Ariel Sung
Surrey soprano Ariel Sung will perform in concert with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, conducted by Leslie Dala, this Friday (Feb. 18) at 8 p.m. at Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre.
Born Sung Wen, the highly experienced singer trained in the western classical tradition in her homeland of Taiwan from the age of 15, but also pursued and was successful in an early career in pop music there.
Her versatility led to being chosen by Disney to dub the voice of Ariel in the Mandarin version of The Little Mermaid, which led to her western performing name.
Sung, who has lived in B.C. for the last decade, is also well-known as a private teacher and choral director (her New Voice Choir performed twice in well-received concerts to benefit Peace Arch Hospital).
At Friday’s concert, Sung will display her rich tone and powerful vocal technique in an evening of arias from operatic masterworks of the Western tradition, interspersed with instrumental selections from the orchestra, made up of some of Vancouver’s finest classical musicians.
For more information, visit www.arielsung.com. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.ca or 604-280-4444, or call Patty Chen at 604-866-7188.
Love connections
Intuitive spiritual artist and workshop facilitator Kaayla Tomlyn – well known on the Semiahmoo Peninsula – is bringing a further art workshop to Organic Connections Cafe on Marine Drive this month under the banner of ‘Love Creating Love Connections’.
The workshop, Saturday, Feb. 19, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., is designed so that an adult can build a ‘Love Legacy’ with a young relative (child, grandchild, niece, nephew etc.) by creating an intuitive painting together.
The result, Tomlyn says, will be a special connection – and a painting that preserves the moment for posterity.
Cost is $75 including all materials, plus a 10 per cent discount on lunch at the café.
Tomlyn’s own paintings are currently on display at the café, until Feb. 28.
For more information, call Tomlyn at 604-876-4466 or visit www.lovecreatinglove.com
Fallen Angel
The Fallen Angel film and music tour, remembering the life of musician Larry Norman – considered by some the “father of Christian rock” – comes to Gracepoint Community Church, 3487 King George Boulevard at 7 p.m., Feb. 21.
The magnetic Norman, who died in 2008, had polarized opinion since the 1960s. While he is remembered as one of the most powerful communicators of the Christian gospel through rock music – with songs such as I Wish We’d All Been Ready and Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music? – his human failings, ambition and desire for rock superstar status have caused him to be vilified latterly as little better than a “con artist.”
The truth, as always, lies somewhere between the polar extremes.
In what is described as “an evening of forgiveness and a glimmer of grace against a backdrop of moral failure,” Norman will be remembered with a screening of the documentary Fallen Angel: The Outlaw Larry Norman; a live performance by Norman’s best friend, musician Randy Stonehill, and a discussion with the film’s Emmy-noiminated director, David Di Sabatino. For more information, visit www.churchspeak.com/#/fallen-angel-tour
Historical drama
Thespians from Southridge School’s senior classes will present late Canadian playwright David French’s play 1949, Wednesday, Feb. 23, Thursday, Feb. 24 and Friday, Feb. 25 in 7 p.m. performances at the school, 2656 160 St.
The play is one of a quintet of semi-autobiographical realistic dramas (including Salt-Water Moon and Leaving Home) written by French about the Mercers – a Newfoundland family relocated to Toronto in the first half of the 20th century.
Directed with a strong sense of period authenticity by drama teacher Beth Mullin, assisted by student director Chandrika Manjunath, 1949 examines the political and issues of Newfoundland becoming a Canadian province in that year, seen through the eyes of an average family with its own set of stresses and strains.
The sometimes serious, often comedic tale features Ben Resera and Olivia Gerow as Jacob and Mary Mercer, Brent Mosher and Kyren Bueckert as their sons Ben and Billy; Rowan Laird as family matriarch Rachel, and Alexa Mordhurst as Mary’s sister Dot; plus Braxton Bonneville, Stephanie Nowak, Chelsea Andreou, Shaquille Pabani, Carson Vander Noot, Arjun Hair, Kyle Ketchum and Katie Bishop.
For tickets and information, call 604-535-5056.
White Rock Players
The latest production by White Rock Players Club, Douglas Post’s thriller Earth and Sky, runs until Saturday, Feb. 26.
Described as “a case of film noir on stage,” Earth and Sky is a poetic thriller set in present day Chicago and teeming with Chandler/Hammett-style dialogue.
It concerns would-be poet and part time librarian Sara McKeon (White Rock actor Lori Tych) who finds that her lover of 10 weeks, David Ames (Jason Dedrick), has been shot dead.
Adding to her shock, she is told that David, owner of an expensive restaurant, has an unsavoury past that may have included kidnapping, rape and murder.
Unable to believe that she gave her heart to a killer – and outraged that the police seem to have closed the book on David’s death – Sara launches her own investigation which plunges her into the urban labyrinth of the contemporary underworld.
Other performers include Mike Busswood (Sgt. Al Kersnowski), Ben Odberg (Det. H.E. Weber) Kaity Busswood (Joyce Lazio), White Rock’s Aaron Elliott (Billy Hart), director Dale Kelly (Carl Eisenstadt), Colleen Kelly (Marie Defaria) and Andrew LeBlanc (Julius Gatz).
Performances Wednesday through Saturday have an 8 p.m. curtain; a matinee Sunday, Feb. 20 is at 2:30 p.m.
For tickets, call 604-536-7535 or visit www.whiterockplayers.ca
Here At Hastings
A multi-media visual presentation by Surrey artist Juanita Sahl commemorating the history of Hastings Racecourse, Here At Hastings runs until Feb. 25 at Semiahmoo Arts’ gallery, 1959 152 St. (Windsor Square).
Drawings, paintings, poetry, photography, a racetrack video and abstract sculptures show Sahl’s personal impressions of the track from the early `70s to the present.
The show is intended as a fundraiser for New Stride Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (2002), which is affiliated with Hastings Racecourse and accomodates the needs of retired racehorses.
For more information, call 604-536-8333.
