Sep 30: Augusta / Jason Dionne concert

Remember Dolly, from the original production of TENT MEETING? That's Karen Augusta, who's also played at Pacific Theatre events like PASSION, along with her husband Jason Dionne. Well, they've lined up a concert of good old live music happening this coming Sunday evening, Sept 30, in Coquitlam, as a benefit for a missions trip to India. Here's the deets:
Date: Sunday, Sept 30
Time: 7 pm - 9:30 pm
Place: Northside Foursquare Church, 1460 Lansdowne Drive (at David St), Coquitlam, BC
Cost: $2.00 at the door (that's right, only $2.00!)
Occasion: fundraiser for November missions trip to India

4 different acts:

Augusta
folk-fusion trio with Karen Augusta (acoustic guitar, flute, and voice), Jason Dionne (bass), Darren Schoepp (drums): "We'll be performing some new songs from our up-and-coming CD as well as a couple of old faves."

Jeremy Shrimer Quartet
Upright Bass, Sax, Piano, Drums

Chris Goetz Big Band
large horn section, Bass, Guitar, Piano, Drums

Alter
Jason writes: "The jam band I've been in for over a decade (sometimes pleasantly melodic, sometimes wild and way out there, we never know...you'll have to be there to find out what happens!)"
Features...
Craig Townsend (guitars, battery operated dental utensils, rivets, small motors, early science project items, gadgets from Frankenstein's laboratory, etc)
Darren Schoepp (drums, sticks, stones and broken bones, raw pieces of meat slapping against cymbals, odd electronic sounds)
Greg Reid (keyboards, rants and random bouts of nonsensical silliness)
Jason Dionne (bass, marbles, electrical screws from Frankenstein's neck - "I got these from Craig")

Northside Foursquare Church Coquitlam Campus
1460 Lansdowne Drive
Coquitlam, BC
V3E 2N9

Phone: 604-942-7711

Click to see map

Sep 27 - Nov 3: A DOLL'S HOUSE, Chemainus

Pacific Theatre's "sister company" on Vancouver Island is staging A DOLL'S HOUSE, directed by Kim Collier (one of my personal favourites among Vancouver theatre artists), with a couple of Pacific Theatre faces in the cast. You've seen Anthony Ingram...

...in many of our shows stretching right back to the origins of our company, from the Pacific Salt Company and those murder mystery fundraisers through memorable performances in THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE, HOWARD BUYS A MOTORHOME, HALO, etc, to Guest Productions in our mainstage season that Anthony has himself produced, like BEGGARS AT THE WELL OF IMMORTALITY, THE ELEPHANT MAN or PRIVATE EYES. And you'll remember Todd Thomson from ESPRESSO....


Chemainus Theatre Festival presents
A DOLL'S HOUSE
by Henrik Ibsen
Sept 27 – Nov 3

Directed by Kim Collier
Featuring Dawn Petten and Todd Thomson

Nora has a delicious secret that saved her husband’s life, but if he finds out what she’s done, it might destroy her marriage.
Blackmail and innocence…love and hypocrisy collide in one the most groundbreaking and celebrated plays in theatre history.

Sep 27: Diane Tucker book launch

Palimpsest Press is pleased to present the launch of Bright Scarves of Hours, the second book of poems by Diane Tucker. Please join us on Thursday, September 27 at 7 p.m. at the Café Montmartre, 4362 Main Street, to hear Diane read from her new book. Special musical guests Rodney Decroo and Doug Sherlock. For more info about the launch, call 604-421-4931.

Diane is a member of St John's Shaughnessy, and I regularly invite her to read her work at Christmas Presence and other such PT shows. There's a lovely interview here, where she talks about her daily life as a poet, and touches on her love of theatre and her faith. Check out two of Diane's poems here

Sep 19-22: TWELVE ANGRY MEN

FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY! Wed Sep 19 through Sat Sep 22. Tickets and information at the Pacific Theatre website.


Well, we open tonight, and I'm having the time of my life, hanging out with 25 years worth of theatre pals, and just being in rehearsal again. Haven't acted in a show since HUNGRY SEASON, and that's ninteen months ago. Too darn long.

Here's the line-up, with actors from the 1957 and 1997 versions in brackets following).

JUROR NO. 1 Ron Reed (Martin Balsam, Courtney B. Vance)
JUROR NO. 2 Adam Bergquist (John Fiedler, Ossie Davis)
JUROR NO. 3 Mike Kopsa (Lee J. Cobb, George C. Scott)
JUROR NO. 4 David Nykl (E.G. Marshall, Armin Mueller-Stahl)
JUROR NO. 5 Kyle Jespersen (Jack Klugman, Dorian Harewood)
JUROR NO. 6 Frank Nickel (Edward Binns, James Gandolfini)
JUROR NO. 7 Francis Boyle (Jack Warden, Tony Danza)
JUROR NO. 8 Allen des Noyers (Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon)
JUROR NO. 9 Terence Kelly (Joseph Sweeney, Hume Cronyn)
JUROR NO. 10 Kerry Vander Griend (Ed Begley, Mykelti Williamson)
JUROR NO. 11 Tim Dixon (George Voskovec, Edward James Olmos)
JUROR NO. 12 Tariq Leslie (Robert Webber, William Petersen)

Director: Ian Farthing

Five years ago, the 1957 original film ranked twenty-third on the IMDb list of users' favourite films of all time: today it has climbed to an astonishing #13. It's listed as one of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" (list here) and Roger Ebert writes it up as part of his "Great Films" series.

This story originally premiered live on CBS in 1954 in a shorter version, which was adapted by Sherman L. Sergel into a full-length stage play in 1955. Reginald Rose worked from his own original teleplay to create the 1957 screenplay, which he reworked only slightly for MGM's 1997 made-for-TV treatment. (Interestingly, the racist "#10" is African-American, a former member of the Nation Of Islam movement.) An Off-Broadway stage version of the Reginald Rose screenplay is currently touring the U.S., with Richard Thomas (John-Boy Walton) in the pivotal role of "#8" - played in our production by Allen des Noyers, co-founder of Pacific Theatre. We will be working from the 1955 Sherman Sergel version.

Sep 19 - Oct 31: Invitational Art Show, Lookout Gallery

12 ANGRY MEN Cast

Well, we start rehearsal tomorrow morning, and man am I keen! Haven't acted in a show since HUNGRY SEASON, and that's ninteen months ago. Too darn long.

And it's twice as long ago that Michael Kopsa and I first had the idea of doing TWELVE ANGRY MEN together. And what a cast we've ended up with! Spanning right back to the origins of Pacific Theatre.

Here's the line-up, with actors from the 1957 and 1997 versions in brackets following).

JUROR NO. 1 Ron Reed (Martin Balsam, Courtney B. Vance)
JUROR NO. 2 Adam Bergquist (John Fiedler, Ossie Davis)
JUROR NO. 3 Mike Kopsa (Lee J. Cobb, George C. Scott)
JUROR NO. 4 David Nykl (E.G. Marshall, Armin Mueller-Stahl)
JUROR NO. 5 Kyle Jespersen (Jack Klugman, Dorian Harewood)
JUROR NO. 6 Frank Nickel (Edward Binns, James Gandolfini)
JUROR NO. 7 Francis Boyle (Jack Warden, Tony Danza)
JUROR NO. 8 Allen des Noyers (Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon)
JUROR NO. 9 Terence Kelly (Joseph Sweeney, Hume Cronyn)
JUROR NO. 10 Kerry Vander Griend (Ed Begley, Mykelti Williamson)
JUROR NO. 11 Tim Dixon (George Voskovec, Edward James Olmos)
JUROR NO. 12 Tariq Leslie (Robert Webber, William Petersen)

Director: Ian Farthing

Five years ago, the 1957 original film ranked twenty-third on the IMDb list of users' favourite films of all time: today it has climbed to an astonishing #13. It's listed as one of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" (list here) and Roger Ebert writes it up as part of his "Great Films" series.

This story originally premiered live on CBS in 1954 in a shorter version, which was adapted by Sherman L. Sergel into a full-length stage play in 1955. Reginald Rose worked from his own original teleplay to create the 1957 screenplay, which he reworked only slightly for MGM's 1997 made-for-TV treatment. (Interestingly, the racist "#10" is African-American, a former member of the Nation Of Islam movement.) An Off-Broadway stage version of the Reginald Rose screenplay is currently touring the U.S., with Richard Thomas (John-Boy Walton) in the pivotal role of "#8" - played in our production by Allen des Noyers, co-founder of Pacific Theatre. We will be working from the 1955 Sherman Sergel version.

FIVE PERFORMANCES ONLY! Wed Sep 19 through Sat Sep 22. Tickets and information at the Pacific Theatre website.

SOUL FOOD: Angries, Fringe, Galleries, Flicks

Fall has fell, arts-wise anyhow, and it's time to start raking some leaves. Here's a quick clear plastic recycling bag full of early autmnal debris.

Pacific Theatre opens its 24th season with a staged reading of 12 ANGRY MEN this coming week! Five shows only, Wed through Sat. Check out the cool graphics and order tickets at the PT website. I really want to encourage you to come experience this one: it's a grand experiment, no ad budget (no way we could pay a professional cast of 12 for a regular rehearsal period and full run), and I'd love to fill the place. It's such a terrific script from such a well-loved film classic - I notice the movie is featured in a stupendous book I just picked up, "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" - and we've gathered an all-star PT cast spanning right back to the founding of Pacific Theatre in 1984 (I'll post more later at the PT blog. I'm in the cast, along with Michael Kopsa (HOSPITALITY SUITE), Tim Dixon (COTTON PATCH GOSPEL, HOWARD BUYS A MOTORHOME, many more), Allen des Noyers (CPG, FISH TALES, DREAMS OF KINGS & CARPENTERS, you name it), Francis Boyle (NAVY WIFE, THE FOREIGNER, etc, etc), Adam Bergquist, and so many more. (Well, seven, actually, if you're counting...)

Speaking of Adam Bergquist, he's in a powerful production of CRACKWALKER in the Vancouver Fringe, that closes this Sunday. En route to that show I'll be checking out Timothy Clayton's art show at The Havana: as well as spinning tunes at the PT Gala this past February, Timothy's PT connection is his wife Gina Chiarelli (THE FEVER, AGNES OF GOD, SEE GRACE FLY, etc). There's another soul-nourishing art show on the North Shore, Hope Abundant at the Bellevue Gallery, another compassionate, artful look at Africa.

There's a nifty keen Bruce Cockburn concert on CBC Radio Two tonight at 8pm, which you can also listen to online: follow the links from the Soul Food Vancouver posting.

At the movies, it's all about the Vancouver International Film Festival, which kicks off Sep 27: I've started previewing the more Soul Foody servings at the movie blog, and will have more when the official program is in my hands tomorrow noon. As for what's onscreen now, THIS IS ENGLAND is really something, autobiographically inspired, 1983 setting, about a 12 year old working class English boy who falls in with a gang of skinheads after his dad's killed in the Falklands: you'll be on edge, and yes there's some violence that's tough to watch - not so much because it's grisly or gratuitous, but because you believe it, and it happens among characters you care about - but it's loaded with brilliant unexpected turns, heart-breakingly true characters. ACROSS THE UNIVERSE opens today, Julie Taymor's eye-candy musical that uses Beatle songs musical-theatre-style to tell a love story set against the backdrop of the late Sixties: I wish it had gone darker (I'm thinking TITUS, here), and must admit some of the stuff is definitely on the nose, but by and large it's wildly creative, and I'll take anything Julie is dishes out. 3:10 TO YUMA riffs on all the classic western motifs, has strong performances, is shot full of Bible quoting, prayers, and crosses on sixgun handles, but goes wildly stupid in its final half hour: how come bad guys who never miss can't land a single shot once they're within range of the closing credits? Darn, that bugs me. And let's just say the psychology of that home stretch is, well, a stretch. Rent UNFORGIVEN or OPEN RANGE or THE BIG COUNTRY instead, or maybe even SHANE.

Sep 14 8pm or forever: Bruce Cockburn, Banff Centre Concert

You can tune in to CBC Radio Two tonight at 8pm, or you can go to the CBC website anytime you want, and listen to an August 9th (or is that September 8th?) Bruce Cockburn concert recorded in Banff.

Bruce Cockburn at The Banff Centre
Recorded 8/9/2007 at Eric Harvie Theatre, The Banff Centre in Banff, AB
In a career that now extends 40 years and over 25 albums, Bruce Cockburn possesses an ability to distill political events, spiritual revelations, and personal experience into rich, compelling songs that have made him one of this country’s finest and most-honoured musical icons and one of the world’s most celebrated artists. He is a performer who masterfully moves his audience through a range of emotions, at one moment inspiring them to dance and the next inspiring them to think.

A passionate social advocate, a deft guitarist, and an adventurous musical spirit, Cockburn performs music and songs that are glimmering snapshots of a provocative, probing, and important performer. We welcome his long overdue return to Banff for this special, solo concert.

Related Links
Bruce Cockburn at True North Records
The Bruce Cockburn Project
Gavin's Woodpile

40 years? Sheesh. Anybody want to come over to my place and listen to my Christophers Movie Matinee record?


More on "Three's A Crowd" over here

Sep 16 - Oct 5: Timothy Clayton Art Show, Havana

If you've known Pacific Theatre for a while, you know Gina Chiarelli - most memorably for AGNES OF GOD and THE FEVER. You may also have seen her lauded performance in SEE GRACE FLY, a film project that Gina herself initiated. And if you've been around Soul Food for a while, you also know that Gina's husband, Timothy Clayton, is a visual artist. Well, he's got a show about to open at the Havana on Commercial Drive...


Opening reception: Sep 16, 4-7pm
Show runs Sep 16 - Oct 5

Check out Timothy's online portfolio at timothyclayton.ca

Sep 8-29: "Hope Abundant" at Bellevue Gallery

Last fall Bellevue Gallery opened with a really splendid show of photos and video from Africa. Bellevue is a really beautiful gallery in West Vancouver operated by Christians, though what they present is not at all limited to artists of faith. Now, a fresh look at those African themes...


HOPE ABUNDANT
Sep 8-29
Opening reception Thursday, September 13th, 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Bellevue Gallery

Bellevue Gallery is pleased to present their second humanitarian exhibition featuring the village of Bufukhula in Southeastern Uganda. With all proceeds going to Canadian Food for the Hungry, this exhibition demonstrates how your involvement has and will change the lives of those less fortunate and provide 'Hope Abundant.' Some packages will be available to sponsor children.

gallery hours | tues - fri 10am - 5:30pm, sat 11am - 5pm | and by appointment

Julia Mackie Sweeps Victoria Fringe Awards

Remember that crusty old bookie who stole the show in Pacific Theatre's MERCY WILD a few years back?...

VICTORIA FRINGE ANNOUNCES "PICK OF FRINGE" WINNERS
Touching Story of War Vet, Jake's Gift, Sweeps Awards
Fringe Festival Continues Through Sunday September 2

VICTORIA, BC CANADA
At a pancake breakfast Saturday morning at TEMPLE, Victoria's swankiest martini lounge, Fringe Producers Intrepid Theatre announced the winners of the Pick-of-the-Fringe Awards, as voted by the Fringe audience.

BEST DRAMA
Nominees: Mute, The Timekeepers, Singing at the Edge of the World, Jake's Gift
Winner: Jake's Gift (Juno Productions/ Julia Mackey)

BEST COMEDY
Nominees: The Cody Rivers Show: Flammable People, Die Roten Punkte, Rainer Hersch's Victor Borge, On Second Thought
Winner: The Cody Rivers Show: Flammable People

BEST PHYSICAL THEATRE/DANCE
Nominees: The Cody Rivers Show: Flammable People, private i, BLiNK, Uber Alice...the elaborate adventures of a New Zealand manicurist
Winner: BLiNK

BEST SOLO SHOW
Nominees: Giant Invisible Robot, Singing at the Edge of the World, Jake's Gift, Putz, Rainer Hersch's Victor Borge
Winner: Jake's Gift (Juno Productions/ Julia Mackey)

AWARD FOR INNOVATION/CREATIVITY
Nominees: Bye Bye Bombay, The Cody Rivers Show: Flammable People, BLiNK, Giant Invisible Robot
Winner: Giant Invisible Robot (Stars & Hearts / Jayson McDonald)

BEST PERFORMER (MALE)
Nominees: Jayson McDonald (Giant Invisible Robot), Randy Rutherford (Singing at the Edge of the World), Tom Stewart (Mute),Rainer Hersch (Rainer Hersch's Victor Borge)
Winner: Jayson McDonald (Giant Invisible Robot)

BEST PERFORMER (FEMALE)
Nominees: Julia Mackey (Jake's Gift), Amy Salloway (So Kiss Me Already Herschel Gertz), Cara Yeates (Bye Bye Bombay, Laura Harris (Pitch Blond)
Winner: Julia Mackey, Jake's Gift

BEST NEW PLAY
Nominees: Mute, Giant Invisible Robot, Dead Celebrities, Jake's Gift
Winner: TIE: Mute (by Wren Handman), Jake's Gift (by Julia Mackey)

The Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival, now in it's 21st year, features comedy, drama, dance, spoken word, cabaret and musical performances from around the world. This year's festival has attracted record crowds and many productions have sold out. The festival concludes Sunday Sept 2, with 40 productions playing on the final day, a closing concert by Curtis Eller's American Circus ("New York's angriest yodelling banjo player") and a party recognising the contributions of hundreds of Fringe volunteers at the Victoria Event Centre.

For more information, contact Intrepid Theatre at 383-2663 or check the Victoria Fringe website.