Things to Do in Vancouver this Weekend: April 27, 2017

It’s a good weekend to be in Vancouver for all who appreciate the off-beat! The Vancouver Opera Festival begins with all the drama of powerful vocals telling the stories of Shakespeare, Mozart, and a novel-turned motion picture from the 90s (and it’s a fab excuse to dress up). There’s also some psychedelic options – Alex and Allyson Grey are in town, sparking a live painting and dance party on the same night as a bike rave. But wait, there’s even more…

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday April 28

Vancouver Opera Festival
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Plaza
What: Immerse yourself in the Shakespearean tragedy of Otello. Mix high fashion, humour, and Mozart and delight in the Marriage of Figaro. Or, face mortality with Dead Man Walking, based on the 1995 drama about a nun who comforts a convicted killer of death row.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

The Visionary Life of Alex Grey and Allyson Grey
Where: The Vogue
What: Join world renowned visionaries Alex Grey and Allyson Grey for their debut appearance in Vancouver as they present an illustrated discussion on their personal creative paths along with music from special guest Phaeleh (UK) and visuals by Onbeyond.

Real Men Real Makeup
Where: The Imperial
What: Join in the fun and debauchery by cheering on a bevy of local, average guys as they push themselves out of their comfort zones by dressing in drag and channelling their inner divas.

End of the Rainbow
Where: Staircase Theatre
What: This gritty play with music is based on the true events of Judy Garland’s last comeback attempt in England in 1968.
Runs until: Sunday May 20, 2017

Long Division
Where: The Annex Theatre
What: The story revolves around seven characters who are inextricably linked by a sequence of tragic events. Through excursions into number theory, geometry, and logic, the players struggle to delineate their evocative, elusive patterns of entanglement, but find that one emotional variable consistently remains unsolved.
Runs until: Sunday April 30, 2017

Robin Hood: Prince of Tease
Where: Performance Works
What: An original burlesque-style musical theatre production, inspired by the classic folklore of Robin Hood with a tantalizing twist. In this tale, most characters are gender-swapped and the relationships between the classic characters of Nottingham are turned on their heads. The story follows Robin as she conspires with her merry (wo)men to take down the tyrannical Prince Joan and her sadistic sidekick, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

The Shape of a Girl
Where: Pacific Theatre
What: Written by local playwright and based on the tragic murder of Reena Virk, a Victoria high school student. This is a topical piece as recently Kelly Ellard, one the key players in the Reena Virk case, had a parole hearing and has been allowed temporary escorted release. This production is a thought-provoking exploration on bullying and violence between young girls.
Runs until: Saturday April 29, 2017

Saturday April 29

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Henry V
Where: The Orpheum
What: William Walton’s powerful and emotional score, Henry V, has become as beloved on the concert stage as it was in Olivier’s movie; hear it in all its glory with the VSO.

Metacosm
Where: The Imperial
What: An immersive multimedia event featuring the live painting experience of world renowned visionary artists Alex Grey and Allyson Grey.

Bike Rave
Where: Vancouver
What: Dress up yourself and your bike in colours and lights.

The Rainbow Band Playing in Colours
Where: Vancouver Community College
What: A concert of musical numbers enriched with themes of rainbow colours.

Said the Whale
Where: The Vogue
What: A JUNO Award-winning, radio chart-topping indie rock band.

Sunday April 30

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Daffodil Dash
Where: False Creek
What: This 1k walk and 5k family fun event welcomes participants of all ages and raises funds for cancer research, prevention, and support for people living with the disease.

Enigma
Where: The Orpheum
What: Join Bramwell Tovey and the VSO for a very special presentation of Elgar’s Enigma Variations: Maestro Tovey will deconstruct and explain this fascinating work with his trademark insight and wit, and then the orchestra will play the full piece, with all its secrets freshly revealed.

Drunk Magic with Wes
Where: The Biltmore
What: A magic show where the audience will choice the tricks… and the drinks! The outcome is impossible to predict, even for a magician.

Ongoing

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Capture Photography Festival
Where: Various locations
What: High-profile exhibitions as well as emerging talent and community participation are in the lens. There will be events in Vancouver’s leading public and commercial galleries, as well as public installations and a series of community-based photo workshops, tours, artist talks, films, and panel discussions.
Runs until: Friday April 28, 2017

The Shape of a Girl
Where: Pacific Theatre
What: Written by local playwright and based on the tragic murder of Reena Virk, a Victoria high school student. This is a topical piece as recently Kelly Ellard, one the key players in the Reena Virk case, had a parole hearing and has been allowed temporary escorted release. This production is a thought-provoking exploration on bullying and violence between young girls.
Runs until: Saturday April 29, 2017

Long Division
Where: The Annex Theatre
What: The story revolves around seven characters who are inextricably linked by a sequence of tragic events. Through excursions into number theory, geometry, and logic, the players struggle to delineate their evocative, elusive patterns of entanglement, but find that one emotional variable consistently remains unsolved.
Runs until: Sunday April 30, 2017

Hastings Park Farmers Market
Where: Hastings Park (near the PNE)
What: The Hastings Park Farmers Market features a great selection of local produce; nursery items, fish, meat & dairy; artisan prepared foods, baking and treats; local crafts, and of course, food trucks.
Runs until: Sunday April 30, 2017

Warrior: George Littlechild
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: In George Littlechild’s new series ‘Warrior’, he has painted 10 portraits (5 female & 5 male) of 10 individual First Nations people who are fighting the good fight for the planet, the environment and mankind. These individuals are dedicated and devoted to making positive change in their community and in the world, so that future generations will have a better place to inhabit.
Runs until: Saturday April 29, 2017

The Tunnel
Where: The Roundhouse Theatre
What: A contemporary dance theatre production that asks its audience to enter the maze of the mind. Dancers move through a staged consciousness, immersed in the evolving light show as they struggle through turbulent thoughts battling themselves and each other. As their bodies bend and weave to the genre warping blend of music and sound design, the projections alter their shape, playing with the audience’s perception of what they are seeing.
Runs until: Sunday April 30, 2017

Vertical Influences
Where: Britannia Ice Rink
What: Rising stars Le Patin Libre are creating a new kind of ice dancing, far beyond the confines of traditional figure skating. There are no sparkles, no stereotypes, and no fuzzy animal costumes. Coming off a sold-out European tour, this is your chance to see the fresh and inventive Canadian group before they explode onto the international scene.
Runs until: Sunday April 30, 2017

Mom’s the Word 3: Nest ½ Empty
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: From the world-renowned creative team behind the Mom’s the Word series comes a new chapter in their stories of family and fracas. Their kids are grown, their marriages have “evolved,” and their bodies are backfiring. Life doesn’t get any prettier, but it never strays far from ludicrous or poignant as the moms continue to mine their personal history for every embarrassing detail.
Runs until: Saturday May 6, 2017

Abbotsford Bloom Tulip Festival
Where: 36737 North Parallel Road, Abbotsford BC
What: A chance to marvel at 10-acres of rainbow-coloured fields featuring more than 2.5 million tulips in a vivid display of breathtaking beauty. Visitors are invited to enjoy the view, get up close with the blooms, tiptoe through the expansive tulip fields, pick their own spring bouquets in the sprawling u-pick tulip field or purchase pre-picked tulips in the “Bloom-Mobile”, an on-site flower shop.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Vancouver Opera Festival
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Plaza
What: The first edition of Vancouver Opera Festival is a celebration of the vocal and theatrical arts. At its core, three new productions: a seldom performed masterpiece, a beloved classic, and a contemporary tour de force.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

Western World
Where: Vancouver Improv Centre (Granville Island)
What: Vancouver TheatreSports’™ improvisers will demonstrate their lightning fast wit as they play the “hosts” to the audience “guests” in Western World – an improvised parody inspired by the popular TV series Westworld.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

The Piano Teacher
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: When Erin, a classical pianist, experiences the loss of the life she knew, she also finds herself dealing with the departure of her own musical expression. Navigating her way through this change, she meets an unconventional piano teacher who gives her new hope for the future.
Runs until: Sunday May 13, 2017

Robin Hood: Prince of Tease
Where: Performance Works
What: An original burlesque-style musical theatre production, inspired by the classic folklore of Robin Hood with a tantalizing twist. In this tale, most characters are gender-swapped and the relationships between the classic characters of Nottingham are turned on their heads. The story follows Robin as she conspires with her merry (wo)men to take down the tyrannical Prince Joan and her sadistic sidekick, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

End of the Rainbow
Where: Staircase Theatre
What: This gritty play with music is based on the true events of Judy Garland’s last comeback attempt in England in 1968.
Runs until: Sunday May 20, 2017

Susan Point: Spindle Whorl
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Since the early 1980s, Susan Point has received wide acclaim for her remarkably accomplished oeuvre that forcefully asserts the vitality of Coast Salish culture, both past and present. She has produced an extensive body of prints and an expansive corpus of sculptural work in a wide variety of materials that includes glass, resin, concrete, steel, wood and paper.
Runs until: Sunday May 28, 2017

Pacific Crossings: Hong Kong Artists in Vancouver
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: June 2017 marks the 20-year anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty from the United Kingdom to mainland China. In the lead up to the handover, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents immigrated to Canada, many choosing to settle in Vancouver, and among them were a significant number of artists. Pacific Crossings presents works from well-known Hong Kong artists created after their relocation to Vancouver throughout the 1960-90s.
Runs until: May 28, 2017

Retainers of Anarchy
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: A solo exhibition featuring new work from Howie Tsui that considers wuxia, a traditional form of martial arts literature, as a narrative tool for dissidence and resistance.
Runs until: May 28, 2017

Caroline Mesquita The Ballad
Where: Centre 221A
What: A sculptural practice that intertwines the materiality of altered, oxidized, and painted copper and brass sheets with theatrical playfulness.
Runs until: Saturday June 3, 2017

Song of the Open Road
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Bringing together artists from Canada, Eritrea, Ireland, Sweden, and the US, the exhibition includes works that combine thematically to interrogate ideas rooted in photographic histories, engaging ideas such as veracity, recollection, remembrance, belonging, staging, and how the image documents and records these or is evidence of differing realities.
Runs until: Sunday June 18, 2017

Up Close
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
What: All the artists represented in this group exhibition find their inspiration while painting on location at VanDusen Garden. The Vancouver en plein air group, initiated in April 2011, zooms-in to the lush vegetation that provides a new dimension of foreground details. The subjects are varied, and so is the medium.
Runs until: Tuesday June 27, 2017

Xi Xanya Dzam – Those Who Are Amazing At Making Things
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery
What: Xi Xanya Dzam (pronounced hee hun ya zam) is the Kwak’wala word describing incredibly talented and gifted people who create works of art. The exhibition is both a showcase and a critical exploration of ‘achievement’ and ‘excellence’ in traditional and contemporary First Nations art.
Runs until: Sunday September 4, 2017

Panda International Night Market
Where: Richmond, BC
What: A diverse market in Richmond, with shopping, food, beverages, and a game zone.
Runs until: Monday September 11, 2017

The Lost Fleet Exhibit
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: On December 7, 1941 the world was shocked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into the war. This action also resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The Lost Fleet looks at the world of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major role in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese-Canadian property and the internment of an entire people.
Runs until: Winter 2017

Bill Reid Creative Journeys
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery
What: Celebrating the many creative journeys of acclaimed master goldsmith and sculptor Bill Reid (1920–1998), this exhibition provides a comprehensive introduction to his life and work.
Runs until: Sunday December 10, 2017

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: MOA will showcase its Amazonian collections in a significant exploration of socially and environmentally-conscious notions intrinsic to indigenous South American cultures, which have recently become innovations in International Law. These are foundational to the notions of Rights of Nature, and they have been consolidating in the nine countries that share responsibilities over the Amazonian basin.
Runs until: January 28, 2018

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below or tweet me directly at @lextacular