6 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Live local performances impress and refresh
Writer invites readers to make
just one New Year resolution
By PATRICK WEBB
FOR COAST WEEKEND
W
ith Christmas literally under our
belts, and the New Year ap-
proaching, I suspect many Coast
Weekend readers are making resolutions.
I gave up tying those anchors around
my neck in the mid-1980s while living in
Washougal, Washington. I had pledged to
run around my neighborhood every morn-
ing. All was going well until the 11th day,
when it rained.
While I have learned my lesson about
setting unattainable goals, I do believe this
time of year is appropriate for reflections
and looking ahead.
The year 2016 was ghastly in the num-
ber of musical stars who died. I was not a
particular fan of David Bowie, Merle Hag-
gard or Prince, but when their obituaries
were published during the first few months
I decided to take action.
For me, 2016 became the year to see the
giants — just in case it was the last time. I
embarked on a seven-stop Portland-Seattle
concert tour that embraced Patti Smith,
Bruce Springsteen, Arlo Guthrie, Paul Mc-
Cartney, The Who, Bob Dylan (with won-
derful Mavis Staples) and Dead & Company.
I had seen The Who and Dylan multiple
times over the past four decades, but the
others had always been elusive. Growing
up in England, I was too young to attend
any Beatles concerts, but had caught up
with Ringo while living in Indiana, my last
home before moving to the North Coast 20
years ago.
Having exhausted my bank account,
2017 became the stay-at-home-and-buy-
the-cheap-used-CD year. That was OK,
I heard the music, but it lacked the live
concert flavor.
To this day, I am somewhat doubtful
whether it is possible to properly embrace
the music of the Grateful Dead without
consuming mood-altering substances
(which I abhor). But the heightened experi-
ence of Mickey Hart and Bob Weir groov-
ing 50 feet away from my seat in the Moda
Center was considerably more spellbinding
than putting one of 36 “Dick’s Picks” on
the home CD player and relaxing with a
teacup of PG Tips.
Two live shows toward the end of this
year — much closer to home than Port-
land’s Rose District, Seattle’s Moore The-
FILE PHOTO
The Liberty Theatre
PATRICK WEBB PHOTO
If you discover longtime professionals Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel playing a concert near-
by anytime soon, the writer advises North Coast people to get tickets right away. The duo de-
lighted an audience of 150 in Ilwaco, Washington, earlier this month with their instrumental
skills and charming presentation. Their “Acoustic Garden” won the Grammy Award for Best New
Age Album in 2003.
ater or the Chateau Ste. Michelle winery
in Woodinville, Washington — reminded
me of the joys of live entertainment. And I
hereby resolve to enjoy more in 2018.
The crowds at those two experiences
couldn’t be more different. One was a
performance of “Carmen” shared with an
audience of just 125 at Astoria’s Liberty
Theatre. The other was a terrific low-key
seasonal concert by instrumentalists Tings-
tad and Rumbel at the Inn at the Harbour in
Ilwaco, Washington. Organizer Diane Mar-
shall of the Water Music Festival told me
attendance was close to 150. The auditori-
um was packed, with a spillover crowd in
armchairs in the festively decorated lobby;
still others were turned away.
Tacoma Opera brought a truncated ver-
sion of Bizet’s opera to the Liberty, a build-
ing that can seat 700. With just five actors
and a pianist, it was skillfully trimmed to
raw basics; the two divas sang each aria as
if their lives depended on it.
Longtime professionals Eric Tingstad
and Nancy Rumbel played pipes, finger-
style guitar and double-reed woodwinds,
demonstrating admirable charm in their in-
troductions to cleverly arranged Christmas
favorites, plus original works that evoked
the scenery of our beloved Northwest.
I left enthralled, impressed, satisfied and
refreshed.
Now I am marking my calendar for 2018.
Entertainment in the new year
Those enthusiastic musicians from
Brownsmead Flats will be taking the
Performing Arts Center in Astoria by storm
Sunday, Jan. 7.
The Liberty Theatre has a Classical
Series that features six shows between now
and Friday, May 25. The next is Thursday,
Jan. 4, when Project Trip will perform
works by Brahms, Bach and Charlie Parker,
as well as “Peter and the Wolf,” Prokofiev’s
delightful work that introduced me to the
orchestra during my grade-school years.
The Liberty’s schedule brims with prom-
ise. Receiving my strong recommendation
are cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Ilya
Kazantsev, popular from the Astoria Music
Festival, performing a “Russian Old New
Year’s Eve” concert Saturday, Jan. 13. Two
Portland talents, brilliant violinist Sara
Kwak and pianist Cary Lewis, the true
unsung hero of the annual Astoria Music
Festival, will follow Saturday, Jan. 20.
For those who like amateur theater, the
Astor Street Opry Co. — which delights us
every year with “Shanghaied,” “Lewis &
Clark” and “Scrooged” — plans to stage
“Peter Pan.” Kids will audition next week,
and the show will open Saturday, Feb. 17.
Multi-talented Mick Alderman (re-
member his brilliant Macbeth some years
ago?) is gearing up to direct the comedy
“Noises Off” at the Coaster Theatre in
Cannon Beach. It opens Friday, March 16.
Edward James, one of Astoria’s most ex-
perienced theater directors, is readying the
ever-so-amusing “See How They Run” for
Friday, March 30 at the Astoria Opry.
All this is right here at our doorstep.
The ushers at the Liberty Theatre are
among my favorite people. After “Carmen”
last month, while the exhausted/elated sing-
ers graciously posed for iPhone photos in
the lobby, we all expressed disappointment
that so few had shared the rich experience.
In contrast, I was delighted that so many
had wedged into the hard pews of the
former Presbyterian church in Ilwaco on
a Sunday afternoon to savor Tingstad and
Rumbel’s delightful and skilled instrumen-
tal offerings.
So as the New Year beckons, let’s all
raise a glass to toast the live musicians and
actors who will entertain us in 2018.
We just need to get out of our armchairs
and go out to see them!
I fully suspect — indeed, I almost guar-
antee — that we will not be disappointed.
North Coast writer Patrick Webb is a
retired editor who has written arts criticism
for seven newspapers in his native England
and around the U.S. CW