Sarah Arney, North County Outlook, http://www.northcountyoutlook.com
The Arlington Arts Council will present two shows to brighten up the dark winter days in the Romantic Winter Music Festival on two Saturdays in February.
On Saturday, Feb. 9, Last Leaf Productions will offer “Sweet and Hot,” a musical revue originally conceived by Julianne Boyd to showcase the musical works of Harold Arlen, a prolific composer from 1930-1970.
Together with popular lyricists including Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Truman Capote, Arlen wrote hundreds of songs that have become standards in American music. His work includes “Get Happy,” “Stormy Weather,” “Let’s Fall in Love,” and the songs from The Wizard of Oz including “Somewhere Over The Rainbow.”
Terence Alaric Levitt is music director and accompanist for the show. A composer himself, Levitt has written many shows produced in the Seattle area and in California where he studied music and composition. He will be joined by Keith Ruby to fill out the musical accompaniment for the show.
Performers include Pat Haines-Ainsworth, who played Sister Hubert in Last Leaf’s production of “Nunsense” that played in the Byrnes Performing Arts Center two years ago. Also featured are Jonathan Reis, Emily Cawley, Krista Erickson and Buddy Mahoney who have collectively performed on many western Washington stages including Village Theatre, Northwest Savoyards and Seattle Musical Theatre.
On February 16, the Grammy Award-winning duo Eric Tingstad and Nancy Rumbel return to Arlington for their first local performance since the grand opening of the BPAC in 2007.
Tingstad provides Americana finger-style guitar which is complemented by Rumbel’s wistful high-toned oboe floating gracefully above Tingstad’s gently swirling hypnotic guitar lines. On some pieces Rumbel plays English horn, and she adds a jig flavor with a peppy ocarina, which is much like a penny whistle.
The duo has released many albums, including Acoustic Garden, The Gift, Woodlands, In the Garden and Legends.
Both concerts start 7:30 p.m. at the Byrnes Performing Arts Center, 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd., adjacent to Arlington High School.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance online at brownpapertickets.com and at Flowers by George, 335 N. Olympic Ave., in downtown Arlington. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door.
For information see www.arlingtonartscouncil.net, byrnesperformingarts.org or arlingtonwa.gov, or call 360-403-3448.