my favorite things

Nuit Blanche was this Saturday and I actually stayed up the entire night. I wasn't planning to; I was supposed to leave at 2-3ish, but one exhibit led to another and eventually three of my friends and I stayed until sunrise! It got more fun at 4am and onwards; art seems to be more interesting to look at when you are lacking sleep. Unfortunately I did not bring my camera with me so I won't be able to visually show the exhibits I will be talking about next.

My favourite exhibit would have to be the giant Jeff Koons balloon bunny. It was a very powerful image; the gray and very heavy-looking metal colour and texture of the bunny contradicted against its lightweight and air-like qualities.

Another interesting exhibit was this "witch cradle" exhibit. Volunteers were put into a pouch-like cradle which is in the shape of a black star. The pouch was then lifted off the ground, making the volunteer cuddled up into a sort of hovering cocoon. It was interesting because upon first view, it was difficult to guess what was actually in these floating pouches. When I told my friend that I thought there was someone inside these pouches, she didn't believe my hypothesis as it seemed ridiculous to have a person shoved into a little pouch.

Other places I visited are free cotton candy station (yum!), ROM for the vanity fair exhibit, shoe museum and this flashing light exhibit that supposedly makes you hallucinate.

Over the weekend, I also watched Sound of Music at the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto, which I've wanted to do for a long time but none of my friends wanted to go with me. The show was amazing. The understudy for Maria and also the runner-up on CBC's How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, Janna Polzin, took on the leading role for this particular showing, which was very exciting since she was my favourite contestant on the reality competition. Immediately during her first song, "The Sound of Music," Janna was able to showcase the fun, excited, energetic and loving personality of Maria.

The chemistry between Maria and the seven Trapp family children was very believable. The kids were all amazing and absolutely adorable. However, the same cannot be said about the chemistry between Maria and Captain Georg von Trapp, played by Burke Moses. Although both actors played their roles very well, there just didn't seem to be any chemistry between them. It was difficult envisioning them as a real couple.

The most memorable and mesmerizing actress, however, was Noëlla Huet, who plays The Mother Abbess. Her performance of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" at the end of Act I gave me goosebumps and left me speechless. The emotion she poured into the song felt real and left such a strong impression on me. Her last note on the song was so powerful and sounded absolutely angelic. It was a pleasure to see her perform that song.

Another amazing aspect of the show was the set. The technology and machinery used to create the set made it come to life. The floating platform they used to create the hills was absolutely breathtaking. There were so many different backdrops used for the show that it almost seemed like I was watching a movie; it seemed impossible that so much could be put onto a theatre stage.

All in all, the show was absolutely amazing. In fact, I want to see it again before it closes in January. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.