Esquimalt’s Ribfest 2017, Five Years and How to Grow It

IMG_7060Now in its fifth year, Esquimalt Ribfest is growing in popularity and it may well be exceeding the capacity of how many people can be at Bullen park. I finally made it back to this show. For once, I was not ill or down with a sprained ankle. Three years have passed since I was here last, and while nothing much has changed — especially when it’s moreorless the same group of ribbers — I feel changes are needed if it’s to accommodate an ever increasing crowd and be versatile. Grizzly BBQ is a new entrant, but their scents were not enticing as I was letting my nose be my guide for which ribber to hit.

James went on Saturday with a date (he’ll argue otherwise and I was amazed). When he told me, of course I had to ask him for his thoughts so I can provide a summary about this event. He too thought it needs changing. He hoped to get his drinks and meat side-by-side than to hop across the field. I told him that’s how this event has always been, and it’s his fault for not getting his alcohol first and meal second. He arrived during the mad dinnertime hours and lucked out getting in. People were entering in small numbers, equaling those who left. Once inside, he looked at the scary lineups of everyone craving protein and was thankful the time it took to get to the till was not long. He enjoyed the food and wasn’t here to review since he was with his girlfriend. But I grilled him for opinion anyway and he had a lot to say in how space was used. He did give high marks for Gator BBQ‘s beans tho’. He thought it included either honey or molasses.

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[Victoria, BC] Launch Pad Theatre to Turn Poe Over His Head!

Tickets are on now sale for this year’s Halloween shindig at Craigdarroch Castle. Some may say it’s the end of the world and the last days of disco!

Show times:
October 17, 18, 19,
24, 25, 26, 30, 31 at 8:00pm
October 20, 21, 27, 28 at 7:00pm and 9:00pm 

The gothic and the groovy will jibe with this dramatic new staging of some of the most unsettling stories of Edgar Allan Poe set in a 1970’s B-movie horror milieu and amplified with the disco sounds from the era. This show promises to be different than Launch Pad Theatre‘s past works. Kept in is the exploration of this historic venue (more rooms will be opened up) as this play moves from chamber to chamber (yes, a lot of stair climbing will be involved). Different is in the fact several stories will unfold than one!

In order to get the full experience, theatre-goers will have to return. Who knows, maybe you will have a chance encounter with this place’s real ghosts!

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From Psyops to Cabaret at VCM’s Wood Hall Victoria Fringe Festival

I spent Friday night at the Conservatory of Music‘s Wood Hall for the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival‘s kickoff into the long weekend. This time will be the busiest for the show, as it is the final weekend. The weather forecast predicts temperatures on the high side and it will be bright; please be sure to put on sun protection. If I can survive the Summer’s last hurrah, then there’s a few more shows I’m interested in seeing. The buzz from the street is to not miss Interstellar Elder, and fortunately that’s taking place at night, when it’s cooler.

To get back into downtown Victoria, however, that’s if I …

AWAKEN (Actually, the show’s name is AWOKEN)

AWOKEN

Remaining Dates:
Sep 2 – 4:30pm

Proper grammar usage aside, if there’s any way to interpret what Ottawa based actor Nick Amottt’s work AWOKEN is about, I’m sure Hideaki Anno, director of the Japanese Animation Neon Genesis Evangelion can make better sense out of it. The characters Amott play are projections from different parts of Todd Silvano’s psyche. Each of them seem to have some kind of complex just like the anime. This nerdy recluse suffers from a condition known as ‘fatal familial insomnia.’ There is no known cure for this brain disease. It eventually leads to hallucinations, delirium and eventually death.

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Getting to The Drowsy Chaperone at the 2017 Victoria Fringe Festival

titleLocation:
St Michael’s University School
3400 Richmond Rd

Dates:
Sept 1 – 7:00pm
Sept 2 – 2:00pm and 7:00pm

This year’s offering from the St. Michael’s University School Musical Theatre program, The Drowsy Chaperone, owes its debt to appearing in at the Toronto Fringe Festival before getting adapted for a larger audience. To see this comedy return to its roots after a rousing tour and subsequent productions throughout the past decade and a half is always one of the many highlights at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival. It is always worth the trip to the municipality of Gordon Head to this school’s auditorium to go see. The production is always tops because the educators at this particular institution ensure the students get the training they deserve and have a fun time while at it. This program cultivates talent and welcomes all youth interested in the performing arts.

This particular show has three performances left, and I feel this show is a must-not-miss for enthusiasts of this genre. This musical comedy was created by Don McKellar, Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. They performed it at a stag party for Bob Martin and Janet van de Graaf. Their namesakes even appear in this show-within-a-show. This performance looks at the life of a lonely individual (played by William Gao and Eva Kamimura) who looks at his life through the lens of a fictional recording circa 1920’s. This era was when Broadway became very popular and one of the genres that dominated included Ragtime (some swing was also heard too), The Drowsy Chaperone is an album that he so loves, and this narrator sums up the story and injects thoughts (from his life) about this show. This character is gender switched from time to time, as though one incarnation is how this individual is perceived within the musical.

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Having Literary Fun on Day Five of the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival

A break will soon be coming as I have done two shows a day since the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival has started. Even fans of experimental theatre needs to rest before embarking on another round and I’m really looking forward to seeing Wes Borg‘s Get Me The F*CK out of Edmonton and St Michael’s University School’s Musical Theatre show Drowsy Chaperone at the end of the week.

Though for Monday night, I had to satisfy the literary nerd in me. FUNNER from Sunday night was just too unusual, and I needed a proper Shakespeare Fix, to which yesterday’s two shows fully succeeded in entertaining. The day also made me feel like I visited the worlds of several master storytellers than one:

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Atomic Vaudeville Tops Sunday Night at the 2017 Victoria Fringe Festival

The weekend had me frequently Fringing the evening hours away than the afternoon. More acts will be starting mid-week, and for those still trying to figure out what to see next, there’s only a few days remaining for the shows I have looked at. To those who have not gone to one of Atomic Vaudeville‘s shows, you will be pleased to know they will be producing this Halloween’s Rocky Horror Show and have two original musicals in the works. Of course, they will always be a staple to top off the first weekend of the Victoria Fringe Festival.

But before I got to the third show of the night, I was at:

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