On Wednesday night, after two fruitless hours at Robarts library looking for coats of arms, as a sort of beautiful non-memorial activity, Rick and I went to see Arturo Brachetti at the Canon (Pantages) Theatre. I had gotten the tickets for free on Monday from Ania in membership - a Mirvish promotional offer to Membership at the ROM, or something.

I'd had a headache all day at work and it only got worse leading up to Brachetti. By halfway through the first act, i was well aware that I was having a migraine. It occured to me that perhaps I should go home at the intermission, but I fought the urge and took one of my meds to try to lessen the pain, or at least keep it from getting worse, as I really don't know how often I would get to see a performance like Brachetti's again.

It was completely unique and visually stunning and, unfortunately, I think generally over the heads of the average Torontonian theatre-goer. His is a very European theatrical event. It refers to European cultural icons and expects the audience to know them too. It made the performance wonderful for me, who was introduced to classic film and European film at a reasonably young age. There were only a few references that I didn't get. The final piece in his performance is a grand tribute to Fellini, the Italian film maker. My mother would have loved it - she adores Fellini. I loved it. I loved the whole performance, even with the migraine, though the music -was- a little loud. But, then, I was a kid who saw 8 1/2 at about the age of the same number, La Cage au Folles when I was about 10, and Cabaret not much later... I grew up surrounded by films that weren't North American mainstream. For me, Brachetti was awesome. For the majority of the theatre, I suspect he was entertaining and amusing at times, but a bit confusing. Too bad for them. He'll probably do alright in Quebec when he's there, and probably in New York, but for the most part, I doubt North America will 'get' him.

I stayed out of work on Thursday, feeling still quite fragile, heading to my dentist appointment in the middle of the afternoon. There's nothing quite like recovering from a migraine with the power toothbrush vibrating your teeth. I suppose I should be happy that it wasn't a drill. *shudder* I went to A&C's after, and aside from feeling kind of bleh there as well, that was alright. Carrie and I enjoyed a double-header of CSI on CTV. It's kind of good compared to many crime dramas produced on this side of the Atlantic. It's no Homicide - Life on the Street, but it's pretty good. Anyway, I had a terrible night sleeping and woke up this morning feeling not a whole lot better than I did yesterday. I might leave work early today. I don't know. I really need the money, but I really feel weird.