My brother arrived just over a year later and shortly thereafter, my family immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto. Two more children, including me would follow .

Vanessa thrived in school, earning top marks and winning several public speaking competitions. I can still remember the buzz in the auditorium and cheers from the audience after her Grade 8 oratorical on Winston Churchill. Didn’t know who he was but I loved seeing her on stage.

After completing a Master’s Degree from the University of Toronto, Vanessa taught French and English for several years and studied acting at night before shifting gears and getting into the film business . Eventually Vanessa began her own production company and began producing documentaries that attracted large audiences and won awards. And I had the pleasure to work for her as a researcher on several projects.

She told me she’s blessed to be allowed to witness worlds that are unknown to most people – travelling to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to make a film on superbugs Vanessa is able to gain people’s trust and she’s motivated by subjects that help people live better lives such as Fixing My Brain or important stories that people should know about: The Woman Who Joined the Taliban, a very controversial film as well as the recent film for TVO: Undercover Jihadi about the undercover informant who brought down the terrorist group The Toronto 18.

She is thrilled to work with the world’s well-known artists: she was over the moon when Sting agreed to be the main science experiment in the Musical Brain, and have his brain scanned while different styles of music were played for him. And working with the 85-year-old legendary Hollywood star Leslie Caron, (An American in Paris) on a film about her amazing life and work, following her to London, where she intended to re-start her career. And being asked by a well-known British company to join their team for a documentary Into the Inferno directed by Werner Herzog.

She tells me that her current film The Divided Brain is the most difficult film she’ll ever make. Who knows?

Vanessa is a great story-teller; we laugh ‘til we cry. She saves editorial cartoons and shares them at family gatherings. She cracks us up. Even her taste in music is strange – she loves old Neapolitan folk songs, military marches, all opera – even Wagner. Go figure…..

There’s no stopping her. A curious creature, she has the tenacity of a bull and demonstrates her will and determination with style, fairness and grace. And she makes me the best coffee in the world. No fool here.

-written by Marilyn Fabrizio, Vanessa’s sister.

The post “A Day in the Life” with Toronto producer Vanessa Dylyn appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

While we needed no introduction, we all love to hear the personal stories and it’s what makes this musical so fascinating. Inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages and his own childhood experiences, The Last Ship tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear with the closure of the Swan Hunter shipyard.

“Some of the largest vessels in the world were built at the end of my street and my earliest memories were looking south towards the river and not being able to see the sun except for the massive bows of the giant ships,” said Sting.  “I’d watch thousands of men walk to work every morning at 7 o’clock. I’d watch the same men walk back home. I wondered if that would be the fate to my destiny.”

Everyone in his home town worked in the shipyard and there was very little else in the town in the way of work. “Frankly, that was the last thing I wanted to do,” said Sting. ” The shipyard was a dangerous place, a dark place, and a noisy place. I had other dreams. I dreamt about being a musician.  I would sing those songs all over the world and be paid extravagant amounts of money. And that dream came true for me.”

Sting tells us he felt as though he had abandoned his community and town but at a certain point he realized that he owed a debt to that community.  “What happened to that community and the shipyard was tragic in many ways. Because of abstract economic reasons the shipyard was closed. A way of life was shut down. Men lost their identity. It was the death of the town.”

The musician felt he was ideally placed to tell the story both as a songwriter and someone who came from that place. “A lot of the play is biographical by accident in many ways but I only realized that later on down the line.” However, he didn’t want to give the impression that it was all doom and gloom. There are several love stories woven into the play.

He mentioned that the music started forming about ten years ago.  Sting  jotted down a list of names of people he knew working in the shipyard and what their jobs were. The people included the foreman, joiners, welders, and even the union man.

“I realized that I put a lot of my private secrets into the work and when I look at it I realize I had given away a lot more than I had intended. But it’s been very therapeutic for me,” said Sting.

One of the themes is fathers and sons and the tension between generations. “My father didn’t want me to go to the shipyard. Plenty of other kids had that experience. My dad was the milkman but I didn’t want that job either. I needed to get out of there. My dad thought I was crazy.”

Sting received  a scholarship to a grammar school where he was taught latin even though his father wanted him to have a technical education, something that he could relate to as an engineer. “The idea of making a living out of music was a pie in the sky idea. But sometimes a father’s love is misconstrued and is seen as controlling. And sometimes a son’s ambition can seem like just a crazy idea. In my case, I was just lucky,” said Sting.

Sting shared memories about how the town rarely saw celebrities. The only time would be when a ship was to be christened by a member of the Royal Family.The towns people all got dressed in their finest and lined the streets waving flags as  dignitaries drove by. He vividly remembers one moment as a child seeing the Queen Mother waving from her Rolls Royce and catching her eye. “I started vigorously waving my flag as a loyal subject,” said Sting. “I realized for the first time, as she passes that I’ve been noticed. I’ve never been noticed in my life.”

Back in those days, he tells us people thought Royalty had magical powers and healing powers. “Well, I wasn’t cured of anything. In fact quite the opposite. I was infected with an idea. The idea was that I didn’t belong in this street, in this house, nor in this shipyard. I wanted to be in that fuckin’ car. I wanted a bigger life, a grander life which is what I got.”

He was asked if riding in that Rolls Royce lived up to his dreams. He replied with “No. I don’t think I’ve actually even been in a Rolls Royce. But I actually hate limousines. I try to live a modest life. But I mean, I do have a castle. Doesn’t every rockstar have a castle?” said Sting.  “But I am grateful for my life. I’ve been very very fortunate but I also appreciate it because I was brought up at the other end of the economic spectrum and I know what it’s like to be poor. So, in many ways I appreciate everything that has happened to me.”

So, what about his home town? Have they recovered since the shipyard was shuttered? “For decades, virtually nothing,” said Sting. ” The coal mine was closed at one end of the town. The shipyard was closed. Really the town died. But they just had a recent revival with wind turbines being built there now and it’s quite successful so I’m happy about that.”

About The Last Ship

When a sailor named Gideon Flecher returns home after seventeen years at sea, tensions between past and future flare in both his family and his own town. The local shipyard, around which the community has always revolved, is closing and no-one knows what will come next, only that a half-built ship towers over the terraces. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of a gathering storm.

The Last Ship features an original score with music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his best-loved songs including Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance.

This new production of The Last Ship has just finished a critically acclaimed 12-week UK & Ireland tour, which followed a sell-out run at Newcastle’s Northern Stage.

Oh, and did we mention that Sting will be performing in the musical taking on the role of foreman Jackie White ?

Go to www.mirvish.com for ticket details.

The post Sting reveals personal experiences behind his ‘The Last Ship’ musical appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

This new production, which has music and lyrics by Sting, had a sell-out run at Newcastle’s Northern Stage and has recently completed a 12-week run in the UK & Ireland, will arrive in Toronto in the spring of 2019.

The Last Ship was originally inspired by Sting’s 1991 album The Soul Cages and by his own childhood experiences, tells the story of a community amid the demise of the shipbuilding industry in Tyne and Wear, with the closure of the Swan Hunter Shipyard.

When a sailor named Gideon Fletcher returns home after seventeen years at sea, tensions between past and future flare in both his family and hiss town. The local shipyard, around which the community has always revolved, is closing and no-one knows what will come next, only that half-built ship towers over the terraces. With the engine fired and pistons in motion, picket lines are drawn as foreman Jackie White and his wife Peggy fight to hold their community together in the face of the gathering storm.

Sting will play the role of shipyard foreman Jackie White in the Toronto engagement.

This personal, political and passionate new musical from multiple Grammy Award winner Sting, is an epic account of a family, a community and a great act of defiance. The musical features an original score with music and lyrics by Sting as well as a few of his well-known songs including Island of Souls, All This Time and When We Dance.

The production is currently scheduled to sail into town in a limited six-week engagement from February 9 to March 24, 2019. More info through mirvish.com.

The post Sting will star in the Canadian Premiere of the musical The Last Ship appeared first on Toronto Guardian.