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SHAW FESTIVAL: J. M. BARRIE’S THE TWELVE POUND LOOK & MOSS HART’S LIGHT UP...
THE TWELVE POUND LOOK The typist, Kate, played by Moya O’Connell, is unknowingly hired by Lady Sims, played by Kate Besworth, to do some work for Sir Harry Sims, played by Patrick Galligan, and Kate...
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THE INTELLIGENT HOMOSEXUAL’S GUIDE TO CAPITALISM AND SOCIALISM WITH A KEY TO...
The Shaw Festival’s production of Tony Kushner’s “The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures” resonates with deep and elusive truth on a number of...
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THE DIVINE: A PLAY FOR SARAH BERNHARDT AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: A PRODUCTION...
Theatrical, of course. After all, this is a play titled The Divine: A Play for Sarah Bernhardt. But in Michel Marc Bouchard’s new work, we have, as well, theatrical in religion, in industry, in...
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DICK GAUGHAN: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE RENOWNED SCOTTISH SINGER, GUITARIST AND...
Jason Wilson & Dick Gaughan James Strecker: I was astounded to read that, because of the political nature of some of your material, folk festivals refuse to book a musician of your stature and...
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THE ARTS THIS FALL IN TORONTO-HAMILTON PART I
A look at the fall seasons of arts organizations in the Toronto-Hamilton area -in 6 questions THE HAMILTON PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA 1.What is your name and connection to this organization? Tara Bryk,...
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LAURA CONDLLN (NOT CONDLIN): AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ACTRESS (NOT ACTOR)...
James Strecker: To start, please give me a few reasons why a Canadian audience of today should see a production of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People from 1882. Laura Condlln: I think this story and this...
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THE INTERVIEWER GETS INTERVIEWED: JAMES STRECKER, THE PROPRIETOR OF THIS...
Valerie Harms: James Strecker has reviewed and posted articles on the arts in this column since 2010. Having been a recent subject, I thought it would be of interest to switch sides and ask him...
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GEMMA NEW: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW MUSIC DIRECTOR OF THE HAMILTON...
James Strecker: One of your mentors, Gustav Meier, once told me that he took exception to a remark made by Leonard Bernstein, I think it was, that when he was conducting he felt like the composer of a...
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WHERE SCIENCE AND ART DANCE TOGETHER: AN INTERVIEW WITH ARCHAEOBOTANIST,...
Says Strecker: Several years ago I met Rudy Fecteau and began an ongoing conversation with him on many subjects -with one overlapping onto another or implying another or confiscating another. Some of...
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HARRISON KENNEDY: A CHAT WITH A BLUESMAN WHOSE PAST INCLUDES FOUR YEARS WITH...
James Strecker: Harrison, your CD ‘This Is From Here’ has been nominated for a Juno as Best Blues Album of the Year. As its creator, what do you especially like about the album and what about it...
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BRETT DEAN: THREE MAJOR WORKS BY THE CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN COMPOSER,...
Photo by Pawel Kopczynski James Strecker: The Toronto Symphony’s New Creations Festival this year features your Viola Concerto, your Trumpet Concerto, and a suite of excerpts from your 2010 opera...
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DIANE ESTHER ON LIFE AFTER INCEST: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE WRITER, CONSULTANT,...
James Strecker: We have so much to talk about regarding a very difficult subject which you know first-hand –incest. Okay, then, up to knowing you had to write a book, what happened in your life? Diane...
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DIANA PANTON: THE JAZZ SINGER’S AWARD-WINNING CDS “RED” AND “I BELIEVE IN...
One tends to believe Diana Panton when she sings. In a prevailing cultural environment of massively marketed popular singers who strain for effect in whining or blaring a single attitude, Panton the...
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DIANA PANTON: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CANADIAN JAZZ SINGER ON HER JUNO-WINNING...
James Strecker: Much has been written about the uniqueness of your voice and its emotional flexibility and truth with a lyric, so let’s ask you yourself to describe your voice and how you use it -in...
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ANGELA HEWITT: AN INTERVIEW WITH “THE PRE-EMINENT BACH PIANIST OF OUR TIME”...
James Strecker: You’ll be in Toronto and Rochester in April to perform the Bach Piano Concerto in F Minor BWV 1056 and the Bach Piano Concerto in D Minor BWV 1052. To begin, I’d love to know what each...
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LEILA JOSEFOWICZ: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CELEBRATED VIOLINIST AND PROMOTER OF...
James Strecker: You’re widely respected as a champion of new works –compositions by Adams, Ades, Knussen, and conductor-composer Esa-Pekka Salonen, to name a few- so please tell us what such works...
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BUD ROACH: AN INTERVIEW (PART I) WITH AN EARLY MUSIC DYNAMO ABOUT HIS...
James Strecker: I did quite a double take last year on discovering your Hammer Baroque series of musicians and singers all of international stature and just a mile from my home in Hamilton. Why...
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JAMES EHNES: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE ACCLAIMED VIRTUOSO VIOLINIST DUE TO APPEAR...
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega James Strecker: You are certainly a presence as a musical figure in the media. Your concerts, recitals, and recordings are frequently reviewed and you often participate in...
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UNCLE VANYA AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: VERY HUMAN AND POETIC AND REAL
Moya O’Connell as Yelena and Neil Barclay as Vanya in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya The Shaw Festival’s production of Uncle Vanya is top-notch for a number of reasons. We believe these lives before us as lives...
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ALICE IN WONDERLAND AT THE SHAW FESTIVAL: SPECTACULAR SETTINGS, INTRIGUING...
In adapter-director Peter Hinton’s take on Alice in Wonderland at the Shaw Festival, Tara Rosling’s Alice brings an intriguing ambiguity of person to the table, with child and adult both decidedly...
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