Caroline Azar is a director and playwright. She was the lead singer, keyboardist and co-lyricist/composer of the band

Fifth Column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

Career

The all-women

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

began in the mid-1980s in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The band self-released two albums, '' To Sir With Hate'' and ''All-Time Queen Of The World''. Azar has acted in a number of stage productions, including ''The Molly Murders'' by Anthony Furey, for which she was selected "Outstanding Performer" by '' Now Magazine''. She worked as directorial assistant for the

Judith Thompson Judith Clare Thompson, OC (born September 20, 1954) is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the recipient of many other awards including the Order of Canad ...

productions of ''

Perfect Pie ''Perfect Pie'' is a play written by Judith Thompson, and first staged at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre in 2000, with Judith Thompson also directing. The assistant director for the original production was Caroline Azar. The original cast starred Nancy ...

'', ''Habitat'', ''Capture Me'' and ''Body and Soul'', story editor, and dramaturg for other writers, Azar has also written several plays, including ''Satan's Mistress'', ''The Surreal Detective vs John Nothing'' and ''Man-O-Rexic''. ''Man-O-Rexic'' featured songs written by Azar and recorded with Fifth Column alumni G. B. Jones and

Beverly Breckenridge Beverly Breckenridge is a musician, composer, and actress from Toronto, Ontario. She played bass for the bands Fifth Column and Phono-Comb. In 1986, Beverly Breckenridge joined the post-punk band Fifth Column. Beverly's first appearance on film w ...

along with

Joel Gibb Joel Gibb (born 28 January 1977) is a Berlin-based Canadian artist and singer-songwriter who leads the "gay church folk" group The Hidden Cameras. He was born in Kincardine, Ontario. Career His first involvement with the music scene was as ed ...

of The Hidden Cameras. In 2012, a documentary film by Kevin Hegge, called ''She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column'' was released featuring interviews with band members Caroline Azar, G.B. Jones, and Beverly Breckenrige, with commentary on the influence of Fifth Column by

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician, artist, feminist activist, pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. In the early-to-mid-1990s she was the lead singer of feminist punk band B ...

and Bruce LaBruce. Azar launched her live workshop production of 'Dink' at The Next Stage Theatre Festival in downtown Toronto at The Factory Theatre in January, 2015, starring the broadway stage star David Keeley. The show received mixed reviews.

Films

*''She Said Boom: The Story of Fifth Column'' directed by Kevin Hegge (2012) *'' She's Real'' directed by

Lucy Thane Lucy Thane (born 1967) is a British documentary filmmaker, event producer and performer, living in Folkestone. Her films include ''It Changed My Life: Bikini Kill in the UK'' (1993) and ''She's Real (Worse than Queer)'' (1997). Life and work Thane ...

(1997) * ''Donna'', video for

, directed by Friday Myers (1994) *''Airplane On The Highway'' video for

Bob Wiseman Robert Neil "Bob" Wiseman (born 1962) is a film composer, songwriter, author and music teacher. Wiseman discovered or produced many artists including Ron Sexsmith, The Lowest of the Low, Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall, Anhai, and former ...

, directed by Caroline Azar (1994) *''

The Yo-Yo Gang G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematic ...

'' directed by G.B. Jones (1992) *''

No Skin Off My Ass ''No Skin Off My Ass'' is a 1991 comedy-drama film by Bruce LaBruce. LaBruce's debut feature film provides a template for many of the themes in LaBruce's later movies. Explicit sex scenes between LaBruce's character and von Brucker's are interwov ...

'' directed by

Bruce LaBruce Bruce LaBruce (born January 3, 1964) is a Canadian artist, writer, filmmaker, photographer, and underground director based in Toronto. Life and career LaBruce was born in Tiverton, Ontario. He has claimed both Justin Stewart and Bryan Bruce as ...

(1991) *''Like This'' video for Fifth Column, directed by

and Fifth Column (1990) *''

The Troublemakers ''The Troublemakers'' is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Gilbert Hernandez, published in 2009. It is one of a number of stand-alone graphic novels featuring Hernandez's character Fritz acting in stories inspired by pulp fiction and explo ...

'' directed by

G.B. Jones G. B. Jones (born 1965) is a Canadian artist, filmmaker, musician, and publisher of zines born in Bowmanville, Canada. She is known for producing J.D.s with her acclaimed''Tom Girls'' drawings before going on to create more musically, cinematica ...

(1990)

Discography

''(For Fifth Column recordings, see

)'' * ''Apple Strudel Man'',

Jolly Tambourine Man Jolly Tambourine Man was a Canadian alternative rock band based in Toronto. Ontario They were active in the between 1982 to 1984. The band recorded a demo tape and a 7" single during its lifetime. The single "Apple Strudel Man" was one of the firs ...

(1984) * ''It's A Wonderful Record!'',

Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a Juno Award-winning Canadian instrumental rock band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the theme to the Canadian sketc ...

(1994) * ''Kickstand'', Kickstand (Queenie) (1994) * ''Messing With Greek Buck'',

Greek Buck Greek Buck were a Canadian musical duo, consisting of Don Pyle (formerly of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb) and Andrew Zealley. They are best known for "Spunk", the theme song to the American television series ''Queer as Folk''.

(1998) * ''Bucquiem'', Greek Buck (2003) * ''

Mississauga Goddam ''Mississauga Goddam'' is a 2004 album by The Hidden Cameras. The title is an allusion to Nina Simone's civil rights anthem "Mississippi Goddam" (from the album '' Nina Simone in Concert''), suggesting suburbia (Mississauga is a suburb of Toro ...

'',

The Hidden Cameras The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as "gay church folk music". Their live performances have been elaborate ...

(2004)

References

External links

*
Official Caroline Azar You Tube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azar, Caroline Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent Canadian people of Lebanese-Jewish descent Canadian people of Italian-Jewish descent Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Canadian film actresses Canadian rock keyboardists Canadian stage actresses Women punk rock singers Canadian punk rock singers Musicians from Toronto Queercore musicians Riot grrrl musicians Writers from Toronto Actresses from Toronto 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women singers Fifth Column (band) members 21st-century LGBT people