Large Print Romance

Vashon High School’s theater program will present three original plays collectively titled “Large Print Romance,” at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15; 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 16 or 17; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18.

All the plays — about marriage, divorce and all the other complications caused by romance — are based on novels found at Granny’s Attic, and written, directed, and produced by the VHS thespians.

For the show, student writers Adam Ingalls and Delilah Spence penned two plays, and a third was devised by its cast — each based on the novels Vashon High School theater program director Andy James, in a moment of inspiration, swept off the shelf one day at Granny’s and then shared with his students.

A content warning for “Large Print Romance” advises that the plays “are free-wheeling and full of the occasional salty language and innuendo, and may not be suitable for children under 12.”

A student-written press release touted the show’s charms for everyone else: “For fans of romantic comedies, ‘Large Print Romance’ ensures to deliver witty comedy and heartfelt moments. Be prepared to witness remixes, gender swaps, satire, and everything unpredictable. Come to observe what happens when teenagers have complete creative freedom.”

Tickets, $10 for everyone, will be available at the door and can also be purchased in advance at tinyurl.com/5n72wwrt. Make donations to support the VHS theater program at tinyurl.com/fxwhef53.

Whim W’Him

Celebrate “Spring ‘25” — a presentation of new creations by the award-winning Seattle-based contemporary dance company, Whim W’Him — in a show at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

Works in the program will come from choreographer Mark Caserta, 2023 Princess Grace Award winner; Lauren Edson, artistic director and co-founder of LED; and Whim W’Him’s founder Olivier Wevers.

Twice a year, VCA offers dance programs by Whim W’Him, showcasing innovative collaborations with regional and global dance artists. As a principal dancer with both the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, Wevers brings imaginative storytelling and expressive movement to all of the dance company’s programs.

Get tickets — including free tickets to those 18 and younger — at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Stephanie Chou

Stephanie Chou, a composer, saxophonist, singer, and storyteller based in New York City, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

Having performed at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Joe’s Pub (at The Public Theatre), Chou blends Chinese musical influences with Western jazz and pop to create a vibrant musical world that forges cross-cultural connections.

She has won rave reviews for her performances.

Lia Prusha, of San Jose Jazz, wrote that Chou’s “music produces a tingle down the spine as our ears fill with the sounds of genius that will live on far into the future,” and Lydia Singer, of Broadway World, said, “Chou’s performance never wavers and is a delight throughout.”

Get tickets and find out more at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Extended museum hours

The Vashon Heritage Museum, at 10105 Bank Road, is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays this summer. The next Family Day is Saturday, May 17, when the museum will debut the Betty Olson Education Collection, full of things for kids to use — such as an old butter churn, a manual coffee grinder and carding paddles. Entrance is free.

Art Talk

Art Historian Rebecca Albiani will talk about how artist Ai Weiwei explores issues of culture, history, and freedom of expression relevant to his native China and to the world as a whole, in a talk at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 17, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

Weiwei is a groundbreaking sculptor, photographer, architect, activist, and conceptual artist, whose work is now being exhibited at Seattle Art Museum through Sept. 7. The exhibition marks the artist’s first U.S. retrospective in over a decade and his largest-ever U.S. exhibition.

Find out more and get tickets at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Legendary guitarist returns

Scottish guitar player Tony McManus returns to the Vashon Havurah at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, May 17.

Hailed by John Renbourn as “the best Celtic guitarist in the world,” and listed as one of the 50 transcendent guitarists of all time by Guitar Player Magazine, McManus plays dexterous and dazzling music drawing on traditions from the entire Celtic world as well as jazz and eastern European music.

Long applauded for his uncanny ability to transpose the delicate, complex ornamentation characteristic of traditional bagpipe or fiddle tunes — even the phrasing of a Gaelic song — onto his own six strings, McManus is increasingly acknowledged also as a pioneering figure in bridging the realms of Celtic music and other guitar genres.

Doors open at 7 p.m. A donation of $25 cash or check is suggested, and reservations are encouraged by calling or emailing Jan Strolle at janstrolle@comcast.net or 206-228-0730. The Havurah is located at 15401 Westside Hwy SW. All proceeds go to the musician.

Stunt Dog Experience

Peroondi’s Stunt Dog Experience, featuring incredible stunts and behaviors performed by more than a dozen dogs, will have two performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at Vashon Center for the Arts.

With amazing tricks, big air stunts, comedy antics, dancing dogs, and athletic feats, The Stunt Dog Experience has been featured on Late Night with David Letterman, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The show encourages pet adoption awareness — all the dogs have been rescued from pounds and shelters from across the country. The mission of the humans behind the show is to promote animal rescue, pet adoption, encourage spay and neutering, and encourage people to spend more time with their pets. All the dogs in the shows are trained using positive training methods with the use of a clicker and treat or toy motivation.

Find out more and get tickets at vashoncenterforthearts.org.

Vashon Opera’s ‘Falstaff’

Vashon Center for the Arts will play host in May to Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s Falstaff — an homage to Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, with a twist: The performance will be set in Las Vegas, in the 1970s. The action begins at the “Windsor Hotel and Casino,” with poolside cocktails enjoyed by the gossipy Merry Wives.

The comic opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles and runs about 2 hours, 45 minutes with one intermission and one pause. Show times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 23, and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, May 25.

Grammy-nominated baritone Joshua Conyers will return as Falstaff — one of his signature roles — after electrifying the stage and terrifying the audience as Scarpia in Vashon Opera’s Tosca. Conyers has been singled out by Opera News for his “deliciously honeyed baritone that would seduce anyone.”

Marie Masters Webb, a Vashon favorite, returns as the clever and scheming Alice Ford after appearing in the title role of “Ariadne auf Naxos,” Santuzza in “Cavalleria Rusticana,” and Lady Billows in “Albert Herring.” She’s been hailed by The New York Times as “immensely likable” with a “warm, fresh soprano.”

Emily Pulley will make her company debut as Mistress Quickly. Pulley is now in the fourth decade of her singing career and has also worked steadily as a stage director since making her professional debut with “La bohème” for Opera Ithaca in 2019. She has sung nearly 200 performances at the Met, where her roles have ranged from Marguerite in Faust to Gerhilde in Die Walküre to Valencienne in The Merry Widow.

Brendan Tuohy and José Rubio will return for the roles of Fenton and Ford, and Vashon Opera Artistic Director Allison Pohl will appear onstage for the first time since assuming her leadership position in one of her all-time favorite roles, Nannetta. Other returning artists include Nerys Jones, Michael Drumheller, and Nick Stevens in the roles of Meg Page, Pistola, and Bardolfo. Simon Petersson will make his company debut as Doctor Caius.

For tickets and information, visit vashonopera.org.

Drama Dock

Save the date for Drama Dock’s next production, “New Short Plays, Vol. 1,” featuring five new works by playwrights Lisa Peretti, Anne Brady, Jennifer Dice, Kelleen Conway Blanchard and the team of Mariah Lee Squires and S.W. Jones.

The plays are performed May 29-June 1 in Vashon High School’s theater. Find out more and get tickets at dramadock.org.