Al Zylstra

My newest Stage Managing Production is almost upon us!

Mauritius

By Theresa Rebeck

Genre: Black Comedy / Dramatic Thriller

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September 19  – October 6, 2024 

Thursday – Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 2pm

Preview performances Thursday, September 19 and Friday, September 20

Talk back with the director and cast after the Sept. 29 performance

​​Director:  Chris Schuessler

Asst. Director: Sean Mawhinney

Stage Manager: Al Zylstra

Asst. Stage Manager: Maeve Downing

Producer: Cindy Dean

Set Design: David Dodge

​Cast: 

​Synopsis:

Mauritius is a dark comedy centered around Jackie, a 22-year-old woman who’s lived a sheltered life caring for her abusive mother who’s just passed after a long illness. She’s left a book of stamps which may or may not be valuable/fake, and may or may not legally belong to her older half-sister Mary, a sophisticated woman who’s been absent through the years of their mother’s illness. When Jackie makes a secret deal with shady characters, she unleashes deep resentments among all involved.

​”Warning: Contains mature themes, coarse language and simulated physical aggression.

​To order tickets: C lick here

It has been a year since Alex and I were in Europe. I cannot believe it has been that long ago. I certainly miss being there. Hopefully, Alex and I can get back there in the next couple of years. In the meantime, please enjoy some of our memories….

Alex and I hosted our annual neighbourhood party – this is our 4th year. Every year we invite all our neighbours in our complex to come by and have food, drinks and music. This year was by far the best one yet! We had so many people come by.

Phantom just had to make an appearance. Beau, on the other hand was scrounging food that had been inadvertently dropped on the ground….

Definitely looking forward to more of these events. We have some great neighbours!

This is my 18th time that I have been given the privilege of being involved in the Concord Pacific Dragon Boat Festival. This has proven to be one of my favourite gigs that I have ever done.

This year’s festival is going to be one of the most impressive ones yet. There are performers from far and wide who will be entertaining over 150,000 visitors to the two day event. The Music starts on Saturday, June 22 around 12:30 and goes until late in the evening. This year’s Festival features the return of TD Main Stage’s 100% local lineup. Attendees will enjoy a special reunion set by Hey Ocean! and Juno-nominated Manila Grey, as well as exciting, diverse performers throughout the weekend.

Check out the list of performers and times they will perform!

With 25 food trucks and over 100 booths filled with artisans, there will be so much to see and do.

Not to mention that we expect over 6,000 races and 225 teams from across Canada, USA and Australia competing. This festival is the largest Dragon Boat Festival outside of Mainland China and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it.

This year, we will even have a drone show! I can’t wait to see that!

Check out the test!

The dragon boat festival came on the heels of Expo 86, where Vancouver’s Chinese-Canadian community introduced the traditional annual Chinese Duanwu Festival (summer solstice) to Canada. From 1986 to 1988, the Chinese community continued to hold the festival.

In 1989, the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society was formed and took over the leadership of the event, expanding on Vancouver’s multicultural diversity by adding more cultural celebrations and entertainment.

For more information about the festival visit concorddragonboatfestival.ca.

I hope everyone can make it down to see all the festivities.

I haven’t posted for a hot minute and I think it is time. I had the opportunity to work at Golf Tournament on June 4.

My company, IRIS The Visual Group, was a sponsor of the event and we dispensed over 115 pairs of Sunglasses to registered Golfers.

Immediately after dispensing the Sunglasses, we made our way over to the 1st hole, which we also sponsored. There, we spend the afternoon hanging out with a very eclectic group of golfers. There were some who were weekend golfers, some who were outright passionate about the sport and everything in between.

One of my all-time favourite people, Laura, was with me for the whole event. We haven’t had a chance to do these types of events since before Covid reared its ugly head. So, yesterday was just a laugh riot for us.

The last golf tournament we did, almost 5 years ago, she got to drive a golf cart.

It took her a bit of coaxing, but, she finally managed

The Golf Tournament on June 4 was her first opportunity to play golf…. Here she is rocking it!

I don’t normally post pictures of myself but this one is pretty good. It is of Laura, myself and a wonderful co-worker, Charmaine who manages the IRIS location in South Surrey.

We have had these two gorgeous monstrosities in our big tank for over 4 years. It is obvious that they had outgrown their home. Time to move them to our pond where they will have 15 new friends to meet!

I had some vacation time that I had to use up and Alex decided that the last week of April was the ideal time to do some big projects around the house.

We painted our deck back in 2018 after we got back from our trip to Europe. Here is the before:

It had this hideous brown indoor / outdoor carpet that was smelly and so badly stained that we couldn’t do anything to revive it. So, off it came and we painted the deck:

It was a lovely blue / gray that complemented the colour of the house quite nicely. Fast forward to 2024….

BEFORE!

AFTER!!!

It is done and we couldn’t be happier with the results.

Today marks 5 years since my mom died. Still think about her every day. I still beat myself up over not visiting her more often than I did. However, I did make the most of my visits to her when I could. The last three years of her life were filled with monthly trips to Edmonton to spend a day with her. I only hope that she enjoyed those visits as much as I did,

The times that I wasn’t able to see her in person, I wrote her long letters. Letters that were filled with mundane day-to-day stuff that Alex and I did but, they were also filled with my memories – special times that we spent together.

I know she kept those letters as they were returned to me by my family after her funeral. I kept digital copies of all those letters. I also recorded her when she was still lucid and have kept those audio files. I still play some of them every now and then. The content of the recordings is not important. Just hearing her voice makes me ahppy. I only wish I had been able to do the same with my dad.

Yesterday, April 20 was my Dad’s Birthday. He would have been 101. My dad was an enigma to me. He was a wonderful provider. He worked two full time jobs to support his family.

Family meant the world to him. He was so proud of each of us – just had a hard time expressing it. My relationship with my dad, while at times was perfunctory, it was also one of the most honest relationships I had with family members. He was blunt and while he didn’t embrace my homosexuality, he accepted it in the only way he knew how. He gave me his support when I needed it most. He co-signed a car loand when I needed transportation, he encouraged me to move to Vancouver in the late 80’s knowing full well, I was drowning living in Alberta.

When he and mom would come and visit me in the Lower Mainland, they would go out of their way to make sure that I had food, clothing and the necessities of having my own home. His generosity with me knew its limits but, he did what he could for me when he knew it was needed.

I will be forever grateful…

Opening March 28th “Next Fall” By Geoffrey Nauffts Directed by Wayne Nolan Luke believes in God. Adam believes in everything else. “Next Fall” portrays the ups and downs of this unlikely couple’s five-year relationship with sharp humour and unflinching honesty. And when an accident changes everything, Adam must turn to Luke’s family and friends for support… and answers. “Next Fall” offers a picture of modern romance, asking questions about commitment, love and faith. March 28th to April 12th, 2024 (Th, Fri, Sat @ 7:30 pm)Matinees April 7th and 13th, 2024 (@ 2:00 pm)Tickets: Adults $22, Students/Seniors $20NEW: Preview March 27th, 2024 @ 7:30 pm ($12 all tickets)Tickets on sale HERE! There will be a special “Talk Back” session following our Sunday April 7th performance featuring a Q&A with director and cast!  Note: the shuttle service for this performance will return to Parkgate AFTER this additional ~30 minute component of the afternoon! Fundraising Opportunities Attention all individuals or groups looking for fundraising opportunities. DCSS is looking to book fundraising evenings for our 2024/2025 season.How it works:  Those wishing to raise funds can book the entire theatre for the initial performance of one of our productions at a very affordable rate and then sell tickets at a rate of their choice.  The past fundraising evenings have proven to be quite successful with the monies going to support many good causes.Please contact Ariyanna at ariyanna@telus.net for more information to book your event.Shuttle Bus Service Offered for our two MATINEE performances, April 7th and 13th, 2024! We have launched a shuttle bus service from the Parkgate Mall area to the theatre in Deep Cove which will run in association with our afternoon matinee performances, a time when parking can be particularly challenging in Deep Cove.The shuttle will leave from in front of the North Vancouver District Public Library Parkgate branch, in the north parking lot off of Banff Court.Tickets cost $5 and must be purchased in advance from the link below.Be sure to select the correct performance date.Tickets will NOT be sold on the bus itself.Vehicle is NOT wheelchair accessible.The bus will leave promptly at 1:30.The bus will return you to Parkgate after the performance.There will only be a single shuttle per performance – seating is limited to 21 people.

So, February has a few notable dates for me:

February 1, 2003 – the day my dad died

February 12 is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 98 this year. I think about her every day and how happy she was knowing that I had Alex in my life.

February 20, 2015 – My one and only sister, Anna left us. My world came crashing down on that day. I still think of her often.