West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
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.
… Square 1 Books sends word it’s planning a major event next month celebrating West Seattle authors. (The event itself, 1 pm September 16th, will be at ArtsWest — more room!)
-From the latest Land Use Information Bulletin: More townhouses coming to Cali, this time north of the Junction, on and behind the site of a little two-business storefront (alterations and salon), a five-unit development proposed for 4045 Cali.
-Seattle City Council members are coming to West Seattle next week. The Economic Development and Neighborhoods Committee plans to meet @ High Point Community Center next Thursday (August 16th), 6-8 pm (agenda here). Councilmembers on this committee are Sally Clark, Jan Drago, Richard McIver, and Peter Steinbrueck.
-Also on the road, West Seattle 13-year-old Jeremy Scharff-Kim, a student at Pathfinder K-8. This Times article tells the tale of his trip to Hawaii in a quest for Pokemon glory. You can follow his progress here. Good luck!
-Congrats to WS “caffeine jazz” group Vente Caffeinato on its first CD. Get it here.
The major festivals are over but the fun is far from done. And with Freeway Fright ’07 kicking off, this is the best weekend yet to JUST STAY ON OUR PENINSULA. Click ahead for dozens of Fri-Sat-Sun events and activities around WS:Read More
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
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.
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.
-Tomorrow night is the monthly West Seattle Art Walk in The Junction; more than a dozen stops and their intriguing offerings are listed on the Art Walk blog (a fine resource that also includes direct weblinks for many of the participating artists and businesses). Among the participants, the growing Ginomai center for artists.
-Also tomorrow night, it’s opening night for two musicals here in WS: The Twelfth Night Productions presentation of “Oklahoma!” @ West Seattle HS Theater (tickets available online), and the ArtsWest Summer Musical Theater Conservatory Program presentation of “Disney’s High School Musical” (tickets available online).
-Friday, three one-time-onlies (more Fri-Sat-Sun events when our weekend lineup appears on Fri morning): In the afternoon; golf in WS for a good cause; then in the evening, the weather should be nice for the makeup showing (remember the July 21 rainout?) of “Chicken Run” at Sidewalk Cinema’s Movies on the Wall next to Hotwire Coffeehouse — and for the 34th District Democrats’ annual Garden Party Auction fundraising bash @ West Seattle Nursery.
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)
Outdoor concerts, outdoor movie, outdoor swimming, outdoor Shakespeare … Even if the weekend cloudiness comes true, get out and have a blast anyway. Or take a break indoors … the Admiral’s even got an indie film screening with the film’s producer/star! Click ahead for this week’s edition of what’s up Friday morning thru Sunday night:Read More
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):
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.
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.
The weather looks relatively good, knock wood. This is the weekend that Alki is awash in art, Shakespeare in the Park holds court at Camp Long, and we WSers are “Stuffing the Bus” at the Farmers’ Market for WestSide Baby‘s biggest annual diaper drive, among many other things (including a few events outside WS that might interest you) — click ahead!Read More
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
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
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
More Hi-Yu Festival fun tomorrow night: The West Seattle Big Band concert at Hiawatha Park (hopefully the weather will hold), following a speech by Hizzoner in honor of West Seattle’s annexation centennial. It all starts 7 pm. NOON UPDATE: A little more info from the mayor’s office – he will dedicate a commemorative plaque and tree as part of the pre-concert festivities.
You have another chance tonight to hear organizers make their case for keeping the recast Alki Statue of Liberty on hold till a “plaza” and new base can be built for it. We reported on their meeting last Wednesday; they say the gathering tonight by the old statue base, 7 pm, will be similar, and they’re planning to be at the Alki Community Council meeting this Thursday as well. Here’s an updated architect rendering of what the plaza would look like (more here):
And here again is the e-mail address for the Parks Department (which has the final say) person who’s on the project — write to let ’em know what you think.
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.
Summer Fest is of course the headliner, but this weekend also features the dinner/auction to save the Community School of WS site from going condo, DNDA’s big art auction, Sunday morning classics at Admiral Theater, low tides, and more … Click for the full list, as always:Read More
-One last reminder, the Alki Statue of Liberty meeting is 7 pm tonight, by the statue site. Up for discussion: Put the new statue on the old base and call it good, or keep the new statue in storage till a “plaza” for it can be paid for and built. (“Do it now” supporters are running this on Craigslist.)
-Tonight and every Wednesday night through Aug. 22, West Seattle’s megachurch is inviting its flock to weekly Lincoln Park barbecues.
-Not only will The Junction be jumping for Summer Fest this Fri-Sat-Sun, but tomorrow night has two big events as well: “Hair” opens at ArtsWest; and Divina plans a “post-construction celebration” to commemorate the completion of the paving project, with art as well as live music by Brazilian singer/guitarist Kiko Freitas.
-Art is also in the picture for the south edge of WS tomorrow night @ 7 pm, as Cafe Rozella premieres a photo exhibit, described as “native youth look(ing) at their environment.)
-And if you like low-tide beach walking, enjoy four days of midday low tides starting tomorrow.
We won’t be able to check this out in person for a few hours, so we don’t know yet if they’re back in action today, but a couple notes have come in saying The Goats were at work in West Seattle again, this time on hillside brush toward the bridge end of Admiral.
Summer sizzles on (with pirates!) … click ahead to see what’s happening:Read More
Just recently found Square One’s site; possibly of interest to our fellow WS book fans. (And on its regular site, the store is offering Harry Potter pre-sales through July 20, with a cut of the proceeds going to WestSide Baby.)
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