What’s Happening July 11 – 18

A benefit show at the Red Bike; a landscape architect takes on the Eiffel Tower; “Frozen” on stage.

July 10, 2019 1:30 am
Kathryn Gustafson, an acclaimed landscape architect, will give a lecture about her plans to transform the grounds surrounding the Eiffel Tower at a talk at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Vashon Center for the Arts (Courtesy Photo).
Kathryn Gustafson, an acclaimed landscape architect, will give a lecture about her plans to transform the grounds surrounding the Eiffel Tower at a talk at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Vashon Center for the Arts (Courtesy Photo).

Cut a rug with The Company Stone

The Company Stone, an island dance band that plays a mix of rhythm and blues, jazz, soul, rock and roll and Americana, will play a free, all-ages show at 8 p.m. Friday, July 12, at Red Bicycle Bistro & Sushi. Camille Reeves fronts the band, singing original songs and hand-picked covers. The band incorporates a brass section called The Horns of Plenty, featuring Greg McElroy on tenor saxophone, Dylan Basurto on trumpet, and Leander Swan on trumpet. Other players are Andy James on guitar, Manuel Alvarez-Bones on Bass and Dan Bruce on drums. All performances by The Company Stone benefit island charities; this time, the band will solicit donations for Journeyman Institute, an island organization mentors boy and men. The show is for all ages until 11 p.m. and 21 and older after that.

Strawberry Festival music lineup listed

Islanders can take their pick of almost 40 singers, bands and other acts booked for next week’s Strawberry Festival, starting Friday, July 19 and running through Sunday, July 21. The lineup — including such beloved local bands as St. Ophelia, Publish the Quest, One More Mile and Portage Fil — can be found at vashonevents.org. New this year, on the Ober Park stage, will be aerial performances by teachers and students of The UMO School of Physical Arts.

Vashon Opera offers up 11th season

Season tickets are now on sale for Vashon Opera’s 2019-2020 season. The company’s 11th season will bow in September 13 and 15 with Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata,” marking Vashon Opera’s premiere presentation of a Verdi opera. On May 22 and 25, the company will present Pietro Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana.” Known for its orchestral intermezzo, the opera will come to life in a production that brings Vashon Opera’s acclaimed orchestra out of the orchestra pit and onto the stage. The production will also include a prelude of pastoral masterworks for solo voices and orchestra. Season ticket holders can see both operas for between $50 and $90 total, depending on seats. Visit vashonopera.org for more information and to purchase tickets.

An acclaimed local architect talks Eiffel Tower

Islander and acclaimed landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson will lecture about her plans to transform the grounds surrounding the Eiffel Tower at a talk at 4 p.m. Sunday, July 21, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Gustafson and her firm, Gustafson, Porter + Bowman, have been selected by the city of Paris to revitalize 135 heavily trafficked acres in the heart of Paris. Gustafson, who divides her time between Vashon and London, is known for award-winning contemporary designs that include Valencia’s Parque Central in Spain, Westergasfabriek Culture Park in Amsterdam and the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in London. She is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architecture, an honorary Royal Designer for Industry member, a medalist of the French Academy of Architecture, and a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects. She is also the recipient of the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture, the Obayashi Prize, the ASLA Design Medal, the Chrysler Design Award, and London’s Jane Drew Prize. Tickets to the lecture, $15 to $20, are on sale now at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Calling all poets

The Open Poetry Group will have its next monthly meeting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, at the Vashon Library Meeting Room. Poets should bring eight copies of their works. The group is focused on positive critique and welcomes both beginners and experienced poets. There is no charge to participate. Linera Lucas, a published poet and retired creative writing teacher, leads the group.

Musical theater kids do ‘Frozen’

Elsa, Anna and the land of Arendelle will come to life in “Frozen, Jr.,” a production by Vashon Center for the Arts’ musical theater education program for youth, at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26. The show features memorable songs from the animated film, plus new songs written for the Broadway production. Tickets for the family-friendly show are $5.

Zoey Wilson, Phoebe Ray, Lucy Rogers and Gabriel Dawson are in the cast of “Frozen, Jr.” The show will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Vashon Center for the Arts (Kevin Hoffberg Photo).

Zoey Wilson, Phoebe Ray, Lucy Rogers and Gabriel Dawson are in the cast of “Frozen, Jr.” The show will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Vashon Center for the Arts (Kevin Hoffberg Photo).