Coral FM Earlier 2014 Podcasts with National and International Musicians
The Mahones - Always Having A Great Night on The Lash....
Finny McConnell from The Mahones!
There's a sayin' when you're goin out to do some hard playin' - A Great Night on the Lash
As a girl who briefly lived in Belfast Northern Ireland as a wee one, I loved St Paddy's Day. And I love Celtic Punk.
So I put together a special St Pat's podcast including a retro chin wag with mee favorite band The Mahones.
I spoke to lead singer Finny McConnell, and Tin WhistleMaster Michael O'Grady when they played Starlight a wee while back.
For info on The Mahones and news on their upcoming CD The Hunger & The Fight go to http://themahones.ca/. And for more on Michael O'Grady http://www.michaelogradyband.com/
Here is my Special Irish Music Playlist.
Great Night on the Lash – The Mahones, The State of Massachusetts – Dropkick Murphys
Finnegan's Wake – The Irish Rovers, Alternative Ulster – London Punkharmonic
Orchestra. Alternative Ulster – Stiff Little Fingers.
(Movie Tribute) The Crying Game – Boy George (from The Crying Game)
Say It To Me Now - Glen Hansard (from Once)
The Blood is On Your Hands – The Mahones, Paint the Town Red – The Mahones
Teenage Kicks – London Punkharmonic Orchestra,
When I Was Five and Twenty - Kevin Kennedy, The Parting Glass – Stephen Fearing, Yeat's Grave – The Cranberries, The Wild Rover – The Irish Rovers, A Nation Once Again – The Irish Rovers, Baidin Fheilimi –Sinead O'Connor, Back Home – The Mahones.
Listen Here for My Mahones Retro Chat and My Get SHAMrocked show.
Hope you all have a Great Night on the Lash this St Paddy's Day
Slainte! - Coral FM.
I recently caught up with The Mahones in Barrie.
Stay tuned for Coral FM Gets Shamrocked Part 2!
As a girl who briefly lived in Belfast Northern Ireland as a wee one, I loved St Paddy's Day. And I love Celtic Punk.
So I put together a special St Pat's podcast including a retro chin wag with mee favorite band The Mahones.
I spoke to lead singer Finny McConnell, and Tin WhistleMaster Michael O'Grady when they played Starlight a wee while back.
For info on The Mahones and news on their upcoming CD The Hunger & The Fight go to http://themahones.ca/. And for more on Michael O'Grady http://www.michaelogradyband.com/
Here is my Special Irish Music Playlist.
Great Night on the Lash – The Mahones, The State of Massachusetts – Dropkick Murphys
Finnegan's Wake – The Irish Rovers, Alternative Ulster – London Punkharmonic
Orchestra. Alternative Ulster – Stiff Little Fingers.
(Movie Tribute) The Crying Game – Boy George (from The Crying Game)
Say It To Me Now - Glen Hansard (from Once)
The Blood is On Your Hands – The Mahones, Paint the Town Red – The Mahones
Teenage Kicks – London Punkharmonic Orchestra,
When I Was Five and Twenty - Kevin Kennedy, The Parting Glass – Stephen Fearing, Yeat's Grave – The Cranberries, The Wild Rover – The Irish Rovers, A Nation Once Again – The Irish Rovers, Baidin Fheilimi –Sinead O'Connor, Back Home – The Mahones.
Listen Here for My Mahones Retro Chat and My Get SHAMrocked show.
Hope you all have a Great Night on the Lash this St Paddy's Day
Slainte! - Coral FM.
I recently caught up with The Mahones in Barrie.
Stay tuned for Coral FM Gets Shamrocked Part 2!
The Mahones - Get Shamrocked - Part 2
The Royal Streets - Kingdoms of Fans Await Across Canada
The Royal Street recently played Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal - their biggest audience yet!
Hailing from Waterloo, Ontario, The Royal Streets featuring Sam Keating, drums, Eric Stirtzinger, guitar, Algeron Friolet, Guitar/Vocals, Jillian Dowding, vocals, and Michael Demsey, guitar, have already begun to make their mark on the Canadian folk-rock music scene. Following a year and half of consisting Eastern Canada touring, The Royal Streets released their debut studio effort, Kings & Queen, on March 6th 2014 with the help of Catherine North Studios and producer Dan Hosh. whose credits include Canadian acts like City & Colour, Whitehorse, and Rose Cousins.
Although the four of us have gone to school and been friends with each other for the majority of our lives, it was not until recently that we decided combine our efforts musically. The Royal Streets is our way of demonstrating hours and hours of hard work mixed with a variety of musical influences and our own life experiences. We are based out of Waterloo, Ontario and hope to share these sounds with all of you. Have a listen and join the riot, we are The Royal Streets.
After two more gigs on around the GTA, The Royal Streets will soon embark on their first Western tour and I am sure it will not be their last!
**This is strange mix for this podcast – part of it is phone chat, and part of it is in studio.
The reason for this – my recorder did not properly record the live broadcast, (with Jillian, Michael, and Al who also sang a new song Sour Diesel) so I salvaged what I could of it and then mixed in the phone chat that I did with Jillian and Michael the day before. And then I mixed in some of the great tunes from their latest CD Kings and Queen. Ah, technology... ain't it great when it works? - Coral.**
Catch The Royal Streets at The Wax (beside Bobby O'Brien's in downtown Kitchener) with special guests Amberwood and very special guests 1951 featuring their good pal / producer Dan Hosh from Hamilton's Catherine North Studios.
For more info check out The Royal's Facebook page or www.theroyalstreets.com
Listen HERE for my duo chat with The Royal Streets.
Although the four of us have gone to school and been friends with each other for the majority of our lives, it was not until recently that we decided combine our efforts musically. The Royal Streets is our way of demonstrating hours and hours of hard work mixed with a variety of musical influences and our own life experiences. We are based out of Waterloo, Ontario and hope to share these sounds with all of you. Have a listen and join the riot, we are The Royal Streets.
After two more gigs on around the GTA, The Royal Streets will soon embark on their first Western tour and I am sure it will not be their last!
**This is strange mix for this podcast – part of it is phone chat, and part of it is in studio.
The reason for this – my recorder did not properly record the live broadcast, (with Jillian, Michael, and Al who also sang a new song Sour Diesel) so I salvaged what I could of it and then mixed in the phone chat that I did with Jillian and Michael the day before. And then I mixed in some of the great tunes from their latest CD Kings and Queen. Ah, technology... ain't it great when it works? - Coral.**
Catch The Royal Streets at The Wax (beside Bobby O'Brien's in downtown Kitchener) with special guests Amberwood and very special guests 1951 featuring their good pal / producer Dan Hosh from Hamilton's Catherine North Studios.
For more info check out The Royal's Facebook page or www.theroyalstreets.com
Listen HERE for my duo chat with The Royal Streets.
The Mahones are currently on tour and play the Ottawa Jazz Festival June 30
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/lineup/
I had a chance to chat with tin whistle virtuoso Michael O'Grady about All Things Mahones.
And I also had a crazy wee chin wag with Finny, Katie, and drummer Dom "The Bomb" Whelan about their fave Shane MacGowan and The Dropkick Murphys yarns which inspired Mahone songs Great Night on the Lash on Black Irish and Pass the Pint of No Return on Angels and Devils!
Check The Mahones out at a shindig near you and find out about their latest shenanigans @ http://themahones.co. Slainte! - Coral FM.
Listen here for the the chat.
To download go Coral FM on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/coral-andrews-1/michael-ogrady-get-shamrocked-part-2
http://ottawajazzfestival.com/lineup/
I had a chance to chat with tin whistle virtuoso Michael O'Grady about All Things Mahones.
And I also had a crazy wee chin wag with Finny, Katie, and drummer Dom "The Bomb" Whelan about their fave Shane MacGowan and The Dropkick Murphys yarns which inspired Mahone songs Great Night on the Lash on Black Irish and Pass the Pint of No Return on Angels and Devils!
Check The Mahones out at a shindig near you and find out about their latest shenanigans @ http://themahones.co. Slainte! - Coral FM.
Listen here for the the chat.
To download go Coral FM on Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/coral-andrews-1/michael-ogrady-get-shamrocked-part-2
The Lyrical Honesty and Multimusic Genre Savvy
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Craig Cardiff - Always Telling the Book of Truths
Craig Cardiff likes to connect with his audience through sing-a-alongs.
For the past two and a half years,
Craig Cardiff has been passing around a Book of Truths during his shows and asking his fans to share something truthful in it – a story, a confession, a
hope, a secret.
The book gives fans a chance to write down something they might be too afraid to say out loud, and it gives Cardiff an opportunity to connect with the people who come to his shows.
Those entries aren’t always easy to read. The stories can be heartbreaking, and they can leave Cardiff wanting to do something, to find the person who wrote in his book and tell them to hold on for tomorrow, that things will be OK.
Cardiff’s new album, Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) Part 1 & 2, has turned into a response to those stories. This double album, which was released Nov. 19, 2013, offers 21
tracks that are connected by an underlying sense that there are better days to
come. The Arnprior-based folk singer worked with producers Ben Leggett (Faraway Neighbours, Ben Hermann) and Andre Wahl (Hawksley Workman, Luke Doucet) to record an album that is quite different than anything Cardiff has released before. Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) is one-part boisterous group sing-along, one-part gentle lullaby. One
album features full live band recordings, while the other is more subdued, with
acoustic guitar, cello, clarinet and violin.
This is the same team that produced Floods and Fires, the album that earned Cardiff a nomination for a 2012 Juno Award for Roots and Traditional Album of the Year: Solo and a
Canadian Folk Music Award nomination as 2012 Contemporary Singer of the Year.
This time, Leggett and Wahl told Cardiff they wouldn’t let him make an album
like the ones he’s made before.
Cardiff recorded with a live band for the first time, playing louder and harder than he ever has, and he stepped into a new role, arranging instrumental parts. Cardiff, Leggett and Wahl recorded Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) primarily in Cardiff’s home studio
in Arnprior – which he and Leggett built together during the recording of
Floods and Fires – the Chalet Studio in Claremont, and the Schoolhouse
studio built by Hawksley Workman outside Huntsville.
Craig plays Maxwelll's Music House on Thurs May 22, and The Galt Club @ Cafe 13 on Friday May 23. For more info about Craig and his current tour go to http://www.craigcardiff.com
Love Is Louder (Than All This Noise) is a fabulous double CD. I have most of it on my Ipod so I can have Craig's little heartplays in my ear wherever I roam. - Coral FM
Listen here for my interview with Craig Cardiff.
Shannon Lyon - Lassoing The Wild West of Music...
About Shannon Lyon
Shannon Lyon is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. Born in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, Lyon began his musical career in Kitchener, Ontario in the early 90's forming his first band Strange Days (1990-1993) recording one album entitled 'Life Aint Easy' produced by Nelson McCrossan. During this time Lyon also started his low-key solo career and released his first solo studio album entitled 'Buffalo White' in 1994 which was recorded by friend Bill
Braun.
Since 1994 Lyon has released ten studio albums and has received critical acclaim and commercial success in Europe, North
America and Australia.
Lyon was the first Canadian signed to Richard Branson's post Virgin Records label V2in 2004(becoming label mates with The White Stripes and Paul Weller) with the release of the critically acclaimed album 'Wandered' which was recorded in a 17th century farmhouse in the south of Holland with Dutch producer Bj Baartmans. Wandered was released in Australia on Collision records and in Europe on Inbetweens Records.
In 2003 Lyon signed with Canadian Roots label Busted Flat Records (Matt Anderson, Jay Semko, Paul MacLeod), a rootsmusic label founded in 2002 by music impresario Mark Logan and based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Busted Flat has released 5 of Lyon's albums to date. (Bound, Safe Inside, Someday Mourning, El Sol, and Broken Things). Lyon moved to Holland in 2000 and spent the better part of a decade living and touring in Spain, Germany, France
and The Netherlands. Lyon is currently located in Canada.
(Lyon has toured and shared the stage in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada with such artists as Lucinda Williams, Richard Buckner, Jay Farrar, Ray LaMontagne, Blue Rodeo and Bruce Cockburn).
I was the very first person to interview Shannon Lyon many years ago, and I knew then he was destined for great things. His latest album The Lights Behind (produced by longtime pal Rob Szabo) revisits old songs including a few from one of his first bands Strange Days.
20 years on, Shannon Lyon has lassoed the wild west of the music industry with his special brand of alt folk that has made him one of Canada's most gifted songwriters.
I caught up with Shannon en route to Sudbury during his cross Canada 35 city tour (including Kitchener's Cafe Pyrus May 3) which begins in Kamloops, and ends in Kamloops, not far from his mountain home / recording studio - Lost Creek Cabin.
Here is my chat with Shannon Lyon - you can download it @ http://www.soundfm.ca/node/1545
Shannon Lyon is a Canadian musician and singer-songwriter. Born in Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada, Lyon began his musical career in Kitchener, Ontario in the early 90's forming his first band Strange Days (1990-1993) recording one album entitled 'Life Aint Easy' produced by Nelson McCrossan. During this time Lyon also started his low-key solo career and released his first solo studio album entitled 'Buffalo White' in 1994 which was recorded by friend Bill
Braun.
Since 1994 Lyon has released ten studio albums and has received critical acclaim and commercial success in Europe, North
America and Australia.
Lyon was the first Canadian signed to Richard Branson's post Virgin Records label V2in 2004(becoming label mates with The White Stripes and Paul Weller) with the release of the critically acclaimed album 'Wandered' which was recorded in a 17th century farmhouse in the south of Holland with Dutch producer Bj Baartmans. Wandered was released in Australia on Collision records and in Europe on Inbetweens Records.
In 2003 Lyon signed with Canadian Roots label Busted Flat Records (Matt Anderson, Jay Semko, Paul MacLeod), a rootsmusic label founded in 2002 by music impresario Mark Logan and based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Busted Flat has released 5 of Lyon's albums to date. (Bound, Safe Inside, Someday Mourning, El Sol, and Broken Things). Lyon moved to Holland in 2000 and spent the better part of a decade living and touring in Spain, Germany, France
and The Netherlands. Lyon is currently located in Canada.
(Lyon has toured and shared the stage in Europe, Australia, USA and Canada with such artists as Lucinda Williams, Richard Buckner, Jay Farrar, Ray LaMontagne, Blue Rodeo and Bruce Cockburn).
I was the very first person to interview Shannon Lyon many years ago, and I knew then he was destined for great things. His latest album The Lights Behind (produced by longtime pal Rob Szabo) revisits old songs including a few from one of his first bands Strange Days.
20 years on, Shannon Lyon has lassoed the wild west of the music industry with his special brand of alt folk that has made him one of Canada's most gifted songwriters.
I caught up with Shannon en route to Sudbury during his cross Canada 35 city tour (including Kitchener's Cafe Pyrus May 3) which begins in Kamloops, and ends in Kamloops, not far from his mountain home / recording studio - Lost Creek Cabin.
Here is my chat with Shannon Lyon - you can download it @ http://www.soundfm.ca/node/1545
The Lovely and Amazing Lily Frost
Singer songwriter Lily Frost is a rare bird from Canada’s musical woods. Frost has always danced the line between indie and jazz, thus creating a niche of her own. Frost draws from her real life experiences in her lyrics – in performance, there is an intimacy, a gentle passion that can take you somewhere else and evokes a certain nostalgia – the rainy streets of Paris, a winter picnic or perhaps a beat café in San Francisco. This rarity and distinctiveness can be found on her latest offering, Do What You Love. Do What You Love puts Lily’s distinct sound and exceptional talents together in one concise package.
From the lyrics to the arrangements to the striking artwork, Do What You Love packs a punch and delivers insightful truths about life – embracing femininity with strength, joy and creativity. “I wanted to make a fun, upbeat record for my daughter that included lessons I had learned the hard way,” says Lily. “I wanted to leave people feeling inspired with smiles on their faces.” Lily left me with a smile on my face when she granted me a recent wide ranging Sunday morning phone chat when she played The Painted Lady last March. We talked about her latest CD Do What You Love, (which I Love Love Love!) fave 60's chanteuses, and her happy life as a musician / mother to her son Meesha and daughter Paloma (who this latest CD is dedicated to!) and even Lily's current passion for TV's Mad Men! Do What You Love is continues to garner rave reviews!
In recent years, Lily has won West Coast Vocalist of the Year (2002, New Music West), a SOCAN award for Situation (2006, NXNE) and also a Gemini Award nominee for co-writing the theme song and score for the CBC hit television show, Being Erica.
All shows presented by Gary Topp www.garytopp.com
And for more info on Lily including ticket info, her current tour dates and much more – go to www.lilyfrost.com – Ba Ba Ba Daahhh – Coral FM.
From the lyrics to the arrangements to the striking artwork, Do What You Love packs a punch and delivers insightful truths about life – embracing femininity with strength, joy and creativity. “I wanted to make a fun, upbeat record for my daughter that included lessons I had learned the hard way,” says Lily. “I wanted to leave people feeling inspired with smiles on their faces.” Lily left me with a smile on my face when she granted me a recent wide ranging Sunday morning phone chat when she played The Painted Lady last March. We talked about her latest CD Do What You Love, (which I Love Love Love!) fave 60's chanteuses, and her happy life as a musician / mother to her son Meesha and daughter Paloma (who this latest CD is dedicated to!) and even Lily's current passion for TV's Mad Men! Do What You Love is continues to garner rave reviews!
In recent years, Lily has won West Coast Vocalist of the Year (2002, New Music West), a SOCAN award for Situation (2006, NXNE) and also a Gemini Award nominee for co-writing the theme song and score for the CBC hit television show, Being Erica.
All shows presented by Gary Topp www.garytopp.com
And for more info on Lily including ticket info, her current tour dates and much more – go to www.lilyfrost.com – Ba Ba Ba Daahhh – Coral FM.
The Two Part Podcast!
Part 1 - Lily is Doing What She Loves ....
Part 2 - From Motherhood and Mad Men to Pink Floyd and Burt Bacharach
Stratford podcasts from 2013
Actor Seana McKenna - Queen Elizabeth I in Mary Stuart
Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.
About Seana .....
22nd season: Elizabeth in Mary Stuart and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Stratford: Shakespeare: title role in Richard III, Juliet, Viola, Olivia, Portia, Jessica; Queens Margaret, Katharine, Elizabeth; Chorus, Lady Macbeth, Titania, Helena, Paulina and the spaghetti-Western Shrew. The Matchmaker, Elektra, Dangerous Liaisons, Medea, Phèdre, Trojan Women, The Glass Menagerie, Orpheus Descending, Night of the Iguana, Private Lives, Fallen Angels, Present Laughter, Noises Off, London Assurance, Good Mother. Recently: Shakespeare’s Will at the Merrimack Theatre, Massachusetts, and the Wharton Centre, Michigan. Teaches at ACT, San Francisco, and at Stratford’s Birmingham Conservatory. Elsewhere: More than 80 productions across the continent. Awards: Three Dora Awards: Saint Joan (Theatre Plus Toronto), Orpheus Descending (MTC/Mirvish), directing Valley Song (New Globe); Jessie for Wit (Vancouver Playhouse/Canadian Stage); Genie for The Hanging Garden; Honorary MFA, American Conservatory Theatre. Thrilled to be working at the Festival, along with son Cal and husband Miles.
Mary Stuart
Seana McKenna as Queen Elizabeth I - Photo David Hou
Seana McKenna on the evolution of her character Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart
“One has become more at ease with the language and the translation. Like any play that you have rehearsed well it just becomes deeper and more complex emotionally. You find certain things, and you think that's still not working and you keep working on it. I think the fun quotient is greater. And you know what? It doesn't hurt to have 110% houses because the energy from the audience that you get is wonderful and invigorating. So that's very exciting to have that arena. And it is a political arena and so much of it resonates right now.”
“One has become more at ease with the language and the translation. Like any play that you have rehearsed well it just becomes deeper and more complex emotionally. You find certain things, and you think that's still not working and you keep working on it. I think the fun quotient is greater. And you know what? It doesn't hurt to have 110% houses because the energy from the audience that you get is wonderful and invigorating. So that's very exciting to have that arena. And it is a political arena and so much of it resonates right now.”
About the Play
Mary Stuart, former Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in England, where her very existence poses a threat, both personal and political, to her Protestant cousin, Elizabeth I. As Elizabeth hesitates over decreeing her rival’s fate, Mary pleads for a face-to-face meeting – but in the swirl of intrigue that surrounds both women, whom can either one trust?
Directed by Antoni Cimolino Mary Stuart cast also includes Lucy Peacock (Mary) Brian Dennehy (Earl of Shrewsbury)
Ben Carlson (Lord Burleigh) and Gerraint Wyn Davies (Earl of Leicester). Mary Stuart runs to Oct 19
Mary Stuart, former Queen of Scots, is imprisoned in England, where her very existence poses a threat, both personal and political, to her Protestant cousin, Elizabeth I. As Elizabeth hesitates over decreeing her rival’s fate, Mary pleads for a face-to-face meeting – but in the swirl of intrigue that surrounds both women, whom can either one trust?
Directed by Antoni Cimolino Mary Stuart cast also includes Lucy Peacock (Mary) Brian Dennehy (Earl of Shrewsbury)
Ben Carlson (Lord Burleigh) and Gerraint Wyn Davies (Earl of Leicester). Mary Stuart runs to Oct 19
Seana McKenna and Lucy Peacock are currently making Stratford Festival Theatre history in Frederick Schiller's Mary Stuart (in an new version by English playwright Peter Oswald) which was recently extended again and is now sold out for the rest of the run.
Beautifully directed by Martha Henry, Mary Stuart was breathtaking to behold.
Seana McKenna and Lucy Peacock (who had not been together on the Stratford stage since their one scene in Noel Coward's Fallen Angels!) were magnificent as two rivals meeting for the first time. This show was riveting from start to finish. I cannot believe I was sitting in the first row on the side. I did not want it to end. The entire cast was marvelous! Brava! - Coral FM
Seana McKenna ....
I first saw Seana in Stratford's 1984 production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by acclaimed late British theatre director Peter Dews opposite actor Colm Feore as Romeo. I have seen Seana in many a role from Damien Atkins' The Good Mother in an amazing performance as stroke victim Anne Driver, her marvellous interpretation of The Bard's wife Anne Hathaway in Vern Theissen monodrama Shakespeare's Will, and her delicious portrayal of Marquise de Merteuil in Christopher Hampton's Dangerous Liasons.
We share a mutual adoration for playwright Tennessee Williams. I have seen Seana as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Lady in Orpheus Ascending and also as Hannah in Night of the Iguana. Each time she has brought a new and exciting dimension into these beloved Williams characters. In 2011, Seana and her equally talented husband Miles Potter, were gracious enough to chat with me for my Couples in the Arts series in Waterloo Region's Grand Magazine. Suffice to say, this interview with Seana is more of a chat!
Part One - Seana discusses her role as Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart
and the differences and similarities between the two monarchs
who in real life .... never met.
Listen here for the interview.
Beautifully directed by Martha Henry, Mary Stuart was breathtaking to behold.
Seana McKenna and Lucy Peacock (who had not been together on the Stratford stage since their one scene in Noel Coward's Fallen Angels!) were magnificent as two rivals meeting for the first time. This show was riveting from start to finish. I cannot believe I was sitting in the first row on the side. I did not want it to end. The entire cast was marvelous! Brava! - Coral FM
Seana McKenna ....
I first saw Seana in Stratford's 1984 production of Romeo and Juliet, directed by acclaimed late British theatre director Peter Dews opposite actor Colm Feore as Romeo. I have seen Seana in many a role from Damien Atkins' The Good Mother in an amazing performance as stroke victim Anne Driver, her marvellous interpretation of The Bard's wife Anne Hathaway in Vern Theissen monodrama Shakespeare's Will, and her delicious portrayal of Marquise de Merteuil in Christopher Hampton's Dangerous Liasons.
We share a mutual adoration for playwright Tennessee Williams. I have seen Seana as Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, Lady in Orpheus Ascending and also as Hannah in Night of the Iguana. Each time she has brought a new and exciting dimension into these beloved Williams characters. In 2011, Seana and her equally talented husband Miles Potter, were gracious enough to chat with me for my Couples in the Arts series in Waterloo Region's Grand Magazine. Suffice to say, this interview with Seana is more of a chat!
Part One - Seana discusses her role as Queen Elizabeth in Mary Stuart
and the differences and similarities between the two monarchs
who in real life .... never met.
Listen here for the interview.
Madame Arcati!
In Noel Coward Comedy Blithe Spirit
Seana McKenna as Madame Arcati
Photo - David Hou
Seana McKenna - The comedic challenges of Noel Coward
"This play was tough because it is a high energy piece. There are a lot of one liners and there are not many long monologues where you set your own pace. You have to keep things moving. The text moves fast and there is repetition but slightly different.
There are two seances - and I have to get those straight. Words are slightly different here and there. So this piece requires a very tight ensemble. We are all having a great time. It's fabulous.”
Directed by Brian Bedford, Blithe Spirit's cast also includes actors Sara Topham (Ruth) Ben Carlson (Charles) and Michelle Giroux as Elvira. Blithe Spirit runs to Oct 20 2013.
Well these four may have had trouble in the rehearsal process, but I thought Blithe Spirit was damned funny. And equally fabulous. - Coral FM
"This play was tough because it is a high energy piece. There are a lot of one liners and there are not many long monologues where you set your own pace. You have to keep things moving. The text moves fast and there is repetition but slightly different.
There are two seances - and I have to get those straight. Words are slightly different here and there. So this piece requires a very tight ensemble. We are all having a great time. It's fabulous.”
Directed by Brian Bedford, Blithe Spirit's cast also includes actors Sara Topham (Ruth) Ben Carlson (Charles) and Michelle Giroux as Elvira. Blithe Spirit runs to Oct 20 2013.
Well these four may have had trouble in the rehearsal process, but I thought Blithe Spirit was damned funny. And equally fabulous. - Coral FM
In Part Two of this interview, Seana chats about Madame Arcati,
her Doctor of Sacred Letters, playwright Tennessee Williams.
And the WHY of acting! Plus I play one of Seana's
special music requests.
her Doctor of Sacred Letters, playwright Tennessee Williams.
And the WHY of acting! Plus I play one of Seana's
special music requests.
Actor Sara Topham - Shakespeare's Juliet, Blythe Spirit's Ruth
About Sara....
13th season: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Ruth in Blithe Spirit. Stratford: Credits include Célimène (The Misanthrope), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Wendy (Peter Pan), Tourvel (Dangerous Liaisons), Gwendolen (The Importance of Being Earnest), Laurencia (Fuente Ovejuna), Cordelia (King Lear), Mabel (An Ideal Husband), Jessica (The Merchant of Venice), Laura (The Glass Menagerie), Grace (London Assurance), Rosalind (As You Like It), Brooke Ashton (Noises Off), Anne Bullen (Henry VIII), Cassandra (Agamemnon), Dot (The Swanne), Diana (All’s Well That Ends Well), Lady Mortimer (Henry IV), Princess Katherine (Henry V).
Other Credits (selected): Gwendolen: The Importance of Being Earnest (Roundabout Theatre Company, Broadway – Tony nomination: Best Revival of a Play); Cecily: Travesties (McCarter Theatre, Princeton); Miranda: The Tempest, Thea: Hedda Gabler (Hartford Stage); Titania/Hippolyta: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.); Governess: The Turn of the Screw (Belfry Theatre); Constanze: Amadeus (Theatre Aquarius); Grace: Annie, Mary: It’s a Wonderful Life (The Grand Theatre); Rachel Peabody: Eloise at Christmastime (Disney). “For Mum, Dad, Brian and Bernard for reasons they know.”
13th season: Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Ruth in Blithe Spirit. Stratford: Credits include Célimène (The Misanthrope), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Wendy (Peter Pan), Tourvel (Dangerous Liaisons), Gwendolen (The Importance of Being Earnest), Laurencia (Fuente Ovejuna), Cordelia (King Lear), Mabel (An Ideal Husband), Jessica (The Merchant of Venice), Laura (The Glass Menagerie), Grace (London Assurance), Rosalind (As You Like It), Brooke Ashton (Noises Off), Anne Bullen (Henry VIII), Cassandra (Agamemnon), Dot (The Swanne), Diana (All’s Well That Ends Well), Lady Mortimer (Henry IV), Princess Katherine (Henry V).
Other Credits (selected): Gwendolen: The Importance of Being Earnest (Roundabout Theatre Company, Broadway – Tony nomination: Best Revival of a Play); Cecily: Travesties (McCarter Theatre, Princeton); Miranda: The Tempest, Thea: Hedda Gabler (Hartford Stage); Titania/Hippolyta: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, D.C.); Governess: The Turn of the Screw (Belfry Theatre); Constanze: Amadeus (Theatre Aquarius); Grace: Annie, Mary: It’s a Wonderful Life (The Grand Theatre); Rachel Peabody: Eloise at Christmastime (Disney). “For Mum, Dad, Brian and Bernard for reasons they know.”
William Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet
Daniel Briere, Romeo, Sara Topham, Juliet. Photo by Don Dixon
“Juliet's like closing your eyes and falling backwards off a huge cliff into a big rolling ocean where you know, as long as you surrender, you will perhaps end up at the bottom of the ocean but the waves will bring you up again. You feel like the ocean is okay. It's a safe place.” - Sara Topham
"Romeo and Juliet is a blessedly traditional Elizabethan vision thanks to sublime director Tim Carroll. Sara Topham's Juliet is reminiscent of Olivia Hussey's impassioned performance in the Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film classic." - Coral FM
Directed by Tim Carroll, (Peter Pan for Stratford Festival) Romeo and Juliet cast also includes Daniel Briere as Romeo, Tom McCamus as The Friar, Jonathan Goad as Mercutio, Kate Hennig as The Nurse, and Scott Wentworth as Lord Capulet.
In Part 1 of this interview Sara chats about the thrill and challenge of playing Juliet, and playing this role with the Festival house lights up! This beloved Shakespearean character was Sara's very first speaking role in a play at high school ... so she has been "living with Juliet for a long time."
Listen here for Interview with Sara Topham
Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward
Sara Topham as Ruth in Blithe Spirit.
Photo by David Hou
"Playing Ruth in Blithe Spirit is like driving a tiny tiny sports car on a highway cut into the side of an incredibly high mountain with a sheer drop to certain death on the rocky rapids beneath on your outside side.
It's a completely different experience."
Sara Topham
Directed by Brian Bedford, (an expert on all things Noel Coward to my mind!)
Blithe Spirit cast also includes Ben Carlson as Charles, Michelle Giroux as Elvira, and Seana McKenna, as Madame Arcati.
Sara was simply finely in this production. I love it when she got so furious. It was comically delicious whether she was fuming at Charles, Elvira or Madame Arcati! - Coral FM.
In Part 2 of this interview, Sara speaks about playing the role of Ruth in Blithe Spirit from mastering Coward's lovely complex text to working on a crazy special effects set (like another character itself!) in this terribly savvy and simply finely comedy. We also talk about one of her all time favorite movie roles. And .... I have put together a special music mix
just for Sara from Sergei Prokoliev to the prose of Alfred Lord Tennyson! - Coral FM.
Listen Here for Interview with Sara Topham
The Stratford Festival Forum
Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino's Brainchild Now a Vibrant Reality.
Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino.
Some of the world’s greatest thinkers and entertainers are gathering in Stratford this week as part of the Stratford Festival’s new Forum, a series of activities and events designed to make a visit to Stratford an immersive, all-encompassing cultural experience. From June 12 to 16, July 9 to 14, and Aug 9 to Aug 18, 2013 the Festival will host its first “Forum Foray,” a supercharged week that is jam-packed with provocative speakers, panels, comedy nights, concerts and more. We also spoke another exciting initiative which will take place later on in the season from October 15 to 19 called In Vitro – The Laboratory which will give audiences a glimpse of what the company has been doing through an exciting behind the scenes program of artistic experimentation and exploration.
I had the great pleasure of speaking with Stratford Festival Publicity Director Ann Swerdfager about The Forum and Forum Forays. And Brava to Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino for creating and implementing this incredible new theatre-goers adventure!!!- Coral FM
For more information please regarding The Stratford Festival Forum 2014, Visit http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/
I had the great pleasure of speaking with Stratford Festival Publicity Director Ann Swerdfager about The Forum and Forum Forays. And Brava to Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino for creating and implementing this incredible new theatre-goers adventure!!!- Coral FM
For more information please regarding The Stratford Festival Forum 2014, Visit http://www.stratfordfestival.ca/