With Summer drawing to a close, we can’t wait for the crunching leaves, sweater weather, and pumpkin spice lattes of Fall. Most importantly, however, we are excited to announce a whole new lineup of RCA Presents performances. Our 2022 lineup of programming brings entertainment and innovation to the heart of the Cultural District in Downtown Kelowna.  

Kicking things off, a few days before the official first day of Fall, is the incredibly talented Leila Neverland. RCA Presents: Leila Neverland Live Album Recording Concert on September 17th will bring modern eclectic music inspired by the sounds of Nina Simone, Bjork, Mozart, Bella Bartok, and Tom Waits to the Mary Irwin Theatre. Leila is an Okanagan favourite, and we can’t wait to see her musical prowess and hilarious stage presence as she records her next album live on stage! She will perform 10 new songs to produce a brand new full-length album right before your eyes.

For the second year in a row, the RCA is excited to present the Roving Audience Experience (RAE) on September 24th. RAE allows you to enjoy different types of performance art while exploring Kelowna's Cultural District. Pick up your program and map at the Rotary Centre for the Arts and wander the Cultural District to experience performance, music, and visual art. Take your pick from six performances throughout the evening in one of our hotspot areas or just wander around to see those you are most interested in. The Hotspots include: Indigenous Culture, Street Art Culture, Slam Poetry, Classical Infusion, Spanish Culture, and Busking. A full list of performers can be found here.

On October 8th, get ready for a dance performance unlike any other – RCA Presents: The Dancers of Damelahamid’s Mînowin. Integrating narrative, movement, song, performance, and new multimedia design, Mînowin connects landscapes and Coastal form line with contemporary perspectives of customary Indigenous dance forms. The Dancers of Damelahamid draw from origin stories and explore ways to translate these perspectives through a contemporary lens. Mînowin premiered at the National Arts Centre, Ottawa, ON, as part of the Mòshkamo Festival in September 2019, followed by a national tour to the Festival of New Dance (St. John’s, Newfoundland), DanceWorks (Toronto, Ontario), The Cultch (Vancouver, BC), First Ontario Performing Arts Centre (St. Catharine, Ontario), Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre (Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador). 
In partnership with Dance West Network, BC Touring Council, BC Arts Council, Province of BC, City of Kelowna, Canadian Heritage and the Rotary Centre for the Arts. 

Described as entertaining, tragic, and timely, RCA Presents: The Cave will have the audience both laughing and crying. On October 19th, this performance will take on the issue of climate change in an ingenious way. The Cave is an apocalyptic cabaret following a group of animals who flee for their lives and seek sanctuary in a cave. Through song and narration, this interspecies song cycle tells the story of animals from the perspective of celebrated Canadian Artists John Millard, Tomson Highway, and Martha Ross.
This show is made possible with funding from the BC Touring Council, the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, Canadian Heritage and the City of Kelowna. 

We end off our Fall Season with the long-awaited RCA Presents: An Evening with Mary Walsh. This Canadian icon comes to the Mary Irwin Theare on October 27th, after having to postpone her show back in February of this year. In this unique performance, Mary Walsh will perform some of her best comedic bits and most popular characters from Dancing With Rage, CODCO, and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, along with up-to-the-minute local political satire. This will truly be a full night of hilarity.
This show is made possible with funding from the BC Touring Council, the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, and the City of Kelowna. 

Be sure to save the dates for our Winter lineup of performances that are sure to brighten your holiday season and beyond. From December 8 – 17, our co-production with New Vintage Theatre of North Pole Stories by Bonnie Gratz will transport you and your family right to the North Pole. All your favourite winter fairy tales will come together in one epic snowy show. We’ll be starting the new year off with RCA Presents: Suzie Vinnick & Lloyd Spiegel - two award-winning musical icons performing back-to-back in the Mary Irwin Theatre on January 25th. To keep the music going we’ve got RCA Presents: Cassie & Maggie on February 4th. These Juno nominated siblings will perform their unique blend of traditional and contemporary Celtic music in an unforgettable show. Need a good laugh? We’re excited to welcome Yuk Yuk’s to the RCA for RCA Presents: Yuk Yuk’s – I am Woman Hear Me Laugh. Canadian comedians Jane Stanton, Sharon Mahoney, and Amber Harper-Young will chase away the winter blues on March 9th. Looking forward to Spring, you won’t want to miss RCA Presents: The Shantyman Sean McCann on May 10th. That’s right, Sean McCan from the legendary Canadian folk rock band Great Big Sea, right here in the Okanagan! And on May 13th, RCA Presents: The Comic Strippers returns to the Mary Irwin Theatre for a night of quick witted improv, extreme hilarity, but no extreme nudity. All this and more coming soon to the RCA.

Tickets are available for each show at rotarycentreforthearts.com/events/in-the-theatre/, we hope to see you in the Theatre! As we approach our 20th anniversary this year, we reflect on the endless support from our patrons that makes programming like this possible. Thank you for supporting arts and culture in your community and helping us build another 20 years at the RCA.