Artword Artbar

NEW DATES: May 1 to 5, 2013, six shows: Wed to Sunday at 7:30, plus a matinee Sunday at 2 pm. Artword Theatre’s four-play season at The Lyric 2012-2013 continues with a revival of our hit show Tobacco Troubadour, a musical play about growing up in tobacco country. Based on the songs of J.P. Riemens, with script and direction by Ronald Weihs. Starring J.P. Riemens & the Barflies, and the Artword Theatre Ensemble: Pamela Gardner, Paula Grove, Gordon Odegaard and Ryan Sero. For more information, call Artword at 905-543-8512.
VENUE: Lyric Theatre, 434 King Street West at Locke. Book tickets: http://www.lyrichamilton.com/ 905-527-6135. Prices: $19 weekdays & Sunday (seniors/students $16); $25 Friday & Saturday (seniors/students $16).
Click here to download the Tobacco Troubadour poster (full-size for legal paper) .

Event, Music, Theatre

Thursday February 14 and Saturday February 16, at 7:30 pm. $10. Artword Theatre presents “Langston Hughes vs. Joe McCarthy”,  a dramatic reading for Black History Month. With Jeremy Shand as Langston Hughes and Colina Phillips as the voice of the poems. Piano by Jennifer Lockman. Conceived and directed by Ronald Weihs.
On March 24, 1953, Langston Hughes, renowned poet of the Harlem Renaissance, was summoned before the McCarthy Committee investigating communist subversion in the USA. This dramatic reading interweaves some of his testimony with selected poems.
“Langston Hughes vs. Joe McCarthy” is the theatre component of the Roots en Route Festival for Black History Month at various venues in Hamilton.

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Artword Theatre is back in action, with a four-show season of original plays with music, two new and two favourites remounted. For more information call Ron and Judith at 905-543-8512.
We’re presenting these at:  The Lyric Theatre, at 434 King Street West, near Locke. For tickets call 905-527-6135, or book online at http://www.lyrichamilton.com

Event, News, Theatre

An Artword Theatre favourite is back! Allan Merovitz‘s delightful show If Cows Could Fly, with live Klezmer music, runs Wed to Sat, January 30 to Feb 2, 2013, at 8 pm, plus two shows Sunday, February 3, at 2 pm and 7:30 pm. Wed, Thurs & Sun: $19 regular, $16 seniors/students. Fri & Sat: $25 regular, $16 students/seniors. Venue: Lyric Theatre, 434 King St. W. Tickets: 905-527-6135 or http://tickets.lyrichamilton.com/
Allan Merovitz, a widely-known actor and Klezmer musician, grew up in Smiths  Falls in the Ottawa Valley in a family of Hassidic Jews. Read more…

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Artword Theatre presents its second play of the 2012-13 season, James Street.  a mad musical dash through the history of Hamilton. It runs Thurs-Sat at 8 pm, November 29, 30, December 1, 6, 7, 8 , at the Lyric Theatre, 434 King Street W., 905-527-6135. Book online: www.lyrichamilton.com. Regular prices: $19 Thursdays, $24 Fridays and Saturdays. Students/seniors $16. Children (12 and under) $10. Preview Wed, Nov 28 — all tickets $10.
Charly Chiarelli plays a modern Hamiltonian who magically encounters a famous figure from the 1840s – Paola Brown, a leader in Hamilton’s black community and Hamilton’s official town crier (played by Jeremy Shand). The two find themselves witnesses to (and sometimes participants in) a fast-forward gallop through life on James Street. They see how pioneer dentistry was done, witness George Hamilton and his cronies (Hughson and Durand) plot out the town, watch a farmer advertise for a wife “with a good back”, drop into Billy Carroll’s cigar shop and bookie joint to bet on the first Around the Bay Race, take a ride on the new Electric Railway – all depicted by Valeri Kay, Gordon Odegaard, Ryan Sero, and Abigail Veenstra. Mark McNeil appears onstage with guitar as a street singer, with his buddy Ron Weihs on fiddle, and of course Charly on harmonica

James Street is written and directed by Ronald Weihs. Songs are by Mark McNeil, one of Hamilton’s most inventive singer-songwriters and a well-known journalist for the Hamilton Spectator. Judith Sandiford is both producer and designer.

It’s a celebration of the contribution James Street is making to the revitalization of downtown Hamilton, and it’s lots of fun. Come and enjoy it with us.

One of the songs in the play, “Private Riley”, is featured in a special section of the Hamilton Spectator commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI – “Rileys”). (Check it out online at http://www.thespec.com/community/RHLI) There is a terrific video of Mark McNeil performing the song with the RHLI Regimental Band.

Event, News, Special event, Theatre

“Private Riley”, a song written by Mark McNeil that will be sung in our play “James Street”, is part of the 150 commemoration of the RHLIs. See the special section of the Hamilton Spectator Nov 8, 2012

News, Theatre

Thurs to Sunday Nov 15 to 18 and Nov 22 to 25, 8 pm (Sundays 2:30). Hammertheatre presents playwright and director Sky Gilbert’s newest one-act play Naked Hamilton. The play stars Elley-Ray Hennessy (Hamilton Bus Stop) and Scott McCord (Scott McCord and the BonaFide Truth). The production has been written specifically for the intimate cafe-bar environment at Artword Artbar (as was Hamilton Bus Stop in 2010).
THE PLAY: Hamilton’s changing. And yes, when things change, much remains the same. Sure there are forces of gentrification — as thousands turn up for the James Street Art Crawl. But as the so-called ‘economic downturn’ hits home, jobs can be scarce and the non-working poor can get plenty pissed off. In Naked Hamilton, issues of class are revealed as the forces of Hamilton old and Hamilton new confront each other. Read more…

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From July 19 to 29, 2012, it’s Hamilton Fringe Theatre Festival time. Artword Artbar, 15 Colbourne Street, is the Fringe Clubhouse, open daily during the Festival from about 5 pm weekdays, noon on weekends until late (midnight, 1:00 am). Meet-up before/after shows, light meals, espresso, licenced under the AGCO. Special Fringe events at Artword Artbar (see following posts). In the Gallery each Fringe show is invited to mount a display.
The 2012 Hamilton Fringe Theatre Festival: Four venues in the James North district,  a short walk from Artword Artbar. Click the map.
Twenty-nine companies with 28 shows, 7 performances of each show! For show info and schedules: http://www.hamiltonfringe.ca/ Read more…

Event, News, Special event, Theatre

Friday March 2 at 8 pm, at Artword Artbar, $15 door ($12 advance 905-543-8512). Suitcase in Point Theatre Company presents “The Keith Richards One Woman Show” performed by Deanna Jones, as part of their 2012 bar tour. Plus post-show tunes by Kevin Richardson.
This original play collides fantasy, rock ’n’ roll and pure heart in its exploration of image, excess and the inspiring endurance of the legendary co-founding member of The Rolling Stones – Mr. Keith Richards.  As a one-woman powerhouse, Deanna Jones plays multiple characters – including Anita Pallenburg, Gram Parsons and Mick Jagger to name a few – while taking audiences on a sleep-deprived trip through Keith’s life. Collaborator and Stones enthusiast Kevin Richardson (aka Attic Daddy) plays a live rock score that invokes the world of The Stones and, in particular, the raw sounds of Richards. For more on the tour, check out www.suitcaseinpoint.com
Credits: Original creation by Deanna Jones & Cole Lewis; Performed by Deanna Jones; Live musical score by Kevin Richardson; Lighting Design and Stage Manager – Chris Penney; Contributors – Annie Wilson, Natasha Pedros, Stephen Remus, Lisa Marie DiLiberto.

Event, Music, Theatre

Wednesday to Saturday, December 7 to 10 and 14 to 17, 2011, all shows 8 pm (except Friday December 9 show at 10 pm).
Have a Cu’Fu Christmas with Charly Chiarelli. Calogero (Charly) Chiarelli is coming back to Hamilton with a Christmas cabaret production of his international theatrical hit, Cu’Fu (So Who Did It?), about growing up Sicilian in Hamilton’s North End. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll love it.

Earlybird tickets are available at $10 until November 30. Advance tickets, from December 1 to 6 are $12. Reservations after Dec 6 and tickets at the door are $15. NEW! Website for Charly’s Cu’Fu? 2011 where you can RESERVE ON LINE with PayPal.
Friday, December 9 is Artcrawl on James Street North. Instead of the regular start time, there will be a post-crawl performance at 10:00 p.m., no reserve tickets, all tickets $10 at the door.

Artword Artbar, at 15 Colbourne Street, is two blocks from where Charly grew up. Ron and Judith, who run the Artbar, produced and directed the first productions of Cu’Fu in their Toronto theatre, where it was filmed for Bravo Television. Charly has performed Cu’Fu across Canada, from Halifax to Vancouver, from his home town Hamilton to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories — and in Italy, in Italian. The Edmonton Journal called him “the Sicilian Spalding Gray, or the Hamilton Mark Twain”.

Event, James North events, Special event, Theatre

ADDED SHOWS on Friday Dec 9 Art Crawl at 7:30 and 8:30 pm, tip jar! Sunday December 4 and Sunday December 11,  open at 2 pm, performances at 3 and 5 pm, $7. All ages. A Christmas treat for the whole family — toys and puppets!!
**Studio Babette brings you a Christmas treat: Pulcinella, il Cameriere (Pulcinella, the Waiter) is a fun-filled puppet play using hand puppets inspired by the Commedia dell’Arte style of puppetry. Join Pulcinella as he attempts to impress Pantalone, in order to get closer to Pantalone’s flirtatious daughter Angelina, while the Dog threatens to ruin everything. http://www.studiobabette.ca/
** Hamilton Toy Museum’s exhibit in the gallery will have hands-on activities (such as lego-building) before and after the puppet shows.
The exhibits:
- Marionettes and puppets from the collection of Marie Franek and Studio Babette (examples right)
- A display of published illustration pieces from comics, toys and children’s books from the Hamilton Toy Museum, coordinated by Chris and Shannon Weston. http://www.thtm.ca/
The exhibits run from December 1 to 17, Tuesday to Sat from 6 pm, and Sunday Dec 4 and 11 from 2 pm. The artists/coordinators will be present during the James North Art Crawl from 7 to 10 pm.

Artword Gallery, Event, Special event, Theatre

Thursday October 13 at 8 pm pwyc. Behind the Kiln #12. Always thrilling and unpredictable, our  evenings of real-time collaborations between dancers, musicians and visual artists, are a treat. Organized by dancer-choreographer Tanis MacArthur and video-jammer Judith Sandiford. [Image left Sept 15: duet Tanis MacArthur, Rose Gowling, plus live web-cam (photo Anne Milne)]
Movers and sounders for our “ghOulish and dreAry” Oct 13 include: Victoria Slager, Anne Milne, Jennifer Lockman, Tom Shea. Orange McFarland, Tanis MacArthur, Liz Bates, Ron Weihs, Judith Sandiford.

Dance, Event, Film, Music, Theatre

Wednesday October 5 at 8 pm, free. A Special Event: “Meet with Sarah Thornton, Artistic Director of Liverpool’s Collective Encounters — Theatre for Social Change. Sarah will show some slides of recent productions, including participatory theatre by youth groups and senior citizens, and professional site-specific productions on the effects of urban renewal on local populations, the state of the nation and homelessness. She is eager to chat about how this work resonates with work being done in Hamilton.” This informal evening with Sarah supplements her talk at McMaster University in the afternoon.
TALK @ McMaster Robinson Theatre 3:30 – 5:30
Presentation – Q&A @ Artword Artbar 8pm-10pm Read more…

Event, Special event, Theatre

Sunday September 11 at 8 pm. At Artword Artbar 15 Colbourne St, for one night only.  Touring theatre company Insurgent Theatre brings their most recent work “In the Belly”, their experimental play about the US prison industrial complex. Created in workshop by Weslie Coleman, Kate Pleuss, and Ben Turk, with assistance from Harmony Bench and Rebecca Riley. “This show contains nudity, violence and other sad realities of the US prison system.” http://insurgenttheatre.org/   Read more…

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Tuesdays at 8 pm, free.  Artword Theatre hosts “Theatre Tuesdays” — readings from new plays, works-in-progress, favourite plays, and/or short theatrical presentations, films about theatre, etc. To get involved, as a writer, reader, presenter, actor, listener… contact us: artword@artword.net
Tues Aug 16: videos of Artword Theatre’s productions of Charly Chiarelli’s Cu’Fu and Mangiacake.
Tues Aug 23: TBA
Tues Aug 30: TBA

Event, Theatre

Wednesday July 6, 5:30 pm. The Hamilton Friendship Association with Cuba proudly presents a Fundraiser for Pastors for Peace Cuba Caravan (http://www.ifconews.org/CubaCaravan), on their Hamilton stop. The evening features a theatrical performance by actor Brian Gordon Sinclair’s of his new work IN DEADLY ERNEST, part of his Hemingway on Stage series. With guest speaker Reverend Thomas Smith of Pastors for Peace.
Wednesday, July 6 / Doors: 5:30pm – Performance: 6:00pm
General Admission: $15.00/ Student and Senior Rate: $10.00/ 12 and under: $8.00. Pay what you can, no one refused entry!
Tickets at the door or by contact info@cubacanada.org Read more…

Event, Special event, Theatre