The Toronto Beach Chorale is heading into the closing stretches of its sixth season, which is following a theme of Voices in Time – Inspiration, Tradition, Passion and Splendour in Music.
The choir draws its membership from the Beach and surrounding area, performing classical and modern choral music, sometimes partnering with other groups and musicians. The choir is led by Mervin William Fick.
The next concert in the series is Passion in Music: Shakespeare in Words and Music, which will be performed in partnership with Jorie Morrow and Chris Irving, actors from East Side Players and Scarborough Players, featuring a blend of music and theatre.
Shakespeare in Words and Music takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 23 at Kingston Road United Church, 975 Kingston Rd. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, or $10 in advance and $12 at the door for youth. Children under seven are admitted free. For more information visit torontobeachchorale.com.
Ilana Waldston and Mark Kieswetter will be appearing at Morgan’s on the Danforth on the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 23.
Waldston performs standards and comedic cabaret, and with her theatre training, she guarantees a good time. She also sings with vocal jazz quartet The Satin Dolls. Pianist Kieswetter has performed extensively with a number of Canadian jazz greats and touring orchestras, in venues around the world.
The show runs from 2 to 5 p.m. at Morgan’s, 1282 Danforth Ave., just around the corner from Greenwood subway station. For more information, visit morgansonthedanforth.com or call 416-461-3020.
Music For the Soul: Beach Jazz and Reflection returns to Beach United Church with local saxophone talent Emily Steinwall’s duo with guitarist Luan Phung. The theme is Gratitude.
Steinwall first picked up the sax in high school at Malvern C.I., where she recently graduated. She’s currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in music performance in Humber College’s renowned music program.
Steinwall has performed as part of the JazzFM Youth Big Band and Musicfest Canada’s National Honour Combo. She has already shared the stage with a number of top notch musicians including Rich Perry, Ben Monder, Lew Tabackin and Tom Scott.
Phung is a Toronto-based guitarist, composer, and teacher who has earned praise from a number of artists including guitarist David Occhipinti, who led the last Beach Jazz and Reflection. Phung, a Humber graduate, is an award-winning classical guitarist and has played in the TD Canada Trust High School Jazz Intensive and the Ottawa Jazz Festival Youth Summit All-Star Band.
Gratitude at Music for the Soul: Beach Jazz and Reflection takes place on Saturday, March 1 at 4:30 p.m. at Beach United Church, 140 Wineva Ave., just north of Queen Street East. There is no admission charge, but a free-will offering will be collected.
Feast in the East returns to Gerrard Art Space, 1390 Gerrard St. E., for its 35th edition. The monthly blend of art, food and music celebrates the cutting edge east of the Don River.
A pot pie and fennel pear salad will be prepared by Alicia Nauta and Joele Walinga. Artistic environs are courtesy of Julia Dickens.
Performers on the bill include Dildoniks (surf garage rock), Sasha Chapin (folk – soundcloud.com/sashachapin) and Newsmen (piano and guitar power pop – newsmen.bandcamp.com).
The all-ages show takes place on Saturday, March 1 from 8 to 11 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance with dinner, available from The Film Buff at Queen and Greenwood, Cask Music at Queen and Pape or Circus Books and Music at Danforth and Jones, or $10 at the door.
East Side Players present Nude With Violin, by Noel Coward, directed by Jim Ivers and produced by Geraldine Browne.
The comedy offers a light, clever satire of the art world, as the family of a deceased great painter and an art critic gather for the funeral and reading of the will. The artist’s valet and a series of wacky characters help reveal that all is not as it seemed. As the Players mention on their website, Nude With Violin “promises the perfect evening for those who love modern art, those who hate it, and those who love to hate it.”
The performances will be held at the Papermill Theatre at Todmorden Mills, at the foot of Pottery Road, on Feb. 20 to 23, 26 to 28 and March 1, 2, and 5 to 8. Tickets are $22 for adults and $15 for students, and are available online at eastsideplayers.ca or by calling 416-425-0917.
The makers of the movie Headcase, an independent crime thriller shot for less than the catering budget of most Hollywood films, have released a making-of series.
Given the quality of the final product in light of the financing, the episodes serve as an informal film school for anyone interested in the art of low-budget cinema.
Alex Jordan, Ken Simpson and Anthony Greene teamed up over the course of five years to create the film, enlisting friends, family and film enthusiasts.
The end result was a feature-length film with over a dozen speaking roles, two dozen locations and more than 100 visual effects. The film’s Toronto debut was at Big Picture Cinema, an independent theatre on Gerrard Street East near Jones Avenue, in September of last year.
During a previous interview with Beach Metro News, the filmmakers joked about the making-of being longer than the movie itself, but as with much humour, there was obviously some truth in it, as Headcase: A Look Inside runs for about five hours, broken into a dozen episodes.
The movie tells the story of Craig, a sarcastic, dejected and recently-fired man who finds himself being talked into delivering a package for the mob. When it turns out the package contains a human head, things take several darkly humourous turns. (Note: Headcase is most definitely not a movie for kids).
A Look Inside features more than 30 interviews with cast and crew, and a no-holds-barred look at the process of making a feature film with next to no money.
To view the series on-demand, visit vimeo.com/ondemand/alookinside. For more on the feature length film, visit headcasethemovie.com.
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