February 28/08 Café

Then you've got to find a space to rehearse and present your productions,
Or the love is all you've got! What?"

Hours of rehearsals at Kim's house: songs in the dining room, sonnets in the kitchen, scenes in the living room and sax in the hallway. And a peeing puppy underneath. The last Ouro Preto Cafe in all probability: busy from really early on, lots of new faces, a new rhythym in simultaneous performance delivery and the best for last (!) L'il Caezr Teazr with a stellar example of "TROUBLE!" call-answer ensemble support.

More ruminations and photos below from Ann Noël (Garry's mum), who attended her first Café during a visit from Berlin...

This was a new, but temporary venue for the monthly „theatre à la carte“ event staged by this talented and innovative group of actors, vocalists and musicians. I was not at any of the previous evenings at Mollyz Diner, but friends told me that this modern-looking coffee shop is a larger and less intimate space. Nevertheless one was well aware of what was going on at the tables in the vicinity of one’s own and the pace at which orders were being filled was quite extraordinary. Once it a while I was curious enough to get up to go and see what was being served up to the customers in other parts of the room and to take photographs of the interaction between the actors and their audience. People seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.

Some of the things I observed were the following. A tired and dispirited waitress dressed in pink came and sat down at table next to mine to complain about her lot in life.

A guy in a black wig and dark glasses, strumming a guitar and accompanied by a saxophone player, did an Elvis impersonation.

A heartrending ballad was performed by a lanky youth wearing a scarlet sheath dress and a black leather necklace with spikes.

A quintet erected music stands and performed a classic Fluxus score by Emmett Williams, “A Four-Directional Song of Doubt”.

On my way back from visiting the washroom I saw a man hiding behind a tree, with a hand puppet emerging from the leaves, singing an operatic aria.

At one end of the counter a couple were carrying on a dialogue while manoeuvring a Playmobil princess and a prince across a tiny stage.

Another pair, accompanied by a keyboard sang a number from a musical by Stephen Sondheim.

A bearded bard softly recited Shakespeare’s 30th sonnet into my ear.

There were popular song solos, rants and raves, one-act plays, bedtime stories with cuddly toys and lots more to choose from on the menu. In another unforgettable scene involving cross-dressing, a hairy Katherine was wooed with considerable verve and ardour by a smooth-faced Petrucchio. I should have like to have seen and heard everything on the menu that night, but that is why one should attend Café DaPoPo evenings more than one time – it’s constantly changing. I have a bit farther to travel than some, but I’ll certainly try.

Ann Noël, Berlin, Germany

January 31/08 Café

Anniversaries. Milestones. Growth. A mad dash from commitment to execution. Two weeks of intense preparation, figuring out the new space, organizing the bar, licensing, rehearsing for hours with vast amounts of veggie chili (!!), bringing in a new accompanist (yay Tara "Lady Ninja" Scott), making donation receptacles (Bonnie to the rescue) and in the end, a special time to commemorate our start then and again, now. New Year, new...

Michael and Verna, two patrons from the very first Café were back for the anniversary special and enjoyed as we presented some of our favorites from the past. Our biggest fans, Megan and Gina, crossed over to the dark side and joined in the fun of performing, even doing an impromptu group rendition of "Pave Paradise" with Mike C. on guitar at one point. Ann gave freely of her Icelandic folksongs. Ivan and Mike managed to do a bit of improv, Garry and Eric did "A Little Priest" with loud acoustic gratitude following.

Excerpts from Four Actors, The Modern World and 13 Ways and we miss Shtev though Kim tries as the creepy german kid. A nod to Pip and Shtev as we open with a performance of "Pi."

An anniversary wouldn't be complete without sock puppets and Elvis (and those seem to be the only pictures we have from the night), but there was also the complete set of Urban Mysteriez - with joyously fun changes... Jill hides under the table but look, it has a glass top!... Suzanne stalks off to the bathroom and finds a sandwich at her place on her return... Jill and Helen have to improvise a horridly long time because Suzanne can't hear a blessed thing including her cue... the narrators duke it out for lordship (or ladyship).


An ensemble number to start it off and to almost end it seemed appropriate, though we must try not to stand in a line like that again (!) and the finale a first-draft-special-for-the-cafe Bedtime Story, "Juliard Hears the Call of the Jungle," penned and read by Kim. Augmented by Keelin's sublime inspiration to lead remaining patrons to a carpeted area to sit on the floor with their respective stuffed animals.

And of course, the lot of us out to Freeman's for drinks and eats and both happily and sadly, required two huge tables for our growing numbers. Café rocks on...

January 21st, 2008

Entry contributed by Kim Parkhill

To sum up the past few months....

Garry and Eric hosted a Café DaPoPo party mid-December before everyone scattered to their various points of origin for the holidays. This was the first mass gathering for us outside rehearsal, performance or Freemans.

Although we were missing several of our peeps, it was a marvellous time to be social and relax.

I left early, but I hear there was a late-night/early a.m. Biomechanics -Meyerhold dowel-tossing session in the park.

We had put Café DaPoPo on a planned Christmas hiatus, with the intention to start up again in January. However, we knew that Mollyz Diner, our loyal venue, was to be moving "somewhere toward the end of January."

Fast forward to early January when it became clear that Mollyz would be closed for the January Café and probably the February one as well. The diner and Menz Bar are moving to new digs and they are closed for the transition. Which left us wondering what we would do.

Would we also take the time off and let our performers prepare new material? Or would we try to find another venue.... wait! Paul Graham at Ouro Preto café on University Avenue approached us about having the Café there while Mollyz was unavailable.

Ok, so new question: do we do the Café in a new venue?

There were several other questions associated with both of these options. Garry, in his great wisdom, suggested that we take it to our Café DaPoPovians for debate and decision. After all, one of the "Po's" in "DaPoPo" is popular... you know, of the people.

So, on January 22nd, the Café folk were amassed at Freeman's for debate and decision. Oh, Freeman's. We can squish 12 people around one of their long tables. We had 12 people and we were missing a couple of folks. Freeman's hear this: DaPoPo needs a bigger table!

As with the best debates, there were differences of opinion, with some on the side of going for it, others on the side against and still others pointing out the issues or problems with one side or the other. What was clear was that everyone is still invested in this idea and certainly energetic about keeping it going. Yay for us!

Ultimately, the group decided that yes, we would go ahead (with Mollyz' blessing) to have the Café on our regularly scheduled night - in just two weeks, mind you - at Ouro Preto. But it was also decided that we wanted to do it in a way that let us try out the new venue, since it is very different from Mollyz and get some feedback from our regulars and friends.

AND SO.... drum roll please... we're having a party for the first anniversary of the Café. No prices on the menu. Donations always welcome, of course. Performances from the past year and all the performers who have ever done a Café and are available on the roster. Old material, some new stuff. Checking out the acoustics and the layout. Sharing our theatrical treats and having guests share too, if they want.

Today I applied for a liquor license. Probably one of the most bureaucratic things we've ever done, outside of grant applications. Of course, we're late but cross your fingers. If we get it, we'll have a cash bar for wine and beer and quite possibly a singing barmaid. If not, Paul will still offer Ouro Preto's awesome European coffees and teas and he's keeping the kitchen open til 9 pm. Yummy food - healthy sandwiches and soups with vegetarian options. And, he gives students a discount. Cool, hey?

Pass the word and if you're coming, let us know. That limited seating thing, right?

(all photos on this post are from our night of shenanigans, pre-Christmas)

November 29/07 Café

Comments pending from Eric Benson...











The Café is on hiatus until the New Year. Mollyz is moving so stay tuned for updates on performance dates and location. Happy Festive season!

October 26/07 Café

Musings contributed by Garry Williams

The October Café – the DaSpookFest specials –... and a return to a more anarchic, chaotic and celebratory Café style. Friends, family, colleagues, strangers (to us), regulars: our audience, as diverse as the spectrum of material they ordered. Tables watching other tables watching; performers witnessing peer performances; content married with form emerged as discussion this month. Rehearsals at Menz Bar helped us focus and prepare (with a special preview of some material for chef Jason).

Another flash: in the Café, the audience is your scene partner. The stage doesn't exist, or perhaps it is everywhere. You sing a Cole Porter song into the neck of an actress at the bar; you encourage your audience to wear costumes; you shake the hands of people at two tables while decrying the hypocrisies of recent Canadian history in an excerpt from Cloutier's The Modern World; you lead the audience into another space; using the outdoors: a urine-drenched barrel for Macbeth's weird sisters; the street side glass window as a frame for a silent film rendition of the closing scene from Wedekinds' Lulu.

I feel a continuum, spanning the ten Café nights since January. The vocabulary we've sought is in place: orders came in for a "happy poem"; an "up-beat Broadway song by Paul"; "can we add art to that?"; 'intimate' versus 'concert style'; a classical scene 'with cross-dressing'; "one DaPoorMan's combo, please." A stylistic plurality reigned, allowing Sondheim's "A Little Priest" to follow Marlowe's Dr. Faustus. Simultaneity of performances, overlapping. The bizarre rendition of "Auld Lang Syne" in four-part harmony with fangs in our mouths, Pete's dinner music (which we affectionately call Ninja Jam) at the keyboard, and Bonnie's new and improved Sock-Puppetz singing Schumann, Weill...

Glad to be involved with this one. Thursday was a long day for me, coming from PPTP in the morning, rehearsal for OneLight's The Veil (http://www.onelighttheatre.com/) the afternoon and Musical Theatre class in the evening. I was fully rejuvenated by midnight when we reached Freeman's – sans Sher –, where I shared a bottle of red with Eric and delightful conversation with Keelin, Chris and Ivan. Planning began for November's Anti-Christ-Mas Café.

September 27/07 Café

September 27 Back-to-School Specialz!
Performers: Sher Clain, Andrea Dymond, Chris Ferrill, Pete Gorman, Ira Henderson (Café debut!) , Sharleen Kalayil, Amy Reitsma (Café debut!) & Garry Williams

Blog entry contributed by Chris Ferrill:

The September Café opened with a bang, a squeak, and a number of funny voices. Six academics swooped down on a crowded corner of the Café and ordered the entire room to rise for the national anthem...to which they promptly forgot the words. Headmaster Garry, quite disgusted by this, began to speechify with what seemed to be a most persistent head-cold, about what was on offer for this month and then led everyone in a rousing rendition of the Muppet Theme...I mean DaPoPpet Theme.

After this, the night was as eclectic as ever with Sher Clain in sparkling evening wear singing a wonderfully pretentious piece from Cosi fan tutte... to Andrea Dymond and Ira Henderson leading a rousing interpretation of the Four Directional Song of Doubt which inspired some interesting art from Christopher Ferrill.

This month there were two newcomers to the Café: Ira and Amy Reitsma. Amy, who can't exactly be called a "newbie" considering her extensive past with DaPoPo, sang "The Ballad of Sandy Keith" along with a number of other performers, and apparently it was the best rendition they had ever done. She felt that the Café was a "valuable experience" and admitted to being "scared; but, once you're thrown into it, it's great."

Ira on the other hand "hated every living moment." It's a good thing he's a masochist.

Absent Café alums Kim Parkhill and Eric Benson weren't quite so absent considering that they were there and ordering with as much appetite as anybody. When when the entire group came out to sing "Sunday" from DaPoPo's most recent production, Sunday in the Park with George, Eric (director of the show) began to cry and sing along, while the stage manager, Jody Reeves just beamed happily.

Perhaps the most rewarding moment of the Café was when Garry Williams found out that one of our patrons was an English teacher who had been trying to teach his students Shakespeare and show them how even centuries-old words could be brought to life with the right eye or, more importantly, intonation. Indeed, he seemed to enjoy the DaPoPovians' renditions so much that he asked Garry whether or not DaPoPo visted schools and performed. Garry's answer: "Maybe."

So, who knows what's in store for next month's Café, or what's in store for DaPoPo as an educational tool? All we know is everyone seemed to have a lovely time (except maybe the servers. Sorry, guys, we will try to get out of there earlier next time) and that Andrea must order a Raspberry Passion, next time we all descend on Freeman's.

Well, that's that. Good night all.

C PBH Ferrill

August 30/07 Café

Aug. 30

Contributed by Andrea Dymond:

I don't believe there are any pics to illustrate this night's cafe.... so we'll have to make do with words alone.

This month's theme was HOT HOT HOT.... with hot topic issues, a revised specials list, including a section about burned books, renovations to Mollyz Diner itself (there is now an actual working fire in the fireplace (a fire in August?? It WAS hot!)) and a new rookie to try out some treats for herself.

The renovations at Mollyz have expanded the back room and look awesome... although we may have to do a little reconfiguring of our backstage space. For the first time ever, we had more people in the back room (next to our backstage area) than the front room which meant we had less of a backlog of orders and things moved speedily along.

Although a new section of the every popular Urban Mysteriez was ready (barely!) no one ordered it; ah well, that'll have to remain a treat for next month. Along with some white hot rantz (thank you Eric!) we had lots of new songs featuring heat and fever. A new addition to our bedtime story was Lady Chatterly's Lover, a option to get erotica read to patrons instead of a children's story.

Our newest member, Sharleen, eased into her first evening with some singing and lots of improv and had so much fun she agreed without hesitation to come back next month!However, we do need numbers back on the tables... no numbers of tables... how does one figure out which table ordered what? I know I performed at least one thing to the wrong table.... oops!

All in all it was a rather relaxing evening.... hmmmm.... cafe? Relaxing? Weird. At the end of the evening, the question that comes to mind: is it becoming easier or are we just getting better and better at this?

Thanks for posting this for me.... hmmm... maybe in my tutorial session with Eric he can teach me about blogs too.

Cheers,
A:)