Will John Lu Score?

Our next So You Think You Can Act celebrity that we are excited to feature on our blog is TSN reporter John Lu.

John has been a sports reporter with TSN for 12 years. He was stationed in Toronto for over 7 years and currently lives and works in the Montreal area with his Nova Scotian wife and sassy little dog. However, John considers Winnipeg his home after growing up in Southdale and having attended SJR, U of M and RRC. So even though the Canadiens are his main beat, he is thrilled that his hometown is back in the NHL. After all, you can take the kid out of The Peg but you can’t take The Peg out of the kid.

We are also really excited to announce that John will be performing a scene from Marty Chan’s hit comedy – Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl!

Do you think John will have what it takes to walk away with the trophy? We know it’s not the Stanley Cup but we can fill it with champagne for John’s sake. The audience gets to make the call, although the judges might be awarding penalties.

Join us February 16th at 8pm, Gas Station Arts Centre! Tickets are limited so purchase yours in advance on our website or by calling 586-2236.

Can Al Simmons Act His Age On Stage?

He’s a musician! He’s an inventor! He’s a nut!  He’s been called the Thomas Edison of entertainers, a wizard of one-liners and a lightning bolt of lunacy. His astounding gadgets, preposterous songs, impeccable comic timing and kooky take on classic vaudeville have thrilled and entertained fans of all ages for over 4 decades. Juno Award winner Al Simmons is a creative genius whose highly original performances of profound wackiness and off-the-wall inventions have taken the arts of Music and Comedy to unparalleled heights of hilarity. Young or old, you cannot fail to appreciate this man’s frenetic stage antics and mind-boggling lovableness.

See Al in a different light as he takes the stage during So You Think You Can Act on February 16th, 8pm at the Gas Station Arts Centre! Although he might be performing a comic scene, he will also have to act his age for once without the help of musical instruments or gadgets. Word on the street is that he’s already trying to bribe the judges, but it is the audience who gets to vote for the winner of the inaugural trophy. If you love Al’s work come out and support his bid for top spot! Tickets can be purchased through our website.

Sylvia Kuzyk – Actor in So You Think You Can Act!

We all know and love Sylvia Kuzyk from her nearly thirty-eight year career with CTV, but in February we will be able to see her in a new role – actor! Sylvia is taking part in our inaugural fundraiser So You Think You Can Act, taking place on Febrary 16th 8pm at the Gas Station Arts Centre.

Sylvia will take part in So You Think You Can Act Feb. 16th!

So You Think You Can Act is a fun fundraiser that features local celebrities testing out their acting chops in front of a panel of judges and an audience. The line up includes Ace Burpee, Randall King, Tracy Koga, John Lu, Howard Mandshein, Laurie Mustard, Al Simmons, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, and….Sylvia Kuzyk!

The theme of this year’s So You Think You Can Act is “Love Gone Wrong”, and we are excited to see our celebrites take on scenes with local actors about unrequited love, bad break-ups and failed wooing. As the holidays approach, we think it’s a perfect time to get to know one of our celebrities better. Sit back and relax as we take a look at Sylvia’s amazing life!

Sylvia Kuzyk is a veteran television news broadcaster who spent most of her nearly 38 year career at CTV Winnipeg, formerly CKY Television.

For years Sylvia was CTV’s weather specialist, endorsed by the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. She was committed to bringing Manitobans forecasts they could trust. She was also a news interviewer and host/producer of CTV Winnipeg’s arts and entertainment segment “Spotlight”. One of western Canada’s first women in news broadcasting, Kuzyk started her career at CTV as a weather anchor. Over the years she performed many roles including late night and 6:00 p.m. news anchor/editor/producer and host/producer of several daily and weekly interview shows.

Over the years, Sylvia Kuzyk has won numerous public service awards from such organizations as the Kidney Foundation of Canada (1988), the John Alexander Media Award for her interview series “Multiple Sclerosis: The Baffling Disease” (1994)… and the Manitoba Volunteerism Award for Media (1996). She was awarded the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Award in 1999.

Sylvia has also won numerous awards and honours for her work. In 2004, Kuzyk won the YM/YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Media and Communications. In 2005 the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba honoured Kuzyk with the Broadcast Excellence Award for her work in the Manitoba broadcast industry… and in 2010 she was presented with the RTNDA Canada (Canadian Radio and Television News Directors Association) Lifetime Achievement Award, Prairie Region.

This year in September 2011, Sylvia was again honoured by the Broadcasters Association of Manitoba with the Hall of Fame Award for significant contribution to the broadcast industry in Manitoba. Most recently, in October 2011, she was awarded the Inspiring Life Award by the Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Fort Garry and was named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International “for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world.”

One of Sylvia’s great honours came in 2009 when she was invested into the Order of Manitoba.

She was born in Berlin, Germany and immigrated to Manitoba as a young child.  She is still fluent in German. Sylvia loves to call Winnipeg home and is an ardent promoter of this city and province.

Sylvia on CTV

We think Sylvia Kuzyk is a Winnipeg gem. She is well deserving of all her accolades and she was a comfort to so many people every night on CTV. We are so excited to have Sylvia on board for So You Think You Can Act, and we can’t wait to see her on stage!

To buy tickets to see Sylvia in So You Think You Can Act go to our website or call 586-2236. So You Think You Can Act runs February 16th 8:00 pm at the Gas Station Arts Centre.  Tickets are $25 and include a wine reception.