Around Town: Holy Mo! A Christmas Show!, Friedrich Peter, Chris Tomlin . . .

Lucia Frangione (bottom), Jess Amy Shead and Anita Wittenberg in Holy Mo! A Christmas Show! Photo by Damon Calderwood.

There is no way to do justice to the wealth of Christmas productions around Metro Vancouver. I will just highlight a couple of them; do look at the list of upcoming events below.

Holy Mo and Pacific Theatre go way back. In various incarnations, three female clowns have taken on the stories of Moses, David and probably others as well.

Talented playwright Lucia Frangione brought Holy Mo and Spew to the Pacific Theatre stage for the first of three times back in 1999. Now she has returned with Holy Mo! A Christmas Show!

Pacific Theatre says:

Folly, Guff, and Buffoona are back! And this time, it’s Christmas. A reverently irreverent re-imagining of the Nativity told with gusto and a questionable commitment to accuracy by Pacific Theatre’s three favourite fools.

The show has been well received. For example, Kathleen Oliver wrote in the Georgia Straight December 4:

Frangione’s wildly playful script is a collage of rhymed narration, character-swapping, and song, with pop-culture references to everything from The Matrix and Shrek to Donald Trump. The troupe’s language is rich in wordplay, and there are differing opinions about contemporary Christmas traditions. . . .

Kerry Van Der Griend directs a powerhouse trio. Frangione is a commanding presence as Follie, who takes the roles of Herod and a hilarious Mary. Anita Wittenberg’s facial and physical expressiveness make her Guff a winner, whether she’s reluctantly ringing sleighbells or butching it up as the monosyllabic Joseph. Relative newcomer Jess Amy Shead’s savvy characterizations and beautiful singing make her a talent to watch. And all three throw themselves into Andrea Loewen’s choreography, culminating in a hilarious fake break-dancing bit late in the show.

And for those who just aren’t sure about reverent irreverence, Pacific Theatre also offers Christmas Presence, a seasonal tradition:

Join our eclectic gathering of musicians and actors for a night of music, stories, poems, and readings for the holiday season. A different line-up every night!

Featuring the likes of Ron Reed, Anna Vandas, The Tourist Company, Nelson Boschman, James Danderfer, Jordan Klassen, Kathleen Nisbet, Peter LaGrand, The Kwerks, Michael Hart, Garth Bowen and more.

December 11 – 13 and 19 – 20 at Pacific Theatre, December 17 in the Fraser Valley.

Friedrich Peter at the Lookout Gallery

Regent College’s Lookout Gallery will display Friedrich Peter’s work until December 21.

Artist and calligrapher Friedrich Peter explores the mystery of the incarnate Word in this joyful celebration of the Advent and Christmas seasons at the Lookout Gallery. A Savior Has Been Born to You will run until December 21.

Peter was born in Germany. After an apprenticeship in graphic arts in East Germany, he studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in West Berlin from 1950 to 1957. He has taught at The Vancouver School of Art, The Vancouver College of Art, and the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Throughout his long teaching career, Peter pursued his own diverse work, including painting, book illustration, calligraphy and design (coins, medals, postage stamps, banners, and murals).

The Artway site (whose associate editor, Laurel Gasque, is a sessional lecturer in theology and the arts at Regent College and in art history at Trinity Western University) has a good overview of Friedrich Peter’s work, with some good pictures here.

Chris Tomlin / Matt Redman / Gungor

Chris Tomlin will be at the QE Theatre.

Three of the world’s best known worship leaders are in town this week. The Chris Tomlin (with Matt Redman) Adore Christmas Tour will stop in at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre next Wednesday (December 14), while the Gungor Acoustic Christmas Tour will be at Columbia Bible College this Friday.

Among Tomlin’s best known songs are ‘How Great is Our God’ and ‘Our God.’ Five of his songs are in the CCLI top 25; most of those are co-written with other artists. Matt Redman is right at the top of that same list with his ‘10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord).’

Gungor is a husband and wife team, probably best know for the song ‘Beautiful Things.’ Unfortunately, their concert is sold out.

Briefly noted

José Figueroa has been reunited with his family.

José Figueroa was reunited with his family just before Christmas last year.

José Figueroa, who spent two years in sanctuary at Walnut Grove Lutheran Church (which he and his family attended) to avoid deportation from Canada for alleged terrorism links, is seeking to clear his name.

He was granted a ministerial exemption by Immigration Minister John McCallum and was able to walk free from the church just before Christmas last year.

Now Figueroa wants the Federal Court to quash the deportation order and clear his name. For the full Vancouver Sun story go here. I wrote about him here and here.

Douglas Todd continues to write good articles in the Vancouver Sun, including Yes Virginia, there has always been a war on Christmas (December 3), which begins:

The Canadian debate over whether public school educators should expect students to take part in aboriginal smudging rituals is turning into the latest chapter in the legendary “war on Christmas.”

Patti Bacchus, who was recently removed from her position as Vancouver school trustee by the provincial government, now has time to attack Christian schools, as reported by Bethany Lindsay in The Province: BC Christian school policies bar LGBTQ teachers.

Dec 2016

The Journey – December 8, 2016 - December 11, 2016 at All Day
The Metzger Collection: Maps and the Age of Exploration – December 8, 2016 - December 9, 2016 at All Day
Come and See: The Journey to the Manger – December 8, 2016 at 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Gifts of Light: Songs in the Night 2016 – December 9, 2016 - December 11, 2016 at All Day
Churches Rally Against Racism / Celebration of Unity – December 9, 2016 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Gungor Acoustic Christmas Tour – December 9, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Alex Browne Reads 'A Christmas Carol' – December 9, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Christmas Strings And Voices – December 9, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Something to Treasure: A Good Noise Christmas – December 9, 2016 - December 10, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir Christmas Concert – December 9, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Vancouver Chamber Choir: Handel's Messiah – December 9, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Singing Christmas Tree 2016 – December 10, 2016 - December 11, 2016 at All Day
Quiet Day for Advent: St. Hildegard's Sanctuary – December 10, 2016 at 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Artisan Christmas Craft Market – December 10, 2016 at 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Living our Faith and being Medicine for the People – December 10, 2016 at 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
North Shore Community Christmas Dinner – December 10, 2016 at 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Wagner Hills Christmas Banquet – December 10, 2016 at 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Ember – December 10, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir Christmas Concert – December 10, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Something to Treasure: A Good Noise Christmas – December 11, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Christmas Carol Sing-a-long – December 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Jazz Vespers: Jillian Lebeck – December 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Jazz Vespers: Marcus Mosely & Chorale – December 11, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Jazz Vespers: Mark Glanville Quartet – December 11, 2016 at 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
"Hark, the Herald Angel" Children's Christmas Musical – December 11, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Gloria Dei Chorale: Christmas Music Born A Saviour, Born A King – December 11, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Good Lives for Animals: Biology Meets Theology – December 13, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Brass and Organ Concert – December 13, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman Christmas Tour – December 14, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Jazz Evensong: The Vancouver Saxophone Jazztet – December 14, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Friedrich Peter: A Savior Has Been Born to You – December 15, 2016 - December 21, 2016 at All Day
Love Has Come: A Christmas Musical – December 15, 2016 - December 19, 2016 at All Day
Timberline Country Christmas – December 15, 2016 - December 20, 2016 at 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Prayer Service in the Face of Racism – December 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Holy Mo!: A Christmas Show! – December 15, 2016 - December 31, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Christmas / Chor Leoni – December 16, 2016 at 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Hi5s Christmas Dinner and Mixer – December 16, 2016 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Christmas Tales with Justyn Rees & Russ Rosen – December 16, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Musica Intima: Joy to the World! – December 16, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Christmas / Chor Leoni – December 16, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Vancouver Chamber Choir: The Christmas Story – December 16, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Surviving the Holidays: GriefShare Seminar – December 17, 2016 at 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Cantata Singers Concert – December 17, 2016 at 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Cross Procession in the Face of Racism – December 17, 2016 at 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Sing-a-Long Messiah – December 17, 2016 at 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Christmas / Chor Leoni – December 17, 2016 at 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Home for Christmas – December 17, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
The Marcus Mosely Chorale: Peace on Earth, with Russ Rosen & Justyn Rees – December 17, 2016 at 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Christmas / Chor Leoni – December 17, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Home for Christmas – December 18, 2016 at 10:30 am - 12:30 pm
Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat – December 18, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – December 18, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The Marcus Mosely Chorale: Peace on Earth, with Justyn Rees & Russ Rosen – December 18, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
A Child's Christmas in Wales – December 18, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Jazz Vespers: Old Time Family Christmas – December 18, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Christmas / Chor Leoni – December 18, 2016 at 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Then Came the Light: A Christmas Concert – December 18, 2016 at 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Christmas Presence – December 19, 2016 - December 20, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Songs, Strings and Steps Presents Christmas Stories – December 21, 2016 at 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Jazz Evensong: We Three Queens – December 21, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Memorial Service for Victims of Coptic Cathedral Bombing – December 21, 2016 at 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Christmas Eve Eve: Carols in the City – December 23, 2016 at 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir: Gospel for the City – December 24, 2016 at 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Jazz Vespers: We Three Queens – December 24, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Christmas and Hanukkah Concert – December 25, 2016 at 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
Jazz Vespers: Christmas Jam – December 25, 2016 at 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Canada Chinese Chritian Winter Conference – December 27, 2016 - December 31, 2016 at All Day
Hanukkah Concert with Sergeui Popov – December 27, 2016 at 6:00 pm - 9:15 pm
New Years Camp at Pioneer Pacific Camp – December 28, 2016 - January 1, 2017 at All Day

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Dec 2016

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