"CATS™” Has Theatre Fans on Vashon Island Purring

Good Life Northwest congratulates Drama Dock and Director Elizabeth Ripley, as well as a great cast and crew, on their production of the musical CATS™ .


Photo by Tom Hughes               Graphic art by Lillian Ripley



As I took the ferry from Tacoma to Vashon Island on Friday night to see a show, such delightful serendipity awaited. Elizabeth Ripley, an independent musical and vocal director, certified, Meisner Acting Teacher, and Pacific Northwest Representative of Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York has done it again, only more so. Not everyone could take a cast of 41 young thespians (as young as age eleven) and pull off such a grand production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous 1981 musical CATS™, the second longest to ever run on Broadway. I would strongly encourage you to make the trip to the island to see it, except it sold out early. No wonder.

While serving as artistic director of Drama Dock, a non-profit community theatre on Vashon Island, Ripley founded Drama Dock's Youth Theatre Initiative in 2010. CATS™ is the Initiative's sixth production and topping this one won't be easy. She told me it would be "an epic production" and it is.

Every second of the show displayed six week's worth of hard work, dedication, and discipline by everyone involved, but how they accomplished so much in that time I do not know. The choreography stunned. How mesmerizing to see all those "cats" moving together with such synchronization when called for, or leaping, twisting, caressing, so beautifully. The effects of live music, directed by Christopher Overstreet, the  scenery, lighting, costumes, makeup (distinctly different for each of 41 cats), and some powerful singing made it magical. Maya Krah's rendition of the song "Memory" in her role of the old cat Grizabella, enraptured the audience with its beauty. All the singing was excellent. At other times, we gasped over acrobatics and marveled at how well all those complex lyrics were delivered.

I could go on and on, but let it be enough to say that some exciting things are happening with this Youth Theatre Initiative on Vashon Island. Don't let a short ride on a ferry keep you from experiencing what this community has to offer to the arts scene in the Pacific Northwest. Pay special attention to Elizabeth Ripley. Who knows what she will produce next? After already devoting 35 years of her life to theater, she has many more surprises in store.

For more details see Elizabeth Sheppard's article in the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber.

 

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Vashon Island's Drama Dock Presents "Side by Side by Sondheim"

Vashon Island has its share of docks, but if you have never heard of "Drama Dock" you've missed the boat. No, Drama Dock is not a structure that sticks out into Puget Sound. It's the island's own community theater, with Artistic Director Elizabeth Ripley at the helm. If you go to see a show put on by this talented group of performers, it will stick out, in your memory though, especially if it's the one coming up this weekend.

Don't miss their production of "Side by Side by Sondheim".  Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 28 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 29, at the Vashon Island High School, 20120 Vashon Hwy SW, Vashon WA 98070

L to R in back: Elizabeth Ripley, Richard E. Montague (Master of Ceremonies), Stephanie Murray
Front: Marshall Murray                    Photo by Casey Gripp

As in the case of every non-profit organization, funding presents an ongoing challenge for Drama Dock. That is why this production not only honors and celebrates the master of musical theater—the famous lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim—but is also a FUND RAISER to help keep the theater group afloat.

"Stephen Sondheim is simply the best lyric writer of our time, the most adventurous composer working in the musical theater, and a most considerable musical dramatist," Ripley said in her press release. It was Ripley and husband-and-wife Drama Dock stars Stephanie and Marshall Murray who came up with this idea. Under Ripley's expert direction it will provide a fun evening full of favorite songs from many of Broadway's most beloved musicals. 

Here's a sampling from the press release:

"We will sing for you songs from Gypsy and West Side Story, for which Sondheim wrote the lyrics, and from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Company, A Little Night Music, Anyone Can Whistle, Merrily We Roll Along, Follies, Pacific Overtures, Sweeny Todd, Saturday Night, The Mad Show, and Into the Woods, for which he wrote music and lyrics."

This video is a full PBS interview with Sondheim,who celebrated his 80th birthday in 2010.

poster designed by Lillian Ripley

 I loved the clever poster designed by Elizabeth Ripley's daughter Lillian Ripley.  Spotlights shine down on the shape of Vashon-Maury Island, a community with a high percentage of its population involved in the arts.  (Click here to read my article about the arts on Vashon, in a past issue of SeaPort Airlines Magazine - pages 6-7)

"This is a grand gathering of talent not to be missed!" Ripley says. "Get your tickets to support the future of live theatre on Vashon. And there will a raffle as well-- who can resist a raffle—I know I can't!"

Ticket are available at The Vashon Book Shop and at the door. General Admission $20; Drama Dock Members: $15; Seniors & Students: $10.

Ferry Schedules

From Point Defiance in Tacoma
From Fauntleroy in Seattle