Browsing “Cue To Cue Series”

GIANTS II: Rap Attack!

November 10, 2011

Shining the theatre light on the best of Vancouver’s comedic underground.

On November 26th, GIANTS Comedy and The Cultch are proud to present the second of six instalments of this first-of-its-kind project uniting the best of Vancouver’s comedy scene with the ambition and professionalism of the local theatre community. After a sold out premiere, GIANTS’ sophomore show features a mix of sketch, and stand-up culminating Vancouver’s first comedic rap battle where a dozen of our funniest comedians will twist rap battles with pro wrestling type characters to make one MASSIVELY entertaining experience that we at Vancouver is Awesome are proud to be media sponsors of.

The first video release features a fixture of Vancouver’s comedy scene, and host of GIANTS rap batter: Taz VanRassel.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Comedy, Cue To Cue Series, Film, People, Theatre

Cue to Cue Series – Ryan Gladstone

September 14, 2011

Laurence Olivier once said that “in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture“. There is no better proof of this than in the umbilical connection between Vancouver’s thriving culture and bourgeoning theatre scene.

Here on Cue to Cue we’ll regularly feature in-depth previews and reviews of the shows that create the face of Vancouver theatre, as well as interviews with the local artists behind it all…

It’s a fantastic time of the year for theatre. With the change of seasons come a plethora of festivals to bring in the fall, and kick off the start of the new theatrical calendar year. The largest, and my personal favourite of these festivals is the Vancouver Fringe Festival which is currently in its 27 year and runs until September 18th. If you haven’t ever made your way down to Granville Island for a show, I’m not sure what to tell you other than “go!”. If you haven’t made it down this year, I’d say “go, it’s even better than last year!”.

I saw my first Fringe show when I was 16, and can say without question that it was a game-changer for me. The first of these game-changers was a Monster Theatre show called The Canada Show which drew hordes of festival goers at the 2002 Fringe to see a hilarious re-telling of Canada’s entire history in one hour. Years later, Monster Theatre Artistic-Director Ryan Gladstone is still creating magnetic works in the Fringe circuit and beyond that transcend time and genre to tell stories that audiences wide and far manage to connect to. Now back in Vancouver for his TWO shows in this year’s festival, I had a chance to chat with Ryan about it all. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Laura Leegerwing

Who are you?
Ryan Gladstone, founder and artistic director of Monster Theatre.

What is Monster Theatre?
Monster Theatre is an 11 year old independent theatre company that creates, develops and tours original plays. Most of our plays are comedies, but our mandate is more serious. Our plays are always based on history or mythology. Actually my one-man play this summer is sort of about what inspires all of our shows. We believe that the human experience is more or less unchanged for the last ten thousand years – we are born, we live, we come of age, we fall in love, we have children, we die – and that stories are like signposts on the road of life to help us cope. This is why the same story pattern recur over and over, and we believe that it the artists duty to re-tell these stories, adding in their own details to make these archetypes relevant to their own time and place in the world.

…READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Cue To Cue Series, Theatre

Cue To Cue Series – Fifty Words

July 19, 2011

Here on Cue to Cue we’ll regularly feature in-depth previews and reviews of the shows that create the face of Vancouver theatre, as well as interviews with the local artists behind it all…

As the man outside my apartment scores my typing with maniacal singing and screaming, I realise there is theatre to be found everywhere. This week is no exception as an exciting crop of shows emerge in all corners of the city, despite the midsummer winter. Some highlights include Leaky Heaven Circus’ Project x (faust) on until July 24th at the Russian Hall, Dave Deveau’s Homecoming King at the Neanderthal Arts Festival, and Pipedream’s latest Adding Maching: The Musical on at Performance Works until July 24th. Lots of great shows continuing this week as well, such as a full line-up of shows at Bard on the Beach, and Theatre Under The Stars’ Bye Bye Birdie & Anything Goes on at Malkin Bowl.

This week I had a chance to chat up one of my favourite local artists, Aaron Craven. When I was in school I was fortunate enough to have fallen into one of Aaron’s classes at Studio On the Drive, and I can say for sure that his critical eye, generosity of knowledge, and sense of humour was a fundamental mentorship for future work. Plus he’s just all around awesome. Aside from his work as a coach he is a successful film and television actor, and a champion of the independent theatre community in Vancouver. An example of the latter is his current fundraising campaign for his upcoming production of Michael Weller’s Fifty Words which is set to run October 25-November 5th at the Cultch. While normally I feature productions a little closer on the horizon, this week we get to see a behind the scenes look at the real timeline of an independent project and how integral fundraising is in its success.

photo by Gordon Dumka

Can you tell us a little bit about your fundraising campaign?

Well we’re producing the Vancouver premiere of Michael Weller’s “Fifty Words” this fall at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Currently, we’re holding an online fundraiser on this site

As incentive for people to contribute, we are partnering with businesses to donate prize draws for our funders. Just a $5 contribution gets you automatically entered in the prize draws and funders of over $20 will receive perks like discounted tickets to our show, prize packages from our sponsors, bottles of wine and more. To date we’ve raised over $2300 and have until July 25th to reach our fundraising goal of $3000 online. We are also having a fundraiser at the Pal Theatre on August 6th, in conjunction with The Shameless Hussies theatre company. We’re going to have an improv show, some local musicians and some sexy 50/50 sellers parading around the party.

We’re also going after show sponsors by selling ad space on our website, playbills and press materials to local businesses. Not only will those businesses receive the ad space, but we include their updates on our email sendouts, Facebook posts, Twitter, etc, with the idea of cross pollination and a win/win for both parties. Sponsorship start at only $25 and details are in the sponsorship section of our website. We just received a $500 sponsorship for our upcoming showand have partnered with that restaurant, “Sorry Babushka” on Commercial Drive, to help them build their clientele through our web presence and they’re doing the same for us. To make theatre visible in this city, you have to partner up with other businesses and get your message out there in a creative and entertaining way. There are ways to do that within a small budget and we’re finding those ways.

Why have you decided to approach fundraising for Fifty Words differently than your other past-productions?

At a certain point in a theatre company’s evolution, people have to start being paid. Our past productions have been Equity Co-ops, in which all of the artists received an equal split of whatever profits were made, which were very little. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Cue To Cue Series, Theatre

Cue to Cue Series – Ghost Jail Theatre

June 14, 2011

Laurence Olivier once said that “in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture“.There is no better proof of this than in the umbilical connection between Vancouver’s thriving culture and bourgeoning theatre scene.

Here on Cue to Cue we’ll regularly feature in-depth previews and reviews of the shows that create the face of Vancouver theatre, as well as interviews with the local artists behind it all…

It’s the last week of Spring and there’s a fever in the air. While arguably no one is doing keg-stands after watching an English adaptation of a Russian stage piece, there is a palpable excitement in the theatre world comparable to a game day. Whether it be the seemingly overnight crop-up of amazing comedy/improvised theatre options, or the myriad of scripted works on stage right now, when game 7 is over there will still be something worth lining up to see.

Not many shows opening this week, although Bard on the Beach opens their second offering of the season The Merchant of Venice on until September 23rd. The 29th Annual Jessie Awards are on Monday at the Commodore, honouring some (but definitely not all) of the best theatre of last year in Vancouver. Continuing this week is Hairspray at the Arts Club (with Jay Brazeau back in full form), The Great Divorce at Pacific Theatre, and the must-see Forty Deuce at Little Mountain Gallery (seriously go see this, it’s unbelievable and full of talent/six-packs).

This week, tonight specifically, a great show is stealing some focus. While this feature sticks mostly to scripted work about town, I have had the great pleasure of watching and at times working with a group of Improvisers that have a format as close to capturing the highs and lows of a theatre piece, spontaneously, than I could have ever imagined possible. Ghost Jail Theatre‘s format is a Toronto export but features some of the best Improv talent around. I had a chance to chat with one of said talented people, Kaitlin Fontana, and she provided some insight into the collective super-mind of Ghost Jail:

What is Ghost Jail?

Ghost Jail is a comedy show. Seriously, it’s a really funny comedy show with a fantastic audience.

Each show we create comedy based on a theme chosen at random from the audience. With no forethought or notes we make up scenes and stories and write impromptu monologues about the theme. The things we say about it are funny. And sometimes they’re sad. By always – and I mean always- we laugh our faces off and have the best time. We have so much fun with each other and the audience (and the beers and jokes)…

Who is Ghost Jail?

Ghost Jail is Ian Rowe, Caitlin Howden, (the founders) Kaitlin Fontana, Alistair Cook, Tegan Verheul, Craig Anderson, Devin Mackenzie, Christine Bortolin, and you…who should totally come.

It’s true–the audience is one of the best parts of our show. They keep it awesome.

What makes this show different from most of the Improv shows available in Vancouver?

One.

Our audience. They are a bunch of regular people who are easy to hang out around and with. There are comedians, but not just comedians.

Two.

We have a big, friendly cast that’s more or less a Supergroup of Vancouver’s best improvisers: from Instant Theatre, the Sunday Service, and Pump Trolley, for a start.

Plus, we’re writing make-em-ups and performing make-em-ups at the same time, which is kind of like playing piano and drums at the same time. Hard, but super cool looking!

What do you love about Improvising?

Ghost Jail loves community. It’s our biggest goal to do comedy (duh) that people like and isn’t stupid (dur-duh), but it’s our second biggest goal to bring people together. After our shows we hang out and talk to you, because we want to create a place where people come to meet each other and enjoy good art, as well as just sitting there laughing and drinking. A happening, if you will…if you’re a hippie. Hippies, you should totally come!

Also, It’s so fun. We love to laugh and make up things with an audience and our friends. It exists once and then never again and we’re all in on the joke.

What would you say the major differences are in producing a scriptless show and those with one?

Most of us do sketch, or some form of written work on the side (some of us are even on the TV on occasion!). They feed into each other, and they are definitely related. But improv is the more relaxing one. As a result, the production of an improv show is more fun and relaxed. You won’t forget your lines, for one thing.

Anything can happen. Then it does.

What’s next for Ghost Jail?

Ghost Jail is going to enjoy the summer, during which we may indeed do a show or two. We’re also going to be showing around newly-transplanted Torontonian and Second City alumna, Caitlin Howden, who has much to eat and do in this fair city of ours. Fans can follow us on Twitter @ghostjail and online at www.ghostjail.com.

You can check them out for yourselves tonight at the Waldorf, 8pm, where they host “Tiki-Wha?” a Ghost Jail show featuring live music from Crystal Dorval, an improvised musical story from Aaron Reed of Sunday Service, and more delightful guests and friends.

Ghost Jail Theatre (photo provided by artist)

Next week we feature Theatre happenings and in-depth features, but ’til then: @viaplays on twitter or email me at cuetocue@vancouverisawesome.com

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Comedy, Cue To Cue Series, The Arts, Theatre

Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood North

June 10, 2011

A reader, Martin Butler, sent me an email about this story and I couldn’t resist sharing it. I felt it was especially relevant what with the recent aquisition of the 100 year old York theatre, and the recent demolition of the beautiful but neglected Pantages (the oldest living Vaudeville theatre). A little reminder of the history behind our aging walls:

the 1930s, two long-forgotten Vancouver theatre actors paved the way for the development of Hollywood North. They were husband and wife team of David Clyde and Gaby Fay, who became better known as Fay Holden, an MGM star during the 1930s/40s. Their extensive credits (over 120 movies) include some of the highest profile Oscar winning movies of their day: “The Philadelphia Story”, “Mrs. Miniver”, “Now Voyager”, “You Can’t Take It With You”, and they appeared with stars such as: W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, David Niven, Mickey Rooney and James Stewart. David Clyde appeared in the musical Rose-Marie, the first full-length talkie filmed in Vancouver in 1936.

1940s Life magazine MGM Cavalacade-of-Stars group photo (featuring Fay Holden)

In 1929, after a successful New York and London stage career, they moved to Vancouver, bought and refurbished the Empress Theatre and launched a theatre company which became Vancouver’s leading professional theatre company pre-WWII. Their Empress stood at the corner of Hastings and Gore Streets, and was the largest stage west of Chicago at the time. On the 1929 opening night of their first Vancouver show, telegrams of congratulations were received from key figures of the era, such as Laurel and Hardy, and J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan. The productions proved to be big hits, attracting mass audiences at the same time that talking pictures were revolutionizing cinema and Vancouverites were seeking an escape from the post-Wall Street crash and the subsequent Depression. A 1933 Vancouver Sun article on the Empress notes that, between the stage hands, electricians, designers and actors, the Empress Theatre had a payroll of $1,500 a week, which qualified it as a significant employer in Vancouver. The British Guild Players’ Vancouver productions were usually frothy, forget-the-depression comedies that had been hits in London and Broadway such as “Bunty Pulls The Strings”, “Innocent Ann” and “Almost a Honeymoon” or seasonal shows like “Peter Pan” and “Rip Vancouver Winkle”.

David and Fay lived on Ontario Street between 1930 and 1938 and insulated their home with theatre posters. Their role in the development of Vancouver theatre community and Hollywood North remained undiscovered until the posters were revealed during a house renovation more than 50 years later. Their theatrical legacy continues in their old Vancouver neighbourhood, as one of Canada’s leading theatre and film acting and production programs, Studio 58, is based at Langara College, located directly across from Fay and David’s old home.

Many Thanks to Martin Butler, the VIA reader who not only sent me the tip but is also the current owner of the 1928 house. He and his wife Jennifer discovered the story after beginning renovations in the basement, and finding the connection between their home’s previous owners, the empress, and Hollywood North.

Neat!

@viaplays or cuetocue@vancouverisawesome.com

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Cue To Cue Series, Film, Our History, The Arts, Theatre

Cue To Cue- A Conversation with Christopher Gaze

June 7, 2011

Laurence Olivier once said that “in a great city, or even in a small city or a village, great theatre is the outward and visible sign of an inward and probable culture“.

There is no better proof of this than in the umbilical connection between Vancouver’s thriving culture and bourgeoning theatre scene. Here on Cue to Cue we’ll regularly feature in-depth previews and reviews of the shows that create the face of Vancouver theatre, as well as interviews with the local artists behind it all…

I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s already June. The sun is shining, there are smiles all around, and behind closed doors (in most cases) a show is opening and waiting to be seen by a sun-kissed audience. Some of the highlights for this week include the Big-Bone Equity Co-Op production and Vancouver Premiere of Fourty-Deuce on until June 24th at Little Mountain Gallery, Itsazoo’s site-specific Bridge Mix on at at Metro Parkade on W.Pender St. until June 25th, and United Players’ Our Class on until June 26th. Bard on the Beach has begun previews for their 22nd season (and first season in their new tent) with As You Like It (which opens this week).

A few weeks ago I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Bard’s Artistic Director Christopher Gaze. He is a legend. Beyond his status in the theatre community, he is extremely kind, generous of spirit, and well-spoken. Whether it be the many theatre artists that are his peers, the cultural boards he holds a seat on, or in the crowds of the audiences down in Vanier Park, the fan base is large. It is little surprise that his repetory company has become one of the best in the country, and continues to be a leader in the development of local young artists. Christopher took some time to speak with me at the Bard offices and the conversation was insightful, passionate, and at times candid. Recommended reading for artists, lovers, and the in-between. Enjoy!

Christopher Gaze (photo Yukiko Onley)

How would you describe this season?

I think it has a good blend, a good balance of risk, and ease, and delight. So, there’s something really there for all punters.

We had an opportunity with this current season, perhaps, to change the program what with the difficulties we got into with our mainstage theatre last year. And we considered other plays that maybe were even more celebratory, fun and comedic, but we stuck to our guns. As You Like It was already programmed, and we stuck to it. And having David Mackay direct it, you know that the comedy will be there. David has tried to find the heart of it, which will make it beautiful, so it’s not just light and easy.

Is there a different kind of excitement when you program the lesser performed/seen shows?

There’s drama. There’s challenge in the histories, especially Henry VI. We’ve done lots of plays of Shakespeare over the years that, I think, nobody has seen, but let’s say 2 percent of our audience might have seen before like in Stratford, England, or Ashland or something like that.

But, the rare plays are an opportunity for people that really admire Shakespeare. I just spoke to the acting company for this production and I said, “You are going to get the opportunity as actors to be in a play that 99.9 percent of actors will never get to be in, including me.” So it’s kind of exciting for them. Then to finish with the thrill and excitement of the really great work Richard III–fantastic!

After 22 years how do you keep things fresh when you are programming a season from the same canon of works?

It’s tempting more and more to go for productions that really work. When you pull off a production of Shakespeare, really do it well and you know it, it’s really tempting to bring that production back. I’m desperately trying to resist that temptation because I think it’s exciting for our audiences to see a play that perhaps they only saw five or six years ago, but see it again and say “Wow, it’s like I never saw it before. It’s just so different and so interesting–things about it that I never heard before, but now I’m hearing.”

We’ve had this noble goal of getting through the canon by year 25. That guides me and others who I consult about programming. But it would be a recipe for suicide to shove in three plays you’ve never done before. Choose a season of rarely done Shakespeare works, and it’s going to kill the Festival. Why do that?

So, I suppose I try to be as canny as I can in programming. Smart, challenging where we can be challenging, and take a risk where I feel we can. I feel a very strong sense of fiscal responsibility. I feel a–I think I’m a born marketer. It’s not my job, but I think it just love it. And it comes out of enthusiasm. I want everyone to come have a good time and share it all, you know? You need to get a good balance, that’s all it is.

Why do you think people are able to watch Shakespeare, sometimes the same play, over and over?

I think as Rosalind says in As You Like It when she talks about love, “my affection hath an unknown bottom, like the Bay of Portugal.”. …READ THE REST OF THIS ENTRY>>>

Written by: Sarah Szloboda |
Category: Cue To Cue Series, Theatre