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White Rock live show offers a pre-Valentine’s treat

Poetry meets piano in limited-audience Peninsula Productions show
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Piano player and musical director Dominik Heins is one of the creators of the upcoming Poetry & Piano show running Feb. 12 and 13 at Peninsula Productions’ black box theatre in White Rock’s Centennial Park. File photo

Peninsula Productions is setting the stage for romance with a pre-Valentine’s offering, Poetry & Piano.

The three-performance, limited-seating show – which runs Saturday Feb. 12 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. at the company’s intimate ‘black box’ studio theatre in Centennial Park – brings together professional actor, director, poet and playwright Michelle Porter and internationally-recognized Semiahmoo Peninsula musician Dominik Heins.

Presented cabaret-style with table seating, the show will present a centuries-spanning collection of poems on the theme of love and romance, read by Porter, augmented by the classic piano stylings of Heins.

“(Dominik’s) an example of the kind of talent we have right here in our own backyard,” said Peninsula Productions’ artistic director Guy Fauchon.

He noted that – while known to many as a boogie-woogie specialist who has worked with such greats as Chuck Berry – the versatile Heins has played many other kinds of music in a wide variety of settings around the world, including theatre and television shows.

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In 2017, for example, his expertise was showcased when he composed and directed the score for Peninsula’s original White Rock musical, the popular Sea of Stories.

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Vancouver-based Porter – whose credits include shows for Touchstone Theatre and Theatre NorthWest – “loves reciting poetry as well as writing it,” Fauchon said.

“Michelle performed a similar program many years ago at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver,” he recalled.

“It’s not often we listen to poetry or read it, yet in the grandest moments in our lives, the milestones, such as weddings, commemorations, tragedies…what do we do? We turn to the poets. They give voice to our deepest thoughts.”

Porter’s selection of poems for the show covers the many moods of romantic love that have been inspiring poets since the dawn of time, he said.

“These poems run the gamut of longing, melancholy, deference, sensuality, and intimacies only known between lovers.”

All performances are at the Peninsula Productions theatre adjacent to the ice arena at Centennial Park at 14600 North Bluff Rd.

Peninsula executive director Janet Ellis advises that, since seating for the show is extremely limited due to COVID-19 protocols, early booking is recommended.

“Peninsula Productions adheres to all current provincial health orders and expects all patrons to do the same,” she added.

Tickets ($25) can be purchased online at www.showpass.com or by calling (604) 536-8335.



alex.browne@peacearchnews.com

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