Hobson’s Choice: Bear Grease, Loose Moose, Dave Kelly

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The touring musical Bear Grease, face-to-face show Dave Kelly Live and the return of two adult holiday shows at the Ruth Moose Theater bring unconventional fun to the local theater scene.

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Created by the husband-and-wife duo of MC RedCloud and Crystle Lightning, Bear Grease performed to standing room audiences at the Calgary Folk Festival in March. Since then, it’s been touring in the US and Canada, whistling at Calgary’s The GRAND from December 1-4 before taking a short hiatus.

Bear Grease is a Native twist on the hit musical Grease, which tells the story of a high school love affair between Catholic schoolgirl Sandy and greaser Danny. Bear Grease changes the song’s lyrics, modifies fashion, introduces indigenous drums, and even adds hip-hop and rap songs to the mix.

As she was presenting the show at Inglewood’s Festival Hall, Lightning explained that she felt that representations of Native Americans were left out, not just in the plays and musicals Grease, but in almost all high school films of the 1950s. Did.

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Lightning originally created Bear Grease for the students of the Enoch Cree Nation in Central Alberta. It was to ensure that the students were representative of themselves, but the pandemic put the project on hold. Last summer they revived it and brought it to the Edmonton Fringe, where it sold out and was put on hold.

Bear Grease will perform December 1-4 at 8pm at The GRAND at 608 1st St SW. Tickets range from $15 to $75 and can be booked at thegrandyyc.ca.

Spend this holiday season with elk

Loose Moose has two adult holiday specials this year.

A Very Terry Christmas features Dave Lawrence of Fubar and Trailer Park Boys fame, along with Fubar’s co-stars Terra Hazelton and North Darling.

Terry Cahill and his fiery remarriage and remarriage wife Trish make Christmas the biggest ever, despite inflation, layoffs, unexpected house guests, and a landlord (darling) who’s worse than old Ebenezer Scrooge. I am determined to make the most of it.

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Lying about their Christmas bonuses, Terry and Trish go down a thorny path of generosity and extravagance that could ruin Christmas.

The show includes gift exchange with the audience, live metal karaoke, and a meet and greet with the cast after the show. The show, which runs December 8-10 at 8 p.m. on his December 8-10 at the Loose Moose Theater, contains warnings of adult content and profanity, and is not suitable for children.

Mr. Scrooge and the Chrismoose Boy is the latest iteration of Loose Moose’s long running Chrismoose Carol, now in its 27th year, taking place December 16th, 17th and 23rd at 8pm. Each year we take a new approach to delivering approximations of Charles Dickens’ beloved classic.

In previous versions of Carol of the Elk, Chris Moose Boy had only one line at the end of the show, but he quickly became an audience favorite and his role continued to expand. In this version, Chris Mooseboy goes missing and only Ebenezer his Scrooge can find him, but Charles his Dickens is furious at how Moose portrays his character. , determined to put an end to all this nonsense. Ken Gardener, Rob Mitchelson, and Dennis Cahill promise plenty of naughty, impromptu fun. This show is recommended for ages 14 and up.

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Tickets for all performances of both shows are $20 and are available through Eventbrite. All performances take place at 8:00 pm at the Loose Moose Theater on the 2nd floor of Crossroads Market at 1235 26 Ave. SE.

Dave Kelly is alive and alive again

Dave Kelly is thrilled with the prospect of meeting an audience in person for the first time in three years, and so are his fans.

Kelly, who has played shows at Jubilee, the Jack Singer Concert Hall, and the Bella Center, wasn’t sure what kind of response she would get at an in-person show, so she booked her new home at the Lunchbox Theater to take baby steps. decided to step out. at the Vertigo Studio Theater at the foot of the Calgary Tower.

“We thought we were going back to our roots. We started seven years ago in the old Lunchbox theater space. I thought that was the way we would start over,” says Kelly, who was in for a big surprise.

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The 7:00 pm show on December 14 sold out in four hours, and demand for tickets didn’t stop, so he added a 9:00 pm show the same night.

Dave’s longtime music director Russell Bloom and his band provided the show’s house music, while special guests, country and bluegrass musicians Kyle McCartney and his wife Sarah, entertained them with their version of the holiday music. will give you

Calgary’s Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster spins a gem of wisdom and humour, while best-selling author and culinary guru Julie Van Rosendahl crafts treats and witty banter.

Just out of the New York showcase, artist Mandy Stobo entertains with her impromptu art displays.

Jim Button, Dave’s sidekick from day one, is currently in hospice so he can’t join the gang on stage, but is willing to appear on camera.Additional guests may be added .

Tickets for the 9pm show are available at vertigotheatre.com.