Win a pre-TUTS dinner-for-two from Adesso Bistro [Photo: Singin' in the Rain, courtesy TUTS]
Written by: Julie Ovenell-CarterWith 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…)
Christine Hearn
on July 15th, 2010My favourite Theatre Under the Stars memory: A few years ago we took a 20-something friend of ours to TUTS to see West Side Story. She absolutely loved it and couldn’t believe it first came out more than 40 years earlier and that I had had the record when I was in junior high. She thought it was totally up-to-date and contemporary and couldn’t believe that some of the language used was allowed back then.
Brianna
on July 15th, 2010When I was in high school I was the stage manager for “Annie” – last year I saw Annie at TUTS and thoroughly enjoyed the show. I thought the set was fantastic and it brought back so many incredible memories from my high school production. I was pleasantly surprised by how many of the lines and lyrics I remembered!
Drew Snider
on July 15th, 20101958 was the first BC Centennial (BC, I think, is the only province that celebrated four centennials: colonization (1958), union with Vancouver Island (1966), confederation (1967) and entering confederation (1971)). As part of the celebrations, HM Queen Elizabeth toured the province and came to a performance at Malkin Bowl. My mother, Dorothy Davies (charter member, BC Ent. HOF), was tapped to direct an abridged version of the operetta The Chocolate Soldier. It had to be abridged due to the Queen’s busy touring schedule. I have no idea who was in it: I don’t think dad has the program, but there were some well accomplished performers who played for TUTS in the 50s. Mom was presented to the Queen afterwards, and my dad does have the 8 x 10 glossy of mom curtseying as she shakes hands with the Queen. That was the closest he got: he had to stay home and babysit some 2-year-old! (Irony: 5 years earlier, mom had been arrested for “pandering” when she directed “Tobacco Road” at the Avon (Pantages) Theatre.)
Heather
on July 15th, 2010My favorite TUTs Memory was last year when my friend Dana was Daddy Warbuck’s Secretary! It was such a good exerience to see some you know play a role so well.
Stuart Colcleugh
on July 15th, 2010After years of occasional and casual listening as a kid to my parent’s old 78 vinyl recording of the Lerner and Loewe musical, Brigadoon, I finally got to see it live on stage during my first TUTS performance. It was a complete revelation, occurring well into my thirties. I never actually knew the plot until then. And suddenly all those classic old tunes from my youth such as Almost Like Being in Love and Heather on the Hill made sense, in context, for the first time. So, too, did my parents’ love for this romantic tale of a mythical Scottish village that materializes for just one day every hundred years. It was corny, yes, but very entertaining, complete with swinging kilts and and dancing lassies and chanting bagpipes, all set against this amazing open-air amphitheatre in Stanley Park. I loved it all.
Fiona Beaty
on July 16th, 2010I went to see Oklahoma with my girls a couple of years ago, and midway through a raccoon decided to join the actors on stage, lumbering in and out of the wings.
You had to be there …. but it was so TUTS to be in the park at twilight, watching the actors doing their thing while constantly checking over their shoulders (and adjusting their positions) to see where, precisely, the raccoon was. And the musicians, too, craning their necks while the audience members at the front picked up purses so as to be ready to flee if it came their way.
The raccoon hung around for a while, coming on and off stage, clearly discombobulated but not particularly bothered. Then it eventually exited, stage right, and vanished into the park.
That rarely happens at the QE …
Randall Shirley
on July 16th, 2010Already saw “Singing in the Rain” at TUTS. Loads of fun. Eating at Addesso tomorrow night…but could use another dinner for when we see “Joseph!”
Linda
on July 16th, 2010I have never been to TUTS and it’s on my list of things to do this summer. I’ve heard wonderful things. We’ve bought tickets and I’m very excited. The pre-thatre dinner would make it even better. Thank you!
melissa
on July 17th, 2010I will be traveling to Vancouver for the first time, with my 12 and 13 year old daughters. We have never seen “Joseph” and are thrilled to see it in this environment!!
Thanks for a fun chance.
Melissa
Carolyn
on July 20th, 2010When I moved to Vancouver from Boston several years ago, I had dinner in the Haro Street space that’s now Adesso Bistro — first when it was a restaurant called Parkside, and again when it became L’Altro Buca. Sounds like I’m due for a meal there in its latest incarnation. And if we could combine it with a show at TUTS, all the better! Thank you!
Donna Majeau
on July 20th, 2010I have never attended TUTS as I am not from here, but back in Edmonton I am an avid theater fan and plan on continuing with that when I move here. As well, dinner is a must when going to see a show!
Claudia Laroye
on July 20th, 2010We had an opportunity to enjoy the Singin’ in the Rain performance at TUTS last week, and was very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the performances, music and set. My expectations were high as this is one of my all-time favorite musicals (and old movie, as I’m still a Gene Kelly fan at heart). Would love to see the Joseph performance as well, and dinner is always a lovely way to start an evening.
The setting at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park was gorgeous and so very Vancouver. A must do for this summer with all of this fine weather we’ve been having. As they said at the beginning of the show, the only rain you’ll see is on stage!
Kathryn
on July 20th, 2010One of my favourite TUTS memories is watching Stephen play Tevye to packed houses (fields) about 12 years ago. Got to do that again two years ago when he was Buffalo Bill in Annie Get Your Gun.
Katherine
on July 20th, 2010I’ve never had a TUTS moment … let alone many outdoor cultural event moments other than a few gigs here and there. I’d love to make a new TUTS memory, one that I’m sure would whet my appetite to explore more of the burgeoning Vancouver cultural scene, especially in the summer
I’m in the process of rounding out some friends to go to Bard or TUTS.
On a side note, I’ve been to the old Adesso once as my best friend used to work there and it was amazing. We were hoping and waiting excitedly for them to open at a better location and now they’ve seemed to have done it. A big congrats to the great press they’re getting so far!
Have also tweeted about this (@KatherineChu)
Radha
on July 20th, 2010When I was 14 I was obsessed with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. When we get together on holidays my brothers and I still sing all the songs. Ah to relive those heady days down at the theatre, trying to figure out how to remove the binoculars from the armrests without having to chuck any coins into the slots. My only dream was for dinner to be laid on for free, so that I might have the couple of quid required to legitimately procure a pair of the finest lenses.
Dilara
on July 21st, 2010I’ve actually never been to TUTS but would love to go and create some new memories.
Don Foran
on July 21st, 2010I loved the summer I spent in the Park at Malkin Bowl under the stars when I was a tap-dancing ukulele-playing chorus boy in “No No Nanette” directed by the inimitable Grace Macdonald in the early ’80’s…
Lori
on July 21st, 2010My favourite memory is as simple as bringing the kids there, and having them watch an old favourite (to me!) through fresh eyes, witnessing their excitement
Yashifa
on July 21st, 2010I just booked 2 tickets to see “Joseph” – a play my friend and I have been wanting to see for ages! I didn’t even realize that TUTS existed until this summer and that they’re playing “Joseph”! I’m so excited! My friend has no idea because it’s a surprise for her birthday! I have a feeling TUTS will be something of a regular summer event I’ll be attending in the years to come.
Teresa
on July 22nd, 2010I want to make a TUTS memory so that I can share special time with a loved one.
Janice
on July 22nd, 2010I went a few years ago a few itmes and had such a blast!