Youth show
“The Ocean of Black Water (a deeper journey)” — a new work of ensemble theater that has been developed by island teenagers over the past year — will be presented in two free performances, at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, at Open Space for Arts & Community.
The performance has been more than a year in the making, through a partnership between UMO Ensemble, Orbit Teen Center, Open Space for Arts & Community, and Attention Artists at Work.
The long process has resulted in a work of theater that is, according to organizers, in turns funny and tragic, evoking film noir, existential ennui, comedy and pathos.
The teen ensemble includes Phoebe Ray, along with Mickey Fontaine, Raena Joyce, Cooper Tantau, and Japhy Tsiastenhoven, Chloe Sutherland, and Amelie Smith. Live music, by Mickey Fontaine, underscores the piece.
This workshop presentation will be followed by a discussion, with audience feedback welcome. For more information, visit openspacevashon.org.
Jam in the Atrium
The Jam In The Atrium series will continue from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 15, with the return of one of Vashon’s favorite pianists, Jeremy Bacon, who has performed with such greats as Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans and Sonny Rollins. A recent import from the New York jazz scene, he has become one of the top go-to pianists for instrumentalists and singers in the Northwest. At this performance, he’ll duet with jazz bassist Michael Glynn, one of Seattle’s first-call bass soloists and accompanists. The free performance will be hosted by Chris O’Brien.
International Haiku Day
Celebrate International Haiku Day, from 12 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 16, at the Mukai Farm & Garden Open House. Mukai Haiku Festival winners will be announced and all the contest poems are on display throughout the garden. Mukai Farm & Garden’s Haiku Fest drew 576 poem entries from 13 countries, all now on view at the farm through May.
To learn more about the free event, visit mukaifarmandgarden.org.
Femme Fatales
“In Defense of the Femme Fatale,” a lecture by renowned Seattle film critic and Vashon resident Robert Horton, will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Horton will delve deep into the heyday of film noir, a cynical genre that nevertheless bedazzled movie-goers with the charms of Barbara Stanwyck (Double Indemnity), Rita Hayworth (Gilda) and Joan Bennett (Scarlet Street). Elizabeth Shepherd, editor of The Beachcomber, will join Horton after his talk for a discussion on the gendered mayhem of the genre.
Vashon Opera
Tickets are now on sale for Vashon Opera’s spring production of Guiseppe Verdis “Rigoletto,” a masterpiece of mockery, mayhem, misinformation and murder. The stellar company includes Ksenia Popova, who will sing Gilda, and Daniel O’Hearn, who will sing the Duke of Mantua. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 5, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 7, at Vashon Center for the Arts. Find out more and purchase tickets now, at vashonopera.org.
