Category: Performing Arts

Gotta celebrate Gotta Sing!

The PNE is hosting a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! and, on Aug. 24, 4:30 p.m., there will be a show featuring 2014 participants in the program, Perry Ehrlich’s ShowStoppers and Sound Sensation troupes, as well as some past participants in these programs. (photo from Perry Ehrlich)

There are several anniversaries in Vancouver’s arts scene this year. It’s the 50th for the Arts Club and the 25th for Bard on the Beach, for example, but the one that hits closest to home is the 20th for the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver’s resident summer musical theatre program, Gotta Sing! Gotta Dance! (GSGD).

The brainchild of local lawyer Perry Ehrlich, this program grew from a relatively inauspicious start to become one of the premier children’s musical programs in the Lower Mainland. In an interview with the Independent, Ehrlich noted that it all started when he tried to enrol his daughter, Lisa, in musical theatre classes.

“I realized that when I was looking around at the various offerings that I could do a better job and, if I participated with Lisa, it would be an outlet for my creativity and a playground for my daughter and myself. I thought when my kids were finished, that would be the end of it. I never thought it would last for more than five or six years – but I fell in love with the kids and the process and here we are 20 years later!”

photo - Perry Ehrlich
Perry Ehrlich (photo from Perry Ehrlich)

Ehrlich, a pianist, has a strong musical background. While at law school at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, he played for dinner theatre at a downtown hotel and was the musical director of the faculty’s annual Legal Follies. He also was co-director of Sound Sensation, which rehearsed in Richmond. GSGD owes its name to that group: when Ehrlich was looking for new members for the group, he put an ad in the Vancouver Sun setting out the required qualifications, “Gotta sing, gotta dance.” When searching for a name for his “baby,” he was reminded of that ad and the rest is history.

Over the years, hundreds of youngsters from 9-19 have come to the JCCGV every summer from all over British Columbia, the United States, Europe and Israel to participate in one of the two three-week sessions. Each session culminates in a public performance at the Rothstein Theatre with a bespoke Broadway-like production penned by Ehrlich.

“By writing my own show, we get to do not 10 but 30 songs, all choreographed, so everyone of the kids gets to do something. My philosophy is to teach the kids to get along with each other and to work as a team to develop both personally and artistically – the younger ones work with the older ones and we are like a family.”

Ehrlich treats participants like adults and the program is set up like a school, six hours a day, and the kids are expected to behave responsibly and with respect towards their fellow students and the teachers. Ehrlich has high expectations for his charges and pushes the kids to their limits.

“I don’t want them to be second rate,” he said. “Mediocrity is not an option. With only 13 days from start to end of rehearsal and then three days of performance, this is a pretty intense experience.”

The teachers are a world-class staff with the likes of choreographer Lisa Stevens, actor Josh Epstein and musician Wendy Bross-Stuart. Noting that one of the dance teachers choreographed the Olympic opening ceremonies, Ehrlich said, “The kids are exposed to that message of excellence.”

His three keys to success? “To stand up, speak up and know when to shut up.”

In addition to the base program, Ehrlich runs a finishing school for two hours after each day of GSGD for serious students who get instruction in auditioning techniques from local professionals.

Ehrlich takes the crème de la crème from his annual programs and invites them to participate in a year-round group appropriately named – from what this writer observed while sitting in a rehearsal – ShowStoppers. This mix of energetic, talented young teens performs together up to 20 times a year at such events as the BMO Vancouver Marathon, the Santa Claus and Canada Day parades and the opening ceremonies of the Special Olympics. On Aug. 24, 4:30 p.m., there will be a 20th-anniversary performance at the PNE.

Andrew Cohen, who recently emceed Louis Brier Jewish Aged Foundation’s Eight Over Eighty event, is an alumnus, one of the founding members of ShowStoppers and now a faculty member of the program. “I remember looking forward to summer vacation every year knowing that I would be going to GSGD,” he told the JI. “It grounded me and taught me respect and the work ethic you need to succeed in the industry. It gave me an edge over other kids when it came time to audition for parts. Theatre is an incredible outlet for growing kids. It teaches them the necessary social skills, to have confidence and speak out and up for themselves.” As to the success of the program, Cohen said, “I would say that GSGD is synonymous with children’s talent in Vancouver.”

Parent Mark Rozenberg was effusive in his praise of GSGD, in which two of his children participated. “It allows kids with a passion for singing, acting and dancing to learn and to practise their passion. It is the most amazing program with some of the best instructors. When I sent my children off to the JCC every day in the summer, I knew they were in good hands.”

Nathan Sartore, a current ShowStoppers participant, could not contain his enthusiasm for the program. “It is such an important part of my life and means everything to me,” he said. “I can’t imagine my life without it.”

“I watch these kids coming in as shy, quiet youngsters and see them leave as confident performers…. I teach and expect the kids to make a full-out commitment but also to have fun and laugh.”

Ehrlich said that he was bullied as a child and feels that many young people involved in musical theatre have faced some sort of bullying for their artistic passions. “I see my job as providing a safe, happy, nurturing, learning space where all the kids can develop confidence and self-esteem,” he explained. “I watch these kids coming in as shy, quiet youngsters and see them leave as confident performers. They get the opportunity to work as a team and make lifelong friends in an environment where people are loving and caring. I teach and expect the kids to make a full-out commitment but also to have fun and laugh.”

Ehrlich is grateful to the community for its financial support of GSGD through scholarship funds like the Babe Oreck Memorial Fund and the Phyllis and Irving Snider Foundation, so that no child is turned away from the program for financial reasons.

“I am no different than any father who coaches basketball or baseball,” said Ehrlich. “I am doing exactly what they are doing, creating teams, teaching excellence, building confidence and skills. All of us, in our own way, are giving these kids something productive to do, not just hanging around the local 7-Eleven.”

Productivity aside, walk by the Rothstein Theatre on any given summer weekday and you will hear the sounds of joy coming through the doors. You gotta love it.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

Both TUTS shows worth seeing, why not see both?

When Fiona (Lindsay Warnock) asks her savior to take off his helmet so that she can meet her prince, Shrek (Matt Palmer) is reluctant. (photo by Milan Radovanovic)

An ugly ogre and a beautiful blonde. You wouldn’t think they’d have much in common, but the similarities stand out when you see Shrek: The Musical and Legally Blonde: The Musical back to back, as the Jewish Independent did this month at Theatre Under the Stars.

In Shrek, the title character was sent out into the world by his parents at age 7. A brave, kind, generous soul, he is feared and harassed (think pitchforks and torches) for his gruesome exterior. He chooses to live in an isolated swamp, alone. But, when Lord Farquaad exiles all the fairy-tale creatures from Duloc – because they are different/special/freaks – they end up in Shrek’s backyard. In need of a hero, they ask for Shrek’s help, which he provides, despite his complaining, because that’s just who he is. Unwillingly accompanied by his soon-to-be best buddy and faithful sidekick Donkey, who is also fleeing Farquaad’s soldiers (because he can talk – and talk he does), Shrek travels to Duloc. There, he makes a deal with Farquaad, who is also in need of a hero – to retrieve Princess Fiona, who has been locked in a dragon-guarded tower by her parents, who assure her that, one day, her prince will come. Farquaad’s intentions are anything but noble, however, and Shrek must ultimately save Fiona from her prince.

photo - Scott Walters as Emmett and Jocelyn Gauthier as Elle Woods work very well together on stage
Scott Walters as Emmett and Jocelyn Gauthier as Elle Woods work very well together on stage. (photo by Milan Radovanovic)

In Legally Blonde, we have Elle. When the musical begins, Elle has her prince and they are set to live happily ever after; that is, until her prince, Warner, dumps her to go to Harvard Law School, where he hopes to find a more serious and appropriate wife for someone of his station. A smart, caring and optimistic soul, she is ridiculed and discounted for her attractive exterior. Instead of running away, as did Shrek initially, Elle fights back, putting her nose to the books and getting into Harvard so that she can show Warner just how serious she is. While she doesn’t have to fend off dragons and soldiers, she must defend herself against unwanted advances and prove herself worthy, not only to her fellow lawyers but to herself. She, like Shrek, doesn’t have to fight alone, but is supported by a trio of besties from back home (who most often appear as a figment of her imagination, as her own Greek chorus, supplemented by other Delta Nu sorority sisters) and a new friend, Paulette. As must the fairy-tale creatures, Paulette also must find her voice, the confidence to stand up for herself and her rights.

Both age-old stories of finding the courage to be oneself, and proudly so, are creatively and humorously told. Though Shrek drags a bit in parts and Legally Blonde doesn’t quite measure up to last year’s production, both are a lot of fun and the talent of the TUTS actors and crews is clear.

Matt Palmer as Shrek, Lindsay Warnock as Princess Fiona and especially Victor Hunter as Lord Farquaad stand out in Shrek, along with great performances from Ken Overby as Donkey, Sharon Crandall as Dragon and John Payne as Narrator – and, truth be told, the entire cast of fairy-tale misfits. Shrek is a top-notch ensemble work in every sense, with the sets (Brian Ball), costumes (Chris Sinosich) and choreography (Julie Tomaino) almost characters themselves. Sarah Rodgers’ direction keeps things moving when they threaten to lull, and the actors’ comedic timing is brilliant, as are their facial expressions and body language.

Legally Blonde didn’t run as smoothly on opening night and, while Valerie Easton’s choreography is once again energizing – it was hard not to dance all the way back to the car after the show – there were a few scenes that seemed rushed, or ill-timed. Jocelyn Gauthier does a solid job as Elle, and she really is the star of the production, although she too is supported by a fabulous cast, notably the actors reprising their lead roles from last year: Cathy Wilmot as Paulette, Peter Cumins as Warner, Jewish community member Warren Kimmel as Callaghan (who seemed even better this year than last) and Scott Walters as Emmett, though Walters once again overplays the part – no one is that cheery … well, except for Elle, but it works for her, not so much for him. Then there’s Jacob Woike as the walking-porn UPS guy, Kyle – so funny.

There is really no reason not to go to TUTS this year. Two high-quality musicals with grade-A performers in an idyllic setting. Quadruple snaps!

Visit tuts.ca for information on showtimes and tickets.

Pandora’s Collective co-founder talks to JI

Bonnie Nish also started Summer Dreams. (photo by Robin Susanto)

“I have a passion for writing poetry,” said Bonnie Nish, a local poet and an executive director of Pandora’s Collective. “But I also want to build a community of writers. Writing is an isolated occupation. Building a community around it brings us together. When I’m with people, working on a Pandora’s event or the Summer Dreams festival, I get as much as I give.”

Nish refused to define herself by one word or profession. “I’m many things,” she said. Nish has a bachelor’s degree in English, a master’s in art education and is completing her PhD in expressive arts therapy.

“Expressive arts therapy uses all of the arts – from writing to visual arts to music – to unlock people’s creativity and help with conflict resolution,” she explained. “It engages the part of our brains we don’t usually use. I’m in the process of setting up a practice and I’m also trying to organize a series of workshops.” Among her clients are individuals (children and adults), corporations trying to build their teams and couples in need of counseling.

Helping people achieve their potential through arts is her ultimate goal in life. “I always wanted to be a writer and a teacher,” she said. Both her wishes came true. She has been a poetry workshop instructor since 1996, first in California and later here, in Vancouver, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for poetry with adults and teens.

Since 2006, she also has worked for the Vancouver School Board as an education assistant for elementary school children with disabilities: Down syndrome and autism. “I’m drawn to children who need extra help,” she said. “And I like working one on one. It allows me to build a relationship.”

Her other work stems from the same sources: her need to give, to mentor, to unite writers. “When I came to Vancouver in 2002, I joined a writers’ group. Later, I set up my own group. My kids were still young, so we met weekly in my house and had a writing session on a ‘prompt,’ a different prompt every week. We wrote around my kitchen table.”

It wasn’t enough. Nish and her poetic cohorts wanted to take their poetry to the wider world, so they founded Pandora’s Collective, a nonprofit organization that promotes poetry and literature in Vancouver.

“What began over 10 years ago as a small writing group sitting around my kitchen table every week has evolved into a whole gamut of weekly, monthly and yearly events and readings, which reaches hundreds of people,” she said. “We feature poetry contests for all ages, with entries coming from as far away as Italy and Egypt. We award a scholarship each summer to enable a teen to attend the Vancouver Public Library’s Summer Book Camp. With Pandora’s Collective, I have facilitated workshops in alcohol and drug rehabilitation centres, at Covenant House, the Gathering Place and throughout the Lower Mainland in schools.”

“I’ll strive as long as we’re doing this to keep Pandora’s an inclusive place for all writers, where they can find community, where their words are taken seriously and they’re able to continue to find their voice.”

Pandora’s provides a safe space for all writers to be heard. “This has personal importance to me,” said Nish. “I understand the need to be heard. I’ll strive as long as we’re doing this to keep Pandora’s an inclusive place for all writers, where they can find community, where their words are taken seriously and they’re able to continue to find their voice.”

With Pandora’s flying high, Nish turned her focus to another project: she started the annual Summer Dreams literary festival in 2004.

“I noticed that lots of people did lots of events in Vancouver,” she said. “I thought it was a good idea to bring them all together, to give them more exposure … to showcase to the public what we do on an ongoing basis.”

By 2013, its 10th year, the festival had grown into a multi-day event, comprised of 27 literary groups with more than 100 performers. Unfortunately, for 2014, the festival is taking a hiatus, as its founder and heart, Nish, has a health problem. In 2012, she suffered a severe concussion; in 2013, a second one. “My short-term memory was affected,” she said. “I couldn’t read, couldn’t write, couldn’t find words.”

While gradually getting better, Nish has found a way to turn her pain into an opportunity for other writers. She is undertaking the publication of an anthology of stories – essays, poems or memoirs – about concussion and its effects. She already has submissions from more than two dozen writers. Publication is scheduled for 2015.

“Some days, when I am tired, I wonder why I continue. The answer, when I really take the time to think about it, is very clear. It is because of this great community … of which I have become a part. I am so thankful for this.”

“I’m doing all of this because it is my passion,” she says on her website. “… It is the people who email me to say that they feel connected because of my e-newsletter. It is the girl who stopped me on the street to tell me that she had done our workshop in a drug rehab and was still straight and still writing. It is all the volunteers who come out year after year to keep the festival running. It is the poets, established and beginners…. They are what keep this whole thing alive. Some days, when I am tired, I wonder why I continue. The answer, when I really take the time to think about it, is very clear. It is because of this great community … of which I have become a part. I am so thankful for this.”

To learn more, visit Pandora’s Collective’s website, pandorascollective.com.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.

Stotland plays Carlebach – in Yiddish!

“Montreal Jewgrass” musician Adam Stotland channeled one of his musical gods since childhood – Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach – in his acting debut last month.

Stotland, who has Vancouver family connections, landed the title role in the musical Soul Doctor: The Journey of a Rock Star Rabbi, which made its world première in Yiddish at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts in Montreal, with a June 8-29 run.

photo - Adam Stotland
Adam Stotland (photo from cnjews.com)

Stotland, 37, is not a rabbi or exactly a rock star, but he is a cantor and singer-guitarist known for his brand of music that blends klezmer and other Jewish folk music with the sounds of bluegrass. He is a huge fan of Carlebach, the charismatic, yet controversial, voice of the Jewish revival movement of the 1950s through ’70s. But, as Stotland pointed out to the Segal team when they invited him to audition, he had never acted before – and didn’t know Yiddish.

He also wasn’t sure if he could find the time between his duties as cantor, for the past two years, at Shaare Zion Congregation and his busy performing schedule. He and his wife also have a young child and are expecting another.

Besides, as always, the actors and singers in Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre productions are highly talented, but unpaid.

But the Segal insisted he would be ideal.

Stotland headed a cast of 30, which included Mark Bassel, Aron Gonshor, Burney Lieberman and Sam Stein. Co-directors were Bryna Wasserman, artistic director of New York’s Folksbiene Theatre, who convinced the Segal they had to do this show, and Rachelle Glait.

Written by Daniel S. Wise with lyrics by David Shechter, Soul Doctor had its Broadway debut in English last summer. It was hailed by the New York Times as “a joyous, leaping roar” and “unabashedly celebratory show.” The Montreal show featured English and French supertitles.

More than 30 of Carlebach’s greatest hits over his 40-year career are featured, backed by a live band. “He had the ability to compose simple tunes that touched you,” Stotland said.

There is a storyline, and Stotland spent “hours and hours” learning the dialogue. His knowledge of Yiddish had been limited to a few affectionate and sometimes colorful phrases he knew from his bubbie. “Having a musical ear, however, has helped me get the meter, the lilting melody of the language,” he said.

Soul Doctor recounts Carlebach’s life from his childhood escape from Nazi Germany and his early rabbinical career, to his discovery of gospel and soul music after meeting acclaimed jazz singer Nina Simone in 1957. An unlikely collaboration and friendship blossomed from there.

He moved away from his strict Orthodox upbringing, but brought the Chassidic love of song to mainstream Jews. He developed a signature sound that combined folk, pop and soul with traditional Jewish music and liturgy, and his popularity grew well beyond Jewish fans. He performed with the likes of Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead.

But stardom had its price and Carlebach, who died 20 years ago, struggled with personal demons that strained his family life and shook his faith.

“The music and journey of Rabbi Carlebach is one that will resonate strongly with our community,” said Wasserman prior to the opening, adding that the production “captures the spiritual essence of his songwriting.”

– For more national Jewish news, visit cjnews.com.

 

Meghan Goodman finds adventure in dance

Meghan Goodman will perform next with Dusk Dances at Dancing on the Edge July 4-6. (photo by Dan Cento)

Meghan Goodman, a Vancouver dancer and yoga teacher, has always been daring. “Since I was a kid, I’ve had a big sense of adventure,” she said in an interview with the Independent. “I loved biking fast, doing interesting things.”

Her predilection for adventure frequently informs her choices, even now. At school, she was torn between the arts and sciences. At university, she majored in dance and minored in math, but eventually dancing as a career won out. “Dancing is exciting and challenging, and it has a nice community of people doing it,” she said.

Dancing also offers a variety of jobs and the ability to schedule her professional life. And, it feeds her desire for perpetual learning.

“The more I dance, the more I learn. There is always something new to learn. Never a dull moment. I noticed that mature dancers can do more, maybe not physically, but they have more inner richness, know how to channel emotions. Dancing has been an interesting and educational journey for me. I would probably be bored with a regular job. I like that my every day is different; I like the fluctuations. There are busy times and free times. Some days, I have three jobs a day, but there are periods when I don’t have anything scheduled. Then, I can rest or travel.”

Her craving for new and stimulating experiences led her to Aeriosa Dance Society, a company that performs dancing in the air, or rather on walls of tall buildings and other vertical surfaces.

“I’ve been a member of Aeriosa for about five years,” said Goodman. “I had seen them perform … and thought it was amazing. When, before the Olympics, their director asked me if I wanted to join – of course, I said yes.”

She revels in aerial dancing. “I love it. I have six or seven contracts with Aeriosa every year, about one-third of all my jobs…. My highest performance with them was about two years ago in Toronto – we performed at the level of the 33rd storey. But, more often, it’s eight- or 10-storey buildings, like the Vancouver Public Library. Or sometimes it’s the trees. It takes a special type of person to perform in the air and lots of training. It needs a different technique than dancing on the floor, because of gravity. When we dance on a vertical surface, we use different muscles.”

Goodman also has her own company, which is an adventure in itself, like any small business. In 2008, she co-founded Body Narrative Collective (BNC) with two friends, one of whom left the company soon after. Julia Carr and Goodman still keep it running.

“We don’t even remember how we first met, Julia and I,” Goodman said, laughing. “Maybe we had classes together or performed together. Now, we have BNC together. A collective needs three people, so we always bring at least one other person for every project, maybe a composer or an artist, usually more than one. Our latest project, Dark Room, had over 20 people.”

She explained that BNC has an interdisciplinary focus, viewing various artistic disciplines through the lens of dance. “Julia is interested in photography, and Dark Room was a collaboration between photography and dance. We explored different photographic techniques by integrating dance and huge, blown-up images. The show premièred in December 2013.”

Another aspect of Goodman’s life is teaching yoga. She began practising yoga in 1998 and received her first teaching certificate in 2006. Seeking ways of working with a wider range of students, she began studying Iyengar yoga. In 2013, she completed the Iyengar Intro 2 teaching certification.

“Iyengar yoga is suitable for all ages,” she said. “It’s good for people who like precision, science and math, like me. We use lots of props – ropes, straps, blocks – and slow, careful movements, so everyone could benefit from a pose, study it. This kind of yoga is excellent for those recovering from injuries and surgeries.”

For Goodman, Iyengar yoga has become a path to stability. “It’s good for settling myself after the excitement of a dance or aerial performance. It feels still and calm, brings me into a quiet space, provides a balance for my dancing and my busy life.”

She teaches predominantly adult students. “When I was younger, I often taught kids – first tutoring at school, later dancing lessons. I like teaching but now I prefer teaching adults. It requires a different level of passing information. Mostly, I teach yoga but I still teach dance once in awhile, usually in specialized workshops. I taught a workshop of contemporary dance to figure skaters. They discovered that they compete better with some dancing training.”

“Dancing is always extra – extra income and extra joy.”

Goodman sees teaching yoga as her future. “Dancing doesn’t last forever, but yoga teachers get better with age, improve. I can practise and teach yoga in my eighties,” she said cheerfully. “Right now, teaching yoga adds security to my life. It pays the bills. Dancing is always extra – extra income and extra joy.”

Goodman’s next performance will be with Dusk Dances, a Toronto company specializing in dancing in parks and other outdoor spaces. Part of this year’s Dancing on the Edge festival, the free shows will take place in Portside Park from July 4-6, 7 p.m. For more information, visit meghangoodman.wordpress.com or dancingontheedge.org.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.

Mishelle Cuttler’s music and sounds infuse Concessions

Jillian Fargey, back, and Emma Slipp in The Concessions. (photo by Emily Cooper)

Sitting outside an East Vancouver rehearsal hall in the bright sunshine of an early spring day, Mishelle Cuttler is philosophical about going unnoticed. The 26-year-old sound designer and music composer, currently working on the play The Concessions for Touchstone Theatre, mused of her field, “I think it is a discipline that is often unnoticed. It’s kind of like lighting in the way that if you don’t notice it, it probably means that it’s done well.”

Cuttler’s sound design and music may not draw attention to themselves, she said, but they can have a profound effect on an audience. “Music,” she pointed out, “kind of bypasses your brain and goes straight to your emotional centre. Sound in general does that.”

Some of the work that will go unnoticed in The Concessions, then, includes complex sound effects and an original musical score. She will provide the production with digital recordings of animal sounds and rainstorms. She will compose and orchestrate music for scene changes and to underscore some of the action.

The Concessions, by Briana Brown, is the story of a shocking murder in a small Ontario town. Fear pervades the community, as the killer remains at large. Suspects are everywhere, safety nowhere, and the supernatural makes an appearance. The production is part of Touchstone Theatre’s Flying Start program that showcases work by new playwrights. It runs from June 6 to 14 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

The first time she reads any play, said Cuttler, “I keep my eye out for anything audible.” To her, The Concessions has a lot of noise in it, much of it coming from the outdoors. “This play is really about its environment. It’s about this town and there’s a lot of reference to the weather and these storms that are happening,” she said. “There’s the lake and then there’s this forest where this tragedy happens. I think the fact that this place is rural and in nature is very important to the script.”

She said her “number one” task is to create the weather. “It comes up all the time,” she said. “Raining and thunder and wind, there are also some animals referenced in the script that might come out. There’s water … and there’s a lot of silence.”

Knowing when to be quiet is also part of her job. “As a sound designer, I have to be constantly reminding myself that silence can be very important, and sometimes it’s better,” she said.

Touchstone artistic director Katrina Dunn, the director of The Concessions, said one of Cuttler’s greatest challenges is to create the important radio broadcasts that occur throughout the play. Speaking by phone, Dunn said the play has a “whole through-line” that involves the radio. “The local radio station is the conduit through which we feel the larger city,” she said. The play contains an element of magic and, during one five-minute radio broadcast, “the radio goes crazy and goes into another realm. That’s an interesting thing for a sound designer to get to do.”

“I’ve always found composing comes much easier to me when it’s for a purpose, when I’m trying to do something to further a story.”

Cuttler is also writing and orchestrating the play’s original musical score. “In this show, it seems like there will be some pretty complex and interesting scene changes, which is always the most important moment for me,” said Cuttler, whose music will cover the scene changes and underscore some of the action. On a show like this, she has only weeks to compose and, during rehearsal, it’s a matter of days. “I’ve always found composing comes much easier to me when it’s for a purpose, when I’m trying to do something to further a story,” she said.

Cuttler’s work continued through the rehearsal period. As The Concessions took shape, the music and sound design changed. “The music is the stuff that takes the most massaging and figuring out because it’s really tailored to the script specifically,” she explained. That meant composing on the fly, which, she said, is just part of working on a new play. The script “can be very fluid up until the last minute.”

The busy designer, actor and musician will spend the summer playing accordion for Caravan Theatre in the Okanagan. She has a sound design job lined up for next season, and her original musical, Stationary, will be produced at the Cultch in April 2015. “I think that I always dreamed of a life where I was doing lots of different things and I’m fortunate that I’ve sort of achieved that,” she said.

Cuttler was recently nominated for a Jessie Richardson Theatre Award for her sound design on Itsazoo’s April production of Killer Joe. Winners will be announced at the June 23 ceremony.

Tickets to The Concessions can be found at firehallartscentre.ca.

Michael Groberman is a Vancouver freelance writer.

Inhabiting his father’s world

Bob Bossin (photo by Suzanne Kimpan)

Bob Bossin, a well-known Canadian folk musician, recently released a book about his father, Davy the Punk: A Story of Bookies, Toronto the Good, the Mob and My Dad. The book is a compilation of true-life stories about the author’s father, David, a legendary figure in the underground gambling scene in Toronto in the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, but it’s much more than that. It is also a social commentary on Canadian life off the lawful path in the first half of the 20th century.

Simultaneously with the release of the book, on which it is based, Bossin is touring with his new one-man musical, Songs and Stories of Davy the Punk: The Very Jewish Story of My Father’s Life in the Gambling Business. He brings it to Havana Theatre June 3-7, and recently talked to the JI about both projects.

JI: How and when did you come up with the idea for this book?

BB: My father died when I was young, just 17, but I heard many stories about him. One afternoon in the early 1970s, I stopped for lunch at the United Bakers Restaurant on Spadina Avenue. It had been in Toronto since 1912 and it had a counter man as old as Methuselah. I sat at the counter and started kibitzing with him. I asked him how long he had lived in Toronto.

“Longer than my teeth,” he said in Yiddish. So I asked him if he knew the Bossins.

“Sure,” he said, “I knew the Bossins. I knew Hye, Celia, Sady, Bessie, Davy….”

“Davy was my father,” I told him.

“Sure, I knew Davy. We used to call him Davy the Punk.”

“Davy the Punk? Why Davy the Punk?”

“Because he was a punk kid. He was a gangster.”

After that, I became very interested in my father and, as it turned out, the police had felt the same way. While my father was not a man who wrote things down, the police wrote a lot about him. So I started to haunt the archives and newspaper morgues. I tracked down old bookies, old cops and old judges and, over the years, I pieced together my father’s story.

JI: Did you use your imagination to fill the gaps or when memory was fuzzy?

BB: Of course, the imagination is very much involved, even as you are trying to stay as close to the facts as possible. People live lives, not stories. Turning a life into a story is an imaginative act.

JI: Could you tell us something about the research you did for the book?

BB: Calling this book a memoir was the publisher’s idea. Fair enough: books have to be categorized, and “storybook” wasn’t one of the options. But that is how I think of it. This is the story I might tell you on a summer night, if I really got wound up. I suppose it is a memoir of sorts, but my father died when I was a teen, so my personal memories of him end early. Of necessity, I have reconstructed much of Davy the Punk from what others told me, and from the documents my father had nothing to do with.

I did get some of the story straight from my father, Davy Bossin. Among friends and family, Davy was not secretive about his past, and I liked nothing better than listening in when he told his stories. I only wish that I had asked him more questions, and that I had a better memory than I do. Of course, in the end, our fathers’ lives always remain a mystery, and mine no less, despite my best efforts to snoop.

Over the years, I have learned a lot about what Davy did, but how he did it, I can only guess. For instance, I know that he went to New York around 1950 to tell Frank Costello he was quitting the gambling business. But how did he feel boarding the train? Worried? Confident? Nonchalant?

Or there is Bill Gold’s story of Davy happily kibitzing with the murderous Fischetti brothers in a Cleveland gambling club in 1948. Was Davy really as relaxed as his friend remembered a half-century later, when he was 92? I decided to take Gold’s word and reported the story that way. The book is peppered with choices like that … as I kept after Davy the Punk through all the obstacles and dead-ends inherent in chasing a man with a 50-year headstart.

My mother was another important source… After her and my father, I am, in a way, most indebted to Alex Haley, the author of Roots. Sometime in the late 1970s, Haley called everyone to go out with a tape recorder and tape their family elders’ stories. I thought that was a terrific idea…. I recorded interviews with a dozen aunts, uncles and cousins, filling many a cassette. I always asked them about Davy.

JI: You talked to people, searched in archives and libraries. What else?

BB: The internet. Suddenly every paper ever published by the Toronto Star or the Globe and Mail was online and searchable. When I searched 1940, up came Gordon Sinclair’s live coverage of the raid on the Canadian Turf and Sports Bulletin, my father’s business. Overall, the books, articles and theses I read number in the hundreds.

JI: How long did it take to write the book?

BB: It took five or six years. I do lots and lots of re-writing.

JI: How and when did the book get turned into a show?

BB: That was my idea from the get-go. Performing, telling stories on stage, both as songs and prose, that’s what I have done for a living all my life. The show premièred at the Ashkenaz Festival in Toronto two years ago, as a sort of one-act musical reading. It has come a long way since then. I developed it through a few other preview performances that fall, and then put it aside. I’ve just started performing the full version. So far, it’s been four shows.

JI: How much of the book went into the show?

BB: The show is maybe one-tenth of the length of the book. They each have their own tone. The book goes much deeper into the history of my father’s world, particularly of the gambling business, the mob, the behind-the-scenes workings of the authorities, the antisemitism of the times. But the show has the magic of a live theatrical experience and, of course, it has the music.

JI: You’re the author as well as the performer. Do you change the show depending on public reaction?

BB: So far, yes. There’s nothing like getting it in front of an audience to see how it connects. There is a scene in the show now that wasn’t there until very recently. It was a piece I did at a couple book launches. People reacted to it so strongly I thought maybe it should be in the show. Once I put it in, it suggested other changes. It’s made for a significantly better show, I think. Eventually, I discover the best way to tell the story, and then it stays pretty much as scripted.

For a review of Bob Bossin’s Davy the Punk: A Story of Bookies, Toronto the Good, the Mob and My Dad, see page “A family underworld” by Robert Matas in this week’s issue. For more on the one-man show, visit the website davythepunk.com.

Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She can be reached at olgagodim@gmail.com.

Naomi Steinberg’s Storytelling Festival is fast approaching

Naomi Steinberg (photo by Diane Smithers)

Clearly, creativity and community involvement run in the Steinberg family. In the April 25 issue of the JI, readers heard from Myriam Steinberg, artistic director of the upcoming In the House Festival. This week, her sister Naomi Steinberg talks to the JI about her work as the executive director of the Vancouver Society of Storytelling, which is hosting its 20th Storytelling Festival June 13-15 at various venues around the city.

The Storytelling Festival presents tellers and stories from across the spectrum of custom and culture and this year’s theme, A Cabinet of Curiosities, is in keeping with the festival’s mandate of multiculturalism and education. Close to 30 storytellers will be highlighted over the course of three days. There will be First Nations stories, a Persian epic called “The Shahnameh,” family time stories and a panel discussion on storytelling for social change.

Storytelling is the oldest form of social communication, the oral tradition of passing down fables, legends, fairy tales and myths from generation to generation. It makes us aware of our history, provides an environment to share experiences and can be an effective tool for education and change. Steinberg is passionate about her craft, which she emphasized involves being able to listen, as much as being able to tell.

“A teller is a visual artist who paints with words and carves air with her/his tongue.”

“I do not want to denigrate digital storytelling, but the oral format is its own high art form. A teller is a visual artist who paints with words and carves air with her/his tongue.” As far as the local Society of Storytelling is concerned, she said, there are two aspects to storytelling, the actual telling, the entertainment piece, and then its application in the community setting to encourage social change, the educational piece. “We run the biannual festival and then in the in-between years we focus on a community project,” Steinberg explained. “We are also committed to bringing storytelling into schools.”

Last year, the society was involved with the St. George Rainway Project, a community-driven initiative to recall an historic waterway in Mount Pleasant. Last fall, 13 student stewards were selected from Mount Pleasant Elementary School to guide the community through the area and tell the story of the lost stream within the street right of way along St. George Street from Kingsway to East 13th Avenue. Part of the project was to build a storyteller’s bench at the headwaters of the creek – to leave a legacy to the neighborhood. “It was a day of community engagement and learning and showed what green redesign of a block could bring,” Steinberg said. “It encouraged dialogue and debate amongst the residents of the area. It was a great success.”

Another project was based on the five elements: air, earth, fire, metal and water. “We worked in five different communities, each focusing on exploring one of the elements through storytelling and community participation,” she explained. “We ended with a bike/bus tour to each of the five areas to view the projects. It was a unique way of highlighting the outreach possibilities of storytelling.”

Storytelling is also about preserving one’s culture. Yet different cultures can put a different spin on the same story, an example of that, Steinberg noted, is the story of the North Shore Twin Peaks – known as the Lions. “In the 1880s, British immigrants, who constituted the majority of British Columbia residents, commemorated their colonial roots by naming the two peaks after the famous crouching Lions of London’s Trafalgar Square. However, even before one British foot touched West Coast soil, the aboriginal peoples had their own mythology of the ‘Twin Sisters,’ who helped save their tribe from extinction by making peace with a warring neighbor tribe and, for this deed, were immortalized and set forever in a high place as the two peaks.”

There was very little “the Wandering Jew” could carry with him to preserve his memory as he was forced out of his home in various countries, so he took his stories, with their wisdom, humor and pathos.

Storytelling knows no ethnic or cultural boundaries; every culture has its folklore. Judaism is no exception. There was very little “the Wandering Jew” could carry with him to preserve his memory as he was forced out of his home in various countries, so he took his stories, with their wisdom, humor and pathos.

The position of a storyteller was often revered in a society. Steinberg laughed as she talked about the night she told her grandparents that she was a storyteller, in response to a query about what she was doing for a living.

“I was afraid to tell them and was very surprised when they congratulated me for being part of an honorable tradition, that of a maggid. This was an endorsement at the highest level for me.”

Steinberg has traveled around the world telling stories and presenting workshops. Of all the stories she has told, her favorite is based on an Iraqi-Kurdish Jewish fairytale called “The Wonderful Healing Leaves” from a book of Jewish folklore edited by Howard Schwartz.

After four years with the society, Steinberg said she is leaving for a year and a half abroad to gather material for her upcoming Fringe Festival production that explores the French roots of her maternal grandmother.

About why people should come to the festival, Steinberg said, “They will get a deepened appreciation of Vancouver, its landscapes, its indigenous population and its various cultural communities. They will be entertained and they will see that storytelling is fun, educational and simple, you don’t need a lot of props to participate.”

As to the future of oral storytelling, Steinberg was emphatic, “Nothing replaces heart-to-heart, face-to-face, breath-to-breath interactions. Even when you are just listening to a story, you are using more than your ears, it is an emotional experience that involves your heart and soul. The digital world is not going to take over this form of communication, ever.”

For more information and a list of the festival’s storytellers and venues, visit the website vancouverstorytelling.org.

Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and lawyer.

A Vancouver Jew in Camelot

The cast of Spamalot, with Josh Epstein at centre, on one knee. (photo by David Cooper)

In any great adventure,
that you don’t want to lose,
victory depends upon the people that you choose.
So, listen, Arthur darling, closely to this news:
We won’t succeed on Broadway,
If you don’t have any Jews.

– Sir Robin, Spamalot

Of all the Monty Python films, perhaps none has deposited as many “Pythonisms” as Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Who can forget the airspeed of an African swallow, horse hoofs portrayed by empty coconut halves, the knights who say “ni,” the killer rabbit and, that old chestnut, “It’s only a flesh wound.”

Produced in 1975, Holy Grail was the second in a string of five successful Python films that included And Now for Something Completely Different (1971), Life of Brian (1979), Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) and The Meaning of Life (1983).

Funny thing is, although I’ve seen Holy Grail perhaps a dozen times over the years, I don’t recall the presence of a giant Magen David dangling in a spotlight as the cast sings, “You haven’t got a clue if you don’t have a Jew.” Call me crazy but I don’t think that was in the original.

But then Spamalot does not suggest that it’s anything other than a rip off (albeit lovingly done), so, although it’s based on the movie, be prepared for the use of monumental artistic licence. And yet, what better piece for physical comedian/actor/musical theatre devotee Josh Epstein to sing as he prances around the stage in one of the funniest performances you’ll see this year.

photo - Josh Epstein, as the taunting Frenchman in Spamalot
Josh Epstein, as the taunting Frenchman in Spamalot. (photo by David Cooper)

Epstein has already proven his prowess in memorable productions such as The Producers in 2008 and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in 2010. But seeing him frolic in chain mail, bedecked with Orlando Bloom hair, or hurling brilliant insults as a French soldier wearing the equivalent of a Conehead helmet, is gut-wrenchingly hysterical.

For those not familiar with the story, the plot centres on King Arthur’s attempt to round up some knights (or “ke-nicts” as Epstein mispronounces in his French “aksant”) to search for the grail. On his path, he encounters challenges of outrageous (in size and humor) proportions. He can’t even convince the local serfs that he deserves their respect as a king after relating how he acquired the title from the Lady of the Lake. “Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is a bad way to choose a government,” he is told.

The hapless Arthur (David Marr) continues undaunted, however, eventually rounding up four knights – the Homicidally Brave Sir Lancelot (Jay Hindle); Sir Robin, the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir-Lancelot (Epstein); Sir Galahad, the Dashingly Handsome (Jonathan Winsby); and Sir Bedevere, the Strangely Flatulent (Ashley O’Connell). His biggest challenge comes when he is told by the knights who say “ni” that he can only continue his quest if he puts on a successful Broadway musical.

“Can it be done?” he asks Sir Robin. Yes, he responds, but only if you have Jews in the production. After all, “It’s a very small percentile who want to see a dancing gentile.”

Enter the Magen David, a menorah on a piano and four knights and one king who suddenly transform into Chassidic Yiddim.

As it turns out, Arthur’s sidekick Patsy is a member of the tribe, but has been keeping it a secret.

“It’s not the sort of thing you say to a heavily armed Christian,” he responds to Arthur when asked why he was not forthcoming.

Beyond the brilliant writing, kudos have to be given to choreographer Lisa Stevens and costume coordinator Rebekka Sorensen-Kjelstrup. The look, the sound and the dancing all elevate the production into stratospheric entertainment.

Monty Python’s Spamalot, with book and lyrics by Eric Idle, runs until June 29 at the Arts Club’s Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, artsclub.com. Warning: profane language.

Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, editor and photographer. Her work can be seen at orchiddesigns.net.

Amber Funk Barton premières piece with lululemon tie-in

The Art of Stealing grew from Barton’s desire to explore what’s considered right and wrong in a post-apocalyptic world. (photo by Chris Barton)

When Amber Funk Barton was constantly dancing around her house at the age of 4, she didn’t realize that one day she would become a professional dancer and choreographer. But the Vancouver-born artist, now 33, is living her dream. Her latest production, The Art of Stealing, created by her choreography company, the response, premières on May 28 at the Firehall Arts Centre.

“I didn’t think I had a future as a professional dancer, I thought choreography was one way I could still be involved in dance,” said Barton. “My dream was to have my own company and to choreograph.”

The Art of Stealing grew from Barton’s desire to explore a dark theme, what she describes as a “post-apocalyptic world” and the difficulties in understanding what’s right and wrong in this haunted, mysterious future.

“The small picture is the obvious thing – the obvious literal act of stealing, that’s physical, taking something physical without consent,” she said. “I found it very interesting in this post-apocalyptic world that all of sudden it’s OK to steal – and if you don’t steal, you’re gonna die. It’s related to survival. On the bigger level, I started really thinking about it – the stealing that we can’t control at all – our time, our energy, our youth. Essentially to me, death is the ultimate thief in life.”

The 60-minute piece is the third full-length work that the response has created. Established in 2008, the company’s two previous pieces, RISK (2008) and Portraits and Scenes of Female Creatures (2011), also premièred at the Firehall.

photo - choreographer and dancer Amber Funk Barton
Choreographer and dancer Amber Funk Barton. (photo by Chris Barton)

Although Barton said she had been dancing since she was a little girl, she only started dancing professional at 21. Perhaps her maiden name, “Funk,” was a glimpse of the career trajectory her life would take.

But Barton isn’t just making her mark in the dance world. While creating the piece, she teamed up with active-wear clothing line lululemon’s innovation hub, called lululemon lab. “The lab is very inspired by different groups in the community and works with them to make functional fashion for people specifically in our community,” said Barton. She was introduced to Jean Okada, team director at lululemon lab, who was impressed by Barton’s creative piece.

“She came up with the idea that she would like to pitch what the lab calls a capsule collection. So they essentially designed our costumes,” said Barton. In addition to designing the dancers’ costumes, they created a collaborative clothing line, which launched last week, on May 16. “They’re selling it in stores and we’re wearing [that] same clothing on stage. It’s a really beautiful exchange,” Funk said. The clothing is in line with the dance piece’s theme – it’s dark and edgy and promotes Barton’s unique ideas about the struggle for survival in a dark world. The limited edition capsule collection produced three pieces for women and three for men and will be available only until the items are sold out.

“First of all, having a line designed is beyond what I was imaging in the first place. It was amazing. They had such respect for what we were doing as artists. They asked dancers thorough questions, what our needs are. I was able to share images and whatever I had collected in terms of inspiration. They actually took what I wanted and integrated it into the line. I was part of fittings. It was beyond what I was hoping for,” said Barton.

Reflecting on her beginnings and how far she’s come, Barton said, “I started dancing probably around 4 years old and it was with ballet and I had some kind of alignment issues. I had weak mobility in my legs so the doctor recommended ice skating or dance to strengthen the alignment of my legs. My mom noticed I was dancing around the house all the time anyways and she also didn’t want to sit in an ice rink at 5 a.m., so she enrolled me in ballet classes and that’s basically how it all started.”

Now, she wants to focus on choreography and creating more unique pieces, as she embarks on what she calls her “mid-career artist years.”

“I feel very fortunate and very grateful,” she said. “My company is a small, project-based company. It’s like a little home where I can make what I’m interested in and make my art. Sometimes I just pinch myself.”

The Art of Stealing is on stage May 28-31 at the Firehall Arts Centre. There is an artist talk back after the performance on Thursday, May 29. For tickets, contact the Firehall at 604-689-0926 or visit firehallartscentre.ca.

Vicky Tobianah is a freelance writer and editor based in Toronto. Connect with her on Twitter, @vicktob, or at vtobianah@gmail.com.