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culture

Historicist: Ted Rogers, Communist?

The future media mogul's run-in with American immigration officials in 1954 occurred against a backdrop of anti-McCarthyist sentiment at the University of Toronto.

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Front page, Globe and Mail, January 4, 1954.

Front page, Globe and Mail, January 4, 1954.

After winding down the old year and welcoming 1954 in the Bahamas, William Boultbee and Ted Rogers had a straightforward plan for heading home: fly from Nassau to West Palm Beach on January 2, pick up Boultbee’s car in Fort Lauderdale, drive north.

The plane carrying the pair, who had been friends since childhood, arrived in Florida at 7 p.m. As they were processed through immigration, Rogers told the official he was a University of Toronto student. Asked if he had a job, the future media mogul noted he had worked for the Progressive Conservatives during the 1953 federal election campaign.

“As soon as I said the word progressive,” Rogers recalled half a century later, “they looked at me funny and pointed ‘Over there with your friend Boultbee.’”

Keep reading: Historicist: Ted Rogers, Communist?

culture

Catch This 24-Hour Entertainment Marathon For A Good Cause

24 hours of unscripted entertainment, including a musical, a seance, and a trilingual set, to support Bad Dog Theatre Company's diversity programming.

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Coko Galore is one of eight core performers taking part in 24 Hours of Improv, starting tonight, with dozens of special guests. Photo by Justine Cargo.

Coko Galore is one of eight core performers taking part in 24 Hours of Improv, starting tonight, with dozens of special guests. Photo by Justine Cargo.

Busy unscripted entertainment company Bad Dog Theatre does a lot with very little, as improv isn’t usually a money making enterprise for performers. Despite their low bottom line (or perhaps because they’re so grassroots), they’ve been putting a lot of effort into a drive to diversify the students in their classes and performers on their stages. Tonight’s 24 Hours of Improv marathon, which is raising funds for their diversity program, will feature eight core performers participating for the duration, plus special round the clock editions of much of Bad Dog’s programming, including Kinsey Fail (a LGBTQ+ friendly format) and Songbuster (the improvised musical). Also scheduled: more unusual shows like Becky Johnson‘s 3 a.m. seance, and a show that’ll be performed in French and Spanish. Entry to shows, which happen on the hour, every hour, is set at $15 for p.m. shows, and $10 for a.m. ones; $80 gets you all access.

Friday, March 10, 7 p.m. – Saturday March 11, 7 p.m., Bad Dog Theatre (875 Bloor Street West, 2nd floor), $10-$!5 per show, $80 24 hour pass.

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