Glenna Turnbull: Arts Seen!

(Photo: Glenna Turnbull)

Julia Trops with her piece at the Okanagan Erotic Art Show.

Big kudos to Julia Trops and the Okanagan Erotic Art Show, which opened over the weekend to a sold out crowd. Lots of people took the time to dress up and there were plenty of masks to fit this year’s masquerade theme. Artist Rory O’Neil won my vote for best entry, featuring a piece of drywall, some drinking glasses attached to it and a mention of noisy neighbours and thin walls. Putting your ear up to the glass was, well, let’s just say those who did had a smile on their face. Rory would have won my vote for best costume too had they had such a thing as he arrived wearing chaps...and not much else.

Winner of the People’s Choice award was Edward Vincent’s piece Invitation and the Resort Choice went to artist Krista Berrigan for her piece, Embrace.

The show will remain on display daily at Sparkling Hill from now 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Aug. 2, with admission by donation – already over $2700 has been raised from the event to donate to Central Okanagan Hospice Association. For more, visit their website.

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Calling all Parrotheads: If it’s been too long since you’ve “wasted away in Margaritaville", then Minstrel Café is where you need to head tonight. The Rum Runners will be playing a host of Jimmy Buffet songs and on these warm summer nights, there’s just no place like the patio of the Minstrel Café where you can sit under that beautiful big tree, listen to the music waft out through the sliding doors and should you choose, dance barefoot in the grass. Music gets underway at 8 p.m. and there is a $5 entertainment fee. Great food, great ambiance, put on a Hawaiian shirt or pin a flower in your hair and have fun!

Reservations are recommended by calling 250-764-2301. For a full list of the Minstrel line up for the next week, check out www.minstrelcafe.com

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Friday night, the amazing Chris Botti takes over the amphitheater at Mission Hill Winery. Last I checked there were still some concert only tickets available for $99 and only a few seats left for the Loggia Lounge. This Grammy award winning trumpet player is rumoured to have one of the best live performances going, as he easily switches from jazz to blues to classical. Probably the most talked about winery concert last year, if you don’t want to miss him this year get your tickets before they sell out at Select Your Tickets or click here.

A couple of quick tips: The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. so be smart and arrive an hour early if you can to allow for parking and purchasing a beverage. Also, women, leave the heels at home. Tromping up and down the steep grassy hill of the amphitheater in stilettos doesn’t work.

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Saturday night in Lake Country you’ll find Rann Berry and the One Hit Wonders doing their show again, featuring the big hits (and big hair) of the 60s and 70s. They’re promising some new songs this time around – more of the songs that make you feel old because you remember them. Show time is 7:30 p.m. and you can reserve tickets by calling 250-766-9309 or pick them up in person from the Customer Service Centre in the Lake Country Municipal Hall. Tickets are $29 plus taxes and fees.

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Coming up next week is the start of the Kelowna Summer Theatre festival. I’m really excited about this outdoor theatre event that will run just outside of the Rotary Centre for the Arts. They’ve got two different plays that will alternate between July 18 and Aug. 11. Opening first is [title of show], about two struggling writers trying to create a musical theatre piece. The play ends up being about their trouble trying to figure out what to write, hence the unusual title. [title of show] will run nightly July 18 to 21, then on alternate nights after that. The second production, Private Eyes, is a relationship thriller comedy about love, lust and the power of deception in which nothing is quite what it seems. It starts up July 25.

You can get all the scoop as well as purchase tickets on the KSTF website at www.kelownasummertheatrefestival.com

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From starvation to gluttony, that’s sort of how I’m seeing our theatre scene here in Kelowna. In addition to the Kelowna Summer Theatre festival, you’ll also find new productions by Kelowna Actors Studio, Bumbershoot Theatre and New Vintage Theatre all starting up in the next week.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the theatre community would begin to talk amongst themselves to find out what the other guys are up to so that this kind of things stops happening. There are a limited number of people who support live theatre in this town and with four productions running at once, everyone suffers. Last year, every single Theatre Kelowna play and Bumbershoot Theatre piece ran during the weeks as a Kelowna Actors Studio production, often with all three opening within a day of each other.

The theatre community isn’t the only one guilty of this either. Okanagan Symphony and Chamber Music Kelowna clash and last year, the major fundraisers for Heart and Stroke, SPCA and Kelowna Art Gallery were all scheduled for the same night.

Imagine if there was a central reservation site where organizations could plug in their dates so they could all work around each other instead of fighting each other for dollars.

I will have the full rundown on New Vintage’s production of Super 8 (July 17 to 20 in the Black Box Theatre), Kelowna Actors Studio’s, Spamalot (KAS theatre July 17 to Aug.3) and Bumbershoot Children’s Theatre’s, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (BCT July 18 to 28).

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Speaking of Kelowna’s theatre scene, fingers are crossed for the Fred Skeleton Theatre’s cast and crew who, from what I’ve heard, did a fabulous performance this week at the Theatre BC Mainstage competition where they’re representing the Okanagan’s Ozone. The winners will be announced Saturday. Break a leg!!!

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Last but not least, remember the free Parks Alive! concerts are happening through the city. Tonight’s free concert, as part of the roaming park Legacy Series, you’ll find Black Mountain Boys, The Blue Healers and the Black Mountain Blues Band with Ellen Churchill doing jazz at Birkdale Park, just off Black Mountain Drive at Birkdale Avenue. On the weekend at Kerry Park, you’ll find a Rock’N’Roll theme which features a wide array of local talent including Floyd Vedan Band on Friday night and The Deb Stone band on Saturday night. For the full Parks Alive listings, click here.

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That’s it for this week. For up to date happenings, follow me on Twitter @ArtSeenOkanagan

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.