Anastasia x Queen Elizabeth Theatre. (via Evan Zimmerman)

Broadway Across Canada’s lavish touring production of the boisterous stage musical adapted from the 1997 animated film offers a wondrous interpretation of the legend of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. So many of the historical touches and cultural touchstones, inspired by the execution of the Romanov family, weave a melodramatic tale of an amnesiac street sweeper and two resourceful con men.

From Russian royal ballet to romantic drama and family intrigue, there’s a little bit of everything in the historical period epic. It’s impressive the sheer talent of the touring cast from their vibrant dance sequences, transportive singing, dazzling choreography, and amusing physical comedy.

• Veronica Stern (Anya) and the company of the North American tour.
  
• Running live on stage now until Mar. 12.
  

Not Dead Yet (prod. Casey Johnson & David Windsor).

ABC’s ghost workplace sitcom inspired by British rom-com author’s novel Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up is shockingly conventional despite the high-concept buy-in of a journalist relegated to newspaper obituary writer seeing the spirits of the recently deceased individuals she’s assigned to memorialize with no explanation of this very unusual phenomenon.

A very chipper Gina Rodriguez stars as the aforementioned (not quite forty) “f**k up” in a mostly winning comic performance as a near middle-aged woman starting all over again from the bottom opposite her co-worker bestie (Hannah Simone). Despite the inconsistencies, there’s just enough charm in the ensemble's performances to entice viewers.

Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. x The Amazing Brentwood x Burnaby.

Kids are sure to enjoy the immersive and interactive Marvel cinematic experience featuring plenty of movie props and costumes from your favourite superheroes and villains.

• Thanos / Mark XLIV “Hulkbuster” Iron Man armor
• On display now until May 28.
  

Late Night with Seth Meyers x “Saint David’s Day Leek Eating Competition”.

Matthew Rhys talks about how he celebrates Saint David’s Day, competes with Seth to see who can eat an entire raw leek first and shares the story of how he got his boat, Rarebit.

(Source: rickchung.com)

Wildlight Kitchen & Bar x UBC.

• New restaurant now open from Executive Chef Warren Chow.
  
• Pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with lobster and truffle risotto, preserved lemon, paprika oil, and squid ink tuile.
  
• Aged Fraser Valley duck breast with confit leg croquette, carrot purée, dijon spaetzle, orange marmalade glazed vegetables, and pickled chanterelles in duck jus.
• Lemon tart, coconut cannoli, carmelized honey cheesecake, and triple chocolate mousse.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance (dir. Steven Soderbergh).

Channing Tatum returns in a strange sendoff to the decade-long saga following our favourite economically frustrated Florida-based male stripper turned entrepreneur. This time around, Mike heads to London, also leaving behind his core support cast, to follow Salma Hayek’s rich soon-to-be divorcée on an odd journey of renewal.

It’s truly kind of baffling this is where Soderbergh, Tatum, and writer/producer Reid Carolin decided to take the stripper trilogy in a finale eschewing most of the recognizable iconography of the jovial character all about indulging female fantasies.

2023 Just For Laughs Vancouver x Rio Theatre.

I spent An Intimate Evening with Adam Pally last Friday night alongside a packed house full of initially cautious fans of varying levels of inebriation seated […] as part of the returning, ten-day-long seventh annual JFL Vancouver live comedy festival.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (dir. Peyton Reed).

It’s a little bit more than dispiriting how much [things] strays from the first two comedy-first films where Reed and [star Paul] Rudd, who also co-wrote those films, got to have so much insubstantial adventure while making fun of his place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ironically, the strange acid trip of a threequel might have been served had it been more familiar and low-level dramatic stakes instead of the rushed sense of weird subatomic rebellion that’s more than a little reminiscent of Star Wars.

Wildlight Kitchen + Bar x UBC.

There’s a clear “West Coast Wild” culinary influence to the brand new restaurant’s core all-day menu concept of locally-sourced ingredients including fresh seafood. Its pedigree comes from Executive Chef Warren Chow who was classically trained in French cuisine but brings along modern tastes and flavours.

• Pan-seared Hokkaido scallops with lobster and truffle risotto, preserved lemon, paprika oil, and squid ink tuile.
  
• “Pescatarian Board”: salmon pastrami, beet-cured ling cod, marinated green lip mussels, smoked albacore tataki, cod rillette, pickled sea asparagus, warm olives, rye, poppadom, and nori crackers.
• “Kazuki Sour”: Sheringham Kazuki gin, Cointreau, salted yuzu syrup, egg white, and citrus, served up.