Slow Dancing
Tickets are on sale now for Surrey Little Theatre’s next production, Slow Dancing, written by Abbotsford playwright Shelley Picard and directed by White Rock’s Margaret Shearman.
The show opens April 19 and runs to May 12 at the theatre, 7027 184 St.
Inspired by a Garth Brooks hit, The Dance, it’s the story of Ann (Maegen Eastwood), a young pregnant woman, who must make some hard life choices. She receives help from a homeless woman, Mary (played by the director, replacing originally-cast Lyn Verra-Lay, who has had to step down for personal reasons).
Mary is, in turn, guided by her own ‘guardian angel’, George (Ken Fynn) – even though the relationship between the two women is protested by Ann’s husband Charlie (Aaron Elliott). Rounding out the cast is Tanya Rogers in the role of a nurse.
First-time director Shearman (who has years of theatre experience both on-stage and backstage) says she chose to helm the play “because it is a hard story told in a gentle manner – the situation is impossible and the characters are human and fallible, and how they handle things is very real.”
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees on April 29 and May 6. Gala night (April 21) will include a special ‘talk back’ session with the playwright.
Tickets ($17, $15 for those 65 and older) are available online at www.brownpapertickets.com, by reserving at reservations@surreylittletheatre.com or by phone, at 604-576-8451.
Berlin to Hollywood
The razzle-dazzle, eclectic Bergmann Piano Duo (husband-wife team Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann) will be back at Surrey Arts Centre’s Studio Theatre with guest vocalist Onalea Gilbertson on Thursday, April 19, 11 a.m., in a cabaret-style coffee concert, From Berlin to Hollywood.
The concert highlights the 1920s and early 1930s collaborations of revolutionary German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht and such composers as Paul Dessau, Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill (including The Threepenny Opera), plus later work done by the composers (subsequent refugees from the Nazi regime) in Hollywood in the 1940s.
The event begins with a social hour at 10 a.m.
The venue is at 13750 88 Ave. For tickets, call 604-501-5566 or visit tickets.surrey.ca
Branch 8 music
The White Rock Legion (Branch 8) presents bands and musical entertainers every Friday and Saturday, interspersed with other special music presentations.
Coming up this Friday and Saturday (April 13-14), the band Nightwing and a special appearance Sunday, April 15, by award-winning country singer/songwriter/entertainer Brent Lee and his band.
The legion is located at 2290 152 St. and, on Fridays and Saturdays, is open from noon to 1 a.m.
For more, call 604-531-2422 (during business hours) or the bar, at 604-531-4308.
Club 240
The Semiahmoo Music Consortium’s series of Friday night dances at Crescent Legion’s Club 240 features a variety of bands through April.
Coming up this Friday (April 13), those with a yen for the music and styles of the Roaring ’20s can cut a rug at Club 240’s Gatsby Party, featuring Alexander Browne (that’s me) and his Boulevardiers, with prizes for best costumes (single and couple).
Band members Henry Christian (trumpet), Jeremy Berkman (trombone), Tony Sheppard (alto sax and clarinet), Graham Howell (tenor sax and clarinet), Angus Kellett (piano), David Sabourin (tuba) and John Cody (drums) will play the authentic foxtrots, waltzes, Charlestons and tangos of the Prohibition era, with music starting at 8 p.m.
Coming up, favourite tunes from the past five decades are the musical territory of the dynamic South Surrey-based Ocean Park Wailers (April 20), while The Retrogrades are all ready to fire up their tribute to high energy rock ‘n’ roll on April 27.
The venue is located at 2643 128 St.
Tickets to all Friday night Club 240 events are $20 and are available online at brownpapertickets.com, at the legion box office or at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. with shows at 8 p.m.
Club 240 is also the venue for a special Saturday night show April 14 – Gord Rebelato‘s Tribute To The Legends – saluting the music of Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Connie Francis and Pasty Cline.
Doors at 6 p.m. and show at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the evening (which includes door prizes) are $15 – available directly from the legion, 4-9 p.m. daily, at 604-535-1043.
Traditional jazz
White Rock Traditional Jazz Society’s regular Sunday 2-5 p.m. drop-in sessions of live Dixieland, hot jazz and swing music for dancing at the Crescent Legion Branch’s Club 240 continue this weekend (April 15) with guitarist Jack Ray‘s Milk Crate Bandits.
Coming up is the return of reedman Gerry Green‘s Crescent City Jazzers (April 22).
The venue is at 2643 128 St. Admission is $10 at the door (WRTJS members); $12 (non members) and $6 (students with ID).
Chamber music
White Rock Chamber Music’s next concert will be held April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Chartwell Crescent Gardens Retirement Community (1222 King George Blvd.).
Featured performers will be Miriah Reitmeier (soprano), Annie Yeh (piano), Tait Pledger and Kalynna Chang (violin), the Domaren Recorder Trio ( Margaret Chandler, Keren Ferguson, Dorothy Brown) and the Fiori Trio (Erika Hadi, piano; Dorle Eason, cello and Rita Buchy, violin).
Concerts and intermission refreshments hosted by residents of Crescent Gardens.
Admission is by a suggested $5 donation, with proceeds to Peninsula Arts Foundation for music scholarships for youth of the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
Blue Frog
High-calibre musical fare continues this April at White Rock’s popular intimate 100-seat concert venue, Blue Frog Studios (1328 Johnston Rd.).
Dazzling Canadian piano virtuoso and singer Michael Kaeshammer and his A-list touring band will be at the venue Thursday, April 19, with music spanning everything from jazz, blues and boogie to originals from his latest album, No Filter.
For tickets and more information, visit bluefrogstudios.ca
Saturday dances
Let’s Dance Events presents a series of dances at Star of the Sea hall, 15262 Pacific Ave., the first Saturday of each month.
Upcoming attractions include Inner Mild (May 5) and Front Page (June 2). Doors and cash bar open at 6 p.m.; dancing is from 7-11 p.m. Tickets ($20) include concession, bar, tea and coffee.
Purchase tickets online at letsdanceevents.ca or reserve by emailing info@letsdanceevents.ca or calling 604-538-7868.
Elizabeth Hollick
Well-known White Rock and South Surrey painter Elizabeth Hollick‘s colourful, whimsical and provocative work will be highlighted in a new show, Body Politic, at Surrey Art Gallery (13750 88 Ave.), April 14 to June 10.
Long-celebrated for bold, figurative paintings – including exterior murals at Coast Capital Playhouse and Blue Frog Studios – Hollick juxtaposes human anatomy and the architecture and landscape of White Rock in the latest show.
The opening is April 14, in a celebration that includes her own artist’s talk at 6:30 p.m., along with concurrent SAG spring exhibitions Flow: From the Movement of People to the Circulation of Information and Ben Bogart: Watching and Dreaming.
For more information, call 604-501-5566 or visit surrey.ca/artgallery
Fathom
A new exhibition of art, Fathom, by Trinity Western University art and design program honours degree students Bailey Snider and Emily Arnett, continues until April 30 at White Rock Museum and Archives, 14870 Marine Dr.
The mixed-media works create a deliberately evocative, ambiguous atmosphere – with text and elusive imagery – designed to encourage viewers to become involved in an ongoing, ever-changing interpretation, bringing elements of their own experience to the conversation.
The exhibit is co-curated by museum curator Kate Petrusa.
Visit whiterockmuseum.ca
Photography challenge
Crescent Beach Photography Club presents its annual Black and White Print Challenge, Saturday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church Hall, 12953 20 Ave.
A total of 13 photographic clubs from throughout the Lower Mainland will be participating in this prestigious event, for which judging will start at 7 p.m.
Judges will choose the best three prints from some 78 submissions. Awards include the CAPA gold, silver and bronze medals, and three honourable mentions will also be handed out.
The club obtaining the highest number of points will claim the Crescent Beach Photography Club Trophy for a year until the next challenge.
In addition to the main event, the public will be requested to choose a single best print from a display submitted by Crescent Beach Photography Club members.
There will also be a selection of quality door prizes to be won by participating visitors. Admission is $10, and refreshments will also be available.
Little Shop
Earl Marriott Theatre Company presents the musical hit Little Shop of Horrors April 25-28 and May 2-5 at the school’s Wheelhouse Theatre, 15751 16 Ave.
With a great score by Alan Menken, and a script based on the Roger Corman-Charles Griffith cult B-movie of the early 1960s, it’s the twisted, but fun tale of Seymour, awkward young assistant at Mushnik’s florists shop, whose desire to be worthy of his beautiful co-worker, Audrey, results in him raising a strange and rapidly-growing alien plant – he calls it Audrey II – that thrives on human blood.
The show is presented with a warning of ‘mature language and subject matter’.
Tickets ($17, $15 students and seniors) are available at emstheatreco@gmail.com or 604-542-2181.
Painting demo
GS & Co at Semiahmoo Centre will host noted artists Chris MacClure and Marilyn Hurst in two painting-on-location events at the gallery later this month.
Hurst will be painting at the gallery April 20-22 from noon to 5 p.m, while Maclure will be at the gallery April 27-29, noon to 5 p.m.
Both artists will be available to meet with the public and will have a few pieces on hand for collectors.
For more, call 604-531-8203.
Open mic
Monday nights continue to be music nights at the Roadhouse Grille restaurant – a longtime supporter of local youth talent – with an acoustic open-mic showcase for singers and players of all ages conducted by Dennis Peterson.
Performances run from 6:30-9 p.m., and listeners (and performers) are advised to arrive early for a good spot.
The venue is located at 1781 King George Blvd.
Latin Fridays
Alberto Gonzalez and Teresa of Hot Salsa Dance Zone host a ‘spicy’ dance party the second and fourth Friday of each month at White Rock Elks Club, 1469 George Street.
A salsa dance lesson at 7 p.m. is followed by dancing to genuine Latin music – featuring salsas, bachatas, merengues, cha-chas, cumbias and more – from 8 to 11 p.m.
No partner or experience is necessary for this dress-to-impress event.
Admission is $10.
More information about events visit www.HotSalsaDanceZone.com
Pacific Showtime
The Pacific Showtime Men’s Chorus is a male voice harmony group of kindred spirits who love to sing, laugh it up and indulge their hammier instincts in annual musical productions, under the guidance of their director, keyboardist, writer and arranger, Jonathan Wiltse.
The group rehearses Monday nights at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church, 12953 20 Ave.
New members welcome. Singers are invited to attend rehearsals and, hopefully, join in.
For more, call 604-536-5292 or email leighand@shaw.ca
Handel Society
The non-profit Handel Society of Music is celebrating its 51st year of music this season.
Based in Surrey and White Rock, the singers perform Baroque-era works and other choral compositions, with orchestra, under the baton of artistic director Johan Louwersheimer.
For information on becoming a member, call 604-202-7801.
