Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage to October 20, 2024
My guest was vibrating with excitement throughout Jersey Boys, the Arts Club’s 2024-25 season opener at the Stanley. It was her music, her time, and she knew all the words to all the songs.
Jason Sakaki as Bob Gaudio, Elliot Lazar (Frankie Valli), Darren Martens (Tommy DeVito) and Tanner Zerr (Nick Massi). Credit: Moonrider Productions
Jericho Arts Centre to September 29, 2024
Hands down, Chickens will be the goofiest 2024-25 season opener anywhere in the city. Written by award-winning Canadian actor and playwright Lucia Frangione back when she was a student at Alberta’s Rosebud School of the Arts back in the late 80s or early 90s, Chickens is so ‘country’ you can almost smell the hay and the chicken shit.
Axe-wielder, Jennifer Suratos. From centre front: Joel Garner, David Johnston, Aunya Jayde, Dustin Freeland and Cassie Unger. Credit: Nancy Caldwell
Theatre Under the Stars to August 24, 2024
On Jennifer Stewart’s set – a poster lined bed studio alternately with two huge school pillars lit by John Webber – everyone is having a great time in School of Rock. It’s impossible not to start rockin’ and rollin’ in place.
Colin Sheen (centre) as Dewey Finn in School of Rock. Credit: Emily Cooper
Bard on the Beach (Vanier Park) to September 20, 2024
Unless you have two sets of identical twins in your theatre company – and what company would have? – mounting The Comedy of Errors is an interesting challenge for a director.
Synthia Yusuf as Luciana in The Comedy of Errors. Credit: Emily Cooper
Bard on the Beach (Vanier Park) to September 20, 2024
On opening night of Measure for Measure I found myself amidst a crowd of theatre goers laughing their faces off and woo-hooing with glee while I’m thinking, “This is just silly.” And not in a good way.
Karthik Kadam as Lucio in Measure for Measure. Credit: Emily Cooper
Arts Club Granville Island Stage to August 11, 2024
Directed by Rachel Peake this is a good show performed by six extremely capable musicians/singers. And despite the fact that country music has never been my thing, my toe did do a little tapping.
Frankie Cottrell as Johnny Cash in Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash. Credit: Moonrider Productions
Bard on the Beach to September 20, 2024
This is a Hamlet of which Bard on the Beach can be truly proud. Invite your visitors. Show it off. Shakespeare doesn’t need all the bells and whistles to remind us the plays are still relevant, still enthralling.
Nadeem Phillip Umar Khitab as Hamlet in Hamalet. Credit: Tim Matheson
Bard on the Beach (Vanier Park) to September 21, 2024
Look out, Shakespeare! This production could be called Twelfth Night: The Musical. Director Diana Donnelly, composer Veda Hille, musical director Anton Lipovetsky (keyboards/guitar and Feste) and Charlie Gallant (Sebastian/electric guitar) have played fast and loose with your Twelfth Night or What You Will.
The Twelfth Night company. Centre: Anton Lipovetsky. Set design: Pam Johnson. Lighting design: Sophie Tang. Costume design: Mara Gottler. Credit: Tim Matheson
The Vancity Culture Lab at the Cultch to June 23, 2024
Medicine works best when it nearly kills you – or so the saying goes. This Medicine won’t kill you and maybe it will ring alarm bells about what director Richard Wolfe says, “what can happen to those who are not like Other People, those who are damaged by the world around them – and then forgotten.”
Nyiri Karakas (Mary 1), Jay Clift (John) and Genevieve Fleming (Mary 2) in Medicine. Credit: Emily Cooper
PAL Studio Theatre to June 23, 2024
You can call Elizabeth a “super senior” at well over a hundred years old, but fergawdsake, don’t call her Lizzie or Liz or worst of all “dear”. Elizabeth, played by Super Senior playwright Kathryn Shaw, will turn her caustic wit on you and verbally flay you if you do.
Kathryn Shaw as Elizabeth in Super Seniors. Credit: Javier Sotres