My Big Fat Greek Wedding House

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 73 Glenwood Crescent
Date: Oct 2014
Website: www.facebook.com/MyBigFatGreekWeddingMovie/

  The sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding will be released in theatres today.  The original movie was filmed mostly in Toronto and went on to become the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time.  The movie was written by Nia Vardalos about her own life.  She plays Toula who is a Greek woman that falls in love with a non-Greek man (John Corbett).  The story follows the two families as they come together for the inevitable big fat wedding.
  The home above was used as the exterior of  the Portokalos house where Toula lives with her family.  You can tell that even in real life this home belongs to a Greek family.  The statues in the yard and the decorations on the front make this clear.  There were still a few modifications that were made for filming such as adding a false second floor and placing additional statues and lighting in the front yard.  A false garage painted like a Greek flag was added on one side while the actual garage pretended to be a big bay window.
  The home makes multiple appearances throughout the movie and dressed up in all it's proud Greekness it really is hard to miss.  Based on the trailer we watched for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, it looks like the entire cast is back for the sequel.  That includes the house. 

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Map of Our World
Portokalos Home

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Post # 103

Royal Alexandra Theatre

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 260 King St West
Date: Nov 2015
Website: www.mirvishproductions.com/theroyalalexandra

  The Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto opened in 1907 and holds claim to being the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in North America.  It sits on King Street West at the eastern edge of what used to be a string of restaurants owned by Honest Ed Mirvish.  The theatre received its name and royal title from Queen Alexandra who is the great grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II.  It is more commonly just referred to as The Royal Alex.
  The theatre has hosted countless productions through the years.  One notable performance was a production of Godspell which featured Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Paul Schaffer, Howard Shore, Gilda Radner and Victor Garber among others.  Some of you may recognize most, if not all of the names here.  After Godspell, the first four went on to success on the television show SCTV.  The next three went on to Saturday Night Live and Victor Garber played Jesus in the film version of the play.  They all have had successful careers in television and movies.  Some of them have been honoured on Canada's Walk of Fame just across the street on the south side of King Street West.

  We ourselves have seen at least two successful productions at the Royal Alex.  Many years ago we saw the Abba musical Mamma Mia! which starred Camilla Scott in the main role.  We also attended a more recent performance of Kinky Boots which has musical numbers written by Cyndi Lauper.  The Royal Alexandra Theatre continues to draw crowds after almost 110 years in operation. 

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This location is near St. Andrew subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Royal Alexandra Theatre
Canada's Walk Of Fame

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Post # 102

Between The Avalon & The Colony

Location: Miami, Florida, USA
Address:  736 Ocean Dr.
Date: Aug 2004
Website:  www.colonymiami.com

  When we were in Miami we took a walk along Ocean Drive which is the main street of South Beach.  Little did we know that we were walking through two on-screen crime scenes.  One was filmed over twenty years before we arrived and the other would not happen until two years later.  We had taken a few pictures which managed to capture some of the action that took place between 7th and 8th streets along Ocean Drive. 

 

  In the movie Scarface, Tony ( Al Pacino) and Manny (Steven Bauer), along with Angel and Chi Chi are headed to make a drug deal of their own.  They turn onto Ocean Drive up at 13th street near The Carlyle Hotel.  They head down the strip past 8th Street (pictured above) and then drive past the Colony Hotel (pictured at the top of this post).  They finally pull a u-turn in front of the Beacon Hotel and park the car across the street between the Beacon Hotel and the Sun Ray Motel.  We are guessing they parked approximately where the white car is parked below.  Tony and Angel head up some stairs to a top floor apartment of the Sun Ray Motel while Manny and Chi Chi wait in the car.

  Basically, things do not go well.  Angel gets killed by a chainsaw, Manny and Chi Chi rush inside, a gunfight ensues, Manny gets injured and several people are killed. It all ends with Tony shooting a Columbian drug dealer in the head outside on the street, to the horror of the Beacon Hotel patrons.  Tony then pulls another u-turn in the car and Manny and Chi Chi pile into the back seat.  They then race off heading south down Ocean Drive.  We also headed south past the Colony, the Sun Ray, the Beacon and finally the Avalon before we reached 7th Street.
  This brings us to the next crime scene from the television show Dexter.  When we visited Miami, Dexter star Michael C. Hall was still Six Feet Under.  Dexter is a forensic analyst and his sister Deborah is a Miami police officer.  Oh... and Dexter is also a serial killer.  In episode two they have been tracking a killer dubbed "The Ice Truck Killer".  Deborah phones Dexter and they both arrive on the scene at the south end of the Avalon Hotel.

  There is an ice truck parked on the street.  Inside they find severed fingertips frozen in a block of ice.  The entire scene unfolds with both the Beacon and Colony hotels clearly visible across the street.  It turns out that the ice truck is parked in almost the exact same spot that Tony Montana's car was parked in Scarface.  We think this was done as an intentional nod to the classic film location.  Say hello to my little coincidence!

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Map of Our World
Between The Avalon & The Colony

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Post # 101