Newt’s top 10 things to do in Vancouver this week, July 28 to August 1

The Fifth Element screens at Polygon Gallery

By Steve Newton

MONDAY: legendary American singer-songwriter Paul Simon performs the last of three solo concerts at the Orpheum Theatre as part of his A Quiet Celebration Tour. Here’s my review of Paul Simon when he played Vancouver with Sting in 2014.

TUESDAY TO FRIDAY: the Arts Club Theatre Company presents performances at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage until August 3 of the musical comedy Waitress, about a small-town waitress and expert pie-maker who dreams of a new life outside of her tumultuous marriage.

WEDNESDAY: screening at the Rio Theatre of The Exorcist director William Friedkin‘s controversial and polarizing 1980 crime thriller Cruising, starring Al Pacino as a cop who goes undercover in the underground S&M gay subculture of New York City to catch a serial killer preying on gay men.

Jennifer Castle plays LanaLou’s

WEDNESDAY: Canadian folk singer-songwriter Jennifer Castle performs tunes from her latest album Camelot at LanaLou’s, with guest Julian Hou.

WEDNESDAY TO FRIDAY: Playland features midway games, mini-golf, a climbing wall, haunted mansion, food concessions, and over 35 rides and attractions, including the iconic wooden rollercoaster. Playland runs until August 15 on the PNE Grounds, then becomes part of admission to the PNE Fair.

THURSDAY: American indie-rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Father John Misty performs tunes from his latest album Mahashmashana at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, with guest Hamilton Leithauser.

Zodiac screens at the VIFF Centre.

THURSDAY: screening at the VIFF Centre of Seven director David Fincher’s 2007 mystery thriller Zodiac, about the manhunt for the serial killer who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

THURSDAY: as part of its Deckchair Cinema series, the Polygon Gallery presents a screening of Léon: The Professional director Luc Besson‘s 1997 sci-fi action-adventure flick The Fifth Element, starring Bruce Willis and Lilla Jovovich. Admission by donation includes popcorn and access to the gallery’s summer exhibition, Star Witnesses.

FRIDAY: screening at the Cinematheque of Pulse director Kurosawa Kiyoshi’s 2924 revenge thriller Cloud, about an online reseller who preys upon the desires of his unseen market until a group of users notice the pattern of his grift.

Krystle Dos Santos plays Guilt and Co.

FRIDAY: Vancouver-based soul vocalist Krystle Dos Santos and a seven-piece band perform the songs of Sade at Guilt and Co. Here’s my interview with Krystle Dos Santos from 2021.

If you’re a concert promoter, arts organization, music store, club owner, or just somebody wanting to support my work, I’m looking for an exclusive sponsor of my twice-weekly Newt’s top 10 things to do in Vancouver blogs. If interested, please contact me at steve@earofnewt.com.