Recent Stories with tag broadway

I was not looking forward to Legally Blonde. I thought it would be juvenile, so instead of inviting a friend as my plus-one, I took my nine-year-old niece to the show. Saved me from asking a favor of a friend, and served in furtherance of my Uncle of the Year campaign. But a funny thing happened: I liked Legally Blonde more than my niece did.

Yup, I was pretty skeptical too. (Photo: Joan Marcus)

The show, a national touring production that plays at the 5th Avenue through March 14, is tons of fun. It drew me in from the first, with the peppy ensemble piece "Omigod You Guys." (I know--sounds horrible, huh? It's not.)

I remained dubious, though. Any show can have one good number; just check out a Don McLean concert. But the next song, "Serious," a romantic duet that kickstarts the story, was good too. Pretty soon I stopped assaying every song and just let this classic American tale of optimism triumphant take me away, Calgon-style....

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Near the end of October (thank you, CHS), Zhivago's Café (Facebook) opened on Broadway, where the old Dilettante's used to be. It's a piroshkis-and-more shop (including Wi-Fi), founded by Geno Sabra, who is half Russian and half Middle Eastern. I have walked past it for weeks until today, when I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a piroshki.

I ordered the lunch special (piroshki + borscht + bread roll = $7.95), and had a seat. The server had my food ready before I sat down. As The Stranger promised, the borscht was remarkable, served warm with a dollop of sour cream. The piroshkis are baked on the premises daily (Time to make the piroshkis! is 4 a.m.), and there's a variety of carnivore and vegetarian options ($4-$6), as well dessert pastries and Russian tea cakes.

I had the beef, potato, and cheese piroshki, which was perfectly acceptable, if outshined by the borscht in terms of yumminess. But don't take this as a review, anyway--I've only stopped in the once. Take it as encouragement to pop in the next time you're in the mood for a piroshki and see for yourself.

Picture a streetcar running through it.

The first question many people have on hearing about the First Hill streetcar is, "Huh?" But there is a good reason for the First Hill streetcar's existence (ETA: end of 2014): The neighborhood was originally supposed to get a deep tunnel light rail station, which turned out to be too expensive. So a streetcar line to the International District light rail station has been deemed an acceptable substitute.

It's ironic because the streetcar debate now raging is focused on the Capitol Hill end of the line, and First Hill concerns don't come up as much, even though the regular ridership is likely to come from First Hill's medical centers (Harborview, Swedish, and Virginia Mason) and Seattle University.

Today SDOT released some conceptual maps of where the streetcar might run. For some months, various constituencies have been pushing for a) a two-way track up and down Broadway, b) a loop of Broadway and 12th Avenue, and c) a Broadway-Boren hybrid.

Seattle Transit Blog (here's their take on the routes) argues that a 12th Avenue loop makes use of the streetcar stations much more inconvenient, in that there would be a longer schlep involved if you wanted to go north as opposed to south, or vice versa, depending on which side of the loop you lived. They are anti-couplet! But all three of the SDOT alternatives released today use an 11th Avenue and Broadway couplet that circles Cal Anderson Park. And don't rule out a 12th Avenue jaunt.

Apparently one reason for this is because 11th doesn't carry the traffic that Broadway or 12th does, and so a couplet line using 11th would be less impacted by congestion on either Broadway or 12th. This nuanced weighing of alternatives makes me crazy. If only someone I hated preferred an option so I could line up opposite!

In the event that you have an axe to grind, CHS reports that "Tuesday night, the city and Sound Transit are holding the first of three meetings to discuss the streetcar project with the community. Tuesday's meeting is at Seattle Central [Community College] from 6-8 p.m."