The joint will be jumpin’ when the latest dinner theatre production opens at Quaaout Lodge Friday.
Former Salmon Arm resident and founder and director of Jupiter Productions, Voni Grindler presents Jump!, a uniquely feminine approach to the area of swing, jump blues and eight-to-the-bar boogie woogie.
Enjoy the driving rhythms, vocal harmonies and clever lyrics of artists such as Ray Charles, Louis Prima and Nat King Cole as pianist/vocalist Diane Lines delivers songs like I Got My Mojo Working, Jumpin’ in the Mornin,’ Do You Wanna’ Jump, Daddy-0, Ain’t Nobody Here but us Chickens, I Wanna Be Like You, Pennies from Heaven and much more over the next three weekends.
A dynamic pianist and vocalist who has performed on six continents, Lines’ resume is extensive and includes a two-year stint as pianist for Michael Buble and working with David Foster.
She is joined in Jump! by Bill Abbott on sax and vocals, Tony Chamberlist on percussion and vocals, Tim Porter on guitar and vocals, Doug Stephenson and Jen Hodge on bass and vocals and Sam Ellington with vocals.
Artistic director Grindler was formally trained as a director at Drama Studio London, where she graduated with honours, having been awarded the studio’s Highest Artistic and Technical Achievement Award.
Grindler founded Jupiter Productions in 1991 and produced and directed many plays in the Okanagan and Vancouver.
In 1999, she began producing and directing shows for Quaaout Lodge Dinner Theatre and took on the challenge of bringing the worlds of music and theatre together onstage, creating such hit musical revues as Old, New, Borrowed & Blue, Baby Boomer Blues, Rogues & Romantics, Crossroads, A 70’s Night’s Dream, The Look of Love and Hooked on a Feeling.
In Jump! she continues the trend of featuring the best performers and musicians that B.C. has to offer, performing Canadian work and attracting enthusiastic audiences from all over the province.
Jump! runs Nov. 4 and 5, Nov. 11 to 13 and Nov. 18 to 20.
Tickets at $75 include dinner and show. Friday, cocktails start at 6:30 p.m. with buffet dinner at 7 and the show at 8:30. Saturday is the same schedule, but includes a four-course, plated dinner for $79. Sunday cocktails begin at 4 p.m., buffet dinner at 4:30 and the show at 5:30; regular price $69 and $65 for seniors.
For reservations, e-mail dinnertheatre@quaaoutlodge.com, call 250-679-3090 or toll free at 1-800-663-4303.
