Shows to warm up a cold night: Performers will tear up the stage, fly high and bring beautiful music to town

Accordion Babes give the Bike a squeeze

The Accordion Babes — a Bay Area duo made up of Renee de la Prade and Amber Lee Baker — will stroll through the Red Bicycle bar beginning at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, playing Cajun, Irish and rock and roll songs. Both players are featured on this year’s West Coast Accordion Babes pin-up calendar and CD, and will have copies of both on hand. This is a free event for ages 21 and older only.

Young thespians descend a rabbit hole

Twenty young thespians will take the stage in a new offering of Drama Dock’s Youth Theatre Intiative — two one-act plays set in other worlds, where nothing is really quite what it appears to be.

The shows will be peformed at 7:30 p.m Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Jan 27 through 29, at the Vashon High School theater.

The evenings will begin with Arthur Kopit’s 1938 drama, “Chamber Music,” set in an insane asylum filled with women who are convinced that they are such famous women as Gertrude Stein, Susan B. Anthony, Amelia Earhardt and Joan of Arc.

Players will include Solena Biro, Ellie Hughes, Hannah Fellbaum, Molly Dillon, Mara Burns, Michelle Gilmour-Myer, Lizzy Schoen and Maya Krah.

Two young men, Max Lopuszynski and Franklin Easton, have taken on roles as an asylum doctor and his assistant.

The second one-act offering, “Alice,” is an absurdist retelling of Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

Maria Gilmour, in the title role, will be surrounded by a supporting cast including Trevor Tuma, Lucien Brillant, Preston Scheer, Roman Marquez-Twisdale, Franklin Easton, Jack Nelson, Alexander Wright, Isaac Hughes, Oliver Daniels-Pavich and Devan Barnes.

Max Lopuszynski, Miriam Chappelka, Kaia Lynne-Boonzaier are in charge of stage management and lights.

Both plays have been directed by Drama Dock’s Artistic Director, Elizabeth Ripley, who is spearheading Drama Dock’s youth program.

According to Drama Dock board member Boo Dinan-Slack, the organization’s youth outreach — which began last fall with a production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical, “Into the Woods,” provides Islanders with “an excellent opportunity to see the challenging roles our up- and-coming young actors are performing.”

All the kids who are in the shows are in middle school and high school.

Tickets to the show, which are on sale at Vashon bookstores and at the door, are $15 general admission and $10 for seniors and youth. Drama Dock members get a 25 percent discount.

UMO plans a high-flying benefit

The Hardware Store Restaurant will be transformed into a lively caberet for an upcoming benefit for Vashon’s performance troupe, UMO.

The benefit, dubbed “UMO’s Little Black Dress,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, at The Hardware Store.

The evening will feature performances by all the UMO artists, aerial acts, music from a the raucous Seattle band, God’s Favorite Beefcake, and other special guests.

Tickets are $40 and include dinner, a champagne toast and the show. They can be purchased in advance at the restaurant or by calling 408-8059.