Surrey Civic Theatres’ 2022-23 “Presentation Series” will hit the stage without any Arts Club Theatre Company shows.
The Vancouver-based company has decided not to send any of its productions on tour this fall/winter.
For many years the Surrey Arts Centre has staged three Arts Club plays per season, for multi-night runs.
Instead, a “robust and fulsome selection of theatre shows” will be offered by Surrey Civic Theatres in 2022-23, including a Triple Threat Theatre Series designed for people looking for an Arts Club-like experience in Surrey.
Season tickets are now on sale for the Presentation Series, which also includes Coffee Concerts, Surrey SPARK Stages kids and family performances, holiday shows and more, from mid-September until late May. Details are posted to surrey.ca/theatre.
There’s definitely something for everyone, promised Kent Gallie, Surrey’s Performing Arts manager.
“Surrey Civic Theatres is delighted to be welcoming audiences back to a full season of live, professional, transformative performing arts experiences,” Gallie stated.
The new-look Triple Threat Theatre Series features the plays “To Perfection,” “Josie and Grace: A Mostly Historical Cabaret Dream Play” and “Driving Me Crazy.”
The season opens Sept. 14-17 in the arts centre’s Studio Theatre with “To Perfection,” Meghan Gardiner’s script. Gloria, a former celebrity TV chef, played by Patti Allan, is finally reuniting with her estranged grandchild, Alex. However, the temperature heats up when Alex, played by Rae Takei, comes out as non-binary and opens a ‘genderational’ divide.
From Oct. 5-8, in “Josie & Grace,” Tymisha Harris returns to the Main Stage to reprise the role of Josephine Baker from her award-winning hit solo show, “Josephine: A Burlesque Cabaret Dream Play,” which also hits the stage Oct. 6-8.
• READ MORE: ‘Josephine’ in Surrey with ‘burlesque cabaret dream play’ about 1920s star Baker.
Concerts include a Centre Stage Music Sampler of Chubby Cree, An Evening with Ranj Singh and also Krystle Dos Santos in concert.
This season’s Coffee Concert series features morning performances of Dancing with Eight Hands, Clarinet à la Carte, Concertango! and Bowed, Plucked, Strummed and Hammered, with the Bergmann Duo and guests.
The rescheduled performance by comedian Mary Walsh is back on the calendar Oct. 29 at Surrey Arts Centre’s Main Stage, where the popular Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir Christmas concert is scheduled for Dec. 6.
For kids, there are several Surrey Spark Stages shows next season, including Make Messy Music with Mil’s Trills: A Beginner’s Guide to Songwriting (Oct. 1), a performance by beatboxing string trio Infinitus (Dec. 3), Circus Incognitus (March 11), the film “Th’owxiya: The Hungry Feast Dish” (Feb. 18 at Clayton Community Centre) and more.
Other shows next season include “Juliet: A Revenge Comedy” at Centre Stage, the annual I Am Woman, Hear Me Laff show in celebration of International Women’s Day, the award-winning “Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me, But Banjos Saved My Life” and also “Together Wherever We Go,” which offers tales of Gypsy Rose Lee told by her son, Erik Lee Preminger.
When patrons buy a ticket series, they are also eligible to save $5 per ticket on any individual show presented by Surrey Civic Theatres. For series tickets and the $5 savings offer, call the box office at 604-501-5566. The $5-off additional tickets includes Main Stage, Studio Theatre, and Centre Stage ‘Zone A’ tickets only, and does not include An Evening with Mary Walsh.
• RELATED: ‘Peter Pan’ comedy, ‘Sound of Music,’ Carole King musical, more coming to Arts Club stages.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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