A conversation with Seattle
March is upon us, but it’s still blustery, rainy, and cold outside. Luckily, Seattle’s got plenty of live classical music to keep you warm while we all hunker down and wait for spring to arrive. Continue reading What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for March
In theory, this is your last chance to Tut it up without buying airfare to Egypt. This exhibit’s world tour ends in Seattle; after this, the artifacts take up their new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. Seattle to Egypt airfare right now runs more than $1,000. That $32.50 ticket looks good in comparison, doesn’t it? Even so, the touring exhibit has raised over $100 million so far to fund Egyptian museums. Continue reading King Tut Exhibit Tickets On Sale at Pacific Science Center
WSDOT is not normally in the habit of announcing that they have $200 million in fun money they have no use for. There exist WSDOT projects with perhaps more impact than ferrying 57,000 vehicles (per day by 2030) past Seattle’s core. For comparison, Mercer Street, which carries 80,000 vehicles per day, is getting a makeover costing $164 million, $36 million less than WSDOT’s estimating error on their $3.1-billion tunnel project. Continue reading Seattle’s Shunpikers Slice $200 Million From Tunnel Toll Estimates
Classical Revolution is a network of classical musicians devoted to bringing chamber music to the relaxed neighborhood cafes and gathering places, with the goal of making live classical music more accessible to a diverse audience. Continue reading Classical Revolution Brings Chamber Music to Your Local Cafe
The fun part of these musical-née-movies is seeing how the best songs will come out live. This production’s showstopper is “Be Our Guest,” it was my favorite part the show and my niece’s. After a playful comic lead in by Lumiere (Michael Haller), the number builds as the company appears as brightly colored silverware and plates, a sort-of dancing, singing wedding registry. The climax features a bit of staging magic that, if financially possible, you’ll want to be in the first ten rows or so for. Continue reading Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Musical Gets Five Stars From My Niece
Let’s not let an unhappily-framed Times story set this debate, though, or we’ll be here all week, with precedent set for succeeding weeks. None of us has reason to suspect Chinatown restaurants of crying wolf over declining business–and the question of what’s causing the decline can be considered separately from what’s to be done about it. Blakeney himself mentions the impact from the “incredible amount of construction and loss of parking in South Downtown,” having to do with the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement project. Continue reading Chinatown’s Paid Parking Mystery Continues to Unfold
Sightline has taken things further, questioning the “50 percent off” decline in business itself. After all, nothing in the Seattle Times story indicated the reporter saw anyone’s books. Celebrity chef-preneur Tom Douglas was allowed to join the protest, though he “said he couldn’t cite a specific dollar amount or percent of decline.” He was also allowed to say, “More empty spaces means fewer customers,” which is simply wrong. Continue reading Is Chinatown’s Parking Jake or a Joke?