The Pearl Company

FOR THE LOVE O’ NAT – CHRONICLING THE LIFE, TIMES & MUSIC OF NAT KING COLE: Dean Hollin presents another of his popular “Musical Biographies”.  Saturday, May 28th,  8 pm.  $18 advance / $22 door.  An evening of memories and melodies, all tied together by one man — that tremendous crooner of the twentieth century, Nat King Cole. The songs: “A Blossom Fell”, “Route 66, “Mona Lisa”, “Straighten Up and Fly Right”, “Paper Moon”, “When I Fall In Love” and, the timeless “Stardust”! In direct keeping with the instrumentation of the original Nat King Cole Trio piano, rhythm guitar, and upright bass — Dean will be accompanied by a live jazz trio.  http://www.deanhollin.com

In The Pearl’s theatre-in-the-round space: Two plays in two weeks! One (Living Tall) by acclaimed theatre artist and teacher, Ker Wells; the other (Darwinii: The Comeuppance of Man) by playwright Glen Berger and performer Brett Keyser.

Living Tall: 2 PERFORMANCES ONLY: Friday and Saturday, March 18 & 19 at 7:30pm. $15 at the door. Acclaimed theatre artist and teacher, Ker Wells, presents this absurd comedy veering into existential crisis. Salesman Jeffrey Weaver’s presentation is going smoothly as he guides his audience through the steps of “Living Tall,” his high-octane and delightfully strange motivational program for increasing sales and earning respect in the business community. But Weaver can’t escape an incident that haunts him and threatens to knock him seriously off-message. “Killer-Funny…with a mind-blowing performance by the amazing Ker Wells…”

Living Tall is an original three-way creative collaboration between veteran theatre artists Ker Wells (performer) and Karin Randoja (Director), and Cleveland writer Michael Geither.

Ker Wells: A recent immigrant to Hamilton, Ker was a founding member of two of the companies at the forefront of Canadian physical and devised theatre: Primus Theatre (‘89 to ’97) and Number Eleven Theatre (‘98 to ’05). (more…)

Sly Violet: Friday, March 18: $10, $8 for student/artist.  Doors at 9, start 9:30pm. This husband and wife indie folk rock duo has been rockin their own musical trail for the past few years thru various venues, from festival stages, to pubs to coffee houses and cafes: they embrace them all with their passion for music.  Sly Violet is Violet Clarke on vocals, guitar & harmonica and Sly Boston on drums. The duo recently received a Barrie New Music Award for ‘Best Folk’ at the annual awards show in September.  Their sparse folk arrangements are built on acoustic guitar and her lovely harmonies, with ripples of piano and percussion on top.  It’s a wonderful blend of folk and acoustic soft rock.  Though Violet’s melancholy musings resemble Elliott Smith and Hayden, her voice has been compared to Joni Mitchell’s, her guitar style entrenches a touch of Dashboard Confessional and her pianist soul rivals Ben Folds. www.slyviolet.ca (more…)