jan 30 | eagle rock gospel singers | media club

Eagle Rock Gospel Singers
Media Club
Sat Jan 30 | doors 8pm

"Will Wadsworth formed The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers in the winter of 2010 following a failed relationship, a band dissolution and a scary airplane ride. In order to respark his interest in music, he and his roommate, Jeremy Horton, gathered friends together to sing old Gospel songs. They sang songs inspired by their love of Washington Phillips, The Staples Singers, Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe – you know, the real classics – and held house parties just so they could perform. Soon enough, a large, shifting group of people came each week to join in on the weekly jams. There could be anything from 8 to 18 participants, depending upon the night. Wadsworth and Horton, realizing this might work in a club setting, pared down the group to core members, and they began performing around Los Angeles. In 2014, they recorded their first album with Matt Wignall (Cold War Kids, J. Roddy Walston and the Business). Heavenly Fire is an explosive barn-burner, taught with electricity and highlighting Kim Garcia's remarkable singing. It provides an articulation of their sound, honed over those many group parties, into a band that has become a rousing celebration of traditional Gospel sounds with rock foundations." Media Club website

L.A. Weekly interview…

“We were covering stuff by artists who were doing it in the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s,” says drummer-singer Will Wadsworth. “The stuff that resonated with us was coming from people who were singing out of a place of desperation, sometimes heartache, sometimes complete joy. . . .

The band’s debut album, Heavenly Fire . . . is a rip-roaring, soaring batch of rootsy-flavored originals written by the band’s individual members, who took their songwriting cues from the greatest and most venerable of American trad musical genres. . . .

“Gospel music for a lot of people is defined by the content,” Wadsworth says, “and that’s usually traditional stories that are based in what we have known as the Bible of Judeo-Christian beliefs. These orations wove themselves into music that was very white bluegrass music, very white folk and country music and very African-American blues gospel.”

common grace | soundtrack

Rick Colhoun's selections for the soundtrack of Common Grace add up to a pretty great jazz playlist. Here's a rundown of the tunes, with links to online sources.

"I'd like to play something from Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis.

It's one of Dad's favourite albums. It's perfect."

Bewitched | Paul Desmond, "Cool Imagination" / "Easy Living"

Almost Blue | Chet Baker

Autumn Leaves | Cannonball Adderly & Miles Davis, "Somethin' Else"

Song For My Father | Horace Silver, "Song For My Father"

So What | Miles Davis, "Kind of Blue"

Blue Train | John Coltrane, "Blue Train"

I Want Jesus To Walk With Me | Nelson Boschman, "Keeping Time Vol. 2"

Blue In Green | Miles Davis "Kind of Blue"

Some Other Time | Bill Evans, "Everybody Digs Bill Evans" 

Marionette | Marvin Stamm, "Mystery Man"

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered | Brad Mehldau, "The Art Of The Trio, Vol. 3"

Blackbird | Brad Mehldau, "The Art of the Trio, Vol. 1"

common grace | meet the creative team

Here are the fine artists who are helping COMMON GRACE come together behind the scenes.

Ron Reed - Director
Kim Larson - Assistant Director
Tanya Schwaerzle - Stage Manager
Carolyn Rapanos - Set Designer
Matt Frankish - Lighting Designer
Amy McDougall - Costume Designer
Frances Henry - Properties Manager
Rick Colhoun - Sound Designer (not pictured)

common grace | rehearsal photos

We popped into COMMON GRACE rehearsal the other day and took a few shots of the team working a scene.  Here's your peek inside the process!

common grace | subscriber appreciation saturday

It's time for another Subscriber Appreciation Saturday!  For COMMON GRACE we'll jump into the world of playwriting and our Working With play development group!

Subscriber Appreciation Saturday: COMMON GRACE
Saturday, January 30th at 3:30 (approximately - following matinee performance)

Get a window into playwriting and the plays that Pacific Theatre's Working With writers are developing!  Join Ron Reed, Shauna Johannesen, and other playwrights in the Working With play development group as they discuss the process of writing and developing plays.  Hear portions of brand new scripts and learn more about how they discuss, critique, and encourage one another.  Refreshments available.

RSVP to Jess: apprentices@pacifictheatre.org

in a blue moon | lucia frangione | touring until jan 30

There's still a chance to catch Lucia Frangione's new play in the Lower Mainland - with Anita Wittenberg (Mourning Dove, Holy Mo, The Furniture Of Heaven) and Emma Tow (Anita's daughter!).

In a Blue Moon
by Lucia Frangione.
An Arts Club Production
Produced in Association with Western Canada Theatre / Thousand Islands Playhouse

A visually beautiful tale about creating a new life in a new landscape. When Ava and her daughter, Frankie, move to an inherited cottage near Kamloops, they discover that Ava’s late husband’s brother is already living there. What starts as a tense relationship develops in unexpected ways as Frankie finds a role model in her uncle and Ava grows attached to the companionship of this other man. Through memories and photographs, a tender love story unfolds between the three as they begin to thread together a new understanding of family.

Tickets are available through participating tour venues. Check each venue for tickets and times.

Surrey Arts Centre | Surrey, BC – Until Jan. 23, 2016
Clark Theatre | Mission, BC – Jan. 25, 2016
Evergreen Cultural Centre | Coquitlam, BC – Jan. 26-30, 2016

throwback thursday | world premieres

Since we're premiering a brand-new play with COMMON GRACE, we thought it might be fun to look back at some other plays that we brought to the stage for the first time ever.  Did you see any of these?

ESPRESSO (1993)

RE:UNION (2011)

PRODIGAL SON (2006)

LEAVE OF ABSENCE (2013)

new generations | one-week festival at trinity western

Vegans, Spies, and Mounties Make for a Fun-Filled Play Festival 

New Generations, a popular one-week festival featuring new plays and emerging directors, returns to the TWU stage in the first week of February. This year’s lineup runs the gamut from quirky rom-com to hard-hitting human drama.

Chasing Tina, written and directed by graduating BFA students, is an offbeat romantic comedy poking fun at everything from trendy diets to the modern dating scene. It should be love-at-first-smoothie for an idealistic philosophy student and the cynical barista who’s his perfect opposite…and with any luck, the customer is always right.

In The Wooden Pear, by award-winning playwright Gillian Plowman, a troubled man fresh out of prison comes face-to-face with the victim of his crime. As they struggle to move on from the incident that changed the course of their lives, their emotionally charged encounter becomes a journey to redemption for them both.

The Longest Way Home, by BFA Acting graduate Audrey Herold, is an adventurous take on the will-they-won’t-they love story set in the far reaches of Saskatchewan. A group of hot-shot American spies get way more than they bargained for in the Great White North. While they try to ignore the unrequited love issues in the team, a mischievous alliance of Rogue Mounties gives them a run for their money. This is Canadian culture at its funniest.

Students from all corners of the campus, some making their stage debut, perform all three plays back-to-back in one fast-paced evening. 

WHERE

TWU’s School of the Arts, Media + Culture (SAMC) 

WHEN
February 2 – 6, 2016. Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm with a Saturday matinee at 2pm. 

TICKETS

www.twu.ca/theatre or call 604.513.2121 extension 3872.

jan 22 | artisan improv | john voth, nelson boschman, mike deboer, julia church

Local church Artisan Vancouver is pastored by CHRISTMAS PRESENCE regulars Nelson Boschman and Lance Odegard, and attended by a large number of PT artists.  They are sponsoring a Syrian refugee family, and as a part of their fundraising efforts, are putting on an improv night hosted by John Voth (THE FOREIGNER), and featuring Mike deBoer (SIDESHOW), and Julia Church (GODSPELL).  Check it out!

Artisan Church will host a benefit evening of clean improv comedy featuring John Voth, Cliff Prang, Mike deBoer, Julia Church, Steven Krajnyak and Troy Terpstra. These actors have worked in various improv comedy groups and settings, including The Panic Squad, Bust A Gut, Pacific Theatre, TWU's 11:07, and Vancouver's TheatreSports League.

For a twist, the actors will be joined by jazz musicians Nelson Boschman (piano), Ben Appenheimer (double bass) and Kenton Wiens (drums).

Friday, January 22
The Ironworks
235 Alexander St. [map]
Doors: 7:00pm
Show: 8:00pm

Suitable for ages 10 and up.

$10 in advance (plus service fees)
$15 at the door (while they last)

Tickets available from Brown Paper Tickets.

common grace | advance photos

We just did our advance photo shoot for COMMON GRACE!  Thanks to Emily Cooper for a great shoot.

common grace | first rehearsal

This morning was the first reading of COMMON GRACE.

common grace | meet the cast

Rehearsals start next week for COMMON GRACE, and as we prepare we get more and more excited about this outstanding cast we are working with! Packed with some of our favourite recurring actors and a few new faces, here are the faces that will be bringing this story to life.

Shauna Johannesen: Shauna has been working with PT for a few years now developing this script, and you last saw her on our stage in WITTENBERG.

Kerri Norris: We've worked with Kerri plenty over the years, from YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU to JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN to 100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW, she also directed one of our past productions of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.

Cara Cunningham: A past apprentice, Cara is best known at PT so far as a playwright - in her apprentice year she produced two of her scripts: A GOOD WAY OUT and BRIDE ON CREDIT.  This is her professional acting debut!

Rebecca deBoer: Long-time fans will recognize Rebecca from past shows like 100 SAINTS YOU SHOULD KNOW, A BRIGHT PARTICULAR STAR, and THE WOODSMAN.

Julie Lynn Mortensen: New to our stage, Julie works most frequently as a television and film actor around town.  Her feature film DRAWING HOME is currently in post-production.

Carl Kennedy: You saw Carl on our stage last season in THE WHIPPING MAN.  Before that, he joined us for JESUS HOPPED THE 'A' TRAIN.

Robert Garry Haacke: Another newcomer to the PT stage, Robert is a new graduate from Studio 58.

christmas campaign | WE DID IT! | $54.5K Raised! 109%

WE DID IT!!! We made our $50,000 in record time.  And we even maxed out our $11,000 matching campaign!

We truly cannot thank you enough for all of your support.  We could not be happier about how this campaign went.  But guess what - the year isn't quite over yet!  If you're still looking to take advantage of the tax benefits of 2015, you can donate here and see just how much we can bring in for this campaign, before 2016 rolls in!

Thanks for making our holidays merry and bright!  We  

THE TALLY:
20 + 100 + 200 + 600 + 50 + 2.25 + 150 + 100 + 100 + 50 + 50 + 100 + 300 + 1000 + 20 + 53 + 20.25 + 25 + 1000 + 50 + 2500 + 25 + 40 + 600 + 1500 + 100 + 100 + 31.50 + 12 + 200 + 1000 + 96.50 + 100 + 500+500 + 25 + 193 + 52.75 + 25 + 100 + 1000 + 291.25 + 5000 + 50 + 200 + 100 +  500  + 150 + 31.50 + 115.80 + 10 + 5 + 20 + 20 + 100 + 20 + 200 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 100 + 35 + 50 + 50 + 150 + 50 + 30 + 3 + 500 + 100 + 100 + 500 + 2500 + 200 + 200 + 1000 + 20 +100 + 100 + 40 + 500 + 50 + 50 + 75 + 50 + 50 + 150 + 250 + 40 + 300 + 250 + 25 + 100+50 + 1000 + 50 + 250+150 + 50 + 49.25 + 100 + 50 + 30 + 7 + 500 + 200 + 200 + 100 + 500 + 300 + 22 + 500 + 100 + 100 + 600 + 50 + 1000 + 5 + 14 + 10 + 4.8 + 50 + 250 + 500 + 100 + 200 + 407.5+92.25 + 800 + 100 + 1000 + 1000 + 300 + 5000 + 100 + 50 + 48.25 

+ MATCHING GRANT: $11,000 MAXED OUT!  

CAMPAIGN TOTAL =  $54,512.85

GOAL ACHIEVED!!! (And exceeded by: $4,512.85)

Contribute to our campaign today by donating online here or by calling our office at 604.731.5483!

a christmas carol: on the air | a christmas carol, adapted

It's no surprise that our live radio adaptation of Dickens' classic in A CHRISTMAS CAROL: ON THE AIR is not the only take on this old chestnut.  From plays to comics to television and lots of movies, here are the images from a few popular (and not so popular) versions of A Christmas Carol.

merry christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Pacific Theatre family!

a christmas carol: on the air | 10 things you didn't know about a christmas carol

We've got a couple of weeks left of A CHRISTMAS CAROL: ON THE AIR. This story is tried and true, but there are a few fun facts that we bet you don't know about it. This article originally appears in The Telegraph.

1. The great historian Thomas Carlyle went straight out and bought himself a turkey after reading Dickens’s tale of the redemption of Scrooge. Novelist William Thackeray, not always an admirer of Dickens, called A Christmas Carol a “national benefit”; one American entrepreneur gave his employees an extra day’s holiday. Publication had been a huge success, selling in excess of 6,000 copies. Dickens had began writing his “little Christmas book”, as he called it, in October 1843 and worked on it feverishly for six weeks, finishing it at the end of November, just in time for Christmas.

2. As he wrote, Dickens wept and laughed and wept again and would often take long night walks through London, covering anywhere between 15 or 20 miles “when all sober folks had gone to bed”. When he completed the book, he “broke out”, as he himself described it, “like a madman”.

3. The story is loosely based on Gabriel Grubb, a character in The Story of the Goblins Who Stole a Sexton, which appeared in Dickens’ first published novel, The Pickwick Papers. In the story, a gravedigger determined not to make merry at Christmas, is kidnapped by goblins and convinced to change his ways.

4. Two months after the publication of A Christmas Carol, Parley’s Illuminated Library pirated it. Dickens sued and won his case. The pirates, on the other hand, simply declared themselves bankrupt, leaving Dickens to pay £700 in costs, equal to £56,364 today.

5. Within six weeks of its publication, the book hit the London stage in an adaptation by Edward Stirling, which ran for more than 40 nights before transferring to New York’s Park Theatre. Also in the same city, a musical version was staged which was hampered badly on opening night, when brawling broke out, drowning out the bass drum that ushered Marley’s ghost as he rose through a trapdoor.

6. In 1853, 10 years after its publication, Charles Dickens gave the first public performance in Birmingham’s town hall. He performed it in front of a rapturous crowd of 2,000, all working people from the town, and it lasted just under three hours. Before this time, no great author had performed their works in public and for profit, which many thought beneath Dickens’ calling as a writer and a gentleman.

7. On performance days Dickens stuck to a rather bizarre routine. He had two tablespoons of rum flavoured with fresh cream for breakfast, a pint of champagne for tea and, half an hour before the start of his performance, would drink a raw egg beaten into a tumbler of sherry. During the five-minute interval, he invariably consumed a quick cup of beef tea, and always retired to bed with a bowl of soup.

8. He always presented himself to his audience in full evening dress, with a bright buttonhole, a purple waistcoat and a glittering watch-chain. His stage equipment consisted of a reading desk, carpet, gas lights and a pair of large screens behind him to help project his voice forward.

9. Without a single prop or bit of costume, Dickens peopled his stage with a throng of characters, it is said, “like an entire theatre company… under one hat”. The arrival of Scrooge always created a sensation; Dickens became an old man with a shrewd, grating voice whose face was drawn into his collar like an ageing turtle. During the Fezziwigs’ party, his fingers would dance along the reading table in a mad array of little hops and pirouettes. It is reported that the audience “fell into a kind of trance, as a universal feeling of joy seemed to invade the whole assembly”.

10. Dickens began with A Christmas Carol, and he ended with it. His last reading of the little book took place in London at St James’s Hall, on March 15, 1870. At the end of the performance, he told his audience: “From these garish lights, I vanish now for evermore, with a heartfelt, grateful, respectful, and affectionate farewell.” There was a stunned silence, broken by a tumult of cheering, hat-waving and the stamping of feet. With tears streaming down his face, Dickens raised his hands to his lips in an affectionate kiss and departed from the platform for ever. He died three months later, aged 58.

THE TELEGRAPH