“It’s Vashon Isle!”
Tickets are now on sale for “It’s Vashon Isle!” running for four performances only on Oct. 13, 14, and 15, at Vashon Center for the Arts. The show — a benefit for Voice of Vashon and Vashon Heritage Museum — stars island emcee, voiceover artist and Voice of Vashon stalwart Jeff Hoyt.
The show is centered around a remarkable historical document — “It’s Vashon Isle,” a radio broadcast from 1926, created by Vashon News-Record editor and publisher P. Monroe Smock. Smock’s radio address served as one of radio’s first known examples of an infomercial, promoting the wonders of Vashon and inviting others to visit and move to the island.
Recreating Smock’s inventive radio address, Hoyt will welcome a rotating cast of favorite Vashon performers to the stage, as well as other special guests who will offer perspectives on the island’s challenges in Smock’s era and in the present day.
To find out more about the show and purchase tickets, visit vashoncenterforthearts.org. To learn more about P. Monroe Smock and Hoyts’ portrayal of him, see “Time & Again,” page 5.
Jam in the Atrium
Piano and vocal jazz return to the Jam In The Atrium series, from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct 14, at Vashon Center for the Arts.
The free concert and musical discussion will feature award-winning jazz vocalist Kelley Johnson, acclaimed pianist John Hanson and JAM host and bassist Bruce Phares for two sets of jazz. Kelley is lauded as a “singer’s singer” whose voice mixes with dynamic delivery and colorful arrangements to showcase her interpretive finesse and inspired solos.
Keyboardist John Hansen is regarded as one of the most in-demand jazz artists in the Northwest. His performance history includes such venues as Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, John F. Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts, Seattle’s Jazz Alley, and Tula’s, and international festivals and tours in France, Japan, Korea, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Russia and Central America.
Three songwriters
Peter Mulvey, Joe Panzetta, and Kat Eggleston will perform in a concert “in the round” at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 16, at Vashon Theatre — taking turns in the spotlight but also trading stories and songs, as longtime friends might in a magical night of music-making.
Mulvey’s output includes 19 records, an illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, emceeing festivals, and hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin).
Eggleston has collaborated onstage and in recordings with a variety of musicians over the years, including David Bromberg, Tom Dundee, Irish music supergroups Bohola and the David Munnelly band, and long-time music partner Kate MacLeod, to name a few.
Panzetta is a songwriter and composer who co-fronts the Vashon band, Saint Ophelia.
A multi-instrumentalist, he is a guitarist first, with an intricate flat-picking style that weaves through his chord progressions, over which he sings melodic lines about love, loss, division, forgiveness, and healing.
Get tickets to the concert, presented by Debra Heesch, at vashontheatre.com.
Book reading
In his recently published new book, “The Breathable Body: Transforming Your World and Your Life, One Breath at a Time,” islander Robert Litman shares the insights and practices he has discovered over more than 30 years as a breathing and movement educator.
Litman will read from the book at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Vashon Bookshop.
“This loving book comes from the heart of the love of a daring explorer of the mysteries of the body,” said Lorin Roche, author of The Radiance Sutras. “Open anywhere and be reminded how delicious it can be to simply take a breath.”
For more than 30 years, Robert Litman has guided artists, musicians, health professionals, athletes, activists, asthmatics, and countless others to restore healthy breathing rhythms, structural alignment, and coordinated movement.
The book, published by Hay House, can be purchased from independent bookstores and online retailers. Visit thebreathablebody.com to find out more.
Miniature Show
Vashon Center for the Arts is accepting applications for its annual Miniature Show, to run Dec 1-24 in the VCA Gallery. All styles of art are welcome with one requirement —the size. Two-dimensional art cannot be more than 36 square inches (including frame). All 3-D art entries cannot be longer than 6 inches in any direction.
The deadline for applications is Nov. 7, at midnight.
For more information, head here.
