I seem to have sliced the merry Hell out of my thumb a ways back at the drudgery, it doesn’t seem to want to stop bleeding, and quite frankly I feel a little woozy. So this’ll either be the BEST or the WORST Foofarah ever.  If I finish it before I pass out, that is.  Best be quick about it, I suppose.

– IN THEATRES THIS WEEK!

NOVEMBER from 730 Productions, at the Gladstone Theatre.

THE NUMBER 14 from Axis Theatre, at the GCTC.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE at the National Arts Centre.

SOUS-SOL A LOUER at Theatre de L’Ile.

LE GRAND CAHIER from NAC French Theatre.

MR.PIM PASSES BY at Ottawa Little Theatre.

DICKEN’S DELIGHTS from Third Wall Theatre, on December 5th.

CRUSH IMPROV 5th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL from Crush Improv and friends at Academic Hall, on December 7th.

…Aaand, I left my trusty theatre bible at home today, so this will have to do until I get back and can check it for what I missed.  My brain ain’t working so good right now, whoo!

AWARDS?  So, this past week I headed down to the basement of the Laurier Royal Oak to attend the OTTAWA FRINGE FESTIVAL lottery draw party, for the first time ever.  It was a good time, and I got to see some pals like Rich Hemphill (who got drawn first in local, huzzah!), lovely Victoria Luloff (waiting listed, boo!), and of course Fringe overlord Natalie Joy Quesnel.  Some familiar names were called, and some exciting new names came to my attention (I’m already looking forward eagerly to more than a few of the companies headed our way…dance, opera, clown, yay!).  While I was down there, I got an e-mail that took me quite by surprise…it seems my silly little blog, home of my drunken raving ramblings about local theatre, has been nominated for two awards in the 2012 NINJAMATICS CANADIAN WEBLOG AWARDS, in the Arts & Culture, and Best Written categories (that last one I’m particularly chuffed about).  I’ve no idea who nominated me, or for heavens’ sake WHY, but my thanks to ya, you made my day.  The nominees list gets culled in half on the 15th of January, with awards being given out at the end of that month.  So, I’ get to ride this at LEAST til the 15th, and I guess that’s better than nothing!  Wish me luck, and all that jazz, eh?

SEASONS: Over the last few weeks, a few local companies and theatres have been making waves, announcing their new seasons and upcoming shows, and I thought I should take a moment to shout-out what’s been happening.  First off, my good buddies at the ever-amazing EVOLUTION THEATRE are back, and ready to bring the goods in their 2013 season.  In March, the Evolution gang teams with local heroes Mi Casa Theatre to bring you HROSES: AN AFFRONT TO REASON by Jill Connell.  Starring Nick DiGaetano and Katie Swift, and directed by Emily Pearlman, you should already be looking forward to this one if you’ve got any horse sense in ya (get it???).  After that, in May…[boxhead] is back!!  This utterly amazing show from writer Darren O’Donnell was one of the hard-to-catch highlights of this past year, curtailed as it was due to actor illness.  I’m thrilled to bits that it will be returning, hopefully with the original team intact.  Director Alix Sideris, stars Stewart Matthews and Chris Bedford, and stage manager Nick Alain put too much work into this brilliant, insane show not to have it seen by the adoring masses.  Nice call, Evolution, and I can’t wait to see it again.

Meanwhile, just this week Ottawa Little Theatre went ahead and announced their 101st season, already getting started on century #2.  A more modern mix after this year’s 100-yearspread, OLT will be kicking it in 13-14 with shows like SKIN FLICK from Norm Foster; DEADLY MURDER from David Foley; A CHRISTMAS STORY from Phillip Grecian; RUMORS by Neil Simon; HALF LIFE by John Mighton; DRAMA AT INISH by Lennox Robertson (co-production with the Tara Players); MARUTIUS by Theresa Rebeck; TOUCH AND GO by Derek Benfield; and DRIVING MISS DAISY by Alfred Uhry.  I’m already hip-deep in enjoying the current season, and the new one sounds mighty fine to my ears.  Keep on keeping on, OLT!

SPAM:  Last night, in a slightly drunken, alightly depressed bit of indulgence shopping, I spent some cash and officially made this a paid website (notice the new ‘thevisitorium.com’ address up above, yo).  Part of it was because, if I AM going to spend money for this site, it shouldn’t all just go to line the coffers of the Ben Wellands of the world.  More and more of my time and life is absorbed by my theatrical dealings on the site, and more and more people seem to enjoy reading what’s on it’s pages.  So, there’s that.  There’s also that I wanted to be able to upload sound and video eventually, and this was a necessary step towards that.  Why, you ask?  Glad you asked.  Because here for your incredible amusement is the first in what I hope will be an ongoing feature here at the Foofarah…

DRAMATIC READINGS OF THE SHIT I FIND IN MY SPAM FILTER.

READING THE FIRST:

Voice 001(1)

OH yeah, there’s more to come of that, terrible sound quality and all.  I need to practice, after all, for any further REMOTE PLANET adventures I may have (my first episode is coming up soon, gang…excitementation!!!  In the meantime, I’ve lost a lot of blood, and i still have to drag all this non-perishable food to the Elmdale Tavern for tonight’s Food Bank episode of Crush Improv‘s BOUT TIME!  I should note that much of what I’ll be bringing tonight was generously donated by the Clocktower Brewpub, which I more commonly refer to as ‘the drudgery’.  Sometimes, they do good. 🙂

So I’ll see you at the show, for sure, right?  For sure, then.  In the meantime…peace, love and soul,

The Visitor (and Winston)