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Showing posts from October, 2018

Soulpepper Theatre Has A Mashup Royale

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The Night The Great White Hope Lost It All By Stephen Weir - Caribbean Camera There is nothing noble about a fistfight. Blood. Flying Teeth. Broken Ribs. Brain Damage. A new all-Black (minus one) cast at Soulpepper Theatre says that sometimes fisticuffs can even tear a country apart.   Royale, running until November 11th recreates the Fight of the Century . This was a historic 1910 boxing match that brought US race relations to the canvas and made a black fighter King of the World. You probably know Marco Ramirez for the writing he does for TV more than for what he does for the stage. The American has penned for some big hits including Orange is the New Black, and the Marvel comic Netflix series, Daredevil. Ramirez is said to secretly love boxing because he sees it as “primal theatre”, two men stepping into the ring, and only one coming out with arms raised in victory. In his award winning play Royale, premiering at the Distillery District theatre, Ramirez has mixed

Etienne Charles' Launch Party - Centre Stage - Toronto's George Weston Recital Hall

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Etienne Charles Trinidad’s Best Jazz Trumpeter Bringing His Carnival Show to Toronto By Stephen Weir For Toronto bound jazz great  Etienne Charles  there is more to Carnival than just parading through the streets of Port of Spain.    No, for the Trinidadian trumpeter, the annual carnival is a source of profound inspiration for a musical tradition that dates back to colonial times.   The 35-year old trumpeter is coming to Toronto on November 16 th  for the North American launch  Carnival: The Sound of a People   Volume 1 , his new CD and to perform it live at the 1,000 seat George Weston Recital Hall in North Toronto.    The CD, recorded in part in Trinidad, has already been released to critical success in the Caribbean. “Carnival is an ocean made up of so many different hybrid influences,” Etienne Charles told the Caribbean Camera late last week.    “ In Toronto I want to make the statement that what you hear now isn’t all there is to Carnival. This CD (and my coming

Recipe for Canada's newest cocktail - Honey, Spam and Southern Comfort

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HONEY BEAR SPAMARTINI By Stephen Weir - popular Facebook posting New cocktail. Drink to sip in the backyard while watching the 70 story condo towers being built down the street. I Invented the Honey Bear Spamartini this morning Honey Bear Spamartini 1.5 oz of Southern Comfort 2 oz of Orange Fresh-cut Juice 2 oz of Grapefruit Fresh-cut Juice 1 tsp of 'Pooh Bear' honey 2 ice cubes shaped like Daleks 2 cubes of Chorizo Spam 1 Maraschino Cherry Pour into an empty can of hot and spicy Chorizo flavoured Spam. Garnish with Chorizo Spam Squares, Maraschino Cherry, Umbrella and drink using a swizzle stick straw copyright sweirsweir ps - photo shoot in our dining room was not without humour - the bear quickly got drunk and tried to hibernate!

Theatre Review - Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape, Super Dope

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No mixed message for Obsidian Theatre Oraltorio: a Theatrical Mixtape is dope! By Stephen Weir Live theatre in Canada usually mean that the audience sits quietly and watches while the actors tell them stories about things they probably don’t know. Not so for  Oraltorio,  now in its final week of performances at the Soulpepper complex in the Distillery District. Clap, stand, dance, and give shout-outs to the two performers on stage. That is how ticketholders react to singer/poet  Motion and DJ L’oqenz in this 80-minute coming-of-age musical mash-up. More an musical event than a play, it is all about being young, female and part of Toronto’s evolving hip-hop scene. “This is so so dope,” said the young woman sitting beside me in the near filled Soulpepper Theater. For her it was all about the music – the two performers channelled everything from flag waving Soca singers to lyrical Jamaican market callers. And for me?  It sure was “dope”, but for a different reason. This

Last week's Front Page Story in the Caribbean Carnival Gets A Story

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Caribbean Camera First With The News About   Chariandy’s big Toronto Book Award win By Stephen Weir Last week, literally 10-minutes before the Caribbean Camera went to press, Trinidadian Canadian author David Chariandy won the prestigious $10,000 2018 Toronto Book Awards.  His book, Brother, is a novel about growing up in Malvern. We were able to get a picture of him accepting his award in the paper --- the only paper to do so on Wednesday night.  We didn’t have room to print our story about his accomplishment. What follows are the details of his amazing win! David Chariandy’s book is a devastating story about the love between a single Trinidadian mother and her sons, the impact of race, masculinity and the senseless loss of young lives in Malvern, in the violent summer of 1991. The winner of the 2018 Toronto Book Awards was announced last Wednesday night at the Toronto Reference Library. This was the 44th year of the Toronto Book Awards. The annual awards offer $15,000 in

Jamaica's Heritage Moment for Jamaican Canadian University Students

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Four  Jamaican Canadian University Students Can Spend 5 Weeks In Jamaica Free, Learning About Heritage By Stephen Weir Every summer four Jamaican Canadian university students are brought back to the island to learn about their heritage.   The deadline to apply for this free five-week programme is November 30 th . The Jamaican Birthright Program (JPB) is thanks to the  GraceKennedy Company  which seeks to reconnect second and third generation Jamaicans Canadians attending universities in Canada back to their cultural roots. It provides round-trip transportation, accommodation, a stipend and an internship in Jamaica. The students will be on island from July 1 to Aug 7th 2019.   Petronilla Marchan, one of the organizers of the programme in Canada, said, “students should apply soon. Candidates must be second or third generation Jamaicans, who have never lived in Jamaica for more than a period exceeding six months,” she said. The programme is a cultural a