West Seattle, Washington
29 Monday
With one production remaining in the 2022-2023 season, ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) has announced a new managing director. Inji Kamel, succeeding Laura Lee, who departed last year. From the announcement:
Kamel most recently worked at Seattle Rep, where she led the Public Works program since 2018. During that time, she produced musical adaptations of classics including the beloved AS YOU LIKE IT, virtual TWELFTH NIGHT, a film of THE WINTER’S TALE and a concert-style reading of EMERALD CITY, a new musical adaptation of The Wizard of Oz.
She has worked with La Jolla Playhouse, The Old Globe, San Diego Rep, Mo’olelo, Moxie, Seattle Opera, and ACT, among others. She is most changed by her time working with and learning from Cornerstone Theater Company, where she realized her life-long dream of making theater with and for everyone.
She was a recipient of a TCG Continuing Education Grant in 2016 allowing her to examine the successes and challenges of building and sustaining Theaters of Color in Seattle, Minneapolis/Saint Paul, and Portland, OR.
The announcement of Kamel’s arrival follows last week’s announcement of ArtsWest’s 2023-2024 season, and also notes:
The company recently completed a robust capital and capacity campaign that allowed for wide ranging operational and facilities improvements that will continue through the 2023-24 season. As a part of these efforts, ArtsWest now fully owns their theater, gallery, and rehearsal space. The organization is feeling strong and looking forward to the final show of the current season, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, opening June 28th, and the upcoming 2023-2024 season. Subscriptions are available at artswest.org/subscriptions and single tickets are available in July.
In White Center tonight and West Seattle tomorrow, you have opportunities to see, hear, and support student musicians:
TONIGHT AT FULL TILT ICE CREAM: Thanks to Peter for the tip on this. At 7 pm at Full Tilt Ice Cream in downtown White Center (9629 16th SW), Teenage Graffiti – whose members are Madison Middle School students – perform with Wall Drugs. Peter says the show is free but donations are appreciated.
(Kassa Overall’s NPR Tiny Desk concert last month)
FRIDAY NIGHT AT EASY STREET RECORDS: ESR proprietor Matt Vaughan says this is one you don’t want to miss. Maybe you haven’t heard of Kassa Overall yet – but Vaughan says his rise is exactly why student music education needs to be fought for:
This Friday, Easy Street Records will launch the release of ANIMALS, a new album by Seattle native and visionary drummer, producer, and rapper Kassa Overall with an exclusive daylong event.
The day will culminate with a live performance at 7 pm, featuring local musicians and friends along with talented local youngsters, including students from the recently canceled jazz program at Washington Middle School, where Kassa attended.
Entry is guaranteed with an ANIMALS record. The limited edition clear vinyl can be purchased at Easy Street Records [in person or online].
If somehow you haven’t been to Easy Street, it’s on the northwest corner of California/Alaska in The Junction.
The photos and report were sent by West Seattle High School music director Ethan Thomas:
The West Seattle High School Music Program traveled down to Southern California last Saturday. The Marching Band and Orchestra had performances at Disneyland and California Adventure yesterday and are participating in Studio Soundtrack Session Workshops today.
We will be wrapping up our tour by visiting Hollywood and Santa Monica tomorrow [Tuesday] before heading back to Seattle tomorrow evening. The Orchestra is under the direction of Taylor Fritts and Band is directed by Ethan Thomas.
West Seattle’s ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor) plans five productions – including Seattle premieres, a world premiere, and a Pulitzer winner – for 2023-2024, and has just raised the curtain to reveal the lineup. Here’s the announcement:
ArtsWest has announced its 2023-2024 season SOMETIMES I DREAM…, with five productions – all Seattle premieres – featuring the work of Tony Award® and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights, new collaborators, and the premiere of a brand-new holiday show specially built for Seattle. This is the third season programmed by a collective of ArtsWest Associate Artists in collaboration with ArtsWest Artistic Director Mathew Wright, with this year’s Associate Artist roles taken on entirely by ArtsWest staff.
Pithy and joyous quotes inspiring us to pursue our dreams have resounded across space and time – but it can be a difficult path, especially when the world seems to have other plans for you. Dreaming big takes courage, curiosity, and imagination – but it often takes support from the outside world as well. What would it take to create a world in which everyone is free to pursue a dream? In one of their boldest outings yet, ArtsWest explores the pursuit of dreams through five distinctly different lenses in a season of searing comedy, beloved music, and touching humanity, designed to subvert expectations at every turn.
SOMETIMES I DREAM…opens this fall with the Seattle premiere of MATT & BEN (September 7-October 1), award-winning writer and comedian Mindy Kaling‘s NYC Fringe hit about Hollywood’s most famous bromance – which originally starred Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers in the title roles – in a biting satire on the Hollywood dream machine.
Fresh for the holiday season, December will see the world premiere of SNOWED IN (November 30–December 23), created by Mathew Wright and Corinne Park-Buffelen, a holiday special reinvented for the 21st century and starring some of Seattle’s most-beloved musical theater talent.
In the new year, ArtsWest will present the Seattle premiere of Liz Duffy Adams‘ BORN WITH TEETH (February 1–February 25), a queer-punk-inflected encounter between Christopher Marlowe and the young upstart William Shakespeare in which they attempt to write a history play together before they either fall in love or kill each other.
April will see the Seattle premiere of this year’s Pulitzer Prize winner in Drama, ENGLISH by Sanaz Toossi (April 4–April 28). Co-produced by Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, ENGLISH is a deeply moving and brilliantly funny meditation on language and identity in an Iranian TOEFL classroom.
Rounding out the season is two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage‘s latest Broadway triumph, CLYDE’S (June 6–June 30, 2024). Presented in partnership with The Hansberry Project and directed by Seattle luminary Valerie Curtis-Newton, CLYDE’S explores the dreams of the workers at a truck stop café – and the ways in which we can act as obstacles or aids to each other in the pursuit of those dreams.
More about next season’s ArtsWest plays is here. You can lock in your tickets by buying a subscription here. Meantime, ArtsWest’s current production “Zach” continues through this Sunday, and the season finale “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” is onstage June 28-July 23; more on this season here.
For more than a decade, Westside School (WSB sponsor) has participated in the Salmon in the Schools program, learning about salmon’s life cycle while raising fry to release into Fauntleroy Creek. Now the students’ lessons have also hatched an art project – celebrated at the school this past Friday.
Among those on hand for the occasion, local Salmon in the Schools volunteers Judy Pickens and Phil Sweetland. Judy told us, “To engage the community in this project, the teachers recruited a crew of granddads living at Horizon House to cut the dozens of wooden blanks for 2nd and 3nd graders to paint. Horizon House is a retirement community on First Hill, with a well-equipped woodshop for residents.” She shared a photo of the students working on the fish before the installation:
Cathy Walton is the lead salmon teacher at Westside. The students presented a song for the occasion, which was intended to thank their helpers, along with gift bags and mementos:
2nd and 3rd-grade students also read salmon-themed poems.
The celebration happened during salmon-release season at Fauntleroy Creek, which continues through the end of the month.
Been to any of the West Seattle Art Hop & Shop stops yet? As we’ve been previewing, you have 25 options for places to visit and see art as well as the artists who made it, with multiple artists hosted at most stops. We went to the collection of studios known as The Building in lower Gatewood – where you’ll find art throughout, well, the building – work by Stephen Rock is in this stairwell, for example:
Artists there for the Art Hop & Shop include Kelly Marshall:
And Nichole DeMent:
The Building is at 4316 SW Othello. From there, we hopped over to C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor):
Art that you can see and shop there includes paintings by Skye Shadow:
West Seattle Art Hop & Shop continues until 5 pm today, with endless opportunities to browse and buy (need a Mother’s Day gift?). You can decide where to explore via either (or both!) of these two map versions – online, here (click on any location and it’ll open bubbles with artists and samples of their work) and printable, here. This is an all-volunteer event; organizers say they “wanted to create an event that showcases every artist and everything that makes them unique.”
Thanks to Pam for the tip! Crews working on the Pump Station 38 upgrade in the 1400 block of Alki Avenue SW are now installing its artwork. It’s centered on a topographical map in “decorative litho-mosaic concrete,” as Seattle Public Utilities describes it. The design by artist Sarah Thompson Moore was first announced in 2020, and updated in 2021. The artist explains the project in this video made public then:
As of the last construction update two weeks ago, SPU said remaining project components also included the safety railing that will be integrated with the art installation (as explained in the video), plus electrical work, irrigation, and landscaping, with completion expected sometime this summer.
The artist says she hopes the installation will “create a bit of magic” every time someone visits the site.
Art fans, you ready? Saturday brings the second-ever West Seattle Art Hop & Shop, with 25 locations around the peninsula showing and selling work by nearly 100 artists! Many are artists’ studios, not usually open to the public, so this is a rare chance to see behind the scenes. The printable map is here; the clickable online map is here; a 4-minute video preview of all the artists, organized by map stop, is here. Hop to as many stops as you’d like, even all 25 – no admission charge. Art Hop & Shop hours on Saturday (May 6th) will be 10 am to 5 pm.
This week brought the annual GiveBIG campaign encouraging you to support local nonprofits. Mode Music and Performing Arts, based in North Delridge, is making a special request to help build its scholarship fund, to provide music lessons to students who otherwise couldn’t afford them. Received today from MMPA:
Meet Harper, one of Mode Music and Performing Arts’ students! She has been taking private vocal lessons through our scholarship program.
For Harper, singing is part of life; ask her a question, she’ll sing her answer! Harper’s moms, Krystal and Kim, told us that “Harper has literally been singing since the time she could make noise.”
Kim added, “I’m just excited to be able to encourage her to just do whatever she wants to do, and to be able to offer that experience to her, you know? It’s just so great to see her learning and becoming whatever she wants to become with doing it.”
MMPA is dedicating 25% of our GiveBIG donation total toward our private lesson scholarship program, so students like Harper can achieve their musical dreams.
That means, if we reach our GiveBIG goal of $10,000, we can allocate $2,500 to music lesson scholarships.
The remainder of what we raise for GiveBIG goes toward making our pay-what-you-can programming possible, helping to cover the operating costs of our programs so that we can continue to offer free and discounted arts education.
Harper is one of the many students we reach through our arts programs. In 2022 alone, we served 234 kids and offered over $15,000 in scholarships to our group classes and camps at our location in Delridge! We also served nearly 100 students in our after-school arts programs in Fall 2022.
Your support for MMPA on GiveBIG matters so much! You will make a difference for our after-school programs, group camps and classes, and private music lesson scholarships. Take a moment today to make a gift to support accessible arts education in West Seattle. Click here to donate! Thank you for giving big and supporting accessible arts education today!
Thanks to Jackie Borg from West Seattle Little League for sending this!
Desmond Hansen painted a new box at Bar-S Little League fields. We’re so excited for the new addition to the fields!
(That’s Mariners slugger Julio Rodriguez, aka “J-Rod,” on the box.)
Emma Yeager has a free ticket to the Admiral Theater for you. It’s the premiere screening of her first documentary at 10 am Saturday, May 6th. Here’s her story:
I have lived in West Seattle with my family for 8 years. Over the last 5.5 years my father (Doug Jackson) and I have been working on my very first documentary film. We are so excited to show it on May 6th at the Admiral Theater at 10 AM (doors open at 9:30 AM). I grew up in Burbank, California where my father worked his entire career on major motion pictures as a sound editor. His favorite works include Schindler’s List, Hairspray, Logan and War For the Planet of the Apes (And More Here). For as long as I can remember my father has shown me and passed on a joy and love of film. For the last 15 years I have done many small film projects myself such as weddings, family history mini documentaries, small company promotion films and some volunteer non-profit films.
However, in 2016 right here in West Seattle, my life came to a halt when I was pregnant with my second child and was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome. HELLP syndrome is a version of preeclampsia that targets the liver and has a 50% chance of fatality for both the mother and child. My son was born as soon as we found out, small but healthy. I spent the next week in the hospital fighting for my life. When the worst of it seemed to pass I found that I had lost the ability to walk. My community came alongside me and my family for the next 7 months, desperately searching for answers and help to be able to walk again.
My documentary called “Oh Me of Little Faith” is about my story when I couldn’t find any medical professional anwsers. I was deeply depressed, unable to live my life when one day my friend from church encouraged me to take a small walk of faith that changed my life.
We made this documentary viewing a free event because we wanted to share it with our West Seattle Community. We are asking for donations to be able to share it with many more all of the USA this year in various film festivals. It is really important that people reserve tickets so we can make sure we have room. So far we have almost 100 attending.
Here is our event ticket/information website.
This has been a labor of love and our whole production team has been just me and my dad. We have paid 100% out of pocket and are hoping to raise money to continue to share this film and be able to make more like it in the future. It is very exciting to share my story and truly begin what I hope will become a career of telling more difficult and beautiful stories in the future.
The film is about an hour long and will be followed by Q&A.
The second-ever West Seattle Art Hop & Shop is less than two weeks away, happening Saturday, May 6th. On that day, 93 artists are showing and selling their work at 25 locations around the peninsula, from North Admiral to North Delridge to Arbor Heights, at sites from studios and businesses to yards and other outdoor spaces. Here’s a printable version of the map/list; the interactive online version is here – you can click on locations to preview the featured artists’ work. Art Hop & Shop stops will be open 10 am-5 pm that day.
Thanks for the tip. If you’re uphill from Lincoln Park, you might have heard the drumming from this gathering – it was audible in Gatewood. Aztec dancers and drummers are gathered in the park this afternoon. We couldn’t get a lot of information (we were interrupting), but we’re told they are there to honor the Earth.
At the end of an epic Record Store Day at Easy Street Records in The Junction, the grand finale was an all-star performance, first time in a long time that The Rockfords took the stage. Here’s how they’re explained in Easy Street’s latest newsletter:
The Rockfords could be called a Seattle supergroup, but the band was actually a reunion; Chris Friel and Danny Newcomb of the band Goodness and Rick Friel of Jody Watts were in a band called Shadow with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam during the mid-’80s; in the late ’90s they re-formed and added Goodness vocalist Carrie Akre under the name The Rockfords (named after McCready’s favorite TV show The Rockford Files).
The group’s self-titled LP and bonus EP were among today’s Record Store Day releases. We recorded a bit of video during their sound check:
(Our photographer had to bolt after that because of breaking news on the other side of Walk-All-Ways.)
That traffic-camera image from a few minutes ago suggests the crowd has finally thinned a bit at Easy Street Records, where people were lined up well before today’s special early (7 am!) opening for Record Store Day. WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen got in line at 6:45 am and was still waiting two hours later – he sent this photo showing the early-morning line wrapping down Alaska and onto 44th:
While he waited, Jason reported “seeing happy people coming out with lots of records.” Easy Street’s award-winning proprietor Matt Vaughan said this RSD brings more than 300 “exclusive titles,” and Taylor Swift was the biggest draw. Eddie sent photos, too, and says the line was still going strong around quarter to 11.
You’re likely to see a crowd at the corner again this evening – The Rockfords will wrap up Record Store Day with an in-store performance – their first show in 20 years – at 7 pm. More on that in ESR’s newsletter.
If you’ve read our coverage of Admiral Neighborhood Association meetings – and/or attended them – you know ANA has been resolute in reviving the group’s long-running summer-concert series, even though its past venue, the back lawn of Hiawatha Community Center, is unavailable. Most recently, ANA was zeroing in on the Lafayette Elementary School playground as a site, and has announced today that three concerts will be held there, on Thursday nights as in the past, July 13th, 20th, and 27th. Performers and other details are forthcoming. If you have questions, a good place to bring them would be ANA’s next general meeting, 7 pm May 9th at Admiral Church (4320 SW Hill). ANA says the agenda that night also will include a long-sought guest appearance by a Seattle Parks official with an update on Hiawatha’s upcoming projects.
The acclaimed Byrd Ensemble is performing in West Seattle again Saturday night at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. This time, the chamber vocal ensemble’s concert is themed “Prince of Music: Palestrina.” Here’s the concert summary:
Palestrina was the outstanding composer of the late Renaissance in Europe. His long-lasting influence on the development of church music and counterpoint included his most famous mass setting, Missa Papae Marcelli, which served as a model for mass settings during the Counter-Reformation. The program also features music by two other leading contemporaries of Palestrina: Spanish Counter-Reformation composer and possible pupil of Palestrina, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Franco-Flemish composer Orlando Lassus.
The full program and other information can be seen in our calendar listing. To get the word out, the Byrd Ensemble is advertising on WSB, and offering a deal if you use this code while getting tickets online: WESTSEATTLE30. The concert starts at 7:30 pm Saturday (April 15th); Holy Rosary is at 42nd/Genesee on the north side of The Junction.
Eleven extra reasons to explore the West Seattle Art Walk tonight – mini-concerts at 11 venues as part of the second Muse Fest: The Power of Women’s Voices music festival. Above is Carly Ann Calbero, who performed at West Seattle Grounds in North Admiral; below is jean mann at Verity Credit Union (WSB sponsor) in The Junction:
Tonight’s venues stretched southward to Morgan Junction, where WSB contributor Jason Grotelueschen photographed the performers – first, Sue Quigley – who co-coordinated Muse Fest – at Beveridge Place Pub:
And almost-next-door at Zeeks Pizza, Katrina Kope:
Co-coordinator John Redenbaugh, who also produces The Art of Music, says those performances will be back on second Thursday Art Walk nights this June through December
Last week’s scheduled one-time performance of “Friends Across the Wires” at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center had to be called off at the last minute for COVID concerns. Now producer Tamara Bunnell tells WSB a new date is set – one week from tonight, 7:30 pm Thursday, April 20th. It’s a free performance, presented by the Seattle Historical Theatre Project, of a play telling the story of Japanese American incarceration during World War II through the prism of young people’s experiences. No tickets or RSVP required – just show up next Thursday night. The venue is at 4408 Delridge Way SW. (Here’s our original preview.)
Even if you don’t fish, the scenery might be reason enough to catch the Fly Fishing Film Tour‘s 2023 West Seattle stop. It’s this Thursday (April 13th), 7 pm at the Admiral Theater (2343 California SW), hosted by West Seattle’s own fly-fishing specialists at Emerald Water Anglers (WSB sponsor). We’re told EWA proprietor Dave McCoy is featured in one of this year’s films! You’re invited to stop by EWA’s gear/apparel shop in The Junction (4502 42nd SW) before Thursday’s screening, “as we will be having some activities to celebrate all things fly fishing.” And you can get your ticket(s) in advance via The Admiral’s website.
Thursday brings this month’s West Seattle Art Walk, with a bonus – the second presentation of multiple mini-concerts as part of Muse Fest: The Power of Women’s Voices. From coordinator John Redenbaugh:
Muse Fest is co-presented by The Art of Music and local musician Sue Quigley on behalf of the West Seattle Junction Association.
A total of 11 free admission Muse Fest performances are scheduled to concurrently take place from 6 – 7:45 pm that night (with one 15-minute break at the midpoint) at businesses in the Admiral District, Alaska Junction, and Morgan Junction.
The Muse Fest performers will provide a variety of music to choose from and enjoy; they, and the genres represented, are:
Carly Ann Calbero (Genre: Folk Rock)
Katrina Kope (Genre: Downtempo Electronic
Megan Krantz Project (Genre : Folk/Pop/Acoustic)
Kim Archer (Genre: Soulful Rock)
jean mann (Genre: Lyric-driven Alt-Folk with an Americana Twist )
Sue Quigley (Genre: Edgy Alt -Folk/Singer Songwriter
K Square (Genre: Rock)
Cami Voss (Genre: Retro Country)
Sheryl Wiser (Genre: Americana)
SAPPHIRE CITY (Genre: Alt pop/RnB)
Caitlin Patterson (Genre: Folk/Soul/Singer-songrwriter)You can find details about the Muse Fest performers and venues on the West Seattle Art Walk website at: wsartwalk.org/2023/03/09/muse-fest-the-power-of-womens-voices-2.
And this is all in addition to the venues where you can see art, meet artists, and/or enjoy food and drink specials, 5 pm “until late” on Thursday – preview those here.
1:13 PM: Just got word from producer Tamara Bunnell that the Seattle Historical Theatre Project has to cancel tonight’s performance of “Friends Across the Wires“ in West Seattle. She emailed to say, “We are very, very sorry to report that tonight’s performance of ‘Friends Across the Wires’ at Youngstown Cultural Arts Center has been canceled because of Covid. We are so sorry to cancel, but need to prioritize keeping the community safe.” This was to be a one-night-only WS performance of the play telling a story of how youth were affected by the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. We’re asking whether there’s any chance of a reschedule.
1:36 PM: Bunnell says they’re hoping so and will send us word of a new date when they work one out.
12:58 PM: Thanks to the texters who sent photos of the damaged “Welcome to West Seattle” sign along the southwest end of the West Seattle Bridge. We reported late last night on the crash at that location. The sign was installed by the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce in 2019, funded by a donation from the late philanthropist Ada Cruzen; we have a message out to the WSCC to see what their plans are.
1:05 PM: Quick response from Chamber executive director Whitney Moore: “Absolutely, the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce will be repairing the Welcome Sign and restoring it to its former glory.”
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