Monthly Archives: April 2010

Business

Seattle is #9 in Businesses Going Broke

Seattle Metropolitan‘s Nosh Pit blog has a quote from Txori’s Carolin Messier on the tapas restaurant’s closure. 86 percent of Urban Spooners liked Txori. Cornichon had fun there. But she’s selling:

“It’s been a really challenging year for me personally,” she said, adding the grueling financial climate hasn’t made things easier. “It’s been a heartbreaking decision.”

At least she found a buyer.

Sometimes even businesses we love go south. Great_Beyond captured the Sunset Bowl shuttered.

The PSBJ reports that Seattle businesses have edged into the top ten when it comes to going out of business. Even with stiff national competition, with commercial bankruptcy filings up 52 percent from 2008, the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett MSA hung in there for the #9 spot in commercial bankruptcy filings in Q4 of 2009.

This is the sort of thing that has distinct trickle-down effects. In his story on the Columbia Tower’s loan payment problems, Eric Pryne notes that:

The Columbia Center lost a major tenant in 2008 when law firm Heller Ehrman disbanded. The 2007 offering statement said the firm was then leasing 117,000 square feet–8 percent of the building–and was paying more rent than any other tenant. It also had a lease that ran until 2018.

Collier’s International pegs the Seattle office space vacancy rate at almost 18 percent.

News

Seattle Rep’s Fences Is the Best Play I Have Ever Seen

Stephen Tyrone Williams as Cory, with a swing that could be better, in “Fences.” Photo by Chris Bennion.

Why sourcoat it? I’ve never seen a better play than August Wilson’s Fences, which runs from last night through April 18 at the Seattle Rep. Could be because no one’s ever written a better play.

Just before curtain, former Seattle Rep actor and current deputy mayor Darryl Smith stood at the front of the house and, in the lead-up to delivering some mayoral proclamation, declared that Wilson is “America’s Shakespeare.” Smith added, “I really believe that.” Me too, Mr. Deputy Mayor.

Like Shakespeare, Wilson’s work ranges from good (Much Ado About Nothing, Gem of the Ocean) to excellent (Othello, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone) to among the best things ever written in the English language. Wilson’s Fences, like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, belongs in the latter category.

I will attempt to explain why. Not being 1/10-trillionth the writer Wilson was, I will fail. Still, as it’s one a.m. and I’m so keyed up after seeing the play that I’m compelled to share, here goes:

Wilson draws us an unforgettable lead in Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star struggling to rectify the gaping chasm between the life he’s been handed and the one he wants.

Our theme is a timeless one: Human frailty, and the resultant necessity of learning to forgive. Maxson must forgive society’s frailties–he was born in a time when talented African-American ballplayers like himself were denied opportunities granted to less talented white ones. His bitterness leads him to act in ways that wife Rose and son Corey must forgive.

You could watch ten dozen plays before encountering one containing a single scene crackling with as much drama, surprise, humor and reality as each scene in Fences. “You don’t often get a chance to see deeply into the lives of real people like that,” said my plus-one, my mother, as we walked back through Seattle Center after the show. Right on, mom.

You know you’re in for a first-class experience when you get to your seats and see the set, an amazing replication of a poor urban 1950s front yard. “Did you notice the garbage under the porch,” my Mom asked at intermission. I hadn’t, but it’s these small touches that lend even more reality to Wilson’s text.

Further kudos to the performers. Minneapolis 2008 actor of the year James A. Williams walks a tightrope as Troy Maxson, a physically powerful but emotionally fragile man. Denver-based Kim Staunton is incredible as Troy’s unexpectedly strong wife Rose. As son Corey, Stephen Tyrone Williams brilliantly manages what ends up being two roles–a painfully naive, exuberant teenager and, later in the play’s timeframe, a world-weary, pent-up Marine.

I’ve never seen a Seattle audience (which included boldface name Bart Sher) interact with a play as they did with this one. After every scene: Applause. Well-deserved applause, I must add. Still, that’s a first for me.

Now is the part where I nitpick. If your SunBreak editors wanted a reviewer who’d find fault with this incredible production, they chose correctly in selecting a baseball connoisseur. Both Troy and Corey Maxson take swings at a rag baseball during the play; I have never seen weaker cuts in my life. Wilson’s text claims that Troy hit six home runs off of legendary pitcher Satchel Paige. Seriously? He couldn’t hit Ellen Page’s fastball with those hacks. Please, Seattle Rep poobahs: When the Mariners get to town, enlist Ken Griffey Jr. to give these guys some pointers.

Fences premiered at Yale Rep in 1985. Seattle Rep had it in ’86, with Samuel L. Jackson in the supporting role of Troy Maxson’s eldest son Lyons. The play hit Broadway in ’87 with James Earl Jones as Troy, collecting both a Pulitzer and a Tony. A Broadway revival later this month will star Denzel Washington, with music by Branford Marsalis. The Seattle Rep’s production travels to Syracuse next for a one-month run.

I was lucky enough to see Fences gratis, but I’ll happily pay whatever they’re charging to see the play a second time. Mom said she’ll do the same. Get thee to the Internet and get your own pair of tickets; art like this is why you live in Seattle.

Theatre

Seattle Rep’s Fences Is the Best Play I Have Ever Seen

Stephen Tyrone Williams as Cory, with a swing that could be better, in “Fences.” Photo by Chris Bennion.

Why sourcoat it? I’ve never seen a better play than August Wilson’s Fences, which runs from last night through April 18 at the Seattle Rep. Could be because no one’s ever written a better play.

Just before curtain, former Seattle Rep actor and current deputy mayor Darryl Smith stood at the front of the house and, in the lead-up to delivering some mayoral proclamation, declared that Wilson is “America’s Shakespeare.” Smith added, “I really believe that.” Me too, Mr. Deputy Mayor.

Like Shakespeare, Wilson’s work ranges from good (Much Ado About Nothing, Gem of the Ocean) to excellent (Othello, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone) to among the best things ever written in the English language. Wilson’s Fences, like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, belongs in the latter category.

I will attempt to explain why. Not being 1/10-trillionth the writer Wilson was, I will fail. Still, as it’s one a.m. and I’m so keyed up after seeing the play that I’m compelled to share, here goes:

Wilson draws us an unforgettable lead in Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star struggling to rectify the gaping chasm between the life he’s been handed and the one he wants.

Our theme is a timeless one: Human frailty, and the resultant necessity of learning to forgive. Maxson must forgive society’s frailties–he was born in a time when talented African-American ballplayers like himself were denied opportunities granted to less talented white ones. His bitterness leads him to act in ways that wife Rose and son Corey must forgive.

You could watch ten dozen plays before encountering one containing a single scene crackling with as much drama, surprise, humor and reality as each scene in Fences. “You don’t often get a chance to see deeply into the lives of real people like that,” said my plus-one, my mother, as we walked back through Seattle Center after the show. Right on, mom.

You know you’re in for a first-class experience when you get to your seats and see the set, an amazing replication of a poor urban 1950s front yard. “Did you notice the garbage under the porch,” my Mom asked at intermission. I hadn’t, but it’s these small touches that lend even more reality to Wilson’s text.

Further kudos to the performers. Minneapolis 2008 actor of the year James A. Williams walks a tightrope as Troy Maxson, a physically powerful but emotionally fragile man. Denver-based Kim Staunton is incredible as Troy’s unexpectedly strong wife Rose. As son Corey, Stephen Tyrone Williams brilliantly manages what ends up being two roles–a painfully naive, exuberant teenager and, later in the play’s timeframe, a world-weary, pent-up Marine.

I’ve never seen a Seattle audience (which included boldface name Bart Sher) interact with a play as they did with this one. After every scene: Applause. Well-deserved applause, I must add. Still, that’s a first for me.

Now is the part where I nitpick. If your SunBreak editors wanted a reviewer who’d find fault with this incredible production, they chose correctly in selecting a baseball connoisseur. Both Troy and Corey Maxson take swings at a rag baseball during the play; I have never seen weaker cuts in my life. Wilson’s text claims that Troy hit six home runs off of legendary pitcher Satchel Paige. Seriously? He couldn’t hit Ellen Page’s fastball with those hacks. Please, Seattle Rep poobahs: When the Mariners get to town, enlist Ken Griffey Jr. to give these guys some pointers.

Fences premiered at Yale Rep in 1985. Seattle Rep had it in ’86, with Samuel L. Jackson in the supporting role of Troy Maxson’s eldest son Lyons. The play hit Broadway in ’87 with James Earl Jones as Troy, collecting both a Pulitzer and a Tony. A Broadway revival later this month will star Denzel Washington, with music by Branford Marsalis. The Seattle Rep’s production travels to Syracuse next for a one-month run.

I was lucky enough to see Fences gratis, but I’ll happily pay whatever they’re charging to see the play a second time. Mom said she’ll do the same. Get thee to the Internet and get your own pair of tickets; art like this is why you live in Seattle.

Weather

Something Blustery This Way Comes

Hurrricane Ridge’s web cam view

A few days ago, I rang up Seattle City Light to see if the winter storm pummeling the Olympics and Cascades was doing anything to replenish our snowpack–and hopefully keep the hydropower running strong this summer. The upshot was, we were going to need more than one storm.

Well, buckle up. Cliff Mass’s post is titled “Stunning Day of Convection and BIG Storm Coming.”

Major weather changes are in store Friday and Saturday. Moderate to heavy precipitation over the region…with a very strong low moving just north of us. Winds will be very strong over the coast (40-60 kts), northwest Washington (30-50 kt) and breezy (20-40 kt) over the PS lowlands on Friday.

The National Weather Service has Seattle under a High Wind Watch for most of Friday; they say gusts might hit 55 mph over western Washington, and if that’s the case, we can count on some power outages as trees and tree branches take down power lines.

ProbCast also has our daytime chance of precipitation at 85 percent, so it sounds like Friday should be quite a day. Raincoats, yes. Umbrellas, not so much.

Off-Task

Please, Don’t Sponsor Fourth of July Fireworks

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The March 6, 2010, fireworks downtown, thanks to Lux_Tyro

With all due respect to Kara Ceriello, president of the Wallingford Chamber of Commerce, we can do without fireworks this year. Event producers One Reel, in their letter announcing the fireworks cancellation, says they were unable to secure corporate sponsorship of the event, a $500,000 fee.

You have to ask, especially now, what else our very limited supply of corporations who can afford a $500,000 gift might fund instead of fireworks? Maybe they could keep five vital non-profits open this year with $100,000 grants.

I know that spending “fun” money on serious things makes some people crazy. But our economic situation is very serious for thousands upon thousands of Seattle residents, and we seem to have lost touch with the idea of even temporary community sacrifice.

Let’s not pretend we’re experiencing some sort of fireworks deficit in the first place. There were fireworks downtown this March. We blew up the Space Needle for New Year’s.

Fireworks on the Fourth has, in becoming an “annual tradition,” become a stand-in for a creative community response to the holiday. It’s the package we buy because who has time and there it is on the shelf, just like last year. We know the Fourth happened because we saw the fireworks on TV.

What would a real “Family Fourth” look like? Would it happen over several days, rather than a half-hour one evening? I feel like we can do better if we take the opportunity the recession is handing us to figure out what, exactly, we’re celebrating. One Reel has hopes to bring back the fireworks next year. But this year, if we get the chance to plan our own party, what could we do instead?

News

Glimpses: “My Dad’s Own Personal Crying Game 1915″

SunBreak Flickr pool member shawnmebo has taken it upon herself to scan and upload images of her family taken over the past hundred years.  That’s one form of spring cleaning.  You can check out everything she’s done so far in this Flickr folder, but for now just focus on the above sweet-looking thing in a dress, which just so happens to be her dad. (April Fool’s Day?)  Let’s just say that times (and fashion) were different then.