Rudi Krause, Thoughts on THIS WONDERFUL LIFE

To Dan:

Just home from watching "This Wonderful Life". In watching you, Dan, I could always see two faces, hear two voices: the character you were portraying at the time, and your own. Sometimes the former was stronger, clearer; sometimes the latter. I know you could have made the characters (pre)dominate. But the interplay between the characters in the story and the story-teller himself was fascinating to watch; it drew me in and engaged me so that I was able to see my own face as well. I was able to identify with George more and better than when watching the movie. A fabulous, riveting, endearing, moving performance; it added depth and substance to a story which is pretty darn great in itself. Well done.

Further reflections:

The movie ends and so does the play; but not George Bailey's wonderful life. The money in the basket is used up. Another baby is born (a colicky one at that). Mr. Potter doesn't die for some time. The kids grow up and get into trouble of one kind or another. Mary gets sick, seriously ill. Does that mean that George's life was only wonderful on that one memorable Christmas?

No, as Dan reminds us in the play: it's not about Christmas; it's about all the other days. And all those other days (past and future) make up George's wonderful life. Of course, he doesn't it think it's wonderful all the time. He may have learned an important lesson under Clarence's lovely tutelage. But there will be days when that lesson will have faded, will be forgotten.

Our lives are wonderful not when and because we think they are wonderful. They are wonderful. Period. And it's not because we are stupid or fallen that we don't usually acknowledge that fundamental, mysterious truth. It's simply because we are human and limited. The weather changes; the sun doesn't always shine; time cycles through the seasons. To everything there is a season - including the recognition and the celebration that life is wonderful and beautiful.


Rudi Krause is a Pacific Theatre subscriber and a poet. I've read a couple of his pieces at Christmas Presence, unforeseen and one way

Dec 19: Sutherland Christmas Presence credits

ACT ONE

Nelson Boschman Trio – O Tannenbaum

Ron Reed - Robert Farrar Capon: Advent
Michael Hart - All Hail And Welcome

Ron Reed – Dina Donohue: No Room At The Inn

Garth Bowen - Go Tell It on The Mountain

Ron Reed - Garrison Keillor: The Seven Principles of a Successful Christmas

Garth Bowen - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

Ron Reed – Frederic Buechner: The Face In The Sky
sheree plett & eisenhauer – what child is this

Michael Hart - Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Ron Reed - Sufjan Stevens: Christmas Tube Socks
Nelson Boschman - Star Of Wonder (Sufjan Stevens)
Ron Reed – Tom Carson: Snow Angel
sheree plett & eisenhauer – time of year

ACT TWO

Nelson Boschman Trio – Joy To The World

Ron Reed – Luci Shaw: Presents

Ben Goheen - Ave Maria

Garth Bowen - White Christmas
Ron Reed - David Sedaris: Santa's Little Helper

Michael Hart - Light Of The Stable

sheree plett & eisenhauer – oh emmanuel

Ron Reed – Ron Reed: It's A Wonderful Life
Nelson Boschman - O Come O Come Emmanuel
Ron Reed - Frederic Buechner: excerpt from Emmanuel

sheree plett & Eisenhauer - Silent Night


Some of these readings and several others are posted at Oblations

Dec 15: Valley Christmas Presence credits

ACT ONE

Nelson Boschman Trio – I Saw Three Ships
Ron Reed - Robert Farrar Capon: Advent
Michael Hart - Si Nous Marchons

Ron Reed / band – Blue Xmas / Blue Train
Ron Reed – Luci Shaw: Presents

Carolyn Arends - Christmas Must Be Tonight

Ron Reed – Frederic Buechner: The Face In The Sky
sheree plett & eisenhauer – what child is this

Carolyn Arends - It Was A Holy Night

Arnica Skulstad-Brown - Mike Mason: Christmas In July

Nelson Boschman - Star Of Wonder (Sufjan Stevens)
Ron Reed – Tom Carson: Snow Angel
sheree plett & eisenhauer – time of year

ACT TWO

Michael Hart - O Holy Night

Ron Reed - Lawrence Ferlinghetti: Christ Climbed Down

sheree plett & eisenhauer - I Will Not Let Go

Arnica Skulstad-Brown - Annie Dillard: God In The Doorway

Carolyn Arends -

sheree plett & eisenhauer – oh emmanuel

Ron Reed – Ron Reed: It's A Wonderful Life
Nelson Boschman - O Come O Come Emmanuel
Ron Reed - Frederic Buechner: excerpt from Emmanuel

Carolyn Arends - Is Bethlehem Too Far Away?
Michael Hart - O Come All Ye Faithful

*

Some of these Christmas readings and others can be found at Oblations

Dec 11: Christmas Presence at Holy Trinity credits

Featuring The Gallery Singers, Sara Ciantar (organ), Trish Pattenden and Ron Reed

ACT ONE
Ron & Trish - Charles Dickens: Scrooge & His Nephew
Gallery Singers- Es nacido
Trish - Scripture: The Annunciation
ALL - Joy To The World
Ron - Scripture: The Birth
Gallery Singers - O Magnum / Nino Dios
Trish - Hans Christian Andersen: The Little Match Girl
ALL - The First Noel
Ron - Scripture: The Magi
ALL - O Come All Ye Faithful
Gallery Singers - Convidando esta la noche

ACT TWO
Gallery Singers - I Saw Three Ships
Trish - Scripture: The Shepherds
ALL - Away In A Manger
Ron - Charles Dickens: Seven Poor Travelers
Gallery Singers - Guastavino / Medina / Pereira
Ron - David Kossoff: Seth
ALL: Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Trish - Robert Louis Stevenson: Christmas Prayer
Gallery Singers - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
Ron - Dylan Thomas: A Child's Christmas In Wales
ALL: Silent Night

Dec 10: Christmas Presence credits

ACT ONE

Nelson Boschman Trio – I Saw Three Ships
Verve Collective – Rudolph / Frosty Medley

Ron Reed / band – Blue Xmas / Blue Train
Ron Reed – Luci Shaw: Presents
Verve Collective – The Christmas Song

Ron Reed – Frederic Buechner: The Face In The Sky
sheree plett & eisenhauer – what child is this
Ron Reed - Wayne Harrel: The Camels Of Ancient Yore

Nelson Boschman Trio – Angels We Have Heard On High

Becky Branscom – Annie Dillard: God In The Doorway

Verve Collective – Let It Snow!
Ron Reed – Tom Carson: Snow Angel
sheree plett & eisenhauer – time of year

ACT TWO

Verve Collective – Angels We Have Heard on High
Ron Reed – Dina Donohue: No Room At The Inn

Tom Pickett: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Richard Osler & Holly Burke – poetry

Verve Collective – Carol of the Bells
Nelson Boschman - Star Of Wonder (Sufjan Stevens)

sheree plett & eisenhauer – oh emmanuel

Ron Reed – Ron Reed: It's A Wonderful Life
Nelson Boschman - O Come O Come Emmanuel
Ron Reed - Frederic Buechner: excerpt from Emmanuel

Verve Collective – Silent Night
Ron Reed - Robert Louis Stevenson: Christmas Prayer

*

THE PLAYERS

Bit of a jazz flavour tonight, especially with Verve Collective as our featured performers. Some PT fans will know this swinging a capella squadron from our 2007 Valentines Gala at the Vancouver Art Gallery. They came our way through friend-of-Pacific-Theatre and Collective member Jennifer Nagel, but alas we won't be hearing from Jennifer tonight: in the spirit of the Nativity season, she's taking time off to raise her new little baby!

Like the fabled MacNamara, jazz pianist Nelson Boschman is the leader of our Christmas Presence house band: his Mennonite Jazz Committee (love that moniker) just released a brand new Christmas CD, "Dawn Of Grace," and The Nelson Boschman Trio put out "Keeping Time: Volume 02" this fall – like Volume 01 (which includes my great favourites "Song For Ordinary Time" and "Jerusalem Hymn") the recordings are structured around the liturgical calendar, and the new one features quite a few Advent / Christmas / Epiphany numbers. You can order either of the Keeping Time cds or buy downloads of specific songs at the CSCSS website. I'm not sure where you can buy the MJC recordings (apart from the PT lobby at Christmas Presence), but if I find out from NeBo, I'll be sure to let you know. Also in the band we had Brett Ziegler on keyboards, Kenton Wiens and Rick Colhoun on drums and percussion, and Becca Robertson on bass.

sheree plett and Eisenhauer (that's her husband Jeremy) have just put out a brand new Christmas cd called "Lights Used To Shine" – and hey, there's even a dedication "to everyone at christmas presence – without them this album would probably not exist." My. That feels good. sher and jer (along with the band) are pretty much our "artists in residence" this Christmas: they'll be playing with us again Dec 10 at PT, Dec 15 in the valley and Dec 19 on the North Shore.

Musically, we'll also be joined by Pacific Theatre regular Tom Pickett, who you've seen onstage in memorable shows like DRIVING MISS DAISY, TENT MEETING, MASTER HAROLD & THE BOYS and plenty of others.

And Richard Osler is back with us again following his Christmas Presence debut last year, and this time he's joined by musician Holy Burke. We love to feature poets on our stage – doing what we can to preserve endangered species – and if you haven't read it, and have a heart for Africa, you may want to check out his book "Again, No More: Poems Of Africa." Carolyn Arends has posted several of Richard's Africa poems and stories in her online journal. For copies of his book (which includes a cd of the poet reading his own work), contact Richard directly at osler@shaw.ca


For other Christmas readings, check out Oblations

Dec 9: Christmas Presence credits

ACT ONE
Nelson Boschman & the band - I Saw Three Ships
Garth Bowen – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Ron Reed – William Nicholson: Christmas Drinks Party
Sara Ciantar – How Long
Ron Reed – Charles Dickens: Seven Poor Travellers
sheree plett & eisenhauer – lights used to shine
Luci Shaw – The Overshadow, Virgin, Madonna and Child with Saints
Karly Warkentin – a new song for Christmas Presence
Ron Reed – Frederic Buechner: The Face In The Sky
sheree plett & eisenhauer – what child is this
Ron Reed - Wayne Harrel: The Camels Of Ancient Yore (as told by a forgetful Grandmother, c1600)
Garth Bowen – Go Tell It On The Mountain

ACT TWO
Nelson Boschman & the band – Christmas Time Is Here
sheree plett & eisenhauer – cloak room
Luci Shaw - Madeleine L'Engle: The Tree
Luci Shaw – Mary's Song
Garth Bowen – White Christmas
Ron Reed – David Sedaris: Santa's Little Helper
sheree plett & eisenhauer – oh emmanuel
Ron Reed – Ron Reed: It's A Wonderful Life
James Lamb – O Come O Come Emmanuel
Ron Reed - Frederic Buechner: excerpt from Emmanuel
Garth Bowen – Alleluia
Ron Reed - David Kossoff: excerpt from Seth

*

THE PLAYERS

Luci Shaw was our special guest last night, driving in all the way from that o so little town of Bellingham just to read us her poems, and one by her dear friend Madeleine L'Engle. Her brand new collection of Christmas and other incarnational poems, Accompanied by Angels, is available at the Regent Bookstore, as is her classic anthology of Christmas pieces by various poets A Widening Light, which includes the L'Engle poem Luci read for us.

Like the fabled MacNamara, jazz pianist Nelson Boschman is the leader of our Christmas Presence house band: his Mennonite Jazz Committee (love that moniker) just released a brand new Christmas CD, "Dawn Of Grace," and The Nelson Boschman Trio put out "Keeping Time: Volume 02" this fall – like Volume 01 (which includes my great favourites "Song For Ordinary Time" and "Jerusalem Hymn") the recordings are structured around the liturgical calendar, and the new one features quite a few Advent / Christmas / Epiphany numbers. You can order either of the Keeping Time cds or buy downloads of specific songs at the CSCSS website. I'm not sure where you can buy the MJC recordings (apart from the PT lobby at Christmas Presence), but if I find out from NeBo, I'll be sure to let you know. Also in the band we had Brett Ziegler on keyboards, Kenton Wiens and Rick Colhoun on drums and percussion, and Becca Robertson on bass.

sheree plett and Eisenhauer (that's her husband Jeremy) have just put out a brand new Christmas cd called "Lights Used To Shine" – and hey, there's even a dedication "to everyone at christmas presence – without them this album would probably not exist." My. That feels good. sher and jer (along with the band) are pretty much our "artists in residence" this Christmas: they'll be playing with us again Dec 10 at PT, Dec 15 in the valley and Dec 19 on the North Shore.

New to the line-up were three members of baroque folk ensemble Wicker Robot; Karly Warkentin, Sara Ciantar and James Lamb. Karly even wrote a new song for (and sort of about) Christmas Presence. Wow. Wish we'd been recording! The amazing Sara Ciantar not only has a cd ("How Long") produced by one of our two little drummer boys, Rick Colhoun, but she'll be playing the pipe organ at our Traditional Christmas Presence in the Holy Trinity sanctuary Tuesday December 11. Crazy talented.

Garth Bowen is a seasoned Christmas Presence veteran, and goes back even further, to a time before there even was a Christmas Presence – Garth and I were both in the cast of PT's very first production of COTTON PATCH GOSPEL at the Richmond Gateway. He's currently working on a Christmas cd, but in the meantime you can hear his marvelous "Alleluia" on the Pacific Theatre "Christmas Presence" cd.

For other Christmas readings, check out Oblations

Dec 8 closing: THE ECSTASY OF RITA JOE

With Lisa Ravensbergen as Rita Joe...

Dec 4: Stage & Screen, THIS WONDERFUL LIFE!

DON'T MISS THE 2nd STAGE & SCREEN SERIES DECEMBER 4, 8pm!

PAY WHAT YOU CAN** and FREE to subscribers
TICKETS: 604.731.5518
pacifictheatre.org

Don't miss the second of our Stage & Screen Series at Pacific Theatre on Dec. 4 at 8pm, an exciting and interactive evening about THIS WONDERFUL LIFE!

The second evening of this series features Artistic Director Ron Reed, and Dan Amos, the star of THIS WONDERFUL LIFE, discussing the relationship between the unique story-telling mediums of stage and screen.

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO JOIN IN THEIR DISCUSSION!

*Subscribers - if you are not going to use your tickets, please inform the Box Office so we can release them for others to use! Thank you for your consideration.
** Pay-what-you-can on Dec. 4 in person at the box office, or $10 in advance.

Dec 19 - Jan 6: Betty Spackman, Fort Gallery

Notes from the artist

“...The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost

I have decided not to title this exhibition, although if I did it would be called something like, “’Oh Christmas Tree’: A Seasonal Lament”, or “Whose woods these are”, after Robert Frost’s well know poem, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening….as the work is somehow about trees. But it is really more about stopping long enough to see and to ‘hear’ - the trees and everything else around me.

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”

I think that popular philosophical question should perhaps be, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, where is everyone !?” I don’t want to ignore ‘the fallen’ anymore. I want to be present and listening and I want to understand how I am implicated in the fall. I want to have ears to hear and allow myself to be wounded with the wounds of the world around me.

At many levels I am greedy, careless and apathetic. It comes with being human, a self-centered North American human, preoccupied with survival and gratification. But in determining to stop, look and listen a little more closely to the world on the other side of my skin, I have learned my skin does not separate me from anything. Instead, I am implicated, ‘folded in’, ‘entangled’ as the Latin root of implicated suggests. Nature is not outside me; I am inside it. When I move I can push the air enough to jostle a leaf on the tree I pass by. When the leaf falls, when the tree falls I should also be jostled, I should feel the earth shake, feel my body shake…but I seldom do. I am fat and dull of hearing. I have too many “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”

In this show and a new installation work I am producing simultaneously, I attempt to understand my relationship and responsibility for the broken, fragile planet. I do this in the only way I am currently able to do. I celebrate life and lament its loss - through images and objects. If I could sing this would be a Christmas carol sung by a donkey. It would be a sad song about too many pine beetles and too few bees in the forest. It would be about human babies born without shelter and animals without their natural habitat. It would be about open wounds and about the promise of restoration. And it would be about trees.

Nov 25: Mennonite Jazz Committee, House of James

Friends & Family,

This sunday night, November 25th (7:00-9:30pm) we'd love to see you at House of James where the Mennonite Jazz Committee will be playing Christmas jazz ($7 at the door). DAWN OF GRACE is our brand new Christmas CD, hot off the press this week.

DAWN OF GRACE will be on sale that night for only $11.00 – so for $18.00 plus tax you get a concert and a CD!

Hope to see you there!

Nelson Boschman

Nov 29 - Dec 29: THIS WONDERFUL LIFE

THIS WONDERFUL LIFE
an exhilarating one-man version of the beloved Christmas Classic
November 29 - December 29

It is Christmas Eve in a wartime New England town. Despairing over a life of dreams deferred, George Bailey sets out to throw himself from a bridge – until a dotty angel-in-waiting shows him what might have been had he never lived at all. A single actor stunningly recreates over two dozen memorable characters in this imaginative tour-de-force.

Pacific Theatre is delighted to join you in your Christmas festivities with this quintessential holiday show. The heartwarming drama was first brought to the silver screen in 1946, and has seen multiple incarnations in its 61 years. The Canadian premiere of this one-man revivification stars Dan Amos (The Quarrel, A Bright Particular Star) as the entire cast of over two dozen unforgettable characters.

Ever-faithful to the script, playwright Steve Murray brings us all the show’s beloved or unforgettable characters, including George Bailey, Mister Potter, Clarence, and little Zuzu, who reminds us all that every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.

Directed by Morris Ertman, with scenery and lighting design by Kevin McAllister, and sound design by Paul Moniz de Sá. At turns hilarious, touching, and even dark, This Wonderful Life is a holiday show not to be missed!

8pm Wednesdays to Saturdays, with 2pm matinees on Saturdays
November 29 is a PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN preview -
show up on the day of at the box office to pay what you can,
or book in advance for only $10
December 7 - talk-back night
December 26 - special Christmas matinee, 2pm

Book your tickets with our Box Office at 604.731.5518 or buy tickets online!

MAKE A NIGHT OUT OF IT!

Book your stay at the "Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel" in the heart of Vancouver. Ask for your "Friends of Pacific Theatre" rate and receive an incredible discount!

Call our Box Office for details, or book your stay with Rosedale - their reservation team are standing by to serve you! Call 604.689.8033 or 1.800.661.8870 and ask for your "Friends of Pacific Theatre Rate" today!

Friends of Pacific Theatre Rate | Regular Rate
Standard 1 Bedroom $109 | $127
Deluxe 1 Bedroom $119 | $137
2 Bedroom $159 | $177

All rates are based on single or double occupancy, additional adults are $20 each, and parking is extra (currently $10, going up to $11 in January).

Nov 28 - Dec 1: HOLY MO at TWU

THEATRE AT TWU PRESENTS
Holy Mo & Spew Boy by Lucia Frangione

Using wacky humour, wonderful music and a wagon full of props, three comic fools tell their unexpected version of the stories of Moses and David. This "post-modern old testament comedy" has delighted audiences in productions at Pacific Theatre and Rosebud and will surely charm us all once again. An interesting twist in the TWU production is that the three clowns have been double cast, with one cast playing Holy Mo and one Spew Boy. And you thought it was crazy enough!

November 28 - December 1 at 8 p.m.
Matinees Friday November 30 at 4
Saturday December 1 at 2

Tickets and info at TWU Theatre website

Nov 20: TWU, "Music, Creativity & Spirituality"

Geneva Lecture Series presents
Dr. David Squires, Associate Professor of Music and Dean of the Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts, TWU
“Music, Creativity, and Spirituality: Contexts and Meanings”
Tue Nov 20, 7:30

It’s clear that music is expressive, but what and how does it express? Where is meaning located? Touching on some of the most significant responses to these and other related questions, the lecture will then examine musical creativity as an inherently spiritual activity, with examples from composers within and beyond the Western classical tradition.

All lectures are sponsored by the Geneva Society, and are held in the North West Auditorium on the Trinity Western Campus, Langley

Nov 22: Ron Reed in Langley, "Soapbox Or Sandbox"

Soapbox Or Sandbox?
Nov 22, 7 pm
Fraser River Presentation Centre
Township of Langley Municipal Building
20338 - 65th Avenue, Langley

"Art is the community's medicine for the worst disease of the mind"
R.G. Collingwood

There are artists who view themselves as prophets, the enlightened ones who confront their audiences with Great Truths dispensed from the mountaintops of creative insight like stone tablets: "Take that. It'll do you good." But while art - particularly the narrative arts, like theatre - does have meaning, and imparts meaning, it is rare that good art is intended to convey "a message". So what, exactly, does art do in us? And how does it do it? And who is it done for, and why? Reflections of an actor, playwright, artistic director and movie critic on art-making and community-building, and how the compulsions of the artist might feed the soul of the community.

*

Ron Reed is the artistic director of Pacific Theatre, which he founded in Vancouver in 1984. Some of the company's acclaimed recent productions include Grace, Cariboo Magi, Prodigal Son, Espresso, The Farndale Christmas Carol and Shadowlands. Recently nominated for Canada's prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, Ron is an actor, playwright, director and teacher whose work has been received Jessie Richardson, Dora Mavor Moore and Sterling Award nominations: he won the Chalmers Canadian Play award for Book Of The Dragon. Current productions of his plays include Tent Meeting (Rosebud, Alberta), Remnant (St Louis, Missouri) and A Bright Particular Star (Lookout Mountain, Georgia): Refuge Of Lies will open Off-Broadway in August 2008. Ron will play Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons at Pacific Theatre in February, and will direct a company of emerging artists in You Can't Take It With You to close the Pacific Theatre season in May. Ron is currently Artist In Residence at Trinity Western University, where he has taught acting for almost 20 years. He is working on a series of books about film entitled "Soul Food Movies: A Guide to films with a spiritual flavour." He lives in Richmond with his wife Carole and two daughters, Katie and Thea.

To Nov 17: ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, Gallery 7

Gallery 7 Theatre & Performing Arts Society proudly presents…

L.M. Montgomery’s Classic story
Anne (of Green Gables)
Adapted for the stage by Paul Ledoux

November 2 & 3, 8 – 10, 15 – 17, 2007 @ 7:30 PM
Discount Matinees: Nov 3 & 10 @ 2:00 PM

The Town of Avonlea will never be the same. When Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert request a young boy from the orphanage to assist around the farm, they are bemused when they find the energetic and ever-so-dramatic Anne Shirley at their doorstep instead. Experience L.M. Montgomery's beloved tale of hope, idealism and family in this special Canadian stage adaptation fit for the entire family.

MEI Secondary School Auditorium
4081 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford

It’s a hit! Audiences are coming out in droves. Make sure you don’t miss this great family event.

Get your tickets @ House of James…
604-852-3701
2743 Emerson Street, Abbotsford.

Nov 19/20, 26 / Dec 1 / Jan 12, 31: Leora Cashe

Check Leora's website for details on all of these...

Monday and Tuesday November 19 & 20th
World Kindness Concert, Unity Church, Vancouver

Monday November 26th
Yvon-Justin Cote Book Release 'LIAR"
Boneta Restaurant, Vancouver

Then...

Saturday December 1st
Another Side Now - The Songs of Joni Mitchell
CD Release Concert, Unitarian Church, Vancouver

You're invited to our CD Release concert featuring the music of my first vocal influence, singer/songwiter, Joni Mitchell. Ross Taggart inspired me with the idea of recording this tribute CD and we're really excited about the finished product. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Stephen Lewis Foundation in support of International World Aids Day. Purchase tickets on line at Tickets Tonight or by phone at 604-231-7535 or at Zulu Reords on 4th, 604-738-3232. Come and celebrate with me!

And then in the new year...
Saturday January 12
Evergreen Cultural Centre, Coquitlam

Thursday January 31st
Jazzilla, River Rock Theatre, Richmond

Nov 17, 23/24: Nelson Boschman jazz

LAST MINUTE UPDATE: CAPONE'S GIG CANCELLED. I THINK THE RESTAURANT OWNER WAS ARRESTED FOR TAX EVASION OR GUNNED DOWN IN A HAIL OF BULLETS OR SOMETHING...

Nelson Boschman is the pianist who's become the de facto leader of our de facto "house band" for Christmas Presence and all the other gigs like that around Pacific Theatre: Confessions, Passion, Testimony, all that. His late-summer CD release concert was a huge treat, and it looks like we'll have more chances to see him around Vancouver in the next while!


Hello all,

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve got a few restaurant/club gigs coming up in Vancouver. Here are the details…

Saturday Nov 17, 8pm
Bogart’s Chophouse & Bar
1619 W. Broadway (between Burrard & Fir)
I’ll be playing with the Kristian Braathen Trio
Kristian Braathen drums
Derek Defillipio bass
Nelson Boschman piano

Friday Nov 23 and Saturday Nov 24, 7:30pm
Capone’s Restaurant & Live Jazz Club
1141 Hamilton (in Yaletown)
Debbie Low vocals
Nelson Boschman piano
Jen Hodge bass
Kristian Braathen drums



So, if you’re craving a fun night out with some great food & music, come on out! It would be great to see you there…

Nelson
myspace

Nov 24: Michael Hart Africa concert

This just in from Brett Ziegler, our Christmas Presence keyboard man - telling about an upcoming concert with Michael Hart (backed by Spencer Capier), more Christmas Presence regulars. I'll post more about unfolding Christmas Presence plans before too long, but for now I can tell you that we'll be doing the show Dec 9 and 10 at Pacific Theatre, and Dec 15 in Abbotsford (where we'll be joined by Carolyn Arends and Brian Doerksen!). And a different sort of Christmas Presence on Dec 11, a benefit for Holy Trinity church featuring the Gallery Singers: not only will they sing from their glorious Christmas repertoire, but we'll all join with them to sing beloved Christmas carols, along with Holy Trinity's gorgeous pipe organ! But back to the topic at hand: here's Brett to tell us about Michael's upcoming gig...)


Hi Ron!

I'm wondering if you can "Soul Food" this upcoming event for me. It's a Michael Hart concert at my church, supporting AIDS programs and short term missions work in Uganda and Burkina Faso.

I've got Michael and Spence playing together, and Christine Magee opening. Michael produced Christine's CD, and she just won a Covenant award for best jazz/blues song of the year. I'd really appreciate it if you could help me get the word out.

Thanks lots!
brett.

Nov 12: BOYS NEXT DOOR auditions, Gallery 7

OPEN AUDITIONS:
The Boys Next Door

Monday, November 12, 2007 @ 6:30 PM*

MEI Secondary School Auditorium
4081 Clearbrook Road, Abbotsford

Call 604-504-5940 to register.

*Please note that this date is different than the one originally published.


THE STORY:

Take a peek into the home of four mentally-handicapped men as they live out their existence in a communal residence under the supervision of a caring, yet burned out, social worker. One fights the temptation to eat the left-over pastries from the donut shop he works in and another takes great pride in the bundle of keys that hangs from his waist. Still another attempts to comprehend complex book despite his child-like mind and another masquerades as a professional golf instructor. Though confined by their physical reality, they reach out in spirit and find laughter, love and a sense of meaningful purpose for their lives. This is a charming and thought-provoking play for more mature audiences.

PRODUCTION RUN:

January 18 & 19, 24 – 26, 31 – February 1, 2008 @ 7:30 PM
Discount Matinees: January 19 & 26 @ 2:00 PM

REHEARSALS

Monday, Wednesday & Thursday evenings, 7PM – 10:00 PM
There will be a one-week Christmas Vacation break between Christmas and New Years.

CAST REQUIREMENTS

ARNOLD WIGGINS – mid forties, very nervous man, always buys Wheaties
LUCIEN P. SMITH – about fifty, enjoys reading technical books
JACK PALMER – mid thirties, a burnt out social worker.
NORMAN BULANSKY – a large, sloppy man of about thirty, works in a donut shop, wears on overflowing key ring on his belt
BARRY KLEMPER – about twenty-eight, tries to make a living teaching golf lessons
SHEILA – an overweight girl in her late twenties or early thirties, speaks poorly.
MR. KLEMPER – Barry’s father, a course, middle-aged man. Has one arm.

An additional two performers, one male and one female, between the ages of twenty five and fifty five, are required to play multiple roles.

While the play is about those dealing with mentally handicaps, auditions are open to all male and female community performers.

Nov 9: HAUNTED BY GOD: THE LIFE OF DOROTHY DAY

HAUNTED BY GOD: THE LIFE OF DOROTHY DAY
A compelling one-woman show about the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement. After her death in 1980, the New York Times eulogized Dorothy as a “nonviolent social radical of luminous personality.” The production incorporates all the wit and prophetic grit of Dorothy’s own words about war, peace, American society, compassion, and protest in the Spirit of Jesus.

Sat Nov 9, 8pm
Grandview Calvary Baptist Church, 1803 East 1st Ave.
Tickets $10 at the door.
604 255-1411

Nov 3: Dave Olson CD release

Don't know if you remember Dave Olson. He played for CHRISTMAS PRESENCE a whole lot of times, and more recently played bass for the Good Noise gospel choir. I think he moved to Edmonton or something like that, but he's back in town at least for one night. Too late to meet the RSVP deadline on this one, but maybe you can sweet talk your way in?


Dave writes...

Hello all...it has been a long time coming. But, my CD “Be Still” is finally here. If you like funk, fusion, jazz or soul you will probably like this CD.

Be Still features some of the finest musicians Canada has to offer...and one from England :)

Please join me for some light appetizers and cocktails (6:30-7:30pm) and great music – it’ll be great to see you all!

Please RSVP by October 31, 2007.

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, Nov 3, 2007

Location: The 501 located at 501 Pacific Street. Corner or Richards and Pacific in downtown Vancouver.

Time: Doors open at 6:30pm...listening will begin at 7:30pm. (I have a great soundman lined up with an awesome sound system!)

Just in time for Christmas, the CD will be for sale at the listening party for the following prices...

Buy 1 @ $15.00 each
Buy 2 @ $12.50 each
Buy 3 or more @ $10.00 each

If you have any questions please contact me at 780-819-7638 or do@telus.net. You can also send a note to Rondalyn Fitz at 604-315-4054 or fitz_r@sd36.bc.ca

See you there!
Dave

780.819.7638
do@telus.net

Nov 17 - Dec 7: Lisa Ravensbergen plays RITA JOE

A few seasons back, Lisa Ravensbergen was Artist In Residence at Pacific Theatre. Since then she's been working all over Canada, and well before that she was in our Pacific Salt Company! But next up, she'll be playing the title role in this Canadian classic. Wow. Congrags, Lisa!

Firehall Arts Centre presents
THE ECSTASY OF RITA JOE
by George Ryga
November 17 - December 8, 2007

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the premiere production of this Canadian classic, the Firehall celebrates it's 25th Anniversary season ith the production of this tragic yet moving story featuring Lisa Ravensbergen as Rita Joe and directed by Donna Spencer. Readings from other Ryga works will be scheduled throughout the run of the play.

Performances nightly at 8:00 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 pm. Pay-What-You-Can performances on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm.

Firehall Arts Centre
280 East Cordova Street
Vancouver, BC
604 689.0926

PS Turns out Duncan Fraser's in it too. Remember the exterminator in GRACE?

Nov 25 closing: Craig Erickson in GLASS MENAGERIE

And guess who's playing The Gentleman Caller around the corner at the Stanley? Craig Erickson, who's been seen in such Pacific Theatre shows as GRACE, GOD'S MAN IN TEXAS, PRODIGAL SON, and even... THE FURNITURE OF HEAVEN.


THE GLASS MENAGERIE
A Portrait of a Family
by Tennessee Williams

October 25–November 25, 2007 | Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage

“Stay fresh and pretty! It’s almost time for our gentleman callers to start arriving.” Tennessee Williams’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece - The Glass Menagerie, is an astonishingly intimate and moving portrait of the Wingfield family. From a dingy St. Louis apartment, faded Southern belle Amanda yearns for her idealized youth, while her grown children, Tom and Laura, struggle to escape their overbearing mother. Just when happiness seems beyond the grasp of these fragile individuals, hope arrives in the form of a gentleman caller.

This theatrical classic complements the Arts Club production of His Greatness, by Daniel MacIvor, the season opener the Granville Island Stage.

“Tennessee Williams’s first masterpiece” —The New York Times

Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play

SOUL FOOD: Music At Pacific, DAISY, Kathleen Norris, more

Lots going on around Pacific Theatre in the next several days! Browse the PT blog for lots of news, including...

An invitation to the first of our Music At Pacific chamber concerts, a series of intimate theatre-themed concerts with cellist Brian Mix and the Pacific Rim Quartet – that's this Sunday, Nov 4, at 3pm!

Cool photos and all the details on DRIVING MISS DAISY, closing Nov 10

Background on the Nov 6 Stage & Screen evening I'll be hosting with cinematographer Jan Kiesser and stage director Sarah Rodgers

A lovely DAISY review from the Georgia Straight

And the ongoing adventures of such PT artists as Craig Erickson, Lisa Ravensbergen, Anthony Ingram, Todd Thomson, Kyle Rideout, Jason Goode, Lucia Frangione, Michael Kopsa, Julia Mackey, Seana Lee Wood and Yours Truly.

THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING closes this Saturday at TWU.

Nov 14 at the VAG, Kathleen Norris talks about Christmas and launches a Christmas book.

And Nov 20, I'll be joining other Vancouver artists Lucia Frangione, Barney Bentall, Bud Osborne, Karly Warkentin and many more for Kitchen Aid, a benefit to help Grandview Church help the Downtown East Side.

And when it comes to Soul Food Movies... LARS & THE REAL GIRL opens Friday: this years's LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE?... As does this year's Palme d'Or winner from Romania, the abortion-themed 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND TWO DAYS... And in continuing runs, INTO THE WILD has a surprisingly potent spiritual payoff, DAN IN REAL LIFE (by PIECES OF APRIL director/writer Peter Hedges) isn't nearly as slick as the trailer makes you think, MICHAEL CLAYTON is as smart a genre screenplay as you'll ever see, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD comes with huge critical cred, Wes Anderson Goes To India in THE DARJEELING LIMITED, and Julie Taymor's sentimental but splendiferous ACROSS THE UNIVERSE plays on like the long fade-out on "Hey Jude"....



splen·dif·er·ous
Pronunciation: \splen-ˈdi-f(ə-)rəs\
Function:adjective
Etymology: splendor + -i- + -ferous
Date: 1843
: extraordinarily or showily impressive
— splen·dif·er·ous·ly adverb
— splen·dif·er·ous·ness noun

Nov 14: Kathleen Norris at VAG

Remembering, Waiting and Hoping: The Countercultural Pursuits of Christmas
Kathleen Norris
Wed Nov 14, 7:15
Vancouver Art Gallery

On November 6, 13 and 14, Socrates in the City, Regent College, Imago, and Image Journal are hosting a thought-provoking talk in New York, Toronto and Vancouver. Bestselling author and award-winning poet Kathleen Norris will present the lecture entitled: “Remembering, Waiting and Hoping: The Countercultural Pursuits of Christmas.”

“Remembering, waiting, and hoping are essential practices for spiritual growth and for understanding Christmas,” says Kathleen, “yet they are increasingly difficult to practice in a culture dedicated to forgetting, hurrying, and being cynical. The Advent and Christmas seasons are meant to help us regain our balance.”

Kathleen Norris’ talk will employ etymology, poetry, and personal narrative to explore these three pursuits as a way to better appreciate both the Christmas season, and what it means to maintain a life of faith in today's troubled and violent world.

The event is also something of a book launch for God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas. Contributors to the book include Eugene Peterson, Richard John Neuhaus, Luci Shaw and Kathleen Norris.

I suspect this event could fill right up, so you may want to jump over to the rsvp section of the website and sign yourself up.

Closing Nov 10: Georgie Straight on DRIVING MISS DAISY

The show's been selling out, so with two weekends left...

Georgia Straight review by Kathleen Oliver
Publish Date: October 25, 2007

Driving Miss Daisy
By Alfred Uhry.
Directed by Sarah Rodgers. A Pacific Theatre production. At Pacific Theatre until November 10
731-5518 / www.pacifictheatre.org

Driving Miss Daisy is the perfect escape from our miserable weather: it's as warm and sweet as a ray of southern sunshine.

Sarah Rodgers has assembled a superb cast for Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize–winning play about an unlikely friendship that spans decades of dramatic social change in the American South. Erla Faye Forsyth gives a deliciously textured performance as the fiercely independent Miss Daisy, a southern Jewish widow whose hardscrabble upbringing keeps her in denial of her current affluence. At 72, she refuses to let her son, Boolie (played with a perfect mix of concern and exasperation by Paul Moniz de Sá), hire a chauffeur for her. He goes ahead and hires Hoke, a black man, but Daisy initially refuses to let Hoke drive her anywhere. When she finally relents, Hoke marvels, "Only took six days–same time it take the Lord to make the world."

Tom Pickett's Hoke is an endearing blend of pride, humility, sincerity, and mischief, and he and Forsyth play off each other beautifully in Rodgers's crisply paced production. Kevin McAllister meets the challenge of staging so many driving scenes with an elegantly minimalist set; for example, a chair and a low bench become the car. Sound designer Steven Bulat provides naturalistic effects for the doors, engine, and trunk.

The script touches–gently–on some milestones of the civil-rights movement, but the play is primarily about an abiding relationship. This intimate production finds its warm, beating heart.

Nov 20: Kitchen Aid

Kitchen Aid
November 20th, Reception at 6:30. Performance 7:30

Kitchen Aid will be an evening of music and spoken word (fiction, theatre, poetry) presented in two acts with some of Vancouver's top performers. Starting at 6:30pm patrons will be welcomed at the door and invited into a reception of desserts and beverages. There, they can mingle and view the items at our Silent Auction which will be held before the show and during the intermission. The show will start at 7:30 pm and we aim to have guests on their way home by 9:45 pm.

More at the Grandview church website

SOUL FOOD: Daisy, Stage & Screen, Chamber Music, etc.

Hey, Soul Foodies!

Quick notes about today's menu: click on the links to find out more on the Soul Food blogs. (Strangely enough, a number of blog posts disappeared in the past few days. I may be able to get around to reposting in the next few days, but if not, and you want more details... Well, I guess we'll just have to put your Google skills to the test!)

First up of course is the marvelous DRIVING MISS DAISY at Pacific Theatre. I've posted some of my thoughts as well as some swell photos and all the details on the blog. Exquisite, affecting work by Tom Pickett, Erla Faye Forsyth and Paul Moniz da Sa in a show perfectly suited to our intimate space. Closes Nov 10.

And don't forget the first of my Stage & Screen nights, Nov 6, when I'll be joined by noted cinematographer Jan Kiesser and DAISY director Sarah Turner to take a close look at how this Pulitzer-winning story gets told in two very different media. Join in the conversation as we take a close look at clips from the film, and peek behind the scenes to find out how live theatre artists bring the same story to life in three dimensions.

And of course we're launching another brand new aspect of Pacific Theatre's season! Join us November 4 at 3pm for the first of our Music At Pacific chamber music series with the Pacific Rim Quartet, under the artistic direction of acclaimed cellist Brian Mix. The program consists of American composer Samuel Barber’s String Quartet (including the famous and beautiful “Adagio for strings”), UBC composition professor Dorothy Chang’s quartet “Beautiful Things” (with the composer in attendance), and Schubert’s string quartet masterpiece “Death and the Maiden.”

Speaking of music, there's another free Bach Canatata at St Johns, Oct 21. A cantata in church - just like it was always meant to be!

This coming week the Trinity Western theatre department opens THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING by Christopher Fry, directed by Aaron Caleb who was responsible for that crazy-fun version of THE TAMING OF THE SHREW this spring. "Just a gigolo..."

Of course Pacific Theatre actors are busy in shows all over the place. Julia Mackey takes JAKE'S GIFT to Bellingham this week and next, Kyle Rideout plays Buster Keaton in THE STONE FACE, and Anthony Ingram and Todd Thomson are onstage at Chemainus in A DOLL'S HOUSE. And I'm a happy little playwright this year: TENT MEETING closes this weekend at Rosebud Theatre in Alberta, with Steven Waldschmidt, David Snider and Jonathan Bruce in the cast; I'll be heading to St. Louis in a few weeks to see my play REMNANT open the brand new Mustard Seed Theatre; and A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR plays at a college in Tennessee in February. (Heck, might as well mention as well, I've just signed my Soul Food Movies book project with an agent in Los Angeles – very exciting, after four years working on my own!)

On the Soul Food Movies front, PT pal and filmmaker Jason Goode just got word about a $20K Kick Start grant for his short film project with Lucia Frangione and Michael entitled POP SWITCH. Congrats! And – thank goodness! – the silly cinematic season of summer has passed, and the good stuff starts falling from the sky like so many autumnal leaves. At the Soul Food Movies blog there's a cornucopia of news about what's Now Playing on Vancouver screens big and small, as well as what's Coming Soon.

And there's an ever-so-brief opportunity to see Robyn Lynne Williams' thesis project show, a ceramics exhibition at Trinity United Church Nov 8/9. I met Robyn on the Regent Summer School course I co-taught with Loren Wilkinson at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival a couple summers ago: I've seen her dance, but have yet to experience this side of her work.

By the way, you don't wait for the emails. I keep posting things as they come up at the Soul Food blog, Pacific Theatre blog and at Soul Food Movies, as well as general things I read or write over on the Oblations blog. (I'm thinking of combining the lot of them: what do you think, better to keep them specialized, or would you like the one-stop-shopping idea?)

Oct 12 - Nov 10: DRIVING MISS DAISY opens PT mainstage!

The critics love DAISY!

"If you've thought of skipping this particular production because you've seen it before, you're making a mistake. Director Sarah Rodgers and her remarkable cast offer up a fun and easy night of theatre with performances that are subtle, funny, touching, and supremely charming. Scenery designer Kevin McAllister’s ultra-simple set deserves special mention for taking a matronly chair, a bench and a table and creating an entire universe of possibility. Despite my attempts to find fault with something, there wasn’t one wrong note in this one-act.
"Driving Miss Daisy is what it is and nothing more: an honest play by a talented playwright with a talented cast and crew. Sitting in Pacific Theatre, you can almost imagine yourself in the little box theatre where it got its start two decades ago. You may also come to realize that a decent script can transcend the petty skirmishes between film and theatre. Or you could just sit back and enjoy the ride. "
Steven Schelling, The Westender

"Daisy (Erla Faye Forsyth) and her driver Hoke (Tom Pickett) have a sharp dynamism from the get-go."
Michael Harris, The Globe and Mail

"For those of us who must drive across the hell that is Cambie Street to get to Pacific Theatre, who knew that a play about driving could be so heavenly?"
Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier
Complete review

"Erla Faye Forsyth completely inhibits the cantankerous Miss Daisy. Tom Pickett is virtually flawless as the trustworthy Hoke."
John Jane, reviewvancouver.org

And so do I...

Opening night of this one, the show wasn't halfway through before I knew I had to see it again, maybe even a couple more times. It's perfectly calibrated for our intimate little theatre, as warm and friendly and moving a show as you could want to see. Director Sarah Rodgers has paid such close attention to the details of this finely drawn little character study, with intricate, carefully rendered design details from Kevin McAllister (set) and Stephen Bulat (sound) working together to create a beautifully, quietly theatrical world without ever drawing focus from the actor's performances.


And what fine performances these are! Every opening night is something of a "dream come true" for me as artistic director. A script was read long ago, actors imagined in the roles, a match of design and directing sensibilities envisioned, and then - when I'm not involved in rehearsing the show - opening night comes, and the imaginings move into three dimensional reality. But seeing these actors inhabit these characters, something I'd imagined for so long, was truly a memorable experience.


Well, when I first met Tom Pickett (around the time of his stunning performance in MASTER HAROLD... AND THE BOYS at Pacific Theatre), I knew I'd found the ideal Hoke for a production of DRIVING MISS DAISY. Jeremy Tow obviously had the same thought, and staged the show with Tom in the lead role that fall at Chemainus. I didn't manage to see that production, and the years have passed until the time was right to have Tom play the part on the Pacific Theatre stage - opposite PT's resident chameleon, Erla Faye Forsyth. Has ever a forty-ish actress been more astonishingly convincing in a role that starts at seventy-something, then moves through another couple decades?


I was absolutely certain those two would be utterly ideal for the two central roles of this show: I picked the show for them, I could see them in my mind's eye. Paul Moniz da Sa I cast simply on the premise that he's such a strong actor, a terrifically warm presence on stage - and something of a chameleon himself, as we saw in his transformations in our production of THE LION, THE WITCH & THE WARDROBE. But I had no idea just how brilliantly he would fill the role of Boolie in this particular show. Oh my gosh! From the moment he starts munching on pecans (or are those almonds) in the opening scene of DAISY, he had me - matching those other two PT veterans step for step in a trio of truly memorable performances.

*

Don't miss the Opening Mainstage show of Pacific Theatre's Blockbuster Season, "PT Goes to the Movies"!

DRIVING MISS DAISY
October 11 - November 10

Pacific Theatre Gears up For its “PT Goes to the Movies” Season with the
Pulitzer-Prize Winning Play, Driving Miss Daisy

March on Washington. Flower Power. Martin Luther King, Jr. Against a backdrop of triumph and pain is set a story of stubbornness, independence, and the gentle evolution of a most unlikely friendship.

It is 1948 in Atlanta, and an independent, aging Jewish widow – disagreeable as the dull thud of a toothache – reluctantly surrenders the driver’s seat to Hoke Coburn, a proud, soft-spoken black man and a Southern Baptist who, over the course of 25 years, becomes not only her chauffeur, but against all odds, her best friend.

Winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Driving Miss Daisy was adapted for the silver screen in 1989, but has remained vibrant on stages across England and North America for nearly two decades. Pacific Theatre is proud to open its 24th main stage season with this award-winning masterpiece.

Pacific Theatre / 1440 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver

Tickets: 604 731-5518 / ptbox@pacifictheatre.org / or book online

And don't forget, I'll be hosting the first of our Stage & Screen nights November 6, with special guests Jan Keisser (cinematographer) and the director of our production, Sarah Rodgers!

Artistic Director,

Ron Reed

Oct 24 - Nov 3: THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING, Trinity Western

The Lady's Not for Burning
by Christopher Fry
Directed by Aaron Caleb (director of last year's TWU hits The Taming of the Shrew and Fixing Christmas
October 24 - November 3, Wednesday - Saturday 8pm with Saturday matinees at 2 pm
Tix and info: twu.ca/theatre

The Trinity Western University Theatre season kicks off with Christopher Fry’s acclaimed verse drama The Lady’s Not For Burning which runs October 24 – November 3. A witty examination of prejudice, superstition and the value of life, this lyrical masterpiece is ultimately a charming romantic comedy.

Thomas Mendip is a disillusioned soldier who demands to be hanged for murder. Jennet Jourdemayne faces execution as a witch despite proclaiming her innocence. The social order is completely upended as science and religion, hope and despair, gravity and absurdity all face off when Thomas and Jennet meet.

“I think we can all relate to Thomas, because we’ve all wanted to change the world,” says TWU theatre professor and director Aaron Caleb. “And I think we can all relate to Jennet because we’ve likely been accused of something we didn’t do.”

A Christian humanist who began his playwriting career on a commission from the church, Christopher Fry’s works frequently explore Biblical themes and characters. Often compared to T.S. Elliot, Fry also wrote a number of screenplays for epic films including Barrabas and Ben Hur. The Lady’s Not for Burning is his most popular play and the role of Thomas has attracted some of the stage’s most accomplished actors including John Gielgud, Richard Chamberlain and Kenneth Branagh.

Nice interview piece with director Aaron Caleb at the TWU website.

Oct 21: Bach Cantata 51, St John's Shaughnessy

"Bach's cantatas were written for church services; tus each related to the theme of a given day within the liturgical year. The German church cantata was placed between the Gospel reading and the Sermon of the Lutheran liturgy and culminated a long tradition of sermon music text that sought to teach and persuade the listener." - from Handbook to Bach's Sacred Cantata Texts

Cantata 51 "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!" is one of Bach's most popular solo cantatas, written for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity. Soprano Charlene Pauls will perform this cantata to the accompaniment of trumpet, violins, viola, and organ.

Charlene Pauls is establishing herself at the forefront of Canadian oratorio with her engaging and sensitive performances. She has been invited to sing across the country working with conductors such as Bramwell Tovey, Robert Cooper, Jean-François Rivest, Frieder Bernius, and the late Robert Shaw, as well as in Germany with Helmut Rilling and Martin Lutz. Recent studies include work with Early Music specialist Emma Kirkby and internationally acclaimed soprano Edith Wiens. Pauls teaches at the Canadian Mennonite University and University of Manitoba and holds a Master's degree in vocal performance from McGill University.

Comments from the last Canata:

"Excellent! First time I've heard a cantata in a church-- where it should be!"

"Wonderful idea! Very well presented!"

"Fantastic -- very moving"

"marvelous, breath-taking, inspiring"

"Loved it! Hope this is a regular event."

"Most enjoyable and appreciated."

Free admission!

Nov 8/9: Robyn Williams ceramics show

Nov 6: DRIVING MISS DAISY Stage & Screen Evening with Jan Kiesser

I've invited cinematographer Jan Kiesser to join me for the first of our Stage & Screen Evenings at Pacific Theatre, on Tuesday November 6. We'll take a close look at scenes from the Academy Award-winning film version of DRIVING MISS DAISY, and find out how stage artists interpret the same material in three dimensions in the intimate setting of Pacific Theatre. (There's more about our production here.

Jan Keisser has lensed over 70 films in an extraordinary range of visual styles, including the mythic scope of BEOWULF & GRENDEL, the tongue-in-cheek retro horror look of FIDO, the high camp of REEFER MADNESS, urban gloss and high-speed street car racing in THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (kind of a souped-up DRIVING MISS DAISY?), Twenties urbanity in MRS PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, and so many more.

Together, we'll take a close look at how the same story is told in two very different media. We'll talk about the elegant script and the gorgeous performances (how could we not!), but mostly we'll focus on what's in front of our eyes: how do visual artists help tell the story? How do they show us what to look at, and shape our perception of the events unfolding on the stage or screen?

We'll also talk about whatever else you want to talk about in the show - as well as what Jan and I have in mind, it'll just be an open conversation about DRIVING MISS DAISY, stage and screen.

It should be a marvelous night - the first of many this season! I can't wait.

Ron Reed

Call our box office for tickets - 731-5518 - or order online. And thanks to Pacific Theatre's friends at Rhema Industries, sponsors for this event!

Nov 6: DRIVING MISS DAISY Stage & Screen Evening with Jan Kiesser

I've invited cinematographer Jan Kiesser to join me for the first of our Stage & Screen Evenings at Pacific Theatre, on Tuesday November 6. We'll take a close look at scenes from the Academy Award-winning film version of DRIVING MISS DAISY, and find out how stage artists interpret the same material in three dimensions in the intimate setting of Pacific Theatre. (There's more about our production here.

Jan Keisser has lensed over 70 films in an extraordinary range of visual styles, including the mythic scope of BEOWULF & GRENDEL, the tongue-in-cheek retro horror look of FIDO, the high camp of REEFER MADNESS, urban gloss and high-speed street car racing in THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (kind of a souped-up DRIVING MISS DAISY?), Twenties urbanity in MRS PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, and so many more.

Together, we'll take a close look at how the same story is told in two very different media. We'll talk about the elegant script and the gorgeous performances (how could we not!), but mostly we'll focus on what's in front of our eyes: how do visual artists help tell the story? How do they show us what to look at, and shape our perception of the events unfolding on the stage or screen?

We'll also talk about whatever else you want to talk about in the show - as well as what Jan and I have in mind, it'll just be an open conversation about DRIVING MISS DAISY, stage and screen.

It should be a marvelous night - the first of many this season! I can't wait.

Ron Reed

Call our box office for tickets - 731-5518 - or order online. And thanks to Pacific Theatre's friends at Rhema Industries, sponsors for this event!

Nov 4: Pacific Rim Quartet, "Music At Pacific"

I'm very proud to be launching a new project at Pacific Theatre, a chamber music series under the artistic direction of noted cellist Brian Mix. It's going to be splendid: top quality playing in the most intimate of settings. I'll let Brian tell you more...

Hello friends,

I want to tell you about an exciting new concert series at Pacific Theatre, of which I am the Artistic Director. The series features the Pacific Rim String Quartet (www.pacificrimstringquartet.com) along with guest artists.

The first concert is coming up on Sunday, November 4, at 3:00 pm. The program consists of American composer Samuel Barber’s String Quartet (including the famous and beautiful “Adagio for strings”), UBC composition professor Dorothy Chang’s quartet “Beautiful Things” (with the composer in attendance), and Schubert’s string quartet masterpiece “Death and the Maiden.” We will be performing on the sets of Pacific Theatre’s current production of “Driving Miss Daisy.”

I’ve also attached information about the complete “Music at Pacific” series below. Concert 2 (February 17, 2008) features Haydn, Pärt, and Shostakovich, while Concert 3 (May 25, 2008) includes guest musicians Paolo Bortolussi, flute, and Eric Wilson, UBC cello professor.

Tickets are available through the Pacific Theatre box office. The theatre is located at Hemlock and W. 12th in the ‘Granville Rise” district. The intimate space of the 124-seat theatre is perfect for chamber music - the furthest seat from the stage is only 9 rows away. Go to www.pacifictheatre.org for more details.

Hope to see you at the concert!

Brian.

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.