Seven things to do in Metro Vancouver Sept 20-27: Vancouver Improv Fest, Herringbone, and more
Credit to Author: Shawn Conner| Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2019 18:00:40 +0000
Whether you’re looking for date ideas, free things to do or just something fun to do in downtown Vancouver, you can’t go wrong with our list of events happening around Metro Vancouver between Sept 20 -27.
Headlining this week’s picks is the Vancouver Improv Fest, now in its 21st year.
For more ideas, click HERE for our coverage of Vancouver’s arts scene, or HERE to search our entertainment listings database.
Here are seven things to do in Metro Vancouver this week:
When: Sept. 24-29
Where: Cultch, 1895 Venables St.
Tickets: $18-$22 at thecultch.com
For its 21st year, the Vancouver Improv Fest has found a new home: the Cultch. The performers are again drawn from both local and international improv scenes. Some shows that might be worth checking out include The Wadsworth Constant, an improvised one-act absurdist play in the style of Samuel Beckett; Q and A, a new format in which performers answer any audience questions through short scene work; Fistful of Kicks, featuring mash-ups of scenes from old kung fu films; and The Feast, in which “three weirdos” talk about food. The festival is also holding workshops for aspiring improvisers of all levels.
When: Sept. 24-Oct. 6
Where: Anvil Centre Theatre, 777 Columbia St., New Westminster
Tickets: $27-36 at ticketstonight.ca and 604-684-2787
Patrick Street Productions brings the off-Broadway hit to New West. In this one-man darkly comic cabaret musical by Canadian playwright Tom Cone, the year is 1929. When a vaudeville veteran named Mr. Moseley takes eight-year-old George under his wing, the vaudevillian’s former partner (Lou the Frog, a dancing dwarf killed by Mr. Moseley) possesses George, who suddenly finds himself the recipient of the partner’s dancing skills. A battle for George’s mind, body and soul ensues, with Peter Jorgenson and Luisa Jolic alternating performances in which they play 12 characters.
When: Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.
Where: Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville St.
Tickets: $26.50-24.50 at eventbrite.ca
On Spirit, Toronto-born Michael Milosh takes a step back from the lush full-length albums he’s released under the moniker Rhye. The new piano-driven EP highlights the singer/songwriter’s instrumental skills, with guests that include Icelandic artist Olafur Arnalds and American songwriter Dan Wilson (once of the band Semisonic, and now an in-demand collaborator whose credits include Adele, Pink, and Taylor Swift). Spirit follows Rhye’s acclaimed 2018 record Blood (winner of Album Artwork of the Year at the 2019 JUNO Awards).
When: Sept. 20 at 8 p.m.
Where: Fox Cabaret, 2321 Main St.
Tickets: $18 at ticketweb.ca and Red Cat Main St, Red Cat Hastings St and Zulu
This punk band from Dublin is riding high on their live show (they were a breakout act at this year’s South by Southwest; hardcore punk rocker Jimmy Fallon is reportedly a fan) and their debut album, Dogrel. Released earlier this year, the record has collected rave reviews (five stars out of five in the UK’s Guardian; eight out of 10 in the American music publication Pitchfork) and is shortlisted for a Mercury Prize. The band members met at a music college in Dublin and bonded over a shared love of poetry, for what that’s worth. Montreal’s Pottery opens.
When: Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway
Tickets: $25 at ticketmaster.ca
A weekly podcast about the stigma associated with illness and disease, Sickboy was started by three Halifax-born friends, including Jeremie Saunders. Saunders was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a child (he was told he wasn’t likely to live past 20; he’s now 31) and he and his friends use humour to dispel the stigma around illness and disease. Past topics include brain cancer, opioid addiction and multiple sclerosis. With more than 1.5 million downloads a year, the podcast is a hit; as Saunders recently told The Guardian, “There’s not a single person on the planet who’s not affected by illness in some way.”
When: Sept 20-22
Where: Massey Theatre, 735 Eighth Ave. New Westminster
Tickets: $15/$10 youth/students at ticketsnw.ca and 604-521-5050
Allan Morgan, Massey Theatre’s artist-in-residence, is a Canadian actor who has performed on stages here, including the Belfry in Victoria and Bard on the Beach, and abroad. In this followup to his previous show, I Walk the Line (about walking a picket line), Morgan draws on his life and experiences as a gay man, touching on homophobia, the Gay Pride movement, and more. In what promises to be an informal storytelling presentation, audience members will be seated on the Massey stage — and served with cookies.
When: Sept. 24 at 9 p.m.
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 601 Smithe St.
Tickets: $34.50-59.50 at ticketmaster.ca and 604-684-2787
Now on her third album, cleverly titled III (as is the current tour), Jillian Rose Banks first caught the attention of pop fans with two EPs and her 2014 full-length debut, Goddess. Her sound has been described as “dark R’n’B,” the same school of modern music as Ellie Goulding and The Wknd. The new album includes the song Contaminated, which she recently performed on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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