Bravo!’s Top picks :
* Bravo!’s strand of GREAT CANADIAN BIOGRAPHIES continues with revealing profiles on Des McAnuff (Feb. 7), Glenn Gould (Feb. 14) and Denny Doherty (Feb. 21)
* Before this Valentine’s Day approaches, Bravo! examines Shakespeare’s beliefs about love in A TASTE OF SHAKESPEARE: LOVE (Feb. 11)
* INNOVATORS IN MUSIC wraps up with profiles on Billy Bragg (Feb. 4) and Sonic Youth (Feb. 11)
* Irish phenomenon Celtic Woman put a modern twist on Celtic sound in the breathtaking concert special CELTIC WOMAN: SONGS FROM THE HEART (Feb. 15)
* MATTHEW GOOD takes to the stage as part of Bravo!’s award-winning AT THE CONCERT HALL series (Feb. 23)
* Before this year’s Academy Awards® air, relive Oscar®’s finest award-winning/nominated features all month long including Michael Moore’s BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (Feb. 27) and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Feb. 28)
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Bravo! honours Black History Month with a collection of programs celebrating the rich history and culture relevant to Black history in Canada and around the globe. In THE INCOMPARABLE JACKIE RICHARDSON (Feb 1 at 8 p.m. ET), Richardson performs live with musicians Doug Riley, Kim Richardson, Ben Riley Dave Young, and Ted Quinlan. SOUNDS LIKE MOTOWN (Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. ET) follows Victoria, B.C. high school kids performing with Motown great Martha Reeves. A SONG FOR AFRICA (Feb. 8 at 9:30 p.m. ET) sees artists such as Ian D’sa (Billy Talent), Damhnait Doyle, Luke McMaster, and Simon Wilcox who travel to Kenya to capture the everyday stories that are often untold. WHEN MOSES WOKE (Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. ET) is a Gemini award-winning performance inspired by the combined experiences of Harriet Tubman and numerous Freedom Seekers who traveled through the Underground Railroad.
BRAVO! SERIES
INNOVATORS IN MUSIC – New Episodes
Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Bravo!
INNOVATORS IN MUSIC profiles dynamic musicians from a variety of genres, backgrounds, and disciplines. Each half-hour episode explores how the creative impulse extends beyond music-making and into other realms of artistic pursuit. Wrapping up the series are innovators Billy Bragg (Feb. 4) and Sonic Youth (Feb. 11).
GREAT CANADIAN BIOGRAPHIES – New Episodes
Sundays at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Bravo!
Continuing the channel’s Great Canadian Biographies strand is a portrait of the Canadian Tony Award®-winning musical theatre genius Des McAnuff in DES MCANUFF: A LIFE IN STAGES (Feb. 7); followed by a glimpse into the life of pianist Glenn Gould in GENIUS WITHIN: THE INNER LIFE OF GLENN GOULD (Feb. 14). Concluding the month and series is a portrait of one of Canada’s widely known singer-songwriters Denny Doherty (founding member of the musical group The Mamas & the Papas) in HERE I AM: DENNY DOHERTY AND THE MAMAS AND THE PAPAS (Feb. 21).
Bravo! SPECIALS
LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE – Bravo! Premiere
Monday, February 8 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on Bravo!
In LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE, 11 performers are enclosed in a strange white room that evokes, in turn, the intimacy of a bedroom, the starkness of a mental hospital, and the isolation of a fortress. The dance becomes the penetrating expression of their tensions, a crazy expending of emotion. LA CHAMBRE BLANCHE was produced for television, based on a dance production by Montreal’s O’Vertigo dance company and created by choreographer Ginette Laurin in association with Bravo!.
LUSTRALE – Bravo! Premiere
Monday, February 8 at 9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT on Bravo!
Produced and directed by Izabel Barsive and choreographed by Anik Bouvrette, LUSTRALE is a dance/art film that chronicles a journey shared by two women as they approach the hereafter, guided by the poetry and sensuality of water and light.
A TASTE OF SHAKESPEARE: LOVE – World Television Premiere
Thursday, February 11 at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 PT on Bravo!
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Bravo! examines Shakespeare’s beliefs about love in A TASTE OF SHAKESPEARE: LOVE. This one-hour special sees a group of actors defending their opposing viewpoints on love, illustrated by clips from previous A TASTE OF SHAKESPEARE productions. Starring two-time Gemini award-winner Nicky Guadagni (Major Crime), Daniel Kash (THE LINE), Holly Lewis (These Girls), and veteran actor Brian Tree (The Stratford Shakespeare Festival). Sergio Di Zio (FLASHPOINT), Alan Van Sprang (THE TUDORS), and bestselling author Anne-Marie Macdonald are featured in clips.
CELTIC WOMAN: SONGS FROM THE HEART – Bravo! Premiere
Monday, February 15 at 8 p.m. ET/ 5 PT on Bravo!
Irish music phenomenon Celtic Woman have earned International recognition for their heavenly melodies and magnificent live shows. Recorded in the lush Irish country setting of the majestic Powerscourt House & Gardens, this one-hour special provides audiences with a sneak peak of the girls’ fifth studio album (Songs From The Heart), before the ladies set out on their 2010 Tour. The five-member Irish female ensemble known for putting a modern twist on Celtic sound, deliver contemporary hits like Mariah Carey’s “When You Believe,” Sting’s “Fields of Gold,” and Billy Joel’s “Goodnight My Angel,” as well as the Irish classics “Galway Bay” and “My Lagan Love.”
MATTHEW GOOD AT THE CONCERT HALL – Bravo! Premiere
Tuesday, February 23 at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT
Canadian JUNO award-winning musician and activist Matthew Good takes to the stage as part of Bravo!’s AT THE CONCERT HALL series. The B.C. native performs brand new tracks from his fourth solo album Vancouver including “Us Remains Impossible,” “The Boy Who Could Explode,” “Great Whales of the Sea,” “A Silent Army In The Trees,” and the first single, “Last Parade.” Plus, Good delivers earlier hits including “Born Losers,” “I’m A Window,” and an acoustic rendition of “Strange Days.”
Bravo! cinema
LEAVING METROPOLIS – Bravo! Premiere
Thursday, February 4 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
LEAVING METROPOLIS is a Canadian film based on the play (Poor Superman) by Brad Fraser. The film centres on the relationship between a gay man and a married heterosexual man who fall in love. Starring Troy Ruptash, Thom Allison, Vince Corazza, and Cherilee Taylor, the film is set against the backdrop of several events in the fictional life and comics of Superman.
LUCID – Bravo! Premiere
Thursday, February 18 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
LUCID follows a psychotherapist on a verge of a breakdown and suffering from severe insomnia, who is assigned three patients suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and must treat them to deal with issues in his own life. Directed by the Canadian award-winning filmmaker Sean Garrity (Inertia), Lucid ventures into dramatic territory and is full of Garrity’s keen sense of atmosphere and complex personal interactions.
OSCAR® MONTH ON BRAVO! – Bravo! Premieres
Saturdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
All month long, Bravo! invites you to relive Oscar® magic with an ensemble of the Academy®’s finest features including Best Picture winners A BEAUTIFUL MIND (Feb. 6), FORREST GUMP (Feb. 21) and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE (Feb. 14). Also the character-driven dramas ERIN BROCKOVICH (Feb. 7), SCENT OF A WOMAN (Feb. 20), and the often quoted A FEW GOOD MEN (Feb. 13) air. Also, Michael Moore’s award-winning documentary BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE (Feb. 27) and the acclaimed NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (Feb. 28) make their Bravo! premieres and conclude the stellar line-up.