The Pearl Company

Shari Vandermolen & David Brideau: Saturday May 5.  Doors: 7:30pm. Show: 8:00. Tickets: $20. Shari Vandermolen is a renowned vocalist and award-winning performer in Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area who has been entertaining audiences for 15 years with her Quartet, Trio or 5-piece band Quarter to Nine.  She is also the lead vocalist for the 10-piece jazz combo SwingLine.  On May 5th Shari brings her powerful and impressive vocal stylings back to the Pearl Company for a more intimate evening of song with jazz guitarist David Brideau, James Gannett on bass and Vince Waters on drums.  “…hear Vandermolen make jelly of your emotions with her voice and her art… one example is Stormy Weather… I barely weathered that storm intact.”  – View Magazine
David Brideau is a Canadian jazz guitarist, composer, and teacher who has been an active musician for over 15 years. A Hamilton native, and honours graduate from the Mohawk Jazz program, David has played all around the GTA with his own group, the David Brideau Trio and Quartet, as well as being prominently featured in groups with Michael Morobito, Amber-Leigh Palka, and Lauren Perreira among others. He studied under jazz greats Bob Shields, Pat Collins, Kim Ratcliffe, and Mark Ucci and is currently continuing his studies at McMaster University. David often composes his own standards, and released the sold-out EP “Addicted To You” in 2016. He is a recipient of the Dave McMurdo Music Bursary, the Antony Roberts Music Bursary, and the Richard Newell Memorial Scholarship.
Ticets: https://www.ticketscene.ca/events/21098/

HELD OVER! Shelley Marshall Presents: The Award Winning Production “Hold Mommy’s Cigarette”: April 18 & 19. All One Woman’s story of an unfiltered life, written and performed by Shelley Marshall, directed by Linda Kash. It seems appropriate that world renowned Comedienne, Marshall would open her autobiographical One Woman Show in the city where the story and star were born. It took 10 years for Marshall to create this Play and it is the rewarding result of resilience, recovery, and reflection while exploring many genres of performance including elements of clown, stand up, improv, buffoon, and play. Shelley Marshall takes her audience many places; “I take them on an adventure, both emotionally and visually. There is no denying that my story is tragic, but it’s my story and time and writing without shame has been my comedic relief. ‘Hold Mommy’s Cigarette’ is not an exploitation of what has happened in my life, but rather, an acceptance of where it may lead. It is a dark comedy, a vulnerable piece about life, mental illness and survival.” Marshall reveals with a smile. She invites you to come to her show with an open mind and promises you’ll leave with a full heart. *Mature Content* http://www.holdmommyscigarette.com Tickets available at http://www.thepearlcompany.ca or 524-0606. Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1451939231706392/

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CHECK THE REVIEW FOR DEATH AND THE MAIDEN:
http://fringefestivalcommunityreviews.wordpress.com/2013/07/21/death-and-the-maiden/

Death and the Maiden: Written by Laurence Olivier Prize Winning playwright Ariel Dorfman. This is the fourth production that Nortesur has developed for the stage; chosen because it speaks passionately about current international events, it asks tough questions about forgiveness and the role of victims and perpetrators in transitory societies, and it is a local opportunity to see a truly amazing piece of theatre written by one of Latin America’s best contemporary playwrights.  It is raw, provocative, and driven by a cast of characters that are all-too-human. Performed, and designed by emerging professional artists from across the golden horseshoe and the GTA, it is an entertaining, insightful, and extraordinarily powerful piece that delivers an evening of truly engaging theatre.  Thurs.July 18@ 8:00pm, Fri.19@8:00pm, Sat.20@7:00pm, Tues.23@8:00pm, Wed.24@7:00pm, Thurs.25@8:00pm,  Fri.26@7:00pm, Sat.27@8:00pm

AND HERE’S  RIDERGIRL’S REVIEW :
http://fringefestivalcommunityreviews.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/ridergirl-second-review/

RiderGirl: Written and performed by Ottawa based actor and Saskatchewan native Colleen Sutton. Professional sports and
independent theatre meet head on in Tiger Town! This is the story of a young woman whose prairie roots and home team inspire her to get off the sidelines and get in the game of her life.  With the end zone in sight, she fights for every down, but fumbles when she tries to go it alone.  Her team is about to make it – can she do the same?  Come in your colours, GAME TIME is here!  Two?time Rideau award nominee Colleen Sutton will energize your inner fan!  “ **** ½ “The only reason I’ve withheld that last half?star is because I cannot in good conscience give 5 stars to a Rider fan. Other than that, the show was superb.” CBC Manitoba.   Note: Fri. 19 – 2 for 1.  Friday, July 19, 6:30; Saturday,  20, 9:00; Sunday,  21, 2:00; Tuesday,  6:30; Wednesday, 24, 9:00; Thursday,  25, 6:30; Friday,  26, 9:00; Saturday, 27, 2:00

Times, dates, and tickets are  on the Fringe website – www.hamiltonfringe.ca 

The Art Bus is Sponsored by Judy Marsales Real Estate Brokerage:

Last Art Bus for the Summer! Check out Hamilton’s unique and constantly evolving art scene! Call Barbara (905.524.0606) or email (info@thepearlcompany.ca) to reserve your seat. Next dates: Sept 6 & 20. Cost: $15/$10 students/artists. Group rates available.  Start: 6:30 from The Pearl.

• July 5: (L’Arche Gallery, Workers Arts & Heritage, Nathaniel Hughson, Book Club Gallery, Manta Gallery) This will be another varied and interesting trip with specially-opened galleries, and tours of places you have never been before!

Catherine MacLellan: Friday September 14. 8:00pm. $15 adv/$20 door. Catherine’s latest album, Silhouette, effortlessly captures her best qualities—stitching together elegantly woven songs with her memorable blend of heartfelt and powerfully introspective lyrics and catchy melodies. The subtle yet steadfast strength of the album is in the understated power of MacLellan’s songwriting and performance and the pensive and internalized lyrics that ponder, with poise the most personal of internal conflicts. She even sings “Snowbird”, a stripped down cover version of the most lauded song ever written by her father Gene MacLellan.

“[MacLellan] probes matters of the heart with a poetic scalpel, always avoiding self-pity. Her voice is similarly pure and honest, managing to simultaneously sound fragile yet strong.” – Exclaim! Magazine

Bill Bourne Solo: Friday, September 7. 8:00pm. $20/$15 Students/All Artists at the door. Multiple Canadian Juno Award winner, Bill Bourne has received international acclaim for his recordings and live performances. A mainstay on the international roots scene, life on the road is reflected in Bill’s music – powerful rhythms and soulful songs, steeped in World Beat, Blues, Cajun, Celtic, Folk, Flamenco, Funk, Poetry and more… His latest release, Bluesland, is an intense collection of rock, folk and country, soaked with an electric blues sound that gets deep into your pores.
“Bourne flows with this almost indescribable soul infused with a lonesome strain of blues… This man was put on this earth to play music.” Crossroads Magazine. “Canadian Folk Shaman – Magical Mystery Bourne’ – Kitchener/Waterloo Echo. More Reviews: …’stellar’…’ravaged poetry’…’mesmerizing’…’scat-charged’…’gritty’…’a veteran storyteller’…’performance art’… ‘inimitable’… – various sources. www.billbourne.com

Sarah Burton: Thursday, September 6. Doors: 7:30, Showtime: 8:00 PM: Admission: $15.00/$10 All Artists/Students. She’s a rambler, a gambler, a lover and a fighter; Sarah Burton’s steady and soulful voice tells the tales of life with beauty, strength and weariness, and an ever-present sense of excitement. Her sound rocks and rolls with just the right amount of country and pop influence. Sarah has been spreading this excitement throughout North America since 2006, having her music featured in movies, and raved about in the media.  She is introducing Hamilton to her new album ‘Fire Breathers’: “Here is acoustic, rock, bluesy, torch, indie jive, country psychedelic, soul-baring beautiful music that those with a need to hear a new point of view ought to get off their butts and obtain. This album matters.” John McClure, Victory Music Review (more…)

The Pearl Company & Northern Lights Theatre Company Present: The Pearl Company Canadian Theatre Festival: Aug 16-18, 23-25. Theatre That Will Astound You! Buy Your Tickets Now – $15.  Pay cash at door or use Paypal on the Buy Tickets tab above.
Shows: Love, Loss & Leonard (Fevergraph); Romeo & Juliet: An Escapist Comedy (make.art.theatre); Different Every Time (Canadian Improv Showcase).
The Pearl Company Canadian Theatre Festival Has Something for Everyone: Take a dose of Shakespeare, twisted by Woody Allen (aka Ryan Sero); add a shaker of Leonard Cohen, danced, sung, spoken and imaged; toss in two hilarious west indian women fresh from a “Best of Toronto Fringe” award; mix with whatever crazy idea you can come up with for Canada’s best short-form improv group; and finally top off with the blockbuster musical talents of Shari Vandermolen and the Quarter to Nine Band and you have this year’s Pearl Company Canadian Theatre Festival.
The Festival runs two shows per night and Saturday matinees, Aug 16-18 and 23-25.  Here’s the schedule!

Week One:
Thursday, Aug 16 – 7:30 pm – Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy. make.art.theatre
Thursday, Aug 16 – 9:00 pm – Love, Loss & Leonard. Fevergraph
Friday, Aug 17 – 7:30 pm – pomme is french for apple. liza paul & bahia watson
Friday, Aug 17 – 9:00 pm – Different Every Time. Canadian Improv Showcase
Saturday, Aug 18 – 1:30 pm – Different Every Time. Canadian Improv Showcase
Saturday, Aug 18 – 3:00 pm – pomme is french for apple. liza paul & bahia watson
Saturday, Aug 18 – 7:30 pm – Love, Loss & Leonard. Fevergraph
Saturday, Aug 18 – 9:00 pm – Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy. make.art.theatre

Week Two
Thursday, Aug 23 – 7:30 pm – Different Every Time. Canadian Improv Showcase
Thursday, Aug 23 – 9:00 pm – pomme is french for apple. liza paul & bahia watson
Friday, Aug 24 – 7:30 pm – Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy. make.art.theatre
Friday, Aug 24 – 9:00 pm – Love, Loss & Leonard. Fevergraph
Saturday, Aug 25 – 1:30 pm – Love, Loss & Leonard. Fevergraph
Saturday, Aug 25 – 3:00 pm – Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy. make.art.theatre
Saturday, Aug 25 – 7:30 pm – Different Every Time. Canadian Improv Showcase
Saturday, Aug 25 – 9:00 pm – My Funny Valentine. Quarter to Nine Productions

The Canadian Improv Showcase (CIS): Their 700th live performance!

“The Showcase have a long list (15 years) of honours, including representing Canada in a cultural exchange with Singapore, performing at the prestigious Bar None Club. “They are the only improv group to be invited to perform at venues as diverse as the St. Lawrence Centre, and  the infamous Kingston Penitentiary. They have won numerous improv competitions and were voted “Best of the Fest” two years in a row at both the London and Toronto Fringe Festivals. It’s a ‘can’t miss’ show for people who like improv.” www.canadianimprovshowcase.com

The Fevergraph production of “Love, Loss & Leonard”

Whose not a fan of Leonard Cohen? This show promises to be a favorite with his wealth of fantastic material to build a show around!
Fevergraph is the work of Tosha Doiron of Vancouver and Hamilton’s Paula Grove. Both women have impressive bios; Dorion reaped the 2012 Toronto Best of Fringe and the Patron’s Pick award for “Help Yourself”. She has performed professionally with Vancouver’s Carousel Theatre, and Thunder Bay’s Magnus Theatre. Her TV & film credits include Supernatural, Psych, Smallville, Zoe Busiek Wildcard, Storm Seekers and Blonde and Blonder.
Grove has performed at The Shaw Festival, CanStage and the legendary Caravan Stage Company, a traveling ensemble that lives and works on a 30-meter tallship. She has performed numerous times at The Pearl with the Artword Ensemble. www.fevergraph.com

“pomme is french for apple”

Liza Paul and Bahia Watson describe their show “pomme is french for apple” as “a fresh, funny, irreverent and distinctly west indian look at womanhood in all its glory: its perils, its pleasures and all kinda madness in between,” and critics hailed it as “a real gem…an honest, intelligent and wildly funny play” –THEATROMANIA.
Paul and Watson are stopping in to Hamilton on their way to New York, to perform “pomme” in the Big Apple! www.pommeisfrenchforapple.com

Ryan Sero’s “Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy”

Local playwright and actor Ryan Sero follows up an impressive list of recent successes with a project that he has been working on for some time, a retelling of a classic love story.
“Romeo and Juliet: An Escapist Comedy” promises only the barest of homage to the Bard. Sero, has become known for his snappy wit and unpredictable plotlines; he previously scored with A Modicum of Freedom (Pick of the Fringe, 2009), and won the audience choice award at the HamilTEN Festival (also at the Pearl Company) for his hysterical and beautifully acted “The Cheese”.

Shari Vandermolen with “My Funny Valentine”.

One of Canada’s finest voices, Vandermolen promises to both break and meld hearts with her musical tribute to love, “My Funny Valentine”. Vandermolen has won two Best of Fringe Awards, plus two Western Ontario Drama League “Best Actress” awards, and has twice been the feature performer on stage at Theatre Aquarius.
My Funny Valentine will close the Festival August 25 at 9 pm, for one show only.  www.quarter2nineproductions.com

Tickets are $15 per show, available in advance by Paypal, by email, or by phone. Contact The Pearl Company at 905.524.0606 and www.thepearlcompany.ca

The River Street Band: Friday, August 10. Doors: 7:30, Showtime: 8:00 PM: Admission: $12.00. The River Street Band is celebrating their 30^th Anniversary by bringing their critically acclaimed Bruce Springsteen tribute show to The Pearl Company!  Experience the power, the fun and the exhilaration of a Springsteen concert in the superb acoustics of The Pearl Company’s intimate theatre.
Since the ‘80s, in sell-out shows from coast to coast, The River Street Band has performed the explosive, high-energy, classic songs that have made Bruce Springsteen one of the most loved and revered Rock artists of all time.
Experience an extraordinary evening at The Pearl as The River Street Band brings you the “heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking” concert experience of Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band . . . all night long.

Lost Identities: BECAUSE OF ILLNESS, THE SHOW HAS HAD TO BE CANCELLED. See schedule below. $9 at the door. This astonishing and relevant story needs to be told and in order to get their hair-raising tale out there, the playwrights have BYOV  (brought their own venue, obviously to The Pearl Company) to Hamilton’s Fringe Festival. Lost Identities is a life drama– a true story: One man is challenged to do the right thing – keep silent or report an extortion to the authorities. He calls them, and his life goes from a semi-conventional existence to an inconceivably aberrant reality where nothing normal can be taken for granted ever again. Not even now. Playwright/Author: Mr. X, AJ Hodges. Featuring: Philip Zelazny, Robbie Brewer. Memories Productions.

THE MERCER SISTERS: Friday July 6 @ 12.30pm @ The Pearl. Free Classical Concert
Akemi Mercer (violin) & Rachel Mercer (cello) present a lunchtime concert in support of the “5 at the First” Chamber Music Series. Akemi is a member of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. This will be Rachel’s last Hamilton performance on the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius cello.
Music by Handel-Halvorsen, Paganini, Haydn & Gliere.
FREE ADMISSION – donations accepted for “5 at the First” Chamber Music Series
Rachel:  www.rachelmercercellist.com