Seven days ahead

Theatre

Nude as the news
In Memoirs of a Single Gay White Male, Brad Lewis is a 40ish West End resident reflecting on all the men who've come and gone in his life. Written by Vancouver playwright and director David Blue, SGWM follows in the wake of other gay-themed productions, including Take Me Out, Jeffery, and The Most Happy Fag in the World. The play runs April 25-29 at Performance Works Theatre and comes with a cautionary note-it contains nudity. Call 604-684-2787 or visit Little Sister's Bookstore for tickets.

Buttons or laughs?
Billed as "psychedelic stand-up comedy," Belly features Dawn Wendy McLeod as a comedian/sex worker with a psychic connection to Pink Floyd. Along with a band called A Thousand Times No, she'll be re-working classic Floyd songs between telling jokes and searching for her lost lover and comedy partner. Belly runs April 26-May 5 at Open Studio (200-252 East First Ave.). Call 604-251-1047 for tickets.

Time-outs for teens
Mom's the Word 2: Unhinged returns by popular demand to the Granville Island Stage April 20-June 9. If you recall from its first go-round, the play-nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script-is all about the hi-LARIOUS trials of raising teenagers. Since premiering in Vancouver, Mom's the Word has been produced all over the world, including Winnipeg, Scotland and Australia. Call 604-280-3311 for tickets.

Dance

Pontiff-icating
With a description that reads, "a surrealistic expedition into the world of three figures where power, vanity, desire, torment, faith and serenity meet," Screaming Popes could only be modern dance. Choreographed, directed, and designed by Marie-Jos‚e Chartier, the performance uses papal imagery infused with religious and cultural symbols as a metaphor for the exploration of masculinity. It runs April 25-28 at the Firehall Arts Centre. Call 604-689-0691 for tickets.

Music

Wonderland man
You loved "Your Body is a Wonderland" and wept when he started dating Jessica Simpson. Now John Mayer returns to Vancouver for a show at the Pacific Coliseum May 1. Performing tunes from his latest Continuum, Mayer will be supported by talented opener Kathleen Edwards. Call 604-280-4444 for tickets.

Sub-Marriner blues
One of Canada's foremost blues harp players, Steve Marriner plays the Railway Club April 28. The Ottawan, who has been playing since he was 10, is here to support his new album, Going Up, on Dog My Cat Records. 2002 Juno nominees the Twisters, supporting their latest After the Storm, are also on the bill. Tickets at the door.

Baranduin the right thing
We're always complaining Vancouver just doesn't have enough Early Music groups. How can we be a world-class city without dozens of earnest ensembles sawing away at stringed instruments on classics of yesteryear? Well, our prayers have been answered-the Baranduin Ensemble is a new group dedicated to performing such classics, including Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major. That particular tune will be on the program when the Baranduin Ensemble appear at St. John's Shaughnessy Anglican Church April 27 and St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church (at 2 p.m.) April 29. Tickets at the door. Visit www.baranduin for more information.

Four hands, many strings
The Vancouver Cantata Singers present Brazilian Soundscape. The April 28 Chan Centre concert features the Grammy-winning guitar duo the Assad Brothers. Named "the best two-guitar team in existence, maybe in history" by the Washington Post, the Assads are not to be missed by fans of two-guitar teams. You can catch Sergio and Odair playing with cellist Yo-Yo Ma or just on their own on YouTube. Call 604-280-3311 for tickets.

Cocker cool
Jarvis Cocker is one cool dude. The former frontman for Britpop act Pulp penned the track "Common People," which was later covered by no less an august personage than William Shatner. Cocker also famously once bolted onstage to disrupt a performance by Michael Jackson at an awards show. Supporting his new solo album, Cocker plays the Commodore May 1. Visit Scratch Records or call 604-280-4444 for tickets.

Style mavens
Acclaimed for its members' sartorial style as much as for its music, Interpol took the indie-rock world by storm a few years back with a very well-received debut, Turn on the Bright Lights, that drew comparisons to the British post-punk act Joy Division. The follow-up, Antics, didn't quite match up, or maybe we just didn't listen carefully enough. People must still like the band, though, because Interpol plays a sold-out Commodore April 25.

Festivals

Flip this
Count on the Western Front to present unique events. From April 27 to June 3, the International Flipbook Festival celebrates hand-powered cinema with an exhibition of more than 100 flipbooks by European and North American artists. The idea was devised as a film festival without the film. Deets at 604-876-9343.

published on 04/25/2007