Ok. Here we go. Enough dilly dallying and scratching my ass. Time to put on a show. Timeframe of set up and rehearsals: five days (May 18 to 22). Performance date: May 22 Fri and May 23 Sat @ 8pm plus one matinee on May 23 at 3pm. Not to mention a collage workshop and artist's talk in between. Good thing I have lots of help and great collaborators from Kapisanan Philippine Center to assist. Below, April Aliermo and Daniel aka. Dingdong Lee helping load my one suitcase of props, costumes, and a bunch of art supplies into a cab to bring to the performance venue.
These guys work so hard. I really felt like a lazy burgeois slob next to them. They would eventually end up creating a nipa hut from scratch, rigging up the video system, and staying up until 8am one night just to finish a paper collage "American Imperialist Dog Monster" for the American Colonial period portion of the show. (It was their idea). Their backdrop for the World War II segment would also blow my mind. Their creativity and work ethic are truly inspiring.
The location: Rolly's Garage on Ossington Street. Click here:
A little tidbit about lower Ossington great area of Toronto. Once a sleepy neighborhoon full of immigrants, it's now in the midst of becoming an uber cool hipster wasteland full of galleries, bars, and restaurants. For booze, go to Sweaty Betty's (above) or Watusi. For food, go to Golden Turtle Vietnamese Pho on the corner of Argyle or The Reposado Portuguese Deli in front of it. Do not go to BMQ Hamburgers up the street. The owner is an ass so I will spread a rumor that they have rats.
But first, I have to do an interview on CBC radio 99.1 at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on John Street. Thanks Tori Allen for making it happen. So after dropping off the gear at Rolly's Garage, I leave Daniel and April to their own devices and head out towards the Canadian National (CN) Tower downtown.
But like a dog, I am distracted by lunch. Polish sausage. Bought at a street corner. With sauerkraut and a bottle of apple juice. C$3.50. Roughly Php150.00. Food is rather expensive in Canada. But it is fresh and plentiful. I guess it's expensive because they have winters and maybe their soil isn't as fertile as ours. I really think we need to have winter to instill a sense of urgency for Filipinos. Everyday is a nice warm day in The Philippines, perhaps that's why we procrastinate so much about things like fixing our economy and changing the constitution. Really, with the resources we have, poverty and hunger is inexcusable.
The waiting room. It all went by so quickly, that I forgot the name of the lady who interviewed me. Oops. My bad. I do have the interview itself though. I just now have to figure out how to load it online.Next: Setting the stage.
