I was at the grand opening of the new VTSL venue on Tuesday night. What a great space. This one, at 176 seats, is a tad more intimate than the old space but each seat comes with its own cup holder, so that's gotta count for something, right? And the lay-out is theatre-style, so no giant heads will impede your view. There are also about a dozen tables down on the floor. This is a place they can call their own, too, now that the feds have ponied up almost half a mil towards its completion. What's doubly great is the bar and and patio, making a night out to see a show that much better. And the location, I think, is even better than the old Arts Club New Revue Stage. The new Improv Centre is right at the entrance of Granville Island beside Sammy J Pepper's, making it a bit more visible to the gazillions of tourists who visit the island every freakin' day.Conservative politician and minister of something-or-other, James Moore, spoke at the shindig. My prediction: that guy will be the leader of his party one day. He's young, speaks extremely well, seems smart and has a fantastic sense of humour. He's really funny. And if he ever changes parties, I'd even consider voting for him. He had us all believing the Conservatives care about the arts. That's how good he is.
After the speeches, the enchanting Ellie Harvie came out to lead a stellar cast through some improv games. Randy Schooley, Denise Jones, Pearce Visser, Ted Cole, and Ken Lawson were as great as always and the capacity crowd ate it up. It would only have been better if Ellie had joined in the scenes instead of staying as ring master. But what are you gonna do?
Memo to Mark Breslin: Maybe you should approach the government for help getting a venue for Yuk Yuk's in Vancouver. There's a precedent!
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