Arts Briefs | June 8 edition
Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 8, 2023
Get Jazzy With It
The second installment of Bruce Phares’ “Jazzy June” duet series will continue from 1 to 3 p.m. at Vashon’s Episcopal Church Of The Holy Spirit on Saturday, June 10.
Phares has enlisted master jazz guitarist Brian Monroney, one of the most in-demand guitarists in the Seattle area, for the weekend’s concert, exploring a different aspect of improvisation in duet than the traditional American Standards Songbook material.
Audience members will hear selections from the discographies of Tom Waits to Soundgarden, Radiohead to Madonna, in addition to a number of Monroney’s exceptional originals. A long-time guitarist/musical director for the global icon Tom Jones, Monroney is a master of numerous musical styles, unleashing explosively serpentine lines rich in composition when soloing, all while combining the skill of a seasoned pro with the excitement, energy, and joy of a true music enthusiast.
In addition to the afternoon concert, Phares will perform on his 6-string Ibanez electric bass with islanders Michael Whitmore and Kevin Nortness from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday evening at Black Cat Cabaret.
Spoon Carving Class
Learn how to carve a kitchen spoon from raw, green wood using a few simple hand tools at Vashon Maker Space, on Saturday, June 10. For the time of class and more details, go here.
Dance, Edie, Dance!
Drag Sensation Edie will bring her acclaimed act to Vashon at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 10, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
Edie is best known for Cirque du Soleil’s hit show, “Zumanity,” where she starred as the emcee, the “Mistress of Sensuality,” at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. During her 13-year run, she performed over 5,600 shows for over 6 million people.
Edie began her professional dance career at the age of 17, with Ballet Oregon. For the next 11 years, she danced with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Chicago, and Pennsylvania Ballet, before moving to New York to pursue musical theater. Quickly became a fixture in the city, racking up a bevy of awards including Best Drag Queen (HX Award), Best Dance Artist and Entertainer of the Year (Glammy Award). She starred in her autobiographical, off-Broadway show “LEGS!,” performed on the MTV Video Music Awards, appeared on “Sex and the City,” was featured at Wigstock and Broadway Bares, and made her Broadway debut alongside Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming in the Tony-nominated revival of “The Threepenny Opera” at Studio 54.
For the past two years, she has starred in “Faaabulous! The Show,” as the host/performer/creator/producer in the only live singing drag show in Las Vegas.
This show is appropriate for all ages. Get tickets at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
Drama Dock’s “An Inspector Calls”
Vashon’s venerable theater company, Drama Dock, will present “An Inspector Calls,” the second offering in its all-British 2023 season, opening June 22 and running through June 25, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
“An Inspector Calls,” a classic police thriller by J.B. Priestly, is both a thrilling mystery and riveting social commentary, that twists and turns its way through a family’s implication in the tragic death of a young woman.
Originally produced in 1945 in the Soviet Union and then on London’s West End, in 1946, starring Ralph Richardson, Margaret Leighton, and Alec Guinness, the play has been frequently revived, and in 2009, The Gaurdian said that a revival of the play, that years, was “still brilliantly accusatory, bracing and strange.”
Directed by Drama Dock’s artistic director, Lisa Peretti, the play will feature a cast of veteran local actors — Bill Epstein, Christopher Kehoe, Stephanie Murray, Alyssa Norling, Gaye Detzer, and Gabriel Dawson making his professional debut having recently graduated from acting school in New York.
Reed Harvey, in the title role, who only recently moved to the island, has acted professionally on stages, TV and film, appearing with John Travolta and John Heard, among others. He co-founded a critically-acclaimed theatre company, has produced theater and dance, and is also a produced playwright.
The play will be performed at 7 p.m. on June 22, 23, and 24, and at 2 p.m. June 25. An opening night pre-party will take place at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, July 22, at The Minglement.
Get tickets and learn more at dramadock.org/on-stage.
