Stars shine on silver screen

Don your boas and bow ties, Sunday is Oscar Night at the Vashon Theatre, and all islanders are invited to the watch Hollywood’s Academy Awards ceremony on the silver screen, with special events beginning at 4 p.m.

Oscar Night at the Vashon Theatre is the annual fundraiser produced by Vashon Film Society (VFS), with proceeds going toward scholarship awards given through the Vashon Community Scholarship Foundation to help graduating high school students pursue film-related studies. VFS also uses the gala to raise awareness about the need to support and preserve the island’s only movie theater.

VFS will roll out the red carpet in celebration of its 19th year. Creatively-dressed islanders can walk down the carpet after taking a ride around the block in a limousine and perhaps finding fame during an interview by VFS entertainment reporters.

At 5 p.m., festivities will begin inside the theater, with Janet McAlpin and David Godsey, founders of Open Space for Arts & Community, acting as emcees. During the commercial breaks, once the program begins, there will be a costume contest with multiple categories, including best dressed, pjs and celebrity look-alikes.

As in the recent past, VFS will arrange for a catered meal from Snapdragon, with wine, beer, soft drinks and snacks sold at the concession stand.

Tickets are on sale at the theater box office, vashontheatre.com and Vashon Bookshop. Advance admission is $10 for all ages. Tickets are $12 on Sunday. Limousine rides with a paparazzi photograph are $10 per carload; the Snapdragon meal costs $10 per person. The best advance ticket, called the Superstar Package, will include $5 off the admission price, the limo ride and photograph, dinner, dessert and beverage for $30.

For more information, call VFS at 567-4768 or stop by the theater.

German musicians play baroque

Hanover, Germany’s, vibrant early music scene will be brought to life when The Salish Sea Early Music Festival returns to Bethel Church at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 29.

The program of baroque chamber music will include work by Jean-Philippe Rameau; selections from the Suite E Minor from Pièces en Trio by Marin Marais; Jean-Marie Leclair’s Deuxième Récréation de Musique, Opus 8; the Sonata in G Major for obbligato harpsichord and violin; BWV 1019 by Johann Sebastian Bach; Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Trio Sonata in B Minor, Wq. 143, and the Trio Sonata in G major and BWV 1038 by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The evening will include two special guests from Germany — harpichordist Bernward Lohr and baroque violinist Anne Rohrig. Both are professors at music conservatories in Hanover and Nuremburg, Germany.

Lohr directs Hanover’s MusicaAlta Ripa, one of Germany’s most active period-instrument ensembles. Rohrig leads one of Germany’s premier baroque orchestras, Hannoversche Hofkapelle.

Suggested donations for tickets range from $15 to $20, with those 18 years of age and younger free.

Islanders sing ‘Stabat Mater’

A group of talented island artists will perform Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at St. John Vianney Church.

The Stabat Mater hymn, composed by Pergolesi in 1736, is one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems. In this performance, vocal soloists will include Jennifer Krikawa, Rebekah Kuzma, Holly Boaz and Julia Benzinger. Strings will be performed by Karin Choo, Dan Brandt and Danielle McCutcheon. Charles Lovekin will play the organ. Father Marc Powell, priest at St. John Vianney, will read an English translation of the stanzas between each of the 12 movements.

Tickets are a suggested $15 donation.

Stephen Tobolowsky comes back to the island

Actor, writer, director and storyteller Stephen Tobolowsky will return to Vashon for a special reception at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Sugar Shack and a performance at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Vashon Theatre.

The reception for the acclaimed storyteller will be limited to 50 people. For the performance, the actor will narrate stories from his popular podcast, “The Tobolowsky Files.”

Both evenings will raise funds for the Vashon senior class and the Vashon Scholarship Foundation. Tobolowsky’s last performance on Vashon in 2011 — also a fundraiser for the schools — quickly sold out.

Childcare at Vashon High School will be available during Sunday’s show. Contact laurie@hennesseypr.com.

Tickets are available at the Vashon Theatre box office and vashontheatre.com.

Ian Moore and others honor Townes Van Zandt

In celebration of legendary singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, local musicians Ian Moore, Star Anna, Loren Sinner, Jeff Kanzler, Gregg Curry, Kat Eggleston, Roger Taylor and Lonesome Mike Nichols will come together for a special show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, at the Blue Heron.

Van Zandt penned hit songs such as “If I Needed You” and “Pancho & Lefty,” which hit the top of the country charts by artists such as EmmyLou Harris, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and The Cowboy Junkies. Often referred to as the musicians’ musician, Van Zandt had a legion of cult followers that included Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Lyle Lovett. Van Zandt is also credited with teaching Ian Moore how to finger-pick the guitar.

Islander Debra Heesch is producing the show as a fundraiser for Vashon Youth & Family Services. Tickets are $15 and are available at the Blue Heron, vashonalliedarts.org and Heron’s Nest.