Last Sunday, it was thrilling to see islanders fill almost every seat in Vashon High School’s well-appointed theater to see Drama’s Dock 45th season opener — “Winghaven Park,” a new musical set in WWII-era Vashon, with book, music and lyrics by islander Lisa Peretti.
The musical has long been in the making. It was commissioned by Drama Dock in 2018 but didn’t make it to the stage for its planned opening — like so many other theatrical works of art, the production was stalled by COVID-19.
But Peretti didn’t take no for an answer, and even in the quietest and most scary days of the pandemic, she kept writing and dreaming about the show.
Now, it’s finally here — a musical truly by Vashon, about Vashon, filled with references and characters (including an intrepid reporter for the Vashon Island News-Record) that islanders will appreciate.
But even though the setting is familiar, the musical still has big city ambitions, complete with a storyline fit for a Broadway show — a glamorous movie star, Vera Webster, returns to her rustic hometown to face the demons of her past, and wrestle with what it means to be home.
Vashon, for Vera Webster, is a place where secrets are stashed, and much of the tension of the musical surrounds those secrets — not only Vera’s but those of other islanders as well.
Set during the middle of the war, the musical plays against the backdrop of an island emptied of its vibrant community of Japanese berry farmers, who had been shamefully sent by the federal government to internment camps.
This historical fact plays into the plot as Vera partially finds the courage to face her own past when she asks her fellow islanders to help repair the harm that has come to their community through xenophobia and racism.
The story of the musical is dark in many ways — but that doesn’t mean the music is not bright and the staging is not effervescent in many passages.
Home is everything, after all, both darkness and light.
The songs in the show range from swing, blues, ballads and pure Broadway, and “Winghaven Park” also includes ensemble dance numbers — giving dancers Alison Rucker and Christopher Sweet, in particular, opportunities to delight the audience with their athleticism.
The leads of the show, Sarah Daniels, Ricky Spaulding, and Alicia Ferrin, are all strong and accomplished singers and performers and deliver Peretti’s beautiful and demanding songs with great skill.
Two standouts in the large ensemble cast are Ernest Henderson, who regularly serves up sweet comic relief to the proceedings, and Olivia Bentley, a singer who makes the most of her one heart-stopping solo.
But the heart and soul of the show belong to Utisah Durahim, who nails her central part as a child who has an emotional tear in her heart that badly needs mending.
Durham has been raised in Vashon’s vibrant youth theater scene, and her training, experience and boundless joy in performing shows. She commands the stage with incredible talent.
Her duet with Leo Watson, another gifted local child actor, contains the most beautiful harmonies of the show; it brought down the house at the matinee performance on Sunday.
Directed by Kelly Kitchens, with musical direction and supervision by Zachary Kellogg, the show is staged on an ingeniously simple and handsome set designed by Suzi Tucker, with lighting by Trevor Cushman, costumes by Jocelyn Fowler and sound design by August Moore.
It’s a great achievement for our venerable Drama Dock, not to be missed by those who love and support the theatrical arts on Vashon.
Catch it while you can, right here on the island that inspired it. Additional performances will take place at 7 p.m. on Aug. 31 (Wednesday), and Sept. 1, 2 and 3 (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday).
Get tickets at dramadock.com and find out more about the show at winghaven.info.
