Namazi takes centre stage

Lively City column by Dan Hilborn
Published Mar. 15, 2006


Mandana Namazi of Burnaby has a starring role in the Vagabond Players production of Rebecca, the award-winning adaptation of the novel by Daphne du Maurier, now showing at the Bernie Legge Theatre in New Westminster.

Namazi plays the second Mrs. De Winter, a naive young newlywed living in her wealthy husband's mansion who feels haunted by the memory of his deceased first wife, Rebecca.

Written in 1938, this intriguing story was made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie - winning two Oscars and nominated for nine others - directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine.

Ross Friesen plays Maxim De Winter, Nancy Ebert is the housekeeper and the supporting cast includes Paul Tourneur, Jacqollyne Keath, Luke Day, Colleen Byberg, Michael Broderick, John Cousins, Zi Pris, Marcjon Louwersheimer and Burnaby's own Gordon Roy Fairburn.

Rebecca runs Wednesdays to Saturdays until April 8 at the Bernie Legge Theatre in Queen's Park, New Westminster. Tickets are $10 weeknights and $12 weekends, with a Sunday matinee on April 2. For reservations, call 604-521-0412.

SACRED BREATH COMING

Aspiring writers can learn from one of the best when Ojibway writer and bestselling author Richard Wagamese presents his Sacred Breath workshop in Burnaby later this spring.

This six-session program teaches traditional and contemporary storytelling techniques, coupled with First Nations ritual and ceremony. Using a sharing circle format, participants will learn to reach within themselves to develop their 'authentic voice' and learn spontaneous recollection.

Wagamese is the author of Keeper 'n Me and For Joshua: An Ojibway Father Teaches his Son, in addition to being the winner of a national newspaper award for his former column in the Calgary Herald. He moved to Burnaby about three years ago and previously led a writing workshop at a local coffeeshop.

The workshops will also help writers visualize, organize and energize their skills while developing spiritual balance through chanting, drumming and guided meditation.

For more information on the Sacred Breath, contact Wagamese at 604-605-3077 or send an email to oraltradition2page@yahoo.com.

THEY'RE CAUSING A RUCKUS

Barbra Semak of Burnaby will be on stage when the Ruckus Dance Company presents the premiere of 77 Minutes at the Centennial Theatre in North Vancouver on March 17 and 18.

Featuring 18 dancers and a five-piece rock band, this performance features an explosive mix of jazz, hip-hop, body percussion and spine-rattling tap dance that shows what can happen when a group of dancers take a stand against a despotic government that wants to impose extreme censorship on individual expression.

Ruckus Dance's 77 Minutes is part of Centennial Theatre's Flying High Dance Series presented in association with the 2006 Vancouver International Dance Festivals. Shows are 7:30 p.m., March 17 and 18 at the theatre, 2300 Lonsdale Ave., and tickets are $25 or $18 from centennialtheatre.com or 604 984-4484.

CLEF CONCERT MARCH 19

The Burnaby Clef Society will present an afternoon of piano music at the Shadbolt Centre on Sunday, March 19.

Esther Shieh, Katie Youn and Melody Lee will perform under the direction of cellist and former Clef Society Festival Scholarship winner Joseph Elworthy.

Tickets to the 2 p.m. concert are $10 adults, $5 students and seniors, and free to Clef members in good standing. for more information, call the Shadbolt box office at 604-205-3000.

ELIMINATING RACISM

A day of poetry and cultural resistance is coming to the Bonsor Rec Centre in celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racism next week.

Local poets Charlie Demers, Chin Banjeree, Katsumi Kimoto and Tom Sandborn will take part in the event, which is being sponsored by the radical activist group No One is Illegal. The event include readings staged readings of Franz Kafka's The Trial, performances of poetry and spoken word and "readings of statements from detainees being held in the War on Terror," said a press release issued by the Left Coast News Service.

The event takes place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 21, and the suggested donation of $5 to $10 includes dinner. For more information, send an email to noii-van@resist.ca or call 778-885- 0040.

SHOWER OF ART

Get out of the rain and visit the Burnaby Artists Guild Shower of Art sale and show taking place at the Shadbolt Centre from March 31 to April 2.

This spring show has artistic umbrellas, fridge magnets and greeting cards, framed paintings and other forms of art, featuring the work of many of Burnaby's most successful artists.

The featured artist is Jane Appleby, but others in the show include Shirley Lowes, Karen Cattell, Hazel King, Susan Pereira, Clara Prager, Steve Knight, Margaret Robb, Magda Varnai, Kathy Young, Olga Zakharova, Muriel Corson, Myrna Helmlinger, Randy Green and Stephen Cheng.

The show run on March 31 from 7 to 10 p.m., on April 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on April 2 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission and parking is free at the Shadbolt Centre, located at 6450 Deer Lake Ave. For more information, call 604 291-6864.

SHE'S A HAPPY SURVIVOR

Lyvia L. Smith, the motivational speaker and author of the self-published book Joy of Positive Thinking - How to Be Up When You're Down, is coming to the Chapters bookstore in Metrotown at the end of this month.

Smith, whose was documented as having the most extreme case of acute rheumatoid arthritis in B.C. and the only person in the world whose jaw was fused shut as a result, was once given only a 10 per cent chance of surviving.

Despite battling problems with her thyroid, back, fibromyalgia, asthma and type two diabetes, and recent the loss of her husband to cancer, Smith's sparkling personality still shines through.

Autographed copies of her self-published book, which includes special formatting such as bold type, cerlox binding and printing on only one side of the page, will be available at the event, from 2 to 3 p.m., Friday, March 31. For more information call 604 431-0463.

SINGING FOR THEIR HOMES

The Universal Gospel Choir under the direction of Brian Tate will perform a benefit concert for Habitat for Humanity at Olivet Baptist Church in New Westminster early next month.

This evening of gospel and work music features the 65-voice choir that is known for its high energy, vocal unity, sense of musical adventure and audience participation. Some of the songs will include Tate's original compositions plus traditional African, Middle Eastern and Asian pieces.

The beneficiary, Habitat for Humanity, is currently in the second phase of a planned 27-unit townhouse community in the Government Road area of Burnaby. A total of eight townhomes have already been built, and the money raised from this concert will go towards the completion of four more units on the same site.

Started by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, Habitat for Humanity provides no-interest mortgages to low income families who donate more than 500 hours of their own time to the building of the homes.

The April 1 concert will be held at Olivet Baptist Church, 613 Queens Ave., New Westminster, and tickets are $18 adults, $15 for students and seniors, from 604-681-5618.

APPLAUSE MUSICALS

Flower Drum Song, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that opened on Broadway in 1958, is coming to the Shadbolt Centre from April 4 to 8 courtesy of the Applause Musical Theatre company.

Featuring a cast of 35 performers, Flower Drum Song is the story of a mail-order bride who arrives in San Francisco's Chinatown to marry a bar owner, who decides he'd rather marry a "modern" singer at the bar.

Based on the novel by C.Y. Lee, the show will feature a full cast and chorus who perform 'on book' with minimal production or technical elements, and only one week of rehearsal. Chris King is the musical director and Ryan Mooney is director.

Flower Drum Song runs April 4 to 8 in the studio theatre at the Shadbolt Centre, and tickets are available through the box office at 604-205-3000.

DANCING TO DISNEYLAND

Students of the Douglas Ballet Academy are putting the finishing touches on a new routine they'll be taking to Disneyland this spring.

The class, which was recently recognized by Vancity for its involvement in such local charities as the make a Wish Foundation and the food bank, is an active participant in its community, performing at Kensington Fall Fair and the annual Hats Off Day parade in the Heights.

Sometime in April, parents and students will travel to Los Angeles for two performances and professional workshops at the original Disneyland and its relatively new California Adventure theme park.