At Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Remaining performance: December 31, 2PM
Imagine finding an old chest buried in the snow. Brush it off, open it slowly and discover it’s full of sparkling jewels. That’s what awaits you at Alberta Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
How did I love thee?/Let me count the ways. This is a sampling, not necessarily of the best, but of what delighted, challenged, provoked, unsettled, stimulated and entertained me throughout 2015.
Genevieve Fleming in The North Plan.
At the Jericho Arts Centre until January 2, 2016
Told from the point of view of The Ghost of Christmas Past (Thomas Jones), The Ghost of Christmas Present (Melissa Morris) and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Mike Stack), Ebenezer: A Christmas Ghost Story is a riff on Dickens’ classic.
Andrew Wheeler as Ebenezer and Melissa Morris as The Ghost of Christmas Present in Ebenezer: A Christmas Ghost Story. Credit: David Newham
At the York Theatre until January 3, 2016
Hansel and Gretel: An East Van Panto has more jokes than Granville Island has rats. Or more puns than the bike lanes Gregor Robertson proposes for Vancouver. It’s loaded with ‘em. Crazy rhymes like “sing and dance” with “drop our pants” or “stairway to heaven” with “7/11” proliferate like abandoned Easter bunnies in Stanley Park.
Dawn Petten (Hansel) and Maiko Yamamoto (Gretel) in Hansel and Gretel: An East Van Panto
On the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre until December 27, 2015
What a rollicking, swashbuckling opening of the brand new Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre. Peter and the Starcatcher is an Arts Club production in this new venue, owned jointly by the Arts Club and Bard on the Beach.
Rachel Cairns as Molly and Benjamin Wardle as Peter in Peter and The Starcatcher. Credit: Emily Cooper