How does a stand up comic stay relevant and popular over the span of almost three decades? For Australian-born Joe Avati, the formula is simple. “It’s all about changing the content, making it relevant each time you create a new show,” Avati explains.
Written by Montreal playwright Steve Galluccio, At the Beginning of Time is a story about love and loss, about being gay in Montreal in the 1970s and about aging.
A unique exhibit by Italian-Montreal visual artist Marisa Portolese is bringing a lost neighbourhood back to life. “I grew up hearing about il villaggio. We kept hearing about this mythical place we couldn’t find because it didn't exist anymore,” Portolese explains. Officially known as Victoriatown, the neighbourhood was located at Victoria Bridge and the Lachine Canal on the south side of Pointe St-Charles, in the southwest region of Montreal.
Bruno Cocorocchio's Mea Culpa: A Plea of Innocence examines the consequences of an immigrant parent’s burden on a child. In this story, a parent’s sacrifice – often touted as the backbone of Italian immigration to Canada – is not celebrated. Instead, it is exposed as a mental abuse on a child who is conditioned to feel guilt for all the bemoaning of a miserable and unhappy mother.
A unique online workshop organized by the Kelowna Canadian-Italian Club will give Italian-Canadians across the country the tools to start their family tree. Starting March 17, historian and “Family Tree Guy” Don Rampone will lead an eight-week online workshop that will look at the general tools for genealogy available to the public, with a focus on concepts specific to Italians.
The Quiet Immigrant Project pays tribute to the Italian women who immigrated to Canada, or as Laura Libralato lovingly calls them, the “Femmine Forti” of the Italian-Canadian community.
Francesco Filippi begins the preface to his book, Mussolini Also Did a Lot of Good: The Spread Of Historical Amnesia, with a quote from Joseph Goebbels: “If you tell a big enough lie and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” At a time in human history when fake news is part of the daily vernacular, Filippi’s book about an Italian dictator who two generations ago played a similar game seems extraordinarily pertinent.
Teresa De Luca's Living The Lingo of Linguine offers insight into some of Italy’s most common words, expressions and proverbs with an in-depth look at their origins, their meaning and how they can aspire the reader to live an more Italian lifestyle.
Montreal singer/songwriter Paul Cargnello is one of those rare musicians who’s okay with being stuck at home and not touring. He’s also okay with creating an album that is a true solo project, from start to finish. “Considering I own a studio, it’s an easy thing to do,” Cargnello muses.
Antonella Vizzini's first album, My Italian Romance, features covers of seven popular Italian songs, including “L’appuntamento,” “Tu si na cosa grande” and “Parole Parole Parole.”
“I’ve been wanting to do something in French for a long time. Especially something different from heavy metal and Italian,” explains Montreal singer/songwriter Marco Calliari. Released under his alter ego Molotov Mon Amour, J’t’haïme is an emotional French-language anthem about the various contradictions of passion and love.
After Italy declared war against Canada in 1940, the Canadian government interned hundreds of people of Italian heritage. Tens of thousands of Italian-Canadians were declared “enemy aliens.” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will deliver a formal apology in the House of Commons for the internment of Italian-Canadians during the Second World War.