The More the Merrier with donna g

Today's show features interviews with two National Film Board documentaries recently screened at Hot Docs, the Canadian International Documentary Festival. Both explore masculinity but are set in different parts of the country: director Sinakson Trevor Solway 's film ' Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man' is set on a First Nations reserve in Alberta, while director Serville Poblete &#3...

Laurie Evan Fraser, artistic director of the Upper Canada Choristers, and singer/poet Jacinto Salcedo, coordinator of Cantemos, join me to discuss their upcoming concert Venezuela Viva, celebrating Venezuelan choral music with African, Spanish, Caribbean, and Indigenous influences. Special guests include composer César Alejandro Carrillo, poet Laura Morales Balza, and La Petite Musicale of Toronto...

Sarah Kambe Holland is the writer and director of a clever coming-of-age teen comedy called Egghead and Twinkie . In the film, Twinkie—freshly out of the closet—talks her best friend, Egghead, into stealing his parents’ car. The two then travel 500 miles to meet the DJ-ing woman who’s been sliding into Twinkie’s DMs. Needless to say, things happen along the way. Available on Demand April 29 (U.S....

Award-winning director, Nik Sexton and Canadian Screen Award nominee, Sean Dalton (former drummer for The Trews) and I have a good chat about the film SKEET. SYNOPSIS : Fresh out of prison, Billy Skinner (Sean Dalton) returns to his transformed low-income neighborhood, now populated by Syrian refugees. Struggling to overcome his dark past, Billy forges an unexpected bond with Mo (Jay Abdo), a comp...

My featured guest today is the dynamic Alphonso King Jr . Alphonso is an HIV/AIDS activist and public speaker, aka drag queen Jade Elektra and aka DJ Relentless. Alphonso joined me to talk about Top Star Live 2025, his weekly Wednesday evening talent show, but our conversation veered off into other areas of his fascinating life and some interesting and personal LGBT+ history facts came to light. L...

Award-winning writer and director, Karen Chapman shares her journey of making 'Village Keeper', a family drama set in the Lawrence Heights community in Toronto, and why it was important for her to add a sense of hope to the film. ' Village Keeper ' focuses on a grieving widow struggling to protect her kids from neighbourhood violence while dealing with her own buried trauma. The fi...

I'm reunited with two documentary filmmakers today. I first interviewed director Laurie Townshend (A Mother Apart) along with her subject Staceyann Chin last year at Hot Docs. In this chat, the spotlight is on Laurie's journey as a filmmaker, the travels of her documentary, and the role of mothering. A Mother Apart follows the journey of award-winning poet and performance artist Staceyann...

I chat with playwright and actor Rosamund Small about her latest work, Performance Review, presented by Outside the March Theatre Company. The solo performance explores some of the difficulties women experience in the world of work. Then, I'll have a focus on Beah Richards in her own words. If the name sounds familiar, she is best known to the general public for her Oscar-nominated role as Sid...

I'm welcoming back for the second time actor, playwright, director, and international model Abigail Whitney. The last time she was here, we talked about the show The Noose, written by renowned Haitian playwright Frankétienne, starring Edmond Clark as Polydor and Louco St. Fleur as Pyram—two Haitian men from different social levels living in a small New York apartment during the '80s. The p...

Alica Hall , the Executive Director of Nia Centre for the Arts shares some of the incredible programs they offer to Black youth, artists, and the community at large. She’ll also highlight some exciting upcoming events. Plus a Black History Month segment featuring a mix of poetry, dub poetry, spoken word, and music by Black women.

Award-winning actor, Peter Fernandes talks about his journey as an actor and playing 'Juicy' in Fat Ham. Fat Ham by James Ijames A Canadian Stage Production Feb 15 - Mar 9, 2025 https://www.canadianstage.com/ A bold and hilarious reimagining of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy. Helmed by celebrated Canadian director Philip Akin – who directed last season’s hit production of THE LEHMAN TRI...

Artist, Deena Pagliarello aka Deena Draws joins me to discuss her journey from Fine Arts to Illustration, shares some educational tools for emerging artists in the field, and talks about showcasing her work at Comic Cons. Then another wonderful audio presentation from The Wireless Theatre Company with ' Time Travel Inc ' by Peter Davis. A new employee gets some on-the-job training about a...

In this episode, I'm joined by director Alison Duke of Oya Media, who shares insights into her work on the documentary Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story . The film explores the life of reggae legend Sister Nancy and dives into the story behind her breakout hit, Bam Bam , the most-sampled reggae song in history. I’ll also talk about the powerful film Hard Truths , written and directed by Mike Lei...

I have back-to-back interviews with Amélie Martyn , a young producer working on the play Other Desert Cities , running from January 22 to February 2, 2025, at Alumnae Theatre . After that, I'll be catching up with Alphonso King Jr. about his new community project, Pink Cinema , a series of screenings of 2SLGBT films curated by popular vote, launching with The Ritz on January 20, 2025. We also...

Soprano, Denise Williams and I chat about the reducing space for the Arts in schools, founding No Strings Theatre to fill the gap and the upcoming concert Ahmal and the Night Visitors on Jan 11, 2025 at Lawrence Park Community Church. Performances at 3pm and 7 pm. Then regular contributor, Heidy M , arts and culture writer and founder of Hyemusings.ca shares her take on Pedro Almodóvar 's The...

I have the pleasure of chatting with writer/director Jennifer Adcock about Discovery networks' In With the Old , where she chronicles the journey of sibling duo Edward and Kathi Peill as they transform UNESCO's 140-year-old Lunenburg Schoolhouse into modern condo units, all while preserving its rich history and significance to the local community. Then, stick around for an old-time radio e...

Christmas/Holiday movies can be anything you choose, according to my guests. Journalist Neil Armstrong discusses the TV series Get Millie Black and revisits the novel Sweetness in the Skin by Ishi Robinson. Then, he, Anne Gallagher, and I chat about the various iterations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol . After playing It's December , a track by Alex Bird and the Jazz Mavericks from...

Nadine McNulty, the Artistic Director of Batuki Music Society and I discuss the formation of The Juno Award-winning Okavango African Orchestra and their December 20, 2024 concert featuring the Queen of South African music- Lorraine Klaasen , kora virtuoso Diely Mori Tounkara , exceptional tama player Pape Ndiaye , Congolese soulful singer Mis Blandine and accomplished bassist Dally Dominic . Plus...

What's going to be your next listen? I play a selection of audiobooks set during Winter/Holiday season and through in a could off new tunes by Alex Bird and the Jazz Mavericks latest album, Another Christmas Day . Note : audio samples are those offered by the Toronto Public Library's website and includes the name of each work's publisher. No copyright infringement is intended.

Alex Bird of Alex Bird and the Jazz Mavericks joins me for an engaging conversation about the band's latest album, Another Christmas Day , which beautifully captures both the joy and bittersweet moments of the holiday season. Throughout our chat, you’ll also hear a selection of songs that highlight the diverse emotional range of the album, from playful exuberance to heartfelt nostalgia. The gr...

Arts and Culture writer and Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, Heidy M ( hyemusings.ca ) joins me to talk about the Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS). Heidy is a programmer for the festival and shares some films and Industry events that will appeal to fans as well as those who wish to know more about genre films and filmmaking. Then sit back and allow your ears to enjoy some old time radio dram...

CIUT listeners and The More the Merrier supporters Neil Armstrong , Anne Gallagher , and Marc S . join me to talk about movies. Neil shares Black-focused movies he recently saw on his travels, Anne reveals how movies expanded her world, and Marc talks about discovering the works of director Ken Loach.

I've been away for the past several weeks due to the passing of my beloved mother, Joy Blackwood. She was my radio champion from my early days at CIUT 89.5 FM in the mid-nineties, where I was part of the feminist collective By All Means , to co-hosting the Caribbean-Filipino fusion show b aba(eh) mama with Danielle Gonsalves, and now with this solo show, The More the Merrier . She would have l...

We're diving into the Toronto Fringe's Next Stage Theatre Festival , running from October 16th to 27th at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre , located at 12 Alexander Street in Toronto. We’ll explore three dynamic productions at this year’s festival. First, I chat with Abigail Whitney , director of ' The Noose ' a Haitian play that hasn't been produced in English since 1997. Then, yo...

Frequent guest and tmtmwithdonnag longtime listener and supporter, Gordon G and I discuss some of our #TIFF2024 screenings. Special shout out to arts and culture writer and interviewer Heidy M of hyemusings.ca who wasn't able to join us for our annual TIFF roundup. Please visit her site to check out her coverage. 😊 Music : Poso Oyo by Naxx Bitota