Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber
LOCALS SING MAGIC FLUTE
An ensemble of much-loved local singers will perform an abridged adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 29, 30 and Oct. 1, at the Vashon United Methodist Church, which has excellent acoustics. The adaptation and direction are by Elizabeth Nye, above, an opera singer and local voice teacher and who sings role of the First Lady. The production has a cast of local stars including well-known Island tenor Dr. Gary Koch as Tamino, and Jennifer Krikawa, who sang for numerous opera companies such as New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, and Connecticut Opera, will play Pamina. The local pastor from the Bethel Church, Matthew Shorack, plays the beguiling bird catcher Papageno, and singing opposite him as his soul mate Papagena is Julea Gardener, recently remembered as Maria in Drama Dock’s Production of “The Sound of Music.” Nye, Marita Ericksen and Elaine Ott, all professionally-trained operatic talent, sing the Three Ladies. Elizabeth Ripley as Queen of the Night and David Kappy as Sarastro sing the evil parts of the show. Ripley currently sings for the Seattle Opera chorus, and her high Fs and long fingernails make her rendition of the nasty queen seem like a matchmade in heaven. Leigh Huggins, Anna Rose Warren and Kalie Heffernan will perform as fairies and chorus, and the master accompanist will be Evan Stults, who plays for the Seattle Men’s Chorus.
LOCALS SING MAGIC FLUTE
An ensemble of much-loved local singers will perform an abridged adaptation of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” at 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday, Sept. 29, 30 and Oct. 1, at the Vashon United Methodist Church, which has excellent acoustics. The adaptation and direction are by Elizabeth Nye, above, an opera singer and local voice teacher and who sings role of the First Lady. The production has a cast of local stars including well-known Island tenor Dr. Gary Koch as Tamino, and Jennifer Krikawa, who sang for numerous opera companies such as New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, and Connecticut Opera, will play Pamina. The local pastor from the Bethel Church, Matthew Shorack, plays the beguiling bird catcher Papageno, and singing opposite him as his soul mate Papagena is Julea Gardener, recently remembered as Maria in Drama Dock’s Production of “The Sound of Music.” Nye, Marita Ericksen and Elaine Ott, all professionally-trained operatic talent, sing the Three Ladies. Elizabeth Ripley as Queen of the Night and David Kappy as Sarastro sing the evil parts of the show. Ripley currently sings for the Seattle Opera chorus, and her high Fs and long fingernails make her rendition of the nasty queen seem like a matchmade in heaven. Leigh Huggins, Anna Rose Warren and Kalie Heffernan will perform as fairies and chorus, and the master accompanist will be Evan Stults, who plays for the Seattle Men’s Chorus.
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'Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber'
The Magic Flute- Left to right, Gary Koch, Elaine Ott, Elizabeth Nye and Matthew Shorack rehearse for Mozart’s “The Magic Flute”, adapted and directed by Elizabeth Nye into a one-hour show which will run at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 29 and 30, and at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct 1, at the Methodist Church. Tickets are available at Books by the Way, or they can be reserved by calling Nancy Bachant at 463-6276. The opera is a musical fantasy about love lost and gained. Mozart’s famous bird people, Papageno and Papagena, are sung by Pastor Matthew Shorack of Bethel Church and Julea Gardener, a homemaker who was last seen on the Island as “Maria” in “The Sound of Music.” Playing Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina are the dynamic duo of Gary Koch and New York Opera singer Jennifer Krikawa. Sopranos Elizabeth Nye and Marita Ericksen and alto Elaine Ott sing the three ladies-in-waiting to the Queen. David Kappy sings the priestly basso, and Elizabeth Ripley, a member of the Seattle Opera Company, sings his nemesis, |
Readers let us know 2006 favoritesOriginally published January 7, 2007 at 12:00 am Updated January 7, 2007 at 6:30 am Over the past three weeks, our critics have written about their favorite books, movies, restaurants, stage productions and musical recordings...
By
Seattle Times staff
Over the past three weeks, our critics have written about their favorite books, movies, restaurants, stage productions and musical recordings/performances of 2006. Readers also sent in some of theirs, excerpted below. To add yours, go to www.seattletimes.com/entertainment.
Best classical music performances
Although Seattle Opera’s “Italian Girl in Algiers” was fabulous, my favorite 2006 opera moment wasn’t in McCaw Hall but rather in the Methodist church on Vashon: a home-grown production of “Magic Flute” at the end of September. A scaled-down version, in English, with an amazingly good Vashon cast. Jennifer Krikawa, a New York City Opera veteran, sang Pamina. The other principals, if not quite on that vocal level, were excellent and threw themselves into their roles with gusto. Only one voice was painful, but hey, we’re a small island. They moved the altar, provided the briefest of sets and costumes. The Queen of the Night (Elizabeth Ripley, Seattle Opera chorus) swept majestically down the main aisle for her first entrance. Evan Stults, who accompanies the Seattle Men’s Chorus, played piano. Three sold-out performances. Little kids, sitting on their parents’ laps, enraptured. Marvelous. Just what opera should deliver.
By
Seattle Times staff
Over the past three weeks, our critics have written about their favorite books, movies, restaurants, stage productions and musical recordings/performances of 2006. Readers also sent in some of theirs, excerpted below. To add yours, go to www.seattletimes.com/entertainment.
Best classical music performances
Although Seattle Opera’s “Italian Girl in Algiers” was fabulous, my favorite 2006 opera moment wasn’t in McCaw Hall but rather in the Methodist church on Vashon: a home-grown production of “Magic Flute” at the end of September. A scaled-down version, in English, with an amazingly good Vashon cast. Jennifer Krikawa, a New York City Opera veteran, sang Pamina. The other principals, if not quite on that vocal level, were excellent and threw themselves into their roles with gusto. Only one voice was painful, but hey, we’re a small island. They moved the altar, provided the briefest of sets and costumes. The Queen of the Night (Elizabeth Ripley, Seattle Opera chorus) swept majestically down the main aisle for her first entrance. Evan Stults, who accompanies the Seattle Men’s Chorus, played piano. Three sold-out performances. Little kids, sitting on their parents’ laps, enraptured. Marvelous. Just what opera should deliver.
Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC
METHODIST
CONCERT
By HARRY REINERT
Vashon United Methodist Church Vashon United Methodist Church presents its annual Christmas concert at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The vocal choir directed by Elizabeth Nye will present “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” “O Magnum Mysterium,” “What Child Shall Come” and “In Dulci Jubilo.”
MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC
METHODIST
CONCERT
By HARRY REINERT
Vashon United Methodist Church Vashon United Methodist Church presents its annual Christmas concert at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The vocal choir directed by Elizabeth Nye will present “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” “O Magnum Mysterium,” “What Child Shall Come” and “In Dulci Jubilo.”
Zap it!
By ELIZABETH NYE
Wed. November 12th 2008
Wed. November 12th 2008
Callison Ott in “Zap.”
Zap. I thought it was an electric car. It’s a play, bits and pieces that are braided together with audience participation.
Vashon High School’s Theater Arts II class is presenting “Zap,” an eclectic surf-the-Web sort of play written by Paul Fleischman that draws upon the work of six great playwrights — William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Samuel Beckett, Agatha Christie, Tennessee Williams and Neil Simon.
Six styles, seven plays and an audience brandishing electrical zappers, enabling us — should we get bored, irritated or displeased or just desire some fun — to zap these thespians with a wee click of our TV-style remote control and force them to shift scenes. The hand-held devices were given to us at the beginning of the evening.
Several people with whom I chatted assumed they were only props. I, on the other hand, checked it out. It had batteries. I went for it, and it proved to be a delightful little power trip.
With each zap, a loud, somewhat irritating beep would echo through the theater, the stage would go black, and moments later the thespians would reappear in a new scene by a different playwright.
As we wandered through pseudo-Shakespeare and Simon, Chekhov and Christie, we were treated to some lovely moments. In the Williams play, Becky Snyder made a spectacular entrance. She spoke not a word but her abundant hair and obvious hangover spoke volumes.
The “Waiting for Godot” piece had Mica Gaxiola playing Sarah Palin with a dead-on accent as she waited eternally in the present for the future, an apt metaphor for the political campaign that just ended and a great theatrical choice.
Meme Garcia-Cosgrove captured us in her Chekhovian way with her vast boredom as she rolled her eyes at an aging relative.
The same set served seven scenes and thus offered up some amusing anachronisms, most notably, Richard III’s temper tantrum involving the telephone. He chucked it off stage in a fit of pique. Nothing would interrupt his royal angst.
Unfortunately, it was often hard to hear these young thespians, and thus their talents were sometimes lost on the audience.
The one consistent exception was Callison Ott. I heard every word she said. Her presence was electric and edgy. Anna Smith, Kelly Ferguson and Calin Winn also spoke well, inviting us through the fourth wall, into their world.
All in all this can be a fun show, just sit in the front row.
— Elizabeth Nye is a conductor, singer and teacher and a long-time Islander.
http://www.vashonbeachcomber.com/life/zap-it/
Participated in...
VASHON ISLAND WOMEN BARE THEIR BODIES TO PROTEST WAR
On March 16, 2003, on a surprisingly rainless spring morning in the Northwest, 46 Vashon Island women shed their clothes and joined hands in front of one of Vashon's most scenic landmarks, Point Robinson Lighthouse, to expose the human body's vulnerability to war, and to protest for peace. We women of Vashon Island - grandmothers, students, mothers, and working women - are not exhibitionists by nature, and precious few have ever seen us in swimsuits, let alone in the buff. But we came into this life without clothes, created life without them, and will take them off to protect life, if we must. Going naked counters the audacity of War. The notion of naked and exposed scarcely scratches the surface of momentarily stepping outside your comfort zone when you start to imagine the absolute horrors of war. How truly vulnerable one must feel having bombs, our bombs, dropping on you in the middle of the night when you are in your bed with your family asleep. And what unspeakable pain to lose a child to this insanity. We, as Americans, will bear the responsibility of this on our souls if we allow War to happen. So let us join together in whatever ways we create to express our feelings. Without fear of judgment.
The connectedness we felt as we held hands and sent our hopes and our prayers out there, to be captured in a photograph with this sign to the heavens, was intense. In that moment all of our energies were focused on Peace. And besides, you can't say we were totally naked. We had our gardening boots on.
http://www.baringwitness.org/Vashon.htm
On March 16, 2003, on a surprisingly rainless spring morning in the Northwest, 46 Vashon Island women shed their clothes and joined hands in front of one of Vashon's most scenic landmarks, Point Robinson Lighthouse, to expose the human body's vulnerability to war, and to protest for peace. We women of Vashon Island - grandmothers, students, mothers, and working women - are not exhibitionists by nature, and precious few have ever seen us in swimsuits, let alone in the buff. But we came into this life without clothes, created life without them, and will take them off to protect life, if we must. Going naked counters the audacity of War. The notion of naked and exposed scarcely scratches the surface of momentarily stepping outside your comfort zone when you start to imagine the absolute horrors of war. How truly vulnerable one must feel having bombs, our bombs, dropping on you in the middle of the night when you are in your bed with your family asleep. And what unspeakable pain to lose a child to this insanity. We, as Americans, will bear the responsibility of this on our souls if we allow War to happen. So let us join together in whatever ways we create to express our feelings. Without fear of judgment.
The connectedness we felt as we held hands and sent our hopes and our prayers out there, to be captured in a photograph with this sign to the heavens, was intense. In that moment all of our energies were focused on Peace. And besides, you can't say we were totally naked. We had our gardening boots on.
http://www.baringwitness.org/Vashon.htm
My favorite horse in all the world, Missouri Fox Trotter, Indiana Jones
