ARTS EAST

Paris! The Show is a vibrant tribute to the greatest French songs of the post-war years, featuring the music of Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier, Lucienne Boyer, Charles Trenet, Josephine Baker, Yves Montand, Charles Aznavour and Jacques Brel. Recently we spoke with the show’s writer, producer and director Gil Marsella about what Halifax audiences can expect on November 7. What is your own personal background? I am 48 years old, living in Nice, France, I am married, with 3 kids. I have a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Nice, and I studied piano with the Nice Conservatory Class of Jazz. What is your professional background? I was a professional musician at 16 years old, a musical director at 20 years old, and an artistic director at 25 years old. I became CEO of founder of Directo Productions in 2001. Since then, we have produced more than 300 concerts and events produced each year. When and why did you first get involved with this part...

By putting his province on the canvas, Gerald Squires helped put Newfoundland on the map Renowned Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires always claimed to show himself in his paintings, but it is Newfoundland - in all its rugged, enduring majesty - that shone through in his work. A prolific painter, sculptor, lithographer, and stained glass artist, Squires passed away from cancer in 2015 at the age of 77. An ardent advocate for ‘The Rock’ – as Canadians affectionately call the country’s easternmost province - he believed that something special was lost when Newfoundland joined Confederation in 1949. “We are only now beginning to get our dignity back,” he told journalist and fellow Newfoundland native Sandra Gwyn in the mid-1970s. In an article in the Globe and Mail following his death, Newfoundland writer Joan Sullivan credited Squires with playing a key role in restoring that dignity. “Always absolutely recognizable, over time his art became more representatio...

NONIA’s preservation of knitting traditions allows Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to wear their pride on their sleeves. Marie Hayward’s eyes widened when she was recently presented with a huge basket of wool. “When do I got to have that knit up?!” she asked with some alarm. Edna Duffett, president of the Newfoundland Outport Nursing and Industrial Association (NONIA), quickly assured her that it was a gift, to do with as she wished, and not another knitting order from the not-for-profit organization. Hayward was being recognized for 70 years of knitting at NONIA’s Annual General Meeting at Government House in St. John’s. The basket was a gift from a wool supplier. One of over 150 women around the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who knit for NONIA on a regular basis, Hayward is - amazingly - not the first to reach the 70-year milestone. Many of the group’s knitters are part of a family tradition, where mother, grandmothers, aunts, and others have contribute...