The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Peter and the Starcatcher until Jan. 10 at the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre, 162 W. First Ave., Vancouver. Tickets start at $25, available at artsclub. com or by calling 604-687-1644.
Just days before the opening night of Peter and the Starcatcher, the brand new BMO Theatre Centre in False Creek was still very much under construction.
"It was down to the wire," says Bill Millerd, artistic managing director of the Arts Club Theatre Company. The West Vancouver native had originally expected the
$20-million venue would be set to open early in the fall, but, as is often the case with construction, things were delayed.
"And as it turns out, we were barely ready for the first performance," Millerd says with a chuckle.
Everything came together, though, and Peter and the Starcatcher opened Nov. 26 without a hitch.
"It opened very well.
It's got a great cast. I think it does show off some of Vancouver's finest actors."
Based on a 2006 novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, the play is a prequel to the Peter Pan story. It follows the young boy's journey from lonely orphan to beloved hero, with plenty of pirates, mermaids and magic along the way.
Deciding what should christen Vancouver's newest stage was no easy task. Millerd already had two holiday productions planned (A Christmas Story: The Musical is now playing at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage and It's A Wonderful Life is on at the Granville Island Stage). He didn't want a third Christmas show. But he did want something that would make a proper spectacle of the shiny new performance space. Peter and the Starcatcher was just the ticket.
"It's accessible, it's certainly a family show, it's theatrical, we use a lot a lighting and sound and there's music. It just seemed like a good fit for our opening show." Directed by David Mackay, the play features a cast of 13 including Benjamin Wardle, Rachel Cairns, Colleen Wheeler and Emmelia Gordon. "It's probably larger than most of the productions we will eventually do in this space," Millerd says.
Located on West First Avenue, the BMO Theatre Centre houses the corporate offices for both the Arts Club and Bard on the Beach theatre companies in addition to the 250-seat Goldcorp Stage, two costume shops and four rehearsal studios. The arts facility was originally intended to house the Vancouver Playhouse, which went bankrupt in 2012. When the City of Vancouver, which owns the centre, started searching for other tenants, the Arts Club and Bard successfully applied. Moving into the new space means the Arts Club has given up the Revue Stage on Granville Island. But it also means the theatre company's offices are no longer scattered over several buildings.
"Everybody -the administration, marketing, development, most of artistic, some of production -we're all in the same office area," Millerd says. "From a communication point of view, I think it's working really well."
Aside from the new stage, the highlight of the False Creek facility for Millerd is the dedicated rehearsal space. Shared with Bard on the Beach, and available for other arts groups to rent out, the rehearsal area can get pleasantly chaotic when multiple productions are in the works.
"At one point when there were 50 actors running around, it really felt like the kind of hub that I think we envisioned."
A bit of a ghost town following the 2010 Games, Vancouver's Olympic Village and surrounding area has since become a lively waterfront community with highrise condos sprouting up one after the other. In the weeks before the theatre opened, Millerd says neighbours would poke their heads inside the under-construction building, curious to know when the new cultural amenity would open its doors.
"Just having actors and theatre artists and others in this community creates the same sort of feeling that Granville Island has and to me that just brings a different dynamic," Millerd says. At night, when there's a show on, the building's two-storey glass atrium is lit up and visible from the street. It's "like a beacon" among the surrounding condo towers, Millerd says. "It has that feeling, much like the Stanley does as well, that you're really in an urban setting," he adds. "It's right there, very visible, and I think that's great." With his spacious new office unpacked, Millerd has already picked his go-to coffee and lunch spots. But he's not quite ready to give up his former digs on Granville Island. "The idea of closing that office and moving everything was too daunting," he says. "So if I ever feel nostalgic for Granville Island, I go back to the office there."
Next up on the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre is the Arts Club's The (Post) Mistress Feb. 4 to 28.
