Travel through time with Zara Thustra

“Time traveler” Zara Thustra is set to appear in Port Townsend for a performance at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11 at The Boiler Room, 711 Water St.

The performance combines music with immersive theater.

According to a press release, “Zara has been sent back in time from the final days of humanity in a last-ditch attempt to change the course of history, prevent a nuclear apocalypse and save the human race.” Through the process of this interactive performance, Zara Thustra and the audience seek to answer the two most pressing questions of survival in any time: “How?” and “Why?”

Thus far this summer, Zara Thustra has performed in Oakland, Seattle, Astoria and Los Angeles.

Two artists share the Ludlow limelight

The Port Ludlow Artists’ League (PLAL) presents Steve Hammond and Sharon Zablotney as its featured artists for July. A Second Wednesday reception, open to the community, takes place 4-6 p.m., July 12 at the gallery and in the adjacent Sound Community Bank lobby, 9500 Oak Bay Road, Port Ludlow.

Hammond's paintings capture scenes from Puget Sound. A self-taught artist, he has been involved with art all of his life, from drawing to sculpture to painting. His preferred medium is acrylic, and for him, Puget Sound provides a plethora of subjects, mostly involving water and fog.

Hammond’s paintings have been exhibited and sold at shows in Arizona, Panama and Washington. His current artworks are shown locally at the PLAL gallery and The Inn at Port Ludlow.

A jeweler, Zablotney captures the essence of summer colors in her glass lampwork beads. She had been a silversmith and coppersmith for years, but “fell in love with the beads and the magical process for turning a few sticks of glass into an exciting bead.”

For more information, contact league president Claudia Wicks at 206-351-2414 or claudiawicks@msn.com.

Trio plays pieces from Great American Songbook

The Al Harris Trio performs selections from the Great American Songbook – including tunes from Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, George Gershwin, Harold Arlen and others – from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 11 at Northwind Arts Center, 701 Water St.

Al Harris directs Adventures in Music, a program sponsored by the Port Angeles Symphony that tours elementary schools, introducing students to different facets of music. He has taught piano and improvisation for the past 25 years, and formerly wrote, arranged and produced music for radio, television and films.

He is joined by Craig Buhler, who is the director of and first tenor sax with Sequim’s Stardust Big Band; codirector of Port Townsend’s annual Northwest Big Band Workshop; director of Elder Hostel’s Big Band Workshop; and director of big bands for Port Angeles’ Camp Heebie Jeebies.

Jessie Lee, the third member of the trio, sings at Peninsula College jazz events and in various other venues.

The concert is presented by Arts to Elders in conjunction with the Northwind Arts Center and sponsored by the Port Townsend Arts Commission.

Make a date with ‘Chapter Two’ in Ludlow

Bare Bones Productions presents Neil Simon's “Chapter Two” as a staged reading at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 14-15 at The Beach Club, 121 Marina View Drive, Port Ludlow.

In this autobiographical romantic comedy about dating later in life, writer and recent widower George Schneider is encouraged by his younger brother, Leo, to start dating again, which sends George into an even deeper depression after a series of bad matches. Then Leo comes up with Jennie Malone, and she’s a keeper. Still, it’s a bumpy trip on the road to dreamland for these not-so-young lovers. George and Jennie stumble on, overcoming both their hesitation on the rebound and emotional neediness. In a farcical subplot, Leo has a fling with Faye, Jennie’s neurotic married friend.

Tickets are $9 at the door. Complimentary wine is served.

Coogan brings ‘cutting-edge music’ to Coyle

The Concert in the Woods series presents vocalist Anna Coogan with pedal steel player Jay Kardong on Friday, July 7.

“I first met Anna Coogan as a folk singer in a coffeehouse in Seattle,” said concert organizer Norm Johnson. “Since then, she has returned to the East Coast and found success with her own style of blending her opera training with her roots in Americana. I'm excited to bring this cutting-edge music to our Coyle venue.”

The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Laurel B. Johnson Community Center, 923 Hazel Point Road, in Coyle.

Coogan’s performances have been hailed as a “festival highlight” by The Times of London and “glorious” by Glasgow Metro.

Boston-born and classically trained in Austria, Coogan spent her 20s in Seattle, busking among the fishmongers in Pike Place Market before filling larger venues in the region.

(Compiled by Leader staff writer Katie Kowalski).