Canadian Theatre in New York City: Two Case Studies

Abstract

New York is awash in Canadian citizens, cultural events and consulates. Two consular bodies and five Canadian organizations serve the upwards of 100,000 Canadians living in the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut). Each consulate has a cultural development program and boasts a publication announcing upcoming Canadian cultural events in New York.2 Moreover, mediatized images of Canada have successfully permeated New York’s popular consciousness. In fashion, American designer Isaac Mizrahi documented his 1994 fall fashion-homage to Nanook of the North in the film Unzipped. In music, two of America’s favourite “divas” are Canadian Céline Dion and Shania Twain formed the core of VH-1’s runaway success, Divas Live. In film, Mike Myers’s enormous popularity rests in part on Saturday Night Live’s “Wayne” and “Garth,” two heavy-metal fans from Scarborough. Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter (1998) garnered an Academy Award nomination. Female lead Sarah Polley was one of Vanity Fair’s up-and-coming actors in April 1999. The most visible media images of Canada are Molson’s “Joe Canadian” series of television advertisements (premiered in March 2000) and Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s movie musical satire, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (released in June 1999). Pop culture iterations of Canada seem to be everywhere.