Encyclopedia News; Goodbye 1999

[Gaetan Charlebois]

Hello All and Happy Holiday

This will be the last missive before January 17 or so, so have a wondrous
and bug-free New Year.

About that, here's what worries me. Not that the world will end, or even
that my bank card won't work (keeping me from getting the 32 cents I've
stashed for just such emergencies...).  It's that with CNN announcing 100
hours of live coverage, Newsworld and RDI some 24 and every network in every
country covering this to death that all it will take to set off a world-wide
panic of binge-buying, bank-runs and hoarding will be a light-bulb burning
out in Kangaroo Hop, Australia and one of the 18,000 cameras in that poor
beleagured country capturing the moment. For the sane, among us, just sit
tight, relax and enjoy the show (if only the one of bleary-eyed newspeople
trying to find something new to say after 99 and a half hours...)

Meanwhile, the Encyclopedia and the whole canadiantheatre.com project has
grown well, this year, and mostly in the right directions. Sure it's not
Amazon.com, but at least we answer our e-mail. I am particularly proud of
the reviews section which, through magnificent contributors, gives a fairly
complete, ongoing picture of the theatre of this nation. (There is also a
New Feature, at "Reviews" - see below.) I wish Heavenly Voices was more
popular, but it serves its own little purpose. I am especially delighted by
the volume of mail from young people the site generates. This shows that
someone out there is continuing to spread the word about Canadian theatre to
a generation that is usually grossly undereducated on the subject. Bless the
teachers of the nation who talk about this silly passtime that arouses some
of us so much.

Finally, it's time for the end of year toasts: deepest thanks to Leonard
Conolly, Greg Nelson, Joel Greenberg, Alvina Ruprecht, Laura MacDonald, Anne
Nothof, Lindy Cooksey, Frank Moher, Clair Sedore, and the dozens of others,
across the country and abroad, who not only keep this project clicking along
with their advice but make the work profoundly enjoyable for me.

If you would like a copy of the entire list of profiles, I can send it to
you by e-mail. Also if, for teaching etc., you'd like all the Thea-Tricks
questions and answers since the beginning, that's available too.  (Both at
no charge like all services provided by canadiantheatre.com.)

Don't forget Heavenly Voices for your regional news, job postings or
audition calls. (http://www.canadiantheatre.com/heavenlyvoices.html)

Announce your show!
(http://www.canadiantheatre.com/calendar/calendarguidlines.html) If you want
to see what a typical region's and month's line-up can look like go to
(http://www.canadiantheatre.com/calendar/atoc99.html)

Register your link too!
(http://www.canadiantheatre.com/links/linksguidelines.html)

New Feature:
Reviews are cross-referenced into the site. Now, as you read any of the
reviews in The Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre on the WWW, you can
link-away to a profile of the person/place mentioned in the review. I did
this with the permission of the principle reviewers - Joel Greenberg, Laura
MacDonald, Alvina Ruprecht and Anne Nothof - who all agreed to have their
work more integrated into the project (and littered with links...). However,
we will not link-back from a profile to a review for the simple reason that
some reviews are negative and the guiding philosophy of The Encyclopedia
will always be: Inform, Celebrate. The reviews (including the negative ones)
are included as a separate entity to provide a picture of theatre in the
country, to show a diversity of opinion about it, and to celebrate the art
of the critic.

Updates:
Thea-Tricks; Reviews (2 added); Links; Alberta Theatre Projects; Stratford
Festival; Highway, T.; Northern Theatre; History; British Columbia

Gaetan L. Charlebois (Editor, The Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre on the
WWW) http://www.canadiantheatre.com or
http://cantheatre.canoe.ca
If you want to join the Encyclopedia's mailing list (and get information
before anyone else as well as the Monday Hint for the Thea-Tricks Doozey),
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