Joseph Planta's Commentary - thecommentary.ca

Tuesday, 28 September 2004

Hockey-free plays, musicals and concerts

By Joseph Planta

VANCOUVER - With summer finally over, the inboxes here at thecommentary.ca are full of tidbits of items and news, events to go see, and things to do in this fair city. So, in the spirit of giving you ideas on stuff to do this fall, especially if you're hockey-deprived, here's a bit of an items column on some of the neat stuff that's crossed my desk the last little while.

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First of all, catching some of the 23rd Annual Vancouver International Film Festival's fare, is highly recommended. www.viff.org is the site, and be sure to get tickets, and fast. We were going to see one of these documentaries with the expected left-wing screed as its thesis last week, but they were sold out. There's a ton of stuff to see, hitting every angle of the film palate. Visit their site, and listen to the interview I did with the Festival Director, Alan Franey. That's in the On the Line page [www.thecommentary.ca/ontheline].

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Remember my chat with Marty Beckerman, who went On the Line with me a couple weeks back? We talked about his last book, Generation S.L.U.T., which is actually a pretty good book, and has gotten great response. As well, he let us in on the news that he's working away at a new book, the title of which is "Nation of Retards: America's Sexxxiest Young Journalist Exposes the Bastardly Forces Keeping You Stupid." Anyway, he doesn't need this item in this column, because last week he made it as an item in a far more meaningful column, that of Lloyd Grove's in the New York Daily News. It seems that he and another young writer have had words. Anyway, await with me, his forthcoming book. It's about politics, the culture wars, and it'll doubtless be in his inimitable and raucous style.

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Triptych Theatricals, a local theatre company is putting together a production of the Stephen Sondheim musical "review" Putting it Together. That'll run at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island, October 1st to the 16th. Tickets are available at the Festival Box Office, which you can access online at www.festivalboxoffice.com, or you can call them at 604.257.0366. I'm looking forward to this staging, because I've seen it a few times on television, starring Carol Burnett. And Sondheim's music is wildly entertaining as it is moving.

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The Vancouver Symphony is kicking off their 2004/2005 season with a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, Saturday, October 2nd, and Monday, October 4th. Of course, it's at the Orpheum, and of course, maestro Bramwell Tovey will be swinging his baton. He'll be joined by the mezzo-soprano Susan Platts, and the women of the Vancouver Bach Choir, as well as the Vancouver Bach Children's Chorus. They promise no intermission, which is the way Mahler's third ought to be heard, so they say.

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Now sticking with the Symphony for this next item, Friday, October 8th, and Saturday, October, 9th, they've got a terrific program set with Jeff Tyzik conducting. It's called, Hollywood Royalty: Music from Great Film Composers. Scores by Jerome Moross, Elmer Bernstein, Max Steiner, and John Williams, among others, will be featured. Steiner's Gone with the Wind theme is on the playlist, as is my personal favourite, The Theme from The Magnificent Seven.

Here's something interesting about the maestro Tyzik: he's worked with an eclectic group of artists that include, get this, Dr. Billy Taylor, John Pizzarelli, Art Garfunkel, Tony Bennett, and Marilyn Horne.

Check out the VSO's website for details, ticket information, and times: www.vancouversymphony.ca.

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Tape, what is described as a fast-moving psychological drama, will debut as the debut production at the new Squire John's Playhouse at the Beaumont Studios at 316 West 5th Avenue, beginning October 15th and running to the 30th. Tape by Stephen Belber, weaves contemporary social commentary and humour, that invokes a moral debate. And here's where it gets intriguing, it centres around a group of friends who have a dramatic reunion ten years later. It all centres around a tape, and what this tape contains. The tag says it all: "One event. Three messed up lives. One night to make things right."

Matthew Harrison is the director of this production, and he's got two casts performing the play, and each night, there'll be two performances. It's a rather ingenious way of staging a production, because you get to see two different interpretations. Tickets are $20.00, and that'll get you into see both shows, which are at 8.00 and 9.15 pm.

Who needs hockey now, no? For tickets call: 778.371.9629.

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The Massey Theatre in New Westminster, Friday, October 22nd, has a neat sounding show called "From Madrigal to McCartney." It's starring the British vocal group, Cantabile. They're a humorous lot, that can invoke The Beatles, Sinatra, the Mills Brothers, Pavarotti and more in a single performance. And if you're into Monty Python too, then you're set. Cantabile is making its debut in Western Canada, having previously played London's West End, Covent Garden, and the royal yacht Britannia, among others. For tickets, like Putting it Together, you'll want to hit up the Festival Box Office, www.festivalboxoffice.com, or 604.257.0366.

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For one night only, Sunday, November 7th, at the Centre for the Performing Arts, Smokey Joe's Café will bow. Its subtitle says it all: "The Songs of Leiber and Stoller." The revue featuring the music and lyrics of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller has been a boffo smash on Broadway that was nominated for seven Tony Awards, and whose cast recording won a Grammy. Songs like "Hound Dog," "Stand By Me," "On Broadway," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Love Potion #9," were for many, the underscore of their generation. It sounds like it'll be a great night of entertainment, and because of the production's reputation, it's highly recommended. Tickets are at Ticketmaster.

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And finally, a bit of inside the beltway news . . . In April, this column reported on the engagement of two of my former colleagues from Tupper, Matthew Szwaba and Rocio Banda. I last saw the two of them in June, when they helped celebrate The Commentary's fifth anniversary. Happy were they, and she, waving around the delightful band he had designed.

Alas, a wedding for the two is not to be.

The newly minted Rocio Porras called two Fridays ago, after sending out a mass e-mail stating that she had just gotten married. And because the new hubby lived in Los Angeles, she'd be moving south on Tuesday. She volunteered that though the marriage was quick, she had known Mr. Porras since childhood. She also volunteered that she and Matthew just didn't work out.

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