Orcas Center

Contemporary Dance meets Thursdays 5:15-6:45pm at Orcas Oddfellows. Drop-in classes are $20, or save with a 5- or 10-class pass for $15 per class. Passes can be purchased through the Parks & Rec website or in person at the office (30 Pea Patch Lane, Eastsound, WA). Register here: https://orcasparkandrec.org/

Orcas Center Presents in the Black Box Theater: ANTIDOTE DANCE PARTY Saturday, May 23, 7 p.m. $10 at the door http://orcascenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/1080x1350.pngANTIDOTE Our Black Box will be transformed into a goth nightclub for you to gloom the night away. The event is planned by Felix Holding and features a vampire-themed burlesque performance by Carmilla DeVour. Dressed up to the eyes / It’s a wonderful surprise / To see your shoes and your spirits rise. Orcas Center is planning to host regular “Antidote” dance parties, with a different theme every time. $10 admission, cash bar for those 21 and over.

Contemporary Dance meets Sundays 10-11:15am and Tuesdays 10-11:15am at the Orcas Center Dance Studio. Drop-in classes are $20, or save with a 5- or 10-class pass for $15 per class. Passes can be purchased through the Parks & Rec website or in person at the office (30 Pea Patch Lane, Eastsound, WA). Register here: https://orcasparkandrec.org/

https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200524390 OrcasFest May 28-31 Multiple Venues Festival Passes at orcasfest.com (http://www.orcasfest.com/) Orcas Center Concert Tickets (https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200524390) (Sales begin May 1st) OrcasFest The second annual OrcasFest is right around the corner, May 28-31, and soon town will be buzzing with music in intimate venues all around Eastsound village. Festival organizers, Tashi Litch, Caleb Klauder, and Reeb Willms have a fantastic lineup in store. The festival kicks off with a square dance at Odd Fellows Hall Thursday evening, May 28. Daytime events start Friday afternoon at the Odd Fellows Hall and continue into the evening culminating with a cajun dance, as well as the Friday evening concert at Orcas Center featuring: Cathy Jordan, Kevin Burke, the Murphy Beds, and The Litch Brothers. The fun continues on Saturday with musical performances, dances and workshops throughout the day and into the evening at the Odd Fellows Hall as well as an evening concert at Orcas Center featuring: Jamie Fox & Scotty Leach, Joel Savoy & Lindzay Young and the Foghorn Stringband. Late-night music will follow at smaller venues around town after the concert. Please check www.orcasfest.com (http://www.orcasfest.com/) for details and ticket information. OrcasFest is primarily a folk music festival with the goal of enriching the local community on Orcas Island by gathering together around music: creating space for learning, celebrating, and camaraderie, through dancing, performance, and community involvement. https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200524390

Orcas Center for the Arts presents “Sculpted Light and Painted Memories” , a new exhibition by Victoria Smith, with an opening night celebration on May 29th from 5-7pm in the Main Lobby Gallery at Orcas Center. Guests are invited to join an evening of art and community featuring complimentary refreshments and a wine bar, as they explore Smith’s work throughout the gallery. The exhibition highlights her signature approach to capturing light, form, and memory through expressive visual storytelling.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artist: Victoria Smith Community Show: Capturing the Moment Art Opening: Friday, May 29th; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: May 29th – June 23rd All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, May 29th from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200532999Orcas Dance Collective Presents, on Center Stage: Myth and Momentum – June recital Friday, June 5 at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 6 at 2 p.m. Tiered ticket prices (https://orcascenter.org/ticket-prices/): $70, $40, or $25, ($10 student/senior/veteran tickets available) Myth and Momentum Orcas Dance Collective’s Performance Division students will present a June recital entitled “Myth and Momentum.” It will showcase a variety of dances from most classes, including a “Dance of the Fairies.” https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200532999

Orcas Center presents on the Center Stage Screen: Met Opera: El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego Tuesday, June 9th at 1pm Runtime: 168 Min. Tiered Ticket Pricing (https://orcascenter.org/ticket-prices/): $50, $35, $20, $10 (Student and Senior) SYNOPSIS (https://www.metopera.org/discover/synopses/el-ultimo-sueno-de-frida-y-diego/) https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200513476 El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego (Gabriela Lena Frank / Libretto by Nilo Cruz) More information about El Último Sueño de Frida y Diego is available from The Met, here. (https://www.metopera.org/season/2025-26-season/el-ultimo-sueno-de-frida-y-diego/) American composer Gabriela Lena Frank makes her Met debut with her first opera, a magical-realist portrait of Mexico’s painterly power couple Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, with libretto by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Fashioned as a reversal of the Orpheus and Euridice myth, the story depicts Frida, sung by leading mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard, leaving the underworld on the Day of the Dead and reuniting with Diego, portrayed by baritone Carlos Álvarez. The famously feuding pair briefly relive their tumultuous love, embracing both the passion and the pain before bidding the land of the living a final farewell. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts the Met premiere of Frank’s opera, a “confident, richly imagined score” (The New Yorker) that “bursts with color and fresh individuality” (Los Angeles Times). The vibrant new production, taking enthusiastic inspiration from Frida and Diego’s paintings, is directed and choreographed by Deborah Colker, following her remarkable 2024 debut staging of Ainadamar. https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200513476

The Seven Sisters: Return of the Matriarchy Saturday, June 13 5:00pm – 7:00 p.m. Center Stage [ GET YOUR FREE TICKET ] (https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200529012) The Seven Sisters: Return of the Matriarchy Indigenous women have played an outsized role in major environmental justice campaigns in the Pacific Northwest. Se’Si’Le, an Indigenous-led nonprofit, is bringing to Orcas Island an event to honor and celebrate these matriarchs as part of its nation-wide 2026 campaign: Seven Sisters—The Return of the Matriarchy. These courageous women have stood up time and again against overwhelming odds, realizing success through the animating restorative power and instinctive wisdom that comes from being the caregivers of life they bring into the world. They will speak to and through the Sisters’ themes of re-matriation, kin-centric relations, place-based identity, ancestral futures, and intergenerational struggle through to the Seventh Generation. The Sisters include: Raynell Morris (Lummi Nation), Cyaltsa Finkbonner (Lummi Nation), Chenoa Egawa (S’Klallam/Lummi Nations), Robin Lovelace (Tlingit of Alaska), Fiorella De Le O (Quechua of Peru), Marilene Silva (Macuxi of Brazil), and their non-Native Sisters Eva Schulte (Executive Director, Friends of the San Juans), and Dr. Lisa Dabek (Senior Conservation Scientist, Woodland Park Zoo). https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200529012

https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200528098Orcas Center Presents on Center Stage: Derina Harvey Band Sunday, June 14, 7 p.m. Tiered ticket prices (https://orcascenter.org/ticket-prices/): $70, $40, or $25, ($10 student and senior tickets available) Derina Harvey Band Derina Harvey leads the multi-award-winning Derina Harvey Band. Taking home the 2024 East Coast Music Award for Fans’ Choice Entertainer of the Year, this Celtic-rock group has a live show that leaves audiences hollering from their seats. Derina’s vibrant personality takes center stage with her humor, engaging storytelling and powerful vocals — a voice that earned her a 2025 Canadian Folk Music Award (CFMA) nomination for “Contemporary Singer of the Year.” The band was also nominated for a 2025 CFMA in the “New/Emerging Artist of the Year” category. dHb concerts are suitable for all ages and can be adapted for any venue, whether it’s a captivating night of storytelling through song in a Performing Arts Center or a dinner and dance in a community hall. The band has toured both Canada and the USA, sharing their songs and stories with audiences from coast to coast in North America. These engagements are the result of several very successful juried showcases at arts council conferences across Canada (BC, AB, SK, MB, ON) and the US, including Western Arts Alliance, South Arts Alliance, Ohio Arts Professional Network, ArtsMarket NC, and Arts Northwest, where the band was awarded Best Showcase in 2017. In October 2024, dHb was invited for their second appearance at both Arts Northwest and Manitoba Showcase – a testament to an engaging live show from a band that presenters and audiences are eager to see more of. https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200528098

The Orcas Island Community Band is proud to present a special musical tribute to the United States’ 250th anniversary. Taking place on Friday, June 19 at 7pm at Orcas Center , the performance will celebrate the nation’s history through iconic American compositions, diverse musical genres, and stirring patriotic favorites. Admission is by donation. Titled 250: The Music That Shaped Us , the concert is part of the nationwide America250 celebration, marking two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The program will showcase the “soundtrack of freedom,” featuring works by legendary composers including Aaron Copland , John Philip Sousa , and R. B. Hall . The Orcas Island Community Band will also feature several quintets and soloists on clarinet, trombone, tuba, and trumpet. Attendees can expect a musical journey through the sounds that shaped a nation — from folk tunes and Broadway classics to African American spirituals and swing band music. Music has always been a powerful way for communities to connect through shared heritage, and there’s no better way to celebrate the Semiquincentennial than through the uniting language of music performed by Orcas’ own community band.

Orcas Center Presents on Center Stage Orcas Island Community Band Friday, June 19th, 7:00 PM Admission by donation About Orcas Island Community Band: Learn More at www.orcascommunityband.org (https://orcascommunityband.org/) The Orcas Island Community Band is proud to announce a special musical tribute to the United State’s 250 th anniversary. Taking place on Friday, June 19 th at 7:00pm at Orcas Center, the performance will celebrate the nation’s history through iconic American compositions, diverse musical genres and stirring patriotic favorites. Admission is by donation. The Concert, titled “250: The Music That Shaped Us” is part of the nationwide America250 commemoration, marking two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The program will showcase the “soundtrack of freedom” featuring works by such legendary composers as Aaron Copeland, John Philip Sousa, and R.B. Hall. The Orcas Island Community Band is pleased to showcase several different quintets and soloists on clarinet, trombone, tuba, and trumpet. Attendees can expect a journey through the sounds that shaped a nation – from folk tunes to Broadway, to African-American Spirituals and swing band music. Music has always been a way for our community to connect with our shared heritage and there’s no better way to celebrate the Semiquincentennial than through the uniting language of music from Orcas’ own Community Band.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artists: Potters of Orcas Group Art Opening: Friday, June 26th; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: June 26th – July 28th All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, June 26th from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200531431Orcas Center Presents on Center Stage: Adam Cayton-Holland Friday, June 26, 7 p.m. Tiered ticket prices (https://orcascenter.org/ticket-prices/): $70, $40, or $25, ($10 student and senior tickets available) Adam Cayton-Holland Nationally touring comic Adam Cayton-Holland will perform stand-up comedy on Orcas Center’s stage. Cayton-Holland has appeared on Conan, Corden, Comedy Central, and a bunch of other great stuff that starts with the letter “C.” He will perform on Friday, June 26, at 7 p.m. Along with his cohorts in the comedy troupe, The Grawlix, Cayton-Holland created, wrote, and starred on the TV show, Those Who Can’t, which aired for three seasons. The Grawlix also hosts the country’s longest-running indie comedy show in Denver and has a popular podcast called “Advice Fight.” Cayton-Holland has seven albums you can listen to wherever you do that sort of thing, as well as a special, Wallpaper, currently streaming on Hulu, and another special, 20 Years In Comedy and All I Got Was This Lousy Special, streaming on YouTube. His memoir, “Tragedy Plus Time,” is available everywhere, and Cayton-Holland recently adapted his book into the movie “See You When I See You,” for which he wrote the screenplay. The 2026 comedy-drama was directed by Jay Duplass and stars David Duchovny and Hope Davis. https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200531431

Orcas Center Presents: Summer Theater Intensive A launchpad for youth ages 10-18 to learn performing arts skills and have an epic summer of fun! This intensive is split into two different camps: Performing Arts (4 Weeks) | SIGN UP (https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200519282) Theater Tech (2 Weeks) | SIGN UP (https://orcascenter.ludus.com/200519283) Both cohorts will work together to produce and perform the 1-act musical James and the Giant Peach, JR. based on the fantasy book by Roald Dahl. This intensive will work towards a full production and culminate with a performance weekend on Orcas Center Mainstage! PERFORMING ARTS INTENSIVE 4 Week Intensive, July 5th-August 1st Monday-Friday, 9:00am-2:00pm Final Performances: 7/31 and 8/1 at 12pm and 6pm Pay what you can tuition: $550, $1,110, $1,750 Directed by Chelsea Sherman and Jamey Moriarty Explore acting, singing, dancing, and other theater essentials in this month-long creative adventure. Participants will gain more knowledge and confidence in their performing arts skills, spend the summer with an amazing cohort of creators, and most importantly, learn how to channel their inner spark and apply it. Daily Intensive Schedule Sample: 9:00-9:30am: wake up and welcome 9:30-10:00: warm up + technique 10:00-12:00: rehearsal block 12:00-12:30: lunch break and outdoor time 12:30-1:30: rehearsal block 1:30-2:00: games or special activity THEATER TECH INTENSIVE 2 Week Intensive, July 20th-August 1st Monday-Friday, 9:00am-2:00pm Final Performances: 7/31 and 8/1at 12pm and 6pm Pay what you can tuition: $275, $550, $1,200 Directed by Cameron Sherman Explore the world of audio, video, lighting, set design, basic construction and other backstage activities. Both creative and technical skills will be fostered to assist in creating a collaborative design and final product for the overall theater camp production. Lessons will include familiarity with equipment and materials and their uses to create interactive and dazzling sets, props, and the more intangible portions of productions. Students will learn the basic roles of various technical staff and take on that role for the final production of the 2026 camp production, including operating together as a behind-the-scenes production team. CASTING PROCESS FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS INTENSIVE We will be holding open-call auditions for James and the Giant Peach Jr. for the performance arts intensive. However, there is no audition required to participate in the camp. If you sign up, you can join the fun! We strongly encourage every participant to give the audition process a try, especially those who’d like the opportunity to play larger roles. Every participant will have the opportunity to play one or multiple roles in the show. Dual casting for leads is a possibility. No experience is necessary to participate, although all participants must make an active effort to perform at least one role in the show- courage is required! AUDITION INFORMATION In-Person Auditions: Monday, May 4th 3:30-5:30pm, and Thursday, May 7th, 3:30-5:30pm In the Orcas Center Blackbox Theater. Auditionees will be seen on a first come, first served basis. Please enter and wait in the black box lobby. You only need to attend one of the two open-call dates. Self-Tape Auditions: Self-tape auditions are due to chelsea@orcascenter.org by Friday, May 8th at 5:30pm. Tapes do not have to be of professional quality- using a phone or ipad works great. Please make sure we can hear any audio in your self tape clearly. All Auditionees: Please prepare 30 seconds-1 minute of a song that shows your range and personality. If auditioning in person, please provide a backing track link of your song to chelsea@orcascenter.org. There will be no accompanist available at in-person auditions. In addition to your song, you’re welcome to present another special skill, such as dancing, skateboarding, acrobats, etc. For in-person auditions only: You might be asked to read a scene from the script. Casting will be announced by Friday, May 15th, 2026 for those who participated in the audition process. Script and songs will be sent out by June 1st. PERFORMANCES Friday July 31st, 12PM and 6PM Saturday August 1st, 12PM and 6PM Strike and cast party Sunday August 2nd in the afternoon MEET YOUR COUNSELORS Chelsea Sherman has spent her entire life exploring the world of performing arts. Over the last decade alone, she has crafted dozens of grassroots performances, including one musical, four records, and a multitude of dance theater works. Her compositions and courses are supported by her advanced training in music, dance, theater, and voice. Sherman also founded the co-led Orcas Dance Collective in 2021 and has taught performing arts on Orcas Island for the last five years. She leads with the belief that every person has a right to self expression and that all performing arts skills can be learned. Sherman graduated with honors from Indiana University in 2019 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Performing Arts and Composition. Notable stage credits include Eurydice (Eurydice), Into The Woods (Cinderella), Still Now (Annie), A Feminine Ending (Amanda), The Arboretum: A New Musical (Three) HOUSE HOUSE HOUSE: A Play with Dance (Carrie) and Footloose! (Wendy Jo) Jamey Moriarty is a longtime theater artist and performer who loves acting, directing, stream-of-consciousness improvisation, dancing, and having fun. He studied theater at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, graduating in 2014 with a degree focused on acting and performance. Jamey spent approximately four years working at the Orcas Center, where he specialized in technical design work including lighting and stagecraft. He made his directorial debut at Orcas Center in 2024 with the magic comedy She Kills Monsters and followed it up the next year with a theatrical spoof of Harry Potter called Puffs. He also has an extensive background working with kids, including time at YMCA Camp Orkila, teaching theater classes at the Orcas Center, and working at private schools in Seattle. This will be Jamey’s fourth year teaching theater camp at Orcas Center. He is very excited for this summer’s production of James and The Giant Peach, especially since he’s often been told the claymation version of James from the original movie is his doppelgänger. We’re gonna have a peach of a time! Cameron Sherman began his foray into stagecraft from his secondary school drama classes, high school sound crew and video production, and a focus on set and lighting design, construction and media arts in college, and furthering his career by becoming an IATSE stagehand. He is an adamant supporter of education in the performing arts for youth, specifically from the backstage perspective. With 30 years in the industry involved in every aspect of production, including managing crews of large scale concerts at venues across the PNW, working on school, local community theater and national/touring productions in theaters throughout Washington State; a brief stint into acting and directing, and even returning to his alma mater as the Theater Advisor, he continues to find ways to further the creative and technical drive and prowess of himself and others looking to express themselves through stagecraft of all types. He welcomes technical challenges and seeks the best possible team solutions right up until the curtain opens. ABOUT THE SHOW Based on one of Roald Dahl’s most poignantly quirky stories, Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach JR. is a brand new take on this “masterpeach” of a tale. Featuring a wickedly tuneful score and a witty and charming book, this adventurous musical about courage and self-discovery is destined to be a classic. The possibilities for creative costuming and puppetry abound, and young actors will love playing the outlandish and larger-than-life human and animal characters! Featuring music and lyrics by the Tony-nominated songwriters Justin Paul and Benj Pasek and book by Timothy Allen McDonald, James and the Giant Peach JR. is based on the beloved book by Roald Dahl and tells the story of a young orphaned child who finds a loving family in a most peculiar way. Sent by his mean, conniving aunts to chop down their old fruit tree, James discovers a magic potion which results in the growing of a tremendous peach that rolls into the ocean, and is occupied by some not-so-normal characters. From the center of the gigantic fruit, James and the unlikely crew launch a journey of enormous proportions. Together they discover that while we are all born into a family, we then go on to create a family of our own. Paul says, “Behind its wit and whimsy, James and the Giant Peach explores some sophisticated themes. How do we define our family? How do we start over after a big loss? We’ve always planned to make it available for performance by schools and educational theaters groups as soon as possible, because – and we think Roald Dahl would agree – young people are capable of amazing things” McDonald says, “I was a dyslexic student who hated reading when my third grade teacher, Mrs. Spencer, introduced me to the wonderful world of Roald Dahl. His stories instilled in me a love of reading and I have never looked back. Through their production these students are celebrating the power of story-telling, teamwork and imagination. We hope you’ll join us in applauding them.”

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artists: Orcas Artist Studio Tour Art Opening: Friday, July 31st; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: July 31st – August 25th All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, July 31st from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artist: Peter Carlson Community Show: Light & Shadow Art Opening: Friday, August 28th; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: August 28th – September 22nd All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, August 28th from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artist: Marcia Spees Community Show: Of The Water Art Opening: Friday, September 25th; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: September 25th – October 21st All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, September 25th from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artists: Carla Stanley Class Community Show: 6 x 6 x $60 Art Opening: Friday, October 23rd; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: October 23rd – November 18th All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, October 23rd from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.

Visual Arts Committee Presents: Featured Artist: Debra Babcock Community Show: Mixed Media Art Opening: Friday, November 20th; 5:30pm – 7pm On Display: November 20th – December 22nd All are invited to attend the Art Opening on Friday, October 23rd from 5:30 to 7 p.m., featuring live entertainment and complimentary refreshments. Artists are urged to attend and contribute hors d’oeuvres. To learn more about exhibiting your art, commission structures, and upcoming shows, please visit the VAC page.