Plenty of entertainment on tap for 2018
It was a strong year for this city’s A&E scene. Prince George culture has had a bounce-back over the past couple of years following the momentum lost in the mid/late 2000s global economic crash. This past year was no bounce-back, it was altogether fresh and selfgenerated.
It also pointed the way to a strong 2018.
Consider what we already know is on its way this coming year.
CN Centre is already on the record as home to appearances by superstar comedian Jerry Seinfeld coming back for an encore performance. Rock stars Hedley are also coming back, bringing Shawn Hook (he was here just last year himself) and Neon Dreams with them.
Also coming back to familiar P.G. ground is country star Johnny Reid and he is bringing Glass Tiger with him who also played P.G. only this past summer.
Our Lady Peace has been here before, as has Matthew Good, but it’s been more than a decade for either of them and they are returning together for a huge rock event.
Another returning rock band is Big Wreck, playing Vanier Hall after an absence dating back to the ’90s.
At the very top of the heap on the 2018 calendar is the return of epic performance company Cirque du Soleil, and this time the new acrobatic phenomenon Crystal is the show.
This is a performance on ice, with skating and sliding mixed into the usual Cirque milieu of trapeze, aerial leaps, and other demonstrations of daring and peak human mechanics – on ice!
The reason these acts are on their way back to CN Centre is because this city has proved to be a positive environment for their entertainment offerings. When that’s as traditional as country music and as cutting edge as Cirque, it says a lot about this city’s diverse personality.
Watch also for first-time event Beer Bacon & Bands, the live performance of musical theatre show Dirty Dancing, and magical group performance The Illusionists to animate CN Centre in 2018.
An all-local highlight on the cul- tural calendar is Northern FanCon.
This extravaganza of pop culture has some major features already announced, like the live broadcast of Fat-Man On Bat-Man, the globally popular podcast hosted by star film director/writer Kevin Smith (and co-host Marc Bernardin with a strong following of his own) plus a slate of celebrities like Sean Astin (Rudy, Goonies, and of course Samwise in the Lord Of The Rings franchise), Michael Hogan from Battlestar Galactica (he is coming back because he and the local audience fell in love with each other at FanCon ’15), and Michael Biehn (sure he was in The Rock and Aliens but he became iconic as Reece, the original protector of Sarah Connors in the original Terminator).
Coming soon to a number of local performance venues is the roster of musicians aligned for the Coldsnap Music Festival. Popular folk acts like Rum Ragged, Scenic Route To Alaska, Digging Roots, A.J. Croce, Madison Violet, James Hill & Anne Janelle, and many more will entertain alongside the crème of local musicians.
The PGSO is the first major entertainment presenter of the new year. The symphony invites children of all ages to the P.G. Playhouse for Airy Fairy Time on Jan. 6 at 2 p.m., in a show demonstrating the huff and puff of the orchestra’s brass section.
That same night the Snowed In Comedy Tour comes back to Prince George. Four star comedians – Dan Quinn, Craig Campbell, Peter Zedlacher, and Paul Myrehaug – share the stage on what’s become an annual appearance at the Playhouse in P.G.
Also holding an encore performance is the musical theatre favourite Cabaret. Judy Russell presents this thought-provoking and musically exciting show for the third time in the city’s history, but not seen for more than a decade. This show will star Owen Selkirk as The Emcee and Shelby Meany as Sally Bowles.
Theatre NorthWest has a pair of mainstage plays still to come on the 2018 side of their current season.
Up first is Hedda Noir, a sultry adaptation (locally written by TNW’s Jack Grinhaus) of the Ibsen classic Hedda Gabler. It will star local professional actor Lauren Brotman. Then, in spring, The Best Brothers is a strong two-hander by Daniel MacIvor.
Watch for more PGSO classical events throughout the winter and spring, some at Vanier Hall and some at The Ramada Ballroom. Special guest soloists and all-local talent intermingle for orchestral highlights the envy of many a Canadian city this size.
The Connaught Youth Centre is hosting a unique theatre production. Home is a performance statement on aboriginal reconciliation starring a cast of indigenous and non-native performers alike. It happens on Feb. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Some items on the local agenda always come around and always delight in new and engaging ways, like the PGSO’s Pops In The Park free outdoor classical concert, the BC Northern Exhibition’s full menu of sights and sounds in the fall, the Community Arts Council’s high-class show and sale Studio Fair (plus their other events), the KidzArt Dayz and Mini Maker Faire of the Two Rivers Gallery, the public outreach and historical insight of the Exploration Place, and the Metallion Metal Festival’s heap of heavyweights, to name but a few.