Granville Island is about to get a whole lot funkier from Friday, as the Vancouver Men’s Chorus (VMC) brings us six days of music and celebration, paying homage to the ‘Gays of Our Lives’. On at Performance works from June 8th – 16th June, the show is a self-proclaimed “supercharged cabaret”. It promises to be audacious and uplifting with an eclectic program covering everything, from Cole Porter to Village people.
As preparations ramp up for opening night, we chatted with VMC to get an insight into what goes into putting on a show like this and give us a little sneaky peek of what to expect on the night.
Who are the Vancouver Men’s Chorus?
The Vancouver Men’s Chorus is Canada’s first gay chorus, as well as one of Canada’s premier choral ensembles. The VMC is a registered non-profit society dedicated to presenting high-quality musical entertainment.
The VMC has been going for a whopping 36 years, that’s quite the legacy! Over the years what’s been the guiding mission of the organisation?
Besides presenting high-quality musical entertainment, the mission is to promote community spirit as well as a positive image of the gay community.
We see from your website, that there’s a fair few of you. How many members do you currently have?
Our current membership is at 132 singers and five non-singing members!
Can you tell us a bit about the theme – “Gays of our lives”. What can we expect on the night?
“Gays’ of Our Lives” is a show about the gay experience: our stories, our idols & icons, as well as our struggles and triumphs. There will be laughter and tears for sure, beautiful music and fun choreographed numbers & costumes!
It promises to be an evening of fun and celebration, but is there also a sombre or reflective tone, as we remember those who are no longer with us? Or remember those who perhaps helped us through rough times?
Most definitely! There will be a side of the show that’s about fun and laughter, but we’ll also be touching on the gay community’s past and ongoing struggles. We’ll be singing songs about the ones we lost to the AIDS epidemic, to gay bashing, as well as about the loneliness and isolation felt by some of us.
How long does it take to put on an event like this?
The themes for our shows are decided upon a few years in advance, venues are booked about two years out and music selection happens approximately a year ahead of opening night (we are currently working on music selection for next year’s spring show). Rehearsals start in January for our June shows and in September for our December shows.
After this show what’s next for Vancouver Men’s Chorus? Any other events we can look forward to?
Next is the “Big Gay Sing”, which is a fundraiser for the VMC in the form of a light-hearted singalong. That happens on the Thursday before Pride weekend, so on August 2nd this year. This is a lot of fun for sure! After that, it’ll be our annual holiday show in December, “Making Spirits Bright”. The theme for MSB this year is “Family Vacation”.
Postscript: The Vancouver Arts Review went to the extravaganza that is “Gays of our lives” on Saturday night and are happy to report that it is a toe-tapping, heart string pulling, pop pumping, ballad belting, show-tune dazzling, sparkly juggernaut of a show. We loved it.
A retrospective of sorts, the show chronicles both gay culture at large and the chorus’ own history. Remembering and celebrating what could be more appropriately described as the gay days of our lives (to quote artistic director and conductor Willi Zwozdesky), the show commemorates the soundtrack to dark and jubilant days alike. This gave a delightful pace to evening with slower more pensive numbers complementing the dazzling high octane showpieces.
Although technically a production by “amateur” performers, don’t be fooled into thinking that this will be a charming but rough-round the edges am-dram performance. It is a polished production to rival that of a professional ensemble. In fact, the term “amateur” classically means to love (from the latin, ‘Amare’ meaning love), and thus to be an amateur at something is too really love it. And boy do the Vancouver Men’s chorus embody this. So much joy, passion and coquettish flare brought to every number. A true delight to watch.
More information and tickets are available here!
– MG