Vancouver Vacations: ‘It’s season to see, even return, to the local theater

While there are online options, both the Arts Club and The Cultch go big and bet the audience is ready for a night on the town

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Live theater is back this holiday season, our first almost post-COVID Christmas. A number of live shows will adorn the region’s stages over the coming weeks: Great musicals, the latest East Van Panto, music and storytelling in revue style and drama with a holiday theme. Show your double-wax proof to get in the doors. For the overgrown or those who are still shy about crowded indoor spaces, three companies offer online options.

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Both of our largest year-round theaters, Arts Club and The Cultch, have held live shows this fall so far. Both are getting big and betting that the audience is ready to put their pimples in those seats.

The Arts Club opens its fall season at the Stanley Theater with the Canadian premiere on Dolly Partons Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol , directed by Bobby Garcia with David Adams as Joakim (Nov. 18-2; Jan.; artsclub.com). The show takes place in a mining town in the Tennessee mountains in the 1930s and features 16 artists and five musicians with music and lyrics by the beloved Ms. Parton. The Boston premiere in 2019 received mixed reviews: The songs “tilt toward sentimentality,” but the show “delivers on the simplicity of its message.” Look forward to warm and fuzzy.

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The Arts Club Theater Company presents Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol with Rickie Wang and David Adams, running from November 18 to January 2.
The Arts Club Theater Company presents Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol with Rickie Wang and David Adams, running from November 18 to January 2. Photo by Emily Cooper, Arts Club Theater

The cult and theater replacement present East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland at the York Theater (Nov. 24-Jan. 2; thecultch.com). Back for his ninth year, Panto has a new writer (Sonja Bennett) and director (Meg Roe). Music is by Veda Hille again, and four of the cast are Panto veterans, including Dawn Petten as Alice. Follow the White Rabbit onto the Skytrain, into a Grandview-Woodlands Wonderland, to a Commercial Drive left-leaning tea party. Available live and online. Look forward to crazy fun.

Dawn Petten topples as Alice in The Cultch and Theater Replacements production of East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland at York Theater on 639 Commercial Dr. from November 24 to January 2.
Dawn Petten topples as Alice in The Cultch and Theater Replacements production of East Van Panto: Alice in Wonderland at York Theater on 639 Commercial Dr. from November 24 to January 2. Photo by Tim Matheson

How about dinner and a show in Fraser Valley with Elf – The Musical at Langley’s Theater in the Country (December 1-18; theatreinthecountry.com). Reg Parks directs a cast of 26 in this joint dinner theater production of the stage adaptation of the film. Look forward to little dancers.

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“A seasonal show with heart and mind,” The Guardian calls it. The British playwright Mike Bartletts Snefnug , directed by Jennifer Copping on Granville Island’s Revue Stage (December 10-23; mitchandmurrayproductions.com), features father-daughter conflict at a post-Brexit Christmas family reunion, presented by a company known for its hard-hitting dramas. Another Canadian premiere. Look forward to smart seasonal anxiety.

Anni Ramsay, as Maya, Natasha Burnett, as Natalie and Aaron Craven, as Andy (left to right), starring in Snowflake, which plays on the Granville Islands revue stage on 10-23. December.
Anni Ramsay, as Maya, Natasha Burnett, as Natalie and Aaron Craven, as Andy (left to right), starring in Snowflake, which plays on the Granville Islands revue stage on 10-23. December. Photo by Shimon Photo

A father-daughter play you would not necessarily expect for Christmas, King Lear from a company called the Promethean Theater runs at the Jericho Arts Center (December 11-23; jerichoartscentre.com). Look forward to monologues.

Three companies have chosen a relaxed, informal combination of seasonal music and storytelling over acting. Barbara Tomasic and Christopher King have put together a series of Broadway show tunes about winter and Christmas themes called A Broadway vacation for Richmond’s Gateway Theater (December 16-23; gatewaytheatre.com). Also available online. Look forward to singing along.

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Pacific Theater’s annual presentation of holiday songs and stories, Christmas present (December 8-22; pacifictheatre.org), is also available digitally. Look forward to deep down kumbaya.

Finally, the Firehall Arts Center brings back Solhvervs greeting for the fourth year, a concert of stories, poems and songs created by students in 6th and 7th grade at Lord Strathcona elementary (December 16-18; firehallartscentre.ca). Look forward to the wisdom of youth.

  1. Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol offers a Merry Christmas to you all

  2. None

    Vancouver’s Arts Club Theater Company to stage personalized performances starting in November

  3. Metro Vancouver and the global theater scene

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