Large Stage Events

Cascade Symphony Orchestra
Monday, May 12 ~ 7:30 p.m.
Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA)
410 4th Ave. N.

Cascade Symphony Orchestra (CSO) will feature three very different classical pieces in its upcoming May performance – Prokofieff’s “Classical Symphony”, the overture, to Wagner’s rarely performed opera, “Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen”, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3.

Natalya Ageyeva will be on stage to perform the concerto. Ageyeva began her music studies in her native Russia at the Special Music School for Talented Children in Moscow. She went on to the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, where she graduated with honors in the Master’s Program of the prestigious conservatory.

Ageyeva has performed at a range of venues including Benaroya Hall, the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia, and the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow. Audiences in Italy, Austria, and Israel have enjoyed her “sharp musical intelligence” as she has played from her repertoire that includes works from the catalogs of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Grieg, Hayden, Listz, Mozart, Prokofiev, Ravel, and Rachmaninoff.

In 2007 Ageyeva founded the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle (RCMFS), which specializes in the promotion of Russian music, including solo and chamber music genres, with the mission “to bring the best of Russian music to American audiences.”

The Prokofiev piece, Symphony No. 1 in D major, “Classical”, premiered in 1918 in Petrograd under the baton of the composer. It is scored for ensembles typical of the Classical period of the late 18th century when Mozart’s and Haydn’s works were being performed.

“Rienzi”, the third completed opera by Wagner debuted in Dresden, German in 1842. CSO will perform the overture to the five-act opera, which begins with a trumpet call. “Rienzi” is the only grand opera that Wagner ever wrote.

This concludes the 2013-2014 season for the popular orchestra, which will begin its 53rd season with its “Symphonic Dances” on Monday, Oct. 20, 2014.

Check on ticket availability by calling the ECA Box Office at 425-275-9595. The ECA Box Office is located at 410 4th Ave. N.
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GIVEBig Reminder
Tuesday, May 6

The ECA will participate in The Seattle Foundation’s GIVEBig again this year and asks that you designate Edmonds Center for the Arts as the recipient of your 2014 gift. According to Tina Stryker, communications manager for ECA, gifts to Edmonds Center for the Arts “ncreases your impact on ECA’s mission to strengthen and inspire our community through the performing arts.”

To make your Tuesday, May 6 donation online, go to ECA’s Seattle Foundation page.

“For every donation earmarked for Edmonds Center for the Arts, The Seattle Foundation chips in so that donations are stretched, and the impact of each gift to ECA is increased,” Stryker noted.
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Chanticleer
Thursday, May 8 ~ 7:30 p.m.

“Chanticleer”, the Bay Area’s multiple Grammy award-winning male vocal ensemble, brings She Said/He Said, a program displaying the group’s characteristically eclectic repertoire and featuring songs from its upcoming CD, entitled “Someone New.”

The She Said/He Said performances include music and texts exploring the feminine ideal by Hildegard von Bingen and Tomás Luis de Victoria; the harmony and tension between the sexes by Maurice Ravel, Johannes Brahms, and Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn; “Give me Hunger” by Stacey Garrop; and Vince Peterson’s new arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.”

Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang in the ensemble until 1989 and served as Artistic Director until his death in 1997. Chanticleer – based in San Francisco – is known around the world as “an orchestra of voices” for its seamless blend of twelve male voices ranging from countertenor to bass and its original interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music.

Tickets: $27, $32 & $37, $15 youth/student,10 percent discount for seniors and military. Call the ECA Box Office at 425-275-9595, go online at www.ec4arts.org or visit the ECA Box Office.

ECA is a proud member of TeenTix, and offers $5 tickets to teens at the Box Office on the day of the performance, pending availability. To become a TeenTix member, register at www.teentix.org.
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Coming Soon to ECA

Beatles, Baez, Brittni

Beatles-inspired extravaganza “Abbey Road: Yesterday and Today” will take the ECA stage on Saturday, May 17. Tickets are available for $27/32/$37. Select your seat for the mid-May show here.

Baez – Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Friday, May 2) for Joan Baez’ July 23 performance. Ticket prices are $54/59/64

Brittni Paiva will appear on stage with Keoki Kahumoku on July 25. Tickets are available now at $24/29/34; with a Youth discount at $15.
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Theater News

THUGS: A Musical Mafiasco
Plays through Sunday, May 11

Wade James Theatre
950 Main St.

The Driftwood Players has chosen “THUGS: A Musical Mafiasco” by David Tucker (lyrics by Kim Douglass and D. Richard Tucker) as its early-spring production. The musical is directed by Ted Jaquith, with musical direction by Mark Press.

From the playbill: It is 1929, and two thugs are banished from Chicago’s gangland community and find work in the lazy town of Shady Groves, as body guards for a man and a woman, both disguised as the late Anthony Sartori. Added to this are two feuding crime lords, their lovesick children, and an effeminate hit man, resulting in a whirlwind of mistaken identity. Inspired by Goldoni’s “Servant of Two Masters,” this new musical comedy features such soon-to-be classic tunes as We Gotta Whack Him, Badda Boom, Badda Bing, and Some Day (Like Bonnie and Clyde). See why it was laughter that made the Roaring Twenties roar.

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays ~ 8 p.m.
Sunday Matinee ~ 2 p.m.

Tickets are available at www.driftwoodplayers.com or by calling 425-774-9600.

For other important upcoming Driftwood Player news, go to this My Edmonds News feature.

Nurturing The Artist Within You

Edmonds has a number of venues that give artists – both adults and children – and opportunity to explore and nurture their artistic dreams.

These are the studio locations inviting the public to class for the balance of the month:

Sculptors Workshop and Pottery Sale
Frances Anderson Center
Room 210
700 Dayton St.

Friday, May 9 ~ 1-8 p.m.
Saturday, May 10 ~ 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Garden art, vases, mirrors, platters, mugs, plates and bowls are just a sampling of the hundreds of one-of-a-kind artworks by local artists available at the Sculptors Workshop Spring Sale the weekend before Mother’s Day.

The studio’s artists have been preparing for an upcoming gallery show themed “Dreams” so you are likely to see some dream-inspired pieces!

The Sculptors Workshop is a pottery co-operative infused with a rich 43 year history. This semiannual sale is a wonderful chance to meet some of the co-op’s 20 artists, and at the same time find unique and handmade gifts.

For more information, visit the Sculptors Workshop’s Facebook page, or email: sculptorsworkshop1967@gmail.com.
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Cole Gallery’s Art Studio
107 5th Ave. S.

Thinking Outside of the Box: Watercolor workshop
Taught by Bev Jozwiak

May 9-11 ~ 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

This workshop is designed to help students at every skill level to master techniques, design and color. Learn to paint boldly, think outside the box and paint outside the lines with examples of basic color mixing including luscious greens, glowing whites and rich blacks. Develop good composition and strong values. Demos every day. This workshop is best for advanced beginners to advanced artists.

To register for these classes call 425-697-2787 or come in, or register online at www.ColeArtStudio.com

For more photos and additional information visit the Cole Studio website.
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Pippin, a Musical

Ballyhoo Theatre
Edmonds Heights
23200 100th Ave W, Edmonds

May 2-10, 2014
Evening performances are on May 2, 3, 9 and 10 at 7 p.m.
Sunday matinees on May 4 and 10 ~ 2 p.m.

From the playbill: “Pippin,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, based on the book by Roger O. Hirson, is the story of a young man’s quest for meaning and purpose, and the charismatic Leading Player of a theatrical ensemble [who guides] that journey toward a heroic conclusion.

Drawing upon a spectacular variety of performance arts—commedia dell’arte, clowning, epic theatre, modern dance—Edmonds Heights’ “Pippin” is a dazzling odyssey through power, pleasure, war and love, as experienced by a naive prince, Pippin, and overseen by the magnetic Leading Player.

With a colorful troupe of Players under his command—always ready to become characters on Pippin’s journey—the Leading Player engages the audience in invoking Pippin’s mythic search for his true destiny. The only question is: will that destiny be fulfilled in an extraordinary blaze of glory, or will Pippin be strong enough to make a different choice and find real, earthly happiness?

“Pippin” is directed by Shileah Corey, choreographed by Emma Ruhl and features a cast of 25 talented actors, ages 14-18. Michael Corey conducts the orchestra.

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the door. For further information regarding the performance call 425-431-7840 or visit the Facebook page of Ballyhoo Theatre.

“Pippin” is not suitable for young children.
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After “Pippin,” our Edmonds-area young thespians will have more to show you!

GREASE: The Musical

Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre
Shoreline Conference Center
18560 1st Ave N.E., Shoreline

School version: May 8-18

Evening/Sundays: May 23-June 8

From the playbill: Here is Rydell High’s senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking “Pink Ladies” in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical.

Head “greaser” Danny Zuko and new (good) girl Sandy Dumbrowski try to relive the high romance of their “Summer Nights” as the rest of the gang sings and dances its way through such songs as “Greased Lightnin'”, “It’s Raining on Prom Night”, “Alone at the Drive-In Movie” recalling the music of Buddy Holly, Little Richard and Elvis Presley.”

Tickets: The theatre company is performing both a “school version” production and their evening and Sunday matinee versions of the musical. Ticket choices are available here.
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Author’s and Poets Podium

Black Box Theatre
Edmonds Community College
20310 68th Ave W., Lynnwood

Tuesday, May 6, 12:30 p.m.

Convergence Writers Series:
Derek Sheffield
 

Eco-Poet Derek Sheffield shares from his book “Through the Second Skin.”
This event is free to the public.
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Improv Triathlon presented by Unexpected Production North

Black Box Theater
Edmonds Community College (EdCC), Lynnwood

Saturday Nights through May 31 ~ 8:05 p.m.

I cannot tell you how many people have on their Bucket List “perform improve” – so for those of you out there checking off one Life Dream at a time – here’s your opportunity to try Improv!

The rules: Teams of two compete in three rounds, and in each round the Improv Triathletes face a different obstacle. Each race is different and all based on audience suggestion! Only the winner will move on to face new opponents the following week, so be there to help your favorite team advance.

Admission at the door: $10

Emily Hill is an author and long-time resident of Edmonds. She is retired from a career in public information and news media relations. If you would like your event listed, or venue featured, in Artfully Edmonds, Emily invites you to contact her at arts@myedmondsnews.com