Oh, the joys of living in a big city. All the choices to make. Last night I had the offerings of Stars on Ice at Seattle Center, and the cage-match fight at the casino. While everyone loves watching a good whoopin’, skating took the gold this time. Mainly because I can’t get enough of the oh-so-tall and hot John Zimmerman. ...more...
Arts America Blog
Stars on Ice Love ‘n’ Life
February 22, 2012 by
Stars on Ice has again brought together Olympic, World and National Champions from all over the globe for the 2011-12 season. The show will visit 10 U.S. cities including Seattle, on Saturday for a 5:30 pm performance at Seattle Center.
Last year, Stars on Ice celebrated its 25-year legacy; this year the “Stars on Ice Love ‘n’ Life” tour will try a new direction with skater Kurt Browning, who will co-direct …more…
Gallery 110’s 2012 Juried Exhibition, Feb. 2-25
February 9, 2012 by
The First Thursday Art Walk in the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood is a popular Seattle institution. The first Thursday of every month, museums and galleries downtown keep their doors open late, admission fees are waived and studios welcome throngs of art enthusiasts. It’s a popular time for shows to open, and last Thursday was no different. ...more...
The Olympic Sculpture Park Celebrates Its 5th Anniversary
January 23, 2012 by
“Does anyone have a business card?” our docent asks.
Ripping the offered card carefully and expanding it to a rough Z shape, the docent explains how the project designers, Weiss/Manfredi of New York, came up with the Olympic Sculpture Park’s unusual layout. Voilà! ...more...
You can’t be cavalier about Cavalia
January 23, 2012 by
Photo by Darrell Scattergood.
I attended the premiere of Cavalia at Redmond’s Marymoor Park on Friday. Delayed for two nights due to the snowstorm blanketing the Seattle area, this treat was worth the wait.
Even if you’re one of the dozen people in this world who don’t like horses, you’ll enjoy this epic performance. The choreography, sets, music and themes are all superb.
The show, while extraordinary when it first visited the …more…
Another 48 Hours
January 17, 2012 by
I just returned from the latest installment of Seattle ACT Theatre’s popular theater event, 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival. The festival was staged at ACT Theatre for the fourth consecutive year as part of ACT’s Central Heating Lab, an innovative talent development program. The semi-annual theatre event, now in its 15th year, was originally planned as a one-time only fundraiser. More than 750 plays with more than 3,000 artists have followed. ...more...
An Interview with Isaac Layman: A Seattle Artist Finding Paradise in His Own Home
January 11, 2012 by
Isaac Layman. Untitled, 2011. Photographic construction, ink-jet on paper. 95" X 59".
Isaac Layman has taken the art world by storm with his evocative, large-scale photographic constructions, which transform the banal into the hyper-realistic, haunting and enigmatic. Drinking glasses, used tissues, heating vents: Any object in Layman’s Seattle home can become the object of an intense visual meditation, captured over and over from subtly different angles by the artist’s high-resolution, …more…
Five Hot Seattle Art Shows to Catch This Year End
December 27, 2011 by
Time is running out for 2011, as it is for a number of top-notch Seattle-area exhibitions. If you’re yearning for a little culture fix to fill your holiday leisure hours, here are five shows to catch in the next few weeks: ...more...
Mannheim Steamroller
December 20, 2011 by
I caught Mannheim Steamroller’s Seattle show at the Paramount, and enjoyed it. Does this mean that I have officially entered middle age, or that the group is just that good?
Grammy Award-winner and creator of the group, Chip Davis directs and co-produces the performances annually, but due to health concerns he no longer tours. There are now two tour groups of Mannheim Steamroller to meet the seasonal demand, including six shows …more…
Singin’ Out in Seattle
December 13, 2011 by
With the holidays fast approaching, it is time (if you haven’t already done it) to plan on taking in some seasonal music. As always, there are lots of events coming up in Seattle, but if choral music is your passion this is your time of year.
Check out the Tudor Choir – they are one of the finest small vocal ensembles in the world, and they are presenting a program titled …more…
Christmas Belles
December 5, 2011 by
I just attended a new holiday comedy, Christmas Belles, at Edmonds’ Phoenix Theater. How can you go wrong with a Texas-themed comedy about an Elvis impersonator, female arsonist, accidental Vicodin usage and green cowgirl boots?
The play is the second installment in the Fayro, Texas (pop. 3,003) comedic trilogy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten.
“I have the opportunity to play the likable Dub Dubberly,” said local standout actor, Dan …more…
Urban Craft Uprising Occupies Seattle Center Dec. 3-4
December 2, 2011 by
Searching for distinctive gifts to please the art lovers on your Christmas list? Look no further than this year’s annual Urban Craft Uprising Winter Show on Dec. 3 and 4, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall. The Pacific Northwest’s premier independent craft fair will feature over 150 artists, designers and crafters, who stitch, knit, emboss, weld, sculpt, paint and print an astonishing array of artwork and hand-crafted …more…
The Trouble with the Familiar
November 30, 2011 by
As we move into the thick of the Holiday Season, I’m prompted to comment about one of my pet peeves – for the next month, musical groups throughout the Seattle area will be playing concerts that feature what may be the most familiar music possible. This time of year we stick closer to the familiar than ever, and though this is comforting, personally I find it a tad tedious. Science fiction writer Theodore Sturgeon was credited with coining “Sturgeon’s Law” which declares that “90% of everything is crap”. This is probably true, but we are also not very good about how we filter out the 10% that isn’t. Given a choice, we tend to opt for what we already know, and tend to think that because we know it so well, it represents “the best”. ...more...
Wordless Caroling: Phil Kline’s Unsilent Night, Nationwide
November 29, 2011 by
There are, of course, numerous classical music works that have become iconic holiday traditions in and of themselves–Handel’s Messiah, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker,Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carolsamong them. ...more...
Seattle Men’s Chorus
November 28, 2011 by
If you have never seen Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), see them this holiday season. If you’ve seen them before, see them again. I attend annually, and last night’s Seattle show at Key Arena was by far the best they have been. It was 2 1/2 hours of Wow. Actually, I used other interjections that I won’t enumerate now. See this gang for its powerful musicianship, expert vocals, impressive pyrotechnics and brilliant …more…
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
November 23, 2011 by
Rock Theater originators, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO), will be performing their larger-than-life Christmas show in Seattle at Key Arena in two performances this Saturday. The annual holiday show highlights the theater troupe’s unique combination of story-telling, expert musicianship and outstanding production. TSO will rock 120 US markets this holiday season with its two troupes, performing the timeless classic Christmas Eve and Other Stories in its entirety, followed by excerpts from the …more…
Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour
November 11, 2011 by
A Michael Jackson tribute show requires serious dance moves, glittery gloves, 80s fashion, pyrotechnics–preferably without the corresponding scalp burns. Cirque du Soleil’s latest arena offering, Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, does not disappoint. Whether you memorized the lines to the short-lived Jackson 5 cartoon in the 70s, or you are more a fan of Jackson’s Bad years, Cirque’s music-driven performance takes you back to those years. This show, a …more…
Octava Chamber Orchestra presents a World Premiere
November 10, 2011 by
Here’s another upcoming concert that should be well worth a listen. The Octava Chamber Orchestra will be performing on Sunday, November 13th at 6:00pm at Maple Park Church, located at 17620 60th Ave W. in Lynnwood, about fifteen miles north of Seattle. Octava is an interesting group – a chamber orchestra comprised of professionals, teachers and some of the area’s best amateur musicians.
Originally formed by Music Director Johan Louwersheimer and …more…
Local Color – The Kids are All Right!
November 8, 2011 by
This month, don’t miss a performance by another northwest musical gem, the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. This group is part of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, or SYSO, which was founded in 1942 and today is the largest youth symphony organization in the United States, operating four orchestras for young musicians, as well as three summer music programs and outreach programs to the public schools. SYSO currently has an enrollment of …more…
Hot One Inch Action: Button Art and Social Interaction on Nov. 5
November 4, 2011 by
Trading art buttons at Hot One Inch Action might be the most fun you’ve ever had at an art exhibition.
Designed to promote social exchanges in a gallery setting, the “button show” features artwork by 50 local artists—printed on one-inch buttons. Participants can buy bags of random buttons, then trade with other attendees to snag their favorite pieces. If you’re adept at wheeling and dealing, you could take home the entire show. ...more...
U District Jazz Festival Coming to Seattle November 4-6
November 2, 2011 by
Seattle jazz heads take note: this Friday, November 4th, the U District Jazz Festival starts its three day run. There are different packages for tickets. The best deals are the early bird tickets: $35 for all three days (including a voucher for a free drink and any of the venues.)The festival is an expanded version of the U District Jazz Walk. Here’s some details from the Facebook page:
The University District’s …more…
Musical Events in November
November 1, 2011 by
Halloween has come and gone, leaving its remnants of un-dead pumpkins. The fall rains are coming and Thanksgiving is looming. It’s November in Seattle and if you’re a lover of “classical” music, there is no shortage of things to tempt your ears this month.
Community Orchestras
Friday Nov. 4th at 7:30PM, LUCO – the Lake Union Civic Orchestra – performs Mahler’s 5th Symphony at Meaney Hall on the University of Washington campus. LUCO is …more…
Double Indemnity
October 30, 2011 by
I just caught one of the most emotionally intensive dramas Seattle theater has ever offered, Double Indemnity, currently playing at A Contemporary Theater (ACT). This sultry crime drama, adapted from the screen by David Pichette and acclaimed local actor R. Hamilton Wright, is set in Depression-era Los Angeles. Insurance agent Walter Huff succumbs to temptations—lust and greed—in his desire for a new life. The two-hour performance offers dark humor, suspense, …more…
They are Garfunkel and Oates. Love them.
October 28, 2011 by
I took in a great show by actress-duo Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome – also known as Garfunkel and Oates – at the Snoqualmie Casino last Saturday. The comedic pair, who perform in a recurring show at the venerated Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles, has been called a female Flight of the Conchords, a comparison the two embrace. Like the Conchords, the pair will soon have an HBO …more…
