Volume 30 Issue 2 | October & November 2024

CHORAL SCENE MUSIC AS

CHORAL SCENE MUSIC AS MEDICINE COLIN MEDLEY The Flin Flon Cowboy runs Oct 19-Nov 2 at Theatre Passe Muraille. This photo of ( l-r) Johnny Myrm Spence and Ken Harrower was taken during the trailer shoot. (i.e. with an open-ended run) under the Mirvish banner at the Princess of Wales Theatre. I will never forget the first time I saw The Lion King at the Princess of Wales in 2000. As the lights dimmed, the drumming started. And the theatre was transformed through the hauntingly rhythmic music and magical puppetry of The Circle of Life. The stage and the auditorium filled with animals, and children’s (and adults’) faces filled with delight as antelope, leopards and cheetahs, and even an elephant passed by their seats on their way to the stage. The unique score combines the original Elton John and Tim Rice songs from the animated movie with the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa in the rich choral numbers by Lebo M, immediately creating the world of the story, and pulling you in to be further enchanted by Julie Taymor’s puppets and staging. This new production has a largely Canadian cast (41 Canadians, 10 South Africans) and features some well-known performers including Jewelle Blackman (who starred in Hadestown on Broadway) as Shenzi and Camille Eanga-Selenge (who was a beautiful Sonya in Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 at Crow’s Theatre last season) as Nala. One of the three boys playing young Simba, Lucien Duncan-Reid will also be familiar as the boy from both Room (Mirvish) and Chris, Mrs (Elgin Theatre, 2023). Performances begin November 2, 2024. www.mirvish.com The healing powers of a song-filled life ANGUS MACCAULL Renowned neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin paused as he sang the word “strings” and looked over the neck of his guitar to the audience in the University of Toronto’s Desautels Hall. The air felt charged. Instinctively, we knew what he wanted. For a brief moment, many of the two-hundred-plus gathered began singing along, some harmonizing at the end of a song we’d all just heard for the first time. Daniel Levitin Other musical theatre shows to keep an eye out for: – The Flin Flon Cowboy with a live country band onstage at that champion of new and experimental work, Theatre Passe Muraille. Runs October 19-November 2. www.passemuraille.ca; – a work-in-progress musical, I Was Unbecoming Then, at the Toronto Fringe’s Next Stage Festival, October 16 - 26, www. fringetoronto.com; – and a collection of new multidisciplinary works at Native Earth’s Weesageechak Begins to Dance Festival at the Aki Studio, November 21-December 1. www.nativeearth.ca And finally, if you haven’t already seen it, grab a ticket to Something Rotten at the Stratford Festival. Equally fun for aficionados of Shakespeare and musical theatre – and those who know little of either – this production, expertly directed and choreographed by Donna Feore, is ridiculously funny and wonderfully performed by a talented cast. It has been extended to November 26. www.stratfordfestival.ca. Jennifer Parr is a Toronto-based director, dramaturge, fight director and acting coach, brought up from a young age on a rich mix of musicals, Shakespeare and new Canadian plays. 18 | October & November 2024 thewholenote.com

IAN MACCREADY We’d come out on a Monday evening in September to hear Levitin talk about the therapeutic and healing powers of music – the subject of his new book, I Heard There Was A Secret Chord: Music as Medicine. Levitin, who has also researched critical thinking, has long been interested in music. He has written two previous books about music and the brain, and collaborated with many high-profile musicians, including Bobby McFerrin, Sting and Joni Mitchell. Levitin talked to us about how music is neuroprotective. He explained scientists’ emerging understanding of how listening to and making music can reduce degeneration in the brain or improve impaired functioning. Music, as long as the listener enjoys it, produces serotonin and dopamine. It acts like a mild opioid. It can encourage the brain to recruit complex pathways, some long forgotten by the more conscious mind. One video clip Levitin showed at the book launch demonstrated how music enables those with Parkinson’s to walk. Another, from ABC News, detailed music’s ability to bring combat veterans out of PTSD. Yet another gave the story of someone with severe Alzheimer’s, and how music enabled them, if briefly, to remember their identity. All of these findings are documented in Levitin’s new book, as are the specific benefits of singing. In addition to how it helps our brains, singing together brings us social meaning. “Participating in musical activities with others has become increasingly popular,” Levitin writes, “especially group singing in communities or choirs.” One great time to sing is after major life events, like moving or getting married or divorced. Even if these changes are positive, they cause stress. For those moving as refugees and asylum seekers, the losses involved can result in emotional disorders, anxiety, and general grief. Singing in group therapy “empowers them to use their individual voices and deepens their sense of a shared cultural identity,” Levitin writes. The endorphins released by singing help people overcome emotional challenges. When songs are slow and soothing, singing literally calms people down, slowing down breathing and heart rates. After Levitin gave his presentation and sang a couple of his own original songs, he opened the floor for questions. The last question was about his advice for people who want to bring music into their lives and the lives of their families. Instead of any fancy applications, Levitin urged us to simply listen to more music, and to play it! He noted there’s a barrier in our society against learning an instrument, which would include singing. “People feel as though if they can’t perform on the biggest stages in the world, what’s the point?” he said. But the truth is, we should do it for the sake of doing it – because it’s fun, it’s good for our health and good for our society. RESOUND Choir - see Personal Picks, pg 21 Turn the page for some upcoming opportunities to get out and listen or sing in Toronto. Be sure to check the listings for times, locations and ticketing details. Join us for Carols in the Lobby at 1:15pm, performed by TCC's Alumni Choir, conducted by Dr. Darryl Edwards! Enjoy a festive blend of carols and innovative choral works, featuring guest artists from the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and emerging Bass- Baritone, Owen Phillipson. thewholenote.com October & November 2024| 19