Accomplice
White Rock Players Club’s new season opens Wednesday (Oct. 12) at 8 p.m. with Rupert Holmes’ witty brain-teasing comedy-mystery-thriller Accomplice, directed by David Lloyd Austin, at Coast Capital Playhouse, 1536 Johnston Rd.
Featuring Ben Odberg, Lori Tych, Ben Cross and Sunny Stump, the ultra-complex puzzler starts as a traditional English thriller of the Christie school – but soon transcends the form surprisingly, as layer upon layer of mystery and motivation are revealed.
Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday until Oct. 29, with a 2:30 p.m. Sunday matinee on Oct. 23.
For tickets, call 604-536-7535, or visit www.whiterockplayers.ca
Blue Frog Studio
Uptown recording and performance venue Blue Frog Studio is continuing its schedule of intimate concerts with high quality performers.
Coming up this week are a back-to-back pair of concerts: the return of White Rock-raised jazz singer Chris Williams on Thursday (Oct. 13) at 8 p.m. and an adventurous virtuoso guitar extravaganza with the duo of John Gilliat and Benjamin Woods on Friday (Oct. 14) at 8 p.m.
Williams, who moved to Los Angeles 15 years ago, has won kudos for his passion, his mastery of scat singing and his musical maturity as an interpreter of ballads, and has won a loyal following that spans many generations of music lovers.
Through a career including successful North American and European tours, Williams has worked with a who’s who of famous sidemen, including Justo Almario (Sergio Mendes/Mongo Santamaria), Alex Acuna (Tolu/Weather Report), Clayton Cameron (Tony Bennett), Terry Landry (Natalie Cole) and Ernie Nunez (Brian Setzer Orchestra).
Gilliat, who has been described as “Ottmar with a twist,” will be well matched in talent by Los Angeles ‘Flametal’ guitarist Woods for an evening of fiery rumba flamenco, latin jazz and rock.
Tickets for the latter concert are $35 from Blue Frog or Tapestry Music.
For more information, visit the studio website www.bluefrogstudios.ca or call 604-542-3055.
Literary events
Semiahmoo Arts’ ongoing Zero – 360 series at Pelican Rouge Coffee House, Central Plaza – in which local authors can read from their literary work (to a maximum of six minutes each) – continues the second Thursday of each month (including Oct. 13 and Nov. 10). Reader sign-up begins at 7:05 for each of the evenings.
Borealis strings
Tickets are on sale now for the first Peninsula Productions presentation of a new evening series at First United Church in White Rock.
Internationally renowned, classical ensemble the Borealis String Quartet, will perform Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m.
Fresh from a series of concerts in Russia, the young Vancouver-based musicians promise an evening of skill, artistry and dynamic stage presence for music lovers.
For more information on the quartet, visit www.borealisstringquartet.com
Tickets ($25 plus any fees) are available through Surrey Arts Centre box office, 604-501-5566, at Tapestry Music, 1335 Johnson Rd., at Semiahmoo Arts office, 1550 Foster St. or at First United Church.
Neverest concert
Rock headliners Neverest (About Us, Everything) join forces with 18 year-old emerging pop songstress Alyssa Reid (Alone Again) Friday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. at Bell Performing Arts Centre, 6250 144 St.
The band has chalked up a number two hit on the All Canadian Singles Airplay Chart as well as a Much Music Video Awards nomination for number one video; while Reid, who hit the Canadian music scene earlier this year, broke the record for most weeks (25) on Billboard’s Canadian Emerging Artist chart.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets ($25, including service charges) are available online at www.bellperformingartscentre.com or call 604-507-6355.
Outside The Box
An interwoven series of events and displays throughout the Peninsula, Outside The Box (until Oct. 21) highlights the many possibilities of fibre and textile art and illustrate how practitioners are pushing the boundaries “outside the box” – including everything from knitting and felting demonstrations to performance art.
For more information, and a complete schedule of events, visit www.outsidetheboxwhiterock.com
Small Ritual
Doing its part to present different music locally is the not-for-profit Small Ritual Coffee Society on Johnston Road (just up from Five Corners).
In addition to Sunday night concerts with such emerging local groups as Their There, The Star Captains and Behind Sapphire, music booker Rory Hislop has added a Monday night jazz showcase, including some of Vancouver’s best up and coming talents in the idiom, which is currently experiencing a revival of interest.
Both evenings (usually running 5-9 p.m.) offer a rewarding opportunity for local fans to catch up on the music scene of tomorrow in an agreeably intimate, art-friendly venue.
For more information, call 778-294-1237.
Music Together
Registration is currently underway for the internationally-recognized Music Together program for children from newborn to kindergarten age, plus their parents or guardians, which is being brought to White Rock and Surrey by singer, songwriter and voice coach Heidi McCurdy of Harmony Expressive Arts.
Fall classes are offered on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Elgin Hall (in partrnership with the City of Surrey) and Saturday mornings at the White Rock Library.
For details and registrations, visit www.harmonyexpressivearts.com or call 604-538-7154.
