Bathroom Divas Season 2 Reruns Begin on Bravo!Canada Tonight

Starting Friday, July 25, Bravo!Canada will once again be showing Season 2 of Bathroom Divas at 10pm EDT. On piano, Season 2 features Nicole Bellamy, Susan Black, and myself. Catch the action one more time with Laura, Elaine, Robyn, Paul, Phil, and Donna vying to be the one that hears these words from Tom Diamond:

You.....are the chosen one.

Season 2 Episode 4 Bathroom Divas Clip

Ovation TV has posted a fair number of promotional Bathroom Divas clips on YouTube since they began carrying both seasons of the show in the US. As the pianist who logged the largest number of on-camera hours in both seasons, I was naturally curious to see if I showed up in any of them. Sure enough, the Season 2 Episode 4 clip is one where I'm playing for the coaching sessions. The first part shows Paul and Laura coaching the Boheme Act I duet with Mary Lou Fallis, and the second part shows Phil and Elaine sorting out their differences in a rehearsal of the Merry Widow duet.

On television, what's hard to get a sense of was just how resonant the living room sounded in the house used for the show (located in the Bridle Path neighborhood of North Toronto). The living room's ceiling goes up two stories and the Steinway D brought in for the duration of the show was not out of place in that room...



Also be sure to check out the Season 2 Episode 4 recap I wrote when the show first aired in 2007.

Bathroom Divas Clip from Season 1 on YouTube

This clip from the first season of Bathroom Divas recently showed up on YouTube. This excerpt is from the semi-final round held at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto. Chris Burton is at the piano.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Elaine Brown in Our Divas Do Christmas

Those of you in the St. John's area who watched the Gemini-award-winning season 2 of Bathroom Divas will be glad to know that Elaine Brown will be performing in The Divas Do Christmas, a holiday revue running from November 27 through December 2 at the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre.

For more information on who's performing and how to get tickets, check the Town Cryer event listing.

Bathroom Divas Wins Gemini

Bathroom Divas has recently won an award for Best General/Human Interest Series at the 2007 Gemini Awards. Congratulations to everyone involved with the show (including myself) for contributing to this fantastic show. The award comes in spite of the fact that Bathroom Divas was not renewed for a third season by Bravo!Canada...

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Laura Landauer's Celine Speaks Featured in Globe and Mail

Fans of the second season of Bathroom Divas will remember Laura Landauer, the Celine/Cher/Elvis impersonator who was one of the final four singers on the show. This spring, Laura collaborated with playwright Sue Miner to write Celine Speaks, which showed in July at the Toronto Fringe.

Today's Globe and Mail features an article by Kamal Al-Solaylee on the phenomenon of Celine worship and two Canadian plays on the subject that have premiered this summer--Miner and Landauer's Celine Speaks as well as Saving Celine by playwright Mark Watty, currently showing at Montreal's Mainline Theatre.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Laura Landauer on TV Guide's Look-A-Like

Bathroom Divas Season 2 finalist Laura Landauer gets a Celine Dion makeover on TV Guide's Look-A-Like. Laura's new one-woman play Celine Speaks ends its Toronto Fringe run tonight at 9:15 in the George Ignatieff Theatre.

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Phillip Holmes in Bye Bye Bytown

Bathroom Divas Season 2 finalist Phillip Holmes is currently performing in the dancing on water theatre company's production of Bye Bye Bytown. Phillip sings the role of canal builder Lieutenant-Colonel John By in this musical about the early days of Canada's capital city. Bye Bye Bytown opened last night and runs through Saturday at the Ottawa Little Theatre. Tickets are $20/16/12. For more information call 1-888-222-6608.

Link to Ottawa Citizen article about the show

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Sonja Gustavson at the London Fringe

The London [Ontario] Fringe will be presenting its first ever opera this summer with Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium, directed and produced by Bathroom Divas Season 1 finalist Sonja Gustavson, who will also be starring in the role of Monica. Sonja is joined by Janet Loo, Alfred Stockwell, Rachel Huys, Jessica Sage, John Holland, and Tanya Ellis in 6 performances at the London Central Library's Wolf Performance Hall.

Showtimes are July 27 at 7:30pm, July 29 at 4:30pm, July 31 at 8:15pm, August 2 and 5:30pm, August 4 at 10pm, and August 5 at 4pm. Call 519-434-0606 or visit the London Fringe website for more information. Admission is $9.

Update 7:45 7/9/07

Here is the full cast list:

Baba – Janet Loo
Monica – Sonja Gustafson
Toby – Alfred Stockwell
Mrs. Gobineau – Jessica Sage
Mr. Gobineau – John Holland
Mrs. Nolan – Rachel Huys

Collaborative Pianist – Tanya Ellis-Bludau

Director and Bathroom Divas judge Tom Diamond will be workshopping the production this weekend in preparation for its July 27th opening.

(Thanks, Sonja)

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Paul Abelha To Appear At Opera Hamilton Fundraiser

Bathroom Divas finalist Paul Abelha will be appearing at an Opera Hamilton fundraiser June 20 at LIUNA station. At the beginning of the evening's festivities he will be making an appearance for photos and autographs, and later in the evening gala-goers can auction on the chance for an evening at the opera with Paul.

Also:

Paul Abelha on YouTube
The Black and White Album

Bathroom Divas Alumni: Laura Landauer in Celine Speaks

Fans of Bathroom Divas might be interested in Laura Landauer's newest project: a one-woman play cowritten with Sue Miner entitled Celine Speaks, slated to run this July as part of The Fringe in Toronto.

Here is Laura's description of the show:

It isn't easy being the world's greatest pop diva goddess saviour. Laura Landauer (Bravo!'s Bathroom Divas 2007 finalist!) not only portrays Celine Dion - she IS Celine Dion. Hear Celine's classic hit songs and join her for an intimate event where she shares her unique insights on such topics as femininity, vitality, identity, and humidity.

Celine Speaks runs at the George Ignatieff Theatre at 9 Devonshire Place on the U of T campus. Here are the show times:

Fri, July 6 @ 5:15 PM
Sun, July 8 @ 10:30 PM
Mon, July 9 @1:30 PM
Tue, July 10 @ 7:15 PM
Wed, July 11 @11:15 PM
Thu, July 12 @3:30 PM
Sat, July 14 @ 9:15 PM

Tickets are $10. For more info, call The Fringe's hotline at 416-966-1062.

Elaine Brown to perform with Shallaway April 29th in St. John's

Bathroom Divas Season 2 winner Elaine Jean Brown will be appearing on Sunday April 29th with the Newfoundland and Labador youth choir Shallaway at the St. John's Art & Culture Centre. Before the concert Krysta Rudofsky (from CBC TV's Living NL) will be hosting a Q & A session with Elaine. Tickets are $15/12. For more information, visit the Shallaway website.

Elton Lammie and Laura Landauer as impersonators in concert.....together

Fans of Bathroom Divas will be pleased to hear about a pair of upcoming dinner theatre appearances by season two finalist Laura Landauer (as Celine and Cher) and season one winner Elton Lammie (as Roy Orbison). Also appearing is Elvis impersonator Rick Alviti.

Tickets are $59.95 for dinner and the show.

Here is some more info:


Friday, May 25, 2007

Beacon Harbourside Resort
2793 Beacon Blvd, Jordan, Ontario
http://www.bwbeacon.com/index.html
Doors open at 6:00 pm Dinner: 7:00 pm Show: 9:00 pm Reservations:
905-562-4155


Sunday, May 27, 2007

Casablanca Winery Inn
4 Windward Drive, Grimsby, Ontario
http://www.casablancawineryinn.com/events/hotelentertainment
Doors open at 4:45 pm Dinner:5:30 pm Show: 7:30 pm Reservations:
905-309-7171

Russ Martin's Bathroom Divas photos

Photographer Russ Martin has some excellent photos on his site from Bathroom Divas seasons one and two. Click on the link below and then on the bottom left corner pic and you'll see a fine picture of season two winner Elaine Brown with me at the piano.

Link

Elaine Brown's photographer

The photographer that did the shots for Elaine Brown's website also has a blog. You can read Brian Buchsdruecker's thoughts on Elaine and the competition from his posting in Absolute/Bookstrucker Photography.

Bathrom Divas winner Elaine featured on Bravo press release

The official Bravo!/CHUM news release naming Elaine Hefferton Brown as the winner of Bathroom Divas Season 2.

Link

A few more Bathroom Divas tidbits

Here are a few interesting items from season two:

• The house where the show was filmed was located on Toronto's prestigious Bridle Path, just southeast of Bayview and York Mills.
• The final four singers did a quick trip for a performance at the Festival of the Sound in Parry Sound that never made it to the final cut of the show. For me, this was one of the defining moments for the singers, where they both bonded as a group and really came into their own as singers in front of a sold-out audience in the visually and acoustically stunning Charles Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts.
• The Georgia Straight's Jessica Werb leaked the identity of the winner in this review of November 2nd, 2006. I found out about this in an email following the performance. As late as mid-November the article showed up #1 on Google searches for "bathroom divas elaine", until presumably the Straight was asked (or told) to de-list the article from Google, since the article can now only be accessed through the Straight's front page.
• Except for the Straight's leak, the secret of the winner's identity was kept meticulously this time around. In fact, rumors were swirling in Toronto in the past week that Phil had won the show.
• No word as of yet regarding a third season. Stay tuned for any announcements regarding the next round of auditions should the show be renewed.
  

Bathroom Divas 2 Episode 6 recap

WARNING AND SPOILER ALERT: Do not read this posting unless you want to learn or already know the identity of the second season winner of Bathroom Divas.


The end of the last episode left us with Phil, Paul, and Elaine awaiting their fate after having sung for judges Mary Lou Fallis, Liz Upchurch, Daniel Lichti, and Tom Diamond along with guest judges Catherine Robbin and Yves Abel.

The season finale, rather than picking up from this point, started with a review of the entire 2nd season to date.

We then saw Phillip Holmes at home in Shawville, Quebec--singing on a landscaping job while operating a bulldozer, teaching a young piano student, and singing around the campfire with his buddies.

Visiting Elaine in Calgary, we find that her singing was often sidelined in an earlier unhappy marriage and only recently did she return to operatic singing. Celebrated Calgary voice teacher Elaine Higgin Case made a cameo appearance talking about Elaine's progress.

Next, Paul sings while doing his job as a crane operator on a construction site. At the Hamilton Conservatory Paul has a lesson with Roland Fix, who comments on his progress. We also see him at home with his family in Hamilton.

Back to the final vote-off...

Phil was eliminated, leaving only Paul and Elaine left.

Elaine Hefferton Brown was then announced as the winner of the second season of Bathroom Divas.

Returning to Toronto, Elaine continues her coaching (and stays alone at the house this time) with Mary Lou and Liz, working on "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur. For her final coaching, she works with Tom Diamond at the Royal Conservatory (with Nicole Bellamy at the piano), later joined by Liz Upchurch.

In Vancouver, Elaine rehearses with Bramwell Tovey prior to her rehearsal with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in the Orpheum Theatre. Before going out for her performance, she is joined by the four judges for a few last words. At last, finally, we see an entire aria on the show, beautifully filmed with shots of the judges, VSO players, and the other 5 singers, flown out for the occasion. This final performance was probably the highlight of the first two years of the show for me. After documentary-style footage for nearly the entire series, it was refreshing to hear Elaine's "Io son l'humile ancella" in its entirety.

Bathroom Divas 2 Episode 5

This week's episode saw the three remaining finalists prepare for and perform in the final vote-off. At the beginning of the episode, the three found out that the judges requested that they perform the arias they learned for the first week in order to gauge progress throughout boot camp. These arias are:

Phil: "O du mein holder Abenstern" from Wagner's Tannhauser
Elaine: "Senza mamma" from Puccini's Suor Angelica
Paul: "Questa o quella" from Verdi's Rigoletto

After coaching these arias with Mary Lou Fallis and Dan Lichti with Susan Black at the piano (I was at the Tapestry composer/librettist laboratory for a few days), internationally renowned soprano Measha Brueggergosman visited the house to offer advice on the finalists' appearance and dress. This was followed by a shopping expedition where Measha chose the finalists' outfits for the final performance.

A day of coaching with Tom Diamond followed, in which all three were asked to go beyond what they had previously allowed themselves in order to more fully engage with the drama of their arias (a highlight was Phil being asked to do half a dozen laps around the pool prior to singing his aria in order to more fully access his physicality).

The next day I was back at the house to play for the final day of coachings. Each singer was allowed to choose their coach for the final day: Phil chose Tom, Elaine chose Dan, and Paul chose Liz. That afternoon, season one finalists Elton Lammie and Sonja Gustafson came to the house to share their experiences with this year's singers.

That evening, Paul, Elaine, and Phil were asked to do an impromptu dress rehearsal of their arias.

The final day of boot camp featured the finalists performing for the judges at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto, with myself at the piano. The guest judges were mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin and conductor Yves Abel. Phil, Paul and then Elaine, all showing remarkable improvement, sang for the judges and received a positive response on the amount of growth they had shown in their final performance.

Next week on the Bathroom Divas season finale: the judges' deliberations and the announcement of the winner...

Paul Abelha on YouTube

This recent clip of Paul Abelha features the Bathroom Divas finalist singing "E lucevan le stelle" with pianist Lauren Cho. For watchers of the Bravo!Canada reality show, it's interesting to note the marked improvement in Paul's singing since the show taped (last August). Glad to see that the show's transformational raison d'etre has shown some fine results in Paul's case.



Link to Paul Abelha's site

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