Vashon Rep Summer Camps
Vashon Repertory Theatre has announced the launch of youth education programs including summer theater camps now open for registration.
The youth programs will be led by islander Meg Thompson, who brings more than 20 years of experience to the role as a teaching artist, director, and youth mentor with a long history as an advocate of free and affordable youth arts programs.
The program offers theater experiences where every young actor gets a role, and no family is turned away due to financial hardship — with all programs shaped with input from a teen advisory board, open to 6-12th grade students.
Weekly camps for students in grades K-12, with performances for families staged each Friday, will take place June 24 through Aug. 25, at Vashon-Maury Grange Hall, located at 10365 SW Cowan Rd. To find out more, including costs (scholarships and sibling discounts are available) and to register, visit vashonrepertorytheatre.org.
A summer teen musical, for ages 13-18, is also being offered, with auditions from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, at Open Space. The musical theater experience is free for all, and everyone who auditions will get a role. Performances will take place Aug. 14-17 at the Grange Hall. To register, contact meg.thompson23@gmail.com.
Student Art Showcase
Vashon High School’s 4th annual Student Art Showcase will take place from 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday, May 29, in VHS’s main building.
The show features student art including paintings, drawings, woodworking, jewelry, ceramics, sculpture, fiber art, and videography. Entertainment will include demonstrations on wheel-throwing pottery and jewelry making, and a new videography section.
Student musicians will also provide live music, and attendees can enjoy a free evening meal, dessert and drinks, provided by the VHS kitchen staff and volunteers. All are welcome.
Women and the Wind
A one-night-only screening of the documentary “Women and the Wind” will be presented at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 29, at Vashon Theatre. 25% of the tickets sales will benefit Vashon Women on the Water, which promotes sailing for women and is sponsored by Quartermaster Yacht Club.
In the documentary, three women embark on journey of curiosity and adventure through a voyage across the North Atlantic.
Find out more and get tickets at vashontheatre.com.
New Short Plays
Starting on Thursday, Drama Dock will unveil its latest production, “New Short Plays, Vol. 1,” featuring five new works by playwrights Lisa Peretti, Anne Brady, Jennifer Dice, Kelleen Conway Blanchard and the team of Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones.
Performances will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, May 29-31, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 31-June 1, at Vashon High School’s theater. The production features a broad lineup of playwrights and genres — from gothic mystery to musical storytelling, domestic drama, and even an apocalyptic comedy with a philosophical twist.
The plays will feature a who’s who of Vashon talent, including directors Steven Sterne, Samantha Sherman, Chris Boscia, Janet McAlpin, and Peretti, who is directing her own play.
Actors include Kat Eggleston, Kenny Alton, Susan Lewis, Gretta Stimson, Brooke Osmet, Amy Broomhall, Kaycie Alanis, Sierra Tinhof, Maya Krah, Erika Strandberg, Michael Wishkoski, Phoebe Boroughs, Mila Jones, Mateo Grey and Brian Palermo.
Find out more and get tickets — priced at levels to accommodate all theatergoers, including those who would like to attend for free, thanks to funding from 4Culture — at dramadock.org.
Jam in the Atrium
The next installment of “Jam In The Atrium” will take place from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at Vashon Center For The Arts.
The free concert’s lineup, said host and island bassist Bruce Phares, will feature renowned touring fiddle player Mads Tolling, teaming up with award-winning saxophonist Mark Taylor and a returning JAM favorite, pianist Josh Rawlings.
Tolling boasts a formidable resume of recordings and concert performances as a former member of Turtle Island Quartet, led by acclaimed jazz bassist Stanley Clarke, as well as performing with Bobby Weir (Grateful Dead), and Don Was. He has received two Grammy awards; the first in 2006, for Best Classical Crossover Album as part of Turtle Island Quartet’s recordings “4+Four, and the second in 2008 for “A Love Supreme — The Legacy of John Coltrane.”
Tolling is equally at home playing jazz, fusion, funk, classical, rock, as well as Danish folk music.
Taylor is one of the most in-demand saxophonists in the Pacific Northwest, and has performed widely in the United State and Japan. He was named as Northwest’s Jazz Instrumentalist of 2008 by Earshot Jazz Magazine.
Rawlings, a Grammy-nominated and award-winning recording artist and composer, has toured throughout the United States and Europe with Macklemore, Soul and R&B sensation Allen Stone, and performed locally with his own jazz groups for many years.
Kingdom Jack’d
What if the kingdom’s greatest fool became king? Playwright Scott Bradley raises this question in “A Kingdom Jack’d,” a bawdy, non-binary and irreverent alternate-history take on Shakespeare’s “Henry IV.”
Bradley and a cast of local talent will present a reading of the play at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 1, at Open Space for Arts & Community.
The show opens in 1399 England, following the deposal of Richard II and what should have been the coronation of Henry IV. Instead, political machinations have thrust Sir John “Jack” Falstaff onto the throne. With Jack’s band of cutthroats running court and the Lancasters reduced to rebels, Britain descends into chaos.
The country’s only hope lies with Eastcheap prostitute Doll Tearsheet, who joins Shakespeare’s other tertiary female characters to establish a new order.
Admission to this event is free or by donation. The reading will conclude with a talkback with the audience.
Open Space is located at 18870 103rd Ave SW. Find out more at openspacevashon.com.
Apollo & the Muses
The Blue Heron Dance Company and the students of VCA’s Center for Dance will transport audiences to ancient Greece with “Apollo & the Muses,” set for four performances at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, June 5 and 6; and 2 p.m. Saturday, June 7 and 8, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
The Saturday matinee is a “sensory friendly” performance, billed as being especially great for seniors and little ones.
This original production uses the multiple dance forms — ballet, modern, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, and tap — to tell an otherworldly tale inspired by Greek mythology, showcasing all the students enrolled in VCA’s dance curriculum.
Find out more and get tickets at vashoncenterforthearts.org.
Tales of Mythical Creatures
The UMO School will present its spring student showcase, “Tales of Mythical Creatures, at 7 p.m. Friday, June 6, and 2 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at Open Space for Arts & Community, 18870 103rd Ave SW.
During the showcase, UMO School students of all disciplines will come together on stage in one story of myth and magic, designed to dazzle audiences with all they have learned and worked on during the spring semester at the UMO school.
Find out more and get tickets at openspacevashon.com.
Black Cat Cabaret
The third annual Black Cat Cabaret — a night of one-of-a-kind song, dance and burlesque — will be performed at 6:30 and 9 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at Snapdragon.
The cabaret is a “burst of summer solstice sparkle,” said organizer Sarah Howard, celebrating the longest day (and shortest night) of the year, with performances by Penny Banks, Bone Deep Bellydance, Taryn Luce, and many more. Hosted by the mystical and mischievous Vixy Post, the show is meant to give audiences a peek into the music and mayhem of Vashon after hours.
Get tickets and find out more at brownpapertickets.com.
Nomadic Dance classes
Nomadic Dance offers adult partner and social dancing classes for all skill levels, all at Open Space, 18870 103rd Ave. All classes take place from 6-6:50 p.m.
• Lead & Follow 101, on Tuesdays, focuses on the fundamentals of partner dancing to all styles of music.
• West Coast Swing 2, on Wednesdays from May 21 through June 4, builds on skills from West Coast Swing 1 or equivalent to enhance fluidity and confidence while dancing with any partner.
• Salsa, on Wednesdays from June 11 to June 25, focuses on timing, connection, and musicality while enjoying the energetic Latin beats that make salsa a favorite.
Pre-registration required. Visit nomadicdance.com.
UMO School students will dazzle in “Tales of Mythical Creatures,” a showcase to be performed on June 6 and 7 at Open Space. (Courtesy photo)
(Left to right) On June 1, Mads Tolling, Josh Rawlings and Mark Taylor will play in the next installment of Jam in the Atrium, at Vashon Center for the Arts. (Courtesy photos)
