Vancouver Inspiration Pass

Wow it feels like there's so much going on in Vancouver these days, it's hard to keep up. This is one thing I definitely need to blog about though, even though it's probably on all the other more timely and popular blogs out there!

Still, it's a good little thing to know for locals! The Vancouver Inspiration Pass was introduced today by the mayor. It's a joint project with the Vancouver Public Library:

"Opening the door to exciting experiences and fun things to see and do across the city, the Vancouver Inspiration Pass is a free cultural and recreational pass program that allows families and teens to get out and explore their city like never before!

Free for Vancouver residents aged 14-years and older, participants can request to borrow a pass for two weeks at any Vancouver Public Library branch."

It will allow access to venues such as the Vancouver Aquarium, Science World, Vancouver Art Gallery, HR MacMillan Space Centre, UBC Museum of Anthropology, Roedde House Museum and Vancouver Police Museum.

"The passes also allow free entry to all the park board’s fitness centres, swimming pools, skating rinks, pitch-and-putt golf courses and botanical gardens. Passes can be used for a limited number of seats for performances. The Vancouver Opera, for example, is setting aside up to 30 seats at each of 10 performances. Also participating are the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Bach Choir."

Master Class

Last night I went to watch Terrence McNally's Tony-award winning play Master Class, now playing at the Granville Island Stage.

Although there is a cast of 6, there is no denying here that the shining star of this production is Gina Chiarelli who plays famed opera singer Maria Callas now turned Julliard instructor who relives her tumultuous and not so distant past through her teaching and her students.

Angus Kellett is the patient piano man who is witness to all of Maria's tirades and outbursts. Felix LeBlanc plays the oblivious stagehand, who fetches water and pillows for the diva in distress, either not caring or not knowing whom she is or used to be. The hopeful students are played by Shannon Chan-Kent, Melanie Krueger, and Frederik Robert, all of whom gift the audience with their operatic talents.

This play is not about opera though, not really. So if you're like me and not an opera fan, you will still enjoy this for the writing and most definitely for the acting. This play is about narcissism and holding on to a life long gone. It's a fictionalized portrait of a true life diva, and Gina Chiarelli knocks the performance way out of the ballpark. She is terrific, she is mesmerizing, she is breathtaking, she is tantalizing. Even though she sings only but a few strained bars, she had the entire audience in the palm of her hand with her portrayal of Callas and we ate up every last bit. I was in the second row so I could see the tears that rolled down her face as she gave her heart and soul into a truly stunning and powerful performance. And she has to do this every night? I am exhausted just thinking about it.

I'm sorry I didn't get to see this earlier on as I would have herded everyone who reads this to the show immediately. If you get the opportunity, go attend Master Class. It's one of the best performances in Vancouver I have seen in a long time.

Master Class runs until this Saturday, Oct 27th at the Granville Island Stage.

Jetset - Theatre Replacement fundraiser Nov 3!

Theatre Replacement is a Vancouver theatre company. They are holding their annual Art Auction/Fundraiser, which will include a live auction of artwork by local and renowned artists, such as Julie Morstad, Cindy Mochizuki and Sarinah Haba. There will also be live music and a DJ.

Tickets are $10 and include a drink, if you come before 9pm. There will also be a live animation show by Cindy Mochizuki and Ana Mori for an additional $10.

Theatre Replacement is an ongoing collaboration between James Long and Maiko Bae Yamamoto. Whether working together or apart, we use extended processes to create performances from intentionally simple beginnings. Our work is about a genuine attempt to coexist. Questions of authorship, ownership and copyright are always alive inside our examinations of found materials. Conversations, interviews and arguments collide with Yamamoto and Long's aesthetics resulting in theatrical experiences that are authentic, immediate and hopeful.

The company continues to build and tour work, and has been presented at internationally recognized festivals and venues, including Festival TransAmériques (Montreal), Magnetic North Theatre Festival (Ottawa & Vancouver), Free Fall Festival (Toronto), High Performance Rodeo & Enbridge PlayRites Festival (Calgary), On the Boards (Seattle WA), Fusebox Festival (Austin TX), Noorderzon Festival (Groningen NL) and the PAZZ Performing Arts Festival (Oldenburg Germany).

The Jetset fundraiser takes  place November 3, at 7pm at the Beaumont Studios - 316 West 5th Avenue.

Initiation Trilogy - Electric Company

Last night I attended one of the coolest theatre productions going on right now in town! Electric Company Theatre presents Initiation Trilogy, a 90 minute 3-part show that has you moving from place to place all around Granville Island. I've heard so much about Electric Company Theatre and had never been to any of their shows, because they are ALWAYS sold out! They currently have a show running in Toronto that premiered here in Vancouver last year (Tear the Curtain!) which is getting rave reviews over there too.

With Initiation Trilogy, I had NO idea what to expect. I was just thrilled to have gotten tickets (bought them a month in advance!) I don't want to ruin or spoil the experience for anyone, so I won't go into what the show is actually about. Let's just say it's three separate experiences, all of which are equally as amazing and creative as the next. Based upon three different books of poetry, the scenes that they set out for you are so far apart and so different from one another yet at the same time hold a recurring theme of some sort of "initiation."

 It's a wildly fantastic show from the genius minds at Electric Theatre Company, and you absolutely HAVE to go see this! Initiation Trilogy runs on Granville Island now until October 28th.

Andrew Grassie at the Rennie Collection

(photo by L. Madziag)

It was the perfect rainy weekend to go check out the latest exhibit at the Rennie Collection. Jill, Dave, Lukasz, Peter and myself hit up the Andrew Grassie installment on Saturday afternoon. The show was challenging, I found. It wasn't art that I particularly liked. It was very metaphysical, I thought, in that the artist liked to create art about art. Am I losing you?

One example: he would take photographs of himself painting with egg tempera and then he would take those photos and create a painting out of that. So it's the process of him painting that becomes the artwork, and calls into question what exactly is artwork, how does it become considered artwork, etc etc etc?!

It was a bit too much! But I did enjoy being in the Wing Sang building as always, and look forward to the next exhibit there. This one? I wasn't a huge fan, but I did enjoy the end product of that egg tempera painting, titled Smiley Face:

Two other pieces I liked were paintings of Bob Rennie's, (the collector's), home apartment, painted 3 years apart by the artist.  Otherwise, I found the exhibit to be very minimalist. There's a lot of space that can be used, but the works are tiny and look even tinier in the large empty gallery. Perhaps that too is part of the point? You'll have to go and see for yourself!

If you haven't been to the Rennie Collection before, I do recommend it. It's a private art collection, so you have to book yourself a tour in advance. You are then led around the gallery by an art history student who will give you a very informative tour of the space and the exhibit. (Thanks Robin!)

The Andrew Grassie exhibit runs at the Rennie Collection until February 9th, 2013.

Dinner with Wayson Choy

Wayson Choy is the author of the acclaimed novel The Jade Peony, and also the writer who inspired me to find my voice.

"On October 15, 2012 at 11 am on the Southeast corner of the intersection of Pender and Gore, Project Bookmark Canada and Wayson Choy will unveil two plaques to highlight and commemorate the physical landscape so vividly rendered in Choy’s iconic novel, The Jade Peony. Members of the public are invited to attend the plaques’ unveiling and to hear the author read from his novel."

Tonight, there will be a special evening at Floata restaurant in Chinatown (180 Keefer St), a tribute dinner to Wayson.  Starting at 6pm, the night will feature stories and interviews from friends and family of Choy, as well as an 8 course Chinese dinner for $55.

Come and meet Wayson in person and have your books autographed by him! 

For more information, check out the webpage at RicePaper Magazine, or if you want to buy tickets, call Kristin Cheung at 778) 928-5408

VIFF: Holy Motors

Holy Motors!?! HOLY @#$#@#@$! !?


What in the world did I just watch??? I mean, what a way to end off the Vancouver International Film Festival but with an amazing yet completely bizarre French film that starred Kylie Minogue in it!?

Seriously though, WHAT THE HELL?

I think I have an idea of what this film was about, but then I think I kinda don't. It was awesome and I loved it, but I have no idea what the heck I watched!!

Thank you VIFF for bringing such a wonderful and original and creative and crazy and insane film to Vancouver!! And if you get a chance to see HOLY MOTORS, definitely do so as it will probably blow your mind or make you want to leave the theatre!