‘Ireland’s Greatest Showman’
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 5 months AGO
Irish tenor David Shannon will round out the Columbia Basin Community Concert Association’s 2023-24 season with a performance at the Wallenstien Theater in Moses Lake Sunday.
Courtesy photo/Live on Stage
Irish musician David Shannon’s performances are often accompanied by the fiddle and the bodhran, a handheld drum widely used in traditional Irish music.
David Shannon’s tenor voice has been featured in many musicals in London’s prestigious West End theater district.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 26, 2024 1:15 AM
MOSES LAKE — The Wallenstien Theater will ring this weekend with the voice of Irish tenor David Shannon. The concert will start at 7 p.m. Sunday evening.
Sometimes billed as “Ireland’s Greatest Showman,” Shannon has a long and varied list of credits under his belt. He’s performed leading roles in productions of “Phantom of the Opera,” “Les Misérables” and “Sweeney Todd” in London’s prestigious West End theaters, according to his biography, and he was an original cast member of the London Company production of “Come From Away.” Shannon is equally at home with traditional folk music, and laces his performance with songs accompanied by the fiddle and the bodhran, a handheld drum that’s a staple of Irish tradition.
“He's quite a showman, and he's got a wonderful, wonderful voice,” said CBCCC board member Harriet West. “All of the concerts this year have been phenomenal, and I feel this one will be no exception.”
Shannon will also perform at Wahitis Elementary School in Othello on Monday for the fourth- and fifth-grade students, according to CBCCC board member Carla McKean.
The CBCCC is celebrating its 70th birthday this year, McKean said.
“I remember attending community concerts here in Moses Lake as a child with my family's season ticket,” West said. “Of course, the Wallenstien wasn't available in those days; I believe those concerts were either held at the Assembly of God church, or in the gym at (Columbia Middle School) … My family came here in 1952, so in the ’50s and ’60s I was going to community concerts.”
Membership has other advantages as well, McKean said. CBCCC has reciprocity agreements with other organizations of the same kind in Richland and Wenatchee, besides several towns on the west side. A Central Basin Community Concert Association season ticket gets the bearer into shows sponsored by those associations also.
Tickets to individual shows are $30 for an adult or $65 for a family. Season tickets are $70 for individual adults and $145 for a family. For music students and teachers, either in school or private instruction, tickets are $5.
The next season of concerts will begin in September, according to the CBCCC website, with performances by Kate Voss & the Hot Sauce, Molly in the Mineshaft, The Hall Sisters and the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra.
“If a membership for next season is purchased prior to or even at the David Shannon concert, on April 28, (the purchaser) will get into the David Shannon concert for free,” McKean wrote in a message to the Columbia Basin Herald.
“(It’s our) desire to always bring a variety of high-quality live music into the lives of Moses Lake and the area,” West said. “I believe music’s a gift, and it's important to our brain, heart, soul and well-being.”
Joel Martin may be reached via email at [email protected].
Irish musician David Shannon’s performances are often accompanied by the fiddle and the bodhran, a handheld drum widely used in traditional Irish music.
David Shannon’s tenor voice has been featured in many musicals in London’s prestigious West End theater district.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Endless battle
Noxious Weed Control Board works to keep invasive plants under control
MOSES LAKE — Some of the nastiest plants in Grant County were the topic of a class led by Jay Johnson, a consultant with the Grant County Noxious Weed Control Board, Tuesday. The Noxious Weed Control Board, as its name would suggest, is tasked with keeping weeds under control in Grant County. That’s not a small job; the board’s website lists 129 species of noxious weeds that are found around Grant County. A noxious weed is defined as an invasive, non-native plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat, according to the Noxious Weed Control Board. Washington state law requires that these weeds be identified and their spread kept to a minimum, if not completely eradicated. “We’re one of those agencies a lot of people don’t really understand,” Johnson said. “We’re a county office and … our funding is tax-based assessment. When you get your tax bill and you look down at all the expenses that you pay for, there we are.”
BASIN EVENTS: Oct. 16-24
COLUMBIA BASIN — Whether you feel like shopping, crafting, learning or seeing a show, there’s something happening for you this week in the Basin. Oct. 16 ‘My Family (Mi Familia)’ screening Spanning three generations, “My Family (Mi Familia)” is a heartfelt drama that follows the Sánchez family as they build their lives in East Los Angeles. Through love, hardship, triumph, and sacrifice, the film explores the immigrant experience, the strength of family bonds, and the traditions that connect one generation to the next. Lowrider show and taco truck before the screening. Sponsored by Columbia Basin Allied Arts, EDUBS C/S and the Moses Lake Creative District. $12 per person. Doors open at 6 p.m., film begins at 7 p.m. at the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St. Tickets and info: www.cba-arts.org.
Moses Lake author encourages women to look beyond church culture norms
MOSES LAKE — A Moses Lake author’s book, “A Christian Woman Striving to Live Her Faith in a Man-Controlled World,” takes aim at the role to which many churches relegate the female half of their congregations. “It’s to encourage women in the faith,” Linda Curran said. “A lot of churches say, ‘Teach Sunday school, do this, do that, but don’t (evangelize.)’" In her book, Curran recounts a time when she moved to a new community and joined a church there. She was surprised to learn that, as a new female member, she had been automatically assigned church cleaning duties. When she questioned it, she wrote, she was met with condescension and her objections were brushed aside. In other churches, she said, women who were capable of teaching were relegated to “women’s ministry.”