Monday, March 28, 2016

An intimate evening with Alfie Zappacosta - May 26 @ Orpheum Annex


Railtown Cultural Eclective is very pleased to announce Canadian icon Alfie Zappacosta will perform May 26 at the Orpheum Annex to close their 2015/16 Trier Performance Series.  This intimate concert is the only Metro Vancouver stop in a cross – country string of dates for Zappacosta’s No Avoiding Clichés Release Tour.

The multi-award winning singer-songwriter, famous for hits like We Should Be Lovers, When I Fall (In Love Again) and Overload (on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack) has mined the wealth of his extensive catalogue for this project. 

“This last record was done over a 45-year period of writing,” he says. “I chose only a handful of songs that give a pretty good cross-section of what I’ve been through.”

Though the tour concerts highlight the tunes from the new record he performs many of his hits in the intimate format in which they were written. The CD is coupled with a DVD of his “Live @ Festival Place” performance in Sherwood Park last year.  Zappacosta was backed on this performance by a 15 piece “orchestra” made up of some of Canada’s finest session players.

Emmy-Award-winning filmmaker and photo-journalist Michael Jorgensen, working with students of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), has produced a documentary film Long Road Home on the life of Zappacosta.  The film, directed by Stephanie Volk,  premieres at the NorthWestFest Film & Arts Festival in Edmonton this May.

Alfie Zappacosta appears Thursday, May 26 at 8pm, doors open at 7pm, Orpheum Annex, 823 Seymour Street. Tickets are $40/$30/$25 seniors/students  and available at http://www.artspoints.com. For more information email info@railtownce.ca or call 604-836-9943.


Monday, October 5, 2015

RCE Presents Dalannah & Owen - POSTPONED

This concert has been postponed. Please revisit our website for details on the new date in early 2016.

"Been Around a While" is a stunning success story

RCE is delighted to present the Vancouver-based  Dalannah and Owen on November 5 at 8pm at the Orpheum Annex, the second concert in their 2015/16 Trier Series. The blues duo have created a deliciously simple album "Been Around a While" that throws back to the heyday of classic blues artists while pushing the boundaries of the genre with a modern twist.  
Since the early summer release of their debut recording, the duo has received accolades from reviewers around the globe and extensive airplay on commercial, campus and community radio here in Canada and worldwide.
Here's just a sample of the stellar reviews:
 “Dalannah and Owen know what they are doing, and absolutely have the perfect mixture of soul, power, and emotion that it takes to put together an excellent blues album.”  Canadian Beats
“Here the pair do something to blues that's brave and different, in a field that is way too often dominated by the same old same old…This is all about listening to two strong talents finding the possibilities in each song.”  Top 100 Canadian Singles
“Dalannah and Owen pretty much break the mould on their first release together. As a duo of only vocals and electric bass guitar, the combination ought to be light on entertainment value over the course of a full-length album, but this wizened couple makes every track shine in one way or another."  Winnipeg Free Press 
"The combination of an expressive voice and a jazzy seven-string bass guitar is unusual, but what Dalannah and Owen do on this debut album is worth discovering. Each track is a different, exceptional experience. There's real musical talent here!"  Rootstime (Belguim)
 Show details:



  

Friday, August 14, 2015

Blue Tango Project - María Volonté & Kevin Carrel Footer

Railtown Cultural Eclective Presents: Blue Tango Project - María Volonté & Kevin Carrel Footer - return to Vancouver to kick off our Trier Series, Thursday, September 17th at the Orpheum Annex -
tickets will go on sale Aug 14th 5pm !
Tix $20 Artspoints

Hailing from the colorful and gritty La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Blue Tango Project is a ground-breaking exploration of the emotional and musical crossroads where tango and the blues embrace. It is a collaboration between Argentine Latin Grammy nominee María Volonté and California harmonica player Kevin Carrel Footer.

This globe-trotting duo celebrates the deep spiritual bond that joins tango and the blues, as two musical genres born in desire and marginality, many times censored yet always resurgent and speaking directly to our hungry souls. When they play together, Maria’s voice and guitar fill the stage with echoes of tango’s forbidden pleasures while Kevin’s harmonica whines with the lament of the solitary blues soul.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Nathan Barrett Delivers The Particulars, Matthew Mackenzie's Acclaimed Play






The EASTWALL productions in association with
Railtown Cultural Eclective present

THE PARTICULARS
A play by Matthew Mackenzie
Performed by Nathan Barrett/Directed by Jamie King
Nov 11-16   Curtain 8pm Doors 7:30pm
Sat and Sun 2pm Matinee
Tickets available at www.northerntickets.ca
Five Stars.  CBC Manitoba
A revelation. Montreal Gazette
Mesmerizes.  PLANK Magazine
Vancouver, BC…...Fresh after co-starring with Nicola Cavendish in 4000 Miles at the Stanley Theatre in Vancouver,  Nathan Barrett takes the lead in The Particulars, the critically acclaimed one man play by Matthew Mackenzie.
The Particulars is the story of Gordon. By day he forges systematically ahead, in control of every aspect of his life...but by night, the scratching which he has begun to hear in his walls is unravelling him, driving Gordon to the edge of cosmic desperation.
Mackenzie is a skilled writer with an sharp eye for the details that make up the bulk of the play. Moments of the text give his Oakville, or Evansville, or anywhere-in-Canada-ville the labyrinthine alienation of Kafka’s Prague, and the grimy, cheery mechanistics of Saramago’s Lisbon. Time & Space
Barrett and Mackenzie both graduated from the National Theatre School, Barrett as an actor and Mackenzie as a writer. Barrett has since worked in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Thunder Bay as an actor appearing in everything from Shakespeare to the Buddy Holly Story.  He has also successfully tried his hand at writing.  FRESH WATER, written and performed by Barrett and Chala Hunter, was produced in both Vancouver and Toronto to critical acclaim. His recent performance in 4000 Miles was well received.

Nathan Barrett as Leo, with his blond surfer curls and comically open visage, dances nimbly between youthful awkwardness and balletic grace, providing a perfect physical compliment to Cavendish. The two kept Herzog’s lively banter sounding natural.  Vancouver Sun 
MacKenzie has quickly established himself as one of Canada's best and brightest. His play SIA, won the 2010 Alberta Playwriting Competition and was subsequently picked up by The Actors Company Theatre (TACT) as part of their inaugural newTACTics Festival. Mackenzie went on to win the prestigious Urjo Kareda Residency Grant in August of 2011.
The Particulars is being presented at the PAL Studio Theatre, one of the most unique performance venues in the city, located at 581 Cardero Street, 8th floor.  Advance tickets are available at www.northerntickets.com.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Sold out opening night for Stroke of Luck at Vancouver Fringe Festival!



"you’ll want to make a point of following along with master storyteller Jacques Lalonde as the well-loved Vancouver actor recounts his journey from near basket case to almost full recovery in Stroke of Luck."                    Larry Ghini Vancouverscapes

After a smashing preview show as part of Railtown Cultural Eclective’s  Trier Series, the indomitable Jacques Lalonde's one-man STROKE OF LUCK  opened to sold out house last night at the Vancouver Fringe Festival, Havana Theatre.

On July 1, 2013, Jacques Lalonde had a stroke that left him without the use of his right arm and right side of his face. STROKE OF LUCK uses Jacques' renowned storytelling skills to give us an inside look at how the brain works and the difficult road to recovery.

Hilarious and poignant, STROKE OF LUCK gives us hope, inspires us to see the beauty of life in new ways, and will help develop your Christopher Walken impersonation. Will Jacques be able to use his right hand again?  Will he ever be able to sing?  What can he now do with his left hand that he couldn't do before? Go see Stroke of Luck and all will be revealed with the charm and wit Jacques is famous for in his storytelling!
 
STROKE OF LUCK - Havana Theatre, 1212 Commercial Drive
SHOW TIMES


Saturday September 6,   9:45 PM
Sunday September 7,  2:45 PM
Tuesday September 9, 9:30 PM
Thursday September 11,  6:00 PM
Saturday September 13,  6:15 PM
Sunday September 14,  1:00 PM

Ticket are $14 and available at www.vancouverfringe.com