West Seattle, Washington
29 Monday
The next session of “Write Your Story” – a series of free workshops for young readers/writers – is open for registration, and this time it’s happening in West Seattle. Here’s the announcement from founder Julia Douthwaite Viglione:
Winter / Spring 2024 Enrolling now!
Theme: Friends
Who is invited? People age 8-12 who like stories
When? Every Tuesday, January 16 – April 2, 2024, 4:30—5:30 pm
Where? Upstairs activity room, Curious Kidstuff toy store, 4740 California Ave SW
Stories we’ll read:
“The Brownie of Fern Glen” by Kate Forrester
“The Queen Bee” by the Brothers GrimmWrite YOUR Story, est. 2012, is a free workshop led by local writers for local kids. “We read, we write, and we have a lot of fun.” For info or to enroll, contact: juliawsea@gmail.com
Since our visit for this story earlier this month, the Washington State Black Legacy Institute has added new displays at its new home in the city-landmark former church previously known as The Sanctuary at Admiral. Portraits of historic Black community leaders and entrepreneurs line the lobby’s main wall, and curator Roger Evans says more are on the way. But today the focus is on modern-day entrepreneurs, as the three-day Business Festival During Kwanzaa concludes. An afternoon of free workshops complements a vendor fair in the main room.
Among the participating entrepreneurs is Denise Leonard, with hats and jewelry from her business A Sista Thang Fashions:
She told us these creations channel her passions, and she’s hoping to inspire young women. She’s on the north side of the room, while on the south side you’ll find art by Edimbo Lekea of Natty Dread Illustration:
Other vendors are listed here. Here’s the workshop schedule for the rest of the afternoon:
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Pearl Nelson. “1st-time Homebuyer”
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm Melany Bell. “Food is First”
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm Evan Poncelet. “Fundraising for Community and Venture Scale Businesses”
All are welcome; WSBLI is at 2656 42nd SW, and the festival concludes at 5 pm.
You don’t have to be a Boeing employee to sing in the Boeing Employees Choir! In fact, the choir is casting a wide net for new members, and the first step is to show up for one of its West Seattle rehearsals. Here’s the announcement from the choir’s marketing director Mika Kitamura:
The Boeing Employees Choir has Open Rehearsals January 9, 16, 23, 30 and February 6, 2024 (Tuesdays), in West Seattle @ 6:30 PM at the West Seattle American Legion Hall, 3618 SW Alaska St.
The Boeing Employees Choir strives to be an exceptional concert choir with an international reputation, reflecting the world-class standards Boeing has set for its airplanes and other exciting products. Our next international tour to Greece is set for Fall 2024 and we would love any new qualified members to join us!
Read more about the process of joining the choir here.
Next time you go to Bakery Nouveau in The Junction, take a look at the walls as well as at the cases full of treats. You’ll see photos by Jamie Kinney, a West Seattle photographer who has contributed many images to WSB over the years. (That’s Jamie, above, in a photo taken at Don Armeni Boat Ramp by his son Owen Kinney.) We asked him for one of his favorites; he sent this owl-in-cherry-blossoms image published here last year.
The Bakery Nouveau exhibition is Jamie’s first photo show; the framed prints on display are available for purchase (there’s a QR code next to each one), and he’s also selling photo calendars via his website. Next year, Jamie plans to start offering workshops in the field – his first one will be a wildlife-photography workshop in British Columbia in July. (Registration information will appear on his website soon.)
(Photo courtesy THEM)
There is no more-iconic place to spend New Year’s Eve in Seattle than the Space Needle – and that’s exactly where the West Seattle band THEM will be on Sunday night, December 31. Ellie from THEM emailed us with the news that they’ll be featured on the KING 5 “New Year’s at the Needle” broadcast: “We would just love to get as many people watching the broadcast as possible! It sounds like we will be playing a few songs, right around 11:45 pm, when the fireworks/drone show start. We will be performing on the revolving glass floor right at the top of the Needle!” THEM has been ascending since debuting two years ago after forming at Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor), when Ellie and bandmates Hudson, Maia, and Thompson were all still teenagers. If you haven’t seen/heard THEM, you can sample their music via channels including YouTube.
(Project rendering)
Another public-art project is in the works for West Seattle, and a survey has just opened to seek your feedback in shaping it. From the King County Wastewater Treatment District‘s announcement:
King County will build a 1.25-million-gallon underground storage tank on the west side of the First Avenue Bridge to reduce sewage and stormwater overflows into the Duwamish River during large storms. Water stored in the West Duwamish Wet Weather Facility will flow to the West Point Treatment Plant for cleaning before it is safely released into the Puget Sound. To learn more about the project, visit the project website.
Fencing Panel Art
Help shape the facility’s public appearance by sharing your perspectives about the Duwamish River valley! Fencing designed by Seattle artist Ann Marie Schneider will ring the new facility. Input from the community will be incorporated into the fence-panels art. We would love to learn how you see this dynamic river valley landscape can be integrated into the facility fencing appearance to reflect our commitment to stewardship in concert with the resiliency of our river.
The project had a separate community survey last year; results were part of a briefing at HPAC‘s meeting last April. To answer the new survey, which is open until January 24, go here. The facility is expected to start construction in 2025.
Inside a vintage commercial building that is currently home to a photography studio, you’ll find the first Sweet Reel Makers’ Market until 4 pm. Your host at 5001 Delridge Way SW is photographer Angie Norwood Browne:
The cozy space is hosting 11 makers and artists – the needle-felted animals by Paula Wittmann caught our eye, including ornaments:
The West Seattle Art Walk‘s former longtime coordinator, artist Reeve Washburn, is there with her work too:
The listing for the market also promised “trinkets” – we noticed vintage china and jewelry:
(The building is vintage too – we mentioned it in 2021, when renovations briefly uncovered a “ghost sign.”) For more info on the market, including the list of artists/makers participating, see our calendar listing.
Another regular feature of second Thursdays is the Southwest Seattle Historical Society‘s Words, Writers, Southwest Stories speaker series. Tomorrow night, SWSHS presents Seattle hip-hop luminary and community organizer King Khazm, in an online event – here’s the preview from SWSHS:
Hip-hop culture and its founding principles are often misunderstood due to its commodification and exploitation by corporate interests and mainstream media. Few know its humble roots as a tool to unify, uplift, and amplify voices, particularly for youth of color.
Join artist and activist King Khazm as he explores the art, history, philosophy, and ethics of hip-hop—an international phenomenon and billion-dollar industry whose legacy is centered in community empowerment, cultural exchange, and resilience. Khazm shows how hip-hop is much more than just a genre of music; it has the capacity to challenge the status quo, address systemic oppression, and provide opportunities for the development of life skills, civic engagement, and global connections.
Khazm “King Khazm” Kogita (he/him) is a multifaceted artist, producer, and community organizer. He has been engaged in art and community service for over 25 years. He is the executive director of 206 Zulu and serves on several boards including 4Culture, the Seattle Disability Commission, and The Here & Now Project. Khazm lives in Seattle.
Go here to RSVP. (Photo courtesy SWSHS)
If you were at the West Seattle Junction GLOWS festival in the early going this past Saturday, you saw/heard the Endolyne Children’s Choir. (We featured a video clip in our first festival report.) Starting today, the choir is opening registration for new members – here’s the announcement:
Embark on a musical journey with Endolyne Children’s Choir at our upcoming winter session, featuring “We Are the Voices” by the incredible Jim Papoulis! 🎶 Explore songs that nurture personal and vocal confidence through expressive lines and harmonies. Join Megan Booth, Clara Dorst, and Dylan Petersen as we discover the power of your voice together!
Endolyne Children’s Choir is a secular, non-audition, community choir, open to any child in grades K-12 who loves to sing. We offer a joyful, inclusive environment that supports children’s emotional, social, and musical development.
Registration is open December 13-22. Learn more at endolynechoir.org
(WSB photo, Saturday night, projected art by B Anthony Nelson)
If you weren’t at Saturday night’s GLOWS (Glorious Lights of West Seattle) festival in The Junction to see the community-created art – you have another chance: All week, the projections continue on the south-facing wall of Alaska House (the apartment building bordering Junction Plaza Park). We don’t have the exact hours but we went through The Junction around 6:30 pm and the projections, with the artists’ name and their creations, were already under way. West Seattle Junction Association executive director Chris Mackay says they’re working on making the art available online, too.
P.S. If you skipped the festival, you also missed an hour of amazing holiday performances by an all-star group of local singers and musicians – we have 10 clips, plus the set list, in this report.
That was a curtain call of sorts for local musicians who were part of a musical showcase during The Junction’s GLOWS festival that could have been an event all its own – an assemblage of “West Seattle All-Stars” led by Jay Cates, performing holiday songs for about an hour right before the tree lighting and projected-art show. For the finale, Ayron Jones – soon to head out on a world tour – with a wistful rendition of “Silent Night“:
Some holiday history, with The Sonics‘ “Santa Claus” performed by Scott Helgason, David Cinnamon, and Zach Rourke here’s a sample:
Tomo Nakayama took on “White Christmas“:
And then there was “Blue Christmas” by BB Jones and Peder Nelson of Sulk:
The inescapable classic “All I Want for Christmas” sung by Z:
Rachael Reis, Billy Joe Huels, and friends with “Santa Baby“:
“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” promised Cameron Lavi-Jones of King Youngblood:
B Anthony Nelson and Johnny Nails delivered a bluesy “Run Run Rudolph“:
Cates – who credited Nelson with producing the All-Star assemblage – contributed “Winter Wonderland”:
And our last clip features Cates and “Voice of the Mariners” Tom Hutyler dueting on “Little Drummer Boy“:
That’s not even the entirety of the show – but enough to give you an idea of what an epic holiday concert it turned out to be. (Asterisks mark a few performers whose names we didn’t catch – we hope to fix that by obtaining a list ASAP.)
MONDAY UPDATE: We’ve replaced those asterisks with names – here’s the set list; here’s the slide deck of performer names with QR codes you can use to find out more about them.
Earlier coverage: Festival’s first two hours – including video of Endolyne Children’s Choir, West Seattle School of Rock, and ArtsWest‘s “Snowed In” cast – covered here; the tree lighting and art projection, here.
(Image from council-committee agenda, incorporating Google Maps photo)
Last night we previewed an item on today’s agenda for the Seattle City Council Transportation and Public Utilities Committee meeting (which just concluded after more than 2 1/2 hours), a plan to pay the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and Suquamish Tribe $133,000 for murals on up to 15 columns under the West Seattle Bridge – a mile from the Duwamish Tribe‘s Longhouse. At the request of District 1 Councilmember Lisa Herbold, who noted public comments voicing concern, the committee delayed a vote until it reconvenes next year (by which time both Herbold and the committee’s chair Councilmember Alex Pedersen will have left office). SDOT acknowledged there had been no “outreach” to the Duwamish Tribe on the bridge-columns project during the year and a half it’s been in the works, but said the Duwamish are involved with a separate public-art project planned near the Longhouse. (We’re following up to get more information on that and will update this story with whatever we learn.)
(Photo by Jerry Simmons)
Here’s what’s happening for the rest of today/tonight, from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar and Holiday Guide:
‘WINTER WANDER’ SCAVENGER HUNT: Alice Kuder‘s West Seattle scavenger hunt continues through December 10th, and you can still register to participate! Go here to find out more and to sign up.
FAUNTLEROY SURVEY’S FINAL DAY: Live or work in Fauntleroy, but haven’t answered the Fauntleroy Community Association‘s survey yet? Today’s the last day!
FOR VETERANS: If you need help filing a disability claim, the DAV offers free drop-in assistance 9 am-1 pm. (4857 Delridge Way SW)
HOLIDAY ART SHOW & SALE: Rain City Clay continues hosting a holiday show & sale featuring artists who work with clay. This is the second-to-last day – visit and shop 2-7 pm. (4208 SW 100th)
HOLIDAY ROOM PHOTOS: West Seattle Junction Hometown Holidays offers selfie photo ops (no Santa) in the Holiday Room (4210 SW Oregon) from 3 pm to 7 pm.
GET CRAFTY: 6-10 pm, this is “Crafting and Creativity Night” at The Missing Piece (9456 35th SW), info here.
D&D: Open D&D starts at 6:30 pm at Meeples Games (3727 California SW), all welcome, first-time players too. $5.
MEDITATION IN FAUNTLEROY: Free weekly Zen sitting/meditation at the chapel at Fauntleroy UCC (9140 California SW), 7 pm-8:30 pm.
MEDITATION IN ALKI: Twice-monthly meditation with the Dharma Community at Alki UCC (6115 SW Hinds), 7 pm-8:30 pm.
MONDAY NIGHT TRIVIA! Three weekly events – 7 and 8 pm Sporcle Pub Quiz at Three 9 Lounge (4505 39th SW); 7 pm at The Good Society (California/Lander), 7:30 pm with QuizFix at The Skylark (3803 Delridge Way SW)
MUSIC AT THE ALLEY: Live music with The Westside Trio, 8 pm at The Alley (behind 4509 California SW), 21+, no cover.
Have a West Seattle/White Center event to add to our calendar and/or Holiday Guide? Please send info to westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
It was a full house – more than 100 people of all ages, babies through seniors – when the West Seattle Big Band presented a holiday concert this afternoon at Admiral Church. We recorded three of the Christmas songs for you – first, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”:
Here’s “The Christmas Song”
And “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”:
(Jim Edwards directs the WSBB; Jenaige Lane and Greg Dirks were the vocalists in our clips; Bud Jackson sang later.) The rest of the program included some non-holiday selections too. The band, which spends much of its year donating its time to raise money for school music programs, donated this appearance too so the church could raise money (admission was free but a basket was passed) for its music program.
Watch for more public WSBB performances next year – their calendar is at westseattlebigband.com, along with history on this quarter-century-and-going-strong group!
It’s been a big day of event coverage, and it’s not over yet – but we want to give a quick shout-out to one of tomorrow’s biggest events: The West Seattle Big Band‘s free holiday concert at Admiral Church.
If you somehow haven’t seen them, the WSBB – directed by Jim Edwards – is the jazziest show in town, and will be a fun way to play out your weekend. Plus, you can dance if you want to (or just sit and listen)! The show starts at 3 pm, and we’re told cookies are part of the plan. Did we mention, free admission? Admiral Church is at 4320 SW Hill.
If you run, walk, or ride along Alki, you’ve probably seen the recently completed “Tracing Alki” public art at newly overhauled Pump Station 38. The artist, Sarah Thompson Moore, is there until noon to answer questions about it. It’s inspired by old topographical maps of the area and spans the site (1400 block Alki Avenue SW) from the cabinet in the photo to the newly installed safety rail. The concept was announced in 2020, as Seattle Public Utilities prepared for the pump-station renovation.
From whimsical – like Kayla Jackson‘s creations, above – to ethereal, like Doris Anderson‘s work below, a wide range of art comprises Rain City Clay‘s holiday show and sale, which opened tonight and continues through Tuesday.
Some of the artists are there too for tonight’s opening party – including Kate Hoffman:
Rain City Clay is in Arbor Heights, at 4208 SW 100th. You can check out the holiday show/sale until 8 pm tonight, 1-5 pm both days this weekend, and 2-7 pm Monday and Tuesday! Other art shows/makers markets are happening tonight and tomorrow too – see our West Seattle Holiday Guide for the full list.
(Photo by Ann Anderson)
We have a two-part event list today – starting with highlights from the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide:
LINDA MCCLAMROCK HOLIDAY ART SALE: Mixed-media artist’s annual sale, two days at 5532 SW Lander Pl., starting 4-8 pm tonight – details in our calendar listing.
RAIN CITY CLAY HOLIDAY ART SHOW & SALE: Rain City Clay is hosting a holiday show & sale featuring artists who work with clay, running through Tuesday, opening 4-8 pm tonight. (4208 SW 100th)
HOLIDAY ARTISAN MARKET: Nine artists/makers, 4-8 pm tonight and 10 am-4 pm tomorrow, at Keller Williams Realty (5446 California SW).
MENASHE FAMILY LIGHTS: The Menashe Family Lights are the biggest and brightest \in West Seattle and tonight is scheduled to be the display’s first “official” night of the season. (5605 Beach Drive SW)
CHOCOLATE & WINE WALK: In the “lower Junction,” 5-8 pm, as previewed here – tickets available at check-in location, Bohemian Studios (Fauntleroy/Edmunds).
‘WINTER WANDER’ SCAVENGER HUNT: Alice Kuder presents the “Winter Wander” scavenger hunt again this year – pre-registration open now; email wswinterwander@gmail.com:
The fourth annual Winter Wander Scavenger Hunt will run from 5 PM Friday, Dec. 1st to 7 PM Sunday, Dec. 10th. While intended primarily as a gift to the West Seattle community, the event is free to everyone of all ages. Instructions for this year’s hunt are available for download at wondersinaliceland.com/winter-wander. Clues to the locations of 15 local businesses and five private homes are provided in a Bingo-style clue sheet which will be posted at the same online location at 4 PM on Dec. 1st. Wanderers who submit selfies in front of the correct solutions will be entered into a drawing for duffle bags filled with gift cards and swag from local businesses. A $100 Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that earns the most points during the hunt. Extra points are awarded for donations to West Seattle and White Center Food Banks, as well as Toys for Tots. Register your team here. Register before noon TODAY to earn extra points.
‘LIGHT UP THE NIGHT’: Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish & School invite you to “Light Up the Night,” with music and of course, lights, including the giant tree, highest-altitude community tree in the city! Bring nonperishable food donations to fill the sleigh in the Walmesley Center (which is also where you’ll find a holiday gift fair and craft activities for kids). 7 pm. Caroling, cookies, and cocoa too! (35th SW/SW Myrtle)
‘SNOWED IN’: ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor) presents its holiday production, described as a “a journey of song, dance, friendship, family, and the true meaning of the holidays.” 7:30 pm. Get tickets here.
KENYON HALL CABARET, HOLIDAY EDITION: Drag at Kenyon Hall (7904 California SW), 7:30 pm showtime, all ages.
Now, the non-holiday lineup, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
OPENING DAY AT BANH MI XO: 9 am-4 pm as previewed here. (9003 35th SW)
SSC GARDEN CENTER: It’s still planting season! Shop for plants on the north end of the South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor) campus, 10 am-2 pm.
TODDLER GYM: Free drop-in gym at Arbor Heights Community Church, 10 am-11:30 am. (4113 SW 102nd)
SCRABBLE CLUB: You can play 12:30-1:30 pm at Margie’s Café inside the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
VISCON CELLARS: Tasting room/wine bar open – wine by the glass or bottle – 5-9 pm at Viscon Cellars (5910 California SW; WSB sponsor). Try the newly released red wines!
COFFEEHOUSE MUSIC: 7-9 pm, singer/songwriter Steve Itterly performs at C & P Coffee (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor), all ages, no cover.
DANCE NIGHT AT THE SPOT: Fridays are DJ Dance Night at The Spot West Seattle (2920 SW Avalon Way), 7-10 pm.
‘SCENES ABOUT TEENS’: Chief Sealth International High School‘s new musical has the first of three public performances at 7:30 pm – details in our preview. (2600 SW Thistle)
SOUND HEALING WITH REIKI ENERGY: 7:30 pm at Move2Center (3618 SW Alaska), $35.
CHARMING DISASTER AND MISTER INK: “Prepare for an evening of musical enchantment, mayhem, and cabaret chaos that is sure to captivate and thrill audiences,” 9 pm at 2 Fingers Social (9211 Delridge Way SW)
DJ NIGHT AT REVELRY ROOM: Music 9 pm-1 am on Fridays! (4547 California SW)
Something to add to our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
The renaissance of Chief Sealth International High School‘s drama program continues – this time with a “musical extravaganza”! This Friday and Saturday, “Scenes About Teens” takes the stage at CSIHS. If you haven’t already seen it in the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar, here are the details:
Following the wonderfully successful reinstatement of the drama program at Chief Sealth International High School last year with our production of “She Kills Monsters” by Qui Nguyen, produced with the help of over 50 students and staff members, we are building on that success this year with three productions.
With the support of West Seattle-based BAYFEST Youth Theatre and the surrounding community, the Chief Sealth Drama Company is taking full advantage of the musical talent that already has a strong presence at the school, with our fall production that we are calling “Scenes About Teens: A Musical Extravaganza!”
The show features the full short musical “21 Chump Street” by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights), as well as excerpts from four other great American musicals, all tied together by scenes and narration. They explore the love, grief, anger, joy, and challenges that teens face everywhere, and make for an emotion- and laughter-filled time in the theater. All the music will be performed live by faculty and student members of the school bands and orchestra.
15 cast members supported by 35+ student costume designers, musicians, set builders, and technical support have been working diligently since September under the guide of a team of faculty and professional directors, designers, and choreographers. Performances will be held in the large Chief Sealth Theater, which features wonderful acoustics, comfortable seating, and is physically accessible.
This show is appropriate for all ages, and we encourage the community to not only experience the amazing work of our students and staff, but to also support the drama program at Chief Sealth as we continue to build this exciting program.
Public performances are at 7:30 pm Friday and Saturday (December 1-2) and 2:30 pm Saturday; the school is at 2600 SW Thistle. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults, if you buy yours online in advance, or $8/$14 at the door.
Three years after we first reported on the art planned for the Pump Station 38 overhaul in the 1400 block of Alki Avenue SW, the work is complete, and artist Sarah Thompson Moore will be visiting to answer questions about it during a casual celebration. Seattle Public Utilities invites you to stop by between 10 am and noon next Saturday (December 2nd). The work spans the site from a cabinet to the walkway to new safety fencing, and was inspired by an old topographic map of the area. SPU says the pump-station work – mostly to increase its capacity – is finished too, but the newly planted area will remain taped off until sometime next month so it has a chance to get established.
If you sing, this is a unique way to use your voice and presence. The South Seattle Threshold Singers asked us to share this announcement as they invite new members:
We are a chapter of Threshold Choir, a nationally known nonprofit network of a cappella choirs whose members volunteer to sing in small groups at the bedsides of those who are at end-of-life.
We invite you to visit the Threshold Choir website at thresholdchoir.org, and our chapter website at thresholdchoir.org/southseattle to learn more about us.
We welcome people who can carry a tune, hold their own part and blend with others in a small group, communicate kindness with their voice, offer a loving presence to those who are dying, and share deeply with other chapter members. The time commitment is an average of ten hours a month.
If this is of potential interest to you, please contact us at sseattlethreshold@gmail.com and we will send you more information.
(WSB photos)
All weekend long, the main hall at the Duwamish Tribe Longhouse is transformed into a one-stop shop for holiday gifts during the annual holiday-season Native Art Market.
We visited this afternoon and photographed some of the artists – above, elk-skin drum maker Margie Morris; below, Coast Salish artist Peter Boome:
They’re among more than 15 vendors this year, as is Sue Shotridge from Raven’s Nest on Vashon:
You can buy food while you’re there too – we noticed more than a few marketgoers enjoying frybread. Also worth the visit, you can see the exhibits in the Cultural Center outside the hall where the market is happening, and shop the Longhouse gift shop too. The market continues Saturday and Sunday (November 25-26), 10 am-7 pm, 4705 W. Marginal Way SW. And if you haven’t been to the Longhouse in a while, note that they now have parking lots immediately north, same side of the street.
(Photo courtesy ArtsWest – “Snowed In” cast)
West Seattle’s only playhouse, ArtsWest (WSB sponsor), is days away from opening its holiday show, “Snowed In.” Here’s the ArtsWest explanation of this brand-new homegrown production:
This holiday season, ArtsWest will present the world premiere of “Snowed In,” a new holiday musical by Corinne Park-Buffelen and ArtsWest Artistic Director Mathew Wright. Directed by Kelly Kitchens (Mrs. Caliban, Book-It Repertory Theatre) and featuring beloved Seattle musical theater stars Rachel Guyer-Mafune (ACT’s The Wolves), Christian Quinto (Village Theatre’s Mamma Mia), Sarah Russell (Seattle Rep’s Lydia and the Troll), and Nik Hagen (The 5th Avenue Theatre’s Sweeney Todd), Snowed In performs at ArtsWest from November 29 through December 23. Tickets are available online at artswest.org, or by phone at 206-938.0963.
In this fast-paced musical comedy, four musical theater stars (and best friends) are commissioned by ArtsWest to write the most magical, fabulous, fantastic holiday musical of all time. The only problem is they open tomorrow night and all they have is the opening number. When they get snowed in with no escape, a cozy mountain cabin retreat becomes a drama-filled pressure cooker. Will they finish the show and make it to the stage on time?
Writers Park-Buffelen and Wright have aimed to create a holiday musical that speaks to the now. This production takes all the best elements from vintage holiday TV specials, SNL, the Rockettes, and old Hollywood, and mixes in the humor, voice, and reality of 2023. Co-creator Corinne Park-Buffelen remarks, “The magic of this production is that at the heart of the show, we have cast four real-life friends who have never had the opportunity to take the stage together. Mathew and I had the pleasure of writing a show around their incredible talent and chemistry. The holidays are about spending time with people that you love, and we have built that into the show by forming this incredible production team and extend that to welcoming our audiences.”
Snowed In features holiday classics alongside original music by Rich Gray (Forbidden XMas), Corinne Park-Buffelen, and David Taylor Gomes (Ranked, A Musical) with additional musical arrangements by Aaron Norman and Riley Brule, and choreography by Shadou Mintrone (The Can Can). This brand-new musical will have you dancing and singing along with the cast.
ArtsWest will present Snowed In, Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm.
| 1 COMMENT