Stars to watch in 2013

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S?bastien Bourgault has been doing comedy in French for a few years, but now he?s making waves doing it in English.

Photograph by: John Kenney , THE GAZETTE

S?bastien Bourgault

A year ago, S?bastien Bourgault knew five words in English, and one of them ? poutine ? didn?t really count. But Bourgault, who has been doing stand-up in French for the last six years, wanted to crack the anglo comedy market. So he got a job at a breakfast joint in the West Island to learn English.

?Now I?ve got a repertoire of 51 English words,? cracks Bourgault, 38. In fact, his English vocabulary is far more extensive. So much so that he has been cracking up local audiences, as well as other comics, in English ? with a fetching accent ? for the last six months. He estimates that he?s done 150 sets in English over that period.

?Regardless where you put S?bastien on a show, there will be a spike,? says veteran comic/producer Peter J. Radomski. ?He just brings so much energy. I?ve never seen him do a bad set. And I?ve never seen such a work ethic, either.?

Bourgault concedes that fellow franco comics can?t comprehend why he feels the need to perform in English. ?My impossible dream is to follow in the footsteps of my comedy idol, Jim Carrey, and make movies in Hollywood.

?I still make my living doing French comedy, but my options there are limited,? Bourgault explains. ?My goal is not to be big in France. Doing English brings me on to the world stage. This is not about money for me ? it?s about passion.?

It hasn?t taken Bourgault long to capture the anglo comedy nuances. The crowd goes wild with his repartee.

S?bastien Bourgault performs Saturday, Dec. 29?at the Comedyworks and Monday, Dec.?31?in the Comedy Nest?s New Year?s Eve spectacle.

- Bill Brownstein

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Catherine Lemieux

Since graduating from the Dawson College Professional Theatre Program 14 years ago, Catherine Lemieux has become a fixture of the local independent theatre scene, frequently appearing in funny, edgy shows like Joanne Sarazen?s Jesus Jell-O (as the wacko mother) at the Montreal Fringe Festival.

But this season she moved up to the next level, turning in a tough, credible and hilarious performance as the meddling Jean in David Lindsay-Abaire?s Good People at Centaur Theatre. This came after serving as a co-host at the 2012 Fringe Festival?s 13th Hour, successfully taking up puppetry in Scapegoat Carnivale?s Heretics of Bohemia and landing several weeks? work in the movie White House Down, starring Jamie Foxx, which employed many local actors while shooting in Montreal.

It was Good People that allowed Lemieux to play to sold-out houses in a large theatre for the first time in her career and qualified her for membership in Actor?s Equity. She?s grateful to director Roy Surette for casting her and "enabling my interpretation of the character." Another key mentor has been actor Chip Chuipka, who teaches at ASM performing arts studio. "Chip helped me come out of my shell," she said.

Meanwhile, White House Down led the way to Lemieux getting her ACTRA card, at last. Now, at 37, as a member of both unions, she?s a full-fledged professional with widened opportunities.

The fluently bilingual Lemieux said she found herself in demand, day after day, for White House Down, partly because of her ability to translate directorial commands. She played a mother who was taken hostage, along with her children. The children were French-speaking unilinguals, as was the former wrestler who played her husband. Her role was small, but "I did have a line-exchange with Jamie Foxx," she noted.

Although Lemieux?s nickname, "Cat," is derived from her name, it also refers to her preferred pets. At the home she shares with her mother, who has "mobility issues," in Saint-Lambert, there are several resident cats. "I?m definitely a cat person," Lemieux said.

- Pat Donnelly

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Denis Villeneuve

Hollywood, meet Denis Villeneuve. After the smash success of his epic 2010 drama Incendies ? culminating in an Academy Award nomination for best foreign language film ? the Montreal director has not one, but two big-budget thrillers on the go for 2013.

The first is pet project An Enemy, based on late Portuguese author Jose Saramago?s gripping novel The Double. Shot in Toronto this past summer, the film stars Jake Gyllenhaal as the story?s confounded protagonist, who one day learns he has an exact replica. Rather than a joyous reunion, the discovery leads to a fierce showdown.

Gyllenhaal is not the only big name Villeneuve landed for the film, which also stars M?lanie Laurent (Inglourious Basterds), Isabella Rossellini and Sarah Gadon (Cosmopolis). Cinematography will be handled by Nicolas Bolduc (Rebelle). Produced by Luc D?ry and Kim McCraw of Montreal?s micro_scope, An Enemy is slated for release in the fall.

Villeneuve will hardly be cooling his heels until then. In January, he begins production on Prisoners, written by Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband) and starring Hugh Jackman (fresh off his big singing turn in Les Mis?rables) as a carpenter who kidnaps a man he believes to be responsible for the disappearance of his young daughter and his best friend.

The film has star power to spare, with Gyllenhaal again on board as the detective on Jackman?s tail, plus Paul Dano (Looper), Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Terrence Howard (Winnie, Iron Man) and Viola Davis (The Help). And it is sure to look great, with images by veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose lengthy CV includes several films by Sam Mendes (Skyfall) and the Coen Brothers (True Grit, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Barton Fink). Prisoners is also scheduled for fall release.

- T'Cha Dunlevy

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Gordon Bintner

?We might be hearing him as Don Giovanni,? Canadian Opera Company general director Alexander Neef murmured last month as he handed Gordon Bintner, 24, his First Prize and People?s Choice Award in the COC Ensemble Studio Competition.

Montrealers have already heard the towering bass-baritone as Mozart?s anti-hero in an Opera McGill production. ?Warmly coloured from top to bottom, his singing boasted the twin virtues of natural phrasing and dead-centre pitch,? commented The Gazette.

Bintner was donning it again at the Op?ra de Montr?al Gala on Dec. 6. ?Splendidly bright and mobile,? said your correspondent of the Champagne Aria.

The native of Regina is available for non-Mozartian appearances. His range, linguistic and stylistic, is considerable. Bintner sounded great in Toronto singing an aria from Handel?s Rinaldo.

The OdM thinks highly enough of Bintner to cast him as Lescaut in Massenet?s Manon in May. Last year, his victory in the OSM competition led to a concert appearance with the orchestra in music by Bellini and Ibert.

German? In March he participates in a Schubertiad presented by the Aldeburgh Connection society in Toronto.

People outside of Canada have taken note. Bintner was a member last summer of the selective Merola program of the San Francisco Opera. In April, he made his European debut as Colline in Puccini?s La Boh?me with Angers Nantes Op?ra in France.

Nor has his handsome stage appearance been entirely overlooked. News of the COC double victory was duly posted by the offbeat Barihunks website, with photos.

This season, Bintner will finish his Master of Music degree under Sanford Sylvan at the Schulich School of Music. Next season, he joins the COC Ensemble as a salaried member of the youth roster, filling supporting roles. And maybe a major role or two.

- Arthur Kaptainis

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Nancy Florence Savard

Few outside the local film and TV biz have likely heard of Nancy Florence Savard, but that?s going to change this year. Actually, you?ll be hearing about her very soon.

She directed and produced The Legend of Sarila, the first fully Canadian-produced 3D animation feature, which is set to open across Quebec on Feb. 22.

It is an ultra-ambitious project that took 11 years and $8.5 million to complete. And if this dynamic filmmaker has her way, that?s just the start of her plan to have her company become one of the country?s leading suppliers of top-drawer animated films.

Her company, 10th Ave. Productions, has several other animated features in development, including Le Coq de St-Victor, which is already deep into production and will hit screens around Easter 2014.

?With Sarila, we want to open the door so that the Canadian film-financing agencies can see that we can make our own animated films with our own stories,? said Savard.

Written by Pierre Tremblay and Roger Harvey, Sarila is inspired by aboriginal legends from the Far North. Three young Inuit go in search of a promised land in the hopes of saving their people from the famine that is destroying their community.

The English version features the voices of some top actors and singers, notably Christopher Plummer, Genevi?ve Bujold, Rachelle Lefevre and Elisapie Isaac.

The French version is just as star-studded, with the voices of Mario St-Amand, Mariloup Wolfe, Doroth?e Berryman, R?my Girard and Marina Orsini.

Savard, who originally hails from Quebec City, spent a few years in the ?90s working as a director in the TV scene here in Montreal, but then returned to her hometown and eventually founded 10th Ave. Productions in the small town of Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures just west of Quebec City.

- Brendan Kelly

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Saleema Nawaz

For fiction writers, the short story collection has long been the standard first-book option. Of most such books, the best you can say is that they show promise. (Nothing wrong with that. We all start somewhere.)

In another category are those that are solid across the board, with maybe two or three stories that really set you alight.

Rarest of all are the ones that not only grip you from start to finish, but give the impression of great reserves of talent at the ready, leaving you itching to see where the writer will go next.

It was obvious on first contact that Mother Superior, the 2008 debut by Ottawa-born Montreal resident Saleema Nawaz, was one of those.

One of its stories, My Three Girls, won the Journey Prize, placing Nawaz in the tradition of previous winners like Yann Martel, Alissa York and Timothy Taylor; the book as a whole was shortlisted for the QWF?s McAuslan First Book Prize.

Now, after a five-year wait, comes news of Nawaz?s imminent first novel, Bone and Bread. An updating and expansion of Bloodlines, a Montreal-set story from the first book, the novel?s plot involves two sisters, an eating disorder and a bagel shop, among other things. Duddy Kravitz may soon have company among Mile End fiction heroes.

?I tried to write the kind of book I like to read,? Nawaz said, when asked how she approached the project.

?Of course, a story always seems to take on a life of its own in spite of what you may have planned, but my favourite novels are suspenseful and still always manage to make me cry.?

Have your Kleenexes at the ready, then, folks. Bone and Bread is published by House of Anansi at the end of March.

- Ian McGillis

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Elephant Stone

With contemporary groups like Animal Collective, Tame Impala and the Olivia Tremor Control keeping psychedelic music on iPod playlists, Rishi Dhir?s band Elephant Stone is perfectly positioned to ride that wave.

The Montreal group?s second disc, which is self-titled, is due out Feb. 5. A video for the debut single, Heavy Moon, is already on YouTube, and the song is a wonderful, hypnotic cross between the Byrds and the Stone Roses.

According to Dhir, the group?s bassist and songwriter, the album was completed ?quick and tight.? After coming up with the songs, he recorded demo versions in two weeks and worked on the new compositions with the band for two more weeks.

After breaking to perform at this year?s South By Southwest festival ? where a who?s-who list of indie rockers go to hear and be heard ? Elephant Stone set up in Breakglass Studios and cut the final versions in ... you guessed it: two weeks.

?We?re not just an indie-rock band or just a pop band or just a psych band or shoegaze,? said Dhir, a former member of the High Dials.

?We?re all these influences that come together.?

Although Dhir said he wanted the new album to remove all possibility of labelling the group, he has taken the opportunity to bestow a witty pre-emptive label on the band, in which he sometimes plays sitar: Hindi rock. The need to avoid easy descriptions is why rock ?n? roll and Hindustani vocalist Pandit Vinay Bhide comfortably share space on the new album, he said.

Next year will also bring more festival gigs and touring for Dhir and the band: guitarist Gabriel Lambert, drummer Miles Dupire and keyboard player Steven ?The Venk? Venkatarangam.

Dhir said he?s optimistic that support from a new team (the label and management combo of Hidden Pony and Upper Management and the booking agent High Road Touring) could help Elephant Stone get where he sees it going.

And he?s already thinking about the third album. Would you believe a krautrock-influenced disc? ?With sitar, so that should be cool,? he said, laughing.

- Bernard Perusse

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D?cover magazine (Etienne Martin, Micah Lockhart and C?dric Taillon)

The aim of the young men behind D?cover magazine is to create an art scene that gets the attention that music and films do. And with monster launches that combine accessible figurative art with music and the spectacle of artists working from models, they are succeeding.

In three years, D?cover has produced and distributed 24 full-colour magazines without any public funding. They?ve created 19 issues in which portfolios of work by 10 artists are featured, plus five specials like the irreverent God Save the Queen issue last summer that finally got D?cover on the mainstream media map.

Etienne Martin, Micah Lockhart and C?dric Taillon raised $20,000 to put on four events during the three months they had an entire floor of the March? St. Jacques. They launched a double issue of their magazine, showcased the figurative work of 35 artists in Les refus?es and put on two events connected with the recent auction in which 65 pieces were sold.

D?cover started after Lockhart, a graphic designer, saw a piece hanging in a restaurant and heard the artist?s complaint of lack of gallery interest. He talked to Martin, an artist; they discussed starting an all-art magazine. At first they showed friends? work; soon they were choosing from submissions, 80 per cent of which featured the human figure.

Taillon, who is currently showing portraits at Galerie D (1239 Amherst St., galeriedentaire.com), joined D?cover after the sixth issue.

In 2013, the D?cover team plans to build on their success with themed exhibitions and maybe get some pay for their work. But their first priority is to revamp the website with the $4,000 they made on the auction.

In the 1970s, conceptual artists had to start their own galleries to get their work shown. Today, a new artistic rabble is looking to make its mark. Much of what D?cover discovers is raw, some of it is na?ve, and some of it is bad. But it all has life, a dynamism augmented by the upbeat attitude and showmanship of the D?cover crew.

- John Pohl

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Marilou Morin

No less a dance authority than Mikhail Baryshnikov has praised the talent and skills of Broadway hoofers.

?They?re real dancers!? he declared after his 1980 Baryshnikov on Broadway television special, which ended with Baryshnikov joining the golden-suited dancers in the finale from A Chorus Line. His compliment was returned in the movie version of A Chorus Line in the scene where a dance hopeful waiting to audition asks one of the unsuccessful candidates what the director was looking for. ?Baryshnikov,? sighs the disappointed dancer.

Twenty-five-year-old Marilou Morin might not be Baryshnikov, but her breakout performance last summer in Denise Filiatrault?s ebullient stage adaptation of Hollywood?s classic Singin? in the Rain, Chantons sous la pluie, showed her to be a dancing actress/singer with the potential for a sterling career.

Chantons sous la pluie was a delight from start to finish, aided by a strong cast of principals and supporting players, a witty French translation, splendid sets that included a real rain shower and choreography by Maud St. Germain and Olivier Landry that was as charming as old MGM movie musicals.

A recent graduate of the theatre program at Montreal?s Coll?ge Lionel-Groulx, Morin was among many who auditioned for the ingenue role of Kathy Seldon, made famous by Debbie Reynolds.

Two Quebec stage veterans, Renaud Paradis and Ren? Simard, splendidly played the principal male roles memorably interpreted in the movie by Gene Kelly and Donald O?Connor. As Simard told me, it was the chemistry between Morin and Paradis during the auditions that won her the role over strong competitors.

As starry-eyed, innocent Kathy, Morin showed an easy, unaffected charm, singing sweetly and moving ably in her dances with Paradis and Simard.

Given Morin?s talents and the waywardness of the performer?s life, it?s hard to predict where her career might take her. As my Gazette colleague Pat Donnelly noted in a column last month, musical theatre in Montreal has, after a hiatus, picked up again ? perhaps just in time to allow Morin to blossom.

- Victor Swoboda

? Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

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Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Stars+watch+2013/7753323/story.html

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