Multi-Media, May 24, 2013

My Wagner
Cosmic connections, music/man/myth, nine T&I's, Mahler

We asked friends to write us a small piece on the theme "My Wagner" to celebrate the composer's 200th anniversary this week. Enjoy!

Axel Van Chee (former opera critic for The Charlebois Post)
I remember my first Wagner, I was 22 and it was on the first night upon arriving in Sydney, Australia. After checking into the hostel, I went immediately to the iconic opera house to see what was on offer, it was Tannhäuser. The only seats available were the expensive front rows where you can observe the beads of sweat dripping our of the pores of the singers, I told the kind lady that I would just get a standing room ticket. She looked at me and replied in a concerned tone, "you do know that this is a Wagner right? I really don't think you want to stand though it." I told her that I was just a student backpacker with a tight budget and reaffirmed my decision. She took pity on me and gave me a seat in the box at a price slightly above standing room, then wished me a great time in Australia. 

I remember the opera vividly: it was an avant-garde production, and incidentally, my first avant-garde opera ever. Venus came on stage bathed in neon green lights while wearing a skin tight silver lame dress, complete with spiked high heels and a whip. The chorus pranced about her in S&M costumes and tormented each other. There were giant mirrors and lots and lots of lasers. Throughout the opera, men in post-modern, gothic crow/bat costumes were suspended above and about the sets, perched in precarious positions, and observed the going ons on the stage. They occasionally expended their wings to reconfigure into grotesque and unfathomable shapes. 

Theatre For Thought, March 3, 2012

CAEA STANCE INSULTING TO CANADIAN ARTISTS

joel fishbane

Earlier this month, Canadian Actors Equity Association (CAEA) raised a protest over a non-Union touring production of In the Heights, brought to Toronto by Dancap Productions. Speaking to the Globe and Mail, CAEA executive director Arden Ryshpan made the following remark: “We think that audiences shouldn’t be inadvertently misled into thinking they are seeing a Broadway calibre production – which we would say they are not, if the productions are non-Equity.” Ms. Ryshpan echoed these comments in a subsequent article for CharPo.

The CAEA is trying to stop the media from covering non-Union productions in the hopes of creating a backlash against producers who don’t hire members of the CAEA. These members lose work whenever a non-Union company comes to town and the CAEA hopes that with media support, they can dissuade these companies from performing in Canada. Although I am sympathetic to their dilemma, in framing their argument the CAEA has taken a position that is both misleading to the public and gravely insulting to all Canadian artists. 

The Sunday Read: Arden Ryshpan on Non-Equity Shows

(photo by Michael Cooper)

So what’s the problem with reviewing that non-Equity show anyway?

by Arden Ryshpan, Executive Director, Canadian Actors' Equity Association

A couple of weeks ago, Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (Equity) sent a letter to the newspapers in Toronto, asking them not to review two up-coming shows being presented by Dancap Productions Inc; “In the Heights” and “Shrek”. 

The request followed on an article, printed at the time Aubrey Dan announced his season, which not only pointed out that several shows would be non-Equity but quoted Dan as saying that he didn’t believe that audiences could tell the difference. 

These non-Equity shows are not just not Canadian Equity, they aren’t American Equity either. These shows advertise themselves as being “direct from Broadway” but may in fact be several generations removed from Broadway. In some cases, the original producer has already mined all the major markets with a full blown touring production and has now licensed a non-union producer to take a version of the show out on the road. In other cases, the original producer has no interest in sending out a tour themselves and immediately licenses it to a non-union producer – that’s the real meaning of “direct from Broadway” in the case of some of the productions that make their way over the border. Unfortunately, no one tells the audience that.

First-Person: Arden R. Ryshpan on the future of live performance

(Photo Credit: Michael Cooper)

IF I HAD A CRYSTAL BALL

A dim, murky look into the future of live performance

What gets you to leave the comfort of your own home to be somewhere at an appointed time and fork over a good chunk of money to see something?
by Arden R. Ryshpan

As a self-confessed gadget fan and a moderately early adopter, I have always been comfortable with technology, both in my home and in my workplace. But I am increasingly uncomfortable with a question I have asked both privately and publicly; in a world where you can get any amount of “entertainment product” at any time you want and can watch it on the device of your choosing at your convenience for very little money, what gets you to leave the comfort of your own home to be somewhere at an appointed time and fork over a good chunk of money to see something?