A whole lotta love at Dreams club

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/10/2018 (2925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A touching moment took place at the secret Dreams club on Sept. 26. It was revealed that keyboardist James Xe, one of the evening’s musicians, recently became a Canadian citizen. When Italian-Canadian guitarist Carmine La Rosa heard the news between songs, he strolled across the stage to Xe, who was sitting behind the keyboards, and said, “You just became a Canadian citizen?” The two shook hands as La Rosa congratulated Xe and the whole room applauded.

Xe said he would no longer be using his last name Xe, because he thought an English name like Page sounded better. Get it? James Page. His fellow musicians, Frank Manicone, Andy Chiu, Ron Siwicki, Joe Chung, Ian Cameron, Glenworth Williams, drummer XJ, and Dreams owner Andy Ling laughed in appreciation and spontaneously broke into a rousing version of Whole Lotta Love, Jimmy Page’s mega-hit with Led Zeppelin.

MAMMA MIA!: Mamma Mio: Here We Go Again, the latest musical at WOW! Hospitality’s Celebrations Dinner Theatre at the Canad Inns Fort Garry is a hit. Your last chance to see the sendup of the Mamma Mia films is on Saturday before the show moves to Edmonton.

Geoffrey Hughes, who has played many leads in Celebrations productions and is probably best known for playing Tom Jones, says he’s never seen consistent sold-out crowds like the ones for Mamma Mio: Here We Go Again.

In a flipped version of the Mamma Mia story, Hughes plays Norman, a “befuddled male” with three possible mothers to one of his adopted children. In this show, two adopted sons, now grown, find Norman’s diary about his wild trip to Greece in 1979.

There are lots of ABBA tunes in the musical, naturally. And, there’s a rowdy crowd-participation scene. Waiting staff (as well as the actors and musicians) pull people out of their seats to get folks dancing in the aisles. “There are people singing and dancing everywhere in the room, “ Hughes says, laughing.

Hughes, 45, has no age lines and apple cheeks, so he still looks 20-something when he dons a black mullet wig, shades and a Hawaiian shirt when he plays the younger Norm, who “got around” in the 1970s.

The artistic director is Randy Apostle and cast includes Winnipeg actor Renell Doneza, Edmonton actors Tyler Pinsent, Josie Cole and Gabrielle Meikle, and Rebecca Jessamine from Calgary. For more info and to grab some of the last tickets, call 204-982-8282 or visit celebrations.ca.

AURORA FARM SAVES THE DAY: Let’s talk apres-turkey, shall we? Let’s say you have Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. Then what? Still got kids or grandkids to entertain on holiday Monday? Here’s a Thanksgiving family farm experience day for three generations: On Oct. 8, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Aurora Farm offers four hours of entertainment, including lunch, at 4265 Waverley St., just north of La Barriere Park.

“Here’s is an opportunity for parents and grandparents to spend a day learning some new skills,” says Louise May of Aurora Farm.

First, visitors can milk the farm’s goats — the co-operative mama goats come by name and jump on the milkstand to make it easy. Then everybody collects eggs from the henhouse before going to feed the shy alpacas who only come to you for food. You can also brush the beautiful horses in Aurora’s big barn. “Then we’ll head into the kitchen to make ourselves a nourishing home-grown stew and fresh bannock from scratch,” May says.

The afternoon activity? Crafts in the classroom/shop, such as carding alpaca fleece, making soap bars and a pin to show your favourite Aurora Farm critter. Call 204-261-6279 for more details.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPEN BASH: The gang will celebrate Park Theatre’s 13-year anniversary on Saturday with a big dance party with the Hot and Dirty Dance Party Band, a combination of Dr. Hotbottom and the Dirty Catfish Brass Band.

Doors open at 8 p.m., music begins at 9 p.m.. Tickets are $15 and are available at Into the Music’s Osborne Village outlet, the Park Theatre or ticketfly.com.

EVE RICE: The wild ‘n’ crazy DJ BeeKeeNee, a.k.a Eve Rice, has seen her art pieces soar in value as she presents her paintings to the world. While most of her larger paintings are priced from $300 to $900, she has sold super-sized ones for large walls for as much as $3,000.

Not bad for a woman who received art supplies as a Christmas gift from her in-laws a few years ago!

Her new show takes place at Gallery Lacosse at 169 Lilac St. Rice will be there to meet and greet interested patrons on Wednesday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The multi-talented artist is also a hair stylist at Vincenzo’s Shampoo, 2835 Pembina Hwy., and can easily shape her own B-52’s style beehive hairdo when she’s spinning discs as DJ BeeKeeNee for dance parties.

JAZZ CHASED INSIDE: Jazz at the Station, which took over the hidden patio at Resto Gare French restaurant at 630 Des Meurons St., all summer, has moved inside for fall. the music begins every Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. This Thursday’s artist is Ken Gold, while Candice Tugby plays Oct. 11, Brian Chipney and the Tim Cummings Trio play Oct. 18 and on Oct. 25 it’s Sean Irvine. Call 204-237-7072 for reservations.

Got tips? Cool events happening in your world? Know of New shops and business openings? Been rubbing shoulders with the stars? Email Maureen’s Tips at mscurf@shaw.ca