Vancouver theatre

Robin Hood by Sebastian Archibald
Directed by Chelsea Haberlin
Itsazoo Productions
Queen Elizabeth Park - at the Bloedel Conservatory
 August 4-7, 10-14 and 17-19, 2010 at 7:00 pm.
Run extended  - 25th to 28th August

Vancouver, BC: It is definitely becoming one of  Vancouver's  summer theatre traditions - a promenade play by Itsazoo Productions in Queen Elizabeth Park. With the natural scenery of the park as the stage, the audience follows members of the company along pathways and grassy areas as the story moves from scene to scene. Company playwright Sebastian Archibald adapts and creates the stories from varied sources.

Last year's show was drawn from The Canterbury Tales. This year Archibald has taken the story of the medieval folkloric hero, Robin Hood, and his Sherwood Forest gang and set it in contemporary Vancouver.  The premier, Nottingham (played by Archibald) and his pal MLA, Rich White (I kid you not) played by David Benedict Brown, are planning a Big Deal event to put the city on the map, and in the process get themselves re-elected. To succeed they need lots of money, which they get  by cutting funding for everything else. They also want to clean up the streets and get the drug dealers, petty thieves and the homeless out of sight.  And they have just the person to do this, taser-happy Chief Gisbourne (Julia Church), helped by cop (Mel Brown) and other cops.

Singing in the  Rain
Book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green; Songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
Director Shel Piercy; Music Director Wendy Bross-Stewart; Choreographer Shelley Stewart-Hunt
Theatre Under the Stars,
Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park
Alternating nights to August 20th, 2010

Vancouver, BC. As much as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat  will enchant children this summer, adult audiences will enjoy this production of Singing in the Rain. Although the words "singing in the rain" can't help but  evoke the iconic image  of  Gene Kelly  in the 1952 movie, the fun this TUTS cast has with the story managed to get the movie images out of my mind.

Singing in the Rain was first produced as a stage musical in London's West End more than three decades after the film version and we saw an entertaining version of the Arts Club stage a couple of years ago. This is the first time for this musical  on the TUTS stage, and the talented Cailin Stadnyk gets to reprise her part from the Arts Club production, as the untalented but gorgeous Lina Lamont..

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Directed by Shel Piercy;
Music Director Kevin Michael Cripps;
Choreographer Keri Minty
Theatre Under the Stars,
Malkin Bowl, Stanley Park
Alternating nights to August 20th, 2010

Vancouver, BC.  TUTS could not have asked for a more perfect evening to open their 2010 season. The evening air was warm, and the strong winds that blew through Vancouver yesterday had moved on to bluster across  another part of the province.  This year TUTS have instituted reserved seating throughout, a move that seemed to be appreciated by all.

We arrived early, after enjoying a delicious meal at the Tapastree restaurant just off  Denman Street, and sat down to enjoy the lively pre-show music.

The season opener was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by the team of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice, based on the story of Joseph from the old testament Book of Genesis.  In keeping with the 1968 origin of this work as a fifteen minute performance piece for the music department of an high school project Director Piercy has changed the narrator function into an interactive communication between a group of children and a tribe of "flower children".

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Directed by Tariq Leslie
What You Will Equity Co-op,
Jericho Arts Centre
July 2 to July 24, 2010

Vancouver, BC: It is a fascinating experience to see how a directorial approach can alter one's perception of a play, particularly something so familiar as Twelfth Night. The production of Twelfth Night that I saw by Bard on the Beach in the 2008 season, was played with rapid-fire intensity and fairly sparkled with light-hearted humour.  

This pace of this production of Twelfth Night was much slower and more leisured. This brought out the darker aspects of the play so the overall mood of the play was heavier and more ponderous.

The plot of mixed identities and genders centers around Viola (Courtney Lancaster), who, having survived a shipwreck in which her twin brother Sebastian (Adam Bergquist) was ostensibly drowned, enters the service of Orsino, Duke of Illyria (Trevor Devall) disguised as a boy, Cesario. Each twin, unbeknownst to each other is rescued - Viola by the captain (Yurij Kis) of the wrecked ship; Sebastian by a sea captain, Antonio (Kis). 

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
Music and Lyrics by William Finn and Book by Rachel Sheinkin
Directed by Michael Shamata. Musical Director Bruce Kellett
Arts Club Theatre/ Belfry Theatre production
Arts Club Granville Island Stage
June 15 to July 31, 2010

Vancouver, BC: I walked out of the Arts Club Theatre after seeing The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee thinking, much to my surprise, that it was actually a little gem of a musical and perfectly suited to the Granville Island Stage.  I really had not anticipated enjoying it as much as I did, so kudos to Michael Shamata and his cast.

This is because four years ago when I was  writing "Rants, Raves and Reviews" for Immediate Theatre, I saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at The Circle in the Square Theatre in New York. That's a 650 seat theatre, larger than the 450 seat Granville Island Stage - and in retrospect it seemed much more cavernous than the Stanley which also has about 650 seats. I wonder whether the barn-like nature of the New York venue, and the fact that I was seated way back in the "bleachers" contributed to my grumpiness about the show at the time (Songs, Dances, Paintings -The Curtain Falls). My comments then were that "the story line was weak, the music unmemorable and the choreography unremarkable. The show runs for about an hour and 45 minutes with no intermission and my attention began to flag after the first hour."

This was not so for this energetic and funny Arts Club/Belfry production, which I enjoyed a lot. Fitting in nicely with the concept of the show, Shamata inserted a "snack break" midway through the Bee which means that those of us with short attention spans and stiffening joints got to come back relaxed and eagerly anticipating the second half of the show. 

And this time I was also thoroughly engaged by the individual characters of the young spellers and their back- stories, which actually touch on quite weighty issues like parental neglect, sibling rivalry, and perfectionism. Not to mention that I found myself laughing out loud at some of their antics.

At the Arts Club Chef's Cooking Class I attended last year I had a real blast and picked up some excellent tips for the kitchen - and the barbecue.  After chatting with Joe Fortes Executive Sous Chef, Curtis Webb, and Pastry Chef Kelly Urbanoski, I was impressed by their enthusiasm for these events - and was really excited to participate in this year's Celebrity Chef class where they would be cooking and teaching.

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?

Casting aside such trepidations, my notebook, my camera and I arrived at our host's home on the dot of 6 pm. Sandra, who has generously donated her home for these fundraising events on multiple occasions, welcomed us and showed us into the kitchen which was a hub of activity.

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Directed by Dean Paul Gibson
Bard on the Beach
Main Stage , Vanier Park
to September 25, 2010

Vancouver, BC: I confess I really love the play Much Ado about Nothing and it's mainly because of the  verbal sparring between the spirited Beatrice and the self-confident cocky Benedick. I just wish I had their gifts for the snappy comeback - but I guess I need to channel the Bard to really match their wit.

The overall production is excellent and visually appealing. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set designer Drew Facey has created an elegant set with curved staircases. Gibson has set this in the Italian countryside around 1910. The courtyard has black ironwork gates and railings contrasting with the beautiful white and cream arches and columns, and lighting designer Gerald King adds a rich warmth to the set.  Mara Gottler's palette of cream and earth colors for the dresses evokes a sense of summer. Sound designer and composer Murray Price adds a Spanish touch to the music and I enjoyed the flamenco style dancing at the beginning.

Herr Beckmann's People by Sally Stubbs
Directed by Katrina Dunn
A Flying Start production from Playwrights Theatre Centre and Touchstone Theatre
Playwrights Theatre Centre Studio
June 10-19, 2010

Vancouver, BC: The world premiere production of Herr Beckmann's People by Vancouver playwright, Sally Stubbs, is on this week at Festival House on Granville Island. A thought-provoking play sensitively performed by a strong cast, this is well worth seeing.

The play explores the choices made by a once close-knit family in Germany, before and during World War II, and how these choices continue to reverberate in the family psyche almost three decades later. A question that has been pondered ever since the realities of the Holocaust became known, is "how could ordinary people in an educated, cultured nation, participate in or facilitate the brutalities that were committed against their fellow human beings?"

Forget about your superheroes. Forget about "swifter, higher, stronger". The fittest athletes not to compete in an Olympic Games are performing in Vancouver this week. It's the cast of Burn The Floor, the  dance spectacular that reinvents International Ballroom and Latin Dance in a show that is absolutely riveting.

They are fresh off their Broadway run - where I loved it so much that I saw it twice in two weeks  - see Burn The Floor - New York Theatre.

And guess what,  I already have my ticket for the Vancouver show.

So what's so special about this show? The music will rock you to the core and the percussion rhythms of Georgio Rojas with vocalists Ricky Rojas and Rebecca Tapia will make you want to get up and dance.

The dancing is amazing.
It's fast and high energy. You won't believe that human legs can move that fast.

It's sexy and passionate. If you've needed Viagra, you won't after this show.

It's sensuous and romantic - like floating in a dream dance.

"I get the performing part - its a dance show after all, but athlete?" you may ask. 

Trunk
Written and directed by Jeremy Waller
Box Studio
Craning Neck Theatre
April 9 to 17, 2010

Vancouver, BC: Trunk is an original play by Vancouver playwright/director Jeremy Waller. Selected for workshopping through the  2009 Playwright's Colony at BC's Playwrights Theatre Centre, this is its premiere production.

Staged in the Box Sudio - a large "white box " space, presently configured with seating for just over 20 people per show, the dominant set piece is a two tiered metal scaffold on wheels,  with white sheeting hiding the interior or drawn back to reveal the skelton of the structure.

A large battered trunk also features prominently - on the floor, or swinging, suspended like a pendulum, from the scaffold.

This is THE TRUNK - metaphor for the suppressed fears, anxiety and anger that, compounded by obsessive religiosity,  turns Dylan into a violently abusive husband and father. The pain he inflicts on his wife and children devastates their lives and continues into the third generation.

At least that is what I think this play is about - that the effect of profound psychological dysfunction is felt far beyond the next generation. 

However I must confess that while I felt the anger, the energy and the passion reverberate in the room along with David Mesiha's often pounding original music,  I did not always follow the story and the transitions in time and space were often disconcerting and too abstract for my straining mind to get.

So with that caveat I will continue and if I get anything wrong I encourage the writer, cast or dramaturgs or others who have seen the show, to comment and point out my error. Or if you prefer you can review my review on the ReviewFromTheHouse Facebook Fan Page.