From idols to dolls

Valley Dolls

Valley Dolls

Performance with Suzanna Fuller and the Cascade Jazz Trio

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 31

Where: Valley Center Stage, 119 North Bend Way, North Bend

Cost: $12.50 admission

Tickets: www.valleycenterstage.org

Information: (425) 831-5667

Three local girls, finalists from the Sno-Valley Idol Junior contests, will join the Cascade Jazz Trio and vocalist Susanna Fuller for a jazz concert at Valley Center Stage this Saturday evening, May 31.

They may be young, but the Dolls have mastered some jazz standards and will put on a swinging show at the theater, which will take on a relaxed club vibe for the performance, said band director John Chmaj.

Valley Idol winner Shaye Hodgins, 9, will take on Gershwin’s “Summertime.”

“It’s a real showpiece, and she’s eating it up. She sounds like she owns it,” Chmaj said. “She’s such a talented, showy singer.”

He describes the voice of Ashley Whitely, 12, as “gentle, beautiful and clear-toned.” She’ll sing the James Taylor classic “You’ve Got a Friend,” as well as “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz.”

The third member of the trio, “country girl” Danielle Tomlinson, 11, will perform an Elvis number, and Ray Charles’s “Georgia.”

Gary Schwartz, who runs Valley Center Stage, has helped the girls develop their stage presence.

“They’ve all become these little troupers now. They work the stage. And they’re so cute, your heart just drops out of your chest,” he said.

Chmaj said the girls have also learned a lot practicing with a live band and professional musician Susanna Fuller, who gave them live singing experience at retirement homes. Fuller will join the trio on stage, bringing her talents as an improvisational jazz singer.

“She can scat all over the place, and she just has a natural flowing ability,” Chmaj said.

Also on the bill is saxophonist Robert Brainard, who is visiting from Boston.