Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
Directed by Michael Shamata
Arts Club Theatre Company
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
July 22 to August 22, 2010
Vancouver, BC. Drifting through the Stanley Theatre lobby at intermission, I was struck by the unusual number of men engaged in lively and animated discussion about the events of the first act. There seems to be something about this Mamet piece (other than that it features an all-male ensemble), that makes it resonate more strongly than most productions with male audience members. Maybe its the sense of watching a war-zone where only the strong and ruthless will survive, that makes it so much a man's play.
The only problem was that owing to a moment's indiscretion on my part during the earlier interview, a kitchen secret I had closely guarded for several years would be bared to the world - or at least to the 18 people present in Sandra and Peter's kitchen for the cooking class. And what would that do for the image of urbane foodie I was so carefully cultivating?
One of the best aspects of writing for ReviewFromTheHouse.com is the chance it affords me, from time to time, to interview people who are committed and passionate about their work. Some such as professor Errol Durbach, Bard artistic director Christopher Gaze or playwright Emil Sher, work in theatre.
Others like Kelowna chef Rod Butters or Vancouver Foodie Tours operator, Michelle Ng, work in the food industry.
Yesterday I chatted with chef Curtis Webb and pastry chef Kelly Urbanoski at Joe Fortes Restaurant, to find out what they were planning for their 2010 Celebrity Chef Cooking Class next Wednesday.
Paradise Garden by Lucia Frangione
Directed by Morris Ertman
Arts Club Theatre Company
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
March 11- April 11, 2010
Vancouver, BC: Over our pre-show dinner at Yuji's Japanese Tapas restaurant, we discussed the phenomenon that my companion called "the bum factor" but which I prefer to think of as "the watch factor". Simply put, it is the thing that happens when a certain restlessness develops as one is watching a show - either because something is dragging on too long or because it just fails to grip one's attention. He gets antsy and wriggles in his seat while I get an irresistible urge to check the time - saved only by the fact that I cant see the dial in the dark.
White Christmas: The Musical Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin Book by David Ives and Paul Blake Based upon the Paramount Pictures film written for the screen by Norman Krasna, Norman Panama, and Melvin Frank Director Bill Millerd. Musical Director Bruce Kellett. Choreographer Valerie Easton. Arts Club Theatre Company Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage Nov 12 to Dec 27, 2009
Vancouver, BC: As those of you who have followed my recent theatre travels and cruise adventures dancing at sea to destinations from Bora Bora to Beijing to Los Angeles to New York, know by now, I am delirious about dance, so how could I not love a show with a song titled "The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing"? Add some rapid-fire tap dancing, great ensemble work and music and lyrics that are embedded in my memory bank from years back, and White Christmas makes for a delightfully sentimental evening's entertainment.
Irving Berlin wrote the song “White Christmas” for the 1942 movie Holiday Inn. Sung by Bing Crosby, it won the Academy Award that year and was later used in the 1954 film version of White Christmas. In today's lingo it went viral and today there can't be a person over the age of 1 anywhere in the world who does not know this song. Following the more recent cross-genre trend of going from film to musical (like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) rather than the previously more usual musical to film, the musical version of White Christmas was first produced in San Francisco in 2004. But it still retains its 1950s feel.
The story opens on Christmas Eve 1944 somewhere in Europe where two US army soldiers, former Broadway entertainer, the reserved Captain Bob Wallace (Jeffrey Victor) and extrovert philanderer, Phil Davis (Todd Talbot) are putting on a show for the troops. Their respected General Henry Waverley (Rejean Cournoyer) is returning to the US for treatment of an injury.
Fast forward ten years. Wallace and Davis are now a successful entertainment act and they encounter the performing Haynes sisters, reserved Betty (Sara-Jeanne Hosie) and extrovert Judy (Monique Lund). Phil and Judy hit it off instantly, but Bob and Betty - well, there has to be a down arc to the story for it all to be resolved happily in the end.
Aided by various acts of "larceny'" they all land up at the inn in Vermont that just happens to be owned by the retired General Waverley, who is being visited by his young niece from California, Susan (Rachael Withers). Business at the inn is down, but the feisty manager, Martha Watson (Susan Anderson) is not letting the general know just how bad things are. Wallace and Davis decide to help out their general, but busybody Martha gets involved and things start to unravel. But it is Christmas so of course all ends well.
Altar Boyz directed by Bill Millerd
Book by Kevin Del Aguila
Music and lyrics by Gary Adler and Michael Patrick Walker
Conceived by Marc Kessler and Ken Davenport
Musical Director Sasha Niechoda
Choreographer Sara-Jeanne Hosie
Granville Island Stage
Arts Club Company
June 18 to August 1st, 2009
Vancouver, BC: Matthew (Jeremy Crittenden), Mark (David Hurwitz), Luke (Jak Barradell), Juan (Vincent Tong) and Abraham (Geoff Stevens) are the Altar Boyz, members of a boy band who are playing the final concert of their "Raise the Praise" tour - at the Granville Island Stage - and, according to their impressive digital electronic device, the Soul-Sensor DX-12, they have several hundred heavily burdened souls in the audience to save, by the end of the concert. That's the premise of the show. A thin story-line to be sure, but that is all that is needed to thread twelve high-energy song and dance routines into a swinging, toe-tapping non-stop 90 minutes of pure entertainment.
Nicola Lipman and John Mann in Les Misérables. Photo by Emily CooperLes Misérables by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg based on the novel by Victor Hugo
Music by Schönberg Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer
Directed by Bill Millerd Musical Direction Bruce Kellett Choreography Valerie Easton
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
Arts Club Theatre Company
May 14 to July 19 , 2009
Vancouver, BC: How can one not love Les Mis? The book has everything - Sympathetic downtrodden characters who either triumph over adversity or die tragically with their dreams unfulfilled; a good guy chasing a bad guy where the bad guy is really good at heart and the good guy 's obsession with his quest is bad; student protests with dramatic deaths on barricades, and of course, the wickedly funny innkeeper and his wife. Then there is the music - songs to make you cry, songs to make you laugh, catchy melodies that tumble over each other for a place in your head; and that you hum as you drive home after the show. I first saw a touring production of Les Misérables in Vancouver probably twenty years ago and still remember the intense post-show family discussion about the students sacrificing their lives in a futile cause.
Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
At the 
One of the best aspects of writing for ReviewFromTheHouse.com is the chance it affords me, from time to time, to interview people who are committed and passionate about their work. Some such as professor 
Paradise Garden by Lucia Frangione
White Christmas: The Musical
Fast forward ten years. Wallace and Davis are now a successful entertainment act and they encounter the performing Haynes sisters, reserved Betty (Sara-Jeanne Hosie) and extrovert Judy (Monique Lund). Phil and Judy hit it off instantly, but Bob and Betty - well, there has to be a down arc to the story for it all to be resolved happily in the end. 
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