Time to start rehearsing for Christmas musical

Tomorrow, I leave Monaco and make my way back to the Okanagan.

I ate and drank like royalty this whole trip, stayed up late dancing like a 20-year-old in Sommieres, France and had some incredible experiences as a result of many cute meets with interesting people who are truly the creative characters that I thrive on.

But, now, I’m ready to come home, sleep in my own bed and get back into the rhythm of what my normal life consists of.

Part of this rhythm is memorizing my script and songs for the Kelowna Actors Studio when the company presents the seasonal musical by Irving Berlin, White Christmas.

I have a lead role in this musical as the character Betty Haynes. This show is quite extraordinary because for the first time in nearly a decade, Nathan Flavel and Randy Leslie, the two owners of KAS, will actually be on stage as the main roles of Wallace and Davis.

This musical is taken from the 1954 film of the same name starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

Tickets are already 50 per cent sold-out for this show, so please consider getting to the box office to purchase them as gifts or as a night out for you and a date soon.

The show runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 17. Get tickets through Kelowna Tickets by phone at 250-862-2867, online or in person at Orchard Park mall (next To Rogers Wireless),

————— I was in the south of France because I was invited to attend the 50th birthday party of a great friend who lives there with her husband and daughter.

We all used to work and live around Portobello Road in London and hang out together in our 20s.

To celebrate my 50th, I am having a Big Band Birthday Bash Dance Party on Oct. 21 at The Forum on the corner of Ethel Street and Cawston Avenue.

I’m excited because I have organized a eightpiece band with the best the Okanagan has to offer and we will be performing songs from dance genres like the foxtrot to swing to cha cha and even disco.

I wanted my age to reflect the young-at-heart spirit we all seem to have here in the Okanagan and I am proud to have this excuse to do it.

Tickets are $30 each or $50 for a couple. Wear your dance shoes, enjoy the dance floor or schmooze in the upper balcony and observe.

Please feel welcome to come even if you don’t know me personally as want this to be a party of happiness.

I will have a grazing table to keep sustenance in our belly and the first cocktail is on me to curb the nerves of those who have not danced for a while. Tickets for this are also through ————— Shandra Smith, a West Kelowna artist who exhibits surface and textile design just had a showcase of her work at the Premiere Vision in Paris.

This talented artist has also just had two Scratch Art books published by an American retailer who contacted her to purchase 30 designs to be placed behind metallic that you scratch out. It’s like a fresh take on an adult colouring book that you colour with special stylus crayons to create your own art within her design patterns.

I saw a colleague once doing this hobby between rehearsals as the KAS and thought, how fun.

Smith’s books will be carried at Kelowna Chapters and Mosaic Books.

If you would like to meet the artist, visit Mosaic Books on Saturday, between 1-3 p.m. for a meet and greet.

————— Also on Saturday, The New Pornographers are in Kelowna performing as part of their world tour.

This synth-pop band seems to have grabbed my attention as it is kind of a throwback sound to the late ’80s early ’90s sound when I was out with big shoulder pads dancing on a nightclub floor to the wee hours of the morning.

They will be at the Kelowna Community Theatre, 1375 Water St. Time: 8 p.m.

————— Tonight, on the jazz scene, it’s the Hamid Drake + Brodie West: Pinnacle Performance at the Pyramid.

The concert, part of the Skin And Bones Music Series, is held at the Summerhill Pyramid Winery at 4870 Chute Lake Rd. Tickets are $20/$15 and can be purchased at the Alternator Gallery or at Milkcrate Records.

Jazz fans will not want to miss this delight of musical craftsmanship.

Anna Jacyszyn is an award-winning local jazz singer. Email her at artafactevent@gmail.com.