WS weekend lineup: Cross your fingers for sunshine
Last weekend in August, and we just can’t bear to see any more rain. We’ve got rowing & volleyball at Alki, the Art in Nature Festival, a narrated history walk around eastern WS, and a job fair (today!) … 31 ways to have fun without leaving the peninsula:Read More
TONIGHT: Have fun, help fix up the Admiral Theater
Hot out of the WSB inbox: The Admiral Theater is having a “surprise midnight movie” TONIGHT (doors open 11:30), admission $5, all proceeds to the restoration project. The movie: “Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End.” Be there! Also from the Admiral Theater, two more items that are free to a good home, first come first serve according to the theater’s Steve Garrett: Glass-top display freezer, and upright “Pepsi refrigerator.” Steve says both “need to be charged.” Don’t wait till the midnight movie, call him now if you want either or both at 206-938-0360 theater, 206-856-9798 cell.
Singing (and acting) their hearts out
Tonight’s your chance to catch the first performances of the second (and final) week of shows for two musicals playing in West Seattle right now — “Disney’s High School Musical” (photo courtesy ArtsWest, taken by mattdurhamphotography.com) presented by the Summer Musical Theater Conservatory Program @ ArtsWest, and “Oklahoma!” presented by Twelfth Night Productions‘ Pandemonium Players @ WS High School Theater. Both play at 7:30 tonight, with several more shows in the next few days; follow the links for full details, including online ticket sales.
Admiral Theater wants you back in the balcony
More information from the folks at the Admiral Theater about plans for its latest round of renovations, previously mentioned here and here. Biggest news: the Admiral’s Steve Garrett says they have the OK to reopen the theater’s long-closed balcony “once certain work is done” — but first, he says, they want to do some restoration work, including painting a mural in the balcony area, and they are looking for bids and proposals. Click ahead for a little more on that, including how to reach Steve if you want to bid, plus news of a prestigious premiere coming to the theater:Read More
TLC for WS murals
The beautiful murals around the heart of West Seattle are getting some long-awaited TLC. WS Junction Association president Dave Montoure of West 5 describes it as “the long process of restoring the salvageable murals in The Junction.” As our photos below show, they’re starting with the Hi-Yu Parade mural on the side of the Post Office, hit by taggers some time back. Dave also notes regarding the overall project, “Earl Cruzen, the gentleman who was a key figure in the original murals installation project, has stepped forward yet again — he’s a true WS treasure — to locate the original mural artists about restoration, replacement and, unfortunately in some cases, disposal.” Read more about the WS murals here and here.
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P.S. We didn’t realize till a viewer e-mail following this post that the high-rise megaproject on the drawing board west of Jefferson Square is to be called “Mural,” in tribute to the WS murals … scroll down this page for a rendering.
Free to a good home, from West Seattle’s Only Moviehouse
Hot out of the inbox. If you are interested in the free marquee but having trouble reaching Steve, e-mail us and we’ll send you his cell #; just didn’t want to put it out in front of thousands.
Hello from the Admiral Theater,
We are currently going through a restoration phase here at the Admiral and coming across items that may be of use to someone out there.
The first Item that we have come across is a:
12 foot long by 3 foot high double sided lighted marquee sign. It comes with more letter tiles than I care to count.
This sign is free to a good home, just come pick it up. I would hate to see it just be dismantled and thrown away.
Contact: Steve Garrett at 206-938-0360 (theater)
Art Fair, day 1
The weather’s more beautiful than expected and there’s a good crowd browsing the Art Fair booths at the beach. Dozens of booths, plus a bouncy toy for kids ($1), are on the blacktop promenade, both sides of the bathhouse. Live music, too! Here’s a few scenes we caught while strolling through — first, the obligatory overview:
Two pix from our favorite booth, on the west end of the Art Fair — Hoppy’s Garden Art, lovely and reasonably priced creations (the rectangular trellises in the second photo were $79 & $89):
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Not part of the fair but part of the scenery — with a low-ish tide down on the beach itself, boogieboarding was in order:
Art Fair signs say it’s 10-5 today and tomorrow; city website says till 6; just an fyi in case you’re not planning to go till late in the day.
Two art fairs to look forward to
The Alki Art Fair, of course, is now just hours away … you can’t miss the signs all over WS …
Then in a couple weeks, there’s a second Art Fair in West Seattle — this one on August 11th at C & P Coffee south of The Junction. It’s their first one ever, and they’re looking for more participants; e-mail the C & P folks to find out more.
Hair, minus the spray
While the moviegoing world is fussing over this, an even-more-classic musical has just 6 more shows to go onstage at ArtsWest, and we’ve received unsolicited raves here at WSB. “Hair,” featuring the rising stars of the Summer Musical Apprentice Program, plays this Wednesday-Sunday.
If you’re, oh let’s say, under 40, you might not know “Hair” was the hottest show of the ’60s, and still timely today. The photo above (courtesy ArtsWest, taken by mattdurhamphotography.com) captures the psychedelic-ness of it all. Now, about those raves — click ahead to read ’em (followed by online-ticketing info, and even T-shirts …):Read More
WS weekend lineup: Ginormous gobs o’ fun
Bite Schmite; not a single reason to leave West Seattle this weekend. Harry Potter on campus! Parade! Free outdoor movie! Belly dancing! The WS Garden Tour! And that’s only the beginning (click ahead):Read More
Big Band, big fun
This morning’s rain was just a memory by the time the West Seattle Big Band opened its annual Hi-Yu Festival Concert in the Park tonight at Hiawatha. Excellent, eclectic program … preceded by West Seattle’s Most Famous Politician, who said a few things about his home ‘hood’s annexation centennial and noted a new commemorative tree and plaque on the south side of the community center. We caught a more interesting scene on the sidelines pre-concert, which we would have liked to have dubbed the dog ‘n’ pony show if only a canine had been present:
Then, the tunes. This was the first time we’ve ever seen/heard the WS Big Band, a volunteer group which donates its time and money to promote music in public schools.
More pix and notes from the concert, plus your next chance to catch the WSBB, after the click:Read More
Admiral evolution
If you haven’t been to the historic Admiral Theater lately, you may not have noticed it’s starting to expand what it offers — such as, more midnight movies than just the monthly Rocky Horror Picture Show on Saturday nights …
… tonight, for example (as per the marquee above – though the rest of it’s a bit out-of-date since we took the pic at midweek), it’s the burgeoning cult fave “Harold & Kumar.” Then there’s a new series of Sunday morning classics kicking off 10 am tomorrow with “Casablanca” (also ahead: “African Queen” and “Singin’ in the Rain”). The Admiral website has been inconsistent lately (the link went to a parking page at last check) but there’s lots of info posted out front at the theater itself, including updates on the fundraising project for major interior fixes (such as, they hope hundreds of people will pony up $40 each so they can buy new seats, which aren’t covered in the types of government grants they’re pursuing for landmark restoration.
P.S. While fishing for Admiral Theater history, we learned that today is a notable anniversary for the Admiral District in general.
-Tomorrow night is the monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction; more than a dozen stops and their intriguing offerings are 
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