recreation – the biggest news of the week is the creation of the
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Battling for the Right to Rock Main Stage
A staple of the Frostbite Music Festival will kick off this year’s event and showcase the multitude of young talent in the territory. The annual
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Dance Yukon
Scores of Yukoners have come in contact with Groundwork Sessions (GWS) on some spot-lit Yukon stage where its young members can be found spinning the
Act like they do in New York
Posters around town advertise the Actors Intensive Weekend Workshop as “From New York to the Yukon”. Why is “New York” in the headline? “Classically, we
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A love that made the gods weep
“It is a space of no expectations,” says Carol Prieur, a dancer in the upcoming presentation, Orpheus and Eurydice. Since Yukon audiences probably remember the
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Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue
With both the Nakai and Moving Parts theatres scaling back on productions for a season of development, Eric Epstein sees the role of the Guild
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It’s a ‘building year’ for Nakai
This year, Nakai Theatre will not be producing any plays. David Skelton, Nakai’s artistic director, says the company will be concentrating, instead, on developing local
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Stop … and listen to Mike Daisey
Mike Daisey talks. He is a monologist; it’s what he does. In a day when we watch our videos in one- and two-minute clips and
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No one can shock with such delight
In 1962, it was shocking and titillating. Though the Pulitzer Prize committee handed it a Pulitzer, it was revoked for language, for sexual situations. When
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Yukon Dancers Are Here to Stay
Jude Wong and I sit facing each other, sipping our coffees. She is nibbling on toast, and I am picking at a muffin – two
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A Christmas Classic Is on Its Way
It is 3:30 in the afternoon, on a beautiful fall day in Whitehorse, and the long narrow hallway at Northern Lights School of Dance (NLSD)
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Dance explores pain and pleasure
Hélène Blackburn is looking forward to bringing her contemporary dance company, Cas Public, to the Yukon next week. Long ago, she dismissed the notion that
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A room with a current
It is fall of 2005. I have just arrived in the Yukon. I am amazed to be accepted into an advanced playwriting course with the
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Round 1 goes to the Guild, and what a fight
4 out of 5 Stars The Guild pulled no punches with its first production of the season, dragging Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
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Theatre reviews go interactive
There are two types of people who read play reviews: those who want to see if the reviewer agrees with them and those who want
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The return of jazz dance
Kimberley Cooper retraced the rise and descent of North American jazz dance: It is primarily a folk dance mixed by African slaves and the Europeans
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Romantic Christmas comedy had a long journey
Patti Flather is sitting at a coffee shop talking about how much fun it is to write strong roles for actors over 40. “There’s just
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A play without boundaries
After presenting Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, one of the most well-known plays of the post-modern era, the Guild Theatre follows with the world premiere
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Decidedly Jazz Dance Workshops
The working life of a dancer is not all showbiz and stage time. Countless hours are also devoted to rehearsals, choreography, classes and workshops. Workshops
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Dance Gathering
“A dance gathering?” you ask. Yes, that is exactly what it is: people gathering together to dance. I attended the Yukon’s first dance gathering on
The stories behind Nutcracker
As audience members at the Yukon Arts Centre allow the Christmas tradition of Nutcracker to wash over them – joined, for the first time, by
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From dress rehearsal to final performance
Jerome recounts his experiences with The Soul Menders, highlighting the transformation from rehearsal to performance.
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Play makers: Get your craft on
Hockey players can craft, too. That is the message from Arlin McFarlane, artistic director for Yukon Educational Theatre’s Inzanity Wing, the backbone behind this year’s
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Queer Coffee is a community saying hello
I don’t know what I was looking for when I walked into Baked Café for the Queer Coffee, advertised on ArtsNet. I knew I was
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A Contemporary Aboriginal-Dance Passion
I have known Andrameda Hunter since she was a youngster, but when I recently met her for coffee, I was immediately taken by her radiant
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Whose life is it anyway?
Finders, keepers. Right? Well, adults will likely respond with, “It depends.” OK. This is something that was obviously discarded … but it was seven meticulously
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A rollicking story of Cape Breton
Sheldon Currie wrote a short story about a family in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, that echoed his message in the acclaimed Margaret’s Museum. Lauchie, Liza
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Claire Ness Camps it Up in New Solo Show
I confess: as a child I was terrified of clowns. Met with the combination of red nose, garish wig and oversized shoes, I would silently
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Walker’s Laramie Project shows the triumph of community
Clinton Walker, the director brought up from Toronto for The Laramie Project, has made me chili. Little triangles of toasted bread sit next to the
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Just a big wacky musical about corruption
”It’s a huge show,” Todd Duckworth the director tells me. Twenty people in the cast, four in the band. “When you see 20 people stretched
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The Many Worlds; and Faces; of Charles Ross
He’s a hobbit and an Ewok, Princess Leia and Gandalf — plus about 80 other denizens of deep space and Middle Earth. In a more
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Nina Arsenault talks about the pursuit of beauty and truth
Nina Arsenault warns me that she’s not about to tell the “typical” transsexual story to Nakai Theatre’s Pivot Festival audiences. You know the story, she
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Ron James shifts comedy paradigm
Ron James used to be the spokesman for Texas tourism for three years on CNN. “It was during George Bush senior’s term. I can imagine
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The 3rd annual Pivot Festival: Floating, swimming, flying
The Pivot Festival is upon us — and with it comes a huge ton of theatre. You have six shows you can see at multiple
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Giant Rat finally treated as honoured citizen (psst … go see this musical)
Everyone loves a “lovable rogue”. In the Guild Society’s musical comedy, The Man From the Capital, you get 20 rogues to pick from. The plot
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Don Juan has come to save us
“Don Juan? I love Don Juan,” said my fiancée when I asked her if she wanted to see The Erotic Anguish of Don Juan at
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Playwrights Present at the 24-Hour Cabaret
Earlier this month, 25 playwrights spent 24 hours at the Edgewater Hotel in Whitehorse trying to write plays for Nakai Theatre’s 25th 24-hour Playwriting Competition
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Comedy Explores How the Locking of Lips Can Lead to Swapping of Souls
A swapping of souls complicates what could be the simplest thing we know. “Love,” says director Clinton Walker, “it’s a simple concept.” The play Prelude
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Beloved Nutcracker Ballet draws audience into the seats … and onto the stage
There is no surer sign of the holiday season than the annual staging of The Nutcracker. The Northern Lights School of Dance is presenting the
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The Men Behind The Boys
The Guild will open its season this week with the Canadian premiere of The Boys, written by Kris Elgstrand. Elgstrand and Brad Dryborough, the play’s
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Aboriginal plays featured in Gwaandak’s Summer Reading Series
Gwaandak Theatre is putting on a reading series this summer featuring three plays written by First Nations playwrights, borrowing the skills of some local First
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Epstein leaves, stage right
Eric Epstein and I are sitting in the black box — the creative centre of the Guild Theatre — the room that can become anything,
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The brutal, relentless comedy of The Boys
The Quickie: The Boys is not a feel-good drama, an easy date night play, or a relaxing evening. However, it is outstanding acting and thought-provoking
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A Play in 24 Hours
If you ask Whitehorse resident Justine Davidson if the $50 fee to participate in Nakai Theatre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Competition is worth it, you’ll most
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Dancer Has Found Her Home
The’s a dancer, she’s a teacher, she’s a choreographer, actor, singer and performance artist. She is dancing all over this town. At the age of
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On His Own, With Lots of Company
Raoul Bhaneja is his own uncle. Which means he’s also his own stepfather. Not to mention his mother, his sort-of girlfriend, the ghost of his
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Artistic transitions: McCallum enters, stage left
Katherine McCallum is sitting on the couches of the Guild Hall, the place the audience gathers before a show begins, that place of anticipation. She’s
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Gay community sees hope in The Laramie
Then I was at the Big Band Dessert and Dance Saturday night, I saw a handsome man across the crowded room. Fat chance that I
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Frostbite Festival Features
Strong singer-songwriters and high-energy techno-twist bands support this year’s Frostbite Festival, a celebration of diverse music. Artistic director Eric Epstein says this year’s festival is
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Laramie Project delivers stunning ensemble work
I gave Justine Davidson, the theatre reviewer for the Whitehorse Star, a long hug at the end of The Laramie Project, the Guild Society/GALA play.
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Turning Hollywood Upside Down
It’s 6:05 on a Sunday morning, and she has a play opening in only six days. So why is Sarah Rodgers sitting in the airport
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Breaking Out
Two days after Ju Hyun Seo got married last November, he flew to the Yukon to teach breakdancing for a month at Leaping Feats Creative
Fragments of Belonging
What is it like to hear your own story told in your own words by a total stranger? Several Whitehorse residents will find out next
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Let’s Get Physical
You don’t need to be an actor, a dancer, or an acrobat to take part in physical theatre workshops with nationally acclaimed theatre creator, Ker
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New Crew
An energetic new dance group will make its debut this weekend in an unusual locale. Instead of a formal stage or a black-box theatre, the
Adaka – A Festival for Sharing
Boyd Benjamin & Kevin Barr, ambassadors of Yukon music at the Vancouver Olympics will play at new Adäka Cultural Festival
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Seriously Hilarious
Margaret Thatcher. Genocide. Venereal disease. Personal betrayal. These are not the standard fare of romantic comedy. But in the deft hands of Whitehorse playwright Peter
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Stepping Out
For most students, summer school may be a drag. For Odessa Beatty and Sadie Segriff, though, it’s a golden opportunity. Beatty and Segriff [shown on
Healing and Hope
What is the nature of faith, and what is the nature of duty in wartime? Those are two of the profound questions at the heart
A Memorable Friendship
It happened on the dance floor November 1, 1985. “I don’t want to spoil the story of how we met,” Brooke Johnson says of her
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Winter Warmth from Bahamas
In the cold of February, Whitehorse is due for some well-deserved warmth from Bahamas. Not from a misdirected trade wind, but from the musical act
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Noh Comes to Town
Whitehorse rare opportunity to experience Noh Theatre, a form of classical Japanese theatre that dates back almost 700 years.
Homegrown and Growing
Zombies, controversial dogs, Death and an apocalypse. All this and more will appear at the Guild Hall next week—and it’s partly David Skelton’s fault. As
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Victorian-era Monty Python
Kindhearted pirates, timorous policemen, pretty maidens, star-crossed lovers and a thoroughly modern Major-General. All these are onstage this week at Wood Street School as the
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Colour Me Mayo
Mayo is often Yukon’s hot spot in the summer, and this Saturday June 18,2011 it’s the hot spot for the arts and the Mayo Arts Festival
Orderly Chaos
”Hello, everybody. Welcome to mayhem and madness.” It’s precisely 7 pm and Anton Solomon is just kicking off a rehearsal for the Moving Parts Theatre
Musical Sorts Out the Craziness of Craigslist
Inheriting her grandmother’s hymn-book — stuffed with press clippings, flowers and a nuclear disarmament card from the 1960s — took Veda Hille on a journey
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Honest Talk Cafe
How can one person transform herself into many people? How can one location turn into several without changing a thing? Go and see Café Daughter and you’ll
Wit and Film Noir
When Betty Beemer needs a health pamphlet written, she turns to Vaughn Fischer, a freelancer whose career is going nowhere. But Vaughn quickly becomes obsessed
Into the Playground
Director Gerald Isaac thinks a playground makes an ideal setting for the Guild Theatre‘s production of the musical comedy Into the Woods, which opens next
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A Different Face of Mamet
In graduate school, Stephen Drover “dabbled” with the work of American playwright David Mamet, but he had never directed a full Mamet play. So when
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Nomination Hat Trick
Les Walker had a goal. Form the band Common Knowledge, perform at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards (CAMA) and have an album in nomination.
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Getting the Message
Editor’s Note: Amber Church’s assignment was to gather some impressions of Yukon Educational Theatre’s latest production from a few young audience members who saw it
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Venality vs Purity in Tinseltown
The strength of most plays by Pulitzer Prize-winner David Mamet lies in his characters, the moral murk in which they often exist and, above all,
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Love, War and Brotherhood
When Randy Rutherford was 15, his mother realized she could no longer afford to take care of him. So she packed him onto a bus
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Dreaming of Mice and Dolls
Twelve tiny dancers twirl across the hardwood floor waving pieces of fluorescent blue, pink and yellow gauzy fabric. They leap, twist and flail their limbs,
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Old Cabin, New Gig
The Frostbite Music Festival has always been an important part of Jona Barr’s life. He grew up in a musical environment that included annual attendance
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Band With a Plan
With plenty of gigs under their belts, Whitehorse band Off the Menu have high hopes for the 2012 FrostBYTE Battle of the Bands
MacHomer Erectus
Somewhere along the line, Rick Miller wandered from Moshe Safdie’s Legoland and the Bauhaus world of Walter Gropius to the raucous playground of William Shakespeare