APRIL 19, 2024 @ 7:30 – GET TICKETS

“Perk up, Pianist!” is the latest show from concert pianist/comedian Sarah Hagen, a uniquely charming music and storytelling experience that takes you deep inside the world of a touring classical musician.

With a performance career taking her from Hornby Island, BC to Gothenburg, Sweden, and onto Carnegie Hall as a First Prize Winner in the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Sarah’s favourite audience reviews from concerts remain: “She played the piano” and “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”  

Now Sarah transforms her award-winning role as “concert pianist” into a stand-up, or rather, sit-down piano-filled comedy.

““Her comic timing is as solid as her musical meter.” 

— The Edmonton Journal

“As a storyteller, Hagen has an unusual stage presence: charming in a low-key kind of way, like a friend leaning across a bar table to whisper something important.

— Mike Anderson, Mooney on Theatre

“…she played the organ. The church organ. But this is the kind of wordplay and double entendre that she uses to great effect, seeming charming and innocent on the surface — I was occasionally reminded of Jan Smithers’ Bailey Quarters on WKRP in Cincinnati — before revealing the virtuoso vixen underneath.

— Local Xpress

ABOUT SARAH HAGEN:

For her role as “classical pianist” Sarah Hagen was awarded as Ontario Contact’s 2017 Artist of the Year and the BC Touring Council’s 2015 Artist of the Year. With a performance career taking her from Goose Bay, Labrador to Gothenburg, Sweden, and on to Carnegie Hall as a First Prize Winner in the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, the Charlottetown Guardian described her 2014 recital as the Best Classical Performance of 2014, saying, “… the level of passion that Hagen possesses – when it comes to experiencing, interpreting and expressing art – is something quite extraordinary. It does seem to be this deep level of artistic understanding, and ability to communicate on this level – either through words or through artistic expression – that truly sets her apart as a pianist and musical artist.”

Often referred to as the next Victor Borge, Sarah has transformed her award-winning role as “concert pianist” into a stand-up, or rather, sit-down comedy. Pairing anecdotes with music, “Perk up, pianist!” takes audiences deep inside the world of a classical musician as she shares her earnest efforts to keep her spirits up in the midst of troublesome times. The show toured through various Canadian fringe festivals to critical acclaim in the summer of 2016. Described as “one of the best hours I’ve ever spent at the Fringe” [The Coast (Halifax)], “Perk up, pianist!” tells the tale of a touring classical musician remaining optimistic in the midst of challenging and ridiculous situations. Of the show’s debut at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Montreal Rampage wrote, “Hagen reminds us the beauty of how an honest solo performance can make you so easily fall in love with its performer.” In addition to writing completely uneducated wine reviews for her blog, “ARTIST WINES! – Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets,” Sarah is an awkward but enthusiastic tap dancer.