Everyone loves The Sound of Music and Annie … and they’re even better together, with a smidge of Sister Act and Chicago thrown in to liven up the plot!

The Broadway Chorus is thrilled to present its latest musical mashup, as the nuns of the Convent of the Token Part send young orphan Annie off to join the Von Trapp family. She arrives to find a motherless family, and the plucky orphan determines she will find them a mother. As the nuns at the Convent are unmarried, Annie schemes to lure them to the Von Trapp family Castle, but no sooner do they arrive than mysterious visitors from the Vatican, and a surprising return from the dead, threaten to unravel Annie’s plans.

Will Annie triumph? Is the Pope Catholic? Find out in this hilarious spoof featuring songs from such shows as Young Frankenstein, The Drowsy Chaperone, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chicago, and more!

The show runs Thursday through Saturday, December 11, 12 and 13.

To reserve tickets e-mail ashley.lm@ubc.ca or call 778-322-7182. Tickets are $15, and $12 for seniors, students, and children. All shows begin at 8:00pm.

The Roundhouse Community Centre is located at Davie & Pacific in Vancouver’s Yaletown district; there is paid underground parking available under the Community Centre (access through the lane) and across Davie at the Urban Fare grocery store. Here’s a Google Map.

This entry was posted in Main Blog, Show Time on November 30, 2008 by adamabrams.

For a couple of years now, I’ve been on a quest to enter the world of film and TV acting. One recommended strategy for getting on-set experience and building a “reel” has always been to pursue roles in student films. I’ve been on a few auditions but nothing had ever come of it – until now!

I auditioned for a Vancouver Film School project entitled “Straight To Video”. In it, a somewhat hapless aspiring rock star is working the late shift at the video store when an old videotape of a self-help “guru” magically transports him into a vision of his rock-and-roll fantasy come true – but even in this preview of music superstardom, things don’t go nearly the way he had imagined.

The role I auditioned for was that of the outrageous, turbanned “Guru Goulby” – the smarmy self-help swami whose videotape appearance sets the plot in motion. Continue reading →

This entry was posted in Main Blog, Show Time on September 13, 2008 by adamabrams.

Well, it’s funny how you come across things you never would have known about otherwise. While preparing to hit the streets for a tin can fundraiser for Vancouver Rape Relief early this year, I was thumbing through the only available reading material – an issue of Senior Living magazine. And what should I come across but an article on an old-time radio museum, run by a group called SPARC – the Society for the Preservation of Antique Radio in Canada. A massive collection of antique radios, phonographs, and radio-related paraphernalia from the last 100 years, maintained by a group of enthusiasts, many of them of an age to have used the exhibits when they were new!

This sounded like my kind of place.

It took a while, but finally, over the Labour Day weekend, I made my pilgrimage to this temple of vintage technology. And what a wonderful place it was! 

The moment I stepped in the door, I was welcomed by John Wicks and Jack Watson, two genial fellows who had been shooting the breeze and waiting to greet visitors. In an instant, we fell into a conversation about the history of radio, with John enthusiastically sharing his knowledge and answering my questions. Soon we checked in with his elder-statesman colleague Jack Watson, who provided a few answers based on his direct recollection!

The museum is amazing -  I spent an hour and a half strolling around the place and getting the grand tour, and there was still much more I could have seen. It’s truly sprawling, and has some unique features, like a simulation of a WW1 foxhole stuffed with vintage wartime radio equipment, and a recreation of the radio room of the Carpathia, the ship that rescued passengers from the Titanic, full of nautical radio equipment and Titanic memorabilia. (It was a gift from a movie production company.) 

All in all, it was sheer heaven for a fan of all things vintage like me. And it’s well worth a visit if you share an interest in the history of broadcasting and in the charming and quirky equipment that has brought us our entertainment over the last 100 years. It was all high-tech at one time!

The SPARC museum is located on the Riverview Hospital grounds and is open Sundays from 10 to 3. Visit the SPARC Antique Radio Website for more details. 

Visit my Flickr set of the SPARC radio museum.

This entry was posted in Main Blog, Show Time on September 2, 2008 by adamabrams.

I just got back from opening night of a wonderful musical revue, “The World Goes ‘Round”. I recommend it for two groups of people: those that love musicals, and everyone else! Even if you wouldn’t normally think of going to a musical, give it a try. The singing, dancing, and overall presentation of these songs are outstanding. It’s a wonderfully entertaining evening. Continue reading →

This entry was posted in Main Blog, Show Time on August 22, 2008 by adamabrams.