Denizens and visitors to Ontario should make a point of checking out Roy Thomsom and Massey Hall's impressive 2000/2001 lineup. It's got me thinking about selling off a load of CDs to catch as many performances as I can. Here are just a few artists featured in the Vocal Recital series: David Daniels (the counter tenor who astonished the operatic world in last year's Xerxes), Cecilia Bartoli, Renee Fleming and leading European soprano Adrianne Pieczonka.

Tenor Richard Margison and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra will be one hand to blow your classical gaskets. Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet plan to perform Glass' original score for Todd Browning's German expressionistic classic Dracula. Bring your popcorn because they'll be showing the movie too. And fans of cabaret won't want to miss sensation Ute Lemper. Lemper has transformed herself once again, this time re-emerging as a pop diva.

Rosemary Clooney and the Big Kahuna and the Copa Cat Pack are arriving in October. Ray Charles, Isaac (Shaft) Hayes and motorcycle mama Ginette Reno add some populist flavour to the menu. And Emmylou Harris, Bruce Cockburn, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Steve Earle make an important political statement with "Concert for a Landmine Free World."

On the spiritual frontier you might want to catch Turkey's Whirling Dervishes. This ancient Sufi order perform the Sema, a meditation in motion which is one of the world's most elegant expressions of the power of the spirit. "Under the patronage of the Dalai Lama, the monks of Tibet's famed Drepung Loseling Monastery showcase their enthralling multiphonic singing and mystical masked dances."

And I've just scratched the surface here folks. This is an amazing series. Check out the dates and times at the Roy Thomson website. Miss it at your cultural peril.

Speed-the-Plow
Do you live on the west coast? Are you a fan of fab theatre? Then you definitely should check out David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow. The play follows terrain Mamet intimately understands -- the entertainment industry. "Speed-The-Plow is a twisted and tangled web of friendship, loyalty, idealism, sex and ambition in the business of Hollywood show business. Charlie Fox brings Bobby Gould, his friend and head of a film production company, a cliched movie script they both think will force them in the limelight--the only thing they have to do is pitch it to the studio boss." Is that all? After my own adventures in the movie trade, me thinks not. Speed-The-Plow is full of what Mamet does best: Stinging dialogue, hilarious situations and a labyrinthine plot line. Because things occasionally get out of hand, you'd best leave the kids at home.