Theatre: Bruce the Musical @ The Russian Hall

An original two-act musical drama, Bruce – The Musical recreates key events in the life of Bruce Eriksen, the late founder of the Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA), and the individual most responsible for transforming the image of Vancouver’s lowest-income neighbourhood from Skid Road to residential community. It is a story of tragedy and triumphs, told with humour, action, human drama and song.


Writer Bob Sarti in a huddle with Director Jay Hamburger
Photo: Adam Abrams

The play is a blend of historical characters (Eriksen, Harry Rankin, Libby Davies, Jean Swanson) and representative characters (older single men and working people trying to survive and maintain their dignity, Chinese elders in a strange new land, politicians grappling with difficult issues - and you can expect a couple of SRO hotel cockroaches too).

The play chronicles events in the period 1973-76, when Eriksen overcame his addiction to alcohol, went on to become an ironworker on the Knight Street Bridge project and then fought successfully to make the beer parlors and hotels of the Downtown Eastside safer for the old loggers and other retired resource workers who lived there.
Bruce was written by past Sun Newspaper Reporter Bob Sarti, with lyrics by Sarti and music by Bill Sample (recipient of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame award) and Earle Peach. It features a professional and semi-professional cast of nine, under the direction of Jay Hamburger, artistic director of Theatre In the Raw Society, a professional company which has a long history of commitment and work within the east side of Vancouver and to social justice issues – “Giving Exposure to Voices Seldom Heard” since 1994.

Community members will be admitted at low or no cost. Preview Night Pay-What-You-Can will be on Wednesday, November 5 and a 2-for-1 Matinee November 9, 2008.

Literary: Hilary Peach @ the Slam

Hilary Peach features Sept 8th at the LABOUR POETRY SLAM

THE VANCOUVER POETRY SLAM

http://www.myspace.com/vancouverpoetryslam

http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/

CONTINUES

@

CAFÉ DEUX SOLEILS: 2096 COMMERCIAL DRIVE

(5TH AND COMMERCIAL)

http://www.cafedeuxsoleils.com/

EVERY MONDAY OF THE MONTH

THE NEXT VAN SLAM "ALT SLAM"

IS

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 8TH

THE "SOLIDARITY SLAM"

(POEMS ABOUT WORK)

FEATURING

HILARY PEACH

http://www.hilarypeach.com/

Audio poet Hilary Peach is an inter-disciplinary performer whose work marries song and poetry. For 15 years she has performed internationally at events that include the Vancouver International Folk Music Festival, Montreal’s Voix Des Ameriques, and the Poetry International Festival in Rotterdam. She has released an exquisite debut CD, Poems Only Dogs Can Hear, in which she suspends surreal vignettes inside a matrix of music. Peach was a finalist in the 2004 CBC Radio Poetry Face-Off, and has recently released a short film, Pennsylvania. She is currently working on a literary collection of poetry and a Folk Opera about her boilermaking work called Suitcase Local with musicians Andreas Kahre, Alex Varty and Leah Hokanson. Hilary Peach is Artistic Director of the Poetry Gabriola Festival.

PRIZES SUPPLIED BY

UPRISING BREADS, FLOWERBOX AND URBAN EMPIRE

DOORS AT 8PM

POETRY SLAM AT 9 O'CLOCK

WITH YOUR HOST

COMRADE SPELT

COME IN YOUR WORK CLOTHES AND

READ YOUR POEMS ABOUT YOUR BEST JOB, YOUR WORST JOB,

THE WORK YOU DO, WORK IN GENERAL, UNIONS, NON UNIONS, DRUG TESTING

AND ANYTHING IN BETWEEN

STILL ONLY $5

Music: Sudanda

Sudanda was formed in 2004 around the vocals and oud playing of Alaaeldin Abdalla, whose repertoire comprises both ancient traditional songs from Darfour and new compositions for small and funky ensembles. The combination of voice, oud, guitars, accordion, bass, horns, and drums adds a modern timbre to the traditional sound of Sudanese music sensibilities.

Alaaeldin's compositions reflect his strong personal and political commitment to his Sudanese heritage and peace for Sudan. Rooted in basic North East African rhythms like the "mardoum", the music combines the variety of influences its players draw from.

Sudanda also features Jane Kalmakoff on accordion and vocals, Earle Peach on acoustic guitar, Tommy Babin on bass, Todd Biffard on drums and Colin Burke on electric guitar.
They will be playing the End Cafe on Tuesday December 4th starting at 7pm.