Loved reading all your memories about Theatre Under the Stars–thanks to all who shared for a chance to win dinner for two at Adesso Bistro in Vancouver’s West End.
As I mentioned in that earlier post, Adesso is offering a special pre-TUTS dinner menu throughout August.
I used random.org to pick a winner: congratulations Linda DeRuiter–I hope you enjoy your night out with someone special!
Continue Reading...With a promise that the rain that fell on stage would be the only wet stuff Vancouver saw this summer, Theatre Under the Stars kicked off a six-week run of Singin’ in the Rain at Malkin Bowl last night.
On the theatrical scale, TUTS productions fall smack in the middle between low-budget, high-energy high school musicals and big-talent, big-ticket touring shows. Every show features a handful of pros and a whole bunch of keen (read unpaid) up-and-comers.
Vancouverites love ‘em as much for the open-air Stanley Park setting as for the hummable tunes and family-friendly themes. (The alternating show this season is Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.)
I didn’t know if I could push the iconic Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds film version of the show to the edges of my brain long enough to let this production have its own time in the spotlight.
Director Shel Piercy didn’t make it easy. There were so many nods to the more-famous film cousin, some of which were surprisingly successful: Cosmo Brown’s (Neil Minor) backwards wall flip, for example, and Lina Lamont’s (Cailin Stadnyk) on-set bitchy ditziness.
But my toes were definitely tapping–especially during the second act when the razzle-dazzle song-and-dance numbers that are the TUTS hallmark came fast and furiously and the cast was just too busy to be nervous.
Give it a week to work the kinks out (the pacing was a little ragged last night and there were too many tech glitches, but the promise is there) and this would be a top pick for a bit of frothy family summer fun.
The charming Adesso Bistro on Haro Street, just a short stroll from Malkin Bowl, is offering a special pre-TUTS three-course menu for just $29.95 every day from 5 to 6:30 pm through August 21.
Just tell me your favourite Theatre Under the Stars memory–or why you want to make a new TUTS memory below.
I’ll do a random draw on July 22, 2010 at 8 pm for a pre-show dinner for two at Adesso. (You can use it any time until August 21.)
(Feel free to tweet this contest for a second entry–just use the ShareThis tool up there on the right…)
What do you get when you cross a passion for hockey with a summer road-trip and a desire to do good?
If you’re 21-year-old Vancouver hockey blogger Richard Loat, you get Five Hole for Food, a 10-day traveling road hockey game that’s helping to replenish the shelves of Canada’s food banks.
The first ball dropped on June 29 in Montreal and after stops in Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary, Edmonton, and Victoria, the final game will be played in Vancouver on July 9.
Loat aimed to raise one tonne of food (2,000 lbs) for Canadian food banks. Today, with three games left to go–it’s Edmonton’s turn tonight–his total haul is 1,899 lbs.
“I’m really excited to be heading back to my hometown to end the trip,” says the SFU Communications student in an e-mail from the road. “We’re playing in the heart of downtown Vancouver and couldn’t ask for a better location.
“We’re going to surpass the goal we set for ourselves and I can’t wait for Vancouver to step up and beat the totals raised in the other cities we’ve been to. It will really set the bar for next year when we embark on this all over again!”
The fun’s all free–just bring your favourite jersey, a stick and something tasty for your local food bank. You’re welcome at the post-game meet-ups too.
Ball-drop for the Edmonton game tonight is 5:30 pm at Deer Ridge Park (in St. Albert).
The Victoria game gets underway July 8 at 5:30 pm at Topaz Park. In Vancouver the next day, game-time is 5:30 pm in the 800-block of Granville Street.
So go for it all you Sid-the-Kid wannabes out there: here’s your chance to relive that gold medal goal!
Continue Reading...I’ve just returned from the Travel Blog Exchange conference–aka TBEX10–in New York.
If you are a travel blogger, or a travel writer whose traditional media markets are rapidly drying up, or a travel industry PR person looking to keep your career currency high, then you were there too.
Or you should have been.
Depending on how active you are on Twitter, you couldn’t really miss the buzz about TBEX10. (Search #tbex to see what I mean.) You put 300-plus travel enthusiasts in a Manhattan theatre for a weekend and there’s going to be some chatter.
The dynamic sometimes reminded me of a high school dance: you had the the popular kids, the wallflowers, the class clowns and the stoners. (Do they still call them stoners?) Everyone quickly found a gang to hang with. Or drink with.
Whatever.
TBEX is still in its teething stages. Conceived by Chicago-based powerhouse Kim Mance and raised thus far by a savvy grassroots team, it promises to become a formidable player on the professional development circuit in the next couple of years.
It was sort of charming that this social media conference didn’t offer wifi, let alone coffee. Fortunately the next conference will be held in Vancouver, BC with some organizational assistance from the Canadian Tourism Commission and Tourism BC–two groups that have years of experience hosting large events for travel media.
My feeling about these sorts of conferences is that if you walk away with even one nugget that you can immediately apply to your work, it’s been a good investment of time and money. I’m pretty sure everyone walked away with a whole bag of nuggets.
Here are my 10 top favourites:
1. Your blog is your storefront.
2. Don’t go all emo.
3. “Co-opertition” works.
4. Ethics equals credibility.
5. Find your focus.
6. Stop, absorb & observe.
7. Live in a thank-you economy.
8. Practice the slow sell.
9. Be an accessible expert.
10. Play the long game.
That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts about TBEX10 below and hope to see you at TBEX 11 in Vancouver–my beautiful hometown!
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