It's a feather in UVic Farquhar Auditorium's cap to be the opening venue for the 2014 Canadian tour of the Barenaked Ladies. If you're a fan, you'll want to get online at 9:30 am Thursday October 31st when tickets are released. The Barenaked Ladies hit the road this winter embarking on a 2014 Canada tour. The band has a lot to celebrate, surpassing their 25th anniversary and the release of their 12th album, Grinning Streak in 2013. Their … [Read more...]
Valdy at UVic’s Farquhar Auditorium October 12, 2013
October 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
As a child of the West Coast in the 1970s, the music of Valdy was the music of my generation. Who can forget "Play Me A Rock and Roll Song", "Simple Life", "Bitter Green" or "Sonny's Dream"? In later years though, I came to know Valdy as the tireless advocate for literacy and his support of the annual PGIs For Literacy (founded by the late broadcaster Peter Gzowski), fundraisers for Literacy Victoria (and many other organizations across … [Read more...]
Voices From the Four Directions – a fundraiser for the Victoria Women’s Sexual Assault Centre
October 9, 2013 By 3 Comments
Voices From The Four Directions: The poetry and prose of International Who's Who Author and Poet, Dr. Stanley K. Freiberg, will be read by notable teachers, writers and actors on the evenings of October 18thand 19th at St. Ann’s Academy on 835 Humboldt Street. Proceeds from the evening will benefit the Victoria Women's Sexual Assault Centre. Retired from the University of Calgary, Freiberg is a William Blake scholar and specialist in … [Read more...]
A Place to Listen season two – interview with founder Daniel Brandes
October 4, 2013 By 2 Comments
A Place to Listen season two - interview with founder Daniel Brandes. In late 2012 I met Daniel Brandes (UVic M.Mus ’10), composer, curator and founder of a new listening series A Place to Listen, and in the process, found a musical home. What started for Brandes as one concert, a way to showcase music from the Wandelweiser collective, and fellow musicians and composers, has resulted in 10 concerts over a year, and the launch of a second … [Read more...]
CCPA’s Company C presents Lend Me A Tenor October 4-6th 2013
October 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
CCPA's Company C presents Lend Me A Tenor October 4-6th 2013. I’ve had a close connection with the Canadian College of Performing Arts, now celebrating their Sweet 16 season, since my son, Elliott Loran (Ride the Cyclone, Pretty Little Instincts) attended and graduated in 2007. For me personally, one of the highlights is watching a new generation of theatre artist make the transition from student to professional. One way to accomplish this … [Read more...]
Act Two – a fundraiser for Gotta Getta Gimmick – September 28 2013
September 23, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Act Two ~ a Musical Theatre Fundraiser and Party In support of Gotta Getta Gimmick Isn't it appropriate that Victoria's musical theatre company, Gotta Getta Gimmick, has scheduled a fundraiser/party for Culture Days? I got to know co-founders Brad L'Ecuyer and Clayton Baraniuk when my son attended the Canadian College of Performing Arts (they are both grads). He then went on to perform in their summer Butchart Garden shows. Since 2011 they … [Read more...]
A Fall of Theatre in Victoria BC 2013
September 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
A Fall of Theatre in Victoria BC 2013. November 26, 2013. Click for late November December shows. Fall has arrived, and one of the busiest theatre seasons in my recent memory begins. There are 17 shows (at last count) running in October alone. Rather than keep you waiting, I've decided to publish this post in preliminary fashion with dates up to the end of October. I'll add November and December shortly. We barely had a chance to … [Read more...]
University Centre Farquhar Auditorium 2013 2014 Season
September 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The University Centre Farquhar Auditorium presents an exciting line-up for the 2013-14 season. “We’re pleased to announce our 2013-14 season,” said Ian Case, Director of the University Centre Farquhar Auditorium. “We’re offering a world-class lineup of performances, bringing both top rated Canadian and internationally renowned artists to the Farquhar Auditorium.” The 2013-14 line-up includes presentations of Canadian singer songwriter Ron … [Read more...]
Victoria Fringe Festival 2013 – my “away” picks
August 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment
I'm a bit of a Fringe fanatic, seeing between 30 and 40 shows in any given year. For my "away" picks, I rely heavily on research, knowledge of past performances, and a network of fellow-Fringers (including Ottawa's Brian M Carroll who has greatly informed this year's picks). As always though, I encourage you to step outside your comfort zone, and take chances on shows you might not normally see - don't depend only on my picks; my tastes might … [Read more...]
Theatre SKAM presents Smalltown A Pickup Musical August 13 – 25 2013. A review.
August 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Theatre SKAM presents Smalltown A Pickup Musical, August 13 -25, 2013. If you grew up watching the antics of Rocky, Bullwinkle, Boris and Natasha on Saturday morning cartoons, or flickering silent films where the dastardly moustache-twirling villain tied pretty heroines to train tracks, you’ll feel right at home with the broad-brushed characters in Theatre SKAM’s Smalltown: A Pickup Musical (playing to August 25th in the Vic High field by the … [Read more...]
