Pride and Prejudice at The Arts Club

Comments 1 by Rebecca Bollwitt Thursday, February 4th, 2016 — 9:31am PST

Disclosure: Review — I received media review tickets for this show. Views and opinions are my own. Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.

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I finished my workday yesterday by doing a quick search online for commentary about the play I was about to see at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage (2750 Granville St). The most intriguing post was from cast member Scott Bellis: It’s opening night for #PrideAndPrejudice @theArtsClub. It’s a beautiful adaptation and we have a great cast. Plus I get to wear a dress.” With a story that is so familiar, it call comes down to the cast and crew’s production and after seeing that message I was certainly excited to see what was in store.

Pride and Prejudice at The Arts Club

It was a soggy Vancouver evening, where the pink glow from the Stanley’s marquee glistened off the tops of umbrellas that waited in the box office line. My mother and I picked up our tickets and enjoyed a quick dinner over at West (2881 Granville St) before returning for the show. I’ve read the novel by Jane Austen, and I’ve seen my share of Hollywood heartthrobs portray Mr Darcy on screen, but this was my first theatrical experience for Pride and Prejudice.

Cast of Pride and Prejudice. Photo by David Cooper

The set seemed to be pared down, a simple backdrop of watercolour paintings that set the scene, and two musicians — a violinist and guitarist — on the side of the stage that provided a score, and doubled as Mr & Mrs Gardiner. The simplicity of the design was in itself a feat, as Artistic Director Bill Millerd comments in his Bill’s Notes guide, Pride and Prejudice is one of the largest and most lavish plays The Arts Club has produced.

The play began and Janet Munsil’s adaptation bounced onto the stage with a string of jubilant Bennet daughters. With such a well-known work, there must have been challenges but I believe they were met with the lovely and lively portrayals by the cast.

Scott Bellis, whose post on Twitter piqued my interest earlier in the day presented the best Mr Collins I have seen. His interactions with Naomi Wright as Elizabeth Bennet were priceless and as @PeterCarlone commented on Twitter: “The exchange between Mr Collins and Elizabeth is tinder in a nutshell. #letMeSendyouAPicofMyEstate.”

Indeed Bellis did don a dress to play Mrs Reynolds at Pemberley, which the audience loved. All of the Bennet girls were delightful: Sarah Roa as Mary Bennet was perfectly and adorably bookish, Raylene Harewood and Kayla Deorksen were fun and flirtatious as Lydia and Kitty, and Kaitlin Williams was angelic as Jane.

Amanda Lisman was a perfectly snobbish Caroline Bingley, that made the audience both gasp and giggle on a few occasions, and Daryl King as her brother Charles Bingley was as smitten with Jane as you would imagine. David Marr as exasperated patriarch Mr Bennet, and Katey Wright as the noisy and foolish Mrs Bennet were also audience favourites.

Of course there is also Mr Darcy, Eric Craig, whom the audience judged harshly before he proved himself (swoon) worthy enough for our Elizabeth.

At times it was hard to hear the dialogue when actors turned to face one another at centre stage (full disclosure: we were seated in the right orchestra and I am hard of hearing on my right side). Other than that, I found the entire production rather agreeable.

What I thought was a simplistic set at the start of the play turned out be a beautifully choreographed and animated stage. The lighting of lanterns and chandeliers, and timed out placement of chairs around a dining table, added movement that was soft and pleasant, like the score. The warm lighting made me long for a stroll across the meadow to pluck spring flowers before I stepped back into the dark, cold, and rainy Vancouver night.

Pride and Prejudice is on now until February 28th. Tickets start at $29 with shows at 1:30, 2:00pm, 7:30pm, and 8:00pm on certain days.

Win Tickets to See Wanda Sykes in Vancouver

Comments 69 by Rebecca Bollwitt Thursday, February 4th, 2016 — 8:07am PST

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The JFL NorthWest Comedy Fest is bringing some of comedy’s top talent to Vancouver this month including the incomparable Wanda Sykes.

Wanda Sykes in Vancouver

JFLNorthWest-WandaSykes Where:
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver BC
When:
Wednesday, February 24, 2016.
Doors 6:00pm Show 7:00pm.
Tickets:
On sale now

Wanda Sykes has been called “one of the funniest stand-up comics” by her peers and ranks among Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Funniest People in America. Her smart-witted stand up has sent her career in many different areas.

Sykes’ first book titled Yeah, I Said It, published by Simon and Schuster, hit bookstores in September 2004. Yeah, I Said It is a hilarious collection of essays touching on life, family and current events. In 2012 Wanda joined forces with veteran producer Page Hurwitz to form Push It Productions, a production company dedicated to creating quality, comedy-based programming for network and cable television outlets. The company’s diverse slate of projects includes sketch comedy, concerts, reality, talk/variety, and competition formats. Their first set of specials, Herlarious aired in summer of 2013 and January 2014 on Own and was the recipient of a 2014 Gracie Award.

Sykes was previously seen on several television shows over the past few years. She can currently be seen on the Amazon Prime show Alpha House created by Gary Trudeau about a group of Republican Senators who share the same DC rental house; Last year she made a return to HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm; she also spent five years on CBS’s New Adventures of Old Christine. In 2010 she starred on her own late night talk show on FOX, The Wanda Sykes Show. Other TV credits include Fox’s Wanda at Large which she wrote, produced and starred in; Wanda Does It on Comedy Central and on Crank Yankers as the voice of Gladys Murphy.

She can be heard in many animated feature films; Ice Age: Continental Drift as ‘Granny’; in FOX’s Rio as ‘the Goose’; in Dreamworks’ Over the Hedge and Paramount’s The Barnyard.

Sykes was also seen in the feature films Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty, in which she co-starred with Steve Carell; the New Line feature Monster-In-Law starring opposite Jane Fonda, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Pootie Tang, Nutty Professor 2; The Klumps, and Down to Earth.

I have a pair of tickets to give away to her show in Vancouver on February 24th, here’s how you can enter to win:

Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

RT to enter to win tickets to see Wanda Sykes in Vancouver from @JFLNorthwest + @Miss604 http://ow.ly/XWP6H

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Follow the JFL NorthWest Comedy Fest on Twitter and Facebook for the latest festival news and lineup announcements.

Update The winner is Patricia!

Yoga Date Night at YYoga

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 — 10:44am PST

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Have you ever tried to get your partner out to yoga with you? Or, are you and your partner both avid yogis? In either case, it just might be time to try Contact Partner Yoga at YYoga.

YogaDateNightChrisBrandt

Yoga Date Night

After 7 years of sold out Yoga Date Night workshops, join Chris Brandt for what may be the final one! The 8th annual Yoga Date Night at YYoga will take place Friday, February 12th (at YYoga Downtown Flow) and Saturday, February 13th (at YYoga Kitsilano) from 8:00pm to 10:00pm.

These playful and intimate workshops are designed just for couples and are the perfect Valentine’s weekend date for you and your favourite yogi.

Experience Contact Partner Yoga – a practice that predates Acro Yoga, and that focuses on trust, support, and evolution between partners. This rich, nourishing practice explores duo asana, basic flying techniques, and finishes with luscious Thai Massage. New poses included. Open to all levels. There is even a yoga mudra that increases the power of orgasms – you can practice that as homework.

Only one mat per couple needed. Register online through YYoga or by calling the studios: YYoga Downtown Flow (604) 682-3569 or YYoga Kitsilano (604) 336-4599. The cost is $50 per person. Follow the events on Facebook for more information.

Watershed Snowshoe Tours on Mount Seymour

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 — 10:07am PST

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Enjoy a different kind of Vancouver walking tour as you step into some snowshoes and discover the connection between the pristine North Shore mountain snow and our drinking water. Metro Vancouver is hosting a dozen watershed snowshoe tours on Mount Seymour this winter where you can learn about your local water supply in a fun and active way.

Photo courtesy of Metro Vancouver.

Watershed Snowshoe Tours on Mount Seymour

Join Metro Vancouver staff on a guided tour of the peaks towering above the Seymour Valley; one of three places where water for over 2.4 million residents is collected and stored. Discover local plants and animals that call this alpine area home. After a moderately strenuous hike, warm up with a cup of hot cocoa.

Thursdays 6:00pm to 9:30pm
February 11 (registration code 6336)
February 18 (registration code 6338)
February 25 (registration code 6340)
March 3 (registration code 6342)
March 10 (registration code 6344)
March 17 (registration code 6346)

Saturdays 10:00am to 1:30pm
February 13 (registration code 6337)
February 20 (registration code 6339)
February 27 (registration code 6341)
March 12 (registration code 6345)
March 19 (registration code 6347)

Cost: $18 with own snowshoes; $25 includes snowshoes rental
Registration: Call (604) 432-6359 or book online.

This tour is for ages 13+ (17 and under need to be accompanied by an adult). Must be physically capable of hiking up and down steep sections with snowshoes. Follow Metro Vancouver on Twitter and Facebook for more details.

Views from Vancouver, Looking North 1890-1970

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 — 9:04am PST

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In Downtown Vancouver, we spend a lot of time looking out at the North Shore. Rainbows cut across dark rain clouds, fresh powdery snow covers peaks, and on those really clear days I swear you can see every individual evergreen on the slopes that reach all the way down to Burrard Inlet. Going back 50 to 100 years these landscapes, without any towering obstructions, were much easier to take in all at once: