Elf: The Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, and more as Arts Club Theatre Company fetes 60 for 2023-24 season

Every Brilliant Thing, Ring of Fire Johnny Cash story, Choir Boy, Red Velvet, and more across three stages

*Mom’s the Word: Talkin’ Turkey* returns to the Granville Island Stage this December as one of several comedic holiday shows. Photo by Moonrider Productions

Vancouver’s Christine Quintana has penned a new spin on *Cyrano de Bergerac.*

Artistic director Ashlie Corcoran helms a season-opening *Little Shop of Horrors.*

ROLLICKING MUSICALS, world premieres, and more are on the roster as the Arts Club Theatre Company has unveiled its 60th-anniversary season for 2023.

The programming will kick off September 7 at the organization’s biggest venue, the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage, with a blowout version of the beloved, darkly comic musical Little Shop of Horrors, in a co-production with the Citadel Theatre and with artistic director Ashlie Corcoran at the helm. Four other shows are also programmed for the Stanley: Elf: The Musical, a holiday treat based on Will Farrell’s hit comedy; the gospel-fuelled musical Choir Boy, a co-production with Canadian Stage of the Tony Award–nominated coming-of-age story; Red Velvet, the true story of Ira Aldridge, the first Black actor to play Othello in London; and, for summertime next year, the classic musical comedy Guys & Dolls.

The Arts Club’s Granville Island Stage reopens in December with the return of holiday comedy Mom’s the Word: Talkin’ Turkey, followed in the New Year by Father Tartuffe: An Indigenous Misadventure, coproduced with Touchstone Theatre; Sexy Laundry, the romantic comedy by Vancouver playwright Michele Riml; and Ring of Fire, Johnny Cash’s life story told through his music.

Meanwhile, the more intimate Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre kicks off its programming next season on October 5 with the world premiere of Someone Like You, a millennial take on Cyrano de Bergerac by Vancouver’s Christine Quintana, whose Clean/Espejos wowed crowds last year at Neworld Theatre. Two other shows, delayed by the pandemic, finally open at the same site: Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe’s Every Brilliant Thing, a life-affirming looks at an ever-growing list of life’s joys; and the Canadian premiere of Cambodian Rock Band, Lauren Yee’s buzzed-about story of a Khmer Rouge survivor returning to Cambodia for the first time in 30 years, while his daughter prepares to prosecute a war criminal—all backed by a live band.

In addition, the Arts Club announced last night that it would honour the company’s 60th by commissioning six new works through its Silver Commissions—its most yet.

Subscription packages are available now at artsclub.com or by calling 604.687.1644.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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