CHUTZPAH! FEST
City Opera will perform songs parodied by Marx Brothers
CONTENTS
November 4-11 / 2021
11
COVER
Former Vancouverite Ophira Eisenberg has reasons to celebrate as host of a radio show on 400 stations, admired comedian, and successful author.
by Charlie Smith
By Charlie Smith Cover photo by Arin Sang-urai
4
REAL ESTATE
Some neighbourhood activists worry that the NDP government is planning to scrap public hearings on Vancouver rezoning applications. By Carlito Pablo
8
MUSIC
Vancouver producer Whipped Cream reveals the contents of her fridge, along with her life-changing shows and favourite records. By Mike Usinger
That’s Groucho Marx (lower left) in this picture from the 1935 film A Night at the Opera, which will kick off this year’s Chutzpah! Festival along with a live performance by local opera singers.
C
ity Opera Vancouver says on its website that it’s possible for opera to tell any story in any time and place. In that spirit, the professional chamber opera company will be at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre on Thursday (November 4) to deliver opera at, of all things, a Marx Brothers movie. This isn’t just any Marx Brothers film—it’s the riotously funny A Night at the Opera, a 1935 classic that’s been preserved in the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry for its cultural, historic, and aesthetic significance. City Opera Vancouver’s interactive concert—featuring mezzo-soprano Megan Latham and tenor Martin Renner Wallace— will launch the Chutzpah! Festival, which runs from November 4 to 24. They’ll sing music parodied in the film, accompanied by pianist Roger Parton and a “special guest”. That will be followed by a screening of the movie. In a phone interview with the Straight, City Opera Vancouver’s director of concerts, Alan Corbishley, said that there will be a “few little antics” throughout their performance, but certainly nothing that will upstage the Marx Brothers.
“We’re not trying to be the Marx Brothers by any stretch of the imagination,” Corbishley emphasized. The aforementioned special guest will be Corbishley himself, impersonating U.S. actor Margaret Dumont, who played opposite the Marx Brothers in seven of their movies. That included a smash performance as Mrs. Claypool in A Night at the Opera. “She was always the one who never seems to get the joke,” Corbishley noted. Audience members are being encouraged to dress up as Margaret Dumont or as either Groucho, Harpo, Chico, or Zeppo. The winner of the costume contest will win a Chutzpah! Festival all-access pass. As City Opera Vancouver’s director of concerts, Corbishley’s goal is to make this art form very accessible and less intimidating for audiences. “So this [show] kind of helps us along the road—and in a fun way that just doesn’t feel pretentious,” he said. g On Thursday (November 4) at 7 p.m., the Chutzpah! Festival: The Lisa Nemetz Festival of International Jewish Performing Arts presents City Opera Vancouver and A Night at the Opera at the Norman and Annette Rothstein Theatre.
e Start Here 12 ARTS 6 BEER 22 CLASSIFIED ADS 17 CULTURE CRAWL 9 FOOD 21 HEART OF THE CITY 7 LIVING 2 MOVIES 19 MUSIC 22 SAVAGE LOVE 15 THEATRE e Listings 20 ARTS
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EDITOR Charlie Smith GENERAL MANAGER (ACTING) Sandra Oswald SECTION EDITORS Mike Usinger (ESports/Liquor/Music) Steve Newton SENIOR EDITOR Martin Dunphy STAFF WRITERS Carlito Pablo (Real Estate) SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT Jeff Li ART DEPARTMENT MANAGER Janet McDonald
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THE GEORGIA STR AIGHT
NOVEMBER 4 – 11 / 2021
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