Capilano College Performing Arts Theatre Turns 10 iij Fiena Btack and Dawn Mmre I ' h e C a p i l a n o College P e r f o r m i n g A r t s Theatre ( C C P A T ) was b u i h in 1997 and the opening of the new theatre was a highly anticipated event for the Theatre Department. A s early as 1978 there had been talk of a theatre on campus... " A b o u t five years from now." It took a little longer, but was worth the wait. T h e new venue m a r k e d a t r a n s i t i o n from rented spaces at Presentation H o u s e and the Deep C o v e S h a w Theatre to a theatre to call home. W i t h the paint barely dry and the official first season not scheduled until the fall o f 1997, the Theatre Department produced t w o shows in the new theatre in the spring of 1997, Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap and C a r y l Churchill's Mad Forest. For The Mousetrap everything was so new that the lighting board and some of the lighting instruments hadn't arrived by the first technical rehearsal. H a v i n g a full fly system was new for the students and the first attempt to "raise" the front curtain resulted in gradually lowering it instead. Eric Bibb - Capuano Folk/Rails Series, November. 2002 T h e official first year was titled "A Season of Firsts," w i t h a new company (the inaugural year o f the Theatre D i p l o m a Program), new guest directors, K i m Selody and Katrina D u n n , and a new theatre. That season was comprised of Lion in the Streets by C a n a d i a n p l a y w r i g h t J u d i t h T h o m p s o n , Twelfth Night, Arsenic and Old Lace, and the musical Quilters. Season t w o "Come out to Play!" featured Our Town, The Visit, Dracula, and a new play by M a r t i n K i n c h Private Acts/Public Scenes. Today the department's presenting company is named Exit 22 and showcases the work of students in the Technical Theatre Program and t w o , three-year professional training programs Acting for Stage and Screen, and M u s i c a l Theatre. The College's other performing arts departments also seized the opportunity of having an on-site theatre by developing several series to showcase local and international talent, such as T h e C a p Jazz Series, which attracts some of the biggest names in the jazz world to perform as special guests with the College's senior student jazz bands. Under the creative direcrion of Rejean M a r o i s , and previously Brad Turner, T h e C a p Jazz Series has evolved into one of the most unique jazz series in C a n a d a . C o m b i n i n g professional shows as well as the guest artist shows w i t h " A " B a n d and N i t e C a p (student bands), the series has showcased a diversity of jazz concerts from small combos, to big band, and c h o i r shows w i t h the student ensembles. In the spring of 1998, the series scored its first sell-out concert featuring local legend, Dee Daniels with " A " Band and N i t e C a p . Since then, the series has had too many sell-outs to name. Guest artist highlights include: seven time G r a m m y nominated v o c a l i s t , K u r t E l l i n g ; the jazz w o r l d ' s premiere v i o l i n i s t , Regina Carter; iconic veterans j i m m y Heath, E d Thigpen, Phil N i m m o n s and Jon Faddis; and, exciting new talent including Jean M i c h e l Pile, J D Walters, M o n i c a Freire and D a v i d Braid to name just a few. O t h e r highlights include the P h i l Woods Quintet; Bill Charlap Trio; John Pizzarelli Trio; R o b McConnell T r i o ; and one of the ground-breaking shows of the series in 2001 - Joe Lovano with the Brad Turner Quartet. W i t h the success o f the jazz series firmly i n place, C C P A T partnered in 2 0 0 2 w i t h the V a n c o u v e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l Jazz Festival to produce "North Shore Jazz", a satellite offering on the N o r t h Shore. North Shore jazz highlights include Chris Barbour w i t h Sweet Papa L o w d o w n ; M o s e A l l i s o n ; Ernestine A n d e r s o n ; Geoff M u l d a u r ; J o h n Boutte w i t h the Universal G o s p e l C h o i r ; S o p h i e M i l m a n ; T h e G r e a t U n c l e s o f the i 7997 TbeaKe produclion ol "Lion in the SIreels". 20 January|February