Holiday gifts: 12 arts events coming to Vancouver in January 2024 to pick up tickets for now
The New Year starts off strong, from dance to interactive installations to a Cabane à Sucre
Dear Laila.
EXPERIENCES MAKE FOR excellent holiday gifts: unlike, say, a sweater or electronics, they create memories, bring people together, and give folks something to look forward to. If you’re still searching or are stumped for ideas for those on your list, consider gifting tickets to an upcoming arts event. By no means a complete list of all the awesomeness happening early in the New Year, here are 12 shows opening in January, tix for which would make a knockout item to put under the tree or to give to your New Year’s Eve host.
Beneath Springhill: The Maurice Ruddick Story
January 5 to February 4 at various venues
The Arts Club Theatre Company presents this touring show that tells the inspiring true story of African-Canadian “singing miner” Maurice Ruddick, whose unbreakable and enthusiastic spirit helped his fellow miners endure several days trapped 4,000 feet underground with no food, barely any air, and even less hope of survival in the 1958 Springhill mining disaster. Created by Beau Dixon, this solo show has music and lyrics by Rob Fortin and Susan Newman and was originally directed and developed by Linda Kash.
Van Django.
Van Django
January 11 and 12 at Kay Meek Arts Centre
This Vancouver-based string swing jazz quartet plays music rooted in the gypsy jazz of 1930s Paris. Add to the mix original songs, jazz, pop, and classical music, and you’ve got a stellar group that has toured across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and China. Made up of violinist Cameron Wilson, guitarist Budge Schachte, guitarist-cellist Finn Manniche, and bassist Brent Gubbels, the ensemble has released four CDs and has been played widely on radio, including appearances on NPR.
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, Pants. Photo by Wendy D Photography
Pants
January 17 to 20 at the Firehall Arts Centre
Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg is back with her signature comedy-dance-theatre mashup, this time reimagining gender through the movement of the middle-aged body. This solo looks at binary conceptions of gender through her personalized storytelling.
Sondra Radvanovsky Sings Maria Callas: Tribute Concert
January 18 at the Chan Sun Concert Hall
The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts presents acclaimed vocalist Sondra Radvanovsky’s only North American date of the exclusive Callas centenary tribute performance. Radvanovsky, who is widely considered one of the premiere Verdi sopranos of our time and a leading interpreter of bel canto and verismo, is often compared to Callas. Accompanying the diva is the Vancouver Opera Orchestra under the direction of maestro Tania Miller.
Dear Laila
January 20 to February 3 at the Fishbowl on Granville Island as part of PuSh Festival
Just one of so many standout works at the 2024 PuSh Festival (running January 18 to February 4), this unique offering from U.K.-Palestinian artist Basel Zaraa invites audience members into a re-creation of his childhood home in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus. Zaraa created the work after his five-year-old daughter began asking where he grew up. With the real place now in ruins, he built a model to show her, full of tactile details. Visitors will be able to leaf through books, look at photos, open drawers, inhale sage, and more in this interactive installation copresented by Boca del Lupo and Pandemic Theatre. With so much programming at PuSh, there’s a lot to choose from; check out the entire lineup here; better yet, pick up a Push Pass for the arts lover on your list: there are four-show, six-show, and digital passes offering discounts, plus youth passes for those aged 16 to 24.
The HEAT: An International Improv Comedy Showcase
January 23 to 27 at The Improv Centre
TIC hosts its first-ever international improv comedy showcase: LOL-ing is guaranteed. The teams of improvisors include The Impro Show (Harare, Zimbabwe), SPIT Manila (Manila, Philippines), Dad’s Garage (Atlanta, Georgia), Glass Clown (Los Angeles, California), and RN&Cawls (Toronto, Canada). The improv troupes will perform nightly alongside performers from TIC’s ensemble, with each show featuring short-form games, an international showcase of a visiting troupe’s unique style of improv, and an “all-play”. Teams will continue to mix and mingle throughout the week until closing night’s LOL-apalooza. There’s also a free international version of TIC’s “Community Jam” on January 27 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm.
whereverever.
whereverever
January 23 to 27 at Russian Hall
Dance duo Mardon + Mitsuhashi presents whereverever at the 14th annual HOLD ON LET GO festival. The work combines folk and contemporary movement with video footage recorded in Alexa Mardon and Erika Mitsuhashi’s ancestral homelands of Finland and Japan. HOLD ON LET GO, formerly known as PushOFF, is an indie fest all about experimental performance work by local and national artists copresented by Theatre Replacement and Company 605. The showcase takes place in two parts: January 23 to 27 and January 30 to February 2. Part I features Hong Kong Exile’s latest work, Heaven FM; Through My Lens by artist and access advocate Amy Amantea; Them Voices by choreographer and dancer Lara Kramer; and SmartSmart by creator and crafter Adrienne Wong, among other pieces. Part II highlights include a double bill of new works by Company 605 and Theatre Replacement: an in-development excerpt from 605’s new upcoming ensemble work, lossy (excerpts),and a presentation of Theatre Replacement’s latest work, Best Life. Then there are mixers and artist talks, plus an emerging artist series curated by Amanda Sum.
Mean Girls
January 23 to 28 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The hit musical comes from the crack team of book writer Tina Fey (30 Rock), composer Jeff Richmond (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde), and choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). Adapted from Fey’s 2004 film, Mean Girls was nominated for 12 Tony Awards.
The Mirror. Photo by Daniel Boud
The Mirror
January 24 to 27 at Vancouver Playhouse
DanceHouse and The Cultch team up to host Australia’s Gravity and Other Myths for the North American premiere of this spirited spectacle, which pushes the human body well beyond its limits and throws in cabaret, circus, kink, and interactivity, complete with backstage access. Expect sweat, sexiness, spirituality, and the sublime.
David Francey.
David Francey
January 26 at James Cowan Theatre
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts presents this concert by folk singer-songwriter and storyteller David Francey, who has won three Junos and whose songs have been featured on Hockey Day in Canada and Hockey Night in Canada. His original compositions have also been covered by numerous musicians, including the Del McCoury Band, The Travellin’ McCourys, Raylene Rankin, James Keelaghan, and more. Joining him are band members Terra Spencer, Jess Wedden, and Chris Murphy.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 & Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2
January 26 to 28 at the Orpheum
Guest conductor Nicolas Ellis returns to the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra along with esteemed Macedonian pianist Simon Trpčeski. In addition to the titular works, the program includes a new piece by Italian-born Ottawa-based composer Kelly-Marie Murphy, “And so be changed to lightning in the end”, which speaks to light overcoming darkness.
St. Lawrence.
Cabane à Sucre
January 17 to 27 at St. Lawrence
The Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by chef J-C Poirier brings back the annual Québécois traditional feast. The long table dinner features a seven-course family-style menu featuring classic dishes like oreilles de crisse (fried pork rinds with maple and Montreal steak spice), tourtière de cerf (venison tourtière, fruit ketchup, and red wine sauce), and tarte à l’érable, crème glacée, lait et sapin (maple tart, maple ice cream, milk foam, and spruce). Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage pairings by sommelier and fellow French-Canadian David Lawson are also available.
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