Entertainment

You don’t need to solve the whole puzzle or have all the fragments and pieces fit together perfectly to enjoy Theatre North West’s production of The Secret Mask. It is so brilliantly done – thanks to a clever, heart warming script by Canadian playwright Rick Chafe and the skill of a very talented cast and crew – that an audience can discover their own solution to the puzzle. Or if they wish, have it remain a mystery. Such is the magic of live theatre. I would love to borrow...

Reigning three-time ACM Male Vocalist of the Year and Entertainer of the Year nominee Jason Aldean announces the 2015 extension of his Burn It Down Tour will include multiple Canadian dates. The Canadian leg of the tour kicks off in Toronto on September 17. Tickets will go on sale beginning Friday, May 8 at 10 a.m. Joining Jason will be special guests Cole Swindell, Tyler Farr and Dee Jay Silver. Jason Aldean recently released his sixth studio album OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT, which debuted at No....

Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne took his audience on a joyful journey into the deep South last Thursday night at Shiraz Cafe and Restaurant. With songs like Kansas City, Georgia on My Mind, New Orleans and, my request, Rainy Night in Georgia, the award-winning boogie-woogie piano player put on a great show and gained a few new fans along the way. During the break, a woman visiting from Fort St. James came up to Wayne during the break and invited him to play in their community. He also got a few...

It is a compelling and heart tugging story of lost and found. The Secret Mask opens this week at Theatre North West and one of its main characters is Ernie who has suffered a stroke and has aphasia. Finding the right words to convey what he wants to say is a daily challenge and he works with a speech therapist to help him overcome his communication problems. As well, Ernie is visited by the son he left behind many years ago and who now has questions he wants answered – questions that even...

The Ladies are coming to Prince George to kick off a Canadian tour. The Barenaked Ladies, with special guest Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea, will start their Silverball tour at CN Centre on Oct. 19. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 1 at all Ticketmaster locations. The tour is in support of their new album, Silverball, which hits the street on June 2. A few days later, the Barenaked Ladies will start a tour of the United States, lasting until the end of July. They start the Canadian tour in...

Canadian music legend Ian Tyson will bring his songs and stories to Vanier Hall in Prince George on June 6. Tyson, who turned 81 last fall, is showing no signs of slowing down. Between his ranch in the foothills of the Rockies and his music, he finds ways to keep busy. In the past 10 years, he has released four albums, put out a two-disc concert video and filmed a music documentary for Bravo. Oh, and he also wrote his autobiography, The Long Trail: My Life in the West and did some touring....

Kennedy Heitman, 16, doesn’t need a line from Shakespeare’s play, As You Like It, to tell her that “all the world’s a stage.” For her, it really is. Heitman loves performing a wide variety of dance routines from ballet to hip hop, especially for a live audience. Introduced to dance at aged three, after just a few lessons at Judy Russell Enchainement Dance Centre, Heitman told her mother: “I want to be up there dancing on stage one day.” Since then Heitman has studied ballet, tap, jazz,...

It is a compelling and heart-tugging story of lost and found. The Secret Mask opens this week at Theatre North West and one of its main characters is Ernie, who has suffered a stroke and has aphasia. Finding the right words to convey what he wants to say is a daily challenge, and he works with a speech therapist to help him overcome his communication problems. As well, Ernie is visited by the son he left behind many years ago and who now has questions he wants answered – questions that even...

Ottawa actor David Warburton brings to The Secret Mask much more than his award-winning skills and experience in theatre. He also brings to this funny and moving play a little piece of his heart and a glimpse into his private life. His role as Ernie, a stroke survivor who struggles hard to be understood, is in many ways challenged like Warburton was – at one time in his life. “I grew up south of Manchester, England and, as a child, I suffered from very severe migraines that often...