Paul Sontz, manager, Tickets Tonight - Vancouver's Community Box Office

"I can't believe I didn't know this existed!" These are words that Paul Sontz hears a lot when Vancouver residents discover Tickets Tonight - Vancouver's community box office. "Tickets Tonight is the Vancouver equivalent of London's Leicester Square," explains Paul. "It's ideal for tourists because we sell same-day, half-price tickets to many of Vancouver top music, sporting and theatre events, so visitors don't need to purchase tickets in advance." Originally from Edmonton, Paul has become somewhat of a Vancouver culture expert in his six years managing Tickets Tonight. Paul discusses the arts in Vancouver and the city's best events.

What are this summer's hottest tickets?
I predict the most in-demand tickets in Vancouver this summer will be Jesus Christ Superstar at Theatre Under the Stars, Twelfth Night at Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival and the Arts Club production of The Producers. But there's a lot more great stuff going on. The Vancouver Folk Music Festival is celebrating its 31st year on Jericho Beach (July 18 to 20), The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is headlining Herbie Hancock and Pink Martini (June 20 to 29) and Spamalot is coming to Vancouver in July.

What does Vancouver have to offer film buffs?
Vancouver is a real film city. We're known as Hollywood North because of all the filming that takes place here, and locals just love going out to the movies. We've got a Latin American Film Festival (September 4 to 14), a Documentary Film Festival (May 27 to June 1), a Queer Film & Video Festival (August 14 to 24), Amnesty International Film Festival (dates TBD, autumn), and of course, the Vancouver International Film Festival (September 25 to October 10).

What events will make visitors feel like locals?
Local theatres like the Firehall Arts Centre and Touchstone Theatre (which mounts exclusively Canadian-penned works) are producing some really exciting plays, and you'll be rubbing elbows with mostly locals in the theatre. Festival Vancouver (August 3-17) is a wonderful music festival with concerts all across the city, including downtown venues like Christchurch Cathedral and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

What's coming up on Vancouver's cultural horizon?
One of the most exciting things happening in the lead up to Vancouver hosting the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games is the Cultural Olympiad. The Cultural Olympiad is a series of three festivals, taking place over 2008, 2009 and 2010, that include contemporary, classical and Aboriginal music, theatre, dance, media, literary, visual, interdisciplinary, culinary and street art. The Cultural Olympiad kicked off in February 2008 and will continue with the 2009 celebration (February 1 to March 21), and the Olympic and Paralympic Arts Festival in 2010 (January 22 to March 21).
www.vancouver2010.com

Tickets Tonight sells same-day, half price tickets to select performances at 200 Burrard Street (in the Tourism Vancouver Visitor Centre) as well as providing access to all Ticketmaster inventory. A secondary location at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson Street side) sells regular price tickets and all Ticketmaster inventory.

www.ticketstonight.ca

August 2008