Arts Club 2021-2022 Season

The Arts Club Theatre Company has announced their full 2021–2022 season programming, including a total of five in-person shows at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville St, Vancouver).

Arts Club 2021-2022 Season

This November will mark the first time that the company’s largest and most popular venue will be open to the public since the start of the pandemic.

The Arts Club’s post-pandemic transitional season will kick off with the Canadian premiere of Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol, which was revealed last month. This heartwarming new musical, adapted from Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, features music and lyrics by the iconic Dolly Parton.

The four other shows are Made in Italy, a musical coming of age in 1970s Alberta; Kim’s Convenience, the Canadian comedy phenomenon; ‘Da Kink in my Hair, a resonant musical celebration of women of colour; and Kinky Boots, the big-hearted blockbuster musical.

In addition to these in-person productions, the Arts Club will advance the audio play initiative that was created during the pandemic. Listen to This: Audio Play Series will feature four original Canadian scripts commissioned by the company.

All performances will be produced and presented in adherence with the most current safety guidelines established by the BC government.

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol
Based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
November 18, 2021–January 2, 2022  Canadian Premiere
Adapted by David H. Bell, Paul T. Couch & Curt Wollan
Book by David H. Bell
Music & Lyrics by Dolly Parton

Set during the 1930s in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, this joyful musical imagines Ebenezer Scrooge as the owner of a mining company town, where his callous greed blinds him to the gifts of the season. As a Christmas Eve snowstorm approaches, Scrooge is visited by his deceased business partner and three ghosts who compel him to see life and love anew. Dickens’s classic characters and Parton’s one-of-a-kind songwriting expertise make this a holiday event you’ll want to share with friends and family.

Starring David Adams as Scrooge; Bobby Garcia, Director; Ken Cormier, Musical Director; Julio Fuentes, Choreographer; Shizuka Kai, Set Designer; Carmen Alatorre, Costume Designer; Parjad Sharifi, Lighting Designer; Kevin Gault, Sound Designer

Made in Italy
By Farren Timoteo
January 13–February 13, 2022

Meet Francesco Mantini, a second-generation Italian teen struggling to find his place in Jasper, Alberta. Inspired by pop culture icons Rocky Balboa and John Travolta, he reinvents himself as Frank Martin: crooner and ladies’ man. As buoyant and bubbly as a glass of prosecco, Made in Italy is a celebration of music, food, and family that’s so delightful you won’t soon fuhgeddaboudit.

Starring Farren Timoteo; Daryl Cloran, Director; Cory Sincennes, Set Designer; Cindy Wiebe, Costume Designer; Conor Moore, Lighting Designer; Michelle Cuttler, Sound Designer

KIM’S CONVENIENCE
By Ins Choi
February 24–March 27, 2022
Based on the Pacific Theatre production

Mr. Kim, a Korean shopkeeper, grapples with both a changing neighbourhood landscape and the chasm between him and his second-generation offspring. This journey of a fractured but loving family forgiving the past and confronting the future is a new Canadian classic. Ins Choi’s hilarious and touching debut play inspired the hit TV show of the same name.

Kaitlin Williams, Director; Soran Nakai, Assistant Director; Carolyn Rapanos, Set Designer; Jessica Oostergo, Costume Designer; Jonathan Kim, Lighting Designer; Chengyan Boon, Sound Designer

’Da Kink in my Hair
By Trey Anthony
April 14–May 15, 2022

“If you want to know about a woman, touch her hair.” At Novelette’s Toronto salon,captivating stories untangle as eight distinctive women narrate their lives with honesty, humour, and joy. Both heartbreaking and uplifting, ’da Kink in my Hair is a musical testament to the challenges and triumphs in the lives of contemporary Black women.

Ray Hogg, Director & Choreographer; Mary Ancheta, Musical Director; Kevin McAllister, Set Designer; Nalo Soyini Bruce, Costume Designer; Itai Erdal, Lighting Designer

KINKY BOOTS
Book by Harvey Fierstein
June 9–July 31, 2022
Music & Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper
Based on the Miramax motion picture Kinky Boots, written by Geoff Deane and Tim Firth

Based on a true story, this rousing Tony Award–winning show—with a score by pop icon Cyndi Lauper—follows Charlie, who is struggling to save the men’s shoe factory inherited from his father. When all seems lost, a chance encounter with the fabulous drag queen Lola spurs an idea for creating “women’s boots for women who are men.” The unexpected underdog duo soon outfit themselves for success in this joyously infectious musical that celebrates compassion and acceptance.

Barbara Tomasic, Director; Ken Cormier, Musical Director; Julie Tomaino, Choreographer; Pam Johnson, Set Designer; Barbara Clayden, Costume Designer; Chris Daniels, Sound Designer

Audio plays The Cull, Redbone Coonhound, The Wrong Bashir, and Title TBD are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Tickets

Season tickets for the 5-show Stanley Series, ranging from $153 to $468, are available online or by calling the Arts Club at (604) 687-1644. Single tickets will go on sale to the general public at a later date.

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