Georges Seurat’s famous painting is instantly recognizable by many, but have many people considered how it feels to take two years to craft a work of art? Stephen Sondheim had, and he composed the musical A Sunday in the Park with George. CJSF Radio’s Elana Chan attended one of the rare performances presented by APPLAUSE! Musicals in Concert, at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts from October 3 to 6, 2007.
Theatre
On August 18th 2007, Issam Zeibak was seated in the centre of a Theatre supporting SUDS, a play centred around a 1960’s Laundromat owner and her troubled love life. The Granville Island stage was full and ready for song and dance…
With a few more performances left, the adaptation of the popular musical Grease at the Theatre under the Stars is indeed worth saving a summer night for. Theatre under the Stars presents Grease - a phenomenal production headed by Gaelan Beatty as Danny and Tracy Neff as Sandy. Anna Eloiza of CJSF Radio was a part of a delighted crowd that gathered at the Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park on July 31st 2007 to take in the show.
The Arts Club Theatre presents Cookin’ at the Cookery, a tribute to the late Alberta Hunter, whose musical career spanned over six decades. Elana Chan of CJSF Radio had the pleasure of attending the opening night at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, as Jackie Richardson and Janice Lorraine reprise their roles from this runaway success.
What happens when a hip Asian American woman moves to a little town in Wyoming? It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but her arrival turns the lives of three men upside down. Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (VACT) presents Cowboy vs Samurai – a modern comedic play written by Michael Golamco and directed by Josette Jorge. Elana Chan of CJSF Radio watched the opening performance at the Firehall Arts Centre on July 20, 2007.
Inside the tent, you see a stage that resembles a huge rectangular table, covered in a white cloth and surrounded by several wooden chairs. An ensemble solemnly enters and freezes abruptly. Hearing voices only inches away from you, they are speaking first lines of Timon of Athens. William Shakespeare wrote the script, but director James Fagan Tait and musical director/composer Joelysa Pankanea bring it to life by setting it in modern-day Athens. CJSF A&E’s Elana Chan had the pleasure of attending the opening performance on July 13, 2007 at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival.
For the past eighteen years, Bard on the Beach has been re-enacting Shakespeare’s poetic repertoire of plays at Kitsilano’s Vanier Park. On Thursday, July 4th, at 8:00 pm CJSF’s Trevor Fallis watched Rome & Juliet and has this to say:
Upon arriving at the venue one is certain to notice how friendly and helpful the staff is. To be sure, the Bard’s staff contributes to the festival’s pleasant and exciting atmosphere.
Gypsy is an ongoing play at the Stanley Industrial Theatre until July 8. Issam Zeibak reviews the Friday, June 1 show which proved to be nothing less than spectacular.
The Stanley Industrial Alliance Theatre was full last Friday with a large and eager audience. They were seated behind a stage which eventually featured a fantastic rendition of Jule Styne's vaudeville/burlesque musical Gypsy. The musical progressed over the night with high notes of hope, low notes of depression and even lower notes of the dim reality each of the musical's characters faced.
Here’s a performance that’s always in season - it’s about mothers. Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged features five moms, and their chaotic lives with teenage kids, husbands, and changing bodies. CJSF A&E’s Elana Chan had the pleasure of attending the performance at Art Club Theatre, Granville Island Stage, on May 4, 2007.
Mom’s the Word 2: Unhinged
Review by Elana Chan
Disco colours and pop music are hardly what one might expect in a play related to the classic fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, but they are what you’ll find in Robert Lepage’s latest avant-garde work. CJSF A&E’s Elana Chan enjoyed the English-language premier of The Andersen Project: A Modern Fairy Tale at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre on May 3, 2007.
The Andersen Project: A Modern Fairy Tale
Review by Elana Chan