jul 27 28 + aug 4 | merry wives | shadows + dreams

This one almost snuck by!  Every summer I look forward to Shakespeare at it's most casual - energetic - fun - accessible - among the massive fir trees of New Westminster's Queen's Park.  Shadows and Dreams regulars include PT pals Kerri Norris and Frank Nickel are always in the thick of things, and I'm pretty sure I haven't missed one yet. Only three performances left of their MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR...

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

Sir John Falstaff arrives in town with empty pockets and mischief in his heart. He sends identical love letters to Mistress Page and Mistress Ford. The ladies discover his scheming and turn Falstaff’s plot around and teach him a lesson. Meanwhile Anne Page is surrounded by suitors but her heart only belongs to one man. Now she just has to figure out a way to convince her parents that he’s the one. A romping farce full of mayhem and fun.

Performances are at 2pm on July 20, 21, 27, 28 and Aug 4, 2013.
**There will be no show on Saturday, August 3rd.

Free! Free! Free! – No tickets required
Queen’s Park Bandshell, New Westminster
Seating is first come first served. There are benches or you can bring your own chair or picnic blanket and sit closer to the stage.
The closer you sit, the better you’ll hear!

july 19-27 | connected: the musical | alison chisholm

Our Operations Manager, Alison Chisholm, wrote a musical!

LOCALLY WRITTEN CONNECTED: THE MUSICAL HITS PACIFIC THEATRE

Three local performers and musical improvisers have successfully written their first musical that is set to run at Pacific Theatre this July 19th-27th. Inspired by news reports about Vancouver being a lonely city, Connected: The Musical is a story about an online dating firm and four characters that struggle to find love, connection and ultimately themselves in a fast-paced, internet-obsessed world.

“Connected is a very real story about love and connection in 2013,” says writer Alison Chisholm. “With Vancouver getting flack for being an unwelcome city and with online dating on the rise - we knew we had a great story to write.”

“And what better way than to make it a musical?” laughs Peter Abando, composer of Connected.

“It’s thrilling and terrifying to see our work come alive,” says writer Jennifer Pielak. “We are performing in it too and are excited to have such an amazing team of local talent to work with.”

Created by Peter Abando, Alison Chisholm, and Jennifer Pielak, Connected: The Musical features these three performers along with local talent including Richard Meen, Brad Rossington, Evan Thompson, John Voth and Jeremy van Dyck. The show is directed by Jessie Award Nominee Chris Lam with set design by fellow nominee Lauchlin Johnston, lighting design by Jonathan Kim, choreography by Andrea Loewen, and stage management by Christie Maxson.

July 19th-27th at Pacific Theatre
Pay-What-You-Can Preview on July 18th.
Tickets are $15 at the door or can be purchased online at www.whirlwindtheatre.com.

throwback thursdays | master harold and the boys

Another Throwback Thursday for you as we keep journeying through the history that brought us to our 30th anniversary season.  This time we've got MASTER HAROLD... AND THE BOYS, the play that was our first Outstanding Production nomination at the Jessie Awards!

MASTER HAROLD... AND THE BOYS featured Tom Pickett, Denis Simpson, and Jeremy Tow and was directed by Morris Ertman in 2000.  It tells the story of Hallie, a white South African student whose friendship with the two black men who work in his father's tea room is challenged as he begins to choose what kind of adult he wants to be.  The production received Jessie nominations for Outstanding Production, Direction, and the performances of Jeremy Tow and Tom Pickett.

jul 8 - aug 10 | ensemble theatre | with stephanie elgersma

Tariq Leslie was in a memorable production of PRIVATE EYES on the PT stage (with Anthony Ingram, Dirk Van Stralen, Julia Mackey, Miriam Brown) a bunch of years ago, and his Ensemble Theatre Company did some shows on our stage a couple of summers. After a few quiet years, they're back in the game, in summer residence at the Jericho Arts Centre, and PT friend Steph Elgersma (THE GREAT DIVORCE) is a company member. Here are a couple shows that might have particular interest for Pacific Theatre fans.

Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam and Eve
Directed by C.W. Marshall. Starring Alicia Novak and Tariq Leslie.
Twain’s crackling wit gives insight into the complex relationships between human beings, and the impulses that both repel and draw them together. A hilarious and deeply moving comedy. Twain is the only author to appear on best seller lists in three centuries and this piece makes it easy to see why.

Women Beware Women by Thomas Middleton
Directed by Tariq Leslie. Starring Graham Bullen, Stephanie Elgersma, Michelle Ferguson, Joel Garner, James Gill, Daryl Hutchings, Jordan Kerbs, Kazz Leskard, Mark Manning, Simon Mizera, Alison Raine, Michael Smith and Rebecca Walters A beautiful young newlywed arrives in Florence and is caught in a web of deception, corruption and lust. A captivating widow uses her cunning and her charms to rule the game, but will her own heart be her downfall? This dark, funny and ferocious tragedy by Thomas Middleton, “The Tudor Tarantino”, is still scathingly relevant today.


Their summer season runs July 8 to August 10. Here's a calendar.

to aug 1 | stefan brunhoff | nature never spent

I met Stefan backstage when Pacific Theatre performed "First Christmas: An Entertainment" in a music theatre on the UBC campus late in 1984. If I remember right, Stefan was new to the faith, and being an artist, he was really drawn to the artistry of that first PT production. I've stayed in one of the cottages he designed on Galiano Island. Gorgeous. I think he should have a show consisting of his buildings. Though it would take a rather large gallery, and would entail other logistical challenges.

NATURE NEVER SPENT by Stefan Brunhoff
closes 5pm, August 1
Lookout Gallery, Regent College

FROM THE ARTIST'S STATEMENT
"The mystery of what God places before us in the world is infinite in its impenetrability and is ultimately uncontainable. One seeks to see, touch, and elicit the profundity, the beauty, and the strangeness of what is before one's eyes and to distill and amplify this into the painting to some measure. One never really succeeds, but rarely is failure so rewarding and the search to continue the attempt so compelling."

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Stefan Brunhoff is an architect and watercolour painter who draws inspiration from the unique qualities of the British Columbia landscape, as well as the particular characteristics of his media; both buildings and paint.

God's Grandeur

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?
Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;
And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;
And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil
Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.
And for all this, nature is never spent;
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;
And though the last lights off the black West went
Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs—
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent   World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

throwback thursdays | holy mo

Our next Throwback Thursday is Lucia Frangione's HOLY MO - here's a look at the poster images for the 1999 and 2009 productions - I'm sure you can tell which is which.

HOLY MO played at Pacific Theatre in 1996, 1999, and 2009 and is the stories of Holy Mo (Moses) and Spew Boy (David) as told by Follie, Buffoona, and Guff, three travelling clowns looking for a place to rest and a bite to eat (maybe a Kit Kat bar?) in return for their performance.  The 2009 production was the first time the production was done without Frangione in the lead role, taken with gusto by Katharine Venour.

kids camp week 1

Week 1 of kids camp was a huge success!  The kids had a great time, learned a lot, and created a play based on the book WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE.  Here are some shots from their final day, including the final showcase.

jul 18/19 | a pervasive sense of well-being | julie barrios

In late June I met Julie Barros, a visual artist who is also a spiritual director. Based in California, she's been up on the Sunshine Coast lately, working on her latest show, A Pervasive Sense Of Well-Being, which opens in a week at The Visual Space gallery in Vancouver. Note the Guided Meditative Experience she's offering on the afternoon of Friday July 19.

throwback thursdays | bright particular star

We're launching a new series (new to us, anyways, "Throwback Thursdays" are already a thing on the internet to a lot of you) as part of celebrating the years that built to our 30th anniversary season!  The first instalment: BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR by Ron Reed.

A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR played on the PT stage May 4-June 3, 2006. Written and directed by Ron Reed, featuring many PT favourites: Rebecca deBoer, Kyle Jespersen, Dan Amos, Jacqui Hoke, Ryan Hoke, Lori Kokotailo, Candice Lindsay, Kathleen Parsons, and Stephen Waldschmidt. It told the story of Lilia MacDonald, a young Victorian woman with a passion to act, held back by social preceptions of actresses as little better than prostitutes.  The story is based on author George MacDonald's family, and was written after six years of research.

pt kids camp | our week so far

We can hardly believe the first week of our PT Summer Theatre School is already half over! We have been having a fantastic time making new friends, working on our play, as well as building our set and costumes. Today we even had funny man John Voth teach us improv. It's been a packed week and we've been loving every minute! Enjoy these photos of what we've been up to so far...

Signing our names on the first day! 

getting our parts and the first read through of our play!

a shot from rehearsal 

improv class with John Voth! 

mask making

working on our set pieces

Week one is almost done, but there is still one spot left for PT Teens Camp which starts next week! If you'd like to register your teen, email Kaitlin at kaitlin@pacifictheatre.org today. Registration will close on Friday at 3:00pm.

PT TEENS SUMMER THEATRE SCHOOL:

Who:	Teens aged 13-15 years
When:	July 15-19, 2013 – 10am-3pm
Where:	Pacific Theatre 1440 W 12th Ave
How Much:	$200.00 (including tax) $150.00 (for each additional child from the same family)

pt teens | introducing camp assistant karyn

We are only days away from the start of our first summer camp of 2013. There are still a few spaces left for PT Teens Summer Theatre School July 15-19th. If you're still thinking of signing up your teen, read on to learn about our great teens camp assistant - Karyn Guenther:

Karyn Guenther is an actor in Vancouver and has just finished her acting apprenticeship this past year at Pacific Theatre.  You may have seen her onstage as Blake in Leave of Absence or hamming it up in the apprentice led Funny Stuff comedy show.  She has previously nurtured her love for kids by working for five summers as a camp counselor at Stillwood camp.  Karyn is honored to be able to work with the teens this year as she is passionate about fostering a love for arts at a young age.  She is pleased to be able to be a part of the PT Kids Camp team before she relocates to Toronto this September.               

Registration for KiDS camp ends this Friday July 5th and Teens camp registration will close Friday July 12th. Call the office (604-731-5483) to register your child or teen today.

PT KiDS SUMMER THEATRE SCHOOL:

Who:	Kids aged 9-12 years
When:	July 8-12, 2013 – 10am-3pm
Where:	Pacific Theatre 1440 W 12th Ave
How Much:	$200.00 (including tax) $150.00 (for each additional child from the same family)

PT TEENS SUMMER THEATRE SCHOOL:

Who:	Teens aged 13-15 years
When:	July 15-19, 2013 – 10am-3pm
Where:	Pacific Theatre 1440 W 12th Ave
How Much:	$200.00 (including tax) $150.00 (for each additional child from the same family)

beach day | thanks!

This past weekend summer hit the lower mainland and Pacific Theatre. Thanks to everyone who joined  us at the beach on Saturday to celebrate the end of our 29th season and the beginning of summer. We hope to make this event an annual one!

A big thank you to Sheree Plett for serenading us in the sunshine, as well as to PT board member Jonathan Chan for helping organize the day. Happy summer everyone!