Bring in the Spring
April 2nd – 5th, 2021
Free, family-friendly, roving & outdoors
Performed by The Quarantettes – Mishelle Cuttler, Molly MacKinnon, Christine Quintana & Sally Zori
Produced by The Chop Theatre, and co-presented with Neworld Theatre
For Bring in the Spring, a roaming band of four performers travel in their family bubble throughout East Vancouver singing songs by local musicians and sharing an original story: to celebrate the beginning of spring and in praise of making it through this hard-won winter.
The Quarantettes are a group of musician/actors who took to the streets early on in the COVID-19 pandemic to bring good cheer to their quarantined neighbours by singing harmonies up through their open windows. A Winter Solstice presentation took place, titled A Solstice Serenade, which had The Quarantettes travelling around East Van sharing songs, coupled with a holiday story by Marcus Youssef, to individual family bubbles.
Bring in the Spring, a roving community event, travelled through neighbourhoods, performing on back porches and doing personal “curb visits” to celebrate the beginning of Spring. This community offering is free, outdoors, accessible and focused on folks who live alone or are in need of some hope and good cheer.
The Quarantettes travel to private residences all throughout East Vancouver. They go wherever they’re called, whether that be a garage, back alley or social distanced on the front lawn. The set up is quick, with a rain covering for the instruments and a few pretty lights, to make the audience feel like a show has appeared on their doorstep, for their eyes only, which is exactly right.
Show Credits
The Quarantettes:
Mishelle Cuttler – Mishelle is a Vancouver based composer and sound designer whose work is centred around the integration of sound, music, and storytelling. She has made music with theatre companies across Western Canada for the past decade. Through the multiple cancellations and reinventions of the past year, Mishelle has shifted her practice largely towards recorded, and interdisciplinary digital work. The Quarantettes has been an incredible gift within this pandemic, and she is so grateful to be able to make music through this time. www.mishellecuttler.com
Molly MacKinnon – Molly is a violinist and collaborative artist based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish people. An interdisciplinary creator and performer with a passion for storytelling through music, Molly has worked with Vancouver New Music, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Little Chamber Music, and many other groups around town. Recent show credits include Never The Last (Delinquent), Double Happiness (Music on Main), and a digital run of Good Things To Do (Rumble). Molly is the co-founder of Concerts On Tap, a series that pairs breweries and classical music.www.mollymackinnon.ca
Christine Quintana – Born in Los Angeles to a Mexican-American father and a Dutch-British-Canadian mother, Christine is now a grateful visitor to the unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh people. Among other artistic activities and new hobbies during the pandemic, Christine has been working on Someone Like You, an audio-play commission from the Arts Club Theatre Company which will be released in May, 2021, and an audio exploration of her play Clean with Neworld Theatre and Aluna Theatre, coming in April, 2021.
Sally Zori – A transgender Iraqi raised in the U.A.E. and different parts of “Canada”. Sally (They/Them) is a session musician, percussionist, and content creator. They have played stages and theatres in North America, Europe, and Australia with different bands, orchestras, musicals, theatre shows, and (NYE 2008) was the percussionist for Aretha Franklin. They are currently developing a show that explores their third-culture-kid experience and journey of finding home.
Geoff Jones, Stage Manager – Geoff is a Vancouver based Stage Manager. Stage Management and Assistant Stage Management credits include: Kismet, Things Have Changed (The Chop Theatre), A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Great Leap (Arts Club Theatre Company), Nutcracker, The Coyotes, Sedna, Gift of the Magi (Caravan Farm Theatre) King Arthur’s Night (Neworld Theatre), Motherload (Motherload Collective), Still/Falling (Green Thumb Theatre), and Jabber (Green Thumb Theatre/Neworld Theatre).
Stephanie Wong, Visual Designer – Born in Hong Kong, Stephanie (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist now based on the traditional and unceded lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples (Vancouver, BC). A graduate of Studio 58’s acting program, her current artistic practices include performance, design, direction, and collaborative creation. She is a core member of the emerging theatre collective happy/accidents, and is the Artistic Associate at re:Naissance Opera. She has worked for various theatre companies nationally, highlights including Buddies in Bad Times, The Arts Club, Theatre Replacement, Western Canada Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, Gateway Theatre, and Green Thumb Theatre.
Song Credits
‘When I Sing’ by Sarah Jickling – Sarah Jickling is a Vancouver-based musician, performer and mental-health advocate. Her first solo album, 2017’s When I Get Better, is a marriage of shimmering pop melodies with candid lyrics about her recovery from bipolar disorder. Her new album The Family Curse is an exploration of intergenerational trauma and mental illness within families. Jickling’s music approaches the darkest subject matter with frank honesty and a keen ear for beauty, sincerity, and hope. She is a touring performer with the BC Schizophrenia Society’s Reach Out Psychosis program and has been an artist-in-residence for UBC’s Wingspan Disability Arts program. She has been widely featured on television, podcasts, blogs, and at live events performing and speaking about her experiences with mental illness, and earned top spots at competitions like CiTR’s Shindig!, Seattle’s EMP Soundoff, 102.7 The PEAK Performance Project, and Canada’s Walk of Fame Music Mentorship Program.
http://www.sarahsgoodbadluck.com
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‘History of Happiness’ by Jenny Ritter
‘Mockingbird’ by The Ruffled Feathers – The Ruffled Feathers are an upbeat chamber-pop band from Vancouver, BC, known for their combination of carefully crafted female-male harmonies and brazen horns. Inspired by bands like Beirut and Sufjan Stevens, The Ruffled Feathers bring fanciful musicality to lived experience. During their nine year history making music together the band released two EPs Lost Cities (2010) and Bottom of the Blue (2014), and two full length albums Oracles (2012), and Hand Me Down Centuries (2017). They deliver songs about the vibrant, poignant moments that give shape to our lives: the stories of love and loss, petty victories and delicious failures, that move us and bind us together as human.
Want to support The Quarantettes? Although the performances are free, if you would like to support the production and the artists, please consider donating here.
Photos by Reznek Creative.
