1. Billed as a “father-daughter tragicomedy,” Belgian filmmaker Lenny Van Wesemael’s Café Derby kicks off this year’s Vancouver International Women in Film Festival March 8 to 13 at Vancity Theatre. For a full schedule of events and screenings, go to womeninfilm.ca.
2. Sporting the best bangs in indie rock, Eleanor Friedberger (The Fiery Furnaces) stops by the Cobalt March 4 in support of her new album New View. Tickets at Red Cat, Zulu and ticketweb.ca.
3. Travel back to the 17th and 18th centuries as Early Music Vancouver presents Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s House of Dreams, March 4 at the Vancouver Playhouse. Works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Marais are played against a backdrop of colourful paintings by Vermeer, Canaletto and Watteau, creating a multi-media concert described as “a documentary film come to life.” Tickets at tickets.ubc.ca.
4. Puccini’s beloved opera Madame Butterfly takes flight March 5 to 13 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The sumptuous Vancouver Opera production marks the return of soprano Mihoko Kinoshita and the VO debut of soprano Jee Hye Han. Tickets and details at vancouveropera.ca.
5. J. B. Priestley’s Mr. Kettle and Mrs. Moon: a Scandalous Affair kicks off Western Gold Theatre’s 2016 season at PAL Studio Theatre March 4 to 6. Anna Hagan directs the British comedy featuring Tanya Dixon-Warren, Tom McBeath, Emmelia Gordon, Keith Martin Gordey, Bronwen Smith, William B Davis, Stephen Aberle and Brett Harris. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com.
