New Westminster talent is front and centre in a new cabaret performance series in Vancouver.
The IMPROMPTU Cabaret Festival opened at the Havana Theatre on Commercial Drive March 1 and continues to March 12.
New Westminster’s Peter Jorgensen is curating the festival and has helped to create individual one-hour cabaret performances in conjunction with a list of some of the region’s most talented performers.
“ ‘Impromptu’ has two meanings: ‘done without being planned, organized or rehearsed’ and ‘a short piece of music, especially a solo, that is reminiscent of an improvisation,’” Jorgensen says in a press release. “It reflects both a musical idea as well as the spur-of-the-moment inspiration to make it happen. We want each performer to present an hour full of song that feels personal, intimate and a little off-the-cuff.”
Performers run the gamut of genres, including musical theatre, blues, folk, pop and rock.
Among the locals featured are Colleen Winton, a theatre veteran whose show is dubbed The Show Must Go On – sharing some of her tales of filling in at the last moment and becoming known as a “quick study,” as well as exploring what it takes to survive a life in theatre. You can catch her onstage on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. and Friday, March 10 at 6 p.m.
Another New West talent is Madeleine Suddaby – soon to be seen starring in Royal City Musical Theatre’s Anything Goes – whose cabaret, Act Your Age, explores looking for a place in a world of “age-appropriate” types and boxes. She’s onstage Saturday, March 4 at 9 p.m. and Saturday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $20 apiece, or $15 each for double-headers. You can find out more at www.impromptucabaret.com.
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING
Get ready for some pre-St. Patrick’s Day fun in the next Music at Queens concert.
The Irish Wakers are making a return to town for a concert on Saturday, March 11 at Queens Avenue United Church.
The four-person group offers up arrangements of traditional Irish tunes, reels, jigs, hornpipes and more – complete with fiddle, uilleann pipes, whistles, guitar and bodhran. Their concert is being held in the church hall, bistro-style, and refreshments will be available for sale.
Enter from the side door on Queens Avenue.
Tickets are limited, so be sure to buy ahead. Call 604-522-1606 or see www.queensavenue.org for all the details. Queens Avenue United Church is at 529 Queens Ave.
YOUNG ARTISTS WANTED
Young artists are being invited to take part in an upcoming Youth and Reconciliation exhibition.
Momentum Youth Arts is looking for submissions from young artists (up to age 25) for the upcoming exhibition at the Anvil Centre’s Community Art Space. It’s set to run from June 5 to Aug. 4, with its gala opening June 21 to mark National Aboriginal Day.
The juried exhibition is on the themes of reconciliation and cultural appropriation. Submissions are open to all youth artists, but priority may be given to aboriginal artists.
Artists can submit work to [email protected]. (You may also include information if you self-identify as aboriginal.)
The deadline to submit is March 12. Check out www.momentumyouthfest.com for details.
SOUNDS OF SIMON AND GARFUNKEL
Hello, darkness, my old friend …
Yes, the classic sounds of Simon and Garfunkel are coming to life onstage in New West. You can catch a tribute to the dynamic duo, performed by Mick Dalla-Vee and Michael Sicoly, onstage at the Columbia Theatre on Friday, March 17 at 8 p.m.
Doors open at 7 p.m., and tickets are just $25 for the night of memorable music.
Check out www.thecolumbia.ca or call 604-522-4500.
CLASSICAL CROSSOVER
Here’s a heads-up for fans of classical crossover music.
Gerphil Flores will be performing on Saturday, March 18 at the Anvil Centre, offering up a repertoire of soft classics that blend classical with pop, rock, Latin and other genres.
She’ll be joined by Attila Dobak, another classical crossover artist who has become known as one of the “barihunks” – for the uninitiated, that billing is used to describe a group of the sexiest baritone singers from the world of opera.
You can get tickets for $50, or VIP tickets (including a glass of wine) for $100.
See www.anvilcentre.com for all the details.
POETRY CELEBRATION
World Poetry New West is marking International Women’s Day and ushering in spring with a new evening of poetry on Wednesday, March 22.
Everyone is invited out to the session, which runs from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at New Westminster Public Library (716 Sixth Ave.).
Alan Hill, the city’s new poet laureate, will be featured, along with past poet laureates Candice James and Don Benson, plus Evelyn Benson, Tony Antonias, Janet Kvammen, Chris Williamson Ronney and Nazreen Pejvack. Lavana La Brey is the featured musician.
The evening will be hosted by Ariadne Sawyer and James Mullin, and it also includes an open mike, plus a raffle and refreshments. Call 604-526-4729 or see www.worldpoetry.ca for more details.
Do you have an item for Lively City? Send arts and entertainment suggestions to Julie, [email protected], or find her on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
