Talent search
Musically-gifted young people 19 and under are currently being sought for the Diamond In The Rock competition, until March 28 at the Roadhouse Grille Restaurant (1781 King George Blvd.).
First winner (Feb. 15) was Elgin Park Secondary singer Olivia Torrie, followed on Feb. 22 by well-known singer-songwriter Tommy Alto and on Feb. 29 by jazz guitarist Trevor Peverley and his trio.
The remaining four weeks of performances starting this Wednesday (March 7), 7-9 p.m. will culminate in a final at Blue Frog Studio on Saturday, April 14.
The winner and second and third place contestants will each receive a bursary, and the winner will also receive a wide array of prizes including recording time at Blue Frog and Turtle Studios, radio promotion and gigs at the Roadhouse Grille, the Spirit of the Sea Festival and as an opening act in a Rock.It Boy show.
All finalists will be offered a 50 per cent discount on recording time and will be provided with video shot at the finals for use on YouTube.
Competition is limited to Peninsula residents (south of 40 Avenue and west of 192 Street) and proof of age and residence is required.
To register, email doug_lachance@telus.net
Bluegrass bands
The fascinating combination of mournful vocal sentiments, instrumental agility and foot-tapping rhythm that is bluegrass music returns March 10, 7:30 p.m. to the White Rock Elks Club (1469 George St.) with a two band line-up featuring High Rise Lonesome and The Bullfrogs.
High Rise Lonesome is a city-based contemporary version of the “old-time” style, led by singer-songwriter Sue Malcolm, with vocalist-mandolinist Vic Smyth, vocalist-resonator guitarist Don Fraser, banjo player Jay Buckwold and vocalist-upright bass player Stu MacDonald.
The Bluefrogs, who have been described as “down-home, relaxed and damn professional,” weave a distinctive harmony that includes elements of bluegrass, country, folk, past pop and “anything that’s entertaining.”
Tickets are $12 ($10 for Elks members), available from the club’s upstairs lounge from 3- 7 p.m. weekdays and 3-6 p.m. weekends, by calling 604-538-4016 or at www.whiterockelks.ca
Elvis returns
It’s time for fans of the King of Rock ‘n Roll to get ‘All Shook Up.’
Darren Lee and the Memphis Flash, billed as “the world’s number one Elvis tribute” will be live onstage at the Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd., Saturday, March 10 at 7:30 p.m. – recreating such classics as Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Viva Las Vegas, A Little Less Conversation, and, of course, Can’t Help Falling In Love.
The show, presented by Rob Warwick’s Rock.It Boy Entertainment, marks a return home to Canada for Lee, fresh from an unprecedented 11 years in the American Superstars show at the Stratosphere Hotel and casino on the Vegas strip.
Aficionados agree that, in many ways, Lee comes closest to recreating the look, sound and excitement of Elvis live performances.
Lee was winner of the World Elvis Contest in Memphis on the 20th anniversary of Elvis’ passing (1997) which launched his U.S. career, but Vancouver area fans also know him from his complete recreation of the 1968 Comeback Special, which played at both the Queen Elizabeth and Michael J. Fox theatres.
Advance tickets ($44.50, plus facility fee and service charges) are available at the Coast Capital box office, 604-536-7535, or online at www.whiterockplayers.ca
Traditional jazz
The White Rock Traditional Jazz Society’s series of Sunday afternoon Dixieland-style live music and dance sessions (3-6 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240, 2643 128 St.) continue each week until the summer.
On March 11, the band is The Hellions of Jazz, followed by Evan and Lloyd Arntzen’s Black Stick (March 18), Bellingham Dixieland All-Stars (March 25), Red Beans with trumpeter Glen Tremblay (April 1) and the Louisiana Joymakers (April 8).
Admission is $8 for members, $10 for non members.
For more information, visit www.whiterocktradjazz.com
Blues Brothers Too
The suited, hatted, electrifying style of Elwood and Jake is back in town.
Tribute act The Blues Brothers Too is returning to the Semiahmoo Peninsula, starting with a gig March 17 at 8:30 p.m. at The Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240, 2643 128 St.
Jake (aka Grant Eisworth) said the act plans to make White Rock and South Surrey its base of operations, after an extended stint in Kelowna, renewing long-standing ties with this area which have included the award for best musical float in the Spirit of the Sea Torchlight Parade.
The Blue Brothers Too’s stock in trade are high-energy song and dance routines drawn directly from the Dan Ackroyd-John Belushi movie classic – including numbers like She Caught the Katy, the whip-snapping Rawhide and Minnie The Moocher.
But in addition to R &B and soul, there’s also a little country, and even some ZZ Top thrown into the danceable mix.
Tickets are available from the legion (604-535-1080 or 604-535-1043). For more information, visit www.BluesBrothersToo.com
Sitar and tabla
Legendary sitar player Ustad Shahid Pervez and cutting-edge tabla maestro Ustad Sukhwinder Singh Pinky will be performing in an upcoming concert in Surrey on Sunday March 25.
The concert is sponsored by the Surrey-based Naad Foundation which runs a music school for tabla, sitar and other classical Indian instruments. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. at Bell Performing Arts Centre, 6250 144 St.
Both men are widely recognized in India and across the world for their sublime talent.
Tickets are priced at $15, $20, $30 and VIP and can be arranged by calling 604-725-8700 or 778-883-2627.
For more ticket information, email amar@naadarts.com
Singers wanted
The 6 O’Clock Jazz Group is looking for another bass and tenor and, possibly, another soprano.
The eight-member, four-part light jazz vocal group, is directed by David Proznick.
Practices are held Monday evenings from 6-7 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Singers must be able to read music and have a good sense of rhythm.
Potential candidates who also play guitar should be aware the group has singing and playing jams for fun after each Saturday practice.
For more information, text or leave a message for Anneke at 604-220-3230.
Shklover show
The paintings of whimsicalist artist Irena Shklover are currently featured at Five Corners rendezvous Coffee With Attitude (Laura’s Coffee Corner) at 15202 Pacific Ave.
The show, which continues until March 9, features some of the most recent of Shklover’s colourful and often playful canvases.
For more information, call 604-538-6600.
Call for artists
Newton Cultural Centre artists-in-residence Wendy Mould and Becky McMahon are issuing an invitation for emerging visual artists in all media, including photography, for the centre’s first open-call show, sponsored by Surrey Arts Council.
Called Just Birds, it’s open to both two- and three-dimensional works on the theme of our feathered residents and visitors, with cash prizes for the top entries (each participant is allowed to enter three works).
Deadline for entries is 4 p.m., April 27, with the show itself running from June 3 to 30, with a gala reception June 9.
Mould and McMahon are also seeking sponsors for awards and the reception (information: 604-583-4538).
For artists, entry forms are available at the centre, 13530 72 Ave., through www.artscouncilofsurrey.com or by calling 604-594-2700.
Players Club
Tickets are available now for the balance of the current White Rock Players Club season at Coast Capital Playhouse (1532 Johnston Rd.)
From April 11-28 the club will present its Theatre B.C. entry, the medieval drama of royal intrigue The Lion In Winter, by James Goldman.
The 1966 play imagines a Christmas in the year 1183 at Henry II of England’s French chateau at Chinon in the Anjou region, and the verbal and psychological battles between the king, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (imprisoned by him for supporting a rebellion against his rule) and their sons Richard, Geoffrey and John.
Also at court: Philip II of France and his half sister Alais – who is, in Goldman’s version, at least, Henry’s mistress.
From April 29 to May 5, the club will host the Theatre B.C. zone festival, in which its entry will be judged alongside other notable productions from community theatre groups in the Vancouver zone.
From June 13-30 the scheduled show will be Ken Ludwig’s farce Lend Me A Tenor.
Set in Cleveland in 1934, the show depicts the mayhem when famed tenor Tito Merelli, known as ‘Il Stupendo,’ receives an accidental double-dose of tranquilizers, and Saunders, the opera company manager, has to find a substitute.
Adding to the fun: an autograph seeker mistaken for Merelli’s mistress, Merelli’s enraged wife, and Saunders’ ambitious assistant Max.
For tickets and show time information, visit www.whiterockplayers.ca or call 604-536-7535.
The Mousetrap
Peninsula Productions summer production of Agatha Christie’s celebrated 1952 thriller The Mousetrap runs July 11 to 28 at the Coast Capital Playhouse.
“We have brought together an amazing cast of seasoned actors and fresh faces,” said artistic director Wendy Bollard, who helmed last year’s popular production of Waiting For The Parade.
“This is definitely going to be a show that you won’t want to miss.”
The very British show – which at times resembles a live version of Clue – takes place at historic Monkswell Manor, recently renovated as a guest house by young couple Mollie and Giles Ralston.
Their first guests include the erratic Christopher Wren, the hypercritical Mrs. Boyle, retired military man Major Metcalf, the mannish Miss Casewell, and mysterious foreigner Mr. Paravicini – all of whom are promptly stranded at Monkswell by a snowstorm, just as news arrives of a murder in London…with the distressing addendum that the manor house may be next on the murderer’s itinerary.
The local production of The Mousetrap is part of the 60th anniversary celebrations worldwide for the venerable whodunit – which has broken all records by running continuously in London since it first opened.
Tickets are $18 and $22 and can be purchased at www.whiterockplayers.ca or in person at The Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Road.
For more information, visit peninsulaproductions.org
