Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) presents Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” as the theatrical finale to its 2013-14 season. Opening on Friday, June 6, the play will run three weekends through June 21 on WICA’s Michael Nutt Mainstage.
This timeless, three-act drama explores daily life at the turn of the 20th century in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire and, in particular, the blossoming relationship between two young neighbors, George Gibbs and Emily Webb.
Wilder’s Pulitzer prize-winning play portrays the circle of life—growing up, adulthood and death—and the spare set and lack of props challenges the audience to see universal truths and the meaning of life pared down to its essence.
Directed by Tim Rarick, the 25-member cast of “Our Town” features Jim Scullin as Stage Manager, Christine Chittim as Emily Webb and Gabe Harshman as George Gibbs.
Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available at wicaonline.org, at the box office at 565 Camano Ave. in Langley (open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1-6 p.m.) or by phone: 800-638-7631 or 360-221-8268.
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving the community of South Whidbey Island and beyond. Founded in 1996 by Island Arts Council, WICA’s mission is to inspire, nourish, and enhance the artistic, social, and economic well-being of the community.
BY NATALIE OLSEN Whidbey Life Magazine guest contributor May 14, 2014
Laura Stangel Schmidt might not have all her ducks in a row outside her house—especially when they’re loose and loudly foraging for slugs and other bugs—but everything inside is calm and orderly. Large windows extend the open feeling of the Langley home she and husband Kurt bought when they moved from Kansas nearly two years ago. Her mixed-media pieces cover the walls.
Laura’s studio reflects her goal to “simplify.” Scissors and other tools line the wall, the desk is neat, ideas for new work are pinned to a board and open work spaces are ready for her next project.
Her mixed-media process begins with surface design on fabric, paper and found material using techniques such as monoprinting, stamping, drawing, painting, dyeing, fusing and stitching. Then she combines the materials into layered compositions that reflect her fascination with dualities (the natural and manufactured world, serendipity and design, emotion and logic, simplicity and richness, permanence and decay).
She says she likes to reduce a piece to minimal elements, but adds, “It’s difficult for me to just stop there.” So she embellishes the work. Simply.
Pollen Count: Spring Fever (photo courtesy of Laura Stangel Schmidt)
Pollen Count: May Day (photo courtesy of Laura Stangel Schmidt)
Pollen Count: Four Days In August (photo courtesy of Laura Stangel Schmidt)
Laura’s “Pollen Count” series uses a 3 x 3 grid known as Nine Patch. These pieces, she says, “are my attempt to organize the beauty—as well as the messes—that pollen issues forth in the world.”
Field Study: Mending Season (photo courtesy of Laura Stangel Schmidt)
Her “Field Studies” pieces are based on the basic quilt design called “Log Cabin,” which begins with a center square and has rectangular “logs” added in an expanding spiral. She has reduced these to a minimal number of components and uses crumpled brown paper bags as the background for stitching. Laura says these pieces “recall my impressions of agricultural landscapes in Kansas and Pennsylvania, particularly those created in Mennonite and Amish families.”
After receiving a B.F.A. in design, Laura intended to work as an interior designer but, after starting a family, she became more interested in writing, later earning an M.F.A. in creative writing from Wichita State University. She has been a contributing writer for Whidbey Life Magazine and stays active in poetry by collaborating online with a friend in Kansas. They write a line of poetry independently every day, and usually the lines seem written together.
In the 1990s Laura saw a book on art quilting using traditional quilt techniques and ignited her love for working with textiles. Since then she has shown her work in many venues and galleries in the Midwest, Texas, New York and the Northwest. She currently shows work at Brackenwood Gallery in Langley.
Next month Laura will join Pat Morse as Co-Chair of Whidbey Island Surface Design, a group whose members will offer one-of-a-kind fiber, textile and mixed-media art during their annual “WISD at WICA Show & Sale” in Zech Hall at Whidbey Center of the Arts in Langley. The show begins at 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 23 with a “Meet the Artists” reception and continues 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 24 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 25.
Confluence (photo courtesy of Laura Stangel Schmidt)
Laura’s framed piece, “Confluence,” will be available for purchase through a Silent Auction during the show and sale. The winner will be announced at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 25. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Orca Network to help in its mission to raise awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats.
“Confluence” is hand-dyed fabric layered over recycled paper and then stitched with several layers of thread in patterns ranging from simple parallel lines to dense embroidery. The piece conveys a sense of disparate things coming together into a unified whole. Laura says, “Despite turbulences and eddies that may form in opposing streams—streams of thought, of philosophy, of attitude—there is always the possibility that the streams can join to form a more powerful force.”
And the ducks? She and Kurt started out raising ten Indian Runner laying hens, whose eggs she sells through Bur Oak Acres in Langley. There are nine ducks left (with netting over their pen now to prevent another eagle attack). This summer they’ll add seven ducklings (three Indian Runners and four Welsh Harlequins). There will be more noise outside.
Natalie Olsen is a fiber artist and writer who has no ducks.
(photo at top by Ruth Moritz: Laura Stangel Schmidt)
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Hedgebrook announces the 17th annual Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, a celebration of women writing for the theater.
This May, playwrights Mia Chung, Alexa Junge, Evangeline Ordaz and Tracey Scott Wilson will join dramaturgs Anita Montgomery, Tanya Palmer and Christine Sumption for a two-week residency at the famed Whidbey Island writers’ retreat, capped off with public presentations of excerpts from the playwrights’ latest works.
The Whidbey Island reading of the 2014 Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival takes place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 18 at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. This events will include readings of excerpts from each writer’s latest play and an opportunity to talk with the playwrights, their dramaturgs and Hedgebrook’s Executive Director, Amy Wheeler. There is a $5 charge for the event at WICA that can be waived by request by emailing katiew@hedgebrook.org.
Playwrights taking part in the 2014 Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival represent a wide variety of theatrical styles and dramatic voices. Mia Chung is working on “Skin in the Game,” a play that examines America’s core belief in fairness and the art and science of measuring success. Alexa Junge is writing a stage adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Victorian-inspired crime novel, “Fingersmith.” Evangeline Ordaz is working on “This Land,” which tells the story of one piece of land over 150 years. Tracey Scott Wilson is writing “Ugly,” a play about abortion and the decline of American feminism.
Participation in the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival is by invitation in collaboration with partner theaters from around the country. In recognition of the fact that fewer than 20% of the plays produced each year on U.S. stages are written by women, Hedgebrook is partnering with theaters who show their commitment to women playwrights through commissions, development and production opportunities. In this way, Hedgebrook forges opportunities for women playwrights to deepen their relationships with theaters and is becoming a major pipeline for plays by women to move from creation to development and production. Current partners include Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle’s ACT Theatre, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.
Since the festival’s inauguration in 1998, the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival has supported the work of an impressive array of women playwrights, including Quiara Alegría Hudes (“Water by the Spoonful”), Lynn Nottage (“Ruined”), Tanya Saracho (“The Tenth Muse”) and many others, and has served an important role in the development of new plays by women.
For more information about Hedgebrook and the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, visit our website at www.hedgebrook.org or contact Louise McKay, press@hedgebrook.org or call 206‐325‐6773
BY SUSAN HANSON Whidbey Life Magazine Guest Contributor
May 7, 2014 (revised May 10)
As a travel writer, I often compile itineraries on how best to explore places around the world. So here’s one for a weekend on my own little piece of paradise, Whidbey Island. Set south of the San Juan Islands and framed by the Olympic and Cascade ranges, Whidbey offers the perfect pastoral setting for whale watching and top-notch wineries, art galleries and gourmet dining—all within an hour’s reach of Seattle. Better still, since it’s located in the Olympics’ rain shadow, the island gets about half the rainfall for which the city is infamous.
This itinerary is based on crossing via the Mukilteo-Clinton ferry and is centered in the town of Langley (approximately 10 miles from the dock).
FRIDAY
3 p.m. STROLL ALONG THE SEAWALL
You’ll want to get into an island state of mind as soon as possible, so head straight to First Street in Langley and down the cliff side to Seawall Park. (Take the walkway at First and Anthes or the stairs next to the “Boy and Dog” bronze statue.) Breathe the salty air and listen to the meditative surf while spying bald eagles, blue herons, and Stellar sea lions. Spring and fall months bring pods of grey and Orca whales, which feed just off shore during their annual migration between Alaska and Baja California. (The town’s whale bell sounds with every sighting.) You can learn about these giant residents of the Salish Sea at the new Langley Whale Center(117 Anthes).
Seawall Park below First Street in Langley (photo by Jan Shannon)
Feeling renewed, browse the quaint shops and galleries displaying fine arts and crafts by Pacific Northwest artists, including Brackenwood Gallery(302 First St.) and Museo (215 First St.). After 14 years of beautifying Carmel and the Bay Area, Debra Campbell brings her design savvy to the island with Trillium Home & Design (111 First St.); take home a custom pillow or piece of handcrafted furniture. At Callahan’s Firehouse Glass Studio (179 Second St.), you can watch a demonstration or try your hand at glassblowing (appointment required). Peruse the tomes at Moonraker Books (209 First St.) and first editions at Gregor Rare Books (197 Second St.), then lose track of time and place in Music for the Eyes(314 First St.) with its potpourri of Turkmenistan tapestries, tribal jewelry from Laos and other worldly wares. Get an added burst from a bite of lavender truffle at Sweet Mona’s(138 Second St.).
6 p.m. SYRAH OVER SARATOGA PASSAGE
Nancy Nolan is a popular favorite at Ott and Murphy’s; here performing with Larry Shafer, and Kristi O’Donnell on bass (photo by David Welton)
Whidbey winemakers David Ott and Eric Murphy have produced a number of award-winning wines over the last few years, which are readily poured at Ott & MurphyWinery Tasting Room (204 First St.). Cozy up to the bar, or grab one of the wingback chairs and inviting couches. The room’s Saturday cabaret night was such a hit, they extended it to Thursday and Friday evenings, as well (7-9 p.m.). You never know what local talent will be performing, and there’s no cover charge—just remember to tip the musicians.
8 p.m. A FRENCH TAKE ON LOCAL FARE
Head upstairs to Prima Bistro (201 1/2 First St.), which has garnered plenty of praise for its French twist on Pacific Northwest cuisine. The chef and owner, Sieb Jurriaans, uses the freshest local ingredients and his flawless intuition to create seasonal menus that might include, say, veal ragout with wild mushrooms or semolina crusted northwest oysters served with a truffle mayonnaise. Warm summer evenings were made for the patio; book your table early.
Half the fun of dining at Muk Café, aka Café in the Woods (5331 Crawford Road) is finding the place. Tucked away on a winding, sylvan road, the former tasting room for Mukilteo Coffee Roasters has evolved into a colorful, art-filled restaurant that’s a local favorite. Organic foods are sourced from nearby farms; wash down your veggie-packed Farmer’s Market Breakfast with fresh-made kale juice and just-roasted coffee. Ask for a tour of the roasterie next door.
About a half-hour’s drive north of Langley lies one of the loveliest, most diverse coastal hikes in the entire Pacific Northwest. Named for the colonel who helped settle Whidbey in the 1850s (and whose prairie blockhouse still stands), Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (162 Cemetery Rd., Coupeville) offers miles of trails along the bluff and beach; keep an eye out for raptors and bald eagles. This is a great place to bring the kids; call ahead so they can earn their Junior Ranger badge.
Ebey’s Bluff, part of the historic Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (photo by Jan Shannon)
Organic Alternative: Mingle with the locals over organically grown chard and kohlrabi at the Bayview Farmers Marketfrom 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Bayview Rd. off Hwy 525). You’ll find stalls with artisan cheeses and breads, sweet treats and gluten-free granola, along with handmade jewelry, woodworking and woven goods. There’s usually a musician or two on hand, as well.
Abundant produce, flowers and more are at the Bayview Farmer’s Market on Saturdays (photo by Jan Shannon)
1:30 p.m. FARM-FRESH GOODNESS
While it’s difficult to bestow the title “best ever tasted,” the pies at Whidbey Pies Café at Greenbank Farm (765 Wonn Rd.) come pretty darned close. If you’re lucky, there’ll be a slice of Loganberry left for you, although you can’t go wrong with any of these edible masterpieces; save it for after your roasted eggplant Panini or tuna and Havarti melt. Get a window seat and watch the ducks splash in the pond. Converted farm buildings now hold a number of art galleries, a wine tasting shop and a specialty store, so take a look around.
Up on the hill at Greenbank Farm, overlooking Holmes Harbor and clouds over the Cascade mountains (photo by Jan Shannon)
3:30 p.m. RHODODENDRON ROMP
You’re just a few minutes from Meerkerk Gardens (3531 Meerkerk Lane), where you can meander along miles of trails through blooming gardens and woodland preserves. Ann and Max Meerkerk founded the gardens in the 1960s with native rhododendrons, flowering trees and conifers; they were subsequently bequeathed to the Seattle Rhododendron Society, operating as a non-profit and offering botany adventure tours for schoolchildren.
Layer after layer of blooms at Meerkerk Gardens (photo by Jan Shannon)
7:30 p.m. OF MUSSELS AND MUSHROOMS
James Beard Award-nominee chef Matt Costello left Seattle’s Palace Kitchen for the Saratoga Passage and Inn at Langley(400 First St.), where his restaurant serves up one of the region’s finest dining experiences. Open weekends only (and Thursdays during summer months), the intimate, peak-ceiling venue features a colossal river-rock fireplace and open display kitchen where you can watch Costello wield his culinary wand over king salmon, Penn Cove mussels, just-plucked chanterelles and other local, seasonal ingredients. Reservations advised.
Cinematic Substitute: Grab a slice and salad at Village Pizzeria (106 First St.) followed by a film at The Clyde(217 First St.), a Langley landmark since 1937. The historic movie house may show second-run films, but it does so in digital with 7.1 Dolby sound and there’s a great little (adults-only) balcony. Plus, where else can you get fresh popcorn for a dollar?
SUNDAY
10 a.m. BREAKFAST WITH JOE
Hipsters and aging hippies pack Useless Bay Coffee Company(121 Second St.) for espresso drinks and yummy baked goods like ginger-pear muffins and chocolate chip-espresso scones. Order a breakfast Panini or Café Omelet with spinach and Applewood smoked bacon to go with your fresh-roasted brew. Owner Des Rock imported a vintage Probat UG15 drum roaster from Europe to process his small batches of rich, dark beans; be sure to bring a bag home.
Useless Bay Coffee Company in Langley (photo by Jan Shannon)
11:30 a.m. ROAM WITH A VIEW
Wear off your meal trekking theSaratoga Woods, Putney Woods and Metcalf Trust Trails. Lovingly maintained by local residents, the three trail systems interlock to provide more than 700 protected acres of Douglas fir and western hemlock, wildflower-filled meadows and bluff terrain with breath-catching views of Saratoga Passage, Mount Baker and the Cascade Range. The well-tended, well-marked trails are shared by mountain bikers and horseback riders, and there are plenty of picnic tables for a rest.
The trees in the Saratoga Woods outside of Langley (photo by Jan Shannon)
Thank The Stars: Once you’re committed to the ferry line, you’ll be glad you stopped by the deli counter at Star Store Market (201 First St.) to pack the cooler with custom-made sandwiches and organic salads. Pick up a keepsake from the eclectically stocked mercantile next door. (Editor’s Note: Thanks to reader Ericka for pointing out that Pickles Deli is not open on Sundays. This version notes that correction. Please stop in at Pickles Deli (11042 State Route 525) some other time to explore their menu. Pickles has taken the title of Best Sandwich Shop in the KING5 Best of Western Washington contest two years in a row. Try the Reuben, DA Bomb Philly Steak or, if you’re feeling adventurous, the spicy Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich made with chicken, ham, cabbage and other veggies served on a toasted roll drizzled in soy sauce.)
DO IT:
Washington State Ferries between Mukilteo and Clinton run every half hour during the day; crossing is approximately 20 minutes. NOTE: Lines during summer season can be long, so plan accordingly, for a full ferry schedule check here.
The Inn at Langley — From $260 per night. 400 1st St.; 360-221-3033. www.innatlangley.com
Photo at the top: A group meets for coffee at Useless Bay Coffee Company in Langley (photo by Jan Shannon)
Rhododendrons in bloom at Meerkerk Gardens (photo by Jan Shannon)
Susan Hanson is a travel and marketing writer who recently transplanted to Whidbey Island. You’ll find her around the south end working on a new web series, compiling notes for an upcoming book, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.
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The local comedy country music group, The Rural Characters, will perform at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17. The performances will benefit the annual Local Artist Series and will be on the Michael Nutt Mainstage.
Attendees can sit back, enjoy the show and pat themselves on the back for showing true community collaboration in helping to support Whidbey Island artists.
Proceeds from these two concerts fund WICA’s 2015 Local Artist Series, covering rental fees for four local artist groups to perform at WICA and allowing them to keep the money made from tickets sales. Each year a community committee juries applications and winners are announced on stage at the benefit concerts.
“The Rural Characters” are Tom Fisher, Gordy Adams, Randy Hudson, and Tom Walker with Russell Link on percussion and special guests, “The Heggenes Valley Boys” featuring Joe Jeszeck and Ed Fickbohm.
Tickets are $25 and are available at www.wicaonline.org, in person at the box office, (open Wednesday through Saturday 1-6 p.m.) and two hours before show times or by calling 800-638-7631 or 360-221-8268. WICA is located at 565 Camano Avenue in Langley on Whidbey Island.
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization serving the community of South Whidbey Island and beyond. Founded in 1996 by the Island Arts Council, WICA’s mission is to inspire, nourish and enhance the artistic, social and economic well-being of the community.
BY SUSAN WENZEL Whidbey Life Magazine contributor April 30, 2014
The key to hosting the perfect dinner party is balance. The right mix of guests is just as important, if not more, than the menu, the music and the wine.
Award-winning travel and food writer Sue Frause has seemingly found the necessary equilibrium to ensure success in her culinary-themed live show, Kitsch ’N Bitch, held at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley. Now in its third season, Kitsch ’N Bitch follows a tried and true recipe each show by combining Grade A celebrity foodie personalities with great music, a signature cocktail, round table discussions and cooking demonstrations—all in front of a live audience.
Although each show incorporates the same basic ingredients, it’s the impromptu premise of each event that gives Kitsch ’N Bitch its famous flavor.
“That’s the fun part,” said Frause. “Kitsch ’N Bitch is unscripted and really live. I never know what is going to happen or what will be said. Things can go wrong and they sometimes do. There was one time when a chicken almost got out…that was a fun one!”
“It’s like a talk show,” continued Frause. “The audience comes in while the house band, Deja Blooze, is still warming up. After they are seated, I give a monologue and then introduce my guests who join me at the table to chat.”
Denise LaRue showed host Sue Frause how to make her favorite Christmas treats during “Home for the Holidays.” (photo courtesy of Sue Frause)
Frause shops for chefs, farmers, vintners and others in the food world based upon their fit with the special theme for each Kitsch’ N Bitch event. These dinner guests may be locally sourced from Whidbey Island or even imported from faraway Seattle, but all are sure to bring their own opinions, ideas and styles to the table. The outcome is a not-to-be missed dish featuring friendly banter, sharp wit and a generous measure of laughs peppered with cooking tips and industry secrets, all served piping hot to the hungry audience.
The next feast—“Meet the Producers”—is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 3 and is comprised of all Whidbey Life Magazine members: Vincent Nattress, Vicky Brown, Maryon Atwood, Robbie Lobell and Gary and Beth Smith.
In “Bon Appetit: A Julia Child Tribute,” Frause, Chef Gordon Stewart and cake artist John Auburn honored the iconic American chef’s 100th birthday. (photo courtesy of Sue Frause)
Chef Vincent Nattress of Cultivar Catering is a chef, caterer and proponent of the Slow Food movement. He strives to cook with the freshest foods Whidbey Island has to offer and often sources ingredients from his own organic garden.
Little Brown Farm is as well-known for its delectable 100% fresh goat milk Caprine Cream Chevre spreadable cheese and highly addictive Dulce de Leche as it is for the gregarious personality of its Chief Milkmaid, Vicky Brown.
Maryon Atwood and Robbie Lobell, creators of Cook on Clay handmade flameware pottery, recently expanded production with the installation of a new, larger kiln and will surely bring some of their stunning and durable cookware to demonstrate and display.
Gary and Beth Smith, owners and operators of Mukilteo Coffee Roasters, will be the guest bartenders for the evening. They will create the famous Kitsch ’N Bitch signature cocktail—with coffee, of course.
Tickets are available now for Saturday’s show at www.wicaonline.org/kitsch-n-bitch. If you can’t make it to this last Kitsch ’N Bitch in the 2013-2014 series, never fear—plans are already in the works for a delicious 2014-2015 season.
Susan Wenzel, food writer, believes in the power of locally produced food to fortify the health and well-being of both the individual and the community as a whole.
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Hedgebrook announces the 17th annual Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, a celebration of women writing for the theater. This May, playwrights Mia Chung, Alexa Junge, Evangeline Ordaz and Tracey Scott Wilson will join dramaturgs Anita Montgomery, Tanya Palmer and Christine Sumption for a two-week residency at the famed Whidbey Island writers’ retreat, capped off with public presentations of excerpts from the playwrights’ latest works.
The public events of the 2014 Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival take place at 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 18 at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts in Langley and at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 19 at ACT Theatre in Seattle. These events include readings of excerpts from each writer’s latest play and an opportunity to talk with the playwrights, their dramaturgs and Hedgebrook’s Executive Director, Amy Wheeler. Admission is free for the ACT Theatre and donations are welcome. There is a $5 charge for the event at WICA which can be waived by request.
Playwrights taking part in the 2014 Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival represent a wide variety of theatrical styles and dramatic voices. Mia Chung is working on “Skin in the Game,” a play that examines America’s core belief in fairness and the art and science of measuring success. Alexa Junge is writing a stage adaptation of Sarah Waters’ Victorian-inspired crime novel, “Fingersmith.” Evangeline Ordaz is working on “This Land,” which tells the story of one piece of land over 150 years. Tracey Scott Wilson is writing “Ugly,” a play about abortion and the decline of American feminism.
Participation in the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival is by invitation in collaboration with partner theaters from around the country. In recognition of the fact that fewer than 20% of the plays produced each year on U.S. stages are written by women, Hedgebrook is partnering with theaters who show their commitment to women playwrights through commissions, development and production opportunities. In this way, Hedgebrook forges opportunities for women playwrights to deepen their relationships with theaters and is becoming a major pipeline for plays by women to move from creation to development and production. Current partners include Denver Theatre Center, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Seattle’s ACT Theatre, Chicago’s Goodman Theatre and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.
Since the festival’s inauguration in 1998, the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival has supported the work of an impressive array of women playwrights, including Quiara Alegría Hudes (“Water by the Spoonful”), Lynn Nottage (“Ruined”), Tanya Saracho (“The Tenth Muse”) and many others, and has served an important role in the development of new plays by women
In Seattle, contact ACT Theatre at 206‐292‐7676 to reserve tickets or visit the website at www.acttheatre.org. On Whidbey use this Hedgebrook link to order tickets.
For more information about Hedgebrook and the Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, visit our website at www.hedgebrook.org or contact Louise McKay, press@hedgebrook.org or call 206‐325‐6773
Playwrights’ Bios
MIA CHUNG (“Skin in the Game”) is a member of New Dramatists and the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. Her play “You for Me for You” had a world premiere at Woolly Mammoth in Washington, D.C. in Fall 2012 and a Boston premiere at Company One in Winter 2013. She has received awards and fellowships from Southern Rep, RISCA, TCG, and others, and her work has been developed by the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Civilians’ R&D Group, Doorway Arts Ensemble, Icicle Creek Theatre Festival, Inkwell, Kennedy Center, Magic Theatre, Mu Performing Arts, Page Salon, Playwrights Realm, and Stella Adler Studio. She has degrees from Yale, the University of Dublin, Trinity College and Brown.
ALEXA JUNGE (“Fingersmith”) is a playwright, lyricist, television writer, producer and screenwriter. Four-time Emmy and WGA Award nominee, Junge grew up in Los Angeles and attended Barnard College where she wrote “The Columbia Varsity Show” and then continued her education at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She wrote for Friends from 1994 to 1999 and has also written for Once and Again,The West Wing, Sex and the City, the HBO series Big Love and the BBC comedy Clone. With longtime collaborator, composer Jeanine Tesori, Alexa wrote lyrics for Disney’s Rapunzel Unbraided and Mulan 2 and she wrote the screenplay and lyrics for Disney’s Lilo & Stitch 2. A contributor to National Public Radio’s This American Life, Alexa performed live for their “What I Learned From Television” tour. She also served as Executive Producer and Showrunner for Showtime’s series The United States of Tara. Alexa just completed a two-year stint with NBC, where she was the Executive Producer and Showrunner for Best Friends Forever, among others.
EVANGELINE ORDAZ (“This Land”) is a playwright, television writer/producer, spoken word artist and human rights attorney. Her play “Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca” was featured at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ New Play Summit and was the subject of a December 2006 cover story in American Theater Magazine. Borderlands commissioned the play, which also saw production by the Company of Angels Theater in Los Angeles and Teatro Vision in San Jose. Company of Angels also produced “Bordering on Love, “which Ordaz wrote while a member of the Center Theater Group’s invitational playwrights’ workshop. Ordaz has also written for the California Youth Theater and the Cornerstone Theater where she shared an Ovation nomination for Best Play.
The Center Theater Group (Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theater/Ahmanson) recently commissioned Evangeline to write a play about Los Angeles. She was a producer and writer of the groundbreaking and popular series East Los High and a staff writer on the ABC/Warner Bros television show Eyes. Ordaz has done legal work in the areas of indigent criminal appeals, immigration, domestic violence, human rights, slum litigation and corporate espionage. She also worked as an attorney for the Humanitarian Law Project, documenting human rights abuses by paramilitary groups in the aftermath Zapatista rebel uprising in Chiapas, Mexico.
TRACEY SCOTT WILSON (“Ugly”) currently writes for The Americans on FX. Recent productions include “Buzzer” at the Goodman Theater, Pillsbury House Theater and The Guthrie, “The Good Negro” and “The Story” at The Public Theater/NYSF as well as the Goodman Theater. Additional productions are “Order My Steps” for Cornerstone Theater’s Black Faith/AIDS project in Los Angeles and “Exhibit #9,” which was produced in New York City by New Perspectives Theatre and Theatre Outrageous; “Leader of the People” produced at New Georges Theatre; two ten-minute plays produced at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and a ten-minute play produced at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Wilson has had readings at the New York Theatre Workshop, Second Stage Theatre, the Public Theatre, Williamstown Theater Festival and Soho Theatre Writers Centre in London. She won the 2014 Joyce Award, two Van Lier Fellowships from the New York Theatre Workshop, a residency at Sundance Ucross and Sundance Theatre Laboratory and is the winner of the 2001 Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award, the 2003 AT&T Onstage Award, the 2004 Whiting Award, the 2004 Kesserling Prize, the 2007 Weissberger Playwriting Award and the 2007 Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship. In 2009, she was the writer-in-residence at the O’Neil National Playwriting Conference. She has taught and guest lectured at several schools including, Brown University, Yale University, Rutgers University and NYU. “The Story” and “The Good Negro” have been published by Dramatist Play Services. Ms. Wilson holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from Temple University.
Hedgebrook is a literary nonprofit that supports the work of visionary women writers whose stories and ideas shape our culture now and for generations to come. Founded in 1988, Hedgebrook hosts a global community of writers—close to 1,400 in 25 years—at our Whidbey Island retreat. Our programs empower women writers through high-caliber workshops and connect their work with thousands of boo lovers and audiences each year through readings, screenings, events, salons, publications and festivals.
For more information about Hedgebrook’s programs including our Master Classes and upcoming events. check out www.hedgebrook.org. Hedgebrook is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Kitsch ‘N Bitch host Sue Frause and her guests gather around the kitchen table at Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) for the final show of the season, “Meet the Producers!” at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
The producers include Chef Vincent Nattress of Cultivar Catering; Vicky Brown of The Little Brown Farm, a micro-creamery producing cheese; Maryon Atwood and Robbie Lobell of Cook on Clay, who create handmade flameware pottery and guest bartenders Gary and Beth Smith of Mukilteo Roasters, who will be concocting a special coffee cocktail for the evening.
Kitsch ‘N Bitch house band Deja Blooze provides the music.
“This will be a fun way to wrap up Season Three of Kitsch ‘N Bitch. “Meet the Producers” features local food and beverage producers and artisans who create their products and share their talents here on Whidbey Island,” said host Sue Frause. “As always, the show is unscripted and promises to be both fun and lively with cocktails, conversation and cooking demos—along with cool tunes from Deja Blooze,
Tickets are $15 and are available at www.wicaonline.org, in person at the box office, or by calling 800-638-7631 or 360-221-8268. WICA is located at 565 Camano Avenue in Langley on Whidbey Island. The box office is open Wednesday through Saturday 1 to 6 p.m. and two hours before show time.
Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) welcomes Island Consort as part of its Chamber Music Series on the Michael Nutt Main stage at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 27.
Under the vocal direction of Dr. Dianne Vars, 13 Island Consort singers will present a concert of madigrals, motets and Baroque songs, accompanied by eight members of Island Consort’s instrumental division, directed by Chris Harshman. Guest keyboardist will be Eileen Soskin.
Island Consort was founded to bring together the considerable talents of local vocalists and musicians to explore and perform the music of the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical eras. In this concert, a cappella madrigals will be sung along with sacred pieces from Schutz, Monteverdi and Handel involving both the instrumentalists and singers.
“We exist to bring to audiences our delight of Early Music—delight in the inner dance, in the melodic motifs, the rhythmic rigor, the sometimes unexpected harmonic twists, the ancient sacred texts, the less ancient humorous texts, the frivolous, the transcendent, the poignant and the sublime,” said Island Consort Artistic Director Sheila Weidendorf.
Tickets cost $15 for adults and $10 for students. They are available at wicaonline.org, at the WICA box office (Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1-6 p.m. and two hours before show time) or by phone 800-638-7631 or 360-221-8268.
WICA is located at 565 Camano Avenue in Langley on Whidbey Island.
Come early and stay late for Whidbey Island Center for the Arts’ second annual PianoFest Northwest!
The Piano Bar pre-show lounge will open at 6 p. m. every evening of the festival for beverages and musical stylings of local musicians and students. The Piano Bar will also open for a post-show “meet & greet” for patrons to mix and mingle with the artists of the evening!
PianoFest NW 2014 runs Wednesday, April 16 through Saturday, April 19 and features a Locals Night as well as Classical, World Music, and Jazz Nights. Respectively, the headliners are local Northwest favorite Nancy Nolan, spectacular female trio Thirty Fingers, three-time Latin Grammy Award-winner Jovino Santos Neto, and, performing on Whidbey Island for the first time in years, native piano virtuoso Aaron Parks.
Ticket prices are: Locals Night—$15, Classical Night—$20, World Music Night—$25, Jazz Night—$25. A Festival Pass is $75. Please contact the box office directly to purchase a festival pass.
For more information, visit www.wicaonline.org. Call 360.221.8268 or visit the Box Office to purchase tickets directly at 565 Camano Avenue in Langley. Box office hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 1 to 6 p.m. and two hours before every show. Online ticket purchases are available until noon on the day of each show.
PianoFest Performance Schedule:
“Locals Night” 7:30 p. m. Wednesday, April 16 – $15
NANCY NOLAN and Guest
Mark Findlay
George Henny
“Classical Night” 7:30 p. m. Thursday, April 17 – $25
THIRTY FINGERS
Lisa Bergman with “Funny Side of Classical”
Kathy Fox with Gloria Ferry Brennan
“World Music” 7:30 p. m. Friday, April 18 – $25
JOVINO SANTOS NETO
Maureen Girard
“Jazz Night” 7:30 p. m. Saturday, April 19 – $25
AARON PARKS
Fade Ensemble’s Grant Neubauer,
Keegan Harshman & Alex Dugdale
