Thought I’d take a moment to post about some ongoing/upcoming arts events.

Alumnae Theatre Company’s New Ideas Festival (NIF)continues this week with the Week Two program and reading (March 13-17), with Week Three program/reading running the week after (March 20-24).

Quick note on Saturday’s Week One reading of Falling: We had a packed house, with an audience who responded very positively and had some great feedback for playwright Jamie Johnson. Shouts to Jamie, co-artistic directors Pat McCarthy and Carolyn Zapf, director Ed Rosing, AD/SM Jake Simpkins, dramaturge Diane Forrest, sound designer Rick Jones, and fellow cast members Carys Lewis, Cora Matheson, Ruth Miller and Kristen Scott! And a big thanks to all the folks who came out to support the play, including friends and family – some of whom trekked in from Ottawa, Burlington and Hamilton. xo

The next edition of The Beautiful and the Damned is Thursday, March…

A full, appreciative house was on hand for the launch of Lizzie Violet’s Cabaret Noir. The show started well before the figurative curtain went up with Mullet the Zombie clown going table to table to warm up (or was that alarm) people coming to see the show.

Fate would have that I was the first performer for this first show – I started off the open stage with a couple of mythic pieces about growing in Cape Breton. a few more open stagers and then Jean-Paul Mullet did his zombie walk to the stage. Mullet is the whole package – excellent make-up right down to red contacts. More a story teller than a physical schtick performer, Mullet held us spellbound with his eerie canoe tale – we could hear the ‘wings of a raven over head.’

Next up was David Bateman who captivated us with several ‘creative nonfiction…

I got stood up for a ‘date’ on the weekend. Something that was once an event that sucks but now … such is life. Sex and getting it, no long rules my life or even my sense of self. Not that I don’t enjoy opportunities when they present themselves, but the search – the seeking of opportunity no longer swallows all my time.

He was some guy who texted me on a gay ‘dating’ site and was very eager about meeting up, etc. etc. I take the whole process with an amused grain of salt. I’ve seen the same cock shots on different sites for different men apparently living not only in different cities but different continents. Yes I’ve looked – nothing warms up a sub-zero day like gazing at men in Brazil.

Guys on line are liars – who is shocked by that? I’m sure women are just capable…

Writer/poet/horror aficionado/editor Lizzie Violet launched her brand new monthly cabaret – Lizzie Violet’s Cabaret Noir – at Q Space last night. And what a fun, sexy and thought-provoking night it was.

The cabaret premiere included feature performers Mullet the Clown, David Bateman and Kat Leonard, as well as a very talented line-up of open mic folks. Music, comedy, spoken word, poetry, a zombie clown telling stories and performing card tricks – it was a mix of the ridiculous and the sublime, visceral and cerebral, personal and political, as these talented artists took the stage. Q Space is a casual, intimate, welcoming storefront place, with a cool, eclectic and creative group of folks – and it’s the perfect home for the cabaret as friends, fellow artists and neighbourhood peeps gather to support some incredible local talent.

Lizzie Violet’s Cabaret Noir will be a monthly event, the second Sunday of…

Everything I said in my Facebook status before the show: “David Bateman more animated than Seth MacFarlane: Philip Cairns more glitter than the red carpet; Lizzie Violet more glam than any after Oscar party; Helen Posno more emotion than any acceptance speech; Duncan Armstrong – well, there’s always a sore loser.” Holds up the following day. Except, unlike the Oscars, there were no losers, sore or others wise, at the Secret Handshake Gallery.

The space is intimate, homey – well, being second floor of a townhouse gives it that homey feel. A poetry salon – with coffee, sandwiches available. Seating a random array of arm chairs, sofas & folding chairs. Always nice to give a reading at spot where people are there just for the reading – not for some bar to sell food & booze.

After getting my videographer in place I opened the show with…