Other entertainment in Canada
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Belfry Theatre
The excellent Belfry Theatre is a showcase for contemporary, especially Canadian, plays and is one of the country's most respected independent theatre companies. It's housed in a converted 1890s Baptist church.
reviewed
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Cinecenta
UVic's Cinecenta is where old classics and curiosities rub shoulders on a nightly changing schedule.
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Cineplex Odeon
The city's main first-run cinema is Cineplex Odeon.
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Martello Tower 2
Martello Tower 2 is open to the public only during staged events, like the Convict’s Last Drink. This lively interactive theater (in English) gives a taste of 19th-century justice. It features a mock trial of a soldier accused of a crime, and the audience will decide his fate while – and this is the important part – sampling homemade beers. Because alcohol is served, those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult; reserve through the Discovery Pavilion or by phone. A French-language version (La Dernier Verre) takes place at 6:30pm daily (mid-July to early September). Other shows include an ‘1814, council-of-war-style’ feast (adult/child $35/32), during which diners must…
reviewed
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Orpheum Theatre
If you’re lucky enough to catch a show at the Orpheum Theatre, be prepared to gasp when you enter the auditorium. Built in 1927 and now designated a national heritage site, the sumptuous Spanish baroque interior of multiple arches topped by an ornate painted dome harkens back to a time when theaters offered a fantasy escape from reality. But the beautiful old gal isn’t just a well-preserved relic. In fact, she’s steeped in theatrical history. Originally part of a Chicago-headquartered chain of vaudeville houses, stars who have hit the boards before the near-3,000 seats here have included Bob Hope, Shirley MacLaine and Harry Belafonte – check out the commemorative wall…
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Rogers Arena (GM Place)
With a new corporate sponsor officially renaming what everyone still calls GM Place in 2010, you’ll likely hear both names bandied around. Whatever the moniker, the newer of Vancouver’s two downtown stadiums hosts the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League. Game nights, when the 20,000-capacity venue heaves with fervent fans, are the city’s most exciting sporting events – you’ll enjoy the atmosphere even if the rules are a mystery. The main hockey venue during the 2010 Winter Olympics and the home of a large Canucks team shop, this is also a favored arena for money-spinning stadium rock acts. Behind-the-scenes tours take you into the hospitality suites…
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Celluloid Social Club
Visiting movie nuts with a penchant for making their own flicks – or just chewing the fat with those who do – should unspool their film over at one of Vancouver’s coolest underground hangouts. Held every month at the community hall ANZA Club, the Celluloid Social Club is a drop-in for local filmmakers and video artists who want to show their shorts to anyone who happens to turn up. The results – seven mini-epics are shown over the course of a couple of hours – are always interesting, and the screenings are followed by a few beers and a chance to rub shoulders and chat with the local auteurs.
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Cineforum
Though there have been a few attempts to shut it down, an off-the-wall experience (or perhaps on-the-wall) still awaits at Cineforum. Irascible Torontonian character Reg Hartt wraps posters around telephone poles advertising his cinema – the front room of his house where he showcases classic and avant-garde films. Animation retrospectives are his specialty, as are Salvador Dalí prints. Come prepared for idiosyncratic lectures designed to expand your consciousness (like ‘What I Learned from LSD’), sometimes delivered while movies are playing. Seats 20; bring your own food and drink.
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Monsters in the Meadow
It’s hard to beat Stanley Park for a movie backdrop. Which is just as well, since Monsters in the Meadow screens scary B-movie classics in its Creperly Meadow area near Second Beach every August. The free-entry movies often include the scream-triggering likes of Godzilla,King Kong or Creature from the Black Lagoon. It’ll be chilly once the sun goes down (although you may be trembling in fright), so bring a sweater. Flashlights are also recommended so you can find your way back out of the park after the show.
reviewed
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Performing Arts Lodge Theatre
If you want to hang out at the other end of the age range, check out the Performing Arts Lodge Theatre, located in a swanky new Coal Harbour condominium block reserved for retired performance artists. While the building’s smashing upper-floor studio space hosts an eclectic array of visiting, sometimes-challenging shows throughout the year, the audience is often full of old luvvies who look like they might have a few good stories to tell about the profession during the interval.
reviewed
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Experimental Dance & Music
Formed by dancers in 1982, this challenging contemporary troupe adopts a creative multimedia approach that may mix film, music and/or art into its athletic and expressive works, many created through an improvisational process for which EDAM has become famous. If you’re lucky, the Echo Case – the company’s longest-established improvisational ensemble – will be performing during your visit. With its own on-site studio, EDAM also performs at venues around the city.
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Ballet British Columbia
A season from Vancouver’s favorite dance company often includes the likes of Giselle and Sleeping Beauty jostling for attention with a world premiere or two and perhaps a night of experimental short pieces. Performing at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the troupe’s season runs from September to April, when it also welcomes visiting shows from acclaimed companies including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada.
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Bard on the Beach
Watching Shakespeare performed while the sun sets behind the North Shore mountains looming through the open back of a tented stage is a singular Vancouver highlight. An enduring favorite summer pastime for city culture hounds, there are usually three or four Bard plays on offer, and a related playwright is sometimes added to the mix. The smaller studio stage showcases slightly less mainstream fare. Free preshow talks are offered before Tuesday-night performances.
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Grind Gallery Café
The artwork-lined Grind is open 24/7, fueling starving students, artists and writers throughout the night. The large, open space hosts an art gallery, concerts and spoken word performances, as well as the philosophical and political musings of its regular patrons who have made this spot a mainstay of the local scene. Alongside the coffee, there are plenty of quality options for those who prefer to quaff tea – try the green tea frappuccino.
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Touchstone Theatre Company
One of Vancouver's most vital and refreshing theater companies, Touchstone has been treading the local boards for more than 30 years. It's never lost touch with its commitment to nurture and stage contemporary Canadian theater and it often premieres new work by local writers or stages the first regional productions of important national works. The company performs around the city – check the website to see what it's up to during your visit.
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Arts Club Theatre Company
Musicals, international classics and works by contemporary Canadian playwrights are part of the mix at this leading theater company. If you're curious about West Coast theatrics, look out for plays by Morris Panych, BC's favorite playwright son. The company's three performance spaces are the Granville Island Stage, the nearby and more intimate Revue Stage and the refurbished 1930s Stanley Theatre.
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Fogg ’N Suds
The restaurant focuses on standard pasta and burger platters, so decamp to the pub-style counter to dip into the dozens of international beers – try some unfamiliar brews from Africa, South America and the UK. There are also many Canadian drafts to quaff (try the Rickards Red), as well as ‘the tower’ – a yard-long tube of beer with a tap at the bottom that stands on your table just asking to be knocked over.
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Air Canada Centre
The 13-time Stanley Cup–winning Toronto Maple Leafs slap the puck around the Air Canada Centre in the National Hockey League (NHL). Every game sells out, but a limited number of same-day tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster at 10am and at the Air Canada Centre ticket window from 5pm. You can also buy tickets via the website from season ticket-holders who aren’t attending – expect to pay around $80 and up.
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Sailor Hagar’s Brewpub
A stroll from Lonsdale Quay, this convivial, nautical-themed brewpub has smashing views of the city skyline, plenty of on-tap and bottled beers and a nice greasy menu of pub grub. It’s an ideal spot to catch European soccer on TV. The owners also brew some of their own tipples here – the Narwhal Pale Ale is recommended. There are different $4 to $5 beer specials every night and live jazz most Sunday nights.
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Soma
The neighborhood’s fave eponymous coffee hangout was kicked out of its popular old location but has re-emerged in a new spot as a wine bar. It’s a welcome transformation: while retaining its casual ambience, there’s now a tantalizing array of small-plate treats (the baked fondue is fun) as well as a serious BC and international wine menu, some choice local beers and a heartwarming roster of malts.
reviewed
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Ginger 62
Briefly the city’s favorite bar until all those fickle fashionistas moved on a couple of years ago, this loungey spot is far more laid-back now – except on busy weekends when the Granville St clubbers stumble in for late-night refreshments. Lured by the calming décor, many of them end up staying for a final round of boogying on the small dance floor or a serious run at the extensive cocktail menu.
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Denman Place Cinema
The closest cheap-flicks cinema to the downtown core, this subterranean, almost kitsch, 1970s-style joint was a first-run movie house until the multiplexes moved into town. The owners closed it, whacked out half the seats and reopened it as a second-run theater with lots of legroom. It offers an eclectic mix of just-past-their-prime blockbusters and some lesser-known artsy flicks. The cinema is closed Sunday.
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Lugz Coffee Lounge
Bike messengers congregate outside Lugz, while neighborhood artists dream away on the leather couches inside. All enjoy the warming ambience and solid array of fair-trade coffees and exotic teas at this popular Main St haunt. As you sip your cappuccino or elderberry tea, check to see if there are any upcoming events that take your fancy: Lugz often hosts singer-songwriter shows and angsty poetry readings.
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Seventy Two Sports Bar
At this pub, nestled on Robson St, you can pull up a patio chair on the 2nd floor and still hear the chatty shoppers shuffling past below. Head inside to catch a game at a booth with its own built-in TV or stay outside and combine good-quality pub grub (try the chicken quesadillas) with a full complement of local Russell Brewing beers – the cream ale is recommended. You might even get a tan.
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Story Slam
You’re guaranteed tons of naughty literary fun at this twice-monthly story-making competition staged at SoMa’s popular Our Town Café. Ten storytellers are each given five minutes to write a piece on a given topic; it’s then read to the crowd, who are hyped up and ready to kill after several herbal teas and decaf coffees. A great event to meet the local culture vultures.
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