A couple of years before Tiny Tim tiptoed through the tulips of America’s oddball garden of novelty singers, Mrs. Elva Miller (1907–1997) of southern California sharpened our appetite for the camp pleasure of the over-warbled, excruciating and off-pitch note. Now in the world-premiere of Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing at the Vineyard Playhouse, Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway director and writer James Lapine brings us the story of the rise and fall of this songstress and, well, the truth must be told: laughingstock.
Tomorrow is the Minnesingers’ Annual Auction and Mini-Concert. The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s select vocal group will perform, plus there will be food, an array of items in a silent auction and a live auction with Trip Barnes at the microphone.
Help support the Minnesingers as they pursue community and cultural outreach through music. Doors open at 5 p.m., live auction begins at 7 p.m. It’s all at the Portuguese American Club on Vineyard avenue in Oak Bluffs.
Several high school musicians auditioned for two off-Island festivals recently. All were selected for the All Cape and Islands Festival: chorus members Zach Rabin, Rosie Bick, Hannah Marlin, Emma Frizzell and Sidra Dumont, and string players Shaelah Huntington, Bethany Pennington, Anna Yukevich and Willoughby Smith.
Sidra Dumont and Bethany Pennington also were chosen for the Southeast Festival.
On Sunday, Sept. 28, there will be tryouts for two original one-act musicals about Vineyard history:
Nancy Luce, The Musical was originally produced in the summer of 2007 as part of Children’s Theatre Workshop summer program, with a book by Dana Anderson and music by Linda Berg.
An Island of Women, Life on the Vineyard, 1850-1852, written by E. St. John Villard, takes place at a time when much of the male population was at sea whaling. Philip Dietterich has written the music and lyrics.
Former Island residents and songwriting duo Judd Fuller and Dana Radford will perform at The Offshore Ale Co. in Oak Bluffs, on Saturday, Nov. 1. Judd and Dana were involved in the Vineyard music scene for years before moving to Nashville, Tenn., in the winter of 2005. Judd is currently touring with country music star Rodney Atkins. They have just wrapped up their tour with Brooks & Dunn and ZZ Top. Dana is performing in Nashville as well as singing on recording sessions.
Three Falmouth Academy students from Martha’s Vineyard have earned places in competitive, high school music festivals — the Senior Southeast District Music Festival, which will be January 9-10 at Brockton High School, and the Cape and Islands Music Festival to be held February at Barnstable High School.
Outerland, the Island’s only nightclub, is up for sale. Aboveground Records and Offshore Ale have cut back on their performances. The Oyster Bar’s entertainment license was revoked this summer. The Wintertide is gone. The old Atlantic Connection is now an amusement arcade.
Is it that hard to put on a little music?
Well, clearly Vineyard music promotion is a tough racket, but the pervading sentiment of those working in music on the Island is that it can be done.
It’s a rock doc like you’ve never seen before: The average age of the singers is 81, and the group is a choir, not a clapped-out band of has-beens busting guitars on stage. The film Young at Heart follows the eponymous chorus from Northampton who belt out Sonic Youth and James Brown tunes, punk, pop, disco — even singing Dylan’s Forever Young at a penitentiary gig.
Entrain’s Drums For Peace, a concert focusing on the theme of peace, love and unity, will be presented twice on Friday, Oct.3: first, an alcohol-free, all-ages show at 7 p.m., then an over-21 show at 10 p.m. Both shows are at Outerland at the Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
Entrain’s energetic percussion-driven sound will offer the audience an explosive two hours of drum ensemble pieces and rhythms from all over the world. The full band will also be playing tunes from their seven compact discs that contain this positive message.
