Rythmo 2 is an interactive musical show. ALL participants become musicians by playing with several musical instruments during the performance. It’s impossible to stand by and watch! As a warm-up and to familiarize themselves with the rhythm, audience members discover body percussion by tapping on different parts of their bodies. Drum sticks and musical tubes are then distributed to everyone to give them a unique, rhythmic, powerful and energizing experience! With SAMAJAM’s Rythmo 2, you are the show!
Venables Theatre presents Samajam – Rythmo 2 Family ShowTime Series Friday January 24 6:30 p.m. Venables Theatre Single show tickets $12.50 www.venablestheatre.ca 250-498-1626 Will’s Jams (CBC Kids): Friday February 21 Uzume Taiko: Saturday April 18
TV comedy star and Canada’s funniest man, Tim Nutt and his crew are coming to town to dig you out of your frozen January blues. The Firehall Brewery co-hosts the comedy show with Oliver Theatre on Thursday January 16 at the Oliver (movie) Theatre.
Tim Nutt has been getting away with telling his one-of-a-kind funny stories for just over 20 years and has performed at comedy festivals all over the world, including the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Just For Laughs in Montreal, the Halifax Comedy Festival, and the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. He’s often described as a consummate storyteller and entertainer, not unlike his comedy heroes, Billy Connolly and George Carlin
Tim will bring Alberta’s top comic, Jordan Strauss who destroyed the competition to take 1st place at the Calgary Funny Fest and Valley comedy king Andrew Crone who sliced and diced his way across Western Canada, alongside some of the biggest touring acts.
Opening for this star studded cast of comics is Oliver’s rising comedy star and very funny fellow: Glen Heinrichs. Glen has been cutting his comedy teeth at open mic events at the Kelowna Comedy Club and Yuk Yuk’s in Vancouver. Come laugh with him, or at him, he is fine with either.
Tickets are only $20 and available at the Firehall Brewery, The Oliver Theatre box office or online at firehallbrewery.com/comedy Thursday January 16 Doors at 7:00: The event will be licensed with some great appies you can choke down while laughing.
Angelique Francis is a versatile and exceptionally gifted musician with talent that is way beyond her years. This multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist, multi-genre singer song writer and composer has wowed audiences across the globe with her electrifying performances, instrumental abilities and powerful textured vocals. She is known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including Blues, Soul, Jazz, and Gospel. Angelique’s soulful Smoky vocals and instrumental techniques are reminiscent of a bygone era, but with a unique and modern sensibility. Within her vocal style, you can hear influences of legends like Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor, Aretha Franklin, Bessie Smith and many more. Her instrumental abilities call to mind Willie Dixon on the bass, Sister Rosetta Thorpe on guitar, Big Mama Thornton on the Harmonica and Aretha on the piano. Her diversity, passion and love of music can be heard in all of her original compositions.
Osoyoos Blues Society & Venables Theatre present Angelique Francis Friday January 17 7:30 p.m. Venables Theatre Adult $30 || Student $20 www.venablestheatre.ca 250-498-1626
Mark Friday, January 31st on your calendar and don’t miss Lizzy Hoyt in concert at Venables Theatre, Oliver. Arriving under the auspices of the South Okanagan Concert Society, Lizzy has a crystalline voice of rare beauty. Acclaimed as a songwriter and a multi instrumentalist on fiddle, guitar and Celtic harp, she delivers soaring melodies rooted in Celtic and folk traditions.
Lizzy is known for bringing stories and history to life with themes of home, war, immigration and love. She is able to poignantly connect with our deepest memories and feelings. In 2013 the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal was awarded to Lizzy for her work commemorating Canadian veterans and Vimy Ridge history through music. The program for the Oliver concert includes some of these songs as well as traditional jigs, the Irish “Star of County Down” and pieces from her newest album “New Lady on the Prairie” that blend Celtic influences with bluegrass and folk traditions. Her songs are touching, poignant and lyrically rich.
Keith Rempel, an Edmonton bassist, has been working with Lizzy as both bassist and harmony singer since 2009. Chris Tabbert, guitarist and accomplished mandolin player, singer and songwriter joined to form a trio in 2010 . The three tour across the country and will be at Venables Theatre together.
Tickets for the 7:30 pm concert are available on line at www.venablestheatre.ca or at the theatre box office Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 to 3 pm. Generous sponsors make ticket prices exceptionally affordable. Two or more tickets in advance are only $21/ticket. Single tickets in advance are $23 and at the door $25. Youth are ‘almost free’ at $2.50 so they have opportunity to experience fine live music.
While many folk artists concentrate mainly on their songwriting, Lizzy Hoyt places equal emphasis on her musicianship and plays and sings with clarity and precision. Music runs in her family for a number of generations. Her parents are both professional classical musicians. Lizzy graduated with distinction from the University of Alberta and she has become a sought-after instrumentalist and adjudicator for music festivals as well as the recipient of many awards. Her distinct combination of lyricism, gentleness and passion place her among Canada’s best.
South Okanagan Concert Society presents Lizzy Hoyt Friday January 31 7:30 p.m. Venables Theatre ‘Montreal Guitar Trio: Friday March 20 2 – 4 shows: $21/show Advance: $23 Door: $25 Student: $2.50 www.venablestheatre.ca 250-498-1626
The Okanagan Valley has no shortage of artistic and talented folks. The Oliver Handbell Ringers Association (OHR) is a coterie made up of 9 ringers, that wrangle 115 different bells and chimes, and a vocal choir of 15. For more than a decade they have made it their mission to entertain and lift the spirits of the communities up and down the Okanagan Valley.
The weeks leading up to St. Nicholas’ arrival is always a busy time for the handbell club, since nothing says “Christmas” like ringing bells.
The troupe has already jingled their way through the Yuletide market in the Penticton Lakeside Resort and delighted residents and guests of Penticton’s Sun Village Retirement Residence.
Performances are set for both care home facilities in Oliver – McKinney Place and Sunnybank Centre. Being welcomed into these homes is a privilege and honour that the club enjoys not only at Christmas, but in the spring each year as well.
The Kiwanis Club of Oliver has booked OHR as entertainment for their annual Christmas party once again. Director Helen Wollf chimed in, “We have been so kindly supported, since our group’s inception, by the Kiwanis club of Oliver. It is an honour to be asked to perform for them once again.”
Meeting on at least a weekly basis starting in September, the ringers don’t only get a physical workout. Research shows that there is no other activity that engages the brain so completely as learning a musical instrument. Perhaps the biggest benefit to being a member of OHR is the group “therapy” that members are treated to. Unlike learning other instruments, which are generally done in solitude and isolation, this instrument is like no other. It simply doesn’t work without all its parts. “I look forward to our Thursday nights together as a highlight of the week,” says Wollf.
The culmination of all the hard work is the two public performances coming up
The Oliver Handbell Ringers and Singers present their Christmas concert A Festive Celebration Thursday December 12 7:30 p.m. Sunday December 15 3:00 p.m. Oliver Alliance Church Freewill offering Support of the Oliver Community Arts Council is gratefully acknowledged.
Audience members from one to 101 are sure to be filled with Christmas goodness when the ringers and singers combine their efforts, along with their friend and master of ceremonies Mal Bearman, in presenting “A Festive Celebration”, with no admission fee to the public.
JAM NIGHT at the Beer Shop (every 2nd Thursday) Thursday December 12 and Thursday December 26 6:30 p.m. Firehall Brewery, 6077 Main Street (lower level), Oliver BC All are welcome to join the jams, taking turns leading songs, no spotlight, just basement bunker beats and brewed treats by the pint. Cheers to live music, made in the moment!
Funky Moustache Dance Party! Saturday November 30 Firehall Brewery 6077 Main Street, Oliver (lower level) 7 PM – 11:59 PM Entry by donation (suggested $10-15).
Find a moustache and groove on down to the Firehall Brewery on Saturday, November 30 to take it for a spin! Whether you’ve been growing it all month for Movember Canada, you’ve scored a hot date who’s sporting one, or you stick on a dollar-store lookalike… wax it up, pull on your funkiest outfit, and shine up your dancing shoes for a night with DJ MasterBlaster. DJ Cole and DJ Darcy will be shaking up the house all night, and we’ll soon announce more fun activities we’ll funkify the night with.
Desert Sage Spinners & Weavers invite you to A Handmade Christmas lovely handmade items for sale Saturday November 30 10 am -3 pm Leir House 220 Manor Park Dr., Penticton Free Admission
It’s Country Christmas time for all you Rebel Luv fans! Country Christmas ~dinner & dance~ ~ featuring Rebel Luv, with the Cliff MacIntyre Band, Greg Melanson and special guest stars Saturday December 14 5:30 Doors open 6:00 Dinner 6:30 – 9:30 Dance Medici’s Gelateria & Coffee House 522 Fairview Rd, Oliver, BC
TICKETS AT MEDICIS!! $30 with Dinner $20 Dance only
Join us for an amazing evening of Christmas down home connections complete with a sit down lovely roast beef dinner and trimmings. (Vegan choices available by request.) Sing-alongs, Christmas memories, stories and dancing! You’ll go home filled with the Christmas spirit and some memories to treasure! GET YOUR TICKETS FAST! Rebel Luv, The Cliff MacIntyre Band, Greg Melanson and special guest stars!!! Nostalgic like those Bing Crosby Christmas specials
Oliver Eats has everything you need for Christmas. Artisans, crafters, deli and yummy delicacies to consume or gift.
Oliver Eats Ltd hosts EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS MARKET Sunday, December 22, 2019 10 AM – 2 PM Oliver Eats Ltd. 6060 Station Street, Oliver Traditional Christmas market with local makers/artisan outdoor market, music, Black Sage Butcher, BarBQ and deli service.
Please join us for some lunch, shopping and entertainment.
The Okanagan Art Gallery celebrates “SMALL WONDERS”. ~ small art show + sale ~ ~ First Friday monthly reception~ Friday December 6 Okanagan Art Gallery #5 8302 Main Street, Osoyoos Reception: 5 pm to 7 pm. oils, acrylics, lithography, photography, fibre art Featuring Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery www.okanaganartgallery.ca 604 308-3995
The Okanagan Art Gallery hosts a “small art” show and sale at its First Friday monthly reception, “SMALL WONDERS”. Many mini works on sale, on budget for your Christmas shopping and to brighten smaller spaces in your home.
The show opens Friday December 6th at the Okanagan Art Gallery #5 8302 Main Street, Osoyoos BCn with a reception from 5pm to 7pm. Come meet the artists! According to gallery advertising director, Diane Carter the show will feature the full roster of professional artists represented by the gallery including oil and acrylic artists, lithography specialists, photographers and fiber artists.
This December’s Alive after Five First Friday will feature wine presented by Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery. What better way to start your Christmas shopping than with wine and gifts everyone will love to own.
Musical melodies can definitely take us places! A particular carol might remind us of the moment when, as a child, we would lie under the Christmas tree, looking up through the branches, watching the lights twinkle. Or maybe we’re reminded of that moment when we walked into a cold dimly lit cathedral while on a holiday in Europe, where a choir was rehearsing, filling the air with carols in preparation for their evening service. Or maybe we’re reminded of a family gathering, with music playing gently in the background. Musaic Vocal Ensemble will give you the opportunity to be ‘taken places’ through their music in two upcoming concerts.
Musaic is excited to sing beautiful Winter and Christmas selections from the swing and celebration of ‘Go Tell It On The Mountain’ to the beauty and intensity of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Cherubic Hymn,’ and the traditional ‘We Saw Three Ships’. They are also excited to share the stage with some very talented guest musicians: pianist Dennis Nordlund, cellist Holly McCallum, and harpist Debi Johnson.
A special feature will be a five song set for choir, piano, and cello by Canadian composer Sarah Quartel, entitled A Winter Day. The text of each piece recounts a different part of a Canadian winter day – from cold early morning dawn, through to the setting of the sun at the end of the day, but certainly not forgetting a bit of crazy tobogganing down a snowy hill part way through the day.
Musaic Vocal Ensemble presents Christmas Memories Friday, December 13 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7 p.m.) Penticton United Church 696 Main Street, Penticton Saturday, December 14 2:30 PM (Doors open at 2 p.m.) St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church 15244 North Victoria Rd, Summerland $15 Adults $5 Students. Tickets are available from Dragon’s Den (Penticton), Artisans of the Okanagan (Summerland), from choir members, or at the door. Join us for a concert of beautiful Christmas choral music with Musaic Vocal Ensemble, Frances Chiasson (music director), Dennis Nordlund (piano), Holly McCallum (cello), and Debi Johnson (harp).
For more information about these concerts or to find out where to purchase tickets in advance, go to www.musaicvocalensemble.ca
SOAP Theatre’s Christmas production, Bob’s Your Elf, by Canadian playwright Norm Foster, brings both new and familiar talent from Oliver and Osoyoos to the Venables stage starting November 29.
Norm Foster, an Officer of the Order of Canada, is considered Canada’s most produced playwright. An extremely prolific writer, Foster has had more than fifty plays produced on professional stages. Other well-known plays of his that have been produced by SOAP in the past include The Melville Boys, The Long Weekend and Old Love. Frequently compared to American playwright Neil Simon, Foster pens plays that are known for their humour, accessibility, and insight into the everyday tribulations of life.
Seasoned director, Denny Kaulback (pictured) is piloting his first production since moving to Oliver from Revelstoke two years ago. He tells us that “In today’s social climate, with division and discord coming from all directions, it is theatre’s role to provide essential relief from tension and to support the ideal of tolerance and acceptance. This is Bob’s lesson. Bob is a stubborn elf, set in his ways, who is sent by Santa to learn co-operation, team spirit, and how a group of individuals can accomplish great things if they all pull together.” Denny is ably assisted by Assistant Director, Lyn Kaulback, whom some will remembered from her roll in SOAP’s 2018 production of Old Love, also by Norm Foster.
New actor, Joe Rupcich, takes on the role of Bob, the ornery elf who is ‘bumming out’ the rest of the North Pole crew. What can Santa (Bertie Barens) do to teach Bob a lesson about compassion and cooperation? How about exile in the small Canadian town of Thithleville to help a less-than-competent group of thespians stage their Christmas play that needs some serious work? Bob soon finds himself among a strange assortment of defective, home-town characters, starting with an officious stage manager, Les Banter (Connie Mythen) and an exasperated show director, Gordon Ford (Nathan Linders). Add in a couple of Thithleville actors with their own baggage, Fiona Putzle (Donna Macbeth) and Amber Faircastle (Chelsea Cameron-Horner), and we get a perfect teaching opportunity for Bob!
Can Bob save the Thithleville Thespians from pending theatrical disaster? Can he learn his lesson about cooperation and compassion? There will be laughs, silliness, confusion and some tender moments before we know the answers in time for Santa’s big night.
Bob and the crew are supported by the SOAP Bubbles, a children’s Christmas choir put together by Nathan Linders specially for this performance! “It is a great joy to see youngsters come out for theatre; and maybe, just maybe, we will see some of them in future plays,” observes Director Kaulback.
“It takes a great deal of talent, hard work and commitment to bring a theater play to production,” adds recent SOAP recruit and show producer, Clem Jones. “I am proud to present this Christmas production and I would like to thank our cast and crew, along with all our sponsors and volunteers and the business folks who allowed us to place our posters in their business windows.”
Bob’s Your Elf plays five performances at the Frank Venables Theatre in Oliver: Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:00 pm from November 29 through December 7, plus a 2:00 pm matinee on Sunday, December 1. Reserved seating tickets are available online at www.venablestheatre.ca, at the Ticket Office (6100 Gala Street) or by phone (250-498-1626). Some tickets are also available at Your Dollar Store With More in Osoyoos. Buy tickets early for best seat selection and for discounts off the regular, day-of-show prices.
We look forward to seeing you all at this whacky family comedy! Merry Christmas!
