Seussical
Coming up April 25-May 5 at White Rock’s Playhouse is FVGSS – A Musical Theatre Society’s production of Seussical.
Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’ musical – bringing to life all the beloved characters of Dr. Seuss – is produced by Chantelle Dewar and directed by Brad Dewar, with musical direction by Tim Tucker, and choreography by Tamara Jaune, assisted by Elizabeth Lay.
The Playhouse is located at 1532 Johnston Rd.
Evening performances are at 7:30 p.m., with weekend matinees at 2:30 p.m.
For tickets and information, call 604-536-7535 or visit fvgss.org
Spring variety
Want to catch some rising stars in the making? White Rock’s The Drama Class and Nuvo Music School will present a Spring Variety Show fundraiser for Peace Arch Hospital, Sunday April 28 at Peninsula Productions’ theatre space (next to Centennial Arena in Centennial Park), 14600 North Bluff Rd.
Theatre and music students from both schools will spotlight their fresh and dynamic talents as featured acts in an all-ages performance, from 2 to 4 p.m.
Guaranteeing “two hours of family-friendly entertainment” the show, also featuring a special guest star appearance by well-known Peninsula singer-songwriter Richard Tichelman, will raise funds for Peace Arch Hospital’s new emergency area.
Only 70 tickets will be sold for the show.
For tickets ($25 general admission) visit thedramaclass.com or nuvomusicschool.com
Art of Dance
An International Dance Day Celebration organized by Nela Hallwas‘ XBa School of Dance will enliven Surrey city hall’s atrium and plaza, Sunday, April 28 from noon to 3 p.m.
The free-admission event is billed as a “cultural and artistic fusion of dance on two stages” bringing together multiple dance styles – including contemporary, breakdance, hip hop, Scottish Highland, classical Chinese, Spanish and improvisational – in a one-day extravaganza featuring performances every 15 minutes.
Participants include XBa, The Wee Drams, Keri’s Highland Dance Studio, the Vancouver Chinese Folk and Minorities Dance Association, Jill Tunbridge‘s Flamenco Del Mar, the Tamanawis Secondary and Earl Marriott Secondary senior dance teams and erhu musician Jiaqui Zhang.
Also featured in the event, co-sponsored by XBa and the Surrey Board of Trade, will be a variety of works by local artists and craftspeople, as well as food trucks on the plaza.
The city hall complex is located at 13450 104 Ave., Surrey.
Traditional jazz
White Rock Traditional Jazz Society’s regular series of 2-5 p.m. Sunday dances to live New Orleans and Chicago jazz and small-band swing continues most weekends at Crescent Legion Branch’s Club 240.
Sunday (April 21), music will be by the Joseph Abbott Band.
Coming up will be a performance by the WRTJS student program’s Faculty Jazz Band, featuring Alan Matheson Trophy Competition winners (April 28), The Butter and Egg Band (May 5) and drummer Scott Robertson‘s Swing Patrol (May 12).
The venue is at 2643 128 St.; admission is $10 at the door (WRTJS members); $12 (non-members) and $6 (students with ID).
Open-mics
The burgeoning Semiahmoo Peninsula scene for open-mics continues to grow.
A live open-mic for musicians, hosted by well-known local musician and open-mic organizer Dennis Peterson, is a new regular Saturday night feature, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Pelican Rouge Coffee Shop, 15142 North Bluff Rd. (Central Plaza).
Sign up is at 5:30 p.m.
The long-established Crescent Moon Coffee House is at Kwomais Point Park’s Sanford Hall every Thursday night from 8-11 p.m. Parking is free at the venue, at 1367 128 St.
Organizers note this open mic/jam session is held in a non-commercial setting, with no coffee grinders or the sounds of business in the background to compete with the music although tea, coffee and cookies are available.
The aim is to encourage making and sharing music in the community, with a special focus in fostering and supporting emerging talent of all ages, and in addition to a good sound system, the event usually has supporting members on bass and drums.
Suggested donation at the door is $5. For more, subscribe to Crescent Moon’s newsletter at http://bit.ly/cmcoffeehouse
For fans of stand-up comedy, and aspiring comics, Lizzie Allan‘s Addictive Comedy presents a regular open-mic every second and fourth Friday (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.) at Unit 1, 1381 King George Blvd.
It’s advertised as “a safe space to try comedy, get ready for shows or just watch.”
Admission is by donation.
For more information, email lizzie@addictivecomedy.com or call 604-354-3369.
Meanwhile, the popular monthly Open-Mic Night created by The Drama Class’ Michele Partridge has proven so popular it is now at a new and larger venue.
Held on the last Sunday of each month at 7 p.m., the night is now located at the White Rock Community Centre, 15154 Russell Ave. (underground parking available).
Open to actors, musicians, singers, comedians and storytellers of all ages – and featuring a regular over-the-top lip-synch contest each month – the show is hosted by well-known local actor and director Dann Wilhelm.
Upcoming date is April 28, with other nights scheduled for May 26, and June 30.
Admission for audiences members is $5 at the door; performers can register at the sound check at 6:30 p.m. or, in advance, by email to dannwilhelm@gmail.co
Vagabonds show
White Rock’s Ashley Chodat is one of the stars of Detroit, a dark comedy by Lisa D’Amour, current production (until April 27) of New Westminster’s venerable Vagabond Players group.
Chodat previously appeared in the Vagabonds’ productions of You Can’t Take It With You and Charley’s Aunt.
When apparently well-to-do couple Ben and Mary (Kurtis Maguire and Natalie Schrieber) invite new neighbours Sharon (Chodat) and Kenny (Alex Ross) over for a barbecue they soon discover their guests are unemployed, don’t have any furniture to their name and met in rehab.
But, under the surface, Ben and Mary’s life isn’t perfect either – Ben has lost his job as a loan officer and is now doing debt counselling online, while Mary’s salary as a paralegal isn’t enough to meet their bills.
Performances are Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queen’s Park, New Westminster (with a warning of coarse language, mature themes, depiction of drinking and drug references).
Tickets ($17, $15 for seniors, youth) are available at vagabondplayers.ca/tickets or call 604-521-0412.
Present Laughter
White Rock Players’ Present Laughter, by the master of 20th century wit, Noel Coward, runs until April 20 at The Playhouse (formerly the Coast Capital Playhouse) at 1532 Johnston Rd.
Directed by Susanne de Pencier, the 1930s comedy follows a few days in the life of Garry Essendine, a successful and self-obsessed star of London’s West End in the midst of a mid-life crisis.
The cast includes audience favourites Dann Wilhelm as Garry; Lori Tych as his ever-present ex, Liz; Michelle Collier as faithful secretary Monica Reed; Jenn Lane as amorous Joanna Lyppiatt and Bryce Paul Mills as manager Morris Dixon. Rounding out the cast are Janelle Carrs as besotted ingenue Daphne Stillington; Greg Tunner as Hugo, Joanna’s aggrieved husband and Garry’s producer; Reginald Pillay as obsessive would-be dramatist Roland Maule; Paul Cowhig as valet Fred, Dianna Gola-Harvey as housekeeper Miss Erikson, and Heather Christie as the regal Lady Saltburn.
Evening performances are at 8 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday.
Tickets ($19 to $22, $10 on Wednesdays) are available at the box office (604-536-7535) or on line at www.whiterockplayers.ca
Two Elizabeths
The Elizabeths are back.
Beloved Peninsula artists Elizabeth Carefoot and Elizabeth Hollick are joining forces again for a show of new work at the Landmark POP-Uptown Gallery at 15140 North Bluff Rd. (Central Plaza).
The show, Wound and Bound – part of a two-show runs until April 29 at the gallery, brings together the equally colourful inspirations and obsessions of both artists, with a unifying theme of woven fibres that literally and figuratively bind us.
For Carefoot – a fibre artist with a background in textile arts as well as painting – the winding and binding is physically manifest in the way she interweaves fibres with a variety of other materials and found objects to present unconventional bundles and hangings.
For Hollick, the theme has sparked a collection of paintings, in her singular vibrant and fanciful style, that look at her relationships with family, groups and friends – all of which she has characterized as animals she “found, borrowed, made up or looked up in reference books,” bound together by string, wire or fabric.
Wound and Bound will be followed by another duo show, Eccentric Narratives, by Peninsula artists Linda Pearce and Jack Turpin.
Gallery show
Mixed media artist Lee Caufield is the current featured artist at The Gallery, Central Plaza (until April 21) in a show titled The Constant Gardener.
Her paintings, largely inspired by a love of gardening and birds, include water media paintings that combine iridescent and opaque pigments, as well as several larger acrylic mixed media paintings on canvas.
Caufield is a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, the South Surrey White Rock Art Society and MIX, a contemporary art collaborative based in the area.
Her mixed media painting ‘Scarlet Encounter’ was recently awarded third place in the prestigious FCA show Bloom at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island., and other examples of her work can be viwed on her website www.leecaufieldart.com
The Gallery is located at 15134 North Bluff Rd., White Rock and is open Monday through Saturday.
Encore concerts
Encore Peninsula Concerts, co-sponsored by the City of White Rock, continues 3 p.m. Sunday concerts at its new venue – Mount Olive Lutheran Church (2350 148 St.)
The 2019 Piano Fest – selected by artistic director, concert pianist Eugene Skovorodnikov concludes with an all-Chopin program by acclaimed Italian pianist Achille Gallo (April 28).
Tickets are $25 ($22 for students and seniors).
Blue Frog Studios
White Rock’s Blue Frog Studios continues to provide an intimate venue for up-close concerts by national and international touring acts, as well as local and B.C.-based artists.
Coming up is a performance by multiple Juno and Maple Blues award-winning Canadian guitarist Jack de Keyzer as part of his ‘Checkmate’ tour (May 3).
Other upcoming shows include local blues legend Harpdog Brown and the Uptown Blues Band (May 10).
For tickets and information, visit bluefrogstudios.ca or call 604-542-3055.
Club 240
Crescent Legion’s Club 240 (2643 128 St.) is the location for Friday-night dances organized by the Semiahmoo Music Consortium, along with other special events throughout the year on Saturday nights, as well as a regular Wednesday bluegrass jam.
Coming up on the schedule are The Retrogrades (April 26). Tickets for Friday-night dances ($20) are on sale at www.brownpapertickets.com and at the legion box office (604-535-1043), which is open daily from 4-9 p.m.
Bingo for arts
Penmar Community Arts Society’s weekly Wednesday bingo at Star of the Sea Community Centre (5262 Pacific Ave.) is an ongoing fundraiser for events and concerts on the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
Organizers David Geertz and Dione Costanzo note the society was founded as a national arts charity dedicated to developing entertainment programs for communities outside of major metropolitan areas, with a mission to pay artists a fair, living wage.
Doors open at 5 p.m., early bird games run to 6 p.m. and regular games start at 7 p.m.; there is free parking behind the venue and a concession on site.
