Video Interview: Erin Germaine Mahoney on Refuge of Lies

The next in our series of video interviews with the actors of REFUGE OF LIES: Erin Germaine Mahoney. This is Erin's first professional show and we are thrilled to have her!

Apr 17: Viper Central CD release

Kathleen Nisbet's bluegrass band...


Viper Central
with guests Redgrass
"Live at the Street Church" Gospel album CD release and European Tour Kickoff

Saturday, April 17
8pm
Little Mountain Gallery
26th and Main

Video Interview: Anthony F. Ingram on Refuge of Lies

Here's the first in a series of video interviews to get to know the faces of REFUGE OF LIES.

Mar 30 - Young Street Vocal Band, Hunter Family, Triumphant

Glen Pinchin - Mr Kirby in YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, and Tony Kirby in YOU STILL CAN'T - sends this recommendation...

Hello friends

I just had to send this out to some of my big city acquaintances. Last night we attended a concert at our church (Chilliwack Alliance) featuring Chilliwack's own Young Street Vocal Band, the Hunter family from Shaunavon, Sask., and a gospel quartet called Triumphant, from Pigeon Forge (home of the famous? Dollywood), Tennessee. We enjoy southern style gospel music but not to the extent of many folks we know. That said, this concert had to be one of the best we've ever seen...in any style of music. It was simply amazing!!

My reason for telling you about this is that the same group are performing their last show of this tour at the Broadway Church (2700 East Broadway) in Vancouver tonight at 7PM. I was talking to Wayne Dyck, producer of the tour, last night and he said that this is his first foray into Vancouver for this type of show and he's not sure what the response will be. Telling you is perhaps a favour to Wayne, but it is also a great favour to you. I know you are all very busy people but if you are ever given to spur of the moment things, this would be a perfect time to jump in. I can absolutely guarantee you will have a great time and be wonderfully blessed.

Blessings to you all,

Glen Pinchin

Refuge of Lies Publicity Shots

The first photo shoot for Refuge of Lies is in the bag. Here are some of the tantalizing images we've come up with for you folks... All photography by Tim Matheson.

Terrence Kelly as Rudi and Anna Hagan as Netty.

Terrence Kelly as Rudi, Anna Hagan as Netty, Kerri Norris as Hanni, and David Nykl as Conrad.

Howard Siegel as Simon and Erin Mahoney as Rachel.

Howard Siegel as Simon and Erin Mahoney as Rachel.

Audition Notice: CHICKENS, Gallery 7

Our friends at Gallery 7 in Abbotsford are producing Lucia's CHICKENS this spring. Below is their audition notice. It's all in the PT family as former apprent Joyce Chung will be directing this one!

Gallery 7 Theatre proudly presents

OPEN AUDITIONS - CHICKENS
A quirky musical comedy by Lucia Frangione

Thursday, March 25, 2010 @ 6:30 PM
MEI Theatre, 4081 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford.

If it's possible for life to imitate art, is it also possible for life to imitate the chicken coop? Facing bankruptcy and the loss of his prairie farm, Pal risks nearly everything, including his family, by focussing on raising a flock of exotic chickens.

Meanwhile, in the barnyard, where life in the coop strangely parallels the plight of their human characters, a gaggle of hens and roosters scratch out a living producing eggs and contemplating the big questions of poultry life. Written by one of Canada's up-and-coming major playwrights, this is a hilarious musical-comedy that will have you laughing and pondering all night long.


AUDITION INFORMATION

This audition is open to all male & female performers ages 16 and up to perform in this quirky musical by Canadian playwright, Lucia Frangione. Interested individuals are asked to prepare a short musical number in their normal range for the audition, as well as to sign up ahead of time by calling 604-504-5940 or emailing info@gallery7theatre.com.

Casting Requirements

PAL GRANDFIELD: A middle-aged broke Alberta farmer. Pal is a tender-hearted, philosophical dreamer and a whimsical romantic. When facing great odds he retreats inwards and shuts himself off from his loved ones and the rest of the world. He is searching for a sense of power and belonging and yearns to be freed from the guilt and feeling of failure that he carries.

LIZA GRANDFIELD: Pal's wife. She is a prairie woman of great industry and vivacity, a determined optimist. Liza smiles in the face of sorrow with a vengeance and cannot afford the luxury of anger or self-pity and never plays the victim. She confronts great odds head on and often takes over where Pal leaves off. Liza is getting anxious about getting too old to have children. She secretly wishes Pal would be more assertive and attentive.

BUTTER BALL: A silver spangled bantam hen. She is Liza's heart: she lives in the past, is old fashioned, religious, and yearns to be protected and provided for. This lonely aging beauty queen is nurturing, sweet, cheerful and lusty.

HIS NIBS: A silver spangled bantam rooster. He is Pal's intellect and creativity. He is traumatized by the demise of his brother, leaving him with a profound a sense of guilt, fear and loss of confidence, particularly in his masculinity. He is self-sufficient, cultured and elevated.

ALPHONSO: A Plymouth bard rock bantam rooster. He is Pal's machismo: proud, aggressive and stubborn. He embodies what's left of Pal's randy old world domineering red-neck sensibilities. Alphonso is also very playful, sexy, vulnerable, truthful and audacious.

STEWER: A renegade mass-production laying hen. She is Liza's ferociouos pride: fiercely independent, a controlling, tough, wary survivor. She is very strong and willing to take on any adversary, in fact, almost invites conflict as a sort of safe intimacy. She feels homely and unworthy of love and uses honesty as a cruel weapon. She is loyal and passionate when decides to trust.

The Setting:
A family farm in central Alberta, Canada, 1984.

Please register ahead of time by calling
604-504-5940

You may also register online by clicking here.
For complete details on the show, please click here.

March 27: World Theatre Day Celebration at PT!

As some of you already know, World Theatre Day is quickly approaching! This Saturday, March 27th is the day set aside to celebrate all things theatre. If you live in Vancouver the GVPTA has a handy guide for a month-long celebration as local theatre companies offer discounts and even some free tickets to their shows. Here in PT-land we have just embarked on rehearsals for our upcoming production of Ron Reed's own Refuge of Lies. With no live performance to speak of over this momentous day, we've decided to fling open the doors of our rehearsal hall and invite the public in to join us instead.

The official details:

When: Saturday, March 27th from 10am-1pm

Where: Pacific Theatre (1440 W 12th Ave)

What: Open rehearsal with time to chat with writer, director, and your favourite local blogger, Ron Reed

Drop in anytime between 10-1 and watch the rehearsal process unfold. During coffee and lunch breaks Ron will be available to chat about the show and answer any questions you might have. A fantastic opportunity to check out the creation process for a show, get a sneak preview of this exciting story, and meet some your friendly neighbourhood theatre-makers.

Hope to see you there!

REFUGE OF LIES timely

German court convicts Nazi of three 1944 Dutch murders

Today's Guardian reports that Heinrich Boere, 88, was sentenced to life in prison for wartime killings of three civilians as part of Nazi hit squad.

Refuge Of Lies opens April 9 at Pacific Theatre. "Rudi Vanderwaal is a quietly retired man whose religious conversion may hide terrible wartime secrets. When a Dutch journalist travels to Vancouver to confront him with the realities of his past, memory and fantasy, dream and nightmare collide in a searing vision of guilt and the cost of redemption. Inspired by actual events."

Mar 20 | Pacific Rim String Quartet at Pacific Theatre

Kyle Rideout wins National Screen Institute prize

During the run of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Kyle Rideout was working away on the animation part of a short film. Looks like it got some notice! Congrats, Kyle....

Announcing the new National Screen Institute Drama Prize 2010 teams
Following the most recent call for applications for NSI Drama Prize, the National Screen Institute is proud to announce the new teams for 2010.

These teams were selected from almost 60 applications from across Canada.

Wait for Rain by co-writer/director Kyle Rideout and co-writer/producer Josh Epstein from BC
(and four other teams...)

Mar 27/28: Abendmusik Lenten Vespers

The Abendmusik Vesper Choir is an ensemble of 16 singers from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. The choir gives evening services at Thanksgiving, Advent and Lent where we provide an opportunity to worship and meditate with music, spoken word and silence. Please feel free to bring friends who might appreciate this type of music and this opportunity for reflection -- no applause, no sermon, no announcements.

Lenten Vespers

Abbotsford: March 27, 2010

Vancouver: March 28, 2010

All services are at 8:00pm

Venues

Abbotsford

Emmanuel Free Reformed Church

3386 Mt. Lehman Road

Vancouver

Knox United Church

5600 Balaclava Street

More information about the Abendmusik Vesper Choir can be found here.

Apr 5-9: Vancouver apartment needed for indie film shoot

Have you got a Vancouver apartment for a small indie film shoot? My movie-making buddy Stefan Wrenshall needs it.

"We begin shooting our feature film on April 5th. The couple who own the location scheduled for that stretch of production (April 5th to 9th) have had a serious medical issue arise and although they are still willing to let us shoot there I think it Is best if we find an alternate location. We are looking for a funky, centrally located apartment which in the script belongs to a couple of starving artists... NOTHING untoward occurs in the scenes. We have a small location fee, are fully insured. The cast and crew for these scenes are minimal, probably no more than seven people at one time. We'd be there from 8:30 until 6 pm. We are actually scheduled there 4 days, we are out evening of the eighth but want to cover ouR derrieres with the extra day."

ticket stubs | 1995, 1997

Tearing out the seating for THE PASSION PROJECT, the apprenti found these two vintage ticket stubs from our first season in our theatre space at 12th and Hemlock. The one on the left is a puzzle: if that scrawl says "1/13", then it's for one of our Murder Mystery fundraisers - End Of The Line, by Vicky McLeod - which ran January 13, 14, 20, 21. But if it says "1/17", I have no idea. That was our first season in the new space, in Holy Trinity. Damn those were tough times. But we put on some pretty swell theatre.

When I first saw the stubs, my guess was that it might have been from our hold-over run of THE VOICE OF THE PRAIRIE, which premiered in fall 1994, but ran an extra week early in 1995. Not so: VOP didn't play until the first week of February. But it reminded me of one of the most encouraging postcards I've ever received.

We were having a hell of a time. Almost nobody came to that holdover week - I mean, audiences of ten or fifteen - so the actors in the co-op were going to get, like, a hundred bucks each for the week? (Dirk Van Stralen, Tim Dixon, Erla Faye Forsyth) And then Saturday night the cashbox was stolen?

So the next week was pretty darn dreary. And then the mail came...

I first fell in love with live theatre in Grade Eight, when my social studies teacher took us to see GREAT EXPECTATIONS at Theatre Calgary. I remember it vividly to this day, what must be forty years later. My first professional play in a theatre. I phoned up the box office - little Grade Eight guy - and asked if they were doing the play again, or if that was the only night. The assured me it would be on for a couple more weeks, I bought another ticket and went again. Then bought a subscription for the rest of the season with my buddy, Mike Davenport, kept on subscribing 'til I left Calgary five and a half years later.

The director? Christopher Newton. Of that show, and so many over the next several TC seasons. And then who shows up at my theatre at one of our lowest moments, and takes the time to write such a kind note? Christopher Newton.

Sometimes life is sweet. God bless you, Mr Newton.

Mar 14-20: Underneath The Lintel | Chutzpah Festival

Chutzpah Festival is upon us (March 4 - April 8) - with our good friends the Rosedale On Robson Suite Hotel as Presenting Sponsor! Cool. Lots to see, the one that most hooks my curiosity is this one. Must find out if my hunch about the "figure who may be more man than myth" is right - and hoping the Da Vinci Code reference doesn't amount to much...

Presented with the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad and The Cultch
UNDERNEATH THE LINTEL

The return of an overdue library book - 113 years late - piques the nascent detective skills of an uptight Dutch librarian who embarks on a quixotic, globe trotting pursuit of the anonymous borrower and returner.

The scribbled note "I was here" in the book's margin and a yellowed claim check from a London dry cleaner are the first two clues. His quest to unravel the mystery then leads him to a post office box in Dingtao, China; a government records bureau in Bonn; a sound and photo archive in New York; and an attic in Australia.

Christian Murray, superb in the role of the Librarian, leads the audience on a winding trail through history to a mystery that dates back to the Crucifixion and a figure who may be more man than myth.

"...a cosmic puzzle that makes "The Da Vinci Code" seem like a game of hide-and-seek." Variety Magazine

"...powerfully human and ultimately sublime." Variety

"Underneath The Lintel is an intriguing piece, poetic, funny and touching...it ultimately reminded me of how important it is to find passion in life and to go after it. And Christian is the perfect actor for it - he captures the loneliness and the fragility of the character who emerges from a grey existence into a world of glorious technicolour with great subtlety." Marcia Kash

Sunday, March 14 @ 2pm & 7pm
Monday, March 15 @ 8pm
Wednesday, March 17 @ 7pm
Thursday, March 18 @ 7pm
Saturday, March 20 @ 7pm
Norman Rothstein Theatre

By Glen Berger
Produced by Frankie Productions
Starring Christian Murray
Directed by Mary Vingoe
Set Design Stephen Osler
Lighting Design Ingrid Risk

Fringe 2010 | Chris Domig, DIRT

We're bringing in Chris Domig to perform DIRT at Pacific Theatre during this year's Fringe Festival, along with three other shows by PT-related artists. (All in due time...) He's just launched a skookum new website...

Mar 16 | Peter La Grand

Peter La Grand will be playing a show next friday, march 16, at the velvet matador ( 580 Powell st. / (Powell and Princess)). $5 cover, show at 8ish

Mar 10-14 | I WAS MEANT FOR THE STAGE | Set List

Act One
Invocation | Joel | Putting It Together, Stephen Sondheim
This Is It! | Ben, Ron & Company | The Bugs Bunny Show, Mack David and Jerry Livingston
Muse Of Fire | Ron | Henry V, William Shakespeare
Hamlet | Ben, Kaitlin | Sing This,
Joel's Story
Theatre and Dreaming | Ron | Writing In Restaurants, David Mamet
Tinkerbelle | Kaitlin | 'dentity Crisis, Christopher Durang
Climbing Uphill | Shay | The Last 5 Years, Jason Robert Brown
Audition | Alison | Audition, Robert Lepage
Shay's Story
Audition | Shay, Ben | Private Eyes, Steven Dietz
Kaitlin's Story
Do Less | Alison, Joel | A Life In The Theatre, David Mamet
Junius Brutus Booth, A Swallower, or Swedish Passion | Ron
Twelfth Night | Rebecca, Joel, Kaitlin | A Bright Particular Star, Ron Reed
Rebecca's Story
Orson Welles, Tyrone Guthrie, and

David Mamet, Arthur O'Shaughnessey, or Steven Soderbergh | Ron
The Show Must Go On | Company | Queen

Act Two
18th Century Playbill | Ron, Shay, Joel | Behind Our Scenes, Royal Shakespeare Company
Why Must The Show Go On? | Joel | Noel Coward
Death of a Salesgirl | Kaitlin, Alison | by Kaitlin Williams
Ben's Story
Sensitive Artist | Ben | King Missile
This Is A Play | Shay, Ben, Kaitlin | Daniel MacIvor
Alison's Story
Work The World Has Need Of | Rebecca, Joel | A Bright Particular Star, Ron Reed
Letter | Ron | George MacDonald
Kirsty's Story
I Was Meant For The Stage | Company | The Decemberists

The Company
Alison Chisholm, Pacific Theatre administrator, former apprentice
Benjamin Miller, Pacific Theatre apprentice
Catriona Day, cellist
Frank Nickel, Pacific Theatre production manager

Jackie Faulkner, choreographer
Jess Howell, stage manager
Joel Stephanson, Pacific Theatre apprentice
Jonathan Ng, pianist
Kaitlin Williams, Pacific Theatre apprentice

Kathy Parsons, Pacific Theatre literary manager
Kirsty Provan, former Pacific Theatre apprentice (Saturday night only)
Rebecca deBoer, former Pacific Theatre administrator
Rick Colhoun, drummer
Ron Reed, Pacific Theatre artistic director
Shalyn McFaul, Pacific Theatre apprentice

Rehearsal Pics for I WAS MEANT FOR THE STAGE - March 10-13

The apprentices are busy little bees getting ready for I WAS MEANT FOR THE STAGE's opening next Wednesday! They're acting, singing, and learning some epic dance moves - don't miss this one, folks.

Ben and Kaitlin in a scene from THIS IS A PLAY

Shay and her wig take a break

Ben and Kaitlin in THIS IS A PLAY

Alison and Ben in THE SHOW MUST GO ON

This is what I meant when I said they are learning epic dance moves. Intrigued?

Mar 16-20: Kyle Jesperson in The Rick Hansen Story

Kyle played George MacDonald in A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, and one of those drowning sailors in TEN NOVEMBER. Now he's doing something that's a perfect fit with the Paralympics, which is just a stop on a national tour - appropriately enough...

Hear me out, Vancouverites...

It would probably be a really good idea for you to come see "The Rick Hansen Story" at the Granville Island Stage, running until Saturday March 20th as part of the Cultural Olympiad (I'm playing Rick). There is a fantastic video design component to the show, which focuses on the period of Rick's life when he was newly injured and coming to terms with his paraplegia, before he set out on the Man in Motion tour and made Canadian (and human) history. Here's the deal...

There is one remaining public performance that you can book tickets for that is not sold out on Saturday March 20th at 2pm. Tickets are pretty inexpensive ($15) and can be booked through: http://www.vancouvertix.com/onstage.htm

There are also a number of daytime shows from the 16th-19th; these are primarily school bookings, but they are open to the general public, provided there are seats available. The only hitch with these shows is that tickets cannot be booked ahead of time by the public; you must show up on the day at the box office 1/2hr prior to showtime. Best bet is to phone ahead to the box office (604-687-1644) a couple hours beforehand to make sure seats are available.

For more info.

Lotsolove,
Kyle J.

Video here. And how's this for a lead line: "No one pushes Kyle Jespersen around."

Mar 10 | Brian Mix in Piano Trio | St Anselm's

This just in from the Pacific Rim String Quartet, PT's resident chamber ensemble (I love saying that). Of course, I can't be there, because however much I may have wanted to, I was meant for the stage...

Dear friends,

I'd like to invite you to a piano trio concert this coming Wednesday, March 10, 7:30pm at St. Anselm's Anglican Church (which is across from the UBC Golf Course).

The pianist is a new colleague I met in Maine this past summer at a chamber music festival. He lives in Seattle, has recorded more than 30 CDs, has performed at the Library of Congress and the Frick Collection (NY), been reviewed by the New York Times, and is great fun to play with.

The violinist is my colleague from the Pacific Rim String Quartet, Li-Ling Liao, and the cellist is yours truly. We'll be playing Haydn, Mendelssohn and Hummel. It promises to be a great concert.

Hope to see you there!

Brian

Apr 10: Chris Hansen on Creativity and the Enneagram

Chris Hansen is a Soul Food guy - founded a screenwriters' colony on Bowen Island for a time, did the Christian Imagination course with me at Regent, has been writing children's books. Well, he's teamed up with another Soul Foodie, filmmaker Jason Goode, to bring a seminar on the Enneagram to Regent College - specifically intended for the artistically inclined. Worth noting: this is a fundraiser in support of a short film, with Chris donating his time in support of the cause. So not only will you be stimulated and educated, you'll be benefitting the arts!

Videomatica Alternative Oscars Contest

It's Oscar season and we at PT love a good film almost as much as we love a good play. Unfortunately no one's asked us to vote on the "real" Oscars yet - don't ask me why. Until that day arrives our friends at Videomatica are hosting their own Oscars Contest that we can vote in... and while we're at it donate a couple tickets to REFUGE OF LIES for their prize bucket (hint hint.) The official writeup is below:

Can a Michael Jackson documentary that was never supposed to exist be a bona fide Best Picture contender?

Are adult film star Sasha Grey and singer Mariah Carey legitimate film actors?

Can Mike Tyson's tiger out-act a robot, "prawn", a cartoon Doberman, and a hallucinatory iguana?

These are just a few of the exciting contenders in Videomatica's Alternative Oscars Contest. They've picked the nominees and now you can pick the winners!

There are more than 20 entertainment prizes to be won, including gift subscriptions to Videomatica.ca Blu-ray and DVD Rentals by Mail, and tickets to Refuge of Lies from Pacific Theatre!

Enter by March 7th at www.videomatica.ca/alternativeoscars for your chance to win!