Weekend Picks: Sing Along to Grease, Lowest Common Denominator, Visitors

There are a lot of great things going on this weekend! Get out and have fun while I nurse my flu back to health. Here are the ones that caught my eye:

Sing Along to Grease at the Rio

I don't know how I managed, but somehow, I've never seen "Grease." Perhaps, it's because I have this terrible skin condition that makes me break out in hives when I get near a musical. 

But this looks like so much fun it might worth a Benadryl hangover. So down your favorite antihistamine and join in the song this Saturday evening. 

Sing Along to Grease

Saturday 15 March 2014 at 7:30 PM

Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway, Vancouver

Tickets: $6-8 at Rio Theatre Tickets

Lowest Common Denominator at PAL

Honestly, I was first interested in this play to see what Deborah Williams of Flame fame is up to, but now I'm intrigued by the play's cutting-edge story of an intergenerational love triangle. 

Plus, this title appeals to the math and theatre geek in me. (I had a difficult childhood.)

Lowest Common Denominator
March 13-30, 2014

PAL Theatre, 581 Cardero Street, Vancouver

Tickets: $25-32 at Tickets Tonight or 604-684-2787

Visitors at the Rio

One of the many things that endear me to my husband was finding the entrancing "Koyaanisqatsi" on his PVR. This is the latest by Godfrey Reggio, director of that groundbreaking film. 

Once again Reggio presents a "stunning, wordless portrait of modern life." The film includes music by Philip Glass and is presented by Steven Soderbergh in super high-def 4k digital black and white projection. See the trailer here. This could be the perfect, lazy Sunday movie.

Visitors 

March 16, 17 at 9 PM

March 20 at 7 PM
Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway, Vancouver
Tickets: $8-10 at Rio Theatre Tickets

Whose Life Is It Anyway?

The current show at the Cultch is heavy and intense and thought provoking. Whose Life Is It Anyway? is a lengthy play about a paralyzed man who chooses to die and has to fight against the medical system that doesn't want to let him. This hot topic is rich and complex and will definitely get you talking. What would you do in that situation? What if you were the doctor struggling with the ethics versus the wishes of the patient?

Jennifer Lines (Dr. Scott), Bob Frazer (Ken Harrison)

 

Marci T House (judge), Patti Allan (Sister Anderson), Michael Kopsa (Dr. Emerson)

The actors do a tremendous job, and the multi-award winning play by Brian Clark is fully formed and provides a multitude of perspectives on the matter.  The set by Pam Johnson works wonderfully as a stark hospital brought to life by this powerful debate and conversation.

Whose Life Is It Anyway? will entertain you, but more importantly, challenge you. It will dare you to go beyond the realm of the theatre and into the real world to research and learn more about this issue and make you ponder, what would you do?

Brian Clark's Whose Life Is It Anyway? plays at The Cultch now until March 22nd.

(Photos by Tim Matheson)

"Galaxies' Greatest Hits" Showcases Space Centre's New Capabilities

Space is way, way out there. But sometimes it gets spacey right here on Earth. "Galaxies' Greatest Hits," is a music show, which showcases the planetarium's brand new, full-dome, digital projection capabilities to spectacular effect.

The team at H.R. MacMillan Space Centre had a lot of fun putting this together, and it shows. "Seeing what the new, full-dome arena can do has been both experimental and entertaining for staff,” says Lisa McIntosh, Director of Learning at the Centre. The new, digital projector has been in place since July 2013.

The show is inspired by the music from classic and recent science fiction movies. The music is enhanced by surreal, fantastical imagery thereby transporting visitors to transformative, mood-provoking environments.

The music choices are taken from a wide range of movies including The Day the Earth Stood Still to the beautiful and serene Blue Danube waltz that was prominent in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Other selections include music from Return of the Jedi, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the more recent, Gravity.

“It’s our homage to the science fiction movie experience,” explains McIntosh. “We take the audience on a journey through time and space.”

The best part is that this show has a lot of heart and, if you pay attention, a sweet sense of humour: After a dark and ominous music selection from 2001, the show lightens the mood with "Don't Worry; Be Happy—" something one wouldn't necessarily expect at a science fiction show.

Don't worry science geeks; our needs are also met. The show flowed seemlessly from a musical show into an entertaining, scientific examination of the universe. Of course, non-lovers of science could leave whenever they wanted (or, ahem, got a little space sick). It really was two shows in one—an excellent entertainment value.

The next time this show is at the Space Centre be sure to take a buddy!

Galaxies' Greatest Hits
Saturday 1 March 2014 at 7:30 PM
H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver, BC V6J 3J9
(604) 738-7827
www.spacecentre.ca

Fighting Chance Productions announces new season!

I was very excited to hear that Fighting Chance Productions' next season consists of four musicals!! How awesome and fun is that!? Here's what we have to look forward to:

Finishing off their current season will be the Tony-award winning musical Spring Awakening (April 25 - May 17 at Jericho Arts Centre)

In their upcoming season, the theatre company starts off with their now annual Halloween-inspired show. They've done Little Shop of Horrors and Rocky Horror Picture Show in recent memory, but wow, am I absolutely THRILLED and totally looking forward to this October, when Fighting Chance Productions presents the off-Broadway cult hit, CARRIE: THE MUSICAL!!

This infamous show made its Broadway debut back in the early 1980s and was a complete flop. It wasn't until recently that it got revived off-Broadway and has now since become a mega cult smash! I can't WAIT to see this!! Thank you Ryan Mooney and Fighting Chance Productions for bringing this to Vancouver!!

Following up that will be their holiday-time show, the very aptly chosen, Little Women. 

And just before the release of the big Hollywood movie version to be released in 2015, FCP has decided to take on Stephen Sondheim's Into The Woods. This is like the equivalent of reading the book before seeing the movie. So, you simply must go see the live version before you see Meryl Streep tackle the role of the evil witch on the big screen. 

Finally, founding out their season will be Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. And judging from all the vocal performances that we were honoured to see at the season announcement event on Friday night, it's gonna be a great season for musical theatre in Vancouver! 

For more information, keep your eye on the Fighting Chance Productions Facebook page and get a season subscription!

Guerilla Gay Bar Vancouver

It's an exciting time right now for the gay scene in Vancouver! There's tons of different events and nights to attend, including the totally awesome Show Tunes night at 1181! Now, there is also Guerilla Gay Bar Vancouver coming at ya!!

The concept is simple: a bunch of queers get together at a non-gay establishment and kind of "take over" for the night! They've done this in other cities, so it's great that some folks have decided to start it up here in Vancouver!

Check out their Facebook Page for more info and come to the Inaugural Take Over happening this Friday, March 7th! (Destination to be announced on the day of.)

Clue: The Musical

It's your favourite 80s board game come to life in Clue: The Musical! Thanks to the fine folks at Ghost Light Projects, this relatively unknown musical has been dusted off and put into the spotlight for inspection currently at the Havana on Commercial Drive.

For those who fear interactive theatre, there's not too much to sweat about here. They ask for three volunteers to come select the cards that will determine who the murderer is, what the weapon will be, and which room will be used - just like the board game! 

Other audience participation include the nifty checklists given out at the start of the show where you can jot down clues as they are dropped throughout the show and play detective right from your seat! Can you figure out whodunnit? Was it Colonel Mustard in the Study with the Candlestick? Or was it the fabulous Miss Peacock dancing with a lead pipe in the conservatory? 

The characters are easy to keep in order as their wardrobe helps inform their identity, i.e. Miss Peacock with a peacock feathery hat, Mr Green with his sparkly green cuffs and cane, etc.  Drawing from the 80s movie version, the musical also has that touch of over-the-top slapstick. 

So grab a clue already! The answer to your end of February doldrums? It's Clue in the Havana Cafe with the musical! 

Clue: The Musical runs until March 8. You can buy your tickets online here.

SHOWTUNES NIGHT at 1181 !!!

OMIGOD, OMIGOD YOU GUYS!!!

I've been talking about this to my friends for an eternity, it seems. And now it's actually HAPPENING!

I was inspired by Chicago's famous SIDETRACK bar, who has a weekly Showtunes night on both SUNDAY and MONDAY - how AMAZING IS THAT? Sidetrack is a video bar in Chicago that has a million screens and on these nights, they show all sorts of fun clips from Musicals!!

So I've been wanting to do something similar ever since! It's a lot of work - finding all those video clips! But I managed to do it, and put it together, and now it is READY TO GO! Over the holidays, I spoke to the manager at 1181, who humoured me with my idea but was in fact quite serious about having me do this! So here we are!! And I hope you will all join us for an evening of fun, showtunes, singing, drinking, and laughter!!

Check out the Facebook page and Join and Invite Your Friends!!