The cherry blossoms are on their way down but the tulips are popping up! Enjoy this last weekend of the month with some sunshine (I hope!) and fun activities throughout the region. Here’s your big list of things to do in Metro Vancouver this weekend:
Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend April 28-30
Hadestown; Mean Girls; Hairspray; Disney’s Frozen on stage in Vancouver
Broadway Across Canada 2023-2024 Vancouver Season
Broadway Across Canada is thrilled to unveil their highly anticipated 25th Anniversary Broadway season, featuring four spectacular theatrical productions that will take center stage at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth Theatre starting this fall. The season will kick off with the Tony and Grammy award-winning Best Musical, Hadestown, followed by the hilarious hit musical Mean Girls, featuring a book by Tina Fey. Next up is the returning favorite, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon Hairspray, and rounding off the season is the unforgettable theatrical experience of Disney’s Frozen.
Subscribers of Broadway Across Canada’s 2023-2024 Vancouver Season receive exclusive perks, including priority seating access, guaranteed prices, no fee easy payment plans, guaranteed same seat locations for all season presentations, and easy online upgrades and exchanges. Current 2022-2023 season subscribers will receive information on their automatic renewal process by email today.
Four-show season packages start at $215 and are available for American Express Cardmembers now, or for the general public starting April 27, 2023 at 10:00am. Broadway Across Canada subscriptions can be purchased at online or by calling (866) 542-7469.
The Show Lineup
Hadestown November 7 – 12, 2023 Welcome to Hadestown, where a song can change your fate. Winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical and the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, this acclaimed new show from celebrated singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell and innovative director Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812) is a love story for today… and always. Intertwining two mythic tales – that of young dreamers Orpheus and Eurydice, and that of King Hades and his wife Persephone – Hadestown is a haunting and hopeful theatrical experience that grabs you and never lets go.
Mean Girls January 23 – 28, 2024 Direct from Broadway, Mean Girls is the hilarious hit musical from book writer Tina Fey, composer Jeff Richmond, lyricist Nell Benjamin, and director Casey Nicholaw. The Story of a naïve newbie who falls prey to a trio of lionized frenemies, Mean Girls “delivers with immense energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful inside-jokery.” USA Today says, “We’ll let you in on a little secret, because we’re such good friends: GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!”
Hairspray April 2 – 7, 2024 You Can’t Stop the Beat! Hairspray, Broadway’s Tony Award-winning musical comedy phenomenon is back on tour! Join 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world? Featuring the beloved score of hit songs including “Welcome to the ‘60s,” “Good Morning Baltimore” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” Hairspray is “fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful!” (The New York Times). This all-new touring production reunites Broadway’s award-winning creative team led by Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell to bring Hairspray to a new generation of theater audiences.
Disney’s Frozen July 9 – 21, 2024 From the producer of The Lion King and Aladdin, FROZEN, the Tony-nominated Best Musical, is now on tour across North America and the critics rave, “It’s simply magical!” (LA Daily News). Heralded by The New Yorker as “thrilling” and “genuinely moving,” Frozen features the songs you know and love from the original Oscar-winning film, plus an expanded score with a dozen new numbers by the film’s songwriters, Oscar winner Kristen Anderson-Lopez and EGOT winner Robert Lopez. Oscar winner Jennifer Lee, Tony and Olivier Award winner Michael Grandage, and Tony winner Rob Ashford round out the creative team that has won a cumulative 16 Tony Awards. An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with sensational special effects, stunning sets and costumes, and powerhouse performances, Frozen is everything you want in a musical: It’s moving. It’s spectacular. And above all, it’s pure Broadway joy.
Caroline Bowman as Elsa – Frozen North American Tour. Photo by Matthew Murphy Disney
American Express Card Members have access to some of the best seats in the house for Broadway Across Canada performances. Advance tickets will be made available through Front Of The Line by American Express. Presale and single ticket on-sales for all shows to be announced at a later time.
For the latest news, announcements, and “backstage” access on all of our upcoming shows become a fan of Broadway Across Canada on Facebook and Instagram.
Welcome to the May events calendar for Metro Vancouver! This month Miss604 is proud to sponsor BC Youth Week (May 1-7), the YWCA Metro Vancouver’s Women of Distinction Awards (May 9), and the summer season at Burnaby Village Museum.
May Events in Vancouver 2023 Calendar of Things to Do
GSL Group has announced the return of its 10th Ambleside Music Festival, West Vancouver’s most anticipated outdoor music series. Taking place August 19-20, 2023 this summer party weekend by the beach is packed with live music from a mix of local talent and internationally celebrated artists, including headliners Weezer and Third Eye Blind.
Ambleside Music Festival 2023
When: August 19-20, 2023
Where: Ambleside Park (1150 Marine Dr, West Vancouver)
Tickets: Advance ticket pricing for two-day General Admission and VIP tickets are on sale now with limited quantities available. Weekend passes are $215, VIP weekend tickets are $365 plus applicable fees and taxes, and both include in-and-out privileges. VIP perks include exclusive food and beverage offerings, private bar service, and a free drink ticket. VIP access will also include separate and early entry into the festival along with exclusive amenities such as private VIP washrooms, sitting areas, elevated tables, and tent access, offering direct sightlines to the main stage.
Hot off the heels of their seventh studio album Dandelion, Vancouver-natives Said the Whale will bring their authentic West Coast tunes to Ambleside. Other acts include Canadian guitarist Bahamas and Juno award-winning hip-hop collective Bran Van 3000, with more bands to be announced over the coming weeks.
Alongside Billboard Award winners Third Eye Blind, industry veterans Weezer will be headlining the festival. Whether attendees are longtime fans of their infamous Blue Album or their latest multi-album music project, SZNZ, fans won’t be disappointed.
Concert-goers can also expect great local retailers, live music, and impressive food and beverage options from local food trucks, craft beer, wine tastings, and more, including community activations, focused on giving back to the West Vancouver neighbourhood that has embraced the festival over the years.
Last year, over $500,000 in tickets were donated to front-line healthcare workers, and over the coming weeks, GSL Group is looking forward to sharing more details on how they intend to give back this year.
Lineup UPDATE: Los Angeles indie pop band Saint Motel will return to Vancouver for the first time since 2016 to play at Ambleside Music Festival this summer. Fresh off the latest EP 90s “American Superstar,” singer-songwriter and indie pop sensation Wallice has also been added, alongside Juno award-winning Canadian rock superstars Finger Eleven, to amp up the nostalgia.
Today, the Pacific National Exhibition (“PNE”) opened a call for sponsorship partners, including naming rights, for its highly anticipated amphitheatre project. The project, which has been in the planning stages for several years is anticipated to be one of the most spectacular venues of its kind on the West Coast of North America when completed in 2026.
New PNE Amphitheatre Project
Designed by renowned Vancouver-based architecture company Revery Architecture, construction on the amphitheatre is anticipated to begin in early 2024 with completion in summer 2026.
Features
Maximum capacity of approx. 10,000
Estimated annual attendance 340,000+
Projected 75+ performances per year
24 Commercial Shows
22 Community, Arts, and Culture Shows
14 Corporate Shows
15 PNE Fair Shows (Summer Night Concerts)
Covered seating and best-in-class amenities including accessible washroom facilities, merchandise sales, food and beverage concessions, digital signage, and seamless Wi-Fi
Hospitality suites, banquet / lounge space, common areas, and fully integrated premium catering options
Province-wide engagement; opportunity to showcase BC products, suppliers, expertise, and core industries
Sustainable products and design; built to Passive Haus, LEED, and Salmon-Safe certification standards
One of the largest free-span timber roof structure in the world
Chair of the PNE Board of Directors, Vancouver City Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung says the project will help fulfill the City’s goals to support more access to music and cultural space for Vancouver’s creative sector, as well as creating a multi-functional outdoor venue for diverse uses.
“This is a very significant day for the PNE and for everyone in the city of Vancouver. Delivering performance opportunities for talented artists while at the same time creating a beautiful space where people of all ages and backgrounds can come together to create collective memories, is at the heart of creating a vibrant and fun city. This new amphitheatre will ensure generations of Vancouverites will be able to enjoy music and culture in an unparalleled setting in historic Hastings Park.”
– Sarah Kirby-Yung
One of the most spectacular elements of the design is the roof structure, which, when completed will be longer than the roof of the Richmond Oval and one of the longest clear-span roofs in the world.
“The structural form is comprised of six-barrel vaulted segments intersecting at diagonal planes, creating a clear span of 105m (345’) from buttress tip to buttress tip. The form, calling to the brilliant technical contributions of the CNIT building, a 1956 concrete shell structure in Paris designed by Nervi, harnesses the compression capacity of mass timber, a sustainable and local material, using it for both the ribs and the deck. What resulted is one of the longest timber arch roofs in the world – a true blend of architecture and structure.”
– Robert Jackson, Partner at Fast + Epp Structural Engineers
The PNE will be meeting with interested parties to discuss mutually beneficial sponsorships, including naming rights, for this exciting amphitheatre redevelopment, a project anticipated to cost $65 million.
“As one of the most beloved brands in the province, the PNE already has a strong partnership program. We anticipate the spectacular nature of this project will draw interest from existing as well as potential new partners, which goes towards our mandate of creating an asset that will benefit the city for generations to come, while at the same time exercising fiscal responsibility for our organization and providing value aligned opportunities for organizations to partner with the PNE.”
– President and CEO Shelley Frost
View more details about the new PNE Amphitheatre project online here.
