Toronto Life articles from April 2000

Toronto Life archives from April 2000

(Krista) Sutton's place.
April 1, 2000... This is The Actress's Big Moment. In a cold snap in the first month of the new millennium, it becomes clear that a Moment is at hand, because suddenly every aspect of the Actress's personal minutiae is spread across the news as though it is,...

This issue.
April 1, 2000... AT SOME TIME IN OUR LIVES, MANY OF US CHOOSE TO GO public. The decision to enter politics is such a choice. A politician is, by definition, a public person. But so is a professional athlete, an actor, a television anchor, and anyone in any walk...

Renegade (Peter Brook directs Can Themba's The suit).
April 1, 2000... RENEGADE Peter Brook emerged at the end of the Second World War as an enfant terrible in British theatre, and has stayed well ahead of the pack ever since. He was only 20 when he directed his first world-class production, a rapturously received...

Art throb (the tenor performs in Toronto).
April 1, 2000... ART THROB He delivers over 70 performances a year with a repertoire that's grown beyond 100 roles. He conducts in theatres around the world. He's artistic director of not one but two opera companies (Washington and Los Angeles), and he's...

Male chauvinist dig (artist reproduces famous paintings in monochrome to make a feminist statement).
April 1, 2000... MALE CHAUVINIST DIG Just as a yellow mylar sheet laid over a printed page can stabilize skewed letters for a dyslexic, Lucy Hogg's monochrome reproductions of famous paintings use colour to alter the relationships between their male subjects...

Fresh blood (the National Ballet School's first artist in residence curates a performance of rarely seen duets and a solo).
April 1, 2000... FRESH BLOOD It was a sign of the times, 10 years ago, when the country's premier ballet school, known for its immaculate classicism, invited a modern dancer and choreographer to help train its progeny. Since then, the fiercely talented Peggy...

Nature of economies.
April 1, 2000... JACOBS' LADDER Deep in the heart of the downtown, more than a hundred people recently gathered in a hot elementary school gym to debate the merits and (mostly) demerits of a vast new development intended for their neighbourhood. Waxing poetic...

Deconstructing (Tom) Jakobek: this is a man who knows his job ... but does he have what it takes to be mayor?
April 1, 2000... THE BODY POLITIC. Tom Jakobek is a towering figure in local politics, both figuratively and literally. At just 40, he's one of those guys who is finally growing into an adolescent body. He is a beanpole, all arms and legs and domed forehead....

New noise ... everything about Mark Steyn, the frequently outrageous columnist for the National Post, is mysterious - except his success.
April 1, 2000... AFTER THE DEATH OF JOHN F. KENNEDY JR. last summer, Mark Steyn of the National Post called Kennedy's magazine, George, "politics for a post-political age." In recent years, Steyn wrote, politics has moved into a new phase, focused on image and...

Coming to a theatre near you -- Toronto's Lion King hasn't even opened, and it's already a huge success ... like it or not ... prefab productions are here to stay.
April 1, 2000... AS YOU SETTLE INTO YOUR THEATRE SEAT in pre-show anticipation, as you open your program to read the credits of who's in it and who did what, your eye will be drawn to the special prominence given to "Directed by..." You may well reflect on the...

No comment ... what ... does this civil rights lawyer have to hide?
April 1, 2000... WHAT A PERFECT NAME: CLAY RUBY. Think about it. First, Clay. Common clay, the stuff we all come from and to whence... Symbolic of the average, proletarian Joe. The little guy, up against the unfeeling state, willing to crush him or any...

Let it snow.
April 1, 2000... It's just past nine a.m., and most of the guys are back from their first run, sitting around and yucking it up. "We've got the Disgruntled Postman, the Weasel, the Doctor, and Nipples, who's always glad to see you when it's cold," says Hennie...

Reservations recommended: the top 10 restaurants in Toronto.
April 1, 2000... Dining out is a complex experience made up of innumerable details. Small touches delight as much as bold strokes. The pleasures accumulate, far exceeding all expectations, and next thing you know, another name has been added to your personal...

Urban oasis (Toronto's El Mocambo bar).
April 1, 2000... Despite its luminous place in rock music lore, the El Mocambo has a history pocked with dark incidents. Taken literally, the El Mo's darkest episode occurred during the late '70s, when its sign--the glimmering pop art marquee that lends a touch...

Both sides now: in 1965, full of passion and promise, the Buchans and the Marksons symbolized an exciting new generation. How did a boundless future turn into a haunting past?
April 1, 2000... GEORGE BUCHAN FIRST SAW NADIA PAVLYCHENKO IN 1960 IN PARIS. He was 27, working with a small architectural firm, one of a cohort of Depression babies who found that in the post-war era jobs grew like summer cherries, ripe for the picking. His...

Mergers and acquisitions: Libby Znaimer and Doug Goold wanted to move in together, but their furniture - hers art deco, his high Victorian - didn't get along.
April 1, 2000... WHEN YOU WALK INTO LIBBY ZNAIMER AND Douglas Goold's living room, all eyes go to two cushioned benches. Behind each one, six gently swelling upholstered rectangles extend all the way to the plate rail. Part banquette and part daybed, part...

Holy adman.
April 1, 2000... For dapper ad agency head Geoffrey Roche (he of memorable IKEA, Harry Rosen and ROM campaigns), the greatest conundrum of style is: what to wear on Sundays? "Putting a suit on is easy," he says. "Casual dressing can be infinitely problematic."...

Tasting notes.
April 1, 2000... These notes list producer-shipper, agent (and telephone), CSPC number (V indicates a Vintages bottle), price per 750 mL and region. Consignment bottles are generally brought in by the case from the agent. Rating is on a five-star system that...

Doug Henning: May 3, 1947 - February 7, 2000.
April 1, 2000... It was always the same. We'd set up for an interview in a magic shop or backstage at some magician's show, and the producer of the documentary I was working on would introduce me as a relative of Doug's. Inevitably, the shop owner or magician...