After 18 long months of not having a single show, Jojo’s Cafe will finally have its first gig for a Christmas show, ‘An Oasis at Christmas,’ hosted by a new spiritual group in Osoyoos called Wayside Crossing on Saturday, Dec. 4.
The upcoming Christmas show is a long-time favourite on the Coast known to most by the name of ‘Christmas Presence,’ and has been an annual, sold-out event for the past 30 years. Luckily locals though, tickets are still available for the Osoyoos show.
Dan Williams, coordinator at Wayside Crossing, got interested in bringing this specific show to Osoyoos after years of watching it with his wife on the Coast and as a long-time supporter of performing arts.
While Wayside Crossing is primarily a spiritual group, Williams expressed his interest in adding to the vibrant arts scene in the region and has been working towards it over the last two years since moving to Osoyoos.
“This is actually very common for groups like ours to do positive things in the community—be a blessing where you’re planted,” said Williams, adding that they have been taking initiative to volunteer in local groups like the Pioneer Walkway and the local food bank.
Bringing more arts into the community is definitely a priority, according to Williams. “I mean not everyone’s an arts person (I don’t understand that) but I just think it’s the flavour.”
Ron Reed, founder of Vancouver’s Pacific Theatre (which opened in 1984), started the show back in the 1990s. He is a playwright, director, and teacher, having written or co-written 24 plays, with over 90 productions all around North America.
However, seven years after the theatre opened its doors, they were forced to shut down due to some issues around funding. But when the holiday season was approaching, Reed said him and his team still wanted to do at least some sort of performance.
So he approached a local bookstore and asked whether he could do some Christmas readings. They agreed. “So we had two nights of Christmas readings in 1991, at this bookstore, and I invited some musicians along that I knew who had played in our shows,” said Reed.
When Reed was able to open up their theatre space once again, he fully intended on stopping the Christmas show, but people insisted on them continuing, he said.
“This is the 30th anniversary of starting this show, which is kind of crazy…that’s a long time,” added Reed, mentioning that the freshness of the show continues to stay alive after all these years because it changes so much.
“We keep bringing in new musicians. Because the show is different every night, it’s part of the thing that it’s got this, ‘who knows what’s gonna happen next’ kind of feel,” explained Reed.
The musicians in the show include Michael Hart and Garth Bowen who have both played in these shows in the past with Reed; as well as a new addition from the Okanagan Valley, Teena Gowdy, who performs Dixieland jazz and blues music. “It’s as much a music evening as it is a theater evening,” said Reed.
The format of the show itself is pretty avant-garde. Williams refers to it as a “collage show” that weaves together a kind of mosaic of mediums.
While Reed is the main master of ceremonies of the show while doing a variety of different readings, there are also musicians performing types of music and improvising together.
“That’s part of the unique thing is it’s a labour of love over multiple nights. The rehearsal happens on the day and they’re accomplished enough and experienced enough that they do it in the moment. Including riffing together, melding music, melding voices, and they do it all in the moment.,” said Willaims. “It feels like they’re making it up. But it’s not made up…that’s a bit of the magic.”
Unlike other shows which are mapped out completely, the Christmas show has a newness to it each time it’s performed.
“Everything else we do at Pacific Theatre is rehearsed within an inch of its life,” said Reed. “We have three weeks of six day rehearsals, eight to 10 hours a day and by the time the show’s on stage…it’s really precise, shaped, cultivated, and polished.”
“This is a nice change from that because we don’t rely on rehearsing the show. We just rely on the artists being good at what they do and that leaves a great spontaneity in it.”
As for the readings, Reed has an extensive list. This includes excerpts from plays he’s written in the past, short stories, poems, essays. There are also pieces from all sorts of writers including David Sedaris, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Dickens. There are even some pieces from movies like ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and ‘American Beauty.’
“It’s all kinds of stuff, just the widest range. I’ve even got some really bad jokes that I like to throw in,” said Reed.
‘An Oasis at Christmas’ will be taking place at Jojo’s Cafe on Saturday, Dec. 4th with one show at 5:30 p.m. and one at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale for $10 and can be purchased at Jojo’s Cafe, by emailing [email protected] or calling 236-464-7089.
