Golden Cactus
Chris MacClure and Marilyn Hurst’s Golden Cactus Studio is now open at 15177 Russell Ave. (across from the whale mural).
Together with their studio partner, glass and multi-media artist Trish Pollock, the painters look forward to meeting with the public and fellow artists at the new studio, which they’d like to see become a hub of White Rock’s evolving uptown arts scene.
As part of ongoing activities they will hold a weekly drop-in for artists every Wednesday from 5-8 p.m., at the studio, with a standing invitation to “come by and share ideas, inspiration and camaraderie.”
For more, visit www.chrismacclure.com or www.marilynhurst.com
Samphire Fusion
Two artists well-known on the Semiahmoo Peninsula – particularly as members of the Crescent Beach-based Artists At Hand collective – are highlighted in a mother-daughter exhibition at Granville Island’s Circle Craft Gallery in July.
Pottery by Adele Samphire and glasswork by Lisa Samphire are featured in the gallery’s Samphire Fusion show, running until July 31.
The Circle Craft Shop and Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1-1666 Johnston St., Granville Island, Vancouver.
For more, call 604-669-8021 or visit www.circlecraft.net
Mystery classic
Prepare for chills and thrills – Peninsula Productions brings Agatha Christie’s legendary 1952 mystery The Mousetrap to White Rock, July 11-28 at the Coast Capital Playhouse (8 p.m. performances).
Something like a live-action version of Clue, the theatre classic, which has run continuously in London since its debut 60 years ago, concerns mystery and misdeeds at historic Monkswell Manor, recently renovated as a guest house.
A strange assortment of characters – a newlywed couple, a persnickety older woman, a flamboyant young man, an army major, a mannish woman, an unexpected guest and a keen young police sergeant – are stranded at the manor by a snowstorm. News of a recent murder arrives, along with the suspicion that the murderer may be one of the group.
Among players who will be well-known locally in The Mousetrap are Paul Kloegman (The Cat’s Meow), Lori Tych (The Lion In Winter), Sam Gordon (A Bedfull of Foreigners) and, in a departure from her usual public appearances as a singer, Laine Henderson, in the lead role of Monkswell Manor’s new owner Mollie Ralston. Also in the cast are Stephen Benjamin Fowler, Spenser Dunlop and Everett Shea.
Tickets are $23 ($18 seniors) and can be purchased at www.whiterockplayers.ca or in person at The Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd.
Gala opening is July 13, and there will be 2:30 p.m. matinees on July 15 and 22.
For more, visit peninsulaproductions.org
Dream tickets
Tickets are all sold for the Beach House Theatre Society’s eagerly-awaited production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, scheduled for a brief run at Crescent Beach this summer.
Directors Candace Radcliffe and Rick Harmon’s inaugural Beachhouse Theatre production will be presented Aug. 15-19 under a tent near Blackie Spit.
The poetic – yet often rollicking and earthy – tale of mistaken identity, young love gone awry and collisions between mortals and the fairy kingdom, provides roles for Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan society regulars, plus talented alumni from many of Radcliffe and Harmon’s celebrated Earl Marriott Secondary productions.
Visit www.beachhousetheatre.org for more.
Blues barbecue
Billed as “two nights of smoking hot blues, ice cold beer and Southern barbecue,” the second annual Blues BBQ Bash – a joint presentation of the White Rock Blues Society and Blue Frog Studios – comes to Blue Frog’s performance centre (1328 Johnston Rd.).
On Friday, July 13, the music is by singer-multi-instrumentalist John Lee Sanders and his band and on Saturday, July 14, the headliners are the Michael Van Eyes Band.
David Boxcar Gates is the special guest for each evening. Also featured as part of the mini-festival is blues-inspired art by musician Stan Street from Clarksdale, Mississippi, plus White Rock-area artists and music fans Gerry Edwards, Tom McIntosh, Serge Dube, and others.
For tickets and information, call 604-542-3055 or visit www.bluefrogstudios.ca
Rent
White Rock’s Chelsea Tucker plays the role of Maureen in director Ryan Mooney’s next Fighting Chance production, the musical Rent, running July 13 to Aug. 5 at the Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Granville Island).
The groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning rock opera by Jonathan Larson was a huge hit for Fighting Chance in 2009, breaking box office records at North Vancouver’s Presentation House with 29 sold-out performances.
Among members of the ensemble who will be familiar to White Rock and Surrey audiences are Cathy Wilmot, Nicole Smashnuk (Lend Me A Tenor) and Paul Rowell.
Performances are at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees starting July 21.
For tickets ($15 to $40) visit www.ticketstonight.ca or call 604-684-2787.
Strathspey fiddlers
There are two opportunities to catch some outstanding young musicians – the Strathspey Fiddle Orchestra from Moray and West Aberdeenshire, Scotland – during their brief visit to White Rock July 14.
Members of the group will busk for passersby at the Artists’ Square in front of the White Rock Museum and Archives at 3 p.m.
The full orchestra – some 16 fiddlers, plus piano player, cajon (box drum) player and piper – will perform that evening at 7:30 p.m. at White Rock Elks Hall (1469 George St.).
While some of the group sing and do highland dancing, the major part of the performance is fiddle music, played by members whose ages range from 14 to over 60 – although most are in their teens and twenties.
The orchestra was formed to showcase young musicians in their home area, and they play regularly at concerts, ceilidhs and festivals in the region.
The group has also represented Scotland at Celtic festivals and corporate events throughout Britain, the Republic of Ireland, and as far away as Kronach and Frankfurt in Germany, and Texas.
The current two-week tour of the West Coast will include performances in Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle.
For tickets or for more information, call 604-538-4016.
