Sway
Tickets are still available for Sway, vocalist, entertainer and actor Tony Barton’s tribute to international sensation Michael Buble, at Blue Frog Studio this Friday (Nov. 18).
The Chicago native received his Bachelor in Music Education from Illinois State University and received an Masters in Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Las Vegas in Nevada, but also draws on his experience sharing the stage with greats like B.B. King and Barbara Streisand.
Recently, Barton penned and produced Blue Eyes Too, a tribute show dedicated to the life and music made famous by Frank Sinatra, which became a sold-out success.
Tickets are available From Blue Frog. For more information call 604-542-3055 or go to www.bluefrogstudios.ca or www.mooncoinproductions.com/stageshows/sway/
Auditions
White Rock Players Club is holding auditions for its February production, Drinking Alone, by Norm Foster.
Director Susanne dePencier is looking for “one man in his 30s, and one man, late 50s to mid-60s; plus two attractive women, late 20s to mid-30s; and one woman late 40s to mid-60s.
Auditions (cold readings from the script) will be held Sunday, Nov. 20 and Tuesday Nov. 22, 7 to 9:30 p.m. both evenings, at Centennial Arena, 14600 North Bluff Rd. (16 Avenue).
For more information, contact the director at depencier-casting@telus.net
Get Reel
Semiahmoo Arts’ Get Reel film series is back with a program of new films from Canada, England, France and Germany.
Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. at White Rock Community Centre (Miramar Village), the screening is Of Gods And Men, a French-Algerian co-production.
Directed by Xavier Beauvois, it’s a real-life-inspired story of eight French Christian monks living in harmony with their Muslim brothers in the mountains of North Africa in the early 1990s.
When a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group and fear sweeps through the region, the monks are faced with a momentous decision – should they leave, or should they stay true to their mission and their calling, no matter what happens?
The Academy Award-nominated film has been described by Time Magazine’s Richard Corliss as “a luminous tale of faith and heroism.”
As with all presentations in the Get Reel series, the screening will be followed by a discussion led by a guest speaker.
Tickets are $10 for members and $11 for the general public.
For more information, visit www.semiahmooarts.com
Beastly fun
It’s not Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, but it is the Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society’s latest in a well-received line of 26 Christmas pantomimes.
FVGSS’s take on Beauty and the Beast runs Nov. 23 to Dec. 4 at Surrey Arts Centre Theatre (88 Avenue and King George Blvd.), officially launching panto season in the Surrey-White Rock area.
The team of producer Reginald Pillay, artistic director Mike Balser, musical director Tim Tucker and choreographer Carol Seitz have put together a talented cast, featuring Kaitlyn Yott as Belle, Sean Donnelly as the Beast, Paul Rowell as Antoine, Robert Newcombe as Smelle, Barrie Mills as Claude, Clive Ramroop as Prince Dobbin, Tammy Theis as Pierre, Jeff Christensen as Sneaker, Rosemary Forst as Bossy, Samantha Andrews as Goody, Adam Olgui as Pepe, Adrian Duncan as the town crier and Elizabeth Olsson as the little girl.
For show time information and tickets call 604-501-5566, or visit www.fvgss.org
Post-election laughs
For those in need of a good laugh on Nov. 19 – after the dry business of casting votes in the municipal election – Surrey’s Royal Canadian Theatre Company is offering a fundraising evening of comedy with stand-up star Simon King, starting at 8:30 p.m. at Newton Cultural Centre (13530 72 Ave.)
Praised by Robin Williams as “truly a gifted comedian,” Surrey-raised King (who has had specials on CTV, HBO and the Comedy Network and played many major North American comedy venues) is known for maniacally frenetic performances and sharp, socially-conscious material drawn from his singular – and hilarious – point of view.
Tickets for the 19-and-up mature content show are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, with proceeds to aid the RCTC membership program). For reservations, call 604-594-2700.
Ola Onabule
Dynamic soul and jazz artist Ola Onabule is back in B.C. for a series of a concerts presented by White Rock impresario Philip Q. Davey, including a Nov. 25, 8 p.m. date at the Bell Centre for Performing Arts (6250 144 St.)
The singer and composer, born in Britain and raised there by his Nigerian parents, combines a butter-smooth style, incredible vocal range and sensitive, intense projection of poetic lyrics with a magnetic stage presence and charmingly dry sense of humour.
He’s performed with such soul and jazz greats as Gladys Knight, Diane Reeves, Patti LaBelle, Al Jarreau, Roberta Flack, Natalie Cole and Roy Hargrove, but after years of dues paying, his explosive live performances are winning fans and attracting great press at the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals and concert halls.
His debut at the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2009 opened the door for more North American touring, and a documentary about his career, aired on CNN’s African Voices, has inspired a new project, a PBS special to be filmed in the U.S. next spring.
The Nov. 25 concert will feature material from his new album, Seven Shades Darker, which will be released in early 2012.
For tickets ($45), call 604-507-6355, or visit www.bellperformingartscentre.com
Diane Lines
Dynamic pianist and vocalist Diane Lines will headline her new show ‘Jump!’ in concert, Nov. 25 and 26 at Blue Frog Studios and Performance Centre, 1328 Johnston Rd.
Lines, who won new fans when she opened for Alfie Zappacosta at Blue Frog in January, has crafted a celebration of swing, jump-blues and boogie woogie that has already wowed reviewers in Las Vegas, and is scheduled for shows in Florida and Europe in the new year.
Described as “a uniquely feminine approach to the era of jump blues” Jump! traces how the fusion of swing, blues and boogie-woogie of the 1940s set the stage for the mainstream rock n’ roll of the 1950s, defining popular music for an entire generation.
Lines, who was pianist for Michael Buble for two years, has also performed with Dal Richards, Kenny ‘Blues Boss’ Wayne, Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, Jim Byrnes and others. For tickets, call Blue Frog at 604-542-3055.
Ian Moore
He’s appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, opened for the Rolling Stones, Dylan and ZZ Top – and now he’s coming to South Surrey.
Texas music icon Ian Moore will play the Rhumba Room of the Pacific Inn Resort Hotel (1160 King George Blvd.), Friday Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m., featuring opening guest Jason Buie.
Described by longtime fan Buie as “a killer guitar player and an amazing singer-songwriter,” the Seattle-born Moore emerged from the 1990s roots rock scene of Austin, Texas, winning a following as a guitar prodigy.
Now he’s equally well-known for his soulful vocals and insightful lyricism, blending voice and guitar to create what have been described as “atmospheric visions and narratives that encompass the heart, mind and soul of a listener.”
Early pop and soul, pre-country Appalachian, gospel and Tin Pan Alley have all been an influence on his music, which is featured in clubs and theatre venues across the U.S. and Canada and in Europe, and was also highlighted on the soundtrack of Billy Bob Thornton’s Slingblade.
Tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door, available at Tapestry Music, Surfside Music, and the Pacific Inn, or online at https://tickets.surrey.ca
