If you never got a chance to see this gem of show, Monday is your lucky day! And if you have, well, now you have the chance to see it again -- this time at The Theatre Centre where you can watch theatre and enjoy your "concessions" at the same time.

On Monday February 11th, the Independent Aunties are holding a one-night only FUNDRAISING performance of their hit show,

Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine a deadly comedy

Written and performed by Anna Chatterton and Evalyn Parry, Directed by Karin Randoja, Lighting by Trevor Schwellnus, Set and Costumes by Sherri Hay

"…Wickedly funny…beneath the show's whimsy lies a subtle, satirical sting that spares no one." EYE Weekly

"You’d be hard pressed to find a better pairing of performers on stage than Parry and Chatterton" GLOBE AND MAIL

" …hilarious… Dark yet funny cautionary tales for our times..." TORONTO STAR

Followed by music by John Millard and friends

The Independent Aunties (Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine, Robbers Daughters, Frances, Mathilda and Tea) will present their newest play, BREAKFAST, as a co-production with the Theatre Centre, May 10 to June 1st, 2008. But a really good Breakfast ain't cheap in this town...so before the show can go on...the Aunties need to raise some dough!

Monday February 11th, 2008, 7 pm Doors Open, 7:30 pm Clean Irene & Dirty Maxine, 9 pm John Millard and friends, with cheap beer and cupcake bake sale!

Tickets: By donation, suggested minimum donation $20; (all donations over $25 will receive a charitable tax receipt)

At: The Theatre Centre, 100-1087 Queen street West (south/east corner of Queen & Dovercourt)TO RESERVE TICKETS email: info@independentauntie.ca or call 416-538-0988

I know that I am not alone. I've had a couple of such pleas from various companies in the last few months, so I don't feel so bad about asking for your mailing address. Any left over guilt I'll wash away with tequila at the Auntie fundraiser on Monday. (what was that I said about tequila? see next article for details...)

Just to be clear - WE NEED YOUR ADDRESS EVEN IF YOU THINK WE HAVE IT, WE PROBABLY DON'T - THERE WAS AN INCIDENT, WE WON'T TALK ABOUT THAT, JUST... um...PLEASE..., basically, we are starting from scratch.

And hey! You can be sure that we won't be mailing you much stuff, we really aren't into the mass mailout thing. But once (maybe twice) a year, we want to send you exciting information - like about Free Fall, the rest of our season and a sneak preview of 2008/2009, a request for donations, that kind of thing...

BUT THE GOOD NEWS is --- we have help!!! Perhaps you've already heard a lovely message from our New Zealander assistant, Pamela Hooper? Well, we are thankful to have her helping us out over the next couple of months until this whole Free Fall thing is wrapped up.

Meanwhile, be a sweatheart and save her a phone call by emailing your address at: pamela@theatrecentre.org

THANK YOU!!

Free Fall passes on sale now for $60. (good for 6 shows and the 3 day Culture Congress forum)

March 6 - 16, 2008 Tickets $20 / Festival Pass - $60 BOX OFFICE: 416-973-4000 www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage

Free Fall has an impressive reputation for bringing exciting and diverse work from across Canada to Toronto audiences, at the same time Harbourfront Centre's World Stage is renowned for bringing stellar international programming into the local and national presentation ecology. At last year’s PuSh festival (Vancouver), Artistic Directors Franco Boni (Theatre Centre / Free Fall) and Tina Rasmussen (Harbourfront Centre / World Stage) made a commitment to work together - resulting in this dynamic partnership.

A Theatre Replacement/ Rumble Productions Co-Production (Vancouver) Two of the West Coast’s most exciting performance creation companies explore the dilemmas inherent in the appreciation and appropriation of other people’s memories.

Chris Leavins (Los Angeles, Toronto) One of the internet's most popular artists, Leavins' videos have been viewed millions of times in countries all over the world.

Terrance Houle (Calgary) International performance artist and a member of the Blood Tribe, Houle has endeared himself to the public, fellow artists and galleries across the globe as he creatively twists serious issues inside/out with his irresistible humour.

Marcelle Hudon (Montreal) Seasoned Quebecois artist Marcelle Hudon brings together a powerhouse team to sculpt a show of delicate beauty with shadow / puppetry / film / theatre.

Urbanvessel (Toronto) Maverick composer-librettist duo Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton create Stitch, a new a cappella opera featuring sublime and wild singers Christine Duncan, Patricia O’Callaghan and Neema Bickersteth.

Istvan Kantor (Toronto) Banned by galleries all over the world, this winner of the Governor General Award also known as *Monty Cantsin*, the founder of Neoism, has been active in the fields of media-arts for over three decades.

ABA Ent (Toronto) Hip hop at the grassroots.

--- see that gorgeous poster? Designed by the multi-talented Jacob Zimmer.

(cough) So maybe you've already read about this on The Theatre Centre blog two weeks ago... but just in case - don't miss out on this exciting new production by Alianak Theatre Productions!

A Crooked Man

by Richard Kalinoski, directed by Hrant Alianak

Starring Hrant Alianak, Araxi Arslanian, Garen Boyajian, Carlo Essagian and Michael Kazarian, Set and Lighting Design by Droege Designs, Costume Design by Anne Dixon, Sound Design by Terry Crack and Joe Mancuso

Friday February 22, 2008 at 8pm The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West (entrance on Dovercourt)

An aspiring journalist chooses his grandfather Hagop as the subject for an innocuous newspaper article. As Hagop narrates his experiences of the Armenian genocide during World War I, Alex uncovers layers of emotion as the old man finally confronts his demons and reveals not only the awful details of his past, but, for the very first time ever, a terrible secret that has consumed his whole life.

Inspired by a true story, A Crooked Man offers no easy answers to the issues of guilt and innocence. Sprinkled with a familiar relational humour, it touches the heart with its mirror on an anguished soul and its graceful and moving story.

As well as producing and directing A Crooked Man, Hrant Alianak portrays the 88-year-old Hagop. This is the second play on the theme of the 1915 Armenian genocide by American playwright Richard Kalinoski, author of the internationally acclaimed Beast on the Moon.

Previews February 20, Opens February 22, Runs to March 2

At The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West (entrance on Dovercourt)

Tues-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2.30pm

Tickets: Previews & Sunday Matinees $10, Regular Run: Tues-Fri $21, Sat $25 (Discounts for Students, Seniors, Arts Workers & Groups) For tickets, visit online at www.artsboxoffice.ca or call the Box Office: 416-504-7529.

Have you seen those snappy posters? Wavelength 400 continues to rule the Valentine's Day weekend.

Saturday Feb. 16 Wavelength 400: Night Three (In Association with The Theatre Centre)

The Wavelength music series has been tying together the loose threads of Toronto’s various underground music scenes into a semi-coherent yet always entertaining weekly forum since the year 2000. Its anniversary parties have become an annual tradition each February, and this year Wavelength celebrates its eighth birthday (and 400th show) with 18 different performances at four different venues over four nights. Saturday night (Feb. 16) Wavelength makes its first collaboration with the Theatre Centre, to recontextualize rock’n’roll outside the performer/audience-divided bar scene, and into a boundary-less space for participation and collective effervescence — with the best sightlines in town.

The line-up features five of Canada’s most rigorously dynamic, rhythmically locomotive avant-rock groups:

soul-punk duo Lullabye Arkestra (pictured), psych-rockers DD/MM/YYYY, Mississauga hardcore upstarts Dance Electric, Montreal electro-pop crew Telefauna, and Toronto dance-punkers Femme Generation,

with music between bands spun by DJ Dan Vila.

General Chaos Visuals brings his trademark psychedelic projections, and Spencer Butt will be your host. Wear comfortable shoes, and get there early. Doors 8pm (1am curfew), admission: pay what you can (suggested $10).

The Theatre Centre is getting known for its bboying... check out this new event from Thoa Ho...

BATTLE OF THE SEXES aim is to eliminate the double standard within the hip hop community through the means of 4 exhibition battles where a female break dancer known as a B-girl battles a male break-dancer also know as a B-boy in a 5 round showcase. All dancers that have been hired to battle have earned their reputation through means of battle, performance, as choreographer or an instructor. An objective of the event is to showcase female talent in a predominately male dominated community while showcasing them on an equal platform. For example, many events that showcase female artists are geared towards a female audience only which limits the opportunity to show their skills to a wider set audience. This event will also educate the audience of female involvement and contribute to hip hop culture. Through the means of the exhibition battles the event hopes to eliminate the "easy props" notion, that it is acceptable for women to receive praise when their skills are mediocre because they are "trying" to break dance (MC, DJ, Graff etc). The event will also include a 2 on 2 battle which is open to anyone i.e. male, female young or old. This is a community based event, as many local artists are invited to sell their art as well the businesses who have been asked to contribute/sponsor this event are local businesses.

Notice of Annual General Meeting Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Active 18 Association will be held on

Tuesday, February 11, 2008 @ 7:00pm Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West

for the following purposes:

To present the report on activities for 2007 To receive approval of the mandate for 2008 To elect the steering committee for 2008 To conduct such other business as may properly come before the meeting

Registered Active 18 Members as well as the general public are invited participate. Nominations for the steering committee should be received electronically no later than Monday, January 28th, at info@active18.org. Any member of the public may nominate an individual, including oneself.

Active 18 Association

Thanks to everyone who made my video of Cute with Chris: LIVE, the #1 rated comedy video, the #1 rated video overall, and the #1 most discussed comedy video on YouTube today. I have a lot of work to do. If you click the screencap to the left, you can see I have 1367 email to answer. -- Chris

all my dreams are ALIIIIVE! Posted by: charlotte | February 04, 2008 at 04:17 PM

Great show Chris! Posted by: Scott in LA | February 04, 2008 at 04:27 PM

HOORAY!! 2nd? noo.. watch someone post before i manage to get this thing put up! LOL CHEERS CHRIS! Posted by: sara Balcombe | February 04, 2008 at 04:27 PM

ONLY 08:26... It's not as long as i wish but FOR NOW i'll be satisfied Posted by: pleiadys | February 04, 2008 at 04:28 PM

YAY Posted by: SomeRandomFangirl | February 04, 2008 at 04:28 PM

Chris... Thats the greatest thing I've ever seen... I actually cried a bit it was really funny. Thanks so much for what you do and I hope that you continue to do more and more. This is a fantastic thing you have going here!! Jason in Edmonton Posted by: Jason | February 04, 2008 at 04:28 PM

I Love This so much..and I wishing so much to have seen this amazing theatre show. Wonderfull Chris! I laugh so very much! Posted by: Francesca ITALY | February 04, 2008 at 04:29 PM

Chris...you are going to be a HUGE star. Posted by: Diane Solomon | February 04, 2008 at 04:30 PM

.... check out Chris' site for a few hundred more comments...

We just got an email today that word has spread to New York that Clark & I is one hot show!

Here's a little bit of a review from a great PuSh initiative: "RealTime Reviews Live on the Net". RealTime is Australia's largest arts magazine, focusing on hybrid practices in contemporary performance, dance, music, sound art, film and visual and media arts. During the PuSh Festival, RealTime’s editors will conduct an intensive 10-day workshop on reviewing contemporary art practices.

CLARK AND I SOMEWHERE IN CONNETICUT tells an entire family history through photographs. But what sticks is the visceral image (spoken not shown) of a Japanese man @@@@@@@@@@ a @@@@@@ woman (the other most repeated, and true, anecdote) and the @@@@@@@ experience of hearing how @@@@@@@@ dies. It’s a fascinating reversal of how we usually @@@@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ authority when it comes to @@@@@ @@@@ pictures. If we’re willing to make that shift, maybe we’re also willing to consider whether story ownership is determined by who cares about it most—who digests it, who makes it theirs emotionally and physically. Or maybe we’re not willing, because we feel protective of our @@@@@@@ @@@@@. Either way, the layered storytelling co-created by Long, onstage video artist and co-performer Cande Andrade and six offstage members of Rumble Productions is superb. The bunny suit always carries a sheen of sadness, and the nice-guy narrator—willing to help an old @@@@@@@ @@@ @ @@@ someone we trust. The unusual disempowerment of the photographs creates an open channel for us to linger in @@@@@@ @@@ emotional world, and he tells us about it so well.

Rumble Productions & Theatre Replacement, Clark and I Somewhere in Connecticut, created by James Long, Cande Andrade, Owen Belton, Camille Gingras, Craig Hall, Anita Rochon, Jonathan Ryder, Maiko Bae Yamamoto;

Meg Walker is a nomadic fiction and non-fiction writer currently based in Vancouver, where she also spends plenty of time making visual art. © Meg Walker

TRANSMISSION MACHINE is a distillation of themes Istvan has been exploring for years - the links between revolution; sexuality; & technology - the heightened energy of these states and the embodiment of how they physically affect the body.

Istvan's intense performance presence is unparalleled & in this solo work he is able to retain a relentless force with his raw masculine energy. Istvan's assaulting rhythms grip the audience and act on their bodies, increasing their heartbeats & triggering the adrenaline rush of revolution, sex and technological overdrive.

OPENS THURSDAY MARCH 13, 2008 at 9pm Runs Friday and Saturday at 9pm

For more information on Istvan –visit his website www.istvankantor.com - it is extensive to say the least !

Terrance Houle (Calgary) - HEY! WHO WON? 2008 (Camper) & PORTAGE

International performance artist and a member of the Blood Tribe, Terrance Houle has endeared himself to the public, fellow artists and galleries across the globe as he creatively twists serious issues inside/out with his irresistible humour.

Friday March 7 (3pm) – PORTAGE

Terrance will carry his canoe from The Theatre Centre through the wilds of Queen St. West and the Business District to Lake Ontario and meet up with his second installation Hey! Who won? 2008 (Camper) at Harbourfront Centre for the Opening reception of the Spring Exhibitions with a focus of exhibits for Images. Outside York Quay Centre – 235 Queens Quay West

Saturday and Sunday March 8, 9 (all day) - HEY! WHO WON? 2008 (Camper)

Huddled inside a trailer (parked on Queen West near The Theatre Centre) Terrance creates a unique spin on Cowboys and Indians, challenging the public (The Cowboy) to a variety of board games.

Installation meets experimental opera – sewing machines as musical instruments – fabric for walls. Audiences are invited to explore the space and take in the performance from all angles. Maverick composer-librettist duo Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton create Stitch, a new a cappella opera some of the best voices in the city: Christine Duncan, Patricia O’Callaghan and Neema Bickersteth.

March 12 -16, Lennox Contemporary 12 Ossington Ave. (at Queen)

7:30pm – Wednesday March 12, 7:30pm – Thursday March 13, 8:00pm – Friday March 14

2:30pm – Saturday March 15, 8:00pm – Saturday March 15

2:30pm – Sunday March 16, 8:00pm – Sunday March 16

ABA Ent (Toronto) Hip hop at the grassroots. Unsung Bboy Battle (Free Fall Edition) brings the best new and emerging hip hop dancers to go face to face in a dance off for top honours. ABA Ent has begun to connect Bboying communities across Canada in the hopes to increase understanding of all dance-art forms, especially to those who would not normally be exposed to these genres. How can a master of Ballet and a master of Bboying come together and create something spectacular?

ABA ENT Saturday March 15, 2008 4pm Brigantine Room / Harboufront Centre York Quay Centre - 235 Queens Quay West Single tickets: $10 / Festival Pass: $60 Box Office: 416-973-4300

Tu parles Francais? Un peu? C'est bon ca, parce qu'on a un spectacle qui utilize le deux - Anglais et Francais. Excite? Bien sur, tu es excite. Moi aussi. Le nom?

POURSUITE

Ou?

Enwave Theatre

Quand?

Mars 11 -13, 2008 @ 8pm, 9pm, 9pm

spread the word...

It is with great pleasure that Harbourfront Centre, in partnership with The Theatre Centre and Crow’s Theatre invite you to take part in the inaugural edition of The Culture Congress, an industry forum in Toronto bringing together practitioners from the local, national and international performance and cultural communities for an exchange of practical skills, information sharing and ideas.

Taking place this year from March 7-10th, as part of World Stage’s partnership with The Theatre Centre’s Free Fall 08 (www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage/performances/freefall08/), a national festival of experimental interdisciplinary performance, The Culture Congress dares to ask ‘What is Your Relevance?’

Over the course of four days, participants of The Culture Congress will challenge themselves and each other through a series of workshops, discussions and performances as provocative questions are developed, raised and explored:

How is your work influenced by your locale? What is the relationship of performance to its local community? What is the artist’s obligation to be relevant? What role does the context play in creating relevance? What is the artist’s responsibility to his or her community? To truth? What are the priorities we put on art? Is populist or popular necessarily—or the antithesis to—relevant?

We are happy to announce registration to participate in The Culture Congress is FREE. Planned activities and events include a keynote address by Kristy Edmunds, Artistic Director of Melbourne International Arts Festival; Panel Discussions; Workshops and a Pitch Session. For more information, please contact hatch@harbourfrontcentre.com.

Watch The Theatre Centre website for a detailed schedule of Culture Congress events.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY Artistic Associate - HarbourKids Family Programmes Performing Arts Job Ref. # 08F06-ET Number of vacancies: 1

Harbourfront Centre, on Toronto's waterfront, is an innovative non-profit cultural organization which creates, for a diverse public, events and activities of excellence that enliven, educate and entertain. Working in partnership with various communities, Harbourfront Centre nurtures and supports educational and recreational activity as well as contemporary artistic creation through showcasing Canadian and international talent. Our year-round operation offers some 4000 internationally acclaimed events ranging from music, literary and theatrical festivals to children’s activities and craft workshops. Harbourfront Centre is one of Toronto's most popular tourist attractions, drawing more than 3 million visitors and contributing over $126 million to the local economy annually.

HarbourKIDS, a unique, pioneering program for kids and families that explores the world through the lens of arts & culture is looking for a full time Artistic Associate. Through 4 new programming modules, and year round strategies for engagement, this program will affect, enrich and explore how kids see themselves and how they see themselves in the world. Harbourfront Centre envisions kids better equipped to imagine a better world, and better equipped and empowered to shape and contribute to the world that they live in. Reporting to the Director, Performing Arts this position will be responsible for the curation, planning and implementation of family and youth oriented programmes year round and participate in the overall functioning of the department as necessary with special projects.

So Andy McKim sent me this message and I'm passing it along...

I have a special offer for you if you come during the first week or so. Contact the box office (416-504-7529), say "Andy sent me" and then you can book tickets for shows anytime up until February 23 at a rate of two tickets for the price of one. Feel free to tell your friends about this offer and make sure they say "Andy sent me" when they phone the box office.

Then once you have seen these fine plays tell others about them.

Theatre Passe Muraille, Obsidian Theatre Company & Roseneath Theatre present:

Smokescreen by David S. Craig & Born Ready by Joseph Jomo Pierre

Youth violence and drug use: two topical, headline-grabbing issues refracted through the unique imaginations of playwrights Joseph Jomo Pierre and David S. Craig, whose critically acclaimed one-act plays are presented together for the first time. Each play is a frank and honest theatrical take on the seductiveness of guns or drugs - and the consequences of their use.

Smokescreen Written by David S. Craig Directed by Ed Roy Featuring Andrew Craig, John Evans and Soo Garay

Born Ready Written by Joseph Jomo Pierre Directed by Philip Akin Featuring Shomari Downer, Joseph Jomo Pierre & Cara Ricketts

Previews from February 9, Opens February 13, Runs to March 9, 2008, Tickets $15 - $30

PAY - WHAT - YOU - CAN Performances: Saturday February 9 8:00 pm, Sunday February 10 2:00 pm, Tuesday February 12 8:00 pm, Sunday February 17 2:00 pm, Sunday February 24 2:00 pm, Sunday March 2 2:00 pm, Sunday March 9 2:00 pm

A double bill produced by Obsidian Theatre Company, Roseneath Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille.

Jacob Zimmer & Small Wooden Shoe (amazing designer and director), One Reed Theatre (TC Resident Company), Jess Dobkin (creative goddess)and Cole J. Alvis (hot new artist -- at least new to me)are but a few reasons among many to go check out Erika's supercool, very risky...

THE 29TH RHUBARB FESTIVAL CANADA'S PREMIER NEW WORKS FESTIVAL Feb 20 - Mar 2, 2008 Festival Director Erika Hennebury

Rhubarb is a great chance to catch one-of-a-kind performances, cruise installations, meet the artists, socialize and dance the night away in Tallulah's Cabaret. Rhubarb is Canada's oldest new works fest and is notorious for showcasing the most outrageous acts you'll catch all year-round. The 29th Rhubarb Festival line-up features radical new hybrids of dance, theatre, video, stand-up, musical theatre, opera, animation, storytelling and rock'n'roll - all under one roof.

Evening Passes are available for a lean $15, and that gets you in to your choice of shows and events scheduled for that evening. Rhubarb officially returns on Wed, Feb 20, which includes a post-show Rhubarb Festival Kick Off Bash (beginning at 10:30pm), featuring a screening of Vegetable or Fruit? Weed, Stalk or Root?, Keith Cole's Rhubarb Video Project. The screening will be followed by social revelry in Tallulah's with our favourite DJ Shane MacKinnon.

Once you're in the door, you're in for a wild ride.

If you go to our homepage and see the headlines fly by -- those headlines are from the BLOG -- click on whatever title grabs your interest and then ... you know the rest.

There are notes from my trip to PuSh in Vancouver, comments on local shows, and soon there will be much more.

And you are officially invited to send me your stories! Don't be shy, be a blogger.

People are encouraged to blog their reviews of Free Fall shows and other shows they see at The Theatre Centre.

What did you think? We'll never know unless you tell us.