Chris Smith: Avonlea Martin appears on 'America's Got Talent,' found it to be unreal

Sixteen-year-old musician and songwriter Avonlea Martin appeared, briefly, on national TV a few days back. Pretty thrilling?

Well, she said, being on “America's Got Talent” was a good life experience. Sort of like one imagines that surviving the death of your camel in the Sahara Desert might be.

Avonlea, a Santa Rosa native who's been singing, playing and writing songs since age 10, is forbidden by contract to say much about her stint on the show. Though it may appear to viewers that all that happens on stage and off stage is spontaneous and real, she feels the reality TV scene is “artificial and draining.”

She added, “That's not a great environment for artists.”

But enough of that. Avonlea remains convinced that to create and perform music is her way.

“It's definitely a lot of work,” she said. “But in the long run, there is nothing else I could possibly do with my life.”

She and her dad, Bret Martin, also dedicate loads of time teaching music to and performing for youngsters who struggle. They've given many ukuleles to kids who never before imagined themselves making music.

Just now, Avonlea prepares for a performance Saturday night at the Lucky Penny Community Art Center. The rising star and reality TV survivor is jazzed that friend Trinity Rayne of Sebastopol will play, too.

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MOMS CUT LOOSE: Girlfriends commonly schedule a movie night, but not on this scale.

“Bad Moms” hits the screen this week. Carrie Boyce of Windsor is so excited she has reserved the entire 68-seat, wine-is-OK theater at the Raven Film Center in Healdsburg for Saturday night and she's invited 67 fellow mothers.

Carrie knows the movie, written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of the original “The Hangover” and focused on three mothers fed up with trying to be so darned good, is fairly wild, fairly raunchy. She contends that doesn't mean it's too far detached from reality.

“When moms get out,” said the movie night hostess, “it gets pretty crazy.”

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IT'LL BE A LATE NIGHT, too, for Hogwarts aficionados who venture out past bedtime Saturday in quest of the new, bound script of the play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

The Copperfield's Books stores in both Sebastopol and Napa will open their doors at 11 p.m. for release parties. Expect magicians, music, snake charmers, coloring stations, Harry Potter trivia challenges, butterbeer, Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans and Lightning Bolt tattoos that vanish in a day or two.

J.K. Rowling inspired and helped Jack Thorne and John Tiffany with the two-part story, which ascends to the stage for the first time Saturday at London's Palace Theatre.

Should fans don costumes for the bookstore parties? As surely as the actors will for the premiere in the West End.

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WORTH EVERY PENNY: Sharp-eyed Steve Baker spied this deal while perusing last Sunday's PD real estate section:

$1.2 million for a “Custom Tutor” in Santa Rosa.

Not cheap, responded Steve. But how he wishes a custom tutor had helped him through that long-ago college physics class, the thought of which still makes his brain hurt.

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Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.