Entertainment

The Toronto Beaches Film Festival presents If I Should Fall, the true story of Lebanese-Canadian trooper Marc Diab’s amazingly personal video made before being deployed to Afghanistan. Diab made the video as a farewell should he ‘fall’ while on duty. Sadly Diab was killed by an IED not long after making the video. If I Should Fall is Beach filmmaker Brendan Culliton’s first feature film. It is a poignant celebration of the Canadian soldiers who took part in the Afghanistan mission. For more information visit IfIShouldFall.com, or canadianheroes.com.
To celebrate this event, the Canadian Heroes Car will be on hand out front of The Fox Theatre on June 30, at 11:30 a.m. For more information visit torontobeachesfilmfest.com.
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Jazz vocalist Peggy Mahon will be appearing June 28 at Edo Restaurant, 484 Eglinton Ave. West from 7:30 to 10:30 as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. This show will mark the first time Mahon has worked with legendary Toronto guitarist Tony Quarrington. Quarrington has worked with most of Toronto’s jazz musicians at one time or another, including Peter Appleyard, Molly Johnson and Russ Little, and he can now add Peggy Mahon to this list. Mahon’s long-time bassist Dave Field will round out the group. For more information call Edo at 416-322-7699.
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I Became My Mother: From Rocker and Roller to Soccer and Stroller is the title of a hilarious one-man play written and acted by Cleve Jones. He is bringing this multi-media production to the Toronto Fringe Festival for several dates beginning on July 4.
Jones is the husband of popular comic Kate Davis, and his play is the “intimate account of the transformation from rock ‘n roll wannabe, to daddy of three.” He draws his inspiration from his time spent caring for his young children while Davis is away touring. I Became My Mother will also feature video appearances by Davis, as well as comic Mike Wilmot.
I Became My Mother  will be staged at St. Vladimir’s Theatre, 620 Spadina Ave. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Fringe Box Office, 581 Bloor St. W., by calling 416-966-0162, or online at fringetoronto.com, where you can also find a complete festival schedule.
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Serendipity 2012 is a mix of “music and mysticism and mayhem” presented by R&M Productions, July 6 at the Winchester theatre, 80 Winchester Ave. Featured performers include talented Allison McCaughey, a former Malvern student who has gone on to study Theatre and Performing Arts at Sheridan College. Her list of credits include The Producers at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax, Les Feux Follets at the Charlottetown Festival, and Crazy For You at the Port Hope Festival to name a few.
Also on the bill is world-renowned psychic – and Beach resident – Anthony Carr. Carr is famous for his predictions of 9/11, the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, and the 2004 tsunami. His columns appear regularly in the National Enquirer, and he can often be found on Queen Street.
Rounding out the bill will be American entertainer Gregg Bird. R&M Productions is run by Beacher John McCaughey. Tickets for Serendipity 2012 can be purchased by calling 647-801-4756.
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The Guild Festival Theatre proudly presents its second annual season of classical theatre with an exuberant open-air version of Aristophanes’ The Clouds, July 19 to August 12, at the majestic outdoor Greek theatre in the Guild Inn Gardens.
Directed by Sten Eirik, the cast includes Sam Moses and Adrian Gorrissen. Clouds Over T.O. also features rousing music and songs specially composed by award-winning composer David Buchbinder.
Clouds Over T.O. shifts the  action from ancient Athens to modern-day Toronto, capturing the new-fangled folly of our own times and allowing theatre lovers to savour the buffoonery of an ancient comedian.
The play’s anti-hero is Fergus, just a regular guy coping with the complexities and disinformation of urban living. He is deeply and desperately in debt because of indulging his son Royce’s carefree lifestyle. As a result, Fergus is obliged to seek help from Dr. B.S. Kroc, who has a way of marrying therapy and mischief in order to evade the responsibilities of bad credit.
Tickets to Clouds Over T.O. can be purchased by phoning 416-220-8174. For more information about this production or the Guild Festival Theatre in general, visit guildfestivaltheatre.ca.
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Afrofest 2012 is coming to the Beach! This is a chance to discover the music, dance, drumming and theatre of Africa during a free two-day festival in Woodbine Park, from noon to 10 p.m., July 7 and 8, put on by Music Africa.  Along with some great music by more than 35 bands – including Resolutionaries Marimba Band, from Zimbabwe;  Township Jive, from South Africa; Wazimbo, from Mozambique; Teeya, from Ivory Coast, and Adib Abdosh, from Ethiopia – there will be a Children’s Village featuring fun and educational activities for kids. There will also be 60 food and craft booths where you can sample interesting dishes from all over the continent, or purchase unique gifts.
This year’s Afrofest 2012 is going green. The weekend will highlight and promote green initiatives by local and not-for-profit organizations throughout Africa.
Music Africa was established in 1990 to promote the culture and music of Africa, as well as to establish Toronto as a thriving centre for African music. For more information call 416-469-5336, or visit musicafrica.org.
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Poets On The Move performs its annual Let the Stones Cry Out poetry walk on July 10 beginning at 7:15 p.m. (rain date July 17). Poets and their audience will gather at the shelter at the foot of Kippendavie, then follow the poets as they travel “over the grass and under the trees, along the boardwalk and on to the rocks.” At crucial stops along the way the poets will read an appropriate poem.
Poets On The Move meet  the first Tuesday of every month at the Voulez-Vous Café on the corner of Ashdale and Queen Street. For more information call Ann at 416-462-3504.
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Beach jazz pianist Mark Eisenman has a couple of gigs in July that you might want to catch. He will be  performing with trumpeter Chase Sanborn in the Homesmith Bar, at the Old Mill, 21 Old Mill Rd., July 13 from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sanborn is “an engaging modern jazz trumpet voice with a warm, inviting tone, fluid lyrical phrasing, and a style that always swings.”
Then Mark joins the rest of the Mark Eisenman Quartet for a two-night stand at The Rex Hotel, 194 Queen St. West, July 26 and 27 at 9:30 p.m. Quartet members include John Sumner, drums, Steve Wallace, bass, and Pat Labarbera on sax.
For more information visit jazzpiano.ca.

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