March 30, 2015

CBC Radio x DNTO Live x Sook-Yin Lee x York Theatre

CBC Radio's DNTO Live in Vancouver hosted by Sook-Yin Lee at the York Theatre on Commercial Drive in Grandview-Woodland on March 25, 2015.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

CBC brought their popular Winnipeg-based, Toronto-hosted DNTO (aka "Definitely Not the Opera") radio show to Vancouver for a special live show and taping. They brought me along for the ride as their local correspondent to share and document all the highlights from the night.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

"Everyone has a story." That is DNTO's motto. For their trip to Vancouver, the team of producers focused on local storytelling and a theme revolving around "objects of affection". On this case, the items were as diverse as a long-lost chair, second-hand speaker, pair of platform shoes, and prosthetic leg. We witnessed how these physical objects bind us and our shared histories together through emotion and experience in many different ways.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

CBC Vancouver journalist Jason D'Souza kicked off the high-energy affair with an amusing tale of an internship and finding the difference maker in a used, pawn shop speaker named "Mr. Rager" that would turn around the BC Lions' once losing season into a Grey Cup victory.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

Hometown musical guest Jordan Klassen and his band injected the audience with a few vibrant musical performances bookended by his disastrously raucous story of auditioning for the doomed Broadway musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

West coast storyteller Willow Yamauchi told a rousing yarn about growing up in Desolation Sound  by way of Powell River and Lund and being reunited with her special, very sentimental (possibly "magical") chair after many moves and years past.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

Singer/songwriter Christa Couture spoke of her rather inspiring battle with cancer during her youth, overcoming her own anxieties, embracing her prosthetic leg, and learning to dance. It was fun, empowering, and exceptionally human story.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

Perhaps the standout of the night was actor/comedian Gary Jones' preposterous and amusing family story of an over eager teenager's first time driving while wearing 4-inch platform shoes, closing out the night. Clearly, those shoes were made for walking and not driving.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

Host Sook-Yin Lee, herself a transplanted Vancouverite, of course told a few tales about her family (her father and sister joined her on stage), rescuing a moo moo from a neighbour's burning house, and transporting her family's heavy frying pan during her travels.

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

It was a fun, lively, and full night of west coast storytelling with many different raconteurs and tales of all kinds. Make sure to listen to all the stories for yourself (streaming here).

CBC DNTO Live in Vancouver | York Theatre @ Commercial Drive

DNTO airs on CBC Radio One, Saturdays at 1:30pm. Download the podcast. Laugh and cry along.


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