Sorry for the absence recently.  Fact is, it’s summer!  And as we all know, theatre people disappear in summer.   Fear of the sun?

Seriously, Calgary theatre is dead in July in August.

’tis the season for drama camps, I suppose.  It seems that half of the artistic community makes a living from the pockets of Calgary parents.   Summer drama camps are cheaper than daycare, so everybody is teaching for Artstrek, CYPT, Pumphouse, etc.

But where are the shows?  I’m teaching a Drama 1000 class this summer, and struggled to find a couple of productions for the students to see.

If you’ve got a show on this summer, Calgary or not, send us an email or comment below!   Hell, send us your poster image, and we’ll post it!  Here are a couple of suggestions of my own:

If you heading south at all this summer, be sure to check out The Empress Theatre in Fort Macleod.  It’s amazing.  Oldest theatre in Alberta, old vaudeville-style stage, antique wood floors, the works!  Oh!  It’s haunted!  I can verify.  Plus they have a couple of shows on right now:  The world premiere of The Worry Wart by Calgary’s Alice Nelson (and designed by yours truly), and Dickens of the Mounted (which isn’t a fantastic title, but is hilarious), starring Calgary’s Justin Michael Carriere as Charles Dickens’ inebriated son.

If you’re heading north, of course you should check out the Edmonton Fringe, but specifically you should check out Our Last White Night by Calgary playwright Andrew Torry.  I’m sure I’ll post showtimes again later in the summer!

What else?  Tell me!

City art? There’s an app for that

By NANCY TOUSLEY TUE, MAY 25 2010

Reposted from the Calgary Herald

Now this is getting with the program: The City of Calgary Public Art Program has launched an app that allows visitors to make a self-guided tour of 16 works of art in downtown Calgary by using an iPhone.

The app includes photographs, audio and details about each piece and the artist who created it. A geospatial component helps users locate the individual installations plotted on a map of the downtown, and pinpoint their real-time position on the circuit.

“The 16 artworks included in the tour span a four block radius in Calgary’s Centre City,” say Dianne Quan, program coordinator for the Public Art Program.  It takes about one hour to complete the walking tour the old-fashioned way and guided tours continue to run every first Thursday of the month.

“The iPhone app lets people do the tour on their own time. It’s another way to engage citizens in the art.”

Some facts about the tour supplied by the Public Art Program:

Distance: 1.2 km through downtown buildings, including seven different Plus-15 corridors

Duration: Allow 40 – 50 minutes to complete the circuit.

Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible.

Hours of access: Most +15 corridors are open Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Cost: Free.

Artwork: 14 to 16 interesting public art pieces from the Civic Art Collection.

Location: Suggested starting point is the south entrance of the Municipal Building (8th Avenue and 2nd Street S.E.) by the parking pay station. The tour is primarily indoors with just a few quick jaunts outside.

I always thought Frozen Yogurt would be a really great name for a winter arts festival in Calgary.  The sub-heading would read Calgary, Cultured to Perfection or something.

Oh!  Or Now in Hundreds of Different Flavours!

Or something about toppings.  Ummm…

…The poster could be a frozen yogurt Calgary tower.  Oh! Or a cow eating a frozen yogurt, questioning whether or not that is considered part of a vegan diet.

Speaking of things that are cultured, the Calgary Arts Development Authority has a nifty blog.  Last month, they announced some interesting stats and figures regarding arts and arts funding in Calgary and have been kind enough to post them online for those who couldn’t attend.  Some of these stats are really encouraging, though the number of full-time, employed artists in this city is a touch frightening.  Anyway.  We’ll discuss that later.

If you are interested, they’ve posted some stats in a few different formats.  If you have time, go through them all.  Very worth it.

1. Here’s the condensed version.

Lead with Culture: 2009 Report to the Community from Calgary Arts Development on Vimeo.

2.  Here is their report online or in PDF.

3.  And here’s the extended version (don’t worry, it’s not actually 47 minutes long).

So check that stuff out.

Okay, CADA, I promoted your website.  Now YOU have to make Frozen Yogurt a reality.  Deal?