VICTORIA RASKIN BRINGS A BOLD, MULTI-SENSORY POP EXPERIENCE TO GRANVILLE ISLAND NOVEMBER 20
Vancouver singer, songwriter, and performer Victoria Raskin will bring her ambitious new production Victoria Raskin Live to Performance Works on Granville Island on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Doors open at 6:30 PM, show starts at 7 PM. Tickets are available for purchase here.
An evening of music, dance, theatre, and immersive storytelling, Victoria Raskin Live is set to be a one-of-a-kind experience in Vancouver’s independent music scene – a spectacle that pushes the boundary between concert and performance art. A true labour of love, the show was made possible through generous support from the Armenian Cultural Association of BC and a network of friends and family who rallied behind Raskin’s vision. In that same spirit of community, partial proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Society for Orphaned Armenian Relief (SOAR).
“I’ve been dreaming about, planning, and fundraising for this show for the past two years,” says Raskin. “It’s a huge professional milestone to take the jump independently to create the kind of show that I want to see, give my art a platform to shine, and bring together the dance, theatre, and music worlds all in one night. Little me would be so proud.”
Far from a traditional concert, Victoria Raskin Live promises a dynamic, genre-blending experience. Expect hidden dancers in the audience, choreographed sequences, Swarovski-covered costumes, cabaret chairs, and see-through umbrellas glowing with fairy lights – all wrapped in a narrative designed to pull audiences into Raskin’s world. The show will also feature six dancers choreographed by Malia McMullen (known for her work in film and television, including World of Dance), and a live band featuring Tim Charman (bass), Chris Sallis-Lyon (drums), Nathan Barrett (trumpet / sousaphone) and Cole Tinney (keyboard).
“Most indie artists don’t attempt a show of this scale early in their careers,” Raskin adds. “A multi-media, multidisciplinary production is expensive, time-consuming, and logistically intense, especially when you’re self-producing. I’ve had to wear every hat imaginable in planning it, but at the end of the day, that’s what makes stepping on stage so rewarding. Knowing every detail was built from the ground up.”
Raskin cites two major inspirations for the show: her mother – an opera singer who first gave her the chance to test early versions of the performance concept onstage – and a transformative trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where she attended Sophie’s Surprise 29th, a daring circus-theatre piece that left her awestruck.
“It was bold, funny, and intimate – you could feel the heat of the fire from your seat,” Raskin recalls. “That experience inspired me to create something equally alive and personal here in Vancouver. I wanted to stage a night that feels close, surprising, and unforgettable.”
The show will coincide with the release of Raskin’s new single “New Girl”, out November 19, the night before the performance, and will make its live debut at the show. The new track follows her recent single “Rise”, which showcased her cinematic pop sound and expressive storytelling.
Your show combines music, dance, theatre, and visual storytelling. How did you begin shaping a production that crosses so many artistic worlds?
I didn’t start with “a big multidisciplinary show.” I started with one question: What’s the most honest way to express these songs? Some of them needed physicality, some needed character work, some needed visual drama. Once I gave myself permission to follow what each song wanted, the show naturally grew into this blend of theatre, choreography, and concert. It’s basically my brain onstage, a little cinematic, a little chaotic, and very emotional.
You’ve described this show as a two-year labour of love. What was the biggest challenge in self-producing something of this scale, and what kept you going?
The hardest part was that I wasn’t just the artist – I was the producer, project manager, fundraiser, designer, everything. There’s no safety net when you’re doing it yourself. Every decision and every cost lands on you.
What kept me going was the feeling that I was building something I had never seen someone like me do. And honestly, every time I saw a new piece click, like a costume prop arriving, a video visual giving me goosebumps, the choreography, the dancers playing their specific characters, hearing the band play my music – it reminded me why I was putting myself through all this.
You were inspired by both your mother’s performances and seeing Sophie’s Surprise 29th at the Edinburgh Fringe. How did those experiences influence specific choices in this show?
Watching my mom perform and tour in Europe when I was younger showed me how powerful it is when an artist treats the stage like a living, breathing space. She never just “sang a song” – she inhabited it. That definitely pushed me toward theatrical staging rather than a standard concert setup.
At the Fringe, Sophie’s Surprise 29th gave me permission to lean into spectacle and surreal humor. They used the theatre like a playground, and I left thinking, “Why not? Why can’t a pop show also have a story, characters, and bizarre little visual surprises?” A lot of the more playful, unexpected elements in my show come from that spark.
The production features dancers hidden in the audience, glowing umbrellas, cabaret chairs, and Swarovski costumes. What moment of the show are you most excited for audiences to experience?
Honestly, I’m most excited about the opening. We start with my song “Throw A Party (Rum Pa Ra Pa Pum)” and there are dancers hidden in the audience who suddenly come to life around the room. Then there’s a costume-transition surprise right out of the gate. It sets the tone immediately and tells the audience they’re not just getting a concert, they’re stepping into a different kind of show than they expected.
Your new single “New Girl” debuted the night before the show. How does this new single fit into the story or emotional arc of the performance?
“New Girl” arrives at the point in the show when the story needs a shift in energy. The set moves through frustration, heartbreak, tension, satire, humour, and vulnerability, and this song drops in like an emotional reset button. It’s lighter and cheekier than the heavier subject matter before it – the part of the arc where I sit in my power and shake off the older version of myself, stepping into something bolder, stronger, and a little feisty. In the context of the show, it lets everything breathe and opens the door for what comes next.