There will be a talkback following the play with the writer, director, and actress.

Tickets can be purchased online here: www.thecultch.com

Sam and Ben and the Big Oops

An original one woman/ one act play centred on upcoming children’s entertainer Sammi Sam, who lives to please and inspire everyone around her: the children she entertains, her long-term boyfriend Ben, and his affluent parents. When she accidentally becomes pregnant, she and Ben must choose whether or not to have a child during a financially and socially unstable time of their lives. The decision forces them to re-evaluate their life goals and their relationship to both their families and each other. Part naive children’s show, part interpersonal drama, Sam and Ben and the Big Oops takes on contemporary social mores with abnormal humour and pathos. The play will premiere on Sunday, February 28 at the Vancouver east cultural centre. It will be followed by performances at various summer festivals, including the Edmonton and Winnipeg fringe festivals.

Participant Bios:

The collaborative team for this project was born shortly after actress Cara Yeates (Some Reckless Abandon, Bye Bye Bombay) won the inaugural Joanna Maratta Award for outstanding contribution to the Vancouver theatre community. The prize was a mentorship with local writer/performer/director TJ Dawe (The Slipknot, Totem Figures) – an award currently being fulfilled as TJ directs Cara in the role of Samantha.

Brendan McLeod (writer, music):
Brendan is a former Canadian Slam poetry champion. He is a member of the acclaimed music group, The Fugitives. His first novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, was nominated for the 2008 Re:Lit Award.
www,brendanmcleod.ca

Cara Yeates (performer):
The recent winner of the Joanna Maratta Award for contribution to the Vancouver theatre community, Cara has toured internationally with two previous one woman shows, “Some Reckless Abandon” and “Bye Bye Bombay”, which she wrote.
www.carayeates.com

TJ Dawe (director):
A Jessie and Just for Laughs Comedy Award winner, TJ has performed, written, and directed dozens of Canadian theatre productions over the past ten years, including “Maxim & Cosmo” , “Labrador”, and “The One Man Star Wars Trilogy” (director).
www.totemfigures.com

I have done a lot of things in my life (including being that guy who demonstrates what a ‘Swiffer’ is in the grocery store. You know that guy? The one who spills dirt on the floor for no reason and then ‘swiffs’ it up to show you that the ‘Swiffer’ works? Ridiculous.) I’ve also sold peanuts and popcorn at the Chuckwagon races during Stampede. But never mind.

One thing I’ve never done has been a ‘curator in residence’ before at a prestigious arts center. I think I got this job before they realized that only wear three shirts for, like, my whole life.

At any rate, I’m psyched. The job involves me putting on a show in their amazingly cool intimate theatre space once a month for three months from January – March. So. without further ado. The first show will be…

The Fugitives

www.fugitives.ca

The Fugitives are the combined talents of Vancouver artists Adrian Glynn, Barbara Adler, Brendan McLeod, and Steve Charles. A group of multi-instrumentalists, songwriters, poets and novelists, each with their own burgeoning solo career, they’ve won individual accolades as diverse as the Canadian SLAM poetry championship, CBC poet laureate, and a place in the Peak performance songwriting series. But their primary focus lies in banding together to integrate their sensibilities into a dynamic mix of modern folk.

This will be an awesome setting: uber intimate, theatrical, amazing sound/lighting, a killer stage arrangement, beer/wine, awesome raw tunage.

Kids! We are sorry to have left you out of our Biltmore fun last December. To make it up to you, the Cultch (for all its shows) lets youth 12-19 into shows for something absolutely insane, like $2 or something. So for the love of God, go pick up a ticket -  it costs less than a coffee. Adults, you have to pay more. But you’re an adult and you’re finished puberty, so be grateful.

Due to limited seating, the show will sell out, so get tickets here:

http://www.thecultch.com/content/view/251/353/

The Cultch is thrilled to announce the Curator in Residence for January-March 2010… the inimitable Brendan McLeod.

Former Vancouver and Canadian slam poetry champion Brendan McLeod is a multi-talented performer. He is a spoken-word artist, a novelist, a musician and an active literary educator. His band, The Fugitives, has performed at many of the at many of the major folk festivals in Canada and was nominated for a 2008 Canadian Folk Music Award. His first novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, was published in 2007.

For his residency, Brendan is presenting a typically diverse series of shows, including a performance by The Fugitives, an original one-woman one-act play, and a set of solo spoken word. Stay tuned to this blog for updates from Brendan and complete show details.

Well, tomorrow is the big day and I do mean BIG! The night will take place in the historic theatre and feature some of the craziest music you’ve ever heard.

The band is:

Evan Arntzen (October Trio, Very Good) on tenor sax, soprano sax and clarinet

Neelamjit Dhillon (Sangha) on alto sax, flute and tabla

Shane Krause (Secret Mommy Quintet) on baritone sax and bass clarinet

Bryan Deans (Plastic Acid Orchestra) on cello

Rachael Wadham (No Hitting) on keyboards and prepared autoharp

Robin Layne (Jarimba, Bocephus King) on marimba, vibes and percussion

and ZOE TRIO members:

Alvaro Rojas on electric guitar

Cory Curtis on electric bass

and Sam Cartwright on drums

And… special guest Maggie Winston will be adding shadow puppet visuals 

So get dressed up as your favorite dead composer and come down to The Cultch for SPEARBEAK!

Show is 8pm-10pm, $15 cover ($10 w/ costume or a jack-o-lantern)

See you then!

-AJ

hello blogsters!

last month’s show was a lot of fun. thanks to all who made it out. there is footage from the show that i will be posting soon.

i’d like to take a moment to plug the next show. it’s on Oct 30th at 8pm and features my 10-piece atonal-afrobeat orchestra: Spearbeak!

seeing as how it’s the night before halloween, it’s going to be….spooky? NO! it’s going to be FUN!!! and if you come in costume, you save $5 on the cover. so do it- GET DRESSED UP!!

in the meantime, feast you ears on some audio samples: www.myspace.com/spearbeak

tune into cbc radio 3 today at 5:30 to hear an interview i did about the curator-in-residence program. 

i’m really, REALLY looking forward to sunday’s show and can’t wait to see and hear what this months artists are going to come up with. 

cheers!

aj

The issue that hit the streets today lists Cris Derksen under the “who to watch” in their fall arts preview:

http://www.straight.com/article-257346/cellist-and-opera-singer-stay-wild-heart

Brendan McLeod was featured on the front page of the arts section on August 20th:

http://www.straight.com/article-248149/mcleod-prolific-projects-words

Finally, news of Aaron Joyce’s residency was written up in an article back in July:

http://www.straight.com/article-242978/vancouver-east-cultural-centre-launches-curators-residence-program

Congratulations all!

hello out there!

i’m VERY excited for the upcoming show at the culture lab (sunday sept 27th). the line-up is:

Velour Bunker- a improv-centric tribute to Nico (of The Velvet Underground fame)featuring Leah Abramson, Jeff Younger and Tommy Babin.

No Hitting- a music/dance improv collective. 7 musicians, 7 dancers, no rules (www.nohittingimprov.blogspot.com). check out some cool time lapse videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSfxoUIczGY

The Microscopic- releases their debut cd “Life of Bugs” (check out the wicked album art by Molly Winston).

It’s going to be a great show!

stay tuned for more updates on the shows to come. i was at the No-Hitting rehearsal last night and have to say that you guys are really in for a treat with this ensemble. i’ll be sure to post photos, video and audio on the blog as we get closer to the show. 

peace out.

aj

looks like i’ll practically be living at the cultch this weekend- friday and saturday with dan mangan (his cd release), then sunday for the AGTKA cd release party. i wonder if they have showers…

i’m looking forward to seeing you all there. 

until then,

aj