Archives
My preview of Globe Theatre’s upcoming production of Marion Bridge…
...is in today's Regina Leader Post. It begins: The 18th-century French poet Jacques Delille famously noted that while we can choose our friends, "Fate chooses our relatives." More than one family has fractured because siblings discover they have nothing in common with each other ... which is exactly what has happened to the family in Marion Bridge, Globe Theatre's next mainstage production, running Jan. 20 to Feb. 6. Written by Canadian playwright Daniel MacIvor, Marion Bridge is set in Cape Breton, where the three MacKeigan sisters have come together to care for their dying mother. Aside from their last names, they have nothing in common. Theresa (Laura Condlin) is a nun. Agnes (Liz Gilroy) is a struggling actor. And then there's ...My preview of this weekend’s South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra Christmas brunch…
...is in today's Leader Post. It begins: What could be better than a wonderful Christmas brunch onstage at the Conexus Arts Centre? How about a wonderful Christmas brunch followed by a performance by the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra? That's exactly the hard-to-imagine-a-better-than event scheduled for this Sunday. A silent auction and food kick off the event at 11 a.m., with the concert to follow. Conductor Alan Denike will lead the 45-member orchestra, made up of players whose ages range from 12 to their early 20s, in Peter Warlock's Capriol Suite, selections from Carmen by Georges Bizet, and Leroy Anderson's Christmas Festival, before finishing up with sing-along carols.My preview of the Regina Symphony Orchestra concert featuring pianist Hung-Kuan Chen…
...is online at the Regina Leader Post. It begins: Pianist Hung-Kuan Chen isn't one to shy away from a challenge. Neither is Regina Symphony Orchestra maestro Victor Sawa.Which is why Saturday's Mosaic Masterworks concert at the Conexus Arts Centre features Sergei Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2, which Sawa calls "arguably the toughest concerto ever written." "Normally, piano music has a bass staff and a treble staff," Sawa says. "This has three. There are so many notes he couldn't even get it on two staffs!" Because of the difficulty, the concerto is rarely heard. "Everyone is too afraid to play it," Sawa says. But not Chen.My preview of Globe Theatre’s production of Peter Pan…
...is in today's Regina Leader Post. It begins: For Ruth Smillie, artistic director of Globe Theatre, the key to Globe's upcoming production of J.M. Barrie's classic tale of Peter Pan is that children don't differentiate between reality and make-believe the way adults to. Smillie, who is directing the production, recalls that this past summer she overheard a group of boys walking up and down the street, "very engaged in what they were doing," and overheard them say, "We have to save the president," with "enormous concern and conviction." It's that kind of immersion in the world of make-believe that Smillie hopes Globe's Peter Pan will provide to people of all ages.My preview of the Regina Little Theatre One-Act Plays Cabaret…
...is in today's LeaderPost. It begins: Before Angel Genereux became the producer of Regina Little Theatre's programs of one-act plays in 2007, they were seen strictly as a venue for new talent on and backstage, and traditionally drew small audiences. Genereux thought they could draw new audience members, too. She boosted publicity. The result: last spring's one-acts drew record crowds and made money for the first time ever. "It's a chance to see what RLT is all about," she says. "And it's cheap: 10 bucks!" Fast-forward to this fall. Genereux is no longer the producer of the one-acts (she's moving up to producing the main-stage shows), but she's still involved. She's directing one of the three short comedies featured in RLT's Comedy Cabaret ...A preview of Flamenco Fire, the Regina Symphony Pops concert featuring guitarist Robert Michaels
My preview of this Saturday's Flamenco Fire Regina Symphony Orchestra Shumiatcher Pops concert, featuring guitarist Robert Michaels, is in today's Regina LeaderPost. It begins: For every form of music there are purists who say of certain practitioners, "That's not really (whatever form of music they're a purist in)." Guitarist Robert Michaels admits Flamenco purists might say the same about Flamenco Fire, the concert he'll perform with the Regina Symphony Orchestra on Saturday. But the man the Ottawa Sun once dubbed "Flamenco's version of Led Zeppelin axe-god Jimmy Page" is OK with that. Saturday's high-energy show, he ...My preview of the Regina Fringe Festival…
...and in particular of Julia Mackey's play Jake's Gift, is in today's LeaderPost. An excerpt: Mackey says one of the main reasons she created the show was to let veterans know that a lot of people really do appreciate the sacrifices they made. Another was to educate children, and Jake's Gift, Mackey says, elicits the same "amazing" response from 10-year-olds as it does their elders. "Those young kids really get it, and it makes them interested in history. They come up to me afterwards and want to know more about the war and Remembrance Day. That's such an incredible reward."My preview of Regina Little Theatre’s Local Talent…
...was in today's LeaderPost. It begins: Women today are expected to be beautiful and thin, wonderful mothers and wives, and dedicated to their careers -- all at the same time. Those unrealistic expectations drive the plot of Local Talent, Regina Little Theatre's final production of the season, June 10-13 at the Regina Performing Arts Centre. But while the underlying issue is serious, the play is anything but. Instead, says director Mark Claxton, "it's really funny." Read the whole thing, but note there's a phrase missing in the fourth paragraph, which should read: Local Talent, by Montreal playwright Colleen Curran, is Claxton’s first full-length directing venture for RLT, which gave him with ...My preview of the Youth Ballet of Saskatchewan’s year-end performances…
...is in today's Regina LeaderPost. An excerpt: More than 350 dance students from age three on up will take to the stage of the Conexus Arts Centre this weekend as the Youth Ballet Company of Saskatchewan, celebrating its 25th anniversary, presents two year-end performances. "There's a little bit of duplication, but not very much," says artistic director Connie Moker Wernikowski. ### The Youth Ballet's elite pre-professional company will perform Ballet for Life, created by a world-famous choreographer, the late Maurice Bejar, in tribute to the many friends he lost to AIDS. It's set to music by Queen that lead singer Freddy Mercury wrote when he knew he was dying of AIDS. Bejar granted permission to one of his students, Artur Kuraczewski, to re-set the ...My preview of the Regina Symphony’s Pops Concert “Guitar Heroes”…
...which features guitarist Jack Semple, is up at the Regina LeaderPost. It begins: Most electric guitar players don't get much opportunity -- if any -- to play with a symphony orchestra. Most electric guitar players aren't Jack Semple, who's headlining the Regina Symphony Orchestra's final Shumiatcher Pops concert of the year, Guitar Heroes, on Saturday at the Conexus Arts Centre. "I've been really fortunate in the last few years," Semple says. "They've been using me on their Oscars shows and Pops shows and Mozart in the Meadow and stuff. "There are so many brilliant musicians in the orchestra," he adds. "It's like going to school. I've learned what the orchestra can do." Read the whole thing.
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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