Historic ship visits the Vineyard
Keep your eyes on the coast this Friday, Aug. 24 to Monday, Aug. 27 to glimpse the celebrated tall ship Lynx, America’s Privateer, as it sails through Martha’s Vineyard waters.
The fast, heavily armed, 122-foot square topsail schooner is traveling along the East Coast of the U.S. and Canada in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. The ship is scheduled to arrive on the Vineyard with a salute fired from her main battery at 12 noon on Friday. During her three-day stay, Island residents and visitors have the chance to board and explore the ship at the Tisbury Wharf. Rhe schedule and online ticketing is available at privateerlynx.org or call 866-446-5969 Monday through Friday (PST).
Reports from Palestine
This Friday, Aug. 24, the Jewish Voice for Peace, Boston Chapter, will present “Reports from Palestine,” a discussion on a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians, at the Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs. University of California Santa Cruz Feminist Studies Professors Angela Davis and Gina Dent will speak, basing the report on their time spent in a delegation of women who visited the occupied territories in July, 2011.
Doors open at 4:45 pm and the event begins at 5:30. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For more information, email jvpboston@gmail.com.
Music at G&B
Sally and Ben Taylor will hold a benefit performance on behalf of Partners for Youth with Disabilities this Friday, Aug. 24, from 5 to 7:30 pm at the Gannon & Benjamin Shipyard in Vineyard Haven. The event includes musical performances by Sally and Ben Taylor, a talk by Nat Benjamin, a tour of Gannon & Benjamin crafts, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and an award presentation honoring Chilmark Chocolates’ dedication to the employment of people with disabilities. For more information, call 617-556-4075 ext. 17.
Discussion with archaeologist
On Tuesday, Aug. 28, at 7 pm, the Vineyard Haven Library presents “Duncan Caldwell: Ancient Egyptian Royal Symbols,” as part of its Evening Lecture Series. Archaeologist Duncan Caldwell will speak about his most recent expedition to the Egyptian Sahara in search of information on these ancient symbols. Mr. Duncan is on the vanguard of important archaeological conservation efforts in Europe and Africa.
The program is free and will include refreshments. For more information call 508-696-4210 or visit vhlibrary.org.
The world of the Troubadours and Trobairitz
This Sunday, Aug. 26, at the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven, the West Tisbury Library hosts the third annual performance of “The World of the Troubadours and Trobairitz; Poems and Songs from 12th and 13th Century Southern France.”
The program features internationally acclaimed soprano Jessica Goodenough Heuser, and will include the history, songs, stories, and poems of the Troubadours and Trobairitz.
Also included in the program will be a brief historical introduction by Dr. Marisa Galvez, Assistant Professor of French at Stanford University. Island performers Jenny Allen and Justen Ahren will give a duet and there will also be songs and verses performed by the Island’s Beth Kramer, Susanna Sturgis, Joe Eldridge, and Jonathan Revere.
The event will begin at 3 pm and is free and open to the public. For more information contact Paul Levine by email at plevine@stanford.edu or by phone at 508 693 2072.
Poetry reading
Today, Aug. 23, at 5 pm, award-winning poets Fanny Howe and Katie Peterson will close the West Tisbury Library’s summer poetry series with a reading of their work, held at the library at 5 pm.
Ms. Peterson is currently a professor of poetry and interim director of creative writing in Tufts University’s English Department. She has been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. In 2006 she was awarded the New Issues Poetry Prize for her début poetry collection, “This One Tree.”
Ms. Howe, a seasonal Island resident, has written over 20 books of poetry and prose and has won multiple awards. She currently resides in West Tisbury and will be teaching at UMass Boston in the fall.
The event is free and open to the public, and includes refreshments. For more information, call 508-693-3366 or email programs@westtisburylibrary.org.
Monday Night Special
The Vineyard Playhouse continues its Monday Night Specials at the M.V. Hebrew Center in Vineyard Haven on August 27 with “All New: An Intimate Evening of New Musical Theater Songs,” by award-winning composer and summer Oak Bluffs resident Marisa Michelson, performed by Ms. Michelson and her musical friends.
“All New” is an intimate concert of songs from four of Marisa Michelson’s musicals, including “Still Life with Toe Shoes” and “Tamar and the River.” Ms. Michelson’s music draws inspiration from world music as diverse as Middle Eastern and pre-Western chanting, all the way to alternative pop singers — even while her songs live primarily in an all-new genre of music theatre: a nexus between the theater and opera worlds.
The songs have lyrics by playwright and television writer Jason Grote, playwright Joshua H. Cohen, and playwright Frank Terry. Ms. Michelson will be joined by the Chad Goodridge (Broadway’s “Passing Strange”), Margot Bassett (Meredith Monk’s “Songs of Ascension”), Maggie Brothers, and the Vineyard’s own Paul Munafo.
The Playhouse’s Monday Night Specials are sponsored in part through a generous grant from The Liman Foundation. The concert will be followed by a brief Q&A with Ms. Michelson and the singers and then an informal reception on the patio.
General seating for “All New” can be reserved in advance online through vineyardplayhouse.org, or if available, tickets can be obtained at the door on the night of the show. Admission is a $25 minimum donation. Playhouse membership discounts apply to this series. Proceeds from these evenings will benefit The Vineyard Playhouse.
For more information, the Playhouse mobile box office at 508-687-2452 or boxoffice@vineyardplayhouse.org.
