2011-2012 Concert & Theatre Season
Tickets on sale NOW! Call (250) 717-5304
Rotary Centre for the Arts
Presents
a selection of Canada's finest touring musicians
and theatre productions.
Sponsored by 
 |
The Prestige Hotel Kelowna is offering music and theatre guests a special "Stay with the Stars" package. Click here for details. |
The Eagle & the Tiger
Written and Directed by Carl Hare,
Performed by the Ibsen Ensemble
(Tues-Wed) Sept. 13-14/2011, 7:30 PM
Norwegian Henrik Ibsen became the most famous playwright of his generation with these colorful characters
Vikings and trolls, the great Bøygen and a mad aunt—all played a role in the life of the Norwegian Henrik Ibsen, along with his wife Suzannah, who struggled to help him become the most famous playwright of his generation. Their nicknames—she was the eagle, he the tiger—describe their relationship; this play explores their life together.
Portraying some of Ibsen's most vivid characters are Carl Hare (last seen in John Gabriel Borkman), Clara Hare (John Gabriel Borkman and On Golden Pond), and Kevin Hare (Toronto actor from TV Series - The Bridge). Well-known actors Josephine Stebbings (Macbeth), Frank Takacs (The Merry Wives of Windsor) and Patricia Burns (Shirley Valentine) complete the Ensemble. Violinist Chloe Davidson supports the moods and atmosphere. The Hares appear by permission of Canadian Actors' Equity Association.
Matt Andersen
(Sat) October 8/2011, 7:30 PM
Matt's sprawling blues, roots and rock musical hybrid with his sorrowing and soulful voice has sparked a phenomenal buzz…
From New Brunswick, Matt Andersen's sprawling blues, roots and rock musical hybrid with his sorrowing and soulful voice has sparked a phenomenal buzz on Canada's East Coast. Matt is the 1st Canadian ever to have won the International Blues Challenge (IBC) in the birthplace of Rock N' Roll and home of the blues, Memphis, TN.
This year Matt has opened for Buddy Guy at Massey Hall, played on the Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise and won two Maple Blues Awards, Entertainer & Acoustic Act of the Year. He has also recorded two new albums, one with Colin Linden producing. Matt has toured as a headliner throughout North America and the UK and has also shared the stage with Stuart McLean of the CBC Vinyl Café, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, America, Randy Bachman, the late Bo Diddley, Little Feat and a host of others. www.stubbyfingers.ca
PRE-SHOW at 6:30 PM:
Leila Neverland | www.reverbnation.com/leilasingstheblues
Alex*Cuba
(Wed) November 9/2011, 7:30 PM
He's like Marvin Gaye, singing soul to a new generation
- Boston Globe
Thirty-five years ago, he was born Alexis Puentes in Artemisa, Cuba. Now a resident of BC, Alex*Cuba defines his own "Latin Soul" genre with a mix of pop, funk and blues, in a Cuban base. He is on the vanguard, crafting a cross-cultural sound of trademark sugarcane-sweet melodies, pop-soul hooks and rock chords with a guitar tone and fluidity verging on the Hendrixian.
Alex has earned two Junos and a Latin Grammy. He co-wrote half of Nelly Furtado's last album. Plus, he has a single on the charts in Puerto Rico right now. Being Canada's biggest Cuban music star isn't an easy job, although Alex*Cuba makes it seem that way. www.alexcuba.com
PRE-SHOW at 6:30 PM: Ritmo Caliente | www.myspace.com/trevorsalloum100
DECK:
How I Instigated
Then Overcame
an
Existential Crisis
Through
Home Improvement
Written, Directed & Performed by
Lucas Myers
(Thurs-Fri) Nov. 10-11/2011, 7:30 PM
… Myers had the audience laughing out loud at the
characters' antics. - Chris Shepherd Nelson Post
DECK examines the fine line between perfectionism and obsession, chaos and freedom and why a piece of 2x6 lumber isn't really two inches by six inches. Not even close. DECK stars Cliv, a meticulous single parent of two who has been forced to reassess his future after taking major losses in the recent recession. He embraces a new start as a small town, eco-conscious, back-to-the-lander.
His attempts at self-sufficiency are hijacked by a bad house buy and he is forced to try his hand at home improvement. DECK is a darkly hilarious take on the modern milieu of a small town, semi-urban environment. www.pilotcopilot.com
The Dusty
Flowerpot Cabaret
"Hard Times Hit Parade"
(Thurs) Jan. 19/2012, 7:30 PM
A full-length interactive theatrical extravaganza set in a depression-era dance marathon delirium…
Hard Times Hit Parade is a story of community forming out of competition, as dance music and laughter bring us together in high times and in hard times. This theatrical extravaganza is chalk-a-block with swing dance, cabaret, live music, puppetry and surprise. Dancing for their livelihoods, enthusiastic couples are worn down by the tribulations of the marathon, dropping off as time progresses to leave our resilient, star couples. Haunted by their own hallucinations, inner voices and deepest desires, the hidden worlds of the contestants come to life before our very eyes. www.dustyflowerpot.org
The Mississippi Sheiks
Tribute Project
"Things About Comin' My Way"
(Fri) January 27/2012, 7:30 PM
I knowed the Mississippi
Sheiks. Yessir. Walked ten
miles to see them play.
They was high-time…
makin' them good records,
man. - Muddy Waters
Between 1930 and 1935, Sam, Lonnie and Armenter Chatman, the three sons of slaves who along with Walter Vinson made up the core of "The Mississippi Sheiks", created some of the most memorable blues rants and square dance hollers ever conjured up. It is their music that Vancouver songwriter, musician and producer Steve Dawson has been obsessed with for many years, and the Mississippi Sheiks Tribute represents the fruition of a long-time dream.
Joining him onstage is triple Juno awarded Jim Byrnes and Del Rey who became a blues artist after actually meeting bluesman Sam Chatmon. Their sound was indefinable – part country and part apocalyptic blues, which these talented artists will redefine.
www.blackhenmusic.com/artist/mississippi-sheiks-tribute-project
Louise Pitre
From Broadway to Paris
(Sat) Feb. 11/2012, 7:30 PM
Full-throated emotion and cut-to-the-chase honesty are her trademarks, enhanced by a fine sense of theatricality.
- Toronto Star
The Tony Award nominated star of Broadway's MAMMA MIA!, host of BRAVO's Star Portraits and five-time Dora Mavor Moore Award winner LOUISE PITRE lights up the stage. Backed by her long-time accompanies Diane Leah, Louise performs selections from MAMMA MIA, LES MISERABLES, PIAF, GYPSY, JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL as well as original songs and personal favorites. Show-stopping songs, lots of laughter and disarmingly personal banter culminate in an unforgettable evening with the Canadian Grande Dame of musical theatre! www.louisepitre.com
PRE-SHOW, 6:30 PM: Chloe, Kyle & Co. | www.myspace.com/chloeandkyle
Chekhov's Shorts
Theatre Smith Gilmour (Ontario)
Adapted by Dean Gilmour and Michele Smith
(Thurs-Sat)
February 23-25/2012, 7:30 PM
A perfect gem! 24 karat
charmer… a marvel - Toronto Star
Based on a selection of short stories by Anton Chekhov, this first installment of the Chekhov Cycle has toured successfully to Vancouver, Edmonton, Hong Kong, Dartmouth and Montreal. It played to sold-out audiences and won three Dora Mavor Moore Awards: Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Director, and Outstanding Production.
Based on five bittersweet short stories, Chekhov's On the Train provides the framework for this 90-minute one-act work. The passengers are a wonderful array of characters and slowly, their stories are revealed, hidden within each other like matrioshkas.
www.theatresmithgilmour.com/chekhovs-shorts
Good Lovelies
(Sun) March 11/2012, 6:30 PM
Three skilled musicians that
take turns on banjo, guitar,
mandolin and glockenspiel,
singing songs about love
gained and lost in three part
harmonies — Opasquia Times
The Good Lovelies, Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough and Sue Passmore, are not your run-of-the-mill "all girl" band. Described as folk-roots, flirty bluegrass and western swing, the Toronto-based trio rely on unerring three-part vocal harmonies, clever songs and, onstage, convulsively funny repartee. They have toured with Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Café and appeared with Broken Social Scene, Kathleen Edwards and Jill Barber.
Recent winners of the 2010 Juno for Roots Album of the Year and 2009 New Emerging Artist Award from the Canadian Folk Music Awards - the Good Lovelies are making waves across Canada. www.goodlovelies.com
Pre-show at 6:30 PM: Leah West, www.leahwest.com
Steven Page
Known for his dynamic, physically exuberant performances, his powerful tenor, quick wit, and an arsenal of songs that span the gamut between humor and pathos
In 2010, Steven released his first proper solo album, "Page One". In his tour to Kelowna, Toronto cellist Kevin Fox will join him onstage in this acoustic show with traditional rock elements.
For twenty years, Steven Page was the lead singer and songwriter with Barenaked Ladies, the Toronto-based band he formed in 1988 with Ed Robertson. They toured the world, selling out venues from Madison Square Garden to the Royal Albert Hall; sold nearly 15 million albums, won numerous Juno awards, had two Grammy nominations, and two Gemini awards for their work on Canadian television. He left the band in 2008 to pursue a solo and theatrical career.
www.stevenpage.com
PRE-SHOW, 6:30 PM: The Malarkeys | www.themalarkeys.com
UBUNTU ~
The Cape Town
Project
A Western
Canada
Theatre/
Theatrefront
Production,
Created by
Theatrefront
(Fri-Sat) March 23-24/2012, 7:30 PM
In South Africa, "ubuntu" refers to the spirit of community, the belief that humanity is tied together.
In this critically acclaimed multi-cultural production, ghosts haunt a man and a woman, continents apart, as they are drawn together to discover the secrets of their past. This international collaboration of Canadian and South African artists traces the ties that bind us all, with spirited storytelling, music and dance.
Theatrefront and Kamloops' Western Canada Theatre have joined forces to bring this production to audiences in British Columbia.
www.tarragontheatre.com/season/0809/ubuntu
High Bar Gang
(Sat) April 14/2012
7:30 PM
"Roots supergroup"
‐ North Shore News
The High Bar Gang was formed when band member Colin Nairne wanted to play his favourite bluegrass songs and called on his friends to join in - Angela Harris (vocals), Barney Bentall (vocals/acoustic guitar), Colin Nairne (vocals/acoustic guitar/mandolin), Eric Reed (banjo/mandolin/acoustic guitar/dobro), Rob Becker (vocals/stand-up bass), Shari Ulrich (vocals/fiddle/mandolin) and Wendy Bird (vocals).
Unique in their interpretation of some of the greatest classic and contemporary gospel, bluegrass, traditional country and Appalachian folk songs – timeless music for modern times. www.highbargang.com
PRE-SHOW, 6:30 PM: TBA
Tickets on sale NOW! Call (250) 717-5304
Adult: $30 | Student: $10
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