West Seattle, Washington
18 Wednesday
(Sweet-pea flowers – photo sent by Waikikigirl)
It’s the second Sunday of summer, and the second day of a four-day holiday weekend. Here’s what’s on the list for today/tonight, mostly from the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar:
WEST SEATTLE FARMERS’ MARKET: 10 am-2 pm; the market offers summer produce as well as flowers, cheese, fish, meat, baked goods, condiments, fresh-cooked food, beverages (from kombucha to beer/wine), nuts, plant starts, more. Here’s today’s vendor list. (California SW between Oregon and Alaska)
LOW-LOW TIDE: Out to -3.2 feet at 10:38 am. Find Seattle Aquarium volunteer beach naturalists 9:30 am-12:30 pm at Constellation Park (63rd/Alki) and Lincoln Park (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW).
MOUNTAIN TO SOUND OUTFITTERS SALE: Today’s the final day – take 15 percent off your purchase of one in-stock item at Mountain to Sound Outfitters (3602 SW Alaska; WSB sponsor)
HIGHLAND PARK SPRAYPARK OPEN: 11 am-8 pm daily through Labor Day, shine or rain. (1100 SW Cloverdale)
E.C. HUGHES WADING POOL OPEN: Noon-7 pm. (2805 SW Holden)
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL OPEN: Noon-7 pm daily through Labor Day, except for chilly/cloudy days. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
COLMAN POOL OPEN: Also at Lincoln Park, this outdoor salt-water pool is open noon-7 pm daily through Labor Day. See the session schedule here.
FREE KIDS’ BOUNCY HOUSES: 11:30 am-2 pm at Junction Church (4157 California SW), all families welcome.
(added) CONCERT TRUCK AT ALKI: Seattle Chamber Music Society‘s Concert Truck will be by Alki Bathhouse (60th/Alki) at noon.
NO ALKI POINT LIGHTHOUSE TOURS TODAY: But they’ll be back next Sunday (July 9th).
HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH: 3 pm matinee at ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor). Our calendar listing includes the ticket link.
SUNDAY NIGHT JAZZ: Triangular Jazztet at The Alley (4509 California SW), 8 pm and 9 pm sets.
(Saturday night sunset – photo by Jan Pendergrass)
WATCH THE SUNSET: It’s starting to get earlier – tonight it’s at 9:10 pm. (The sun actually vanishes behind the Olympics 10 minutes before “official” sunset time, so you’ll see that around 9.)
Planning an event – one-time or recurring – that can be on West Seattle’s only comprehensive event calendar? Please email westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Whether they’re coming back next year or moving up, Genesee Hill Elementary School students finished their school year with a gift for next year and beyond. The mural you see above, painted by students led by Urban ArtWorks, has replaced this drab wall:
The costs were covered by Genesee Hill PTA fundraising; Urban ArtWorks was chosen from four local artists who bid on the project. The planning process began in March, in art workshops with all 530+ GHES students. Their ideas were consolidated into a design in April. Teaching artist Lis Rafailedes, below with GHES principal Liz Dunn, was there working with the young artists when we visited on Monday:
The students painted the mural over multiple days this month, concluding with kindergarteners:
You can see the mural from SW Genesee, on the south side of the campus.
A similar project resulted in a mural at Lafayette Elementary four years ago.
(Today’s sunrise – photo by Theresa Arbow-O’Connor)
Quieter Friday than usual, with holiday-weekend getaways beginning, but if you’re not leaving town, here’s the list!
GARDEN CENTER OPEN: Need more plants for your garden, containers, etc.? You can shop at the South Seattle College (WSB sponsor) Garden Center, open with a wide variety of student-grown plants, until 2 pm. (North end of campus, 6000 16th SW)
MOUNTAIN TO SOUND OUTFITTERS SALE: Through Sunday, take 15 percent off your purchase of one in-store item at Mountain to Sound Outfitters (3602 SW Alaska; WSB sponsor)
SPRAYPARK OPEN: 11 am-8 pm, Highland Park Spraypark (1100 SW Cloverdale) is open daily.
FREE LUNCH: The Junction Church (4157 California SW) invites you to a free sit-down lunch, 11:30 am-12:30 pm.
DELRIDGE AND HIAWATHA WADING POOLS OPEN: Noon-5:30 pm. (4501 Delridge Way SW and 2700 California SW)
LINCOLN PARK WADING POOL OPEN: Noon-7 pm. (8011 Fauntleroy Way SW)
COLMAN POOL OPEN: Also at Lincoln Park, the outdoor salt-water pool is open noon-7 pm daily through Labor Day. See the session schedule here.
SCRABBLE CLUB: You’re invited to play 12:30-1:30 pm at Margie’s Café inside the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon).
NORTHWEST WINE ACADEMY: 1-6 pm on the north side of South Seattle College (6000 16th SW; WSB sponsor), student-produced wine by the glass or bottle.
VISCON CELLARS: Tonight, stop by Viscon Cellars (WSB sponsor) for wine by the glass or bottle, 5-9 pm (5910 California SW).
LIVE AT THE SKYLARK: Mia Day, Mirabai Kukathas, Brenna Bruce, live at The Skylark , doors at 7, music at 8, $10. (3803 Delridge Way SW).
HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH: The musical continues at ArtsWest (4711 California SW; WSB sponsor). Our calendar listing includes the ticket link.
FIREWORKS SHOW DOWNTOWN: In case you hear fireworks in the distance – tonight there’s a show following the Mariners game.
Something to add to our calendar? westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!
Two years ago, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the former Fisher Flour Mill on Harbor Island – county-owned for 20 years – was transforming into a video/film-production facility. Tonight, he jubilantly hailed its “remarkable transformation,” as Harbor Island Studios celebrated its grand opening, calling it a facility that was “willed into existence”:
Also speaking was King County’s creative-economy director Kate Becker:
The event was part grand opening, part trade fair, part film festival. Part of its 117,000 square feet held tables from partners and vendors serving the video/film industry, showing off everything from camera-boom-equipped vehicles ..
to props …
to drones.
Hundreds of people mingled and wandered through the building’s separate spaces …
One included easels with scenes from a series that had shot there (and elsewhere in West Seattle), “Three Busy Debras,” which ran through 2022:
The point of the spaces is to give creative crews plenty of room to realize their productions’ vision. Harbor Island Studios got a test run on that over a weekend in April, when three teams shot three short films as part of the Seattle 48-Hour Film Project. Those films, and a documentary about making them, were screened for tonight’s attendees.
If Harbor Island Studios fulfills its promise – and if the state beefs up incentives for film production – Vancouver, B.C., could stop “passing as Seattle,” as Constantine put it.
But first, as Becker mentioned, there’s more interior work ahead at Harbor Island Studios, to maximize its 117,000 square feet of space.
ADDED FRIDAY AFTERNOON: In case you’re interested, here’s the official news release the county posted today.
(Photo courtesy ArtsWest, 2018 production of ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’)
Starting tomorrow night, ArtsWest (WSB sponsor) is “revisiting” a musical that rocked the playhouse in 2018 – “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Here’s how ArtsWest symmarizes “Hedwig”:
The off-Broadway smash-hit Hedwig and the Angry Inch tells the electrifying story of Hedwig, a German emigrant who suffered a botched sex-change operation, as she travels the country in hopeless romantic pursuit of her former lover. First a hit on stage and again on screen, John Cameron Mitchell’s hard-rock tale of transformation has earned critical acclaim and a legion of fans across the world.
Nicholas Japaul Bernard again portrays Hedwig, with Kataka Corn as Yitzhak and Michael B. Maine as the Angry Inch; Eddie DeHais directs, and Aaron M.D. Norman is music director. Tomorrow (Wednesday) night is a 7:30 pm “preview,” with Thursday the official opening night; after that, “Hedwig” runs Wednesdays through Sundays through July 23rd. You can get tickets by going here; the playhouse is located at 4711 California SW in The Junction.
(WSB file photo)
Just in from the Admiral Neighborhood Association – the park east of Hiawatha Community Center will be available for their Summer Concerts series after all! ANA’s Dan Jacobs tells WSB they were able to get the park for three Thursday evenings in July, and the lineup is set:
July 13 – West Seattle Big Band
July 20 – School of Rock and Mid Pak
July 27 – Ranger and the Re-Arrangers
You’re probably familiar with WSBB and School of Rock; Ranger (et al) was part of the last Hiawatha slate in 2019 – they play “gypsy jazz.” These are free, all-ages, bring-your-own-chair-or-blanket concerts – ANA promises other details soon.
You’ve likely heard of the Fremont Troll. Now get ready for the West Seattle Troll.
(Photos courtesy Scan Design Foundation. Above, Dambo troll installed in Dayton, Ohio)
As first reported by GeekWire, a Danish artist is going to install “six giant hand-built Nordic troll characters” around the Northwest later this summer – at sites in West Seattle, Ballard, Issaquah, Bainbridge and Vashon Islands, and Portland.
Artist Thomas Dambo has already installed ~100 trolls, made from recycled materials, around the world. (Currently he’s in New Jersey.) His Northwest project is being overseen by the Scan Design Foundation, whose announcement says Dambo’s work carries a “message of turning trash into treasure and building community through art” and will be “amplifying the network of cultural heritage between Coast Salish tribal communities and Danish and Scandinavian traditions (to reinforce) the shared values of environmental stewardship for watershed protection, restoration, and preservation of riparian habitats.” The artist is quoted as saying, “I want people to know that trash has value. My trolls do that, and also help me tell stories, like the legends I grew up with. In nature, there is no landfill. Nature is circular – everything has a meaning and everything is recycled.”
(Dambo troll installed in Breckenridge, Colorado)
So, you’re wondering, where will the West Seattle troll be? They’re not announcing specific locations yet but Seattle Parks is a “site partner” so it’ll be in a park; when the concept was circulated among neighborhood groups many months ago, Lincoln Park was mentioned as a possibility. The reveals are scheduled to happen between early August and mid-September – one per week, per the early concept discussion – and once complete, the trolls will remain in place “for at least three years.” As for “how big” is meant by “giant,” the early discussions suggested at least 20′ high. (The photos accompanying this story are three trolls installed at other sites in the U.S.)
(Dambo troll installed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming)
The regional project is titled “Northwest Trolls: Way of the Bird King” and has a website, including a list of who’s funding and sponsoring the project.
If you have memorabilia – particularly signage – from a past business, Vanishing Seattle wants to hear from you. The temporary exhibit they’re planning isn’t in West Seattle, but it’s not far, and they’re hoping to draw items from all over the city. Here’s what we were asked to share with you:
Vanishing Seattle is seeking remnants of our city to display at Forest For The Trees, a satellite event to Seattle Art Fair. The “Vanishing Seattle” exhibition will offer a poignant reflection on the changing face of our city, a reminder of the impermanence of urban spaces and the profound impact of “progress.” We hope to bring together a collection of sign works, artifacts & memorabilia that have shaped the city’s visual and cultural landscape over the decades, as an ode to the artisans and spaces that brought life to the city streets, and as a celebration of the ephemeral beauty that continues to shape our collective memories. As we bear witness to the disappearance of these art forms and gathering places from our streets, we invite you to contribute to a visual dialogue that pays tribute to this legacy.
The exhibition will take place in an open 12,000 sq ft brick and timber space at historic RailSpur building in Pioneer Square from July 27 – 30, 2023 and First Thursday Art Walk August 3, 2023. Entry is free to the public.
The exhibition will take place on an upper floor of the building, so the sizing of the items will be restricted to the capacity of the elevator and stairwell (roughly 8ft X 4ft, but don’t hesitate to contact us if you have an awesome item that’s bigger).
Items will be credited as on loan from the owner unless you wish to remain anonymous.
Please contact us if you are interested in sharing signs and other local artifacts from your collection!
vanishingseattle@gmail.com
First time we saw Ayron Jones was during the 2015 Summer Concerts at Hiawatha series, when he and his band The Way played an impressive set. The ensuing eight years have seen him rise to rock ‘n’ roll heights, with a #1 song and world touring, and tonight he was back in West Seattle – his former home neighborhood – for an album release party at Easy Street Records. It wasn’t billed as a concert – but Jones, his mighty guitar, and friends took to the stage:
You might recall Jones’ previous gig at Easy Street – playing “Star-Spangled Banner” atop the store van during the huge West Seattle Junction Black Lives Matter rally in June 2020. Looking ahead, he’s about to head out on tour again. His new album “Chronicles of the Kid” is of course available through Easy Street.
Another chance to support student performers is just hours away. The Louisa Boren STEM K-8 Drama Club is presenting Roald Dahl‘s “Matilda,” in the musical’s junior edition, one performance only, free!
It’s at 2 pm tomorrow (Saturday) in the school gym at 5950 Delridge Way SW. The announcement notes that Matilda “tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.” Doors open at 1:30 pm and though there’s no admission charge, they’ll be selling concessions to raise money for the Drama Club, and you can also donate via PayPal. Tomorrow’s show will run about an hour.
(Photos courtesy Mode)
If your family’s summer schedule isn’t fully booked, it’s not too late to get in on these music-making camp opportunities! From Mode Music Studios (WSB sponsor) and Mode Music and Performing Arts:
Mode Rock Band camps are back and Mode Music and Performing Arts (MMPA), our nonprofit arm, is offering Pay-What-You-Can camps all summer long!
Mode’s Rock Band Camps are taught by our local, professional musicians and instructors and give your kid the opportunity to perform on The Skylark stage at the end of the week. We have missed these camps and are so excited to get back to it.
Rock bands are offered for ages 6-12 M-F from 9:00-12:00 with a performance at The Skylark on Saturday. Make it a full day by signing up for an MMPA camp in the afternoon! Afternoon options for students aged 13-18 are available upon request.
MMPA’s Pay-What-You-Can camps are running for a second consecutive summer, continuing to reach all of our community by removing financial barriers. Half-day and full-day music, theatre, and dance camps are available upon signup for kids ages 6-12 running M-F 9:00-12:00 and 12:30-3:30 all summer long.
All of our camps will be led by experienced and enthusiastic instructors who are passionate about music and arts education. Students will have the opportunity to learn new skills, develop their talents, and make new friends in a supportive and encouraging environment.
Get ready to rock and play with us this summer!
For more information on our Mode Rock Band camps, visit modemusicstudios.com/camps
For more on our MMPA Pay-What-You-Can camps, visit modemusicandperformingarts.org/camps
(WSB photos)
7:02 PM SATURDAY: Seven hours, seven venues – that’s the span of West Seattle Pridefest, happening in The Junction night for the first time ever. First up, an art show at Jet City Labs (4547 California SW), until 9 pm. Cebron Kyle Bradford is the curator, and an exhibiting artist too:
The show is spotlighting work by queer and BIPOC artists, and most pieces are available for purchase.
You can visit JCL and see the art until 9 pm. Next events on tonight’s Pridefest slate are trivia, comedy, and bingo, all starting at 8 pm.
ADDED SUNDAY NIGHT: Organizer Alex Garcia shared some photos, including these – Mikey Moo at The Poggie:
Bingo at Supreme:
Bingo host Richard:
Trivia host Devon, at Camp West:
Alex says, “West Seattle Pride was a huge success. I think we succeeded in our goal to celebrate diversity, pride, community, LGBTQ culture with our neighbors and local businesses. My one regret was just not having enough room for everyone; next year we plan to include more businesses and have more events throughout the day.”
(WSB photo)
Something new is growing at West Seattle Nursery (5245 California SW) – the wall along the south side of the property, on SW Brandon, is getting a mural. The artist is Katie Todaro of Glam Dusty Studios, whose work you’ve likely seen beautifying other West Seattle walls.
(West Seattle Nursery photo)
When we stopped by this morning, Katie told us that with rainy weather likely to interrupt soon, the mural will probably be complete within two weeks.
If your household includes an 8- to 12-year-old interested in writing whose summer isn’t fully booked yet – this free workshop taught by a West Seattle writer in nearby South Park still has room:
In this summer-long workshop, young people creatively explore and expand their self-confidence by writing and illustrating a book together. We will read two short stories and then rewrite one of them in our own words, in weekly meetings of one hour a week over 11 weeks. Group activities, games, solitary writing, and drawing provide for a fun and productive setting.
Books/stories we’ll read: River Dragon, an ancient Chinese story of coming-of-age, retold in an illustrated children’s book by Darcy Pattison, and “A Pumpkin Seed,” a cautionary tale from Haiti, in Creole Folktales retold by Patrick Chamoiseau
Location: South Park Community Center, 8319 8th Ave S.
Session time / dates: 4:30-5:30 pm 11 sessions, Thursdays, from June 29 to September 7, 2023
Price: free. Please plan to attend as many sessions as possible, to be part of a writing community.
For more info: see video and read about our class, founded and taught by Ms. Julia (Julia Douthwaite Viglione, PhD): 1
Enrollment open NOW via the South Park Community Center website
Questions? email Ms. Julia at juliawsea@gmail.com
6:23 PM: Get out and wander the peninsula tonight – it’s West Seattle Art Walk night!
Our first stop was West Seattle Grounds (2141 California SW) in North Admiral, where illustrator Andrew Gregg is showing work tonight. Much of his art is focused on athletes, as you can see in the background of our photo. If you visit WSG before 7:45 pm, you can also catch live music by Taylor John Hardin, one of three Art of Music performances during tonight’s Art Walk.
6:41 PM: Paul Gerard is another of the Art of Music performers; as shown above, he is performing until 7:45 pm at Wildflour (4709 California SW; formerly Flying Apron) in The Junction. The visual artist there tonight is Jenna Brechbiel.
Also in The Junction, Matthew Cory is the featured artist at Compass (4509 California SW):
Some receptions run as late as 9 pm, so you still have time to go out and enjoy some art!
(Photos courtesy Rose Feliciano)
Back on Saturday night, we reported on the plight that had befallen the unofficial tribute to Rolf Neslund – “patron saint of the broken bridge” (explained here) – along the bike/foot path by the West Seattle Bridge. Today, the sculpture mysteriously installed three years ago is standing again, thanks to this trio:
That’s Rose Feliciano in the foreground, local preservationists John Bennett and Mike Shaughnessy with the statue. Mike is one of the people who reached out after we noted we hadn’t been able to reach the installation’s original creator(s); Rose is the first person who emailed us to report Rolf had taken a tumble; she then took him into protective custody for fear of theft (it has happened before). After Rose reported the restoration, Mike added, “Special thanks to Sandy Brown for the free concrete pedestal pieces. And of course the Southwest Seattle Historical Society.” (And thanks to the others who offered to help.)
Beautiful afternoon for an outdoor concert – as Sounds from Around the World Festál continues at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska). Boka Kouyaté and The Djeliyah Band started the day.
They were the first of four bands/performers scheduled to perform until 7 pm.
Comfort Food is scheduled to be onstage now, followed by Lion of Judah Band at 5 pm. The event was produced by Janean Wyvold of Urgent Africa:
This is one of three free community events funded by neighborhood-recovery grants the city made available through the West Seattle Junction Association.
Happening at the Senior Center of West Seattle (4217 SW Oregon) until 10 pm, it’s the first part of a two-part world-music festival in The Junction. Yogi and The Yoginis (pic above, video below) are onstage until 7:30 pm, followed at 8 by The Pazific Band.
The event is “Sounds from Around the World Festál,” produced by Janean Wyvold of Urgent Africa, one of several special events planned in The Junction thanks to city neighborhood-recovery grant funding. Tonight’s show is a prelude to an all-day festival Saturday (June 3rd) at Junction Plaza Park (42nd/Alaska), which will feature four bands, 11 am-7 pm. Both events are free of charge and all ages.
As the Pump Station 38 overhaul in the 1400 block of Alki Avenue SW nears completion, here are new views of the art installation. We first told you almost three years ago about the planned artwork by Sarah Thompson Moore, inspired by an old topographic map of Alki. As we showed you earlier this month, it’s now coming to life as a lithomosaic concrete installation, and Seattle Public Utilities just sent new photos.
Before the crew is done with the art installation, one of the final components of the pump-station project, they will be installing a guardrail fence which will include elements of the design. The work on the pump-station infrastructure, SPU says, will “improve service reliability, improve system performance, and reduce maintenance requirements and costs.”
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.
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