Bienvenue

The first 24 seconds of this video is how I feel right now.

The other 6 minutes and 46 seconds of it is brilliant.

ps. Watch Part II for effects intended by the playwright.

Opening tonight

If there is any excuse for my shotty posting over the past little while, here it is.

RTS presents

AS YOU LIKE IT

Written by William Shakespeare

Rehearsed with Ian Watson

Set and costume design by Esther Kim

Lighting design by Kai Masaoka

December 1 - 4 2009

Abrams Studio Theatre

Featuring Eva Barrie, Ayinde Blake, Laurie Campbell, Sean Casey, Cassandra Dang, Patrick Godin, Kira Guloien, Kate Handford, Kirsten Harvey, Madeleine Jullian, Andrew Lawrie, Anthony Rella, Ellis Rockburn, Katie Ryerson, Harveen Sandhu, Karen Slater, Noah Spitzer, Thomas Swayne, Philippe Van de Maele and Anna Wheeler

It's my design debut! It was a strange time in my life, but I am so excited for the show to open tonight, it's been a long time since I was really proud of my work of any sort being featured in a theatre, no matter how small. After a couple 90-hour weeks, I am ready to do this all over again (and I thank everyone involved for teaching me everything I know) and keep at it for once. But before I do anything again, there's the opening night party to attend to.

The sold-out run begins tonight!

ps. Happy December, and hope you enjoyed your snow-free November, Toronto!

Happy belated Halloween!

I have no costume, since I have been too busy (and also, loaded with lame excuses). Truth be told, I think I'm too old for Halloween (at prime 21), and I'm not sure if I was ever hugely into it ever since I stopped going out to collect candy. I will admit to wanting to drown in a bag of Tootsie Rolls nonetheless. Did you see the Google banners? They were sooooo cute.

Anyway, happy Halloween to those who enjoyed the occasion--I may have no costumes for myself but I'm in the process of costuming 20 others, for the upcoming production of As You Like It by William Shakespeare, at the Ryerson Theatre. Stay tuned!

And happy November! I should have perhaps shared this during the month of October:

Marseille (and Toronto)

I'm reading Pictures from Italy, written by Charles Dickens. I was going through my 1600+ photos from Europe and thought it would be a nuch more solid-headed recap; Dickens wrote it during his travels through Italy (via France) starting in 1844, and amazingly, he is tracing my steps backwards through France--Avignon, Aix and Marseille. He talks of the gypsies, the beggars in the streets, crowds gathering at popular tourist sites (the same as today), and so much of it is the same, yet so different too, with Dickens and his family taking three full days to travel from Paris to Marseille whereas it took me all of the hour and fifteen minutes to travel overhead.

Here's a passage he wrote of Marseille:

I was there, twice or thrice afterwards, in fair weather and foul; and I am afraid there is no doubt that it is a dirty and disagreeable place... a compound of vile smells perpetually arising from a great harbour full of stagnant water... which, in hot weather, is dreadful in the last degree.

And that seems to be an opinion of Marseille held by quite a few travellers I met on the road. Those who love Marseille, however, are more than infatuated with it. What I have of it are kind strangers eager to point me in the right direction, lasting patience with my less-than-perfect French, good advices and good seafood.


Nom, mussels and fries.

Clearest waters, my first dip in the Mediterranean

Notre-dame de la garde, seen from the Vieux Port

...but I guess divided opinions are true of every city. The same goes for Toronto, it seems--I jumped onto my flight home and was uneasy with impatience my entire flight home, dying to see my garbage strike-ridden city and reunite with my hometown that I love so much. A friend of mine was disappointed that I still held such enthusiasm for Toronto. When I asked him why, he answered that he wanted to hear from another person, and be assured that Toronto is not a place to stay.

But you know I feel otherwise.

Forest City Lovers and the D'Urbervilles tomorrow! SummerWorks is yet another point for the T.O.

Before I leave

This past Thursday I went to the Grizzly Bear concert, and I know you hear this from me, but God, what an amazing show. This time I really, really mean it. I was amazed by everything, even by how big Chris Taylor's mouth could get when he sings, but especially by Ed Droste's voice, and by how the ever-lovely Leslie Feist made a guest appearance. Observe and admire:

What a grand send-off (I leave for Europe tomorrow). When I come back I'll be seeing Amy Millan of Stars and my rainbow-endorsed imaginary husband Gentleman Reg at the Harbourfront Centre on July 25th, the Rural Alberta Advantage (the newest Saddle Creek addition, if you haven't heard yet) on the 30th, and St. Vincent on August 8th. I think that just about makes up for all the great shows I'll be missing: Beirut + the Dodos, and the Toronto Fringe Festival among others. My two former roommates are performing in two shows at the Toronto Fringe, Goodbye Rounds and Tim Buck 2 (scroll down a lot to find this one). I swear I almost considered going to Europe at some other time, but I'm really damn lucky to be living in this city. Dear Lady Luck, thanks for placing me here.

In a totally different news, my sister is now inhabiting the wonderful stad of Antwerpen (pronounced Antwerpuh), read her Euroblog here and her great story of how the name of the town came to be.

Dirt and grime

Designing and dyeing for Caliban, from The Tempest by (the amazing) Shakespeare.

Deformed and grimey.

Wear & tear with scissors, stitch rippers and nail clippers


After dyeing the first layer with tea. Thank you, Lipton.

Fibre-reactive dye. Building layers.

With a lot of green... This is pretty much the stage it's at right now, but with a lot more green.

Dyeing my skin, while I'm at it. Can I be a Martian?

ps. When I first started writing here, I meant to keep track of the things I was making and creating. I couldn't stand the fact that school, which I attend to further my creative knowledge, was such a hindrance to this, so it's pretty exciting when I get to do things like dyeing.

Opening tonight!

Ryerson Theatre School presents

Mother Courage and Her Children
by Bertolt Brecht
Directed by Richard Greenblatt
Design by Glenn Davidson and Alex Gilbert

My love child of time, paints clothes and numerous cuts of the past month or so is finally opening. Super excited. :) Wish it wasn't the same night as Bruce Peninsula live at Soundscapes though...

Scenic painting class

I'm winding down. This is a picture of my last assignment of the semester with our scenic painting instructor, Richard, in the front of the flats for scale. It took 8 students and a few weeks, and it's quite a difference compared to fine arts, but it was an experience.


(Two of my group members, Alisa and Nadia)

FUN TIMES.

(photo cred goes out to Kathleen Cheung!)