Local Arts

There is hope everywhere on this planet, filmmaker Velcrow Ripper told the TV audience at last Monday's Genie Awards in Toronto.

Everybody loves John. He's a bit of a back porch philosopher still suffering the effects of a divorce. He's the kind of guy who likes his dates to submit resumes so he doesn't have to do so much guess work.

Prepare to be scanned. An intensive inventory of the Coast's arts and cultural groups, individual artists and their services and facilities is underway this spring, says cultural scan project manager Francine Lucas.

The latest offering from the community theatre group Driftwood Players blends a mix of beginners and experienced in the cast of a comical play by Kenneth Ludwig, Lend Me a Tenor, opening at the Heritage Playhouse March 16.

B.C. musician Long John Baldry, known affectionately as the boogie woogie man from a line in one of his hit songs, died in 2005 after a legendary career that inspired other great musicians such as Rod Stewart and Elton John.

The Coast's musical community was saddened by the sudden death of musician and teacher Lyle Carter on Feb. 18 after a brief battle with cancer. He had recently turned 66.

When the Polyjesters made their first appearance in Pender Harbour about this time last year, nobody knew what to expect. We were told to it would be "a kitchen party to share with the world.

The audience at Raven's Cry Theatre last Saturday night for the Coast Recital Society's annual gala event cheered pianist Janina Fialkowska for her fine performance and listened raptly while the musician chatted with the CBC's gregarious Shelagh Roge

What do a cellist freed from orchestral shackles, a foggy Hogtown boy and a Métis fiddler have in common? All have had some connection with the Sunshine Coast's Celtic Music School, a fertile learning centre for fiddle, accordion and cello music that

Two of Canada's beloved performers - one at the keyboard, one at the microphone - promise to captivate the audience at the Coast Recital Society's (CRS) 2006 gala concert on Feb. 25 at Sechelt's Raven's Cry Theatre at 7:30 p.m.