Seven Things to Do in Metro Vancouver Feb. 28-March 5: Romeo + Juliet, Tim & Eric and more
Credit to Author: Shawn Conner| Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2020 18:00:29 +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 Feb. 28 and March 5.
Headlining this week’s picks is Ballet B.C.’s Romeo + Juliet.
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: March 4-7 at 8 p.m.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton St.
Tickets: from $45 at balletbc.com
Ballet B.C. is bringing back choreographer Medhi Walerski’s Romeo + Juliet, last seen here in 2018. Set to Sergei Prokofiev’s score, this contemporary version of the Shakespeare tale features a minimalist set and lighting design by Dutch designer Theun Mosk. Ballet B.C. dancers Emily Chessa and Kirsten Wicklund and Justin Rapaport and Dex van ter Meij alternate performances in the title roles. “Nothing on the Canadian dance landscape is quite like Ballet B.C., an ambitious company that blurs the line between classical and contemporary and finds its riches not through extravagant spending, but through this kind of craft and thoughtful innovation,” wrote dance critic Martha Schabas in a glowing review of a 2018 performance. The ballet marks the company’s first since Walerski was announced as artistic director; outgoing AD Emily Molnar has taken a gig with Walerski’s former employer, the Nederlands Dans Theater.
Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo performs two pieces at Vancouver Playhouse Feb. 28 and 29.
When: Feb. 28 and 29.
Where: Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St.
Tickets: $35 at dancehouse.ca
Grupo Corpo returns to Vancouver for the Brazilian dance company’s third presentation with DanceHouse. This time, the company presents a double bill, Dança Sinfônica and Gira. The former draws upon Grupo Corpo’s 40 year-plus history in a fusion of ballet, samba, jazz, Afro-Brazilian rhythms and more. The company’s 19 dancers are also put to work in Gira, which explores the rituals of Umbanda, one of Brazil’s most widespread religions. The media release calls it “a carnal meditation on humanity’s pursuit for divine enlightenment,” while a review in Broadway World said the dance transported a Brooklyn audience “to a hothouse of raw sensuality and vibrant effervescence.”
Tim & Eric bring their brand of absurdist humour to the Vogue Theatre on Feb. 29.
When: Feb. 29 at 5 p.m.
Where: Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville St.
Tickets: from $39.50 at eventbrite.ca
You don’t have to be a millennial to appreciate the absurdist humour of Tim & Eric, but it probably helps. The Pennsylvania duo started out making videos before befriending Adult Swim and coming up with a series of comedy TV shows such as Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, and Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories. Their latest show, which premieres at the end of March, is called Beef House and co-stars The Sopranos’ Jamie Lee Sigler as a woman living in a house full of guys. Meanwhile, Tim and Eric are treating North American audiences to their Mandatory Attendance Tour. Expect “bizarre songs, gross sketches … fake production and direction problems, fake temper tantrums, and general weirdness,” according to a (favourable) review of a recent Dallas stop.
Pianist/composer Damien Sneed brings We Shall Overcome: A Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Chan Centre on Feb. 29.
When: Feb. 29 at 8 p.m.
Where: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, UBC (6265 Crescent Rd.).
Tickets: from $38 at chancentre.com
The Chan Centre marks the final day of Black History Month with a concert inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Pianist/conductor/composer/producer Damien Sneed brings together Vancouver’s Universal Gospel Choir with several musicians for a repertoire that includes traditional gospel, modern gospel, classical, jazz, Broadway and spirituals, from Nina Simone to Stevie Wonder to Dionne Warwick. The music is interspersed with snippets of the late civil rights activist’s recorded speeches.
Canadian ’80s synth-pop hitmakers the Spoons join a bill that includes A Flock of Seagulls and Men Without Hats at Hard Rock Vancouver on Feb. 29.
When: Feb. 29 at 8 p.m.
Where: Hard Rock Casino Vancouver, 2080 United Blvd., Coquitlam
Tickets: from $39.50 (plus service charges) at hardrockcasinovancouver.com
Get out your shoulder pads and leg-warmers for ’80s Club, an all-star extravaganza that revisits the glory days of MTV (and MuchMusic for us Canadians) with A Flock of Seagulls, Men Without Hats and Spoons. Need a reminder? A Flock of Seagulls were a music television staple for videos of their songs I Ran (So Far Away), Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You), and Space Age Love Song, not to mention lead vocalist Mike Score’s owl-ish ’do. Montreal’s Men Without Hats scored hits with Safety Dance and Pop Goes the World. Another Canadian outfit, Burlington’s the Spoons, had a string of synth-pop hits including Nova Heart, Romantic Traffic and Old Emotions.
Medina Hahn, Daniel Arnold and Darrell Dennis wrote and star in Inheritance: a choose-your-adventure experience from March 3 to 15 at the Annex.
When: March 3-15.
Where: Annex Theatre, 823 Seymour St.
Tickets: starting from $19 at theatrewire.com
The audience decides the fate of a remote property in this new play. Will it go to visiting urban couple Abbey and Noah? Or will it go to a local Indigenous man who is living on the property? At key moments, the actors halt the action to offer multiple plot choices to the audience. Due to the possibilities, the play required double the amount of standard rehearsal time. Daniel Arnold, Darrell Dennis and Medina Hahn wrote and star in the piece, which is an Alley/Touchstone Theatre co-production and was developed with the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre.
Celtic Illusion, a mix of Irish dancing and magic, comes to Abbotsford Centre on Feb. 28 and the Orpheum Theatre on March 3.
When and where: Feb. 28 at Abbotsford Centre, 33800 King Rd., Abbotsford
March 3 at Orpheum Theatre, 601 Smithe St.
Tickets: starting from $61 (inc. fees & taxes) at ticketmaster.ca
This family-friendly event fuses contemporary Irish dance with magic. Australia’s Anthony Street, a veteran of Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance, leads a cast of champion dancers from Canada, the U.S. and Australia in a show that includes what Street says is “some of the fastest tap-dancing in the world.” Illusions, such as a levitating dancer, are also part of the show, along with a musical score by a team that includes including Angela Little (of Baz Luhrmann’s film Australia fame) and arranger/producer Steve Skinner (Broadway musical Rent). Since its creation in 2011, Celtic Illusion has performed to sell-out audiences across Australia and New Zealand. This tour marks its Canadian premiere.
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