FRIDAY, February 21, 2020
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Netflix show features born-and-raised Kamloops actor SEAN BRADY STAFF REPORTER sbrady@kamloopsthisweek.com
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new Netflix series features a Kamloops born-and-raised actor. It was on a stage at John Peterson secondary that Genevieve Kang learned she wanted to become an actor. “I was 14 and it was my first high school production — The Wizard of Oz — and that’s when I really fell in love with being on stage and performing,” Kang told KTW from her Vancouver home. Kang’s most recently released work has a little more production value behind it. She plays Jackie
Veda in nine episodes of the 10-episode Netflix series Locke & Key, which premiered on the streaming service on Feb. 7. The series is an adaptation of an American comic book series by Joe Hill. The story follows three siblings who move to their ancestral estate after their father is murdered, finding magical keys and encountering what they unlock. For Kang, the role is a big deal. “This is probably my most prominent role to date, both in terms of my involvement or presence in the story, but also in terms of the production itself,” she said. While her character also appears in the comics, Kang said the two
aren’t much alike and she’s decided to stick to the adapted script version of her character. “I didn’t see reading the comic books as necessary to prep for Jackie — not to say I won’t read them, because it’s such a good story and they’re beautifully illustrated,” she said. Kang’s career kicked off in Kamloops. Not wanting to go alone, a swim team friend asked Kang to come with her to a talent scout event in the city. “I’m still very awkward, but I was ultra awkward as a kid and a teenager. I wasn’t one of those young girls who wore makeup or did my hair, even. I think I showed up in
soccer shorts, running shoes and a T-shirt,” she said. So imagine her surprise when she got the nod from talent scouts, especially with just one play under her belt. After connecting with an agent in Vancouver, she eventually landed a role on the ABC series Beautiful People, which ran from 2005 to 2006. “I was in Grade 11 at that point [during filming] and I had to leave the school year early, missing important year end exams and stuff. My teachers were incredible and so understanding,” she said. Kang relocated to Toronto to study theatre after high school, where she lived until this year. She’s
now located in Vancouver, where she said she can more easily visit with family — her parents still live in Kamloops. Another notable role coming up for Kang is her spot in Run This Town, the story of former Toronto mayor Rob Ford starring Ben Platt, Mena Massoud and Damian Lewis. The name of Kang’s role in that film is a mysterious one. She’s billed as The Squirrel. “I auditioned for a different character and felt so great about it. I thought I nailed it. I didn’t get it, but [writer/director] Ricky [Tollman] came back and said he wanted to include me in the project regardless,” Kang said.
Jess Moskaluke among eight country artists on stage Friday SEAN BRADY STAFF REPORTER sbrady@kamloopsthisweek.com
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big-lineup country concert is on its way to Sandman Centre — the first stop on a 22-city tour across Canada. The acts of the Rednek Music Fest include Gord Bamford, Jess Moskaluke, Jojo Mason, Eric Ethridge, Andrew Hyatt, Cory Marks, Duane Steele and Ghost Boy. Each of those performers will hit the Sandman Centre stage on Friday as part of a weekend of festivities celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Kamloops Blazers’ third and last Memorial Cup win.
The doors will open at 7 p.m. An “up-close and personal” pre-show with former Blazers Rob Brown and Shane Doan and former coach Ken Hitchcock will take place at 7:45 p.m., with the music following. Among the musicians hitting the stage will be Jess Moskaluke, who spoke to KTW about the tour ahead of Friday’s show. Moskaluke and the tour’s headliner, Bamford, both occupy the same small industry world, as she put it, and have shared the stage before. But although they’ve known each other for years, the two didn’t have the opportunity to work together until Bamford invited
Vegas the goal for Celtic Illusion From A23
While the long-term goal is a residency show in Las Vegas, Street has been trying to expand to the U.S. and Canada for years — now successful with a partnership with Annerin Productions’ Jeff Parry, who Street said took a chance with the show. “I guess it was a risk worth taking — we’ve had to add more shows now and we’re looking at coming back next year,” Street said. “This is the furthest we’ve come with the show, so it’s a big achievement for us to be performing in Canada for the first time.” Performers in the show come
primarily from Australia, veterans who have been performing it for years, while others come from the U.S. and Canada. “We put briefs out to all the Irish dance schools and took everyone’s CV and chose from those would suit best,” he said, noting that the show’s challenges require performers to have a certain amount of experience under their belts. “It really pushes dancers to the limit of what they’re comfortable with,” he said. Remaining tickets start at $73 and are available online at ticketmaster.ca. Showtime is 7:30 p.m.
Moskaluke to sing a duet. That duet became the single To Get To You, released last year in November. “Nothing but fantastic things to say about the process — collaborative even up until now,” she said, speaking with KTW as tour planning was underway. Although the tour’s kickoff is on Feb. 21 in Kamloops, its main leg doesn’t begin until March 12 in Brandon. It then works its way back, playing through Saskatchewan and Alberta before returning to B.C., hitting locales as far north and south as Terrace and Trail, all before meandering back out east, ending in Thunder Bay on July 26.
Moskaluke hasn’t shared a tour bus with anyone else on the tour, but she has shared the stage with them before — and with even bigger names, like Canadian country legend Shania Twain, with whom she performed at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in 2018. The Juno Award winner and multi-nominee from Langenburg, Sask., said she doesn’t know how she came to sing country music — she just always did. “There was never anything else for me. It’s what my parents listened to, it was the only radio station that we got,” she said.
Moskaluke said the country genre has grown to include other kinds of music. When she started, her style leaned toward pop, but with her own growth has come versatility that allows her to delight in anything from pop to traditional to countrywestern. “If I want to venture out and play in the pop world, I can do that, and the country genre will always be my home,” she said. Tickets for Friday’s Rednek Music Fest start at $44 and are available online at ticketmaster.ca. Those hoping for more Blazers nostalgia can catch events the following day as part of the anniversary weekend.
Ukuleles a good fit for music learners Visiting orchestra group to lead lesson for Parkcrest kids From A23
At its Christmas fundraiser dinner, the group put out the call for donations and brought in $1,250. Another $500 followed in the weeks afterward. Orchestra members themselves topped up the amount to $2,087 — the price of 30 brand new ukuleles. The four-string instruments were purchased from Vancouver’s Empire Music, which Scott said supplies instruments to schools across the country.
“I wish we had these in school, rather than a recorder. Kids can learn this and go on to guitar quite easily,” Scott said. “Once you know three chords, you can play a lot of songs. It’s a good instrument to learn on.” Scott said the group took up the cause because of how notable the loss of a school was, and saw the opportunity as a good fit, especially to bring members of the 78-strong group into the community. After the class receives the uku-
leles on Monday, members will demonstrate their talents, playing Wild Thing. A lesson will follow, with kids learning how to play The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and perhaps Yellow Submarine, if time allows. The Ukulele Orchestra of Kamloops meets several times each week in different groups, depending on interest, level or simply day of the week. For more information on the group, including lessons and classes, go online to ukuleleorchestraofkamloops.com.
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