Feb 22: Graham Ord, Abbotsford

Feb 17: Pacific Rim String Quartet at Pacific Theatre

A note from Brian Mix

Hello friends,

This is a reminder that the next Music at Pacific concert is on Sunday, February 17, at 3:00 pm. The Pacific Rim String Quartet will perform Haydn’s “Emperor” Quartet, Arvo Pärt’s Summa, and Shostakovich’s powerful and moving Quartet No. 8. The intimate 124-seat Pacific Theatre, located at West 12th Avenue and Hemlock, is perfect for experiencing chamber music.

Tickets are available at 604-731-5518 or www.pacifictheatre.org. For more information go to www.pacificrimstringquartet.com. Only 21 seats were vacant at the last concert, so order your tickets soon!

Brian.

Feb 3 & 10: Reflections on Thomas More

I'll be preaching at Holy Trinity Anglican Church this coming Sunday, February 3, reflecting on the experience of playing Thomas More in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS. That's in the church sanctuary, just upstairs from Pacific Theatre, at 1440 West 12th, Vancouver. There are two services, a contemporary service at 10am and a traditional service at 11:30. (The latter uses the Book Of Common Prayer, which was originally written by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop who presided over Thomas More's execution and the founding of the Anglican church which Thomas so vehemently opposed - intriguing ironies.)

The following Sunday, February 10, I'll be preaching at my own home church, Fraserview Mennonite Brethren (11295 Mellis Drive, Richmond). Again, talking about what's been stirred up in me by the story of Thomas More, though (to keep things interesting for myself, if no one else) I intend to talk about different things than in the Holy Trinity sermons. That service begins at 10am, and there are driving directions a the Fraserview website.

The Films Of 2005 (MCN)

Jan 24 - Feb 23: A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Don't Miss A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS at Pacific Theatre

Chris (C.C.) Humphreys is the best-selling author of five historical fiction novels – including one on Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, and an international actor seen on stages as wide-ranging as London’s West End and Hollywood’s Twentieth Century Fox. Midnight Theatre Collective and Pacific Theatre are honoured and privileged to welcome him to the cast of A Man for All Seasons, in the roles of the dread King Henry VIII and the relentless and calculating Thomas Cromwell.

When Henry VIII sets out to divorce his wife he seeks the support of Sir Thomas More – revered scholar, lawyer, and churchman - the Lord Chancellor’s quiet defiance ignites a ferocious battle as he struggles to avoid the dreadful inevitable choice, between King and conscience, loyalty, and martyrdom. A play for all time, Sir Thomas More is A Man for All Seasons. Midnight Theatre Collective’s version is set in post-World-War II era, a period steeped in suspicion, dangerous politics, and cold war.

This production of the award-winning masterpiece features Ron Reed (Shadowlands, God’s Man in Texas) in the role of Sir Thomas More and Chris Humphreys (The Rivals, Hamlet) as the formidable, unforgettable King Henry VIII. Also starring Trish Pattenden (Lettuce & Lovage), Evangela Dueck (Halo, Terrible Things), William Samples (The Birthday Party), Adam Bergquist (Last Train To Nibroc, Chickens, Portia My Love, The Odyssey), Damon Calderwood (The Elephant Man), and Julius Chapple (richardthesecond: a nightmare), and directed by Jeremy Tow (Agnes of God, A Streetcar Named Desire), Midnight Theatre Collective’s production of A Man for All Seasons is for all people whose conscience has ever stood up against the way they may be forced to live.

A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS by Robert Bolt
Jan. 24 – Feb. 23 (Opens Jan. 25), Wed–Sat at 8pm, Sat at 2pm ($10 Preview Jan.24)

Pacific Theatre, 1420 West 12th Ave (at Hemlock St), Vancouver, BC

Tickets: 604.731.5518, or online, or in person at the Box Office (1420 West 12th).

Jan 15-19, 22-26: HAMLET by Shadows & Dreams

The folks who brought you A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM in the park in New Westminster last summer are at it again, including Kerri Norris, Frank Nickel and Stephen Elcheshen, all familiar from the PT stage.

Betrayal, Madness and Revenge, in Ninety Minutes
Shadows and Dreams Theatre Company Presents:

Hamlet
by
William Shakespeare

"How these things came about: so shall they hear
Of carnal, bloody, and unnatural acts
Of accidental judgments, casual slaughters
Of deaths put on by cunning and forced cause,
And, in this upshot, purposes mistook
Fall'n on the inventors' heads: all this can I truly
deliver."

The King of Denmark has been dead a month, but his
spirit does not rest easy. Hamlet, the young Prince
of Denmark, should have succeeded his father, but
instead the King's brother Claudius has seized the
throne. (Not to mention Hamlet's mother, the widowed
Queen.) Yet Hamlet's sorrow at this betrayal turns
quickly to anger when he learns that Claudius may not
have just profited from the late King's death, but
caused it. His father's restless ghost sets Hamlet on
a dangerous path to discover the truth of the King's
death, weave a trap for Claudius, avoid the snares
that lay in wait for him and ultimately exact a grim
revenge that destroys far more than he intended.

Presented by just seven actors in an uninterrupted
hour and a half this production strips Shakespeare's
longest play down to its dark heart of sorrow, anger
and sudden tragic violence.

Tickets: Pay What You Can

Performances: January 15 – 19th Glenbrook Middle
School (701 Park Cres, New Westminster)
January 22 - 26th The
Beaumont Studios (316 W. 5th Ave, Vancouver)
Show times: 8pm, 2pm matinées on Saturday

Information: 604-515-0704 or
www.shadowsanddreams.org

Directed by Nigel Brooke (Burnaby)
Featuring: Patricia Johnson (Burnaby), Stephen
Elcheshen (New Westminster), Dana MacInnis (New
Westminster),
Frank Nickel (Richmond), Kerri Norris (New
Westminster), Marni Westerman (New Westminster),
Glynis Knowlden (Coquitlam), James Knowlden
(Coquitlam), Allen Pike (Burnaby)

A Man For All Seasons

First rehearsal tomorrow, which is good news. Bad news just a couple days ago: my buddy Dirk Van Stralen can't do the show after all. Followed by wonderful news today: director Jeremy Tow has cast C. C. Humphreys to take over the roles of Cromwell and King Henry VIII. Jer's excited, Chris is excited (judging from his blog), and I'm excited - I've not met the fellow, but in addition to exciting acting credits he's done a batch of novels, including two about Ann Boleyn! And now he'll be playing Ann's hubby-to-be. Swell.

Just so you know, we preview Jan 24, open Jan 25. All the details at the Pacific Theatre website.

Sep 12-28: REFUGE OF LIES Off-Broadway!

Just got word from director Steven Day in New York that the theatre is secured and the dates set for the Off-Broadway run of my play REFUGE OF LIES. The show will open September 12 2008 at The Lion Theatre, which is part of Theatre Row on 42nd Street (two blocks from Times Square), closing September 28. Here are a couple shots of the lobby wall, listing a heap of shows that have played in the Theatre Row spaces. (Can you believe it? DRIVING MISS DAISY, FOOL FOR LOVE, ALL IN THE TIMING, KRAPP'S LAST TAPE, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, THE DINING ROOM, THE SUBSTANCE OF FIRE...)


And my gosh, look what opens there January 15? Mike Leigh's latest...

TWO THOUSAND YEARS
by Mike Leigh; directed by Scott Elliott
Presented by The New Group

The Acorn Theatre
Jan 15 - Mar 8
Hot off their recent smash hit Abigail's Party, Artistic Director Scott Elliott re-teams with longtime collaborator Mike Leigh on his latest play, which had a sold-out, run at London's National Theatre. Leigh's play tells how an assimilated Jewish family's quiet life in suburban London is upset when their son becomes seriously devout.