Audition for The Miser at Richland Players

This weekend is your opportunity to audition for the Richland Players, a great little community theatre that is celebrating its 75th season. It's fascinating how each generation has this continual ebb and flow of amazing theatre people who want to spend their free time doing the work to tell stories on stage. I think it's a magical piece of humanity, and I support the productions that are good and the ones that are not so good - they are all beautiful. The upcoming production of The Miser is sure to be one of the "good" ones. Directed by McKenzie Kennedy (who also happens to be the reigning Miss Tri-Cities) in her Richland Players debut, I'm expecting something funny, energetic and different in this production of the Molière classic.

If you aren't interested in being onstage, there are some great opportunities for sitting in the audience this weekend. Support the kids at Chief Joseph Middle School's production of Tuck Everlasting - always adorable. And we get a double header of music as Community Concerts of the Tri-Cities' presents the Arcis Saxophone Quartet on Friday, and Camerata Musica brings us the Park Brothers Guitar Duo on Saturday. There's time for it all! See you there!

Choral Singing, Beer Choir and Bertha

The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers are hosting a Choral Singer Workshop this Saturday, for all singers high school and up, featuring clinician Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah - I'm sure I'm pronouncing that wrong. She is the Director of Choral Activities at Eastern Washington University, so she will have a great presentation to help our local community, church, and high school choral singers get off to a good start this year. Past presenters have helped with vocal technique, sight-reading, and other aspects of choral singing, and it's always a blast. Plus, lunch is included! If you're a choir singer, you'll love it!

Then round out your song-filled Saturday with Beer Choir at the Emerald of Siam. It's the September meeting of the Atomic Chapter, and although it's a new venue for Beer Choir, The Emerald of Siam is known as one of the best live music venues we've got. It should be a great time!

And the melodrama Bertha the Beautiful Typewriter Girl continues this weekend at the Richland Players Theatre. I'm planning to go Saturday, so I'll be able to tell you how great it is, and you can go the closing weekend (Sept 13-15) if you haven't seen it by then. See you there!

Folk Music and Melodrama

This weekend is one of the biggest folk music events in our area, the Tumbleweed Music Festival at Howard Amon Park. It's three days of free music performances and jams, a ticketed concert on Saturday night, food and craft vendors, and some big names in folk music circles. It'll be folk music heaven! A ton of family-friendly fun that you should try out - come park at my house and walk down to the park!

Also opening this weekend is Richland Players' melodrama "Bertha, the Beautiful Typewriter Girl." It will be the RP directorial debut of Alli Talmage, whom you will know as a Rude Mechanicals company member. They open this Friday, but don't worry if you are busy! The Richland Players always do three weekends of shows, which gives you a lot of opportunities to catch the current production. Sunday and Monday, they will have auditions for their next show, "Inherit the Wind," and they want everyone to come audition. It's going to be a great year at Richland Players, so consider getting season tickets and I'll see you there!

I💙MCM

We have some extraordinary arts people here in the Tri-Cities, and some wonderful organizations, but it will come as no surprise that I have a special place in my heart for the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers. Several years ago, the board worked hard to create a fantastic statement of MCM's mission, vision, and values, and the organization takes these into account with every decision that is made. You can read them in full at the Mastersingers website. While the vision and mission ("Transforming lives through the power of choral music") are great, it's the values that I love the most - they are listed at the bottom of this post. I believe that the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers are unique in our area in stating their comprehensive values so clearly and publicly, and I admire their adherence to those values.

Even while the Mastersingers pursue excellence in their art form, they are committed to making that art accessible to everyone. That does not mean diluting the art to make it more commercially and generically palatable, but rather inviting everyone to participate, and then working to eliminate barriers to participation. You can't make everyone love choir concerts, but for those who do - or who might - the Mastersingers do everything they can to allow everyone the opportunity to attend. The dismal state of arts support in this country requires that groups charge a ticket price in order to produce the art, which often results in people who do not have the resources missing out on the art - it's a terrible system. The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers have a dedicated and active Outreach and Education committee that works to ensure that barriers to participation in MCM events are minimized whenever possible. This includes offering free K-12 tickets to all of their season concerts (MCM is the only local group that does this), as well as a group ticket discount, and pay-what-you-can open dress rehearsals when it's possible. I'm sure they would offer free tickets to everyone, all the time, if they could.

There is an incredible (and expensive) MCM event coming up at the end of September, the Nuclear Dreams concert inside the B Reactor at Hanford. This oral history of the Hanford site is based on the dreams of people who lived through that era, with texts by Nancy Welliver and music by Reginald Unterseher. The choir had our first rehearsal retreat this past Saturday and I can tell you this concert is going to be something very special. The scope and logistics of having the concert inside the B Reactor, which is a vital component of this art experience, requires an unusually high ticket price that will prevent some people from being able to attend. The Mastersingers would like everyone to be able to experience this concert, but logistically and financially it is not possible. Does that mean MCM should not do the concert at all, or dilute this experience so that more can participate? Even if more people could afford to come, they would not all fit inside the tiny venue. All of this is evidence of the continuing dilemma of arts organizations, which anyone who has worked on the inside should understand. I have confidence (and maybe a little inside knowledge) that the creative MCM team is already working on how to share this concert experience with everyone. There is zero doubt that it is the goal of the Mastersingers to bring Nuclear Dreams to every Tri-Citian - no arts organization wishes to prevent people from experiencing their art. I am sure it will be performed again in the Tri-Cities in a less-restrictive venue (maybe even in a new Performing Arts Center), so that everyone can experience this moving work that is so personal to our community.

MCM VALUES

We value inclusivity and embrace diversity.

We are committed to music as a bridge across cultural, economic, and social differences; and, to expanding the diversity of the choral repertoire.

We value artistic achievement and innovation.

The ensemble is committed to: excellence in choral performance and repertoire; supporting and inspiring singers, conductors, and composers; and, developing new audiences through innovative approaches and outreach efforts.

We value collaboration. 

We are committed to building partnerships and sharing our enthusiasm with the local arts and educational communities.

We value participation and community engagement.

We believe that choral singing can foster understanding and serve as a catalyst for positive change.

Chill Weekend

It's the last chill weekend here before things really get going in the local performing arts community. The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers' Cornhole and Cabernet season kick-off and fundraising event is tomorrow night at At Michele's in Richland. Ashley Luksic is supposed to sing with the house band, AND her baby is due tomorrow (talk about being double-booked) so be sure you're on hand for any exciting news. We might get to hear Sarah Shaff instead!

Then come on down to the Richland Public Library on Sunday afternoon at 2pm for a summer recital with the Classical Guitar Society. I went last year and it was great! Definitely chill. This year I'll be singing a Dowland lute song with Mike Edmondson. See you there!

Christmas is Coming!

It's hard to imagine with our normal 90-degree August weather, but lots of people in town are getting ready for the holidays. It's going to be a busier-than-usual holiday season, with the addition of "It's a Wonderful Life" as the inaugural production by a new group called Theatre Not a Dying Art. It's a new group, but as far as I can tell from the info on Facebook, it is made up of some of our favorite Tri-Cities actors (Michael Thomas, Megan Johnson, Scott Whitemarsh, Monty Stevens, Karen Walley, Terry Knox, Katrina Carlson), so it's sure to be good. The origin story of this group is a bit mysterious still (and I've been behind on my gossip recon), but Katrina says the website is coming. They open the day after Thanksgiving and run for three weekends (dates and times are on the Google calendar linked on this site) so put it on your list!

See you at the Mid-Columbia Ballet Garden Party!

It'll be a busy week in the Tri-Cities performing arts community. The kids are putting on Aladdin, Jr. at the Academy of Children's Theatre this weekend, and the Mastersingers Youth Choirs have their summer camp this week, ending with singing at the Dust Devils game on August 20 - tons of fun!

There's still time to email Justin Raffa to sign up for your Mastersingers audition, but if you haven't already been practicing your excerpts for your Mid-Columbia Symphony audition on August 17, maybe wait for next year on that one. Maestro Nick Wallin will be in town for the auditions and for the Mid-Columbia Symphony's annual meeting on August 19.

Speaking of Justin and Nick, this is the weekend to party with all your arts friends, first at Beer Choir at the new Moonshot Brewing in Kennewick on Friday night, and then get just a little fancy and open your wallet at the Mid-Columbia Ballet's annual Garden Party. The Mid-Columbia Ballet is the jewel in our Tri-Cities crown. See you there!