West Seattle Halloween: Skeleton Theatre 2010 sneak peek

After two years with a pirate theme, West Seattle’s famous animatronic outdoor Halloween production is going rock ‘n’ roll for Halloween 2010. Last night we dropped by the 36th/Hanford (map) headquarters of Skeleton Theatre for a peek at what’s in store. Behind the scenes, it looks a little like a mad scientist’s workshop:

The stars of this year’s show – “The Death of Rock” – is Bonaparte, “famous rock band from the ’60s,” performing their greatest hits. Between the sets, we’re told, it’s something like a “Behind The Music” video. Here’s Chris Walker tinkering with one of the band members as spouse Maia Low looks on:

We rolled video as Chris continued working to get ready for the show:

You can catch Skeleton Theatre playing continuously in the front-yard stage (you’ll be standing on the sidewalk, or maybe across the street) 6-9 pm Sunday night (Halloween) and Monday night (November 1st). Chris and Maia say a lot of people have tried to donate $ – it’s free to watch – on site in past years, and while appreciated, it’s been a little challenging to deal with, so they ask that if you are so moved to offer something for all the work that goes into Skeleton Theatre, you donate online (the button’s on the home page).

8 Replies to "West Seattle Halloween: Skeleton Theatre 2010 sneak peek"

  • Baba October 29, 2010 (2:28 pm)

    I’m rather disturbed by the lack of comments here. It takes guts ( all the DPD’s complaint line calls) and passion to keep this wonderful tradition going. Thank you Chris and Maia (and all your helpers) from the bottom of my heart! Donations? What took you so long? I know of people from all over greater Seattle that made it their annual tradition to come and see your show!!!

  • GoGo October 29, 2010 (3:12 pm)

    I already commented in the forums but I LOVE Skeleton Theatre! I’m going on Sunday and bringing my friend and I’ve told everyone that I know lives around here that they need to go too!

  • LaLa October 29, 2010 (6:30 pm)

    We are so lucky to have Chris, Maia and crew around…rock on and thanks for the show! Donate money to the arts and keep creative people fed!

  • Chris-SkelTheater October 30, 2010 (2:04 am)

    Thanks very much for the kind words, we all appreciate it over here!

    A quick clarification and a quick anecdote:

    The clarification is that the band’s name is simply “Bonaparte”, and I know it’s fussy of me to correct, but still…

    The anecdote is a humorous one about money, since donations came up.

    As we started working on the second Skeleton Theatre in 2007 Maia told me “we shouldn’t spend that much on the show this year, so could it be, maybe, a $100 budget?” When I mentioned this to Dave, one of our co-conspirators, he said, “$100? We spend that at Home Depot on stuff we forgot!”

    Thanks again everybody, looking forward to Sunday!
    Chris

    • WSB October 30, 2010 (5:25 am)

      It’s not fussy, will fix. Our correspondent, I think, got distracted before verifying, which I know he’d intended to do … TR

  • JasonG October 30, 2010 (7:57 am)

    My most favorite part of Halloween in West Seattle — Skeleton Theatre, just blocks away! Always fun to see what Chris & crew come up with.

  • mama2papa October 30, 2010 (9:22 am)

    LOVE LOVE LOVE the SHOW!!! Much thanks for the hard work!

  • Sarah October 30, 2010 (1:29 pm)

    Hey! I love this idea and am surprised I’ve never heard of this collaboration before. Not super inclined to do much for Halloween this year, but I will mosey on over to check out Bonaparte! Thanks WS Blog for keeping our community tight and informed.

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