Entertainment Beat

The sixth and final installment of The Cello concert series will take place on Sunday, May 3.

Brian Manker, solo cellist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, will perform Bach’s Cello Suite no. 5 and other works during the hour-long concert.

Manker is also a member of the New Orford String Quartet and the Adorno Quartet, and has performed with the Harrington String Quartet, the Cassatt Quartet, and the Atlanta Chamber Players. He was a jury member for the prestigious Prague Spring International Cello Competition in 2006.

He currently teaches at McGill University, and has in the past taught at West Texas State and Emory Universities. He plays a modern cello crafted by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2005.

The Cello with Brian Manker takes place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 at the Seicho-No-Ie Centre at 662 Victoria Park Avenue, just north of Danforth Avenue. Tickets are $20 at the door, with funds going to the church’s renovation project.

 

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East End dancer Sean Ling will perform as part of Peggy Baker Dance Projects’ world premiere of locus plot.

Ling graduated from the Edmonton School of Ballet professional program, dancing with Alberta Ballet for five years. He then spent nine years with Toronto Dance Theatre, and has worked with several independent choreographers in Toronto.

locus plot is choreographer Baker’s first full-evening ensemble work, and is based on theories of mathematics and graphing, going so far as to credit a mathematics consultant (John Mighton). Other dancers include Ric Brown, Sarah Fregeau, Kate Holden, and Sahara Morimoto, with pianist and electronic music composer John Kameel Farah providing the score.

locus plot runs from April 24 to May 3 at the Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis St. Tickets are $28 with some discounts available. There will be a pre-show chat with Baker half an hour before each performance except April 29. That night will feature a pay-what-you-can performance, as well as a slide show and a lecture called figures in motion.

For the full schedule or to order tickets, see peggybakerdance.com or call 1-800-838-3006.

 

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Beach Hill dancer Pamela Briz will perform in Letters to Spain, presented by Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company, at Harbourfront’s Fleck Dance Theatre from April 24 to 26, part of Harbourfront’s NextSteps.

Briz has more than two decades of professional Spanish dance experience. She spent eight seasons with the Paula Moreno Spanish Dance Company, followed by training with Carmen Romero’s Compañía Carmen Romero, with whom she has competed internationally in flamenco dance competition. This is her third season with Esmeralda Enrique. She is also the co-founder of ViDanza Dance Collective.

Letters to Spain runs for only three performances, wrapping up Hispanic Heritage Month. Briz performs in a flamenco program for the second half of the show, alongside dancers Virginia Castro Durán, Paloma Cortés, Esmeralda Enrique, Ilse Gudiño and Noelia La Morocha. Musicians Nicolás Hernández (guitar), Benjamin Barrile (guitar), Chris Church (violin), Rosendo “Chendy” León (percussion) and singers Tamar Ilana and Fernando Gallego Torres provide the music for the performance.

Tickets start at $23, and are available from flamencos.net or the Harbourfront box office at 416-973-4000.

 

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Beach United Church presents the final Jazz and Reflection for the season.

On Saturday, May 2, the Downtown Dixieland Jazz Band will perform in their uplifting style, with a theme of ‘the best is yet to come.’ Regular attendees of the streetfest portion of the Beaches International Jazz Festival will likely recognize the group as a longstanding institution at the corner of Queen Street East and Lee Avenue.

Beach Jazz and Reflection gets underway at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 at Beach United Church, 140 Wineva Ave. just north of Queen Street. A goodwill offering will be collected.

 

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Jazzy Sundays continue at Morgans on the Danforth, 1282 Danforth Ave., just east of the Greenwood subway station.

On Sunday, April 26, Lisa Particelli’s ‘Girls Night Out’ jazz jam – where gentlemen are welcome too – will provide the tunes. On Sunday, May 3, At Ease will be on stage.

Jazzy Sundays run from 2 to 5 p.m. and there is no cover charge.

 

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9 to 5: The Musical is coming to Scarborough, thanks to the hard work of Scarborough Music Theatre, a group with half a dozen Beach, Upper Beach and Danforth residents taking part.

The production features 18 actors recreating the 1980 movie that featured music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, who starred alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

The story centres on three office workers tired of the glass ceiling. Violet (played by Upper Beach resident Jill McMillan), Judy, and Doralee come up with a plan for revenge against sexist boss Franklin Hart, Jr., taking over the company while he’s “otherwise engaged.”

Full of familiar songs, the show runs from May 7 to 23, with evening and Sunday matinee performances. Tickets are $27 with discounts available, and performances take place at Scarborough Village Theatre, 3600 Kingston Rd. For the full schedule or to order tickets, visit theatrescarborough.com.

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