It’s been a busy seven months for Samantha Martin. The last time we spoke with her, she was gearing up for a string of residencies at The Drake and beginning to record her new album with The Haggard. Now, the singer beams with pride at the completed disc as the group prepares for its launch party at Lula Lounge.
The world’s first Harvey’s restaurant, which was built in Richmond Hill in 1959, has been torn down to make way for condos. And according to the National Post, not too many people were up in arms at the prospect of losing the place.
Newfoundlander Mikaela Dyke is a jill-of-all-trades: a playwright, actor, improviser and stand-up comedian. But she tones down the funny with her verbatim show about the true story of a mine that destroys the health of a small Newfoundland community.
Tarragon Theatre, Extra Space, 30 Bridgman Ave., 416-531-1827. March 13-18.
Walking into Parkdale’s Chantecler, the new Canadiana-fusion joint that’s opened up in the old Mangez space, you’d think it had been there forever. Named after a chicken breed native to Canada, the 26-seat Parkdale bistro has a warm, comfortable feel that’s accentuated with sophisticated attention to detail.
Easing the way into what is bound to be a whirlwind Fashion Week, Monday’s line-up included two major draws: Lucian Matis and the Holt Renfrew show. Matis, the hotly-debated runner-up on Project Runway Canada, elected to present his fall collection at The Fairmont Royal York, away from the main Fashion Week venue.
Radio heavyweights speak up
It’s fair to say there’s been some major buzz in the Toronto blogosphere about Ursa, the new restaurant on Queen West that’s opened in the old Bar One space. Much of the ado surrounds the fact that the super-healthy menu, which includes probiotic delights such as homemade kefir, Kombucha fermented tea and house-cultured walnut yogurt, also happens to be super-tasty.
Theatre Passe Muraille is turning to politics to fill the void on its stage left by the cancellation of half the run of Mary Walsh’s Dancing With Rage. Walsh is currently laid up in St. John’s, Nfld., fighting a severe case of pneumonia. She had been due to bring her Marg Delahunty character to the Toronto stage at the start of the month, but all performances until March 17 have been cancelled.
While normally we wouldn’t recommend a punch in the box, the all-female sketch troupe that goes by the same titillating name would have to be the exception. Inspired by the immaculate orgasm, comedy group Punch in the Box has played to rave reviews since their immaculate conception two years ago. We chatted with cast member Ashley Botting about Cosmo magazine, going nude and what it feels like to play with the boys.
The Greta Constantine show is arguably the most highly anticipated of each season in Toronto. This year, the label’s designers, Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong, opted to unveil their latest work at the Arcadian Loft. The intimate venue featured an L-shaped runway and drew many notables — including singer Jully Black, actress Sarah Gadon and Post City’s fashion columnist, Jeanne Beker — in addition to a bevy of leggy socialites.
Every week we gather our favourite tweets from in and around Toronto’s fashion scene. This week, Toronto Fashion Week madness has already begun! Even though it officially starts next week, we’ve got the insider tweets about Mackage, Roxanne Nikki and Amanda Lew Kee.
If you haven’t heard yet, new wave rockers Metric will be releasing their latest studio album, Synthetica, on June 12. That’s 6/12/12 — there must be some kind of astrological mojo at work. Here’s what guitarist Jimmy Shaw says about the new LP — the band’s fifth — in a press release: “[It’s] the culmination of everything we’ve done. We’ve always had a sound in our heads that we hoped to realize. We finally heard it coming back out of the speakers this time.”
