DAVID COOPER submitted Meghan Gardiner plays Penelope Pennywise, the bathroom gatekeeper in Urinetown: The Musical. Behind her from left to right: Chris Lam, Rosie Simon and Anton Lipovetsky. Laughter flows through Urinetown Patrons flooded to the Firehall Arts Centre on Nov. 2 to see the musical theatre production By ORVIS NOEL atrons from all over the Lower Mainland came to see the pre- view of the musical theatre pro- duction, Urinetown, which played at Vancouver’s Firehall Arts Centre on Saturday, Nov. 2. Urinetown is a musical packed with humour and satire, with music by Mark Hollmann, who won an Obie Award for his music and lyrics in the play. Urinetown ridicules the legal sys- tem, capitalism, social responsibility and municipal politics, as well as spoof- ing Broadway musicals. Lining up for the show were guests of all ages, who were very sociable and eager to see the production. Sammie Gough, marketing and com- munications for the Firehall Arts Cen- tre said the musical uses humour to get it’s point across. Gough said the play is very interest- ing, very funny, and it has an irrever- ence to humour. As the show begins, the curtains were drawn and lights were dimmed as silence and darkness fell upon the en- tire room. All eyes were glued on the lowered stage where the band sat and played a smooth rendition of the musical’s theme song that resonated throughout the still atmosphere. A sudden bang came from the entry door at the back of the theatre. The door swung open and revealed one of the main characters in the play, a burly man dressed all in blue as a security guard. The man’s piercing baritone voice took the musical to full flight, and started the beginning of an excellent performance by the actor for the entire night. A talented cast of 16 drew spontane- ous laughter and applause from the audience throughout the evening. Audience member Jimmy Finbury said him and his wife have been going to musicals for over 30 years and are “excited to see this one.” 66 Excited to see this one JIMMY FINBURY AUDIENCE MEMBER Family connects in film JOELLA CABALU StandStill: a documentary depicting the journey of a gay man coming out to his Filipino parents By NATASHA CHANG tion graduate Joella Cabalu wrote and produced a short film for her final school project, that is scheduled for screening at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Lins documentary film produc- filmmaker of StandStill is about Cabalu’s journey StandStill as the bridge between her brother and her parents. Cabalu’s brother is gay and he came out to her in 2007. r4 4 The siblings kept it a secret from their parents until 2010. One of her goals was to create a space for both parties to It was an come together and openly share their beliefs and feelings. attempt “It was an attempt to take the bur- to ake the den off of me and to bring them togeth- er so they can talk face-to-face, but also burden to explore what my role is in my fami- off of me ly,” Cabalu said. Now, Cabalu sees educational values and to and community outreach opportuni- brin g them ties that come with the film. “In the back of my mind, I wanted tog ether so this community outreach, the educa- they can tional componen, Cabalu said. “And, it’s relevant to the current socio-political talk face- times.” to-face Cari Green, member of Langara’s digital film production advisory com- mittee, said in an email, “it’s important to have LGBTQ voices in the Asian Film Festival.” This film also resonates with people who aren’t struggling with sexuality or religion, Cabalu explained. “Tm finding [the film’s] opening up discussion about when the people in your family do not share the same be- liefs or opinions,” she said. It’s about how to exist as a family when members do not agree on the same values, she adds. Green saw Cabalu’s project from conception to completion. “It was very moving and very brave of [Cabalu] to get involved in such a personal family drama,” she said in an email. Cabalu said a challenge she came across was how to tell the story hon- estly. “We come from a culture that we don’t talk about those sort of things, so it’s going to be a challenge to open up that discourse, especially about some- thing so sensitive.” She said she sees herself taking a stand for her beliefs, but it’s a struggle. “T have to learn to relinquish [the me- diator] role,” she said. “Through this process, I'm learning to individuate myself from my parents.” StandStill screens on Nov. 8 at VAFF, and it is one of Cabalu’s two films up for the 2014 Best Canadian Short award. te JOELLA CABALU submitted Siblings Joella and Jay Cabalu MARY BEACH photo National Novel Writing Month is here and eager writers are buckling down. November ts for writing Ambitious authors are challenged to write 50,000 words in 30 days By MARY BEACH are gathering to find out if they have what it takes to write an en- tire novel in the month of November. NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, an Internet- based creative writing project estab- lished in 1999. It’s a non-profit organi- zation that offers online support and incentives for people to write a novel in a month. The challenge is to write 50,000 words by Nov. 30 and submit it to the website. Sponsors offer prizes that in- clude writing and publishing software packages. “A novel in a month is possible,” said Langara creative writing instructor Ramon Kubicek. “You have to be enor- mously disciplined: 50,000 words, 120 Be: novelists around the world pages, 30 days, five finished pages a day. It’s possible if you know what you're doing.” The key to success is that you must have a strong concept, said Kubicek. A concept is more specific than a theme. For example, saying that you want to write a tragic love story is not enough. Even realizing that you’ve fallen in love with the wrong person is too general. Instead, he advises to go for the mo- ment when you had that realization. “Then you can start. One scene real- ly sharply delineated, that realization, then you’re ready to begin,” said Kubi- cek. Former Langara English student Lindsay McAlpine is going for it this year because she knows it will help her sit down and actually write. McAlpine, who worked as a writing tutor at Langara in her last semester, has a strategy — write every day. “Sit my arse at my computer and write for either one hour minimum, or until I hit 1500 words for the day. No ex- cuses.”