The Unknown Studio

Welcome back, listeners, to a bright, new and shiny season of the Unknown Studio!

[holds for applause.]

We decided to kick off the season with a guest who barely needs an introduction. You might remember her from such newspapers as the Edmonton Journal. You may have even read some of her blog posts over at Edmonton Commons. Yes, that’s right, everyone; I’m talking about Edmonton’s own Paula Simons!

[holds for raucous applause.]

We’ll share an episode breakdown with you later. For now, we’d just ask that you enjoy this extra-long season premiere!

[bows, then exits over thunderous applause.]

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A few weeks back, we got an email from Kathleen Ochoa asking if we could publish a review she did of Madame Butterfly, which she saw the last weekend in August. We meant to post this sooner, but then we got busy and it was pushed down our inbox list. Sorry Kathleen!

Enjoy her post, and read more about Kathleen at the end of the story.

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I’m not sure that many people attended Mercury Opera’s production of Madame Opera the weekend of August 27th, but, for those of us who made it out to this unique outdoor event, it was totally worth it.

I have to admit sometimes to being a “hater” when it comes to my hometown — mostly when it comes to the events that happen in parks. They always seem to have the look of empty festivals that leave you with the feeling of, “gee if we were just in a bigger city, this event wouldn’t feel so dead or empty.”

That being said, being a producer of events I understand how much work and money it takes to put on a well-conceived event, never mind all the work it takes to produce a successful show with high artistic talent. Read the rest of this entry »

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So long, you delightful scamps!

On Sunday morning last week, I received an email from Jeff Samsonow and Sally Poulsen, the creators of theEdmontonian.com, one of the city’s most beloved blogs. They said that two weeks hence, they’d be closing up shop. I paused. I yelled. I swore. I called my girlfriend over to the computer screen and we both read the message in disbelief.

“Other projects,” they said paraphrasically in their email, “are jumping around in our heads, and we can’t pursue them without moving on from the Edmontonian.”

“OUTRAGE!” I responded, frightening my girlfriend, and our cat, who both read on in dismay. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 30% [?]

We love great content — content that focuses on the interesting stories in Edmonton that should be told to the masses. So we want you — our listeners — to help us create this content. We want YOU to produce a segment for the Unknown Studio.

As such, we’re holding a contest starting today, and ending on September 30. We want you to pitch us your segment idea. It can be hard news, comedy, skit-based, a radio play, a series of interviews — whatever you want. Read the rest of this entry »

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And so we come to a special summer episode, featuring content from two of our favourite summer festivals here in Edmonton — the Folk Music Festival and the International Fringe Festival. So I guess that either makes this show a season two postscript, or else a season three prequel. I’ll let you decide. Here’s what we have in store for you…

0:00: Scott blows the dust off our recording equipment
2:02: Adam talks to Kat Danser at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival
6:25: Adam talks to the Deep Dark Woods at the EFMF
11:56: Sex Talk with Lauren – Have Dildo Will Travel
14:17: 30 years of the International Fringe Festival
16:57: Adam talks to Scott C. Bourgeois and Leah Anderson about two Fringe productions they’re in
27:15: Scott talks to two lovely women from New York, performing at the Fringe for Channel One
37:15: Adam chats with young playwright and Fringe performer Ben Wheelwright
43:49: Scott shares a few moment with several Kows from Apocalypse Kow
51:22: Scott talks to Trent Wilkie from the one-man show Aachen
1:00:30: Outro

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Welcome to another “Hitting the Links,” fellow Internauts.

I will be spending the next week firmly entrenched in my various Edmonton International Fringe Festival projects. You should check out both the stage play I’m in, as well as the nightly improv show.

The improvisational comedy show in particular might be up your alley.

But before I delve deeply into the world of theatre for the next week, I leave you with 18 Internet holes of glory for you to poke your business into. Uh…

This week’s batch of the bizarre includes a police force being laid off, thinking machines, real-life costumed crime fighters, undead squids and a town-for-sale.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 17% [?]