Critics' Picks: Blue Bridge Sings Christmas, Treasure Island, Esi Edugyan book signing

MUSIC

What: Blue Bridge Sings Christmas!
Where: The Roxy Theatre, 2657 Quadra Street.
When: Thursday, Friday and Saturday (Dec. 6-8) at 8 p.m.; Sunday (Dec. 9) at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $35 online at bluebridgetheatre.ca, by phone at 250-382-3370 or in person at the Roxy Theatre box office
Why: The annual Blue Bridge tradition, conceived and directed by the Victoria Operatic Society’s Tara Britt, will bring a seasonal set list of 20 songs to four performances through the weekend at the Quadra Street theatre. Popular music from Christmas-themed musicals, including Happy Holiday, Rockin’ Round the Christmas Tree and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, will be handled by singers Sarah Carlé, Elliott Loran, Anna Shill and Sam Graham, with musical direction by pianist Jeff Poynter.

THEATRE

What: Treasure Island
Where: Langham Court Theatre, 805 Langham Ct.
When: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (Dec. 6-8) at 8 p.m.; Sunday (Dec. 9) at 2 p.m.
Tickets: $15-$30 at the Langham Court box office, by phone at 250-384-2142, or online at langhamtheatre.ca
Why: Bryony Lavery’s updated version of the classic story by Robert Louis Stevenson reboots this swashbuckler with a modern twist, adding one of several appealing layers to this inventive local production. Victoria’s Lawyers on Stage Theatre Society puts barristers Katie Webber, Christopher Mackie, Jim Legh, George Badger and Gillian Calder in major roles for this fundraiser in support of the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre and the TLC: Fund for Kids. Money raised will also fund a bursary for a UVic law and theatre student in need.

BOOKS

What: Esi Edugyan book signing
Where: Munro’s Books, 1108 Government St.
When: Friday, Dec. 7, 12 p.m.
Why: One of Victoria’s most notable authors is closing out a strong 2018 with an autograph session at Munro’s Books at noon Friday. The Colwood writer has become a literary star in Canada, with a run of success that dates back to her Scotiabank Giller Prize prize-winning book, Half-Blood Blues, in 2011. Her latest novel, Washington Black, earned a Man Booker Prize nomination this year and won Edugyan the Giller Prize in November, making her only the third writer, after M. G. Vassanji and Alice Munro, ever to win the award more than once. Not bad company.

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