Songs for salmon
A limited number of tickets are on sale for the upcoming White Rock performance by acclaimed singer/songwriters Holly Arntzen and Kevin Wright, who will present their concert, 40 Million Salmon Can’t Be Wrong, Saturday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m. at Blue Frog Studios, 1328 Johnson Rd.
Weaving together songs, stories, art images and science, the stage show, which will be videoed and recorded for a subsequent DVD-CD release, aims to help people understand how we can bring back our wild salmon to historical levels of abundance.
Joining Arntzen and Wright will be renowned storyteller and artist Roy Henry Vickers, ocean ecologist Russ George and the all-star The Wilds Band (drummer Shawn Soucy, bassist Brian Newcombe, keyboardist Bill Sample and guitarist Andreas Schuld).
Tickets ($35) are available at http://bluefrogstudios.ca
Going Hollywood
Tickets are available now for A Night on Broadway, Christopher Simmons and Debra Da Vaughn’s seventh annual benefit for the Surrey Food Bank, is back bigger than ever this year with a special movie-oriented theme.
Hence the title of the new show, which comes to Surrey Arts Centre Oct. 5 in two performances (3:30 and 7:30 p.m.): A Night on Broadway Goes Hollywood.
The tenor-soprano, husband-wife team have assembled their largest cast yet for this salute to tuneful favourites from hit musicals over the past 60 years of Hollywood history, including soprano Vanessa Coley-Donohue, mezzo-soprano Tamara Croft, well-known musical theatre player Cathy Wilmot and artistic director Matthew Bissett returning from last year, joined by baritone Chris King, pianist Caitlin Hayes and the Lindbjerg Show Choir.
All proceeds raised go to the food bank.
Tickets ($27.50 plus service charges, $25 plus service charges for seniors and students) are available from the box office at 604-501-5566.
The Crucible
White Rock Players’ Club’s next production, the Arthur Miller classic The Crucible, opens Oct. 9 at Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd.
Directed by club artistic director Ryan Mooney, the hard-hitting, large-cast drama runs until Oct. 26, with performances at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Oct. 20.
In the celebrated 1952 play, Miller found in the infamous Salem witch trials of the 17th century a perfect metaphor for the political crisis he saw in America during the HUAC-McCarthy Communist ‘witch hunt’ period.
The Crucible provides a powerful lesson on how a well-meaning society can start down a slippery slope to injustice and persecution.
When a group of young girls are accused of witchcraft, the “investigation” rapidly runs out of control, and accusations proliferate with increasingly tragic consequences.
Players include J.C. Roy, Rebekah McEwan, Rebecca Strom, Tom Gage, Mike Busswood, Tim Driscoll, Ken Fynn and Jane Mantle.
Tickets ($18, $16 for students seniors and CCS members, $10 for previews Oct. 9 and 10) are available at 604-536-7535 or visit www.whiterockplayers.ca
Lydia Hol
Busy South Surrey-raised indie singer-songwriter Lydia Hol – whose latest single This Fire was recorded with Howard Redekopp – is until Oct. 15 spearheading an iPod drive for the charity initiative, Music Heals, with drop-off locations at Long and McQuade stores and also The Biltmore, OpenDoor Yoga and White Rock’s Live Yoga.
Concluding the drive will be a songwriters’ circle at The Biltmore (all proceeds to Music Heals), which will include Hol and her full band as well as Ryan Guldemond (Mother Mother), Dominique Fricot, Hilary Grist and Head of the Herd.
For information, visit www.lydiahol.com or email contact@lydiahol.com
Call for artists
Semiahmoo Arts is issuing a call for artists for Paint the Town, an event celebrating Canada Culture Days – and raising the profile of local artists – that will come to the streets of White Rock Sept. 28-29.
During those two days, passersby will observe artists painting ‘plein air’ in various locations, reflecting the sights and sounds around them.
Art works will be judged in a range of categories, with a concluding exhibit Sept. 29. Some pieces may also be selected to appear in the White Rock 2015 calendar.
Individual registration fee is $20, but immediate families can register for $25, regardless of size or age. Families will paint in the same location, with each person creating individual paintings.
Likewise, shool groups who register will pay $5 per person, for both students and teachers.
Special locations will be chosen that can accommodate families and school groups.
Individual artists interested in participating should contact info@semiahmooarts.com or call 604-536-8333 for registration forms.
Festival gala
There’s still a chance to buy tickets for the gala launch event for White Rock’s first full International Artist Day Festival, Friday Oct. 25. at the White Rock Community Centre, 15154 Russell Ave.
Only 200 tickets will be available for the gala, hosted by Jane Baldwin.
A who’s who of participating master artists will be present, including International Artist Day founder Chris MacClure, Alan Wylie, Raymond Chow, Arnie Fisk, Brent Heighton, Jon Einerssen, Richard Tetrault, Dave Benning, Dan Gray, Gaye Adams, Keith Hiscock, Terry Isaac, Rick McDiarmid, Jef Morlan, Dave Patterson, Vance Theoret and Jose Ventura.
Entertainment will be provided by MC Mark Donnelly and award-winning local bassist Jodi Proznick and her Trio – and the first 75 people to buy a ticket will also receive admission to a special after-party performance by the trio at White Rock’s Blue Frog Studios.
Ticket price ($150) includes a $100 voucher, which can be put toward the purchase of any piece of art featured in the festival.
The festival itself runs Oct. 21-27, featuring a variety of related exhibits, talks and demonstrations by the master artists, plus opportunity to purchase art; admission Oct. 26-27 is by donation only.
Tickets can be purchased online through White Rock Leisure Services, by calling 604-541-2199 (Ext. 0), or in person at White Rock Community Centre.
Crafts at museum
Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Transformative Power of Craft is the title of a collaborative show presented by Semiahmoo Arts and White Rock Museum and Archives, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Craft Council of B.C.
Running at the museum (14970 Marine Dr.) until Oct. 15, the show covers the concept of craft and how it has evolved through the centuries.
Semiahmoo Peninsula artists demonstrating the traditions in such media as fibre, metal, wood, ceramic, glass and vellum will be June Bloye, Aryn Bowers, John Butt, Roxanne Charles, Don Fleming, Suzanne Gerard, Elizabeth Glowacki, Don Hutchinson, Colin Hyatt, Lance King, Samantha Knopp, Robert Gary Parkes, Sharon Reay, Anne J. Steves and Diane Zwickel.
From 1 to 3 p.m. each Sunday during the exhibition, the museum will also hold workshops and presentations explaining, and, in some cases, demonstrating specific craft traditions.
For more details and full schedule of workshops, visit the museum’s website (www.whiterock.museum.bc.ca) or its Facebook page.
Youth theatre
Peninsula-based performance/training group Surrey Youth Theatre Company (SYTCO) is looking for young people aged six to 17 to train as actors for its 17th season. Boys and girls aged 13 to 17 are invited to audition for the senior company’s fall production of Little Women, while boys and girls six to 13 are invited to audition for the junior company’s spring production of The Aristocats. There will also be an, as yet, unannounced late spring production cast by invitation only. For more information, or to register for auditions, call 604-538-9793 or contact sytco@shaw.ca
Studio art tour
The 20th anniversary White Rock Studio Tour will take place Oct. 19 and 20, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the home studios of nine professional artists who live in the White Rock-South Surrey area.
Participating artists Simon Cantin, Carolynn Doan, Connie Glover, Judy Jordison, Karen Kroeker, Arlene McGowan, Jess Rice, Ann Worth and Theresa Marie Shanks will offer something for everyone – paintings in all media, drawings, textiles, pottery, glass, stone sculpture and more.
Members of the public can plan their own routes for this free event; for more information visit www.whiterockstudiotour.com or call Kathy at 604-531-9427 or Judy at 604-536-4213.
Red Beans & Rice
The sounds of Dixieland and retro jazz continue each Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240 (2643 128 St.).
While the White Rock Traditional Jazz Society program is still on summer hiatus (until Oct. 6), house band Red Beans and Rice, featuring leader Rice Honeywell Sr. on cornet and vocals, is continuing its ninth-annual summer season.
Regular band members Gerry Green (reeds), Ray Batten (trombone, vocals), Don Ogilvie (guitar), Peg Thomson (piano) and Casey Tolhurst (bass) are joined by a rotation of drummers, including Bob Aitken, Dave Ayton and the leader’s 15-year-old grandson, Ethan Honeywell, on drums. General admission is $10.
Red Beans and Rice can also be caught at Porter’s Bistro, 21611 48 Ave., in Langley’s historic Murrayville, most Friday nights from 7 p.m. (reservations 604-530-5297), while the leader also plays smooth jazz every Wednesday with Bob Storms (reeds), sometimes joined by Rice Honeywell Jr. on blues harp, from 7-10 p.m. at Five Corners Bistro, 15182 Buena Vista Ave. (reservations, 604-538-5455).
The White Rock Traditional Jazz Society program returns to the legion with the Square Pegs Jazzy Band (Oct. 6), The Crescent City Shakers (Oct. 13) and Red Beans and Rice (Oct. 20).
Irish poetry
Irish poetry is regularly featured the third Wednesday of each month at ‘gastro-pub’ Slainte by the Pier on Marine Drive, presented by Semiahmoo Arts and the Irish Club. Featured in upcoming evenings will be works by such famed poets as Louis MacNeice, W.B. Yeats, Medbh McGuckian and J.M. Synge.
To volunteer to lead or read on poetry nights, call Ray Fynes at 604-542-3667.
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
Anti-violence song
South Surrey musician Jim Widdifield – who lost his son Craig to a gang-related shooting in April – will soon release an original anti-violence song, with the aim of turning over 100 per cent of the proceeds of airplay and sales to the Save The Children Foundation.
The song, Gone Gone Gone, which he wrote just after Craig’s death, and which was performed at his memorial, has been recorded at White Rock’s Blue Frog Studios in two versions.
One is by keyboardist Barry Powel and singer Calla Krause (who performed it at the memorial), accompanied by violinist Stephanie Sung, while the other features Widdifield himself on keyboards, with Dan Jones on guitar, Rob Marr on bass, Ray Ayotte on drums, and Chris Gilburg on vocals.
The Compound Blues Band member said his reasons for releasing the song are twofold.
“I want to get the message out to as many people as possible about stopping the violence that is permeating our society,” Widdifield said.
“And Craig and a few of his friends really wanted to get involved with a charity that helps children in third world countries.”
The song is available for download at Save The Children Canada’s website (www.savethechildren.ca).
