A Celebration of CBC's The Newsroom at Paradise Theatre

Last night I attended a celebration of CBC's The Newsroom at the Paradise Theatre. I've long sought Ken Finkleman as a Toronto Mike'd guest and the West End Phoenix managed to get him to participate in a panel, so VP invited me as his +1.

I loved Ken Finkleman's The Newsroom. With Jeremy Hotz and Colin Brunton, I managed to get answers to some of my Newsroom questions, and I got a solid sense of what it was like working with Finkleman. It seems he was both a creative powerhouse and very difficult to work for. I was curious how he'd come across on the panel, and how spicy it would get with the other panelists Matt Watts, Peter Keleghan, Douglas Bell, Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, Karen Hines, and Kristin Booth.

After we watched two episodes of The Newsroom, Linwood Barclay moderated the panel discussion. Ken Finkleman is now about 80 years old, and he acted like it. I saw some mild mobility issues, and he had difficulty hearing, but once he got comfortable, his swagger seemed to return. I expected nothing less than bravado, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear him praise the other actors on the show, and the actors on the panel were quick to praise his writing in return.

One story told by Ken Finkleman was about Peter Keleghan calling him to ensure he landed the role as anchor Jim Walcott, a story Peter completely denied. But my favourite remarks came from Karen Hines, who hinted at the misogyny from Finkleman and the struggles she had working with him. If I left this event with one thought it wasn't "get Ken Finkleman on Toronto Mike'd", it was "Get Karen Hines on Toronto Mike'd".

It was quite the Saturday night in Bloorcourt. During my wait outside the Paradise Theatre I saw Meredith MacNeill from Baroness Von Sketch run by, then spent a period of time a couple of metres from Kids in the Hall's Mark McKinney before chatting up Dave Bidini from The Rheostatics and sitting next to Don McKellar in the theatre.

Then, a glorious bike ride home west on the Bloor bike lane. A perfect evening.