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Live theatre returns to Vancouver

Live theatre returns to Vancouver! Plus: "Restoration" theatre, and a link to two attractive young people singing.

This week, as one of my assignments for the Vancouver Sun, I talked to the two actresses who are starring in No Child…, a new production from the Arts Club Theatre. Performances begin Sept 24 and continue into November. It will be livestreamed, which is the way things have been going lately, but there will also be (socially distanced) live performances.

The show stars Ali Watson and Celia…

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Hey everybody you should be reading Tom King's Batman Rebirth (even if you're not a fan of superhero comics)

Hey everybody you should be reading Tom King’s Batman Rebirth (even if you’re not a fan of superhero comics)

If you’re any kind of a superhero comics fan and you’re not reading Tom King‘s Batman Rebirth, then you are missing out.

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Invulnerable Supergirl is appealingly vulnerable in this 2018 collection

Invulnerable Supergirl is appealingly vulnerable in this 2018 collection

Plain Sight collects six issues of the current Supergirl comic, with exquisite variant covers by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau.

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Costello wraps up his Look Now and Then Tour in Vancouver

Costello wraps up his Look Now and Then Tour in Vancouver

Elvis Costello at the Orpheum Theatre April 10 2012. Robyn Hanson photo.

Elvis Costello at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Dec. 4 2018

Fittingly, Elvis Costello opened his Queen Elizabeth show last night with “This Year’s Girl.” The gritty ‘70s New York City-set series The Deucehas been using the track for the opening credits of its second season, though with a twist—the HBO show’s version is…

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Revolution, Portland-style

Brian Michael Bendis’ tale of revolution now! seems prescient, even if it’s set in… Portland?

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Wonder Woman meets Neil Strauss's The Game

Wonder Woman meets Neil Strauss’s The Game

In Earth One: Wonder Woman Vol. 2, the Amazon princess goes up against a supervillain pick-up artist.

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Wonder Woman meets Neil Strauss's The Game

In Earth One: Wonder Woman Vol. 2, the Amazon princess goes up against a supervillain pick-up artist.

Review – Earth One: Wonder Woman Vol. 2

Grant Morrison is one of comics’ leading provocateurs. Whether in his own creations (Happy!, his 2012 mini-seriesabout an ex-cop palling around with a flying blue cartoon horse, was recently adapted by Netflix) or his de- and re-constructions of iconic…

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Revolution, Portland-style

Revolution, Portland-style: Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev's Scarlet shows us how a grass-roots revolution can start, even in a city without sales tax.

Graphic novel review—Scarlet Book One and Two

Brian Michael Bendis’ tale of revolution now! seems prescient, even if it’s set in… Portland?

Originally published in 2010—six years before the election of you-know-who—Scarlet asks: what might a real grass-roots revolution look like in a mid-size American city?

The city, in this case, is Portland, the adopted hometown of celebrated comics writer Bri…

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Hey everybody you should be reading Tom King's Batman Rebirth (even if you're not a fan of superhero comics)

Hey everybody you should be reading Tom King’s Batman Rebirth (even if you’re not a fan of superhero comics)

If you’re any kind of a superhero comics fan and you’re not reading Tom King‘s Batman Rebirth, then you are missing out.

Poison Ivy illustration from Everybody Loves Ivy by Mikal Janin. Comics review – Batman Rebirth Deluxe Edition Vol. 3

King is a former CIA operativewho has written a number of titles for Marvel, DC, and Vertigo. These include a 12-issue Vision series, a recent 12-issue Mister…

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Invulnerable Supergirl is appealingly vulnerable in this 2018 collection

Invulnerable Supergirl is appealingly vulnerable in this 2018 collection

Plain Sight collects six issues of the current Supergirl comic, with exquisite variant covers by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau

Comics review—Supergirl Vol. 4: Plain Sight

I’m not going to lie. Part of the reason I’ve been picking up back issues of this current run of Supergirl is the exquisite, soft-focus cover art by Stanley “Artgerm” Lau. My initial reason for getting into the title was Kevin Maguire,…

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Checking in at the hip hospital

Checking in at the hip hospital

Elvis Costello at the Orpheum Theatre April 10 2012. Robyn Hanson photo. Elvis Costello at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Dec. 4 2018

Fittingly, Elvis Costello opened his Queen Elizabeth show last night with “This Year’s Girl.” The gritty ‘70s New York City-set series The Deucehas been using the track for the opening credits of its second season, though with a twist—the HBO show’s version is…

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Another earnest but ultimately misguided attempt at a musical theatre spoof

I tried to be gentle. But then I remembered that moment when the cast broke into "Ring My Bell"...

Celebrations dinner theatre in Winnipeg celebrates the music of ABBA… and Anita Ward

Celebrations is now in its 25th year of providing original musical theatre productions to Western Canadians. The experience has become an annual tradition in the Conner family.

On my most recent summer visit to my hometown, I saw that Celebrations was calling its latest Mamma Mio Here We Go Again! It’s a…

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Harlan Ellison's complicated legacy

Harlan Ellison's complicated legacy. I love the guy, but...

THE seminal Harlan Ellison interview (for this writer, at least). In memoriam—Harlan Ellison 1934-2018

Yesterday, I learned of the death of Harlan Ellison. The exact date of his death was the previous day. Ellison, who born in 1934 in Cleveland, Ohio, was 84.

I have a complicated relationship with Ellison. A lengthy interview he gave to The Comics Journal,published in 1980 was, for a good chunk…

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Low season in Bucerias worth the trip, if you can stand the heat

Low season in Bucerias worth the trip, if you can stand the heat

Saturday night at Buzzos in Bucerias. Where to eat and drink in Bucerias

Bucerias, Mexico—The roosters are crowing, the thumpa-thumpa (from a zumba class across the street) is blaring, and Mexican voices are shouting from loudspeakers mounted on cars.

These were the sounds I woke up to each morning in Bucerias. A small, dusty town about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta, Bucerias was my choice for…

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Mauretania review—coming soon!

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Who is Hedley and why are people saying such terrible things about them?

'... a lifestyle that incorporated certain rock and roll cliches...' Vancouver band Hedley faces sexual misconduct allegations.

Hedley faces accusations of sexual misconduct It’s been a trying week for Vancouver music fans. First, there was the passing of Craig Doyle, aka Mac Pontiac. A respected presence in the city’s roots music scene, Doyle passed away on Sunday Feb. 11 following “a minor heart procedure” according to the Georgia Straight, and after being given a clean bill of health. Doyle was also a co-owner of the…

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Confused about the Rio Theatre? Here's a timeline.

Confused about the Rio Theatre? Here's a historical timeline.

A brief history of the Rio Theatre On Feb. 8, the owners of the Rio Theatre announced that their offer to buy the building that houses the cinema was accepted. The message came via Tweet: #SaveTheRio #WeDidIt Our offer was accepted – for now. We have it. We did it. But we are so totally not done yet! Part of the reason we got where we are now is because of the #EastVan #Vancouver #CDNfilm love.…