Weekend Update

What a busy weekend:

Saturday morning—at Queens Park:

On Saturday morning I attended a presentation ceremony at the Ontario legislative building at Queens Park. My son Ryan was one of the less than 60 recipients of the Queen’s Venturer’s Award at the 22nd annual awards presentation. The award certificate was signed by Governor General Michaelle Jean and presented by Ontario Lieutenant Governor David Onley (ex of City TV). The awards were presented on a stage set up on the grand staircase just inside the front foyer.

Following the formal presentation ceremony we adjourned to the conference room and Lieutenant Governor’s chamber upstairs for a reception (where we were served complimentary beverages and h’ord d’ouevres)


Saturday PM—“Jersey Boys at the Toronto Centre for the Arts”:

Gary & I attended a performance of “Jersey Boys” at the Toronto Centre for the Arts (just South of Mel Lastman Square at the North York Civic Centre station on the Yonge subway line). The original Broadway production of this musical won a Tony Award for best musical play a few years back. It tells the story of the real-life pop group Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons (using the four seasons (Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall) as a framing device to chronicle the rise and fall of the band’s fortunes. The staging effectively mixes archival footage of the actual group (performing on the Ed Sullivan Show and American Bandstand) with live performances by the principal cast members.

The show begins by chronicling the rise of the group: how it was assembled (songwriter Bob Gaudio and lead vocalist Frankie Valli (the key pieces) were the last two members recruited); how the group got its name (after a Jersey bowling alley); how they pitched their material at the Brill building; how they were signed by Bob Crewe and after a year of singing back-up on other artists records finally got a break, releasing a run of #1 hits including Sherry, Big Girls Don’t Cry and Walk Like a Man. It then nicely chronicles the group’s fall, as two of the founding members succumb to addictions to alcohol and gambling and Valli’s daughter dies of an OD at age 22. Finally the play concludes with the band’s triumphant reunion for their induction in the hockey hall of fame.

Throughout the production, the stage-play tosses off enough tidbits to satisfy even the most jaded pop music trivia buff (like yours truly). For example, we learn that “Big Girls Don’t Cry” was inspired by a line from an old Hollywood melodrama that Gaudio caught on late-night TV; that actor Joe Pesci was responsible for recruiting Gaudio into the band and that Valli’s biggest selling hit “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” original met strong resistance from the label and radio programmers.

Both the acting and singing by the cast members for the Toronto production were impressive and the company received a standing ovation by the Saturday night crowd at the end of the play. The modern theatre is comfortable and it is nice to see it being used by Dancap productions again after so many dark nights following the demise of Livent.
I would highly recommend this play (although the rough (Jersey authentic language) can be highly coarse at times, which may make it unsuitable for young children. Also, it might be considered offensively racist and homophobia by some, in its depictions of the band-mates’ Jersey mob ties and it its depiction of Crewe’s sexuality.


Sunday mid-day: High School Musical 3 at the Cineplex Scotiabank cinema:

I attended the 12:20 PM screening of Disney’s High School Musical 3 at the Cineplex Scotiabank theatre. I went with my daughter Claire (who is a big fan of this movie series). Claire had tried to get in to see the movie with a friend on opening (Friday) night without success (as it sold out). The movie ended up being the number 1 movie at the North American box-office in its debut weekend while simultaneously breaking the opening gross record for a movie musical (besting the record set by Mamma Mia earlier this year).

The first two episodes in the movie sequel were a huge success airing on the Disney channel (in the US) and Family Channel (in Canada). They made a star of teen heartthrob Zac Ephron (who went on to win a role in the movie version of Hairspray) and sold countless CDs of the soundtrack and DVDs. So the decision was made to theatrically release the third (and likely final) installment. Since the movie was only budgeted at $13 million, the theatrical release decision appears to have paid off quite handsomely.

HSM3 is subtitled “Senior Year” and that title explains the plot. The narrative centres on the cast members struggling with what colleges to enroll in, pursuing entrance scholarships, winning a back-to-back championship for the basketball team (the wildcats), securing dates for the senior prom and (inevitably) staging an original musical play. The resolutions of the conflicts are typical Disney-esque happy ending cop-outs but believability and realism hardly seems to matter to the series’ ‘tween and ‘teen fans. The original songs are mainly forgettable, although some of they choreography and editing / visual effects in the productions numbers occasionally transcend the pedestrian. The plot tugs on all the right emotional strings and manages to introduce two new characters to the well-known (Troy, Gabrielle, Sharpay and Ryan) principals.