Pied Pumkin Trio
Canadian folk band Pied Pumkin Trio will be rolling into town to perform July 27 at Blue Frog Studios, 1328 Johnston Rd. for what may be their final tour.
The trio – consisting of Joe Mock’s guitar and vocal harmonies, Shari Ulrich’s violin and Rick Scott’s dulcimer – has been making music for more than 25 years, but have also enjoyed extensive solo success.
Mock, who lives in France and has been performing in Europe, released two albums, The Jozu, based on adventures in Tokyo, and most recently, Capgun Cowboy.
Ulrich has also earned her fair share of success as the recipient of two Junos and a John Lennon Songwriting Award, while Rick Scott has been nominated for three Juno Awards for his seven children’s albums. Scott has also won NAPPA Gold, Parents’ Choice and iParenting Media Awards in the United States. In September, he is set to release a musical novel called The Great Gazzoon.
For tickets to the show, go to www.bluefrogstudios.ca/newshows.html or call 604-542-3055.
Little Shop of Horrors
Waiting in the wings for late summer is a new collaboration between Fighting Chance and the White Rock Players Club, the popular musical Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Ryan Mooney (Nunsense, Lend Me A Tenor) at the Coast Capital Playhouse, Aug. 8-25.
Announced for the lead role of Seymour, the flower-shop nebbish who nurtures an unusual plant with extraterrestrial origins, is hometown favourite Kerry O’Donovan (also a noted pianist and musical director for Vancouver professional productions) while Adam Olgui (last seen in The Mikado for Fraser Valley Gilbert and Sullivan Society) takes on a challenging double role.
For tickets and showtime information, visit www.whiterockplayers.ca or call 604-536-7535.
Dream tickets
Tickets are all sold for the Beach House Theatre Society’s eagerly-awaited production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, scheduled for a brief run at Crescent Beach this summer.
Directors Candace Radcliffe and Rick Harmon’s production inaugural Beachhouse Theatre production will be presented Aug. 15-19 under a tent near Blackie Spit.
The poetic – yet often rollicking and earthy – tale of mistaken identity, young love gone awry and collisions between mortals and the fairy kingdom provides roles for Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan society regulars, plus talented alumni from many Radcliffe and Harmon’s celebrated Earl Marriott Secondary productions.
The talented cast includes James Walker (as Theseus and Oberon), Dana Schindel (Titania), Roger Hussen (Egeus), Rylan Schinkel (Hermia), Nick Hugh (Lysander), Anne vanLeeuwen (Helena), Sheena Johnson (Hippolyta), Sarah English (Philostrate), Adam Olgui (Peter Quince), Paul Richardson (Flute), Reg Pillay (Snout), Rory Tucker (Snug), Nicki Carbonneau (Starveling), Paula Cooper (Peaseblossom), Anna O’ Brien (Cobweb), Russel Chartrand (Bottom) and Marina Benitez-Lazzarotto (Puck).
More information is posted on the company website, www.beachhousetheatre.org
Red Beans and Rice
The White Rock Traditional Jazz Society’s regular season of Sunday afternoon live hot jazz music and dance sessions (usually 3-6 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion Crescent Branch 240, 2643 128 St.) have wound down for the summer but that doesn’t mean doing without the sounds of vintage jazz.
House band Red Beans and Rice, led by trumpeter Rice Honeywell Sr., will continue to play most Sundays through the summer, 3-6 p.m. at the legion.
But there’s also another chance to enjoy the local favourites, On Friday nights, 7-10 p.m. they play at Porter’s Bistro, 21611 48 Ave. in Langley’s historic Murrayville (reservations 604-530-5297).
Golden Cactus
Chris MacClure and Marilyn Hurst’s Golden Cactus Studio is now open at 15177 Russell Ave. (across from the whale mural).
Together with their studio partner, glass and multi-media artist Trish Pollock, the painters look forward to meeting with the public and fellow artists at the new studio, which they’d like to see become a hub of White Rock’s evolving uptown arts scene.
As part of ongoing activities they will hold a weekly drop-in for artists every Wednesday from 5-8 p.m., at the studio, with a standing invitation to “come by and share ideas, inspiration and camaraderie.”
For more information visit www.chrismacclure.com or www.marilynhurst.com
Samphire Fusion
Two artists well known on the Semiahmoo Peninsula – particularly as members of the Crescent Beach-based Artists At Hand collective – will be highlighted in a mother-daughter exhibition at Granville Island’s Circle Craft Gallery in July.
Pottery by Adele Samphire and glasswork by Lisa Samphire will be featured in the gallery’s Samphire Fusion show, running in the gallery until July 31.
The Circle Craft Shop and Gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 1-1666 Johnston St., Granville Island, Vancouver.
For more information, call 604-669-8021 or visit www.circlecraft.net
Mystery classic
Prepare for chills and thrills – Peninsula Productions brings Agatha Christie’s legendary 1952 mystery The Mousetrap to White Rock, July 11-28 at the Coast Capital Playhouse (8 p.m. performances).
“We really feel that the Peninsula is ripe for high-quality entertainment of all kinds and we intend to fill the gap,” said Geoff Giffin, partner in Peninsula Productions with artistic director Wendy Bollard.
“Wendy has an extensive background in the arts and is thrilled to be putting her experience to good use in her hometown.”
Something like a live-action version of Clue, the theatre classic which has run continuously in London since its debut 60 years ago, concerns mystery and misdeeds at historic Monkswell Manor, recently renovated as a guest house.
A strange assortment of characters – a newlywed couple, a persnickety older woman, a flamboyant young man, an army major, a mannish woman, an unexpected guest and a keen young police sergeant – are stranded at the manor by a snowstorm. News of a recent murder arrives, along with the suspicion that the murderer may be one of the group.
Among players who will be well-known locally in The Mousetrap are Paul Kloegman (The Cat’s Meow), Lori Tych (The Lion In Winter), Sam Gordon (A Bedfull of Foreigners) and, in a departure from her usual public appearances as a singer, Laine Henderson, in the lead role of Monkswell Manor’s new owner Mollie Ralston.
Also in the cast are Stephen Benjamin Fowler, Spenser Dunlop and Everett Shea.
The local production of The Mousetrap is part of the 60th anniversary celebrations worldwide for the venerable whodunit.
Tickets are $23 ($18 seniors) and can be purchased at www.whiterockplayers.ca or in person at The Coast Capital Playhouse, 1532 Johnston Rd.
Gala opening was July 13, and there is a matinee July 22.
For more information, visit peninsulaproductions.org
Rent
White Rock’s Chelsea Tucker plays the role of Maureen in director Ryan Mooney’s next Fighting Chance production, the musical Rent, running until Aug. 5 at the Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St., Granville Island).
The groundbreaking Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning rock opera by Jonathan Larson was a huge hit for Fighting Chance in 2009, breaking box-office records at North Vancouver’s Presentation House with 29 sold-out performances.
“Our first production of Rent really put us on the map as a theatre company and also introduced some phenomenal talents to Vancouver audiences,” Mooney said.
“While it would be easy to just recreate our hit 2009 production we’ve tried to bring a new edge and excitement to the show as well as many talented new faces.”
Among members of the ensemble who will be familiar to White Rock and Surrey audiences are Cathy Wilmot, Nicole Smashnuk (Lend Me A Tenor) and Paul Rowell.
Performances are at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees starting July 21.
For tickets ($15 to $40), visit www.ticketstonight.ca or call 604-684-2787.
Mystery dinner
Producer Trevor Jenkins’ popular Grim Reaper mystery dinner theatre shows are becoming a monthly event at Beecher Street Café in Crescent Beach, starting with The Case of the Strawberry Letter, Thursday, July 26 at 7 p.m.
The show invites the audience to participate and play detective (and enjoy a multi-course meal) while professional actors play out an Agatha Christie-style plot.
In The Case of the Strawberry Letter, three innocent-seeming people each receive a letter inviting them to partake in a strawberry festival – at which someone was murdered the night before.
“Somebody is poisoned – but it wasn’t in the strawberries or in the cream,” said Jenkins, who added he is looking forward to, bringing the mysteries to the cafe regularly in conjunction with Beecher Street proprietor Rob Ahlgren.
Price per person is $55 (including dinner but not including tax or gratuity).
For reservations, call 604-538-1964.