here's what casa loma looks like right now - legends of...
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2016-10-31, 1)10 PMHere's what Casa Loma looks like right now
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Here’s what Casa
Loma looks like
right nowBY ZACK KOTZER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABBY FRANK | SEPTEMBER 29,2016 AT 3:57 PM
In a city as young as Toronto, old buildings and lingeringspirits aren’t in huge supply. But if there’s one local space thatghost-hunting shows have their eye on, it’s Casa Loma. Nick DiDonato, the CEO of Liberty Entertainment Group—which ownsand manages the castle—has fielded more than a few requestsfrom paranormal investigators anxious to scope out Casa Lomaovernight, but he believes they’d come up empty. “I’ve been
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here for almost three years now, day and night, around theclock,” says Di Donato. “If the castle’s got anything at all, it’sa great spirit. It’s happy to be alive, happy to be here, happy tobe a big part of the fabric of Toronto and its history.”
This Halloween, in lieu of actual monsters, Casa Loma isspending roughly $1.5 million on actors and illusions for atheatrical experience that’s sure to spook guests. Legends ofHorror, which opens Friday, September 30, is a 1.5-kilometretrail that winds through Casa Loma’s gardens, stables andplenty of creaky metal gates. The terrifying tour takesadvantage of the estate’s mysterious (if not genuinely haunted)history and includes a mad monster party of famous beasts. Wetook a tour of the fright fest. Here are a few creature featuresyou can expect.
In one of the first areas, influenced by The Wolfman, DiDonato pulled up a large tarp to reveal a giant snarling beasthead, an animatronic stained with blood and white hair mattedin fresh death. He knew his way around the impressive wolfpuppet—which moves about, gnashes its teeth and blares its
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eyes—having fiddled with it for about six months. Thebest thing about werewolves isn’t their claws and howls, ofcourse, but the transformation between human and hairyterror, so, as guests walk along the path, they’ll see each phaseof the beast’s full-moon fever.
One of Di Donato’s favourite classic horror scenes is from1933’s The Invisible Man: the mad scientist in his parlour,smoking a pipe and disrobing in an act of cinematic illusion.Casa Loma opts for a clothed version of the character and somespecial effects of its own: in a disorienting mirror maze full ofglowing crystal chandeliers, sight is bound to betray you.Another hi-tech highlight: the 3D projection systems that showDracula reigning over the south face of Casa Loma. (Di Donatoplans to use the systems for other holidays throughout theyear).
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Haunted house creators would probably kill to use a buildingas historic as Casa Loma, and the Legends tour takes fulladvantage of the castle’s storied past. In the tunnels that runbeneath Spadina, long-forgotten local horrors live again: thegreat fire of 1904, the 10-year plague that began in 1912, thefew years in the late 1920s in which Casa Loma operated as ahotel. This area is an homage to that chapter, mixing originalobjects—the sign used to hang in the front of the hotel—andprops inspired by films like Psycho and The Shining.
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The swamp creature, mummy and Phantom of the Opera eachget their own lair, while the entire stable house is dedicated toFrankenstein (the macabre tale’s 200th anniversary is fastapproaching). Inside, where horses once stood, there aredissection tables and imprisoned victims, surrounded by fogfeeding into the room from troughs underneath the floor tiles.Above is Frankenstein’s lab, with a massive selection of strangetools and,for that extra dose of authenticity, antiques fromCasa Loma’s archives, including old cars and dentist chairsand, pictured here, the standing furnace on the left and thechandelier.
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There was an alien
wrestling ring at
TIFF’s Star Trek
party last nightBY VIBHU GAIROLA | PHOTOGRAPHY BY GIORDANO CIAMPINI | OCTOBER 28, 2016 AT 3:33 PM
2016-10-31, 1)10 PMHere's what Casa Loma looks like right now
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Vulcans, Klingons and even the odd Borg set aside theirdifferences and got together for an otherworldlyTIFF fundraiser last night at the Bell Lightbox. The party, titledBoombox: Warp Speed, paid tribute to the 50th anniversary ofthe original Star Trek series with intergalactic performances,next-gen tech, cosplayers and a retro-futuristic dancefloorwhere the phasers were definitely set to more than just stun.Here, a taste of what you missed.
Toronto-based wrestling house Superkick’d wrangled a troupeof 11 bare-chested wrestlers to duke it out in the building’sloading docks. After eight matches and one glorious BattleRoyale, a Captain Kirk lookalike beat Klingons, Bajorans,Romulans, Borgs and Vulcan alike, proving that playing onhome turf does indeed bring good luck:
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For a band from outer space, the Warp Tens delivered asurprisingly earthy, soulful set. Inspired by ’60s and ’70sgrooves, the four singers—all in costume as Andorians—tookturns belting out covers of classic like David Bowie’s “SpaceOddity,” Claudine Clarke’s “Party Lights” and Elton John’s“Someone Saved My Life Tonight”:
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A team led by local make-up artist and hairstylist SharRichardson turned at least 600 earthlings into Vulcans over thecourse of the evening, applying handmade ears at warp speed(you could also get yourself a brand new Klingon forehead ifyou had four hours to spare):
Toronto crooner Maylee Todd delivered an ethereal dream-popperformance with a string quartet, mesmerizing projectionsand two winged “virtual beings” (read: backup dancers):
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Dan and Jennie Lyon have been Trekkies since the very firstepisode. Dan, who works in the film industry, recalls meetingWilliam Shatner in person and saying, “My wife is your biggestfan!” Shatner’s response? “People always say my wife, mysister, my brother is your biggest fan. Why is it never them?!”:
This insider’s secret to creating the perfect Klingon forehead: a
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baseball cap covered in window caulking and paint. He usedpopsicle sticks to flatten and carve out the iconic, angrygrooves and sported a pair of wraparounds to hide the linewhere mere human ends and proud Klingon begins:
Tech whiz Jacob Niedzwiecki turned Luma into an inter-dimensional cabaret with his app Pillar. Prior to the party, he’drecorded seven dancers in action with 3D-capture technology.Attendees could fire up the app and see the dancers’ likenessesmoving alongside their friends against a luminous columnconstructed from images of the surface of Mars:
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