I am very excited for the Red Robinson’s Talent Showdown this year. The finals are tomorrow, Aug. 25th at the PNE Concert stage. I am so impressed by the talent this year. There were over 420 entries for the coveted 30 spots for the semi finals. Each category competed in their age group with the top third, second and first place contestants moving on to the finals.

The talent was so diverse this year in the finals we have,
Amazing vocals,
Unique song and mixes,
A tap dancer,
Even a band with a drum box,
Contemporary dance and a pas de deux ballet dance number.

I can’t wait for the performances tomorrow for the finals. We will be giving away one thousand dollars for third place, two thousand dollars for second place and then the overall winner will received five thousand dollars.
The show will happen 3:30-4:30 pm Aug. 25th at the PNE Concert stage.

Being a small town girl, I am an avid country music fan. I have a lot of fond memories linking to Terri Clark songs. There was a rodeo dance in Sangudo that I remember vividly,  being out by the ball diamonds with my friends, there were pick up trucks,  dirt roads and Terri Clark songs playing, “When Boy Meets Girl”, “Better Things to Do”. Wow time flies.  At this rodeo I was wearing my famous fire engine red wranglers.  They were practically painted on, can’t believe my parents let me out of the house.

Fun in the Process

It’s been a lot of work and long hours but the PNE is up and running. This year we kicked it off with a huge Opening Weekend of the 100th Anniversary Fair. The festivities began with the return of the PNE Downtown Parade. Thankfully the weather cooperated. The weather has been good all weekend despite dire forecasts earlier in the week. It was a unique PRP production as we worked with Big Events Inflatables out of California to bring 10 large scale helium balloons to the shores of English Bay. The volunteers who handled these had as much fun as the audience lining the streets. We also celebrated PNE’s history with representation from the Canucks, Whitecaps and Lions as well as group of former Miss PNE’s. The musical history was brought to the streets with dancing ‘Elvi’ and Beatles tribute. All in all the event went extremely well and we were lucky to have a couple of our “Paralympic Staff Alumni’, Michelle and Hilary lead the charge.

On Saturday morning the 100th Anniversary Fair began with an Opening Ceremony on the Concert Stage. This was another opportunity to celebrate the past and future of a Vancouver “Institution”. The event featured Mayor Gregor Robertson, former Canuck coach and GM-Pat Quinn, Dal Richards, Red Robinson, Lisa Brokop, PNE CEO-Michael McDaniel and a cast of hundreds as well as brilliantly executed fly-past by the Warbirds.

Following the ceremony it was time to bring Empire Stadium back to life with a sold out Rock Concert. In the morning before the show the highlight of the day was when Marcia met The Beach Boys drummer. Under beautiful sunshine The Beach Boys took the stage in front of a sold out house. Keeping in the spirit of history we had Red Robinson emcee the event as he originally introduced both Elvis and the Beatles at the same venue. After a tight ninety minute set by The Beach Boys, Bryan Adams hit the stage and rocked for over two hours. It was great to see Empire Stadium full with a big show and a large stage. Slowly, we hear rumbling from the public that they want to see the Stadium stay.

If all that was not enough for one day, we also had Kevin Costner perform on our Concert Stage. In an ironic twist, Michael, performed the role of ‘Bodyguard’ for Mr. Costner. Then we wrapped up the night with a packed Beer Garden for Nearly Neal and full house performance of Kaboom our nightly pyro musical spectacular.

Sunday morning came very early as it was the annual ‘free gate admission’ morning. This of course meant huge crowds. By noon both our Superdogs show and Peking Acrobats shows were so full that we closed the buildings. Getting through the site was a challenge. In the evening things have quieted down yet we still have a big country contingent out to see country star, Terri Clark. I would say this is the busiest weekend I have been part of in my twelve Fairs.

Our friends at Dinotown are closing there doors forever.  Earlier this year, Rob Ell, the Mayor of Dinotown, sold his cartoon dinosaur theme park. Dinotown, the highway roadside attraction in Bridal Falls, was first opened as Bedrock City in 1975 .

It started out as a theme park that featured buildings and characters from the Hanna-Barbera television series The Flintstones. It was one of just four in North America.
But in 1994, after Hanna-Barbera was sold to Warner Brothers, they wanted to close the deal with the small park in Bridal Falls.

In 1994 Rob Ell called me and asked if I would help bring Dinotown to life.
I had fond memories of Bedrock City and knew Rob’s vision of a Dinosaur cartoon park was a great idea.  After many brainstorm session and storyboard development the team invented a family of Dinosaurs.
Dee Dee, Dexter, Dina and Dusty Bones came to life.

Their extended sub-character family were also created - Creaky Bones, Baby Bones, Flapper the Bird and others helped animate the new park.
We loved creating the shows, the music and especially loved bringing the characters to life.
We had lots of fun with Dinotown over the years.  We even took the characters to New York for the Museum of Natural History’s Inaugural Trick or Treat with the Dinosaurs.  And a quick visit to see Katie Couric and the Today show.  Great fun - great memories.

To Rob and his team - thousands have enjoyed your special place.  You have provided a great place for families to share so many memories.  I know my family, especially my two children will miss Dinotown very much.

Best wishes to Rob, Helen, Kelsey and the entire Dinotown family from your friends at PRP.  We’re going to miss the old place.
Dinotown’s last day is Sept. 6, 2010

http://www.dinotown.com/

A little package of hats arrived at the PRP office today.  What will these be used for, you ask?  You’ll have to stay tuned for the 100th Anniversary PNE Parade in English Bay later this summer to find out.  Don’t miss it. Friday, August 21st at 7:00pm.

This afternoon, I headed out to the Pacific Coliseum with some members of the PRP team and our extended family for some photography fun.  One of our new photographers, Teresa Corsie was onsite to take new headshots of the team.  Here’s a little sampling of the fun in the process.  To view some of Teresa’s photography, check out PRP Backstage photo section from the Paralympic Games, as she captured all the behind the scenes adventures at BC Place.  You can also check out her website.

We just announced the Entertainment line up for the Pacific National Exhibition’s 100th Fair. The list is long, comprehensive and daunting (we have a lot to do!). This year will mark the return of the ‘downtown’ Parade. This will be a uniquely produced event along the shore of English Bay on the evening before the Fair. There will also be the return of a large outdoor concert at Empire Stadium with Bryan Adams and the Beach Boys on Opening Day. In addition to that concert our Summer Night Concert Series features a wide range of acts that are free with admission to the Fair- Huey Lewis, Joan Jett, Wayne Newton, Michael Bolton, Los Lobos, John Hiatt, Steven Page, Marianas Trench, Cyndi Lauper, Little River Band, Spirit of the West, Loverboy, Trooper, Teri Clark, The Roadhammers and Kevin Costner w/ Modern West.

Of course there are many other Fair shows throughout the site- The Peking Acrobats, Superdogs, Loggersports, Motorsport, The Red Robinson Talent Show, KC’s Kids Concerts (w/ Shrek, Doodlebops and more),  Street Entertainment, Festival Square Community Stage the RCMP Musical Ride, the Beer Garden Tribute Stage where you will find Nearly Neil and our specially produced on-site Parade and award winning Nightly Pyro Musical Spectacular- Kaboom!

However, even with all that line up there is one special highlight for me. This will almost rank up with having JP Patches at the Fair back in 2007. On August 26th at 1pm we will have Rolf Harris on the Concert Stage. He is the ultimate Renaissance man (humourist, accordion player, artist and inventor). He has a unique tie to the city of Vancouver. He lived here briefly in the 60’s and returned many times for shows, telethons and even the PNE in 1979. He is now eighty but still going as strong as ever!

Yesterday, we had a site survey at the new Empire Field on the Pacific National Exhibition grounds in Vancouver. The temporary Stadium is constructed on the former site of Empire Stadium which is steeped with history. It was the site of the British Empire Games (Commonwealth Games) which included the Miracle Mile. Elvis and the Beatles both played short concerts there and it hosted the BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps in their peak years. It also has the distinction of hosting a Stadium ski jump event. Makes you think that it would have been an interesting venue for the Olympics. If not for ski jump perhaps for Medal Ceremonies.

This will be the temporary home for the BC Lions in in the 2010 and part of the 2011 seasons. Our first reaction on entering the stadium was how intimate and clean the venue looks. It will be a great place to watch a football game. It actually has the feel of a European soccer stadium. Can’t wait to see the Whitecaps in 2011 in the MLS. The venue construction was handled by Nussli, a Swiss company that we worked with at Whistler on the Paralympic Closing venue. We’ve seen other examples of their work around the world and they are all quite impressive.

I imagine there will be some initial challenges as people figure out the best route to the Stadium and where the washrooms and concessions are but once people settle into a routine it should make for an exciting venue for a couple of seasons.

As our stay in New York concludes we’ve has a lot of fun in the process. Having the opportunity to return to my past (Broadway Musicals) is fabulous. I spent many years working on various Broadway tours and runs in Vancouver including Phantom of the Opera, Showboat, Sunset Boulevard, Riverdance, Joseph and Ragtime. So, when in New York I make an effort to see as much as possible. This time I was able to catch five shows and there are many more around town I didn’t have time to see. Below are my capsule thoughts and reviews to some new shows and some longer running productions.

American Idiot: The new musical based on the Green Day album was a great visual and aural experience. The look and performances were stellar. It was like watching a live 90 minute music video- Broadway style. Unfortunately, the loose storyline imposed on the music was weak and not particularly fresh.

Billy Elliott: Last years Tony Award winner was every bit as good as all the reviews. I definitely enjoyed the musical more than the movie. The role of Billy is amazing as the young performer is on stage for at least 80% of the show and has to deliver or the show doesn’t work. This show also had an amazing lighting design- subtle and extremely effective. This is truly a ‘Broadway show’. It was good to see a performer I toured with on Ragtime in this production as well as a former crew mate on the props crew. I expect this show to have a long run on Broadway. The challenge on touring this show will be finding enough young ‘Billys’.

Avenue Q: On Monday night Diane and I headed Off Broadway but not very far to see the 2004 Tony Award winner, Avenue Q. I’ve heard a lot about this show and knew the music quite well. I was a little afraid that I would be underwhelmed as I had heard so much. That was definitely not the case. The show is “Sesame Street for Adults” and is extremely clever. It very eccentric and unique. Any show that has a main character based on Gary Coleman is quirky enough for me to enjoy. The show still feels fresh and I would go back.

Promises, Promises: On Wednesday afternoon at the last minute I made it to Promises, Promises with very little expectations. The show is a revival of a late 60’s musical. Sean Hayes from Will and Grace fame was the lead and was extremely funny. Unfortunately Kristen Chenoweth was ill. The production was extremely stylized and hit all the right notes. It was a great way to spend a very hot afternoon on Broadway.

Fela!: Last night we hit Fela, the new hit musical on Broadway. This again was very unique as the entire interior of the theatre was dressed up as a Nigerian Music Hall. The show in one word was “mesmerizing”. The energy and passion of the performances kept you thrilled throughout. In this case, the storyline was just enough of a thread to tie together the Afrobeat music. You learned about the history of Fela while being thoroughly entertained.

As much as I love Broadway musicals I also love attending Sporting events. I’ll watch almost anything. In New York I had the opportunity to attend a Mets game in their two year old Citi Field. It’s very interesting to compare all the new Ballparks. This field ranks up with the best of them. One unique aspect of this field is you can ‘plane spot’ throughout the game as it is right on the flight path of La Guardia. Not that I cared that much but the Mets won 8-0.

At PRP we strive to eat well and I’m living the motto in New York right now. We arrived Friday night and had an amazing late night dinner at Charlie Palmer’s, Aureole. The restaurant is near Bryant Park which is close to where we are staying. Although the food was amazing it was almost over shadowed by the impeccable service. It was as well orchestrated as any Broadway show.

Saturday night, prior to checking out the new Green Day musical, American Idiot, we ended up with friends at Esca. Esca is at the edge of the Theatre District and Hell’s Kitchen. It was a nice night so we were able to eat out in their garden. It was a beautiful oasis with a water feature and little herb garden right in in the middle of the bustling city. Speaking of bustling…New York seems as busy as ever (the exact opposite of Detroit). Besides the setting, the highlight of this meal was an amazingly delicately prepared Mahi Mahi.

Last night we headed down to the West Village and dined at Perilla. Again it was an early dinner before a show but the small narrow room was packed. This restaurant is owned by Season One Top Chef winner, Harold Dieterle. This dinner featured an appetizer that is worth coming back for many times. The Crispy Calamari Watercress Salad has been the culinary highlight of New York (so far).

Tonight, it’s off to Basso56 for Italian and then tomorrow it’s hotdogs at the Mets game.

Life is much better when you ‘eat well’.