Halloween is just around the corner and the annual St. Albert Zombie Walk is rising from the dead on Friday, Oct. 26. The theme this year is celebrities.
“People love celebrities and if you have ever seen Bill Murray in Zombieland, you’ll know that the best kind of celebrity is a dead one. Dress up as your favourite zombie celebrity/movie character and live the life of the famous as the way they would in the afterlife,” says Zombie Walk founder Sean Bedard.
He added people are welcome to dress up as other zombies.
“Don’t expect to be treated as an average Joe if you don’t dress up. The dead take no excuses.”
Everyone is to meet at the Perron Street clock tower at 7:15 p.m. The walk starts at 8:15 p.m. The zombie parade will lumber its way to Lions Park Pavilion for hot dogs and pop. Prizes will be given away for the best dressed.
Considered by many to be one of Canada’s finest blues pianists, British Columbia based Willie MacCalder plays a wide range of solo blues and R&B styles.
He mixes traditional songs and original boogies and barrelhouse. And that famous voice is laid back, almost weary-sounding in a Jerry Lee Lewis style that suits his piano.
The driving force behind Willie and the Walkers and founding member of Powder Blues, MacCalder is returning to his musical roots for a couple of rockin’ engagements.
Fred LaRose of the Thursday night Songwriters’ Acoustic Showcase at LB’s Pub heard that MacCalder was appearing in Edmonton for the Big C’s 40th anniversary on Saturday, Oct. 27 at the Fiddler’s Roof.
Taking advantage of MacCalder’s presence in Edmonton, LaRose invited the nationally renowned pianist to tickle a few ivories in St. Albert.
“Fred is a valued friend and he wondered if I’d be interested in talking about where I got to where I am,” said MacCalder, who plans to sing the tunes he crafted for Willie and The Walkers and Powder Blues.
Since Powder Blues released their last album in 2004 and went their separate ways, MacCalder has worked on cruise ships from the Mediterranean to the South Pacific.
“If anybody remembers Willie and the Walkers and Powder Blues, please come out and see me.”
The showcase is Thursday, Oct. 25 at 8:30 p.m. LB’s is at 23 Akins Dr. No cover.
MacEwan Theatre arts student Darcy Robinson, 20, is the first to admit that playing a gay character can be awkward.
The Bellerose High alumnus is in the Broadway rock musical Spring Awakening slated to run Oct. 26 to Nov. 3 at John L. Haar Theatre, Centre for the Arts and Communication.
“The idea scared me at first. But I went along with it. After we rehearsed it for a while, I warmed up to it. There was a definite barrier I didn’t want to cross going into the program. But I realized actors do it all the time and I had to step out of my comfort zone,” said Robinson who plays Ernest, a naÄŹve boy approached by a classmate.
Adapted from Frank Wedekind’s controversial 1891 expressionist play of the same name, it explores the difficulties teenagers face when it comes to discovering the mysteries of their blossoming sexual identity.
Shy with his classmates, Ernest undergoes a metamorphosis.
“He discovers his feelings for other men and he’s comfortable living that life and feels it’s all right to be with another man.”
Steven Slater’s book and lyrics and Duncan Sheik’s music deal in frank portrayals of abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide. With some pretty blunt songs such as The Bitch of Living, Touch Me, and Totally Fucked, the musical is not recommended for children.
Tickets are available at 780-420-1757 or online at www.tixonthesquare.ca
