The art of playing against the Cup

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If you think the Canucks are up against tough competition, try being an arts group in Vancouver facing off against the Stanley Cup final. A few arts types talk about their game-day strategies.

The play's the thing

When Bard on the Beach artistic director Christopher Gaze goes onstage at 8 p.m. on game nights to introduce As You Like It, he will try his hand at sportscasting. "If there's a result, I will sure as hell give it." He also notes that being in an outdoor tent has its advantages: it's audibly evident when Vancouver scores. And if the game goes into overtime, Mr. Gaze has given actor Ryan Beil, who plays Touchstone, permission to announce a Canuck win - as William Hutt did as King Lear at the Stratford Festival in 1972, when Team Canada beat the Soviet Union. Says Mr. Gaze: "If Bill Hutt can do it, we can do it."

High-shticking

Officials at Pi Theatre and Vancouver TheatreSports League were not exactly cheering when they discovered the first game of the Stanley Cup final would fall on the same night as their comedy fundraiser, Dare You. Rather than risk fans choosing hockey over Dare-related improv/cabaret/reality TV, they'll open the doors early, put the game on, and delay the live show until the hockey game ends. Says Pi artistic director Richard Wolfe: "If we win, the audience could be that much more jubilant" - and in the mood to spend on the silent auction (and at the bar). "And if we lose, we hope to put a smile back on their face anyhow with the comedy in the show" (and at the bar).

Change on the fly

Months ago, when artist George Vergette was speaking to Vancouver's Gallery Jones about his next show, Stranded and Broke in a Strange Town, they settled on June for the date. As Mr. Vergette watched the Canucks progress, he began worrying that his opening might conflict with a Canucks' final game. He pored over the past six years of Stanley Cup schedules, trying to pinpoint when the games might fall. Some urged him to just set the date and put the game on TV if he lost the gamble. Mr. Vergette said no. "I don't want to be stuck at the gallery when there's a game on either." Ultimately, Mr. Vergette waited until late last week for the NHL to release the schedule, and then chose June 9 for his opening.

Puck rock

As a boy, Joe Keithley (of the legendary Vancouver punk band D.O.A.) dreamed of playing for the Bruins, but - relax - he has since become a diehard Canucks fan, so diehard that at a gig during a Canucks playoff game a few years back, the band refused to continue until the bar's one TV monitor was turned in the band's direction. On Saturday beginning at 8 p.m., Mr. Keithley will sign copies of his new book, Talk-Action=0: An Illustrated History of D.O.A., at the Rickshaw Theatre. If the game is still going, it'll be on in there. There's a gig afterward, with opening acts beginning at 9. "We're on at 11:30," Mr. Keithley says. "So unless it reaches quadruple overtime, you can still see D.O.A."

An operatic score

Performances are over now, but Vancouver Opera's season-closing production of La Traviata found itself up against round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. This can be tough not just for audiences (who can exchange tickets for non-game nights), but also for crew, many of whom were gathered around the wide-screen TV on the loading dock backstage, reports VO marketing director Doug Tuck. He says performers like their hockey, too. "I've been backstage during hockey playoffs where the singers will come off stage, go to the loading dock to check the score, and then go back onstage." At the appropriate moments, of course.

Helmet hair

The Arts Club Theatre's production of Hairspray goes up against the playoffs virtually every game (except Mondays) and patrons have noticed: Subscribers have been taking advantage of the free ticket exchange offered by the Arts Club and single ticket purchases have been noticeably down on game days - even if scores are updated on a lobby chalkboard during intermission. "I'm torn because I grew up watching the Canucks," says executive director Howard Jang. "I'm nothing if not a Canucks fan."