Vashon Opera does “Madam Butterfly”

Vashon Opera presents Puccini’s famous “Madam Butterfly,” a tale of love between East and West. It’ll be sung in Italian with English subtitles, featuring Jennifer Krikawa as Cio-Cio San. 8 p.m. May 13, 2:30 p.m. May 15. $32 from Vashon bookstores or online. Bethel Church, 14736 Bethel Lane SW, Vashon. 206-388-2936, www.vashonopera.org

Get into “Something Good” at Centerstage

“I’m into Something Good,” opening tonight at Centerstage Theatre, is a musical mélange of 1960s British hits by Centerstage’s director Alan Bryce and composer David Duvall: a trip down memory lane with everything from the …

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Romantic strings at UPS Jacobsen concert

Dvorak, Schumann and Shostakovich are on the menu for romance for the first Jacobsen Series concert at the University of Puget Sound. Featuring Maria Sampen (violin), Timothy Christie (viola), Tanya Stambuk (piano) and a guest cellist, the program includes Shostakovich’s wistful “Romance” which accompanied the film “The Gadfly.” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10. $12.50/$8.50/free for current Puget Sound students. Schneebeck Hall, UPS, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma. 253-879-3419, www.pugetsound.edu

“The Barber of Seville” comes to Vashon

Vashon Opera kicks off its season with Rossini’s comic masterpiece, “The Barber of Seville.” Cast includes Tacoma Opera …

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For its debut production, the brand new Vashon Opera offered a chamber version of “La Boheme” that was sincere, dramatic and well-sung, for the most part. 

In Sunday afternoon’s show , after a Friday night opening, the company – comprised of an all-local chorus and musicians, plus several island principals – took Puccini’s popular story of the starving Bohemian artists and set it in World War II Occupied Paris. The move was a good one, allowing for a dashing array of costumes, though not adding a whole lot to the storyline. 

Most impressive was the ensemble singing. Company founders Jennifer …

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Just when you thought life on Vashon couldn’t get any more civilized, there’s now a homegrown opera company. Vashon Opera is a new non-profit that is staging three full opera productions in its first year, beginning with Puccini’s “La Boheme” this weekend. 

Why an opera company on Vashon?

“There wasn’t one,” laughs Jennifer Krikawa, co-founder and artistic director, who’ll sing the role of Mimi. Krikawa and her husband, Andrew (a baritone who’ll sing Marcello) moved to Vashon from New York nearly five years ago with two small children. Having left their careers behind them, as Krikawa puts it, they …

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