Every year at this time, I get out my files and browse back through the year that’s coming to an end. And every year, it’s a reminder of just how many amazing people and groups there are in this community, bringing the arts to life in every conceivable way.
As has become my tradition, I’m looking back over some of the highlights of the past year to bestow my annual “awards” on the people and groups who helped to shape our city’s arts and cultural scene in 2016.
To these, and to all who create and perform art in our city, I offer my thanks and the warmest blessings of the season.
BEST FAMILY-FRIENDLY FUN
In a city full of young families, it’s a blessing to have arty offerings aimed at the young set – and that’s why I just have to salute the ArtStarts workshop series. The series happens monthly at River Market, bringing an eclectic assortment of performances and hands-on workshops to local audiences.
This past year alone, the series has seen such diverse offerings as a narrated story ballet, The Jabberwocky, presented by ZarYevka Ballet; the Scottish-Asian fusion music of Kimchi Haggis; the Latin music and dance of Rumba Calzada; digital media art with Carolyn Sullivan; and West African percussion with Fana Soro.
For bringing all these top-notch artists to town and making them accessible to everyone – all the workshops are free, and you don’t have to sign up ahead – I offer this hats off to ArtStarts and River Market.
BEST OLD-TIMER (a.k.a. Still Going Strong After All These Years)
They’ve been offering up performances in New Westminster for nearly 80 years – and, since their inception in 1937, they’ve been a group known around the province for their dedication to the world of community theatre.
It’s a genuine privilege to have the Vagabond Players in our midst, presenting all manner of comedies and dramas at prices that remain affordable for local audiences. This past year has seen them venture back into the world of the musical with Forever Plaid – not to mention offering up a world premiere of a work by local playwright Elizabeth Elwood, Body and Soul. The veteran theatre group also now partners with newcomer Alchemy Theatre to offer up summer Shakespeare for local audiences (this past year, it was The Taming of the Shrew).
For continuing to do what they do so well, and for continuing to innovate for the future, I offer this salute to the Vagabond Players. Long may they tread the boards.
A MOMENT TO REMEMBER
Well, actually, it was lots of moments, but anyone who recalls me waxing rhapsodic about Warren Kimmel’s star turn as Tevye in Royal City Musical Theatre’s Fiddler on the Roof won’t be surprised to see that I must give him special mention in this year-end list.
If I Were A Rich Man couldn’t have sounded better sung by Topol himself, and more than a few audience members (including yours truly) went home rather smitten with Kimmel.
Kimmel’s performance was so exquisite and so genuinely moving that it kept audiences talking for long after the production ended. And it reminded me again how fortunate we are to have RCMT in town, presenting high-calibre Broadway productions right here at home – for prices that families can still afford to pay.
I raise my glass to Kimmel and to the whole company – actors, crew and volunteers - with a thank you and a l’chaim. You made our world brighter this year, and for that, we owe you our gratitude.
THE ALL IN THE FAMILY AWARD
Theatre always seems to run in families – and, in New Westminster, you can’t escape the presence of the Elcheshen-Norris and Brooke families.
I give my salute to these two enthusiastic families for their continued success with Shadows and Dreams Theatre Company in offering up summer Shakespeare productions at Queen’s Park. This past season’s steampunk imagining of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was a remount of the company’s very first outing, in recognition of their 10th anniversary.
Husband-and-wife teams Stephen Elcheshen and Kerri Norris and Patricia and Nigel Brooke have involved their children since the beginning – that would be the Elcheshens, Aeron and Cayleigh, and the Brookes, Jack, Sam and Katie, who’ve been growing up in front of audiences’ eyes every year.
Together, these fantastic families have continued to make Shakespeare fun, free and family-friendly.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
THE LIFE IN HARMONY AWARD
Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a choir geek from way back, so this is an “award” I bestow from the bottom of my heart – not just to one group, but to the genuinely amazing collection of choral groups and vocal ensembles that are making themselves heard in New Westminster.
There are large community choirs such as Amabilis Singers (of which, yes, I am a member) and the Douglas College Chorus, the a cappella ensembles VanDeca and Quayside Voices, the Anvil Community Choir, the Camp Kerry Choir, and a new no-barrier community choir at St. Barnabas Church – not to mention the delightful Vivo Children’s Choir and a host of school and church choirs making music on a regular basis.
Plus, we’ve been treated to performances by top Vancouver choirs including musica intima and the Vancouver Cantata Singers.
Choral fans know that Vancouver has a reputation for being a hotbed of choral music. New Westminster, it seems, is determined not to be left behind.
Here’s to even more singing in our wonderful city in 2017.
BEST NEW EVENT
There’s nothing I like more on this beat than meeting the young, up-and-coming performers and movers and shakers who are making things happen on all fronts.
This past year brought us the return of two familiar faces from their NWSS days: Howard Dai and Tiger Xu, who created an innovative new living-room-style open mike night at the Queen’s Park Bandshell. The Open Stage series ran this summer, giving young artists (and everyone else) a chance to share their talents, and offering audiences a chance to come and hang out under the summer sky and enjoy their performances.
It was just such a great idea: Set up some furniture, some cosy rugs and pillows, some board games, some snacks and a sound system, invite people out, and see what happens.
It brought new life to the park, and a new youthful vibe to the city’s growing list of events.
For that, Howard and Tiger’s Open Stage gets my vote for my favourite new event of the year.
BEST NEW COMMUNITY HUB
If you haven’t been to the Anvil Centre Theatre yet, make it your mission to do so in 2017. The wonderful little theatre in the downtown centre is becoming quite a hub for performances and events of all kinds.
Over the past year, we’ve seen all kinds of programming at the theatre – programming that, in past years, local audiences would have had to travel to Vancouver for. Performances offer something for all ages - from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Tiny Tots series and Green Thumb Theatre for the young folks in the house, to an array of musical and theatrical performances for the grown-up set.
Coming in the new year, local audiences will be able to enjoy first-class musical theatre from the Arts Club on Tour (with Bittergirl: The Musical in February) and from our very own Patrick Street Productions, which is bringing A Little Night Music to the stage in May.
Having a theatre of this kind right here in our own backyard – and in the downtown core, right next to SkyTrain – is an amazing boon for the city. And it’s sure to be part of the reason why before you know it, Vancouver audiences will be looking to New Westminster when they want to know what’s hot on the cultural scene.
BEST COMMUNITY BUILDER
I mentioned the Arts Council of New Westminster in my roundup last year, and I just can’t help but do it again. It seems that just about every week, I was receiving a notice about another event or new series happening in the city – all thanks to this wonderful, volunteer-driven organization. (In fact, according to our archives, there were some 63 mentions of the Arts Council of New Westminster in the paper over the past year, which goes some distance to explaining just what a pervasive force they are in the city.)
What with the Gallery at Queen’s Park, Music by the River, the Uptown Unplugged series, the ArtsToGo workshops at Royal City Centre and in various community locations, the Last Mondays at the Movies series, the new Artovations workshop series exploring the business side of the artist’s life (in partnership with the New West Chamber of Commerce and 100 Braid Street Studios) and a whole lot more, this group has been responsible for helping the arts to flourish in our fair city.
Their willingness to extend hands and work with all kinds of partner groups and individuals makes them a hub for all things artistic and cultural in New Westminster.
To everyone involved with the organization, I extend my thanks.
Of course, any list of highlights inevitably leaves off more people than it includes. Rest assured, if you are an artist or an arts group who I dealt with over the past year, your contributions to our city have been seen and appreciated.
To all of the above folks, and to all of the unsung heroes who are quietly making our city a better place to live, my sincere thanks.
Here’s to a 2017 full of creativity and an explosion of culture.
Do you have a favourite arts moment or memorable artist from 2016? Share your ideas with Julie, [email protected].
