Join Brooke McCarthy (@thebrookemc) at the Watercooler as she talks to Daniel Bernhard, the Executive Director of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, about the #DefundTheCBC movement, the proposed changes to the Broadcasting Act, and more.
Some of the cast of The Fairy-Tale Mysteries / FVGSS Facebook
The show must go on for FVGSS. In your ears.
For many, going to a pantomime is a holiday tradition. From Cinderella to Peter Pan, these funny musical remakes of fairytales and folklore are an entertaining spectacle for the whole family. With most stages closed due to COVID-19 and actors/technicians out of work, the folks at the Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society found a way to bring the magic of panto to the comfort of your own home.
The Fairytale Mysteries is a six-episode podcast series that features new twisting takes on classic fairy tales. A number of familiar faces from the company’s previous pantos are now behind the mic as characters such as the Big Bad Wolf, Fungus Fox, and Betsy Hardup (Rob Dunne, Mike Balser, and Frannie Warwick, respectively).
The first 29-minute episode was recorded at the start of October at the company’s Newton warehouse. With six writers, twelve actors, and five technicians working behind the scenes, FVGSS is trying to involve as many of their members as possible in this unique opportunity. The goal being to engage the community while supporting the society.
Many theatre companies have had to take similar measures over the past few months, converting to the digital world of the pandemic. Most have taken to live-stream readings over Zoom. An audio podcast presents a different experience.
Whether you remember listening to radio plays or the Vinyl Cafe, whether you like watching TV in the background or are already a fan of fiction podcasts, the audio medium is special. An audio play especially requires listeners to imagine the setting from mostly dialogue alone, all characterizations from the actor’s voices. It’s as much an experience for the actor performing as it is the listener listening. You picture the characters in your mind, know where they are, all through imagination and description. Pantomime’s usually involve audience participation, and in a way this almost feels like it is.
The Fraser Valley Gilbert & Sullivan Society hopes to release the first episode of The Fairytale Mysteries soon on their website. You can also check for updates on their Facebook page.
Many people have already set up their Christmas trees / Pixabay
It’s been a week since Halloween and after the absolute roller coaster that was the past seven days both personally and worldwide, I don’t blame anyone who wants to put their tree up early to celebrate. Starbucks holiday drinks are already here, they’re playing Christmas music at the mall… but what will a COVID-19 Christmas look like?
For people who split their time between multiple households, for couples who don’t live together, for families across international borders, the past eight months have been particularly difficult. For many, the holiday season is about finally being able to see family again, going house to house seeing people you only see once every 365 days. For obvious reasons, that can’t happen this year. With the new restrictions in place, this has only become more clear.
But we find ways around it. For the first time in years, my family is sending Christmas cards to everyone we would usually see. We’re delivering baked goods in tins to neighbours. We’re saving a plate or two of dinner, dropping them off at my grandparent’s house so they can enjoy the feast. My friends and I are planning a Zoom holiday party, and doing a virtual secret Santa.
The Vancouver Christmas Tree lighting will be broadcast on November 27th / Wikimedia
This Christmas isn’t going to be a normal one. For me, it’s hard to imagine a Vancouver Christmas without the Vancouver Christmas Market, which has unfortunately been cancelled this year. Many of the craft fairs, parades, and other traditions I love also can’t happen. But some things still can. The PNE is continuing their 2020 drive thru traditions with a Christmas edition. The Stanley Park Christmas train is on track to open again in a few weeks. The annual lights display Lumiere is already lighting up the West End.
As we approach December, at risk of sounding cliché, health and safety is the best gift you can give your loved ones this year.
But they probably have enough masks and hand sanitizer.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Cauldron in Jack Poole Plaza. / Pixabay
In a meeting on Wednesday, Vancouver city council voted 7-4 in favour of considering an Olympic bid for 2030. The vote was Coun. Melissa De Genova’s idea, and was intended to take place in April.
It has been over ten years since the Vancouver Olympics, and with the city looking at another bid there are people on all sides of the debate. While the safety of such a large scale event at that time is still unknown at the moment, other concerns include the environmental impact and the homelessness crisis in the city. Some feel the money could be better spent elsewhere, and the profits wouldn’t be worth it.
The possibility of hosting the Games again has been talked about for years. The 2010 Olympics provided thousands of jobs for metro-Vancouverites and contributed to infrastructure with the Canada Line SkyTrain. With the COVID-19 pandemic making a major financial impact on the city, many see hosting the Olympics again using the existing facilities as a path to economic recovery when we need it most.
The 2010 Olympic podium / Pixabay
The thing I remember most about the Vancouver 2010 Olympics is the feeling. The entire lower mainland had this energy and excitement about it. I remember my class going outside to watch the torch run by. I remember trying to collect all the pins and commemorative coins from around town. I remember all the events and festivities leading up to it, a ten-year-old’s paradise of so many things to do. I remember watching the concerts at the opening and closing ceremonies in awe from my couch. I remember my school playing the coverage over the loudspeakers. I remember being told I would want to remember this all one day. Since then I have always wanted Vancouver to host the Olympics again, if just to feel that feeling again. That wonder. To be able to remember it better.
This week’s vote was just an interest survey to see if the city would move forward into research for the bid. The final decision over whether or not Vancouver will apply won’t be made until next year, after consulting the Canadian Olympic committees, government, the public, and local First Nations.
The Olympics bring a sense of community and excitement and connection. Ten years ago, I never would have imagined the events of this year. Who knows where we’ll be in the next ten years? I just know community, excitement, and connection, are things we need all the time.
The Great Wave off Kanagawa / Public Domain
Have you ever wanted to create gardens like Monet? How about make a splash like Hokusai? Well now you can, virtually, on Zoom.
Since September, the Vancouver Visual Art Foundation has started a new online art class series to encourage people to get creative at home. With the help of Art Vancouver alumni, each week students of all ages and skill levels can learn how to make art like the greats.
VAF was established in 2017 as a way to connect, inspire and educate local, and international visual arts communities. In these difficult times, connection and creativity are all the more important.
For many people, art is something they loved as children but gave up as adults. Sitting in front of a large blank canvas, the smell of paints in the air, brush in hand, can be nerve-wracking. There’s pressure to be perfect and the unknown of what to do. Art classes like this are a low-stakes way to try it out again and have fun in the process.
Studies have shown that participating in creative activities is great for personal well-being. Learning a new skill can also be a great and productive distraction. Visual arts like painting can be very freeing, offering a chance to calm your mind. The action of painting itself and watching others paint is also very relaxing (Bob Ross videos anyone?)
Take an art class from home this month with VAF / Pixabay
Through December, VAF is hosting seven classes, including artist-based classes like paint your own Monet or a watercolour The Great Wave off Kanagawa class, but also more skill-based classes such as painting with palette knives or alcohol inks.
If you have no art experience, haven’t picked up a paintbrush since elementary school, or are an everyday painter, the classes aim to be accessible and educational. Students have to bring their own supplies, either by using the provided list on the event websites or ordering a kit from VAF.
Tickets are just $25 for students or $29 for adults, and the classes are on various evenings throughout the next few months. Proceeds from the events go to the foundation and the artist-instructors themselves.
The cast of Five Alarm, from left to right: Marcia Strang, Erica Bearss, Shane Steward, Cindy Hirschberg-Schon, and Mark “Sparky” MacDonald. / Photo credit: Tracy-Lynn Chernaske.
There’s a chili competition this month at the Metro Theatre. As part of their 58th season, the Metro is proud to present the BC premiere of Five Alarm written by Canadian playwright Kristen Da Silva.
Mystery, chaos, and comedy, ensue as a small town prepares for the annual Wayne Rose Chili Cook-off. After sixteen years, Ava Rose is determined to finally take home the top prize. As the day unfolds, blood will be shed, chili will be sabotaged, and secrets will be revealed, as this zany cast of competitors go for the gold.
“Whether it’s to connect/reconnect with someone special, or reconcile some sort of issue that’s been eating you from the inside, the show is about the importance of taking a risk and reaching out,” says actor Mark “Sparky” MacDonald, who plays Tucker in the show. “That, and how you shouldn’t mix personal drama with a chili cook-off, or any cook-off for that matter.”
Since the entertainment industry shut down in March, many people have been feeling the absence of live theatre. There’s nothing quite like sitting in a room of strangers, all watching a story play out together right in front of your eyes. Theatre is a direct exchange of energy between the audience and the performer, and that’s been hard to replicate in the age of COVID-19. With new safety measures in place, the folks at the Metro Theatre are glad to be back.
“The theatre has done a wonderful job of ensuring that the public health order is followed and that social distancing protocols are followed,” actor Shane Steward, who plays Caleb, says. “If people feel comfortable coming, I feel they will be in for a lovely evening of escapism.”
You can get your tickets to Five Alarm for just $30 online here or by calling their box office at 604-266-719. The show runs from October 29th-November 21st at the Metro Theatre, on Marine Drive in Vancouver.
The new ‘Pay Tribute Poppy Box’ / Royal Canadian Legion
This year’s poppy boxes might look a little different. Yesterday, the last Friday of October, marks the start of the annual Poppy Campaign here in Canada ahead of Remembrance Day on November 11th. In partnership with HSBC, the Royal Canadian Legion has introduced new tap-to-pay donation boxes to select locations across the country.
The new boxes have been designed to reflect the solemn occasion. Marked with a glowing poppy, Canadians can simply tap their card or mobile device to make a two dollar donation and take a poppy to wear.
In light of COVID-19, people around the world have adjusted to social distance and contactless payments. The new poppy boxes allow Canadians to support the veterans while maintaining pandemic protocols.
Poppies are worn annually in honour of those who served and in memory of those who fell. / Pixabay
As always, donations for a poppy are optional but do support the important work of the Royal Canadian Legion. The annual Poppy Campaign donations are held in Trust to provide aid for Canadian veterans and their families.
There are 250 of the new poppy boxes at HSBC locations and select Legions nationwide. The traditional poppy boxes will still be available with the Legion’s Poppy Campaign partners.
To lower congestion, the municipal government is looking at mobility pricing for the Downtown core.
Traffic on Cambie Street, one of the areas involved in the proposed mobility pricing / Pixabay
In their new Climate Emergency Action Plan released earlier this week, the City of Vancouver has proposed tolls for downtown roads. The fees are an effort to limit traffic and lower emissions, while also encouraging public transit usage and providing funding for environmental infrastructure.
The new toll plan would charge a user fee for roads in the Vancouver peninsula and Broadway corridor. London, England uses a similar structure and has been successful in lowering their emissions by 10-20%.
Affordability, impact on residents, and effectiveness are among the concerns of drivers. Though still in the suggestion phase, many feel the current economic crisis is not the right time.
If approved, the new system would likely start in 2025 along with the Millennium line SkyTrain expansion. The city of Vancouver is presenting the full Climate Emergency Action plan next Wednesday, November 3rd.
Pumpkin Patch / Pixabay
Yesterday was national pumpkin day here in Canada, and with Halloween coming up, local pumpkin patches have opened their gates in preparation for the big day. Although most festivities are outside, Stephanie from Port Kells Nurseries says things are looking a little different this year due to COVID-19.
“Usually we charge an admission and we’ve got the hay wagon rides and a café, and the haunted house and those are items we’re not doing this year so we’re not charging an admission. So it’s just the pumpkin patch, cedar maze, and the animals that we have.”
Health of course is still a priority this spooky season, and nursery staff are doing everything they can to keep everyone safe.
“We have the plastic dividers that you see at most stores. We have hand sanitizer stations upon entering, exiting, and then in the pumpkin patch station as well. But most of our activities are outside which is nice like the pumpkin patch being outside, so everybody’s able to social distance that way.”
For many, going to the pumpkin patch is an annual tradition. This year may not have the hayrides and haunted houses, but it can still be a healthy and happy Halloween. As is normal in 2020, most farm stores are encouraging customers to wear a mask. Many locations around the lower mainland are also asking customers to book ahead, so check your local pumpkin patch’s website.
The Fox Cabaret #LightUpLive (Twitter / @adrawk)
They were the first to shut down and they will be the last place to reopen. Within a matter of days, an entire industry stopped. Music venues all around the world shut their doors this past spring, many of them for the last time. While major arenas like Rogers Arena and BC Place have corporate sponsors, small independent halls aren’t so lucky. Due to the sudden lack of revenue and no support from government, many were left with no other choice.
In an effort to combat that, earlier this summer, independent venues nationwide joined together to create the CIVC, or the Canadian Independent Venue Coalition. Hundreds of concert halls, promoters, production companies, and festivals, rallied together to raise awareness to the issue and collect financial support.
Live events wouldn’t be the same without independent venues. For the new artists to grow, for those special shows with a band you love. There’s nothing like seeing an artist that close and personal, and let’s be honest – the acoustics are always better.
While none of the major venues in the city have announced any major financial trouble yet, the COVID-19 pandemic was the last straw for Squamish’s The Knotty Burl and Langley’s Gabby’s Country Cabaret. And they likely won’t be the only ones, according to the CIVC, up to 90% of Canada’s independent music venues are at risk of closing due to the pandemic.
The future is unclear for everyone, but this is especially true for the arts/events industry. We don’t know when we will be able to gather again like that, or what it will even be like when we do. A year ago I was in the pit at a concert, surrounded by hundreds of people, not knowing how terrifying that concept would be in 2020. A lot can change in a year.
So what can you do to help? #SupportCanadianVenues. If there are theatres you care about, connect with them. Many are asking for donations. Some, like Vancouver’s Imperial, have taken it upon themselves to also sell merchandise and gift cards to help carry them through. Contact your representatives and ask for more funding for these independent business and that they continue rent subsidies for them. Sign the petition. This way, when the world reopens, the venues can too.
