The Pearl Company

Shari Vandermolen with QUARTER TO NINE: Saturday, February 15: 8:00pm. $20 /$18 students/arts workers/seniors. A sexy, sassy, jazz-soaked treat for the Valentine Weekend! Quarter to Nine is a jazzy musical act with the remarkable Shari Vandermolen on vocals.  The name comes from the song “About a Quarter to Nine” from the musical 42nd Street.  Incorporating the sweet soft jazz feel of days gone by, or the burlesque feel of risqué blues, Q2Nine influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Etta James, Billie Holiday and the “big-band sound”. They’ll be bringing you Jazz Standards, naughty blues and torch songs peppered with just the right amount of show tunes for good measure. “Shari’s training as an actor imbues her music with an emotional edge that takes us places we have never been with these songs. Quarter to Nine is an experience as much as a concert.” http://www.q29.ca  Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyDlzfMzUkI

THE FULL BAWDY COMEDY SHOW: VALENTINE VERSION:  SOLD OUT!  Friday, February 14: 8:00. Admission:  $25 @ door.  Shelley Marshall world-renowned Comedienne and the  winner of  Hamilton’s 2013 Best Local Theatre Production View Magazine for her One Woman Show “Hold Mommy’s Cigarette brings a Valentines Day production of the edgy and irreverent THE FULL BAWDY COMEDY SHOW back to The Pearl Company. Bring your honey and share a little love Full Bawdy style…! TFBCS is an always SOLD OUT vaudevillian variety show that celebrates the diversity of comedy through Music, Burlesque, Stand-up, Circus and more! Featuring original material from the funniest-and raciest-Stars this country (and beyond) has to offer. The show has featured some of the creamiest of the Canadian funny crop such as; Nikki Payne and Debra Digiovanni both Canadian Comedy Award and  Gemini Winners, Canadian Comedy Award Winner’s, Sandra Battaglini and Christele Bartalese, Fringe Festival Winners Evelyn Reese, Precious Chong, Rachelle Elie, Hamilton Music Award Winners Ginger St James and Robin Benedict, Juno Award Winner Lori Yates and many more! February 14th Line up: Shelley Marshall, Nara and Erin hosting, Musical Guest: Buckshot Beebe with guest Lisa Winn, Burlesque: Dolly Berlin, Stand Up: Zabrina Chevannes Sketch Character: Karen Burson. Come with an open mind and you’ll leave with a Full Heart. Adult Content. www.shelleymarshall.com Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=omL9gW9h04g

Romanyi Rota: Saturday, February 8. 8:00pm. $15 /$10 students/arts workers/seniors. The name Rományi Rota means Gypsy Wheels; they are a truly traditional dance and music group from Hungary, founded in 1985. The band first functioned as a large dance group in Nagyecsed, Hungary, the village where the country’s Roma dance and music movement started in the 70s. As a dance and music collective they won a number of awards. Eventually the founder of Romani Rota moved to Budapest where he collected authentic Roma music in Hungary and in neighbouring countries. In 1995, the downsized band appeared internationally winning the Young Masters of Folk Art award. The members of the band now live in Canada. Throughout the years, Romani Rota has recorded several albums and appeared as guest musicians on a Trans Global album and the Romani Kris film music album. Here is a taste of what they can do!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAnATi6cL8s

Scarlett Jane: Friday, February 7: 8:00pm $20 /$15 students/arts workers/seniors. Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire: One of the most exciting new collaborations in recent Canadian music — the marriage of the distinctive songs and beautifully haunting voices, the collaborative song-writing, sultry performance style, and full band arrangements of Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire. The blend of the singer’s voices stops conversations; their musical sensibilities interweave seemingly without effort. And now, Stranger, their debut recording, captures their strength and their vulnerability, with a progressive roots sound which embodies the raw and candid demeanor of Lucinda Williams, the moody sensuality of Stevie Nicks, and the tender playfulness of Dolly Parton. A rootsy folk/noir album with enough country-edged rockin’ wailers to keep dancers moving, and gorgeous ballads and moody set-pieces to satisfy the indie-pop fans. Andrea has two previous albums; she’s of Italian heritage, a sweet city woman with fire in her heart, embers in her voice, and a background that includes school teaching, acting, and even tap dancing. Cindy calls herself a troubadour and a vagabond. Her voice can whisper or roar, as the song (and the lyrics) demand. She has three solo albums, two in French, which has given her a following in both French Canada and Europe. www.scarlettjane.com  Listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1OtCr52sj4 

A very special fundraiser for Scott (Professor Piano) Cushnie: Wednesday, February 5. 8:00pm. $15.00 adv / $20 at the door.  Guests for this evening with Professor Piano include Sonnie Bernardi, John Gibbard, and Roly Greenway from Crowbar, Lori Yates, Duane Rutter, Omar Tunnoch, Bucky Berger from Fathead, Trickbag and more to come…….  Scott Cushnie is 75 and currently living in Toronto. As Terry Murphy tells us, “He is in need of more support personally and professionally than I can provide for him from Hamilton so I have asked him to re-locate to Hamilton and he has decided to finally take me up on it. He grew up in the Bronte area and taught Kelly Jay from Crowbar his first piano lesson when they were in High School together. The guys from Crowbar are all contemporaries of Scott. In the 70’s he toured with Aerosmith and played on two of their albums “Toys In The Attic” and “Rocks” for which he has received two gold albums. He recorded an album with Ronnie Hawkins at Muscle Shoals Studio that featured local harmonica legend Richard “King Biscuit Boy” Newell and Duane Allman from the Allman Brothers. Today he still plays but because of his visual impairment, he has great difficulty keeping up with his fans, friends and maintaining a performance schedule that is conducive to his considerable talents. He has recorded several Albums of Instrumental Piano Duets with Some Canada’s finest musicians including Lance Anderson, and the late great Doug Riley.  Scott is interested in continuing down this path and future duet CDs are planned.” Bio: http://bit.ly/1hKwyGk  Listen:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7VVHV8w70

La Ronde – An “Intimate” Play About Seduction: January 30 thru February 1. 8:00pm Tickets: $16.00 / $12.00 students/arts workers/seniors/unwaged. The McMaster Thespian Company turns up the heat with Viennese playwright Arthur Schnitzler’s best-known drama, LA RONDE in a new stage adaptation by local playwright and director Brian Morton (recipient of the 2013 City of Hamilton Arts Award for Theatre). Provocative, stylish, and erotic, LA RONDE follows a chain of amorous couplings across turn-of-the-century Vienna. Exchanging one lover for another, ten actors take on diverse characters in sexy duets that explore the passions, deceptions and disconnections of modern love. Written in 1897, each scene centres around one pair of lovers, depicting their sexual encounter and a brief conversation with characters changing partners ending with a count and the prostitute from the first scene.
LA RONDE features a cast of ten actors which includes Rebecca Lamarche, Gabriel Pinto, Luis Arrojo, Jordan Hallin-Williamson, Erin Dykstra, Sage Hyden, Megan Vukelic, Nicole McDermott, Katie Baldwin, and Matt Breton.  The play will be stage managed by Sydney Stonier with Kayla Michelle Mazepa as Producer.
The McMaster Thespian Company is non-profit theatre organization which specializes in developing and performing classical plays, including but not limited to scripts from Grecian, Elizabethan and Victorian eras. MTC provides opportunities for students who are interested in performing, technical theatre, and production. This is the company’s eleventh season.
LA RONDE contains subject matter of a sexual nature – audience discretion is advised.
(more…)