alex.browne@peacearchnews.com
Orbison tribute
An iconic rock n’ roll figure will be saluted at Blue Frog Studios, 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Jan. 28 when music veteran Mike Demers leads his company in The Lonely – A Tribute To Roy Orbison.
Presented by Rock.It Boy Entertainment the show hits all the highlights of the career of the man with the trademark dark glasses, who landed a string of 22 Billboard Top 40 hits from 1960 to 1964 (including “Only The Lonely”, “Crying”, and “Pretty Woman”).
Dark emotional ballads, and Orbison’s impassioned voice, bridging the gap between baritone and tenor, were also the secret of such subsequent successes as “Dream Baby”, “Ooby Dooby”, “Blue Angel”, “Blue Bayou”, “You Got It” and “In Dreams” – and Demers and a talented group of sidemen deliver the goods with a sensitive, dynamic tribute and a sincere desire to recreate the sound and feel of the original recordings.
The venue is located at 1328 Johnston Rd.; tickets ($42.50, plus service charges) are available at 604-542-3055 or through www.bluefrogstudios.ca
The Jaybirds
The seamless ensemble work of The Jaybirds (John Reischman on mandolin, Jim Nunally on guitar, Trisha Gagnon on bass, Nick Hornbuckle on banjo, and Greg Spatz on fiddle) makes for one of the freshest, most tasteful band-sounds on the folk and bluegrass circuit today.
The group’s blend of old-time heritage, and contemporary bluegrass power will be showcased Friday (Jan. 29) at 7 p.m. at Blue Frog Studios.
Critically acclaimed for a trademark sound that respects tradition while advancing the music, The Jaybirds have notched up numerous European and North American tours, five critically acclaimed albums, two Juno nominations and two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations.
A genial blend of story-telling and ‘side-show’-style humour adds to the mix of original songs, instrumentals, and newly arranged traditional material.
Tickets ($38.50) are available at 604-542-3055 or through www.bluefrogstudios.ca
Steelin’ In The Years
Some of Vancouver’s top studio session stars join forces for Steelin’ In The Years, a tribute to the music of Steely Dan, playing Blue Frog Studios Saturday (Jan. 30) at 7 and 9 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.
The American jazz-rock band (Peg, My Old School, Kid Charlemagne, Rikki Don’t Lose That Number), founded by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, came to fame in the 1970s with a brilliant fusion of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop, ultimately recording 10 albums that won them multiple Grammy Awards and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The thoroughly idiomatic and on-target Steelin’ In The Years adds to the excitement of the music in live performances featuring the talents of vocalists Billy Mendoza, Debby Low and Talia Butler Gray, along with equally stellar instrumentalists Andreas Schuld (guitar), Jason Decouto (keyboards), Dave Say and Bill Runge (saxophones), Geeta Das (trumpet), Kerry Galloway (bass) and Phil Robertson (drums).
Tickets ($39.50) are available at 604-542-3055 or through www.bluefrogstudios.ca
Sunshine at night
There’s something special about open mic evenings – not only are you likely to hear a variety of music that most venue programmers can’t present, but you might just catch an early performance by a rising star, or a surprise appearance by an established performer trying some new material.
Semiahmoo Peninsula open mic king Dennis Peterson – a man with a good eye for White Rock and South Surrey’s growing pool of experienced and developing talents – is offering a regular show, 6-9 p.m. most Saturdays at The Good Day Sunshine Cafe, #100-2950 King George Hwy.
With dinner, drinks and dessert also on the menu, it’s a good venue to settle in for an evening of unexpected musical treats.
Encore concerts
The series of well-received Sunday afternoon classical performances presented by Encore Peninsula Concerts and co-sponsored by the City of White Rock continues in January at White Rock’s First United Church, 15385 Semiahmoo Ave. Next in the stellar group of world-class classical touring musicians lined up by artistic director Eugene Skovordnikov, himself an internationally-recognized concert pianist, will be Chinese violist Yinzi Kong and her life and performing partner, American pianist William Ransom (Jan. 31, 3 p.m.).
Italian piano duo Sergio Marchegiani and Marco Schiavo, both also noted as soloists, will bring out the excitement of Brahms’ piano duets on Feb. 28, while Polish/Belgian pianist Joanna Trzeciak will present Beethoven and Chopin pieces on April 17.
Rounding out the series, May 15, will be an extra treat – an orchestral performance by the strings of the West Coast Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Albanian maestro Bujar Llapaj) with Skovorodnikov at the piano, and Canadian-American trumpeter Dan Kocurek.
Featured pieces at this concert will be Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart, surely one of the best-known of all classical compositions, and Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet and Strings.
Tickets (season and individual) can be purchased online at tickets.surrey.ca or at White Rock Community Centre, 15154 Russell Ave.
White Rock Trad Jazz
White Rock Traditional Jazz Society’s regular 2 to 5 p.m. sessions of live Dixieland/Swing for listening and dancing each Sunday are back at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240 (2643 128 St.).
Next up is the Square Pegs Jazzy Band (Jan. 31).
Admission (19 and up) is $10 for WRTJS and Legion members, $12 for everybody else).
For more information on upcoming bands visit www.whiterocktradjazz.com or call 604-560-9215.
How I Learned To Drive
Peninsula Productions presents the second offering in their Staged Play Reading Series, How I Learned To Drive, by US playwright Paula Vogel, directed by Guy Fauchon, Sunday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m. at Semiahmoo Arts Centre, 14600 North Bluff Rd.
The play, which premiered off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, earned Vogel the 1998 Pulitzer prize for drama for her work.
The story follows the strained, sexual relationship between protagonist Li’l Bit (Joanna Williams) and her aunt’s husband, Uncle Peck (Ben Odberg)– from her adolescence through her teenage years into college and beyond. Using the metaphor of driving and the issues of pedophilia, incest and misogyny, the play explores the ideas of control and manipulation.
Featured in other roles are Mahara Sinclaire (Female Chorus); Grant Vlahovic (Male Chorus); Becky Hachey (Teenage Chorus) and assistant director Lori Tych (Announcer).
“I see our series as an excellent opportunity for actors to really dig their teeth into some great theatre under the direction of equity directors,” says Sinclaire, also manager of the company in the absence of co-founder Wendy Bollard, currently enrolled in an intensive training program for directors in London, England.
The show is presented with a warning of mature themes (not suitable for a young audience), and there is limited seating, with tickets by donation.
Julio Moreno
A show of some 26 acrylic paintings, pastels and charcoal drawings, which runs to Feb. 29 at Semiahmoo Library, is the first for a Peruvian-Canadian artist, Julio Moreno, 71.
Moreno, who emigrated to Canada some 45 years ago, first began creating art some six years ago after retiring from a career in electrical engineering and security work.
“I told my wife many, many years ago that when I retire, I’m going to do art,” he said.
But while Moreno has had a life-long knack of drawing things (“doodling,” he calls it) it was only after he retired that he began learning techniques in different media, taking some 24 art course credits as a mature students at Kwantlen University.
Influenced by the simplified Yukon landscapes of Ted Harrison and the colourful contemporary primitivism of Michael Tickner, Moreno concentrates on stylized studies of people from his homeland, with semi-abstract backgrounds in which he emphasizes a palette of warm, vibrant and optimistic colours.
Semiahmoo Library is located at 1815 152 St. (for opening hours call 604-592-6900).
Wild art
Take a step into ‘The Wild’ with the latest joint presentation of Semiahmoo Arts and the City of White Rock at White Rock Community Centre, 15154 Russell Ave. (Miramar building).
The group show – an attempt to capture something of the character, temperament, nature and relationships of animals in a natural setting – is scheduled to run until to Feb. 26.
Participating artists are Adele Maskwa-Iskwew Arseneau, Audrey Bakewell, Jordan Blackstone, Melissa Burgher, Margaret R. Burns, Aaron Connnell, Keith Franks, Billy Hebb, Gail Judd, Marilyn Kelm. Inge-Lise Koetke, Anna Kopcok, Barbara McKoen, Linda Morris, Catherine Robertson, Ron Straight, Shelly Stuart, Pat Vickers and Bob Warwick.
Regular opening hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For more information, call 604-541-2199.
Enchanted April
Actors well-known on the Semiahmoo Peninsula are featured in Langley Players’ Enchanted April, which runs until Feb. 20 at Langley Playhouse, 4307 200 St.
Dann Wilhelm, Sheila Greentree and White Rock actress Irene Rowe are featured in the play, which, director Marko Hohlbein promises, will “take you away from the rain and gloom of our west coast winter to the sunshine and promise of an Italian villa.”
Based on the 1920s novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, Enchanted April traces the story of a woman who seeks to escape an “empty marriage and the dreary drudgery of day-to-day life,” by travelling to the Italian Riviera.
Enchanted April runs Thursdays to Sundays at the Langley Playhouse, 4307 — 200 St. Show times are 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.
For reservations, visit http://www.langleyplayers.com/reservations.html or buy tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/133005. Patrons may also email reservations@langleyplayers.com or call 604-534-7469.
Rialto Theatre
The Hollywood Cinemas Rialto Theatre, 1732 Johnston Rd., is currently presenting three non-mainstream movies for White Rock and South Surrey audiences.
The Big Short (6:50 p.m.), based on a real-life thriller, follows four outsiders who decide to take down the banks after their implicit complicity in financial fraud, following the 2006 global financial collapse.
Brad Pitt, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Christian Bale play the quartet in question, in a cast that also features Melissa Leo and Marisa Tomei.
Brooklyn (4:30 p.m.) starring emerging star Saiorse Ronan, concerns soft-spoken young Irish woman Ellis Ryan, who risks everything to resettle in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the early 1950’s, finding romance with a passionate Italian (Emory Cohen) – only to find that her old culture is pulling her back, due to a family tragedy.
The Danish Girl (4:40 p.m., 7:05 p.m.) featuring Eddie Redmayne and Alicia Vikander, weaves an unusual tale of Denmark in the 1920s, based on a true story, as a woman artist’s portrait of her husband as a woman precipitates the emergence of the feminine side of his personality and eventual sexual reassignment surgery.
For more information, call 604-541-9527.
Young actors sought
There’s still a chance for young actors to audition for a highly-regarded theatre company’s 18th season.
Susan Pendleton‘s Young People’s Theatre Company of Surrey (SYTCO) has opened up a few spots for boys and girls in grades 7-10.
Contact sytco@shaw.ca for audition information.
Orchestral recruits
The White Rock Community Orchestra has openings for double bass players and string players – especially violinists and violists. New woodwind and brass players are also welcome. For details, call Don Miller at 604-807-0560 or email papadon1812@hotmail.com, or visit http://whiterockcommunityorchestra.org
Symphonists sought
Now celebrating its 30th concert season, the Fraser Valley Symphony is seeking new members in the violin, viola and percussion sections, but also welcomes inquiries from other interested professional-calibre musicians.
Performing alongside world class instrumental and vocal soloists, the orchestra provides an opportunity for auditioned musicians to present a variety of music to audiences throughout the region.
Rehearsals are held on Monday evenings, in Abbotsford.
Contact info@fraservalleysymphony.org or call 604-859-3877.
Singers wanted
Pacific Showtime Men’s Chorus, based in Ocean Park, rehearses Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church, 12953 20 Ave.
The small community chorus of experienced singers is currently seeking new members for all vocal ranges: lead, tenor, baritone and bass.
Offering a big sound in a variety of musical styles, Pacific Showtime has been featured at a many different Lower Mainland events, including show productions, concerts and private functions.
The repertoire is designed to include songs and a singing style that appeal to a wide variety of music preferences, with emphasis on entertainment value, and chance to develop singing skills while having fun and enjoying camaraderie.
Male singers are invited to attend rehearsals to check out the group and, hopefully, join in.
For more information, call 604-536-5292 or email leighand@shaw.ca
