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1A new biography of Canadian icon Joni Mitchell by author and National Public Radio music critic Ann Powers interweaves cultural criticism with memoir. Where was Mitchell born?
a. Saskatoon, Sask.
b. Fort Macleod, Alta.
c. Halfmoon Bay, B.C.
d. North Battleford, Sask.

b. Fort Macleod, Alta. Powers’ book, Traveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell, includes interviews with David Crosby, Graham Nash, and James Taylor, each of whom had a romantic relationship with Joni. “I wanted to think of the life of Joni as an icon, as a cultural influencer – and as one who was influenced by a culture,” Powers told The Globe’s Brad Wheeler.

2Of the 6,750 eligible applications for the Canada Council for the Arts’ Explore and Create program fall 2023 competition, what per cent received funding?
a. 56.7 per cent
b. 16.6 per cent
c. 78.2 per cent
d. 3 per cent

b. 16.6 per cent. Applications for the Explore and Create program had tripled between 2017 and 2023, Josh O’Kane reports. And though the Council’s funding had effectively doubled since the Liberals took power in 2015, topping out at $365-million last year, the government will now require it to lower its spending over three years, including by $9.88-million, or 2.7 per cent of current funding, in 2026-27.

3Which hit book-turned-movie series is getting a new novel in 2025 and movie in 2026?
a. Twilight
b. The Hunger Games
c. Dune
d. The Lord of the Rings

b. The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins is returning to the ravaged, postapocalyptic land of Panem for Sunrise on the Reaping, the fifth volume of Collins’ blockbuster dystopian series, which will be published March 18, 2025. Lionsgate has announced that the film adaptation of the book will open in theatres on Nov. 20, 2026.

4This year theatre goers can see Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at the Stratford Festival. Which of these famous Shakespeare lines is not from the star-crossed lover’s play?
a. “Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast”
b. “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?”
c. “These violent delights have violent ends”
d. “The course of true love never did run smooth”

d. “The course of true love never did run smooth” is from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck says Stratford’s adaptation “is very much for theatregoers who enjoy Shakespeare stripped down to its essence on a nearly bare stage, plus period costumes.”

5Which production won best production of a musical in the 2023-2024 season by the Toronto Theatre Critics’ Awards?
a. Kelly vs Kelly
b. De Profundis: Oscar Wilde in Jail
c. Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812
d. Casey and Diana

c. Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. The production of the electro-pop musical based on a snippet of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace won the award. Cast members George Krissa and Heeyun Park also received awards recognizing their outstanding supporting performances in the show, produced by Crow’s Theatre and Musical Stage Company.

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