The Venables Theatre in Oliver is alive, and kicking - and ready to kick up a storm with a live concert series this fall.
Venables Alive will make its debut Oct. 16.
The 400-seat theatre connected to Southern Okanagan Secondary School put out a call in summer for artists of all kinds – asking them to send in a bio of themselves and a video tape of a recent performance.
Venables wanted to give artists the stage to perform – given most can’t find venues for live music with the COVID-19 pandemic still rampant.
“We have seven acts booked from Oct. 16 to Dec. 5. They’re all musicians, and they’re all very local,” said Venables Theatre manager Leah Foreman. “We’re really excited about it, and we think we’re going to have a good time. All the contracts are now in place.”
The seven acts which are booked will provide patrons with a wide-range of music.
“We certainly have a variety. We have the Sycamore String Quartet doing Beethoven in a classical string concert. We have Great White North, which is a band from the high school here. The guys are much older now but formed in high school. We have Kristi Neumann, who’s also from Oliver,” explained Foreman. “We have D’Jef, who is from Osoyoos. He’s French-Canadian and comes here all the time. We’re looking forward to his performance, which will be in French and Spanish, and gives us more range.
“We also have the Jazz Out West Trio featuring Iris Larratt, and they’re going to kick off our series Oct. 16,”
The goal was to appeal to all music lovers with the lineup which has been selected.
“We wanted to make sure that we had a lot of diversity in the music that was chosen. We have singer/songwriters, we have jazz, we have French and Spanish and a bit of an acoustic sort of folk act as well in Great White North,” said Foreman. “We tried to make sure we encompassed a lot of the Okanagan Similkameen.
“We have the Tallbrothers jazz from Cawston and Penticton, Badgentina and Kristi Neumann and Great White North and Jazz Out West from Oliver. Sycamore String Quartet is from a little farther north and the Kamloops area. They sound phenomenal, so we’re really excited to have them.”
All seven events will take place on either Friday or Saturday nights.
And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, seating will be limited.
“We’ll be sticking with the provincial health orders, so we will be having 50 people maximum in the audience. We’re working with our ticketing system, so all of the ticketing will be socially distanced,” explained Foreman. “When you go online to purchase your tickets, they will already be bundled, so you don’t have to worry about that.
“We’re working with all the operational aspects to make sure we’re ready for Oct. 16th.”
Foreman indicated the Venables Alive series is not necessarily designed to make money for the theatre.
“It’s a chance for us to help local artists and open our doors. It’s certainly not a money-making idea for us. It’s more just supporting the artists and them getting back into the community and being able to do shows in a safe manner,” she said, adding. “There is the potential for each of those artists to do a second show. We don’t know how many people will want to come out. We’ll put tickets on sale with one show and see how it goes.
“Like everyone else during this situation, we’re learning as we go.”
For a complete list of the musicians booked for Venables Alive, and ticket information, click here.
