I’ve always enjoyed live shows, albeit of the rock and roll variety, however this year I’m expanding my arts and culture by attending more live theatre and as of last night, the opera.
To kick off its 49th season, the Vancouver Opera opened with Eugene Onegin last night. It’s a Russian tale, set in the late 1800’s and the music was masterfully crafted by Tchaikovsky. “Tatyana is a shy young country woman who soars when she meets the man of her romantic dreams. Eugene Onegin is the urban aristocrat who rejects her. But Onegin’s callousness twists on him, leaving him filled with regret and despair.”
Although the Queen Elizabeth Theatre itself is under renovations (and I heard many complain cheekily about the seats, which will hopefully be replaced in 2009) the look of the opera itself was dazzling.
The sets were simple yet the colours, angles, and use of space was brilliant. They brought the outdoors in for scenes in the forest and dreary snowy plains. There were dancers that pranced and glided across the stage in joyous settings and at parties with high society (along with gossip and scandal) in grand ballrooms. The only visual artistry that could top the sets was that of the costumes – from peasant garb to royal gowns, all were superb.
In Act I, Scene II we look into Tatyana’s bedroom, which is elevated and framed on stage. My mother said it was, “like a window into her soul.” Through Rhoslyn Jones‘ emotional and heartfelt delivery of this scene we could sense Tatyana’s anxious passion in a way that only an operatic aria could reach out to us. Along with Rhoslyn (who is a local talent) the rest of the cast was also in top form – as well as the orchestra and chorus.
The evening was also made possible by the Boxer family, who paid tribute to their late father and husband, Joe Boxer, long-time director of the Vancouver Opera Association (there is also the Joe Boxer Memorial Scholarship presented by the Vancouver Opera Foundation).
Performances are all in Russian (with English surtitles) and they run November 25th, 27th and 29th, 2008. Tickets start at $23.35 and there’s also an option to subscribe if you’d like to have priority seating for the season.
Heading to an opening night show (and the backstage party) was a treat, and I’m hoping to get out to more performances this year including a rumoured blogger night at Carmen that I might just help organize – especially since the opera already has its own blog.
My husband has a pretty interesting work environment, from mingling with rock stars and hockey players, to hanging out with the Stanley Cup like he did yesterday.
Lord Stanley’s cup has actually been won in our city before, in 1915 the Vancouver Millionaires captured the Challenge Cup at the Denman Arena. To celebrate this heritage, there was a special event at the Vancouver Giants game last night.
“The Giants had a season high crowd of 12, 262 take in a great pre-game ceremony featuring Stanley Cup Legends Yvon Cournoyer, Steve Shutt, Gerry Cheevers, Dave Schultz and Johnny Bower. The ceremony also had the Stanley Cup on display and the Giants players and coaching staff wore throwback jerseys and sweaters to recognize the Stanley Cup Champion 1915 Millionaires team.” [Vancouver Giants]
One thing I love more than local history is local hockey history, from towel power to the earlier years with Cyclone Taylor.
If you’re looking for some additional hockey reading check out my posts on HockeyStars. They’re for a younger audience (the heart of hockey in Canada) and feature a special “101” series along with some fun history tidbits.
Update: While cleaning the house today we collected some of our hockey memorabilia for a collage of sorts and I found my Bobby Hull autograph (Bobby, King Richard Brodeur and me in the photo above) along with my Bobby Baun photo, Babych photo and Gino shot (that was such an amazing day).
Update January 2009: The schedule has been released. I’m honored to be speaking not only once on a panel, but twice.
After diligently liveblogging the conference for twoyears (including Dave’s infamous talk), being a panelist, presenter, wrangler, wiki editor and putting the word out (to folks like Jennie who traveled to Vancouver from Pittsburgh last year for the event) I don’t know how it came to be that I haven’t noticed that Northern Voice 2009 planning is well underway.
In case you don’t want to miss out on Western Canada’s largest conference of its kind here’s the scoop:
When: February 20-21, 2009
Where: Forestry Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, UBC main campus, Vancouver
… although it is a weblog conference, the range of topics may involve anything that webloggers are interested in… that is, just about anything. Previous years have had plenty of geekery mixed with panels on how blogging interacts with family life, education, travel, photography, community building and establishing professional profiles. Speakers range from the big names at the top of the Technorati rankings to first-time presenters with a passion to share. [About]
Each year the organizers put together a great event for all levels and with excellent feedback the conference just grows and improves. The speakers are captivating, the discussions can get heated, and the socials are the perfect time to network, relax, and hang out with like-minded folks.
Registration is not yet open however if you would like to fill out a speaker submission, the deadline is December 19th. Check out the blog and official site (complete with awesome Basco5 designs) for more information.
The Eastside Culture Crawl is an annual 3-day November event that involves artists who live in Vancouver’s Eastside in an area bounded by Main St., 1st Ave., Commercial Drive, and the Waterfront. Painters, jewelers, sculptors, furniture makers, musicians, weavers, potters, writers, printmakers, photographers, glassblowers; from emerging artists to those of international fame… these are just a sampling of the exciting talents featured during this unique chance to meet local artists in their studios. [ECC]
Things kick off tonight from 5:00pm to 10:00pm and pick up again on the 22nd and 23rd from 11:00am to 6:00pm. There’s also the Echo Chamber After Hours Party at Chapel Arts November 21, 9:00pm to 1:00am & November 22, 8:00pm to 1:00am.
British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest (the largest tract of intact coastal temperate rainforest left on Earth) is in danger and there is a public call out for support to raise awareness and put pressure on the current government to keep their promise about conserving the area.
Two years ago, after a ten year struggle, a promise was made by the BC government to protect Canada’s rainforest – the Great Bear Rainforest – the world’s largest temperate rainforest, and home to the Spirit Bear.
Today, that promise is in jeopardy. With a March 31st, 2009 deadline fast approaching, a citizen-driven campaign has sprung-up to secure the fate of this vast and unspoiled wilderness, a place that has captured the imagination of people around the world with its towering red cedars (some as high as 30 storeys), and its rich salmon streams. The fate of the Great Bear Rainforest and its promise to future generations is a story that can only be written by us. [Save The Great Bear]
The campaign is reaching out through all means of social media. You can show your support by writing a blog post, sending an e-message, joining the Facebook Group, following the Twitter feed, or entering the Flickr photo contest.
Growing up on the West Coast you can’t help but appreciate the natural beauty that’s all around us, and even though Stanley Park is the closest thing I currently have to a vast expanse of forest in this city (proper), every day I can’t wait to head out on another journey, trek, camping trip, or getaway to the less populated, and more moss-covered areas of our province.
But an area like the Great Bear Rainforest is in a class of its own, being an invaluable asset to the province, the country, and the planet. This region is roughly 77,000 square kilometers and home to three species of bear (grizzly, black, and kermode – or spirit bear), thousands of unique plants and millions of migratory birds. It is also the home of several First Nations who have inhabited the region for thousands of years.
Hopefully by getting involved in the campaign, which is as simple as clicking the mouse a few times and informing yourself – especially with another Provincial election in the spring, we can remind the government to keep its promise come March 2009.
