Results tagged “chac”

After a flurry of demonstrated community concern, the sale of the Capitol Hill OddFellows building to developer Ted Schroth was finalized in January of 2008, and his company seemed to want to put the whole uncomfortable matter behind them when touting the glorious financial potential of the space:

"The OddFellows Building presented us with an incredible opportunity to restore one of the neighborhood's most cherished icons," said Ted Schroth, the project's developer. "It has been an exciting and rewarding project to be a part of, and we are very excited about the tenants who have already chosen to make the building their home. We are looking forward to finding the right mix of remaining retail and office tenants to share in this remarkable piece of history."

Yesterday, 12th Avenue institution Crave served its last omelet and delicious mac & cheese with shitake mushrooms, offering one final breakfast and lunch service before closing its doors for at least the foreseeable future. Last week, unbeknownst to us, this Seattlest was the last table ever served dinner at Crave. The meal and service was delightful, as we have always found Crave to be. Sure, it was never super speedy service, but what was served was done with care and consideration, and in a uniquely Seattle way.

We don't even know 1621 12th Ave anymore. So much has changed in the building that formerly housed the Capitol Hill Arts Center that it's undertaken a completely new identity. First, there's the obvious: CHAC was kaput as of June 30th (though the un-updated website lives on).

We think this counts as "writing on both sides of your brain." Starting tonight and running through June 1 at CHAC is one of the more unusual solo performer shows we've heard of: former Washington State Insurance Commissioner Deborah Senn (a theater major, natch) has written a play about her experience wallowing in the mud of the election politics.

Along with all the hiphop this weekend and the hella rad Subtle laser show tonight, there's a few more music events of note. First up, tonight State Bird plays an early show (8 p.m.) at the Q Cafe in Ballard. How both the venue and this great group of Ohio tribal-folksters have been under our radar is beyond us.

Capitol Hill's hardest working man in show business, CHAC's Matthew Kwatinetz, has been devoting long hours to the survival of Odd Fellows Hall as an arts space, ever since he found out about the planned sale.

Local Singer/Songwriter Joanna Horowitz got a crazy idea a year or so ago. A long-time musician involved in the theater business, she thought it might be fun to write a musical. Enter 100 Heartbreaks...

Jeremy: You know, I find it kind of funny: for a show about how theater screwed up, there was very little discussion of how theater is relevant. Mike Daisey seemed to concentrate exclusively on one aspect of the U.S. theater industry--the big regional theaters, like Seattle Rep or the Oregon Shakespeare Festival--and blamed them for their strange business choices. Not that he doesn't have a point, but it seems to dodge (or presuppose) the question: what does theater do that's so important? I have my own thoughts on the matter, but really, Daisey seemed to take it as a given.

Not that it made much difference in real-world terms. Our precinct (189 people turned out) went heavily Obama, which we understand is how the wind blew in Seattle today.

We're sure we don't need to say this, but you can't miss your caucus. This is the first year in our whole time in the Pacific Northwest where it matters what Washington voters think. If you're still wondering where to go, here are two Dem or GOP caucus locators. Caucusing starts at 1pm. We understand that if you know who you support and you don't want to spend an hour or two talking about it, you can get in and out in about half an hour.

at the Capitol Hill Arts Center. Daisey takes aim at the theater for its manifold failures: its pretentions, its disconnect from the world around it, its self-satisfaction. (Check out a five-minute sample over at the Slog.)

More details. Please don't let the arts community down. One day in Olympia. It's fun down there! If you have a day job, maybe think about participating by sending an email with this handy form from WA State Arts Alliance.

Reliable sources tell us that if you ask Mike Daisey what he does for a living, he replies that he's "a monologist."

For all those interested, tonight the Capitol Hill Arts Center will be hosting a panel discussion with the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce on the topic of "Is there still room for culture on Capitol Hill?" The impetus behind the event is the generally rapacious rate of condo-conversion and construction that's pushed out notable businesses along Pike/Pine, and now finds its apogee in the sale of Oddfellows Hall, which threatens to displace a number of arts organizations that took advantage of the low rents. Without access to such buildings, arts organizations could face a rapid exodus from Capitol Hill, hastening its transformation to yuppie-land. All those interested should attend.

We've got less than totally positive feelings about the sate of theater today. In fact, last time the subject came up in the Seattlest newsroom, we were vociferous in our belief that it's a dead art form. But whenever we take such a dramatic and unwavering stance on one side of a debate, we're reminded that the world is not black and white and is actually shades of gray.

Monologuist and fascinating human being Mike Daisey arrives in town next week for a Jan 18 - Feb 3 run of his show Monopoly! at CHAC, followed by a shorter try-out of his newest piece, How Theater Failed America. We got Daisey on the horn the other day and took a walk down memory lane with him, a la Dick Cavett, to soften him up before surprising him with hard-hitting questions about how many pictures he posts on his blog. Then we hung up and bought a ticket to the show.

How about opening your big yap in person for a change? Join the panel discussion about how to keep a healthy arts community on Capitol Hill. Meet up at CHAC next Wednesday, the 16th, at 5:30pm and plot next moves over a martini.

Recommendeds are awesome. They let you tell us what you want more of (food posts) and what you don't (high school basketball previews). Keep letting your fingers do the talking!

Making up for weeks of hibernation and workaholism, Kim will hit the parties this weekend. Tonight, she’ll don her Groucho glasses for a lesbian function at Jabu’s celebrating the births of her two favorite Sagitarii. Saturday, it’s to the War Room for a company party with the missus and her workmates. Finally, she’ll ship off to the sub-tropics on Monday, where she’ll spend what remains of 2007.

Maybe the first thing we should tell you about Striking 12 at CHAC -- besides the SAD tie-in, the rave reviews, or the fact that only 600 people in Seattle will have the chance to see it -- is that you can win half-off tickets to it. A limited number of $15 tickets are being held for those who correctly answer the following trivia question:

Name at least one of the bands featured the first year Dick Clark hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

This is the end, the end of free movies, care of Scion. Single tear. Via their Route film series, the youth-oriented car company has already tackled the true-to-life topics of blood diamonds in hip hop and nightclubbing in the late '80s NYC queer community. Now for something completely different:

As previously mentioned, Les Savy Fav play Neumo's tonight. If the idea of a pregnant dude spitting water on you doesn't quite float your boat, head to the Croc to check out Cave Singers and Fleet Foxes. Tonight is also a free-free-free hip hop show at the War Room with Bun B and Swizz Beatz, care of the redundantly good people at Goods and Zune. Show up early; the last event like this, with Clipse...

Tuning the Air continues their multi-guitar soundscape at the Capitol Hill Arts Center showroom every Monday through 12/17. So you've only got four more chances to see the guitorchestra in action, playing their fusion of the old and new, the classic and the modern, live and in the round. Intrepid reporter MvB has seen them on more than one occasion and had this to say about the CHAC residency: Tuning the Air is guitar-topia,...

Tuning the Air has been performing their big guitar orchestra take on all genres, from classical to rock, pop, and ambient, for a couple years now. Think the Beatles back-to-back with Bach, and some improv thrown in for good (huh huh) measure. The show used to be in Ballard, but for the past few months, they've taken up a weekly residency at the Capitol Hill Arts Center, in the CHAC showroom on Mondays through 12/17--which means you've only got four more chances to sit in the middle of a guitar circle. Waaaay better-sounding and -smelling than a hippie-infested drum circle, believe you me.

One of the great things about Seattle Opera's Young Artists fall show is that while it's staged and costumed, that's about all you get. The set is "suggested," the lighting minimal, the props bare essentials. So what's on display are the singers' voices and any dramatic talent -- plus, CHAC, compared to McCaw Hall, feels pretty much like your living room.

Saturday, Tera will give herself a VIP tour at the opening of Aritzia. She will follow this potentially hectic event by introducing a friend to her newest wine obsession - Twisted Cork. Sunday she will trek to Qwest and root for Chicago, uh, eh, oops...Seattle. Yes, root for the Seahawks. Jack's heading to the Showbox proper tonight to see Canadian indie pop band Stars. Sunday, he's hoping to see Rex Grossman slip into old...

Trouble in Tahiti / Rita: Seattle Young Artists Program @ CHAC

We're doubling up this evening, and dropping in at chamber guitar group Tuning the Air, in their new CHAC-tastic location, for some Robert Fripp-ist unchained melodies. Here's the pdf of their Seattle Magazine profile. If you like acoustic guitars, this is your home on Monday nights. 8-9pm // CHAC // $10 suggested donation Then if the power's still on, we're off to Fremont, and the Jenny Owen Youngs show at the High Dive. We had...