PHOTO: Robert Deutsch
Curtain Call Players, based out of Glen Rhodes United Church, presents the classic musical Annie, from Nov. 7 to 16. The non-profit community theatre group produces two full-scale musicals every year.
The cast of over 40 members includes more than a dozen Beachers and East End residents, including Megan McDowell as Annie, Priya Connors as Molly, Emma Helm as Duffy, Margo Lariviere, Isla Parekh and Tara Wilson-Moola as orphans and adult cast member Angela Boyd.
Evening performances take place at 8 p.m., and run Thursday, Nov. 7 to Saturday, Nov. 9, as well as Thursday and Friday, Nov. 14 and 15. Matinee performances begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 16. The venue is the Fairview Library Theatre, 35 Fairview Mall Dr., near Don Mills and Sheppard. Tickets are $26, or $22 for groups of 10 or more. For information, visit curtaincallplayers.com.
Three local women will be showcasing their talent at the Feathers Pub, 962 Kingston Rd., on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Melanie Peterson is from Saskatchewan but now calls the Beach home. She’s currently supporting her CD Unbreakable. Alt-rocker bluVenus has been meeting with success in sunny L.A. as of late, supporting The Happy Hollows and Son of Stan on their North American tour. Australian native Marta Pacek is back in her adopted Beach home for a brief stop between New York dates and an upcoming tour of Italy. The followup to her CD Rebel Baby should be out soon.
The three will gather for an evening titled 1.2.3…Ladies, a rare opportunity to catch three talents at the top of their game. The music gets underway at 8 p.m., and there is no cover charge.
The November installation of Feast in the East is set for Saturday, Nov. 9. The monthly series celebrates East End music, food and art.
This month’s dinner will be prepared by Anna May Henry. The art environment will by provided by Kaeli Dragomir and Mary Duthie.
Music comes courtesy of electronic duo Saturns (saturns.bandcamp.com), Philadelphia prog pop group Hermit Thrushes (sgmgrecords.com/hermit_thrushes.html) and new Toronto psych prog act Mannerisms.
Advance tickets include the meal, and are available for $8 at The Film Buff, 1380 Queen St. E., and Circus Books and Music, 866 Danforth Ave. The all ages show starts at 8 p.m. at Gerrard Art Space, 1390 Gerrard St. E., between Coxwell and Greenwood Avenues.
TK Productions presents Jonathan Crow in recital on Nov. 10.
Crow, concertmaster for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, will be performing Bach’s Sonata #1 and more at the show. This is the fourth in The Violin, a series of six concerts celebrating the instrument and some of its most talented practitioners. One of Bach’s six sonatas and partitas for solo violin is performed at each concert. Violinists Julie Wedman and Erika Raum will be featured at the final two performances in early 2014.
Jonathan Crow will play at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 10, at the Seicho-No-Ie Centre, 662 Victoria Park Ave. at Danforth. Tickets are $20, and are available by calling 416-690-8686. Proceeds will benefit the Seicho-No-Ie roof fun, and non-perishable food donations for the food bank are welcome.
The first evening sold out quickly, so Jazz In The Kitchen is offering a second chance to see a special quartet show in a very intimate setting, with a maximum audience of 30.
Mark Eisenman, on piano, will be well-known to any serious Toronto jazz fan. Steve Wallace, on bass, has played for just about everyone, including Oscar Peterson and Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass. John Sumner, on drums, toured with the Andy Williams show. Joining the trio will be special guest Campbell Ryga on alto sax. The Vancouverite has won three Junos, and has been nominated for two more as well as a Grammy.
The show takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at a private Beach home. For more information, visit jazzinthekitchen.ca. For tickets to the concert, click here.
The 50 member women’s Shout Sister! choir are holding a concert at Beach United Church, 140 Wineva Ave., on Saturday, Nov. 16. Doors open at 7 p.m., with the music getting underway at 7:30. The grand hall at the newly renovated church was designed for enhanced acoustics so there are high expectations for this concert. Tickets are $15 and $7 for children under 12.
The choir takes an unusual approach to choral singing, with a focus on fun and singing popular music, without the need to learn how to read sheet music. The Toronto South East chapter, one of 16, is based at Kingston Road United and is directed by Abby Zotz and managed by Nancy Greig.
Acoustic Harvest presents Canadian roots legend Ken Whiteley, with bassist Dennis Pendrith, on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Whiteley should be no stranger to roots, folk and blues fans in this country; with seven Juno nominations and 14 Maple Blues awards, his guitar and mandolin skills are evident, and serve to back his vocal and songwriting talent. Find out more at kenwhiteley.com.
Opening up the show is Diem LaFortune, the 2013 Canadian Folk Music award nominee for aboriginal songwriter of the year. For more info, see mamadhorizondancer.ca.
Tickets are $25 at the door, or $22 in advance via paypal at acousticharvest.ca/tix.html. The show takes place at 8 p.m. at Robinson Hall, St. Nicholas Anglican Church, 1512 Kingston Rd. just east of Warden Avenue.
Beach author and poet Ann Elizabeth Carson recently released her latest book We All Become Stories. The book explores the concepts of memory and aging, through interviews and conversations with a dozen elders, as well as Carson’s poetry. Watch for a review in an upcoming edition of Beach Metro.
The book will be launched at a special collaborative event on Sunday, Nov. 17. Carson will be joined by artists Holly Briesmaster and Jennifer Kenneally of 4Cats Arts Studio (a Beacher, and the artist who illustrated the portraits of the elders in We All Become Stories). Peggy Mahon will provide accompanying songs and music to go along with the book.
The launch will take place from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Gallery Hittite Toronto, 107 Scollard St., in Yorkville. For more on Carson, visit anncarson.com.
Folk trio Ritchie-Parish-Ritchie (RPR) is coming to the Beach. Guitarist Steve Ritchie, guitarist/bassist Al Parrish and keyboardist Rob Ritchie used to play as the rhythm section of Tanglefoot. Though they said goodbye to the hectic touring schedule of that group in 2009, all three felt the urge to make music together. RPR was born. Percussionist Beaker Granger adds his rhythmic touches to the group.
Though the harmonies and storytelling remain from the Tanglefoot days, the group aims for a more updated sound. The new CD of that updated sound, Trans Atlantic, was recorded in Ontario and Yorksire, England, and the local launch party is at Kingston Road United Church on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, and can be ordered in advance by emailing tickets.kru@gmail.com. The show will help raise funds for the church’s new ramp. For more on the band visit ritchie-parrish-ritchie.com.
East End filmmaker Jonathan Balazs will be screening his film The Mars Project at the Coxwell Danforth library.
The film profiles Canadian rapper Khari ‘Conspiracy’ Stewart, who was half of underground hip hop crew Supreme Being Unit with his twin brother Addi ‘Mindbender’ Stewart. Balazs befriended Khari years ago, and decided to create the film to explore questions about mental illness, race and culture in modern society.
There is no charge to attend. The library is at 1650 Danforth Ave., and the film plays at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 20. For more on the film, visit marsprojectmovie.com.
Cantemus Singers will be singing for someone else’s supper on Nov. 23 and 24. The choir’s Sing Noel concert will raise funds for Community Centre 55’s annual Share A Christmas program.
The program will include Renaissance carols, motets and Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit pour Noël, a Baroque masterpiece composed for Christmas Eve midnight mass. The choir will be joined by David Sandall on harpsichord and Patricia Hiemstra on viola da gamba.
Cantemus is a 16-piece a capella choir, established by Michael Erdman in 2008 to spread appreciation of Renaissance and early Baroque music.
The first show, on Saturday, Nov. 23, will take place at St. Aidan’s Anglican Church, 70 Silver Birch Ave. The next evening’s performance will be downtown at the Church of the Holy Trinity at the Eaton Centre. Both concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20, $15 for students and seniors and $10 for children under 12, and are available at Centre 55, 97 Main St., or by phone at 416-578-6602. A quarter of the proceeds will go to the Share A Christmas program. For more on Cantemus, visit cantemus.ca.
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