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Toronto Zombie Walk 2011

Posted by Roger Cullman / October 23, 2011

Toronto Zombie Walk 2011The Toronto Zombie Walk occupied Trinity-Bellwoods Park on Saturday afternoon.

Thousands of zombies eventually left the park in a hauntingly slow crawl east along Queen St. to Spadina, up through Chinatown and then west along Dundas back to the park.

2011 marks the ninth year of the Toronto Zombie Walk. While last year's zombie walk went up through Kensington Market towards the Bloor Cinema, this year's marched past The Toronto Underground Cinema, where a double-bill of zombie flicks screened, as part of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival.

Here's some photos of zombies from this year's Toronto Zombie Walk:

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Music

Michael Jackson goes to the circus

Posted by Roger Cullman / October 22, 2011

Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour in TorontoMichael Jackson The Immortal World Tour kicked off its Toronto shows Friday night at the Air Canada Centre. Being a old fan of Michael Jackson and Cirque du Soleil, I was anticipating some magical synergy.

The show's premise had promise, but in execution it lacked the soul that I've come to expect from Cirque productions, such as OVO or Allegria.

The production suffers by trying too hard to capture too much of Jackson's musical output instead of focusing on achieving a wow-factor in bringing the most important elements of his music and life to the big stage.

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Theatre

Want botox? The Ugly One is the cautionary tale for you

Posted by Roger Cullman / October 9, 2011

The Ugly One by Theatre Smash in TorontoThe Ugly One left me squirming in my seat. It's not so much the subject matter -- the importance we give to vanity -- but how quickly things can turn when taken to the extreme.

In our society, plastic surgery has become so commonplace that, for some, it's no longer sufficient to get a facelift or a boob job. We're enticed with ads for botox, liposuction, even penis enlargements and designer vaginas. Where will it end?

The Ugly One is an uncomfortably absurdist, biting comedy by German playwright Marius von Mayenburg, in the Theatre Smash production that just opened at the Tarragon Theatre. It revolves around Lette, a happily-married man (adeptly played by David Jansen) whose wife (Naomi Wright) has never told him how unspeakably ugly his face is. Nobody has.

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Music

Primus sucks at Massey Hall

Posted by Roger Cullman / October 6, 2011

Primus at Massey HallPrimus fans are a funny bunch. They chant "Primus sucks" but mean it as a compliment.

If Wednesday night's show at Massey Hall was any indication, the band continues to keep its fans happy, promoting Green Naugahyde, its first studio album in 11 years. With just three musicians on stage, Primus played a three-hour set (with intermission) that kept the fans on their feet almost the entire show.

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Music

Paul Kelly from A-Z in two nights at The Dakota

Posted by Roger Cullman / September 26, 2011

Paul Kelly at The Dakota in TorontoPaul Kelly treated Toronto to two sold-out nights of his brilliant songwriting at The Dakota this past weekend, playing an alphabetical selection from his vast repertoire.

Kelly is touring his popular-back-home-in-Australia A-Z shows, where he plays a song or two that starts with the letter A and works his way through to Z, engaging his audience with little stories along the way.

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Theatre

His Greatness pairs poetry and self-destruction on stage

Posted by Roger Cullman / September 22, 2011

His Greatness MacIvorIt would be disingenuous for me to call His Greatness a fiasco. Or turgid. Those words are reserved for the output of some other playwright.

His Greatness, written and performed by Dan MacIvor and directed by Ed Roy, is "a potentially true story about a the playwright Tennessee Williams." And it's nothing like the fictional play-within-a-play's scathing reviews.

It's a play, which opened last night at the Factory Studio Theatre and is full of zingers delivered by Richard Donat, who plays Williams as he loses his grip on reality through excessive drinking and debauchery. Or is it madness?

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