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/

Jesters Incognito: Shows: Jan 9, 17, 23. Times vary. Tickets: $15.00. Jesters Incognito is an exciting and life-affirming one-man show that tells two unique stories.  For over 20 years, Harrison fills sketchbooks in order to cope with his Bipolar condition.  In it he writes the story of Mr. Meister, a taxi driver who starts an undergournd group of artists and entertainers in a dystopian world where live entertainment is outlawed.
With a creative mash up of cartooning, music, and comedy, you are taken into the imagination of both Harrison and Mr. Meister, wherein they reveal the key to mental wellness, and the cure to the dreaded Doldrums.  Audiences are raving about this underground renaissance of otherworldly jesters; the value of their seemingly silly shenanigans runs deep and leaves most blinded by glee!  Celebrate human resilience and the power of art!
“The Jesters Incognito are kicking off the new year with three performances at Hamilton’s awesome Arts Centre, The PEARL COMPANY!  This space is uniquely jesterly ~ eclectic, indie, and full of surprises.  I’m looking forward to bringing the nincompoops to the Pearl, to continue my support of creativity and mental health. :)”

Best of Erin & Nara: Shows: Jan 10, 15,16, 22, 30, 31. Times vary. Tickets: $15.00. MF Arts Productions presents… Partner’s in love and laughter, Erin and Nara are pleased to announce their BEST OF THE SO FARS, Show! This couple is known for their original song “Sexy Cuz We’re Lesbians” and for being the over-the-top hysterical hosts of Shelley Marshall’s The Full Bawdy Comedy Show. This FuNNy SHoW will be comprised of some of their favourite Comedy Skits, Songs, and Dance and will have you lol-ing and possibly even rofl-ing in the aisles! Erin & Nara are both hilarious (without ever ‘reaching’) and totally adorable! Their comedy is never cruel; raunchy sometimes….but never cruel.

Democracy is Dead: Subtitled “What are we going to do about it?” Runs: Jan 15-17; 22-23; 29-31. Times vary. Tickets: $15.00. Democracy is Dead is a multi-disciplinary, multi-media theatrical work written and directed by Gary Santucci. It is a wake-up call to the generations of the 60?s and 70?s to join the young people of today to begin to repair the damage that we all have caused and allowed to be inflicted on our environment, our institutions and our societies. The work was inspired through and by the cathartic exercise of creating the Pearl Company Arts Centre in Hamilton’s sacrifice zone. CAST: Gary Santucci – Alpha; Jeremy Shand – Beta; JonGordon Odegaard – Gamma; Greek Chorus: Francis X. Rocchi – Jason; Val Kay – Helen; Robert Inness – Homer; Jolanta Bace – Aphrodite; David Minnick – Euclid; Steve Wilson – Orpheus.

A Wake For Lost Time: Starts at 1pm on the 24th/finishes 1pm on 25th… Tickets: $20.00 (Gives you the right to come and go…or stay all night!) The Elephants Collective is a Toronto-based collective born out of the Theatre Passe Muraille emerging artist collective program! “A Wake For Lost Time.” captures what it is to be human and the effects time has on us all. What starts out as a look at existence within time from that of an outside observer, quickly becomes the story of everyone’s experience in the moment they find within themselves, audience and performers alike. The emotion and struggle of the cast become absolutely heart­wrenching as time progresses. “I can’t imagine a script that captures the nature of this performance, nor can I picture an actor alive that could replicate what Elephants in the Room have accomplished with this powerful show.” Everything on stage is real in the truest sense of the word. An amazing achievement; half theatre, half experiment. While the individual scenes and pieces that made up a full performance cycle are moving, challenging, and entertaining, it is a thrill to watch the performers engage with this material over 24 hours, to see them fight their own exhaustion, to watch the pieces evolve and change, and discover new meaning and life with each repetition.