City asks for help with snow removal

The cold weather has arrived in Vancouver and the snow has started to fall. The City of Vancouver takes snow removal seriously and will make consistent, coordinated efforts to keep main throughways clear, including bus routes, bridges and bike lanes. However, the public also plays a large role in keeping Vancouver sidewalks clear.

Residents and businesses are reminded that all Vancouver property owners and occupants (tenants) are responsible for clearing snow and ice from the full width of sidewalks that surround their property by 10 am on the morning following a snowfall, seven days a week. Property owners and occupants who fail to remove snow and ice are subject to a fine.

Snow and ice on the sidewalk can be a barrier for many people, particularly seniors and people with disabilities. A single portion of a sidewalk that is not cleared can negate the clearing efforts of the rest of the residents on the whole block.

The City encourages residents and businesses to lend a hand to those who are unable to shovel their own sidewalks, and adopt the sidewalk of a senior neighbour or person with a mobility issue and keep it clear of snow and ice all winter long.

For more information, visit vancouver.ca/snow

Review: Xanadu at the Arts Club Theatre

Last night’s opening of Xanadu at the Arts Club Granville Island Stage was the most unadulterated fun I’ve had at the theatre since last year’s Ride the Cyclone.
It’s not exactly thought-provoking material but that couldn’t be further from the point. Marlie Collins as the gorgeous muse Clio/Kira has such a magnetic stage presence that one’s ability to look anywhere else is a testament to the depth of talent in the cast.
The movie’s script has been reworked to include several winking self references as well as jokes that would have been nonsensical 30 years ago, but had a 2012 audience roaring with laughter. The set was simple, but transporting, and I found the costumes absolutely sumptuous.
My only quibble was that everything was a bit loud. At times the vocals were too high, while in other numbers, it was difficult to make out the song lyrics. I just can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t get a kick out of this production!
Tickets start at just $29 including all taxes and fees, and the show runs until August 4.

Wheels of Vengeance: The Director’s Cut

Written and Directed by Michael “Ned” Kennedy
Feb. 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 16th, 17th and 18th.

It’s so over the top, it comes through the bottom.

Concealed within Vancouver’s underbelly, lies a vibrant and bizarre
underground theatre scene. Among those that inhabit this artistic
underworld, the renegade Spectral Theatre Society has become notorious for
being one of the strangest and most prolific theatre companies in town,
having established its shadowy reputation as a maelstrom of raw creativity
by bringing its own brand of fantasy/sci-fi/horror-inspired theatre to the
stage with surprisingly captivating results. Our latest production
“Wheels of Vengeance: The Director’s Cut” is an attempt to defy the limits
of good taste in the tradition of Grand Guignol.

In this musical comic farce, a young Hispanic gang banger named Pedro
Padilla is shot and crippled by an Alabama Police Officer after a high
speed car chase. Arriving at the “big house,” Pedro is put in a wheelchair
possessed by an evil Nazi death camp commandant. As the Nazi spirit takes
him over, he trains to become the ultimate killing machine on wheels so as
to seek his vengeance upon those that did him wrong.

Previously appearing as part of our “Late-Night Double Feature” line-up in
’09, this version has been re-written and expanded as a full length play
offering twice the audacity and offensiveness of the original. Promising
kung-fu battles, car chases and musical numbers galore “Wheels of
Vengeance: The Director’s Cut” is guaranteed to be so over-the-top it will
come through the bottom!

Featuring Ned Kennedy, Andrew Harron, Devan Vancise, Kris Buller, David
Quast, Seth Little (Anything Goes, The Velvet Edge), Melody Mangler
(Terror at Rock Out Beach, Greece Does Grease) , Diva Mercedes Gould,
Karly Palmer, Vincent Riel and Desiree Zantolas.

WARNING: This show IS NOT suitable for all audiences. No Minors.

Spectral Theatre Society has spent the last 9 years chipping away at the
foundations of the Vancouver arts scene, producing original and
imaginative theatrical works. “Wheels of Vengeance: The Director’s Cut”
will mark the 3rd production of Spectral Theatre’s tenth season of
producing original theatre, as it continues to aspire to take its brand of
cult storytelling to the next level while remaining true to the spirit of
experimentation and spectacle.

“Wheels of Vengeance: The Director’s Cut” runs Thursday, Friday and
Saturday nights for three weeks, starting Feb. 2nd and closing Feb. 18th.
Catch all the camp and audacity for just $16 ($12 in advance) at Spectral
Theatre Studio, 350 Powell (between Dunlevy and Gore). Doors at 7:30pm;
show begins at 8pm. Visit http://www.spectraltheatre.com or call 604.569.2013 for
more information.