It's a favourite destination for theatre lovers every summer, and this year is no exception.
Theatre Under The Stars is back once again for its summer run at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park, offering up two comedic musicals: How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Legally Blonde - The Musical.
Two young local residents are in this year's ensemble for How To Succeed in Business: Angela King and Charlie Deagnon.
The 21-year-old King is no stranger to the TUTS stage, having first appeared in its 2010 production of Singin' in the Rain. She's also been seen by Burnaby audiences in the casts of
Footlight Theatre's musical productions and in New Westminster with Royal City Musical Theatre.
Despite her extensive experience, King is quick to say that musical theatre is a hobby for her. She's studying biological sciences at Simon Fraser University and has her sights set on a potential future in marine biology or physiotherapy.
Mind you, she's been performing for much of her life.
"I grew up dancing a lot and branched into theatre in later years," she explains.
She still dances and serves as a dance teacher for Burnaby's Douglas Ballet Academy and the Vancouver Academy of Dance, where she leads classes for everyone from toddlers to moms in ballet, jazz, tap and musical theatre.
Yes, she is as busy as that makes her sound.
"I'm kind of used to this kind of lifestyle," she says with a laugh.
Plus, she says, she just plain loves what she's doing.
"I think it's the people," she says simply, explaining what draws her back to Theatre Under The Stars each year.
This year, she says, the choice of shows is an added draw.
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a satire on corporate life, set in the 1960s.
King says she was immediately attracted by the fact that it's set in an era she's not familiar with.
"All the hairstyles and costumes are really cool," she says. "It's a lot of effort."
And she adds the show itself is particularly funny for adult audiences.
"It's really well-written, it's got witty humour," she explains. "It's just so funny. I can't even get over how well-written it is."
Her castmate agrees. Deagnon, 23, moved west from Calgary last September to study musical theatre at Capilano University.
"How to Succeed is a show I'm quite fond of," he says. "The show itself is very funny, very witty."
He notes that it's "over-thetop ridiculous" while at the same time offering up an incredibly intelligent satirical take on the corporate world.
Deagnon has been in eight or 10 shows in the past, with his biggest role to date being Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls.
He's balancing his Theatre Under the Stars run with paid work in the restaurant industry yes, he says, he is one of those "arts major serving types" - while he works to make musical theatre his career.
Which makes working with TUTS a huge opportunity, he says, because it gives amateur performers a chance to work alongside professional actors and team members to get their first foothold in the industry.
He has two more years of his program ahead of him and after that, he says, he's ready to go where the work takes him.
"The thing with being a performer is, you have to be able to pack up and move on where you find work," he says. "I'm definitely serious about pursuing this as a career."
For now, though, both King and Deagnon have a few more weeks of Theatre Under the Stars performances to get through before they set their sights on their next project.
How To Succeed in Business is alternating with Legally Blonde on the TUTS stage this summer, running until Aug. 17.
In August, Legally Blonde is on odd days and How To Succeed in Business is on even days.
For more information and tickets, see the website at www.tuts.ca or call the box office at 604-696-4295.
