Tuesday 31 July 2012

Love Your Venue: End of The Line

A Synonym for Love is an opera that moves (with its audience) throughout the iconic Gladstone Hotel, which has been putting a roof over the heads of weary travelers since 1889. While The Gladstone is well known today as a prominent showcase for Toronto artists - with 37 artist designed rooms and regular exhibitions - its connection to the arts goes back to its beginnings as a posh hotel on the outskirts of the city.

The NW corner of Queen and Gladstone circa 1889
Photo from Lost Toronto
The Gladstone once stood across the old Parkdale Station, the last railway stop before leaving Toronto. The Gladstone was the lodging-of-choice for Vaudeville performers during gigs at the Canadian National Exhibition, and a rest stop for Massey Hall performers on their way out of the city.

South Parkdale Station circa 1910
Photo from BlogTO

The interior of The Gladstone, from Toronto Before
The interior of The Gladstone, from Toronto Before
Of note at the hotel is its elevator, one of the oldest hand-operated elevators in the city. Without it, our upright bass player would have to personally lug the instrument up and down three flights of stairs for the show (and would likely be charging us a lot more to do it than we've budgeted). Needless to say, we're glad about The Gladstone's elevator.

You can read more about The Gladstone's history on their website.

Queen and Gladstone: Then and Now (circa 1899 and 2008)
From Toronto Before

Sunday 29 July 2012

Rehearsals Start Today!

Rehearsals for A Synonym for Love start today!! Somehow Ross, Ashiq and the team are going to turn this:


...into something you want to watch.

Break legs everyone!!

Saturday 28 July 2012

Maquettes!

Check out what our designer Julie Fox has in store for The Gladstone with A Synonym for Love:

Julie and the Volcano team commandeering
 the Melody Bar for a maquette showcase

Can you guess where in The Gladstone this will be?
It's not in one of the bedrooms...

Rough night...yeesh.

How about this one? Again, not in one of the bedrooms...

A man and a woman walk into a hotel...

Monday 23 July 2012

Call for Volunteers!

Volcano and Classical Music Consort are looking for volunteers to help present A Synonym for Love at The Gladstone Hotel, and to get this site-specific opera moving.

We need volunteers to help us out with:
  • box office
  • front of house
  • ushering
  • production assistance/running crew
  • harpsichord security (actually, though)

We'll need people helping on these pre-show dates:
  • Friday, August 3 | 10:30am - 11:30am for a walkthrough
  • Thursday, August 16 | 9:00am - 6:00pm for set up and tech rehearsal
  • Friday, August 17 | 10:00am - 6:00pm for set up and tech rehearsal
  • Half days on the 16th and 17th work for us too: 9:00/10:00am - 1:00pm or 2:00pm - 6:00pm

We'll also need help during the run, 5:00pm - 9:00pm on:
  • Sunday, August 19 - Friday, August 24
  • Sunday, August 26 - Friday, August 31

To register your interest in volunteering, please contact Volcano's Associate Producer, Meaghan Davis, at meaghan@volcano.ca. Include your full name, contact telephone number (mobile preferred, if you have one), the position(s) you're interested in, and all your available dates. If you can volunteer more than once, that'd be FANTASTIC!

All volunteers are eligible for a $40 credit for a 2012/13 Volcano training event, including inFORMING CONTENT and the 2012 Volcano Conservatory.

We hope you can help us out!!