THEATER

Kudos to ‘Winghaven Park’

“Winghaven Park” is a musical about many things — war, human misunderstandings, ambition, an abandoned child, a lost and found love, the cruelty of America’s WWII incarceration of Japanese-American citizens, the warmth and tensions of neighborhood life, and much else — but it is at the bottom, it is a thrilling example of the creativity in humanity, the ability to write book/music/lyrics that carry such a humane and stirring message.

Winghaven Park is a Vashon neighborhood, where the musical begins; its writer, Lisa Peretti, is herself a resident of the island.

Her work touches the heart, and beyond the story itself, for me, personally, it brought back memories of our own family in wartime, of the terrible cost in human conflict — a fatal disease of our species we cannot seem to overcome.

But this musical is also about the triumphs and humanity that still give us hope. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it — and hope that if you did, you’ll soon see it in another production on the mainland, which it deserves. Bigger audiences need to see “Winghaven Park” to take the journey that unfolds on stage, with rousing and original music and a cast of singers that brings the story to unforgettable life.

Michael James