Culture Fiend

First Look: Chihuly Garden and Glass

Sneak a peek at the largest collection of Dale Chihuly’s glasswork in the world. No touching!

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 16, 2012 at 01:00PM 0 Comments

All photos by Laura Dannen.

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All photos by Laura Dannen.

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The money shot—inside the Glasshouse.

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Glass Forest

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Persian Ceiling

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Up close: Persian Ceiling.

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Mille Fiori

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From left: Nijima Floats and Ikebana Boat.

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Macchia Forest

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In the Chihuly Garden

Following a class of grammar school children through a building full of (very breakable) glass art was a great way to spend my Wednesday morning. It was just too funny. The teachers were, to put it mildly, terrified; they circled the kids like riot police waiting for the first bottle to be thrown. But credit the students for being on their best behavior. They knew the drill: No touching. No running. No shoving. And the adults weren’t off the hook: No food, drinks, or giant purses for you, ma’am. Just look at the 15-foot Sealife Tower and name the sea creatures in the installation, please.

So went my walkthrough of the new Chihuly Garden and Glass at Seattle Center, the multimillion-dollar, 1.5-acre exhibition of Dale Chihuly’s glasswork that officially opens May 21. Not everyone’s pleased that this prime public space went to a private gallery, and truth be told, it’d be easy to breeze through the building in 15 minutes and come out the other side wondering where your $15 bucks went. Seattleites have grown so accustomed to seeing “Chihulys” around town— Macchias on tables in Mercer Island homes, or sets for Bluebeard’s Castle at Benaroya Hall—that we might dismiss what’s familiar.

That’s why I’m glad I tailed the schoolkids. It forced me to take more time in each room and appreciate the attention to detail: how Chihuly figured out a way to thread colors of molten glass like one might weave a basket or blanket, or how swans and dolphins appear subtly in his Chandeliers. Most impressive is his newest (and largest) creation, the 1,400-odd individual Persians that comprise the Glasshouse installation (see above). The airy greenhouse space—with a prime view of the Space Needle—is a bright, welcoming spot that opens onto a plaza and outdoor garden of Mille Fiori. It’s a glass Eden both inside and out.

Despite the nine galleries offering a retrospective of Chihuly’s career, and a theater with short videos on loop showing the artist’s process, I found myself wishing for more—more to read about each piece, or video panels in each room showing the making of the art. I wanted an education in glassblowing; instead, I spent a morning with students in Chihuly 101.

View the slideshow for a preview of the Chihuly Garden and Glass.

Chihuly Garden and Glass
Opens May 21 at Seattle Center
Mon–Thu 11–8, Fri–Sun 10–9, $12–$19

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Tags: exhibit, Seattle Center, Chihuly, First Look, Spring Arts 2012

Giant King Tut Statue Arrives at King Street Station

Make way for the seven-ton god of the afterlife.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 15, 2012 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Photos by me.

Anubis will not carry your bags out of the station.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Photos by me.

Anubis will not carry your bags out of the station.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Meet Anubis, a 26-foot-tall, seven-ton, jackal-headed guardian of the afterlife who moonlights as an escort for King Tut. As of 10 this morning, the traveling statue was parked outside King Street Station in downtown Seattle, and heralds the coming of the much-anticipated Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs exhibit, which opens May 24 at Pacific Science Center. Consider this King Tut’s farewell tour: The modern incarnation of the 1970s exhibit (now with twice as many artifacts) will return to Egypt for good after its Seattle stay. Anubis will be in place through August—if you’re lost, head to “King Tut Street Station.” There’s a soon-to-be glowing sign; you can’t miss it.

Read more about the King Tut exhibit in our Spring Arts Preview.

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs
May 24–Jan 6, Pacific Science Center, $16–$33

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Tags: exhibit, Seattle Center, Pacific Science Center, Spring Arts 2012, King Tut

On Stage: The Art of Racing in the Rain Opens Tonight

Book-It Repertory Theatre adapts Garth Stein’s best seller—just don’t expect furry costumes.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 20, 2012 at 09:00AM 1 Comments

Man’s best friend Pup Enzo (David S. Hogan) and his human Denny (Eric Riedmann)

Photo: Courtesy Alan Alabastro

David S. Hogan sounds like he’s training to be a boxer: weight lifting, resistance training, jogging. Six days a week of workouts, more than he’s ever done to get ready for a part in a show. Then again, he’s never had to play a different species before.

Hogan has big paws to fill this month when he stars as loyal mutt Enzo in the stage premiere of Garth Stein’s best-selling novel The Art of Racing in the Rain, newly adapted by Book-It Repertory Theatre. Not only is the character beloved by pet owners and animal apathetics alike, but playing the furry narrator demands hours spent crawling (or racing) around on your hands and knees. Anyone over the age of two would agree: That ain’t fun.

The even greater challenge, though, is embodying a not-so-ordinary pooch who dreams of being reincarnated as a man. He yearns for opposable thumbs and scorns the monkeys who don’t deserve them. While the theater has produced other stories featuring dogs—John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Pam Houston’s Cowboys Are My Weakness—Book-It co–artistic director Myra Platt, who adapted Racing for the stage, said “we still struggled with Enzo’s particular desirous destiny to become human…. Casting an actor to portray a dog: we wondered, would there be enough dramatic tension in hearing a dog talk on and on about how much he wished he could talk?”

Find out how Book-It brings Racing to the stage in our April feature ‘This Dog’s Life’.

The Art of Racing in the Rain
Opening night Apr 20, thru May 13
$22–$44, Center Theatre (formerly Center House Theatre)

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Tags: Theater, Seattle Center, Book-It Rep, Seattle Center House, Garth Stein, Dog Lovers

Tom Skerritt, Mayor McGinn Kick Off the Next 50 Celebration

Relive the 1962 World’s Fair with free performances and a ton of food trucks.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Apr 19, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Gather at Seattle Center’s watering hole.

It feels like we’ve been gearing up for the golden anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair since February (oh wait—we have), but the countdown clock is nearly at zero. Seattle Center’s six-month celebration officially kicks off this Saturday, with a whole day of food truckin’, beer garden(ing?), free zipline rides (UPDATE: the zipline opens May 25), and a number of performances across the 74-acre campus. Even with Husky Fest going on at the same time—um, who planned that?—it’s going to be a busy weekend at Seattle Center.

In addition to the unveiling of six temporary public art installations and Earth Day festivities, Opening Day highlights include:

• an Almost Live! appearance by funnyman and former host John Keister (opening ceremonies, 10:30–noon, Mural Amphitheatre)

• a dramatic reading of excerpts from The Future Remembered about the making (and legacy) of the 1962 World’s Fair, by actor Tom Skerritt. Resist the urge to yell “Viper!” (opening ceremonies, 10:30–noon, Mural Amphitheatre)

• a massive modern dance performance—The Chair Spectacle, rumored to have several hundred dancers dressed in white whirling red chairs—choreographed by local icon Pat Graney (4:30–5, International Fountain)

• the opening of new MOHAI history exhibits that showcase 129 years of U.S. World’s Fairs and artifacts from MOHAI’s Seattle 1962 collection.

• closing weekend for two popular productions: PNB’s double bill of Apollo and Carmina Burana, and Seattle Rep’s Restoration comedy Or,.

And, of course, the aforementioned food trucks (11–6), beer garden (noon–6), and zipline (noon–4:30). Since this event is as much about looking forward as looking back, the Next Fifty events continue through the spring with the arrival of King Tut’s traveling empire and the Chihuly Garden and Glass. Stay tuned.

The Next Fifty Opening Day
Apr 21, 10–6, Seattle Center campus (start at the International Fountain)

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Tags: Seattle Center, Seattle World's Fair, The Next Fifty

From a Mural to White Light: 50 Years of Public Art at Seattle Center

The story starts in 1962 with the largest artwork in the NW; in 2012, we found an artist who can make the sun rise.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 17, 2012 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Horiuchi’s famed mosaic now serves as a backdrop to the popular summer series Concerts at the Mural.

Originally published in February 2012. 1962. Beneath a canopy in the shadow of the Space Needle, Seattle collage artist Paul Horiuchi worked in secret, assembling his 60-foot-long, 17-foot-high mural piece by piece. Each glass tile had been handpicked in Venice; they came in 160 shades and varied shapes—large and small, curved and smooth. Slowly, the mosaic grew, a map of “the bright, gay colors of the Northwest, in contrast to the traditional somber grays and blues” Horiuchi said were common to the region. It was rumored to be the single largest piece of art in the Pacific Northwest—and one of the largest in America. A crowd gathered on the lawn in front of the veiled artwork, waiting for the big reveal on the second day of the 1962 World’s Fair. And at 4pm, they pulled back the cloak on the greatest kaleidoscope of color the city had ever seen: the Seattle Mural.

Photo: Municipal Archives/77813

Fast-forward to 2012. Brooklyn-based artist Adam Frank has figured out how to make the sun rise in Denver—a feat that obviously enticed Seattle city officials. With the use of solar panels the light artist created a real-time projection of the sun that rises up the face of the Minoru Yasui Building in downtown Denver as the actual sun sets; the orb fades as morning comes. It’s simple, straight-forward—and aspires to be a symbol of hope for the city, Frank said. Each time Sunlight appears, it showcases the possibilities of solar technology in Colorado, which gets 300 days of actual rays per year. But Frank could have his work cut out for him here.

“I’d never been to a place this far north; it gets dark so early,” he said. “Some days I haven’t even seen the sun.” As Seattle City Light’s artist in residence, light master Frank has a yearlong assignment to create new public art at Seattle Center and across the city. His first project: to install a 40-foot-high projection piece in Center House that demonstrates the flow of electricity in Seattle, in real time. Imagine a map of the city and its outskirts, with pinpoints of light shining brightly downtown during the workday, then skittering off to Ballard, Fremont, and Magnolia as worker drones head home. What our city lacks in solar power, we make up in hydropower; and Frank plans, as he did in Denver, to create artwork that delivers a message of sustainability and renewal.

“I try to be very simple and refined and direct,” he said. And though his medium isn’t as tangible as the glass tiles comprising the Seattle Mural just shy of Center House, it’s all the same to Frank. “All visual art is light work. The artist is just sculpting light."

Frank’s Current is one of six temporary art installations going up at Seattle Center in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair —and the next 50 years of innovation. The months-long celebration kicks off this Friday, April 21, with the cast of Almost Live!, a dramatic reading by actor Tom Skerritt, and a zipline. In that order. More to come tomorrow.

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Tags: Seattle Center, Seattle Public Art, Seattle Center House, The Next Fifty, Mural Amphitheatre

Update: Chihuly Glass Exhibit Expected to Open in Late May

Then again, you know how construction projects go.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Mar 07, 2012 at 10:45AM 0 Comments

Photo: Will Austin

From a Fun Forest to a Glass Forest…

Over on Facebook (and confirmed on our end), reps for the new Chihuly Garden and Glass are talking about a late May opening for the Seattle Center exhibit, soon to be the largest collection of Dale Chihuly’s glasswork in the world. It’s still a projection, but it’s also the closest thing to an opening date they’ve offered, so we’ll take it.

In April 2011, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved the glass empire at the site of the Fun Forest—a space Chihuly’s work could occupy for the next 30 years, all but securing the Northwest artist’s local legacy. The numbers were staggering: a projected $25 million for construction, $50 million for glass, and a 1.5-acre property with an outdoor exhibit that could be seen from the Space Needle. And maybe from space. “Every artist wants their work to be seen by as many people as possible,” Chihuly said. “It’s a dream come true.”

The exhibition is divided into nine galleries—which include the neon Glass Forest, a 15-foot Sealife Tower, and the largest collection of Mille Fiori—in addition to a 70-seat theater, gift shop, cafe, and a 4,500-square-foot Glasshouse, home to Chihuly’s largest and latest work (pictured). For more on the making of the exhibit, read our Spring Arts Preview.

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Tags: Seattle Center, Chihuly, Spring Arts 2012

Seeing Red at Seattle Rep

Denis Arndt stars as abstract impressionist Mark Rothko in the Tony-winning drama.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 14, 2012 at 10:20AM 0 Comments

Photo: Seattle Repertory Theatre

Originally published February 2012. A shadow was cast on Seattle Rep’s 49th season when its father-protector, Bagley Wright, died of a heart attack on July 18, 2011, at the age of 87. Flags flew at half-staff across Seattle in honor of the game-changing arts patron and philanthropist, whose influence radiates from the top of the Space Needle (which he cofunded) to the depths of the modern art collection at Seattle Art Museum (which he and his wife Virginia supplied). And over at the House that Bagley Built, Seattle Rep has dedicated its current season to his memory.

But an even more fitting—if unintentional—tribute is the upcoming production of John Logan’s Red, a Tony-winning drama about abstract impressionist Mark Rothko and his young protege, Ken, in the midst of Rothko’s 1958 mural commission for the Four Seasons’ new restaurant. “I hope to paint something that will ruin the appetite of every son of a bitch who ever eats in that room,” Rothko famously said. He was both brilliant and irascible—words oft used to describe a certain Mr. Wright—and a man whose rage was the same shade of vermillion as his canvases. Rothko’s bold block paintings made people question their definition of art, and that extended debate plays out between mentor and mentee on stage.

Theater and art collide in the Bagley Wright Theatre, where Denis Arndt will star as Rothko, and rising Seattle actor Connor Toms makes his Seattle Rep main-stage debut as Ken. Though it’s exciting to see Arndt back on a local stage—stints on primetime TV have kept him busy lately—it’s Cornish alum Toms we’re keeping an eye on. Rep artistic director Jerry Manning handpicked Toms to play Ken after seeing him as Homer Wells in the grueling seven-hour stage adaptation of The Cider House Rules. Toms is both the fictional representation of the next generation of artists, and the future of Seattle theater itself. “It’s almost like when Monet took on Manet—[Manet] almost becomes the master,” Toms said of the relationship in Red. “At the end of the day, you have to shine on your own.”

Red
Feb 24–Mar 18, Seattle Repertory Theatre

For more top theater picks this season, read our Spring Arts Preview.

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Tags: Seattle Repertory Theatre, Theater, Seattle Center, Spring Arts 2012

Madonna to Play KeyArena in October

And tickets are already going on sale.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 07, 2012 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Madonna previewed new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’”—featuring M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj (pictured)—during the Super Bowl.

Turns out Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show was just a warmup for a year of stadium concerts. Madge and Live Nation announced today that she’s hitting the road on Memorial Day, touring behind her new album MDNA (due out March 26)—and she’ll be in Seattle on October 2. (UPDATED 2/13/12. A second show on October 3 has been added; tickets go on sale February 21 at 10am.) Her KeyArena show is bound to be a high point of Seattle Center’s 50th anniversary celebration of the World’s Fair, which runs April through October and already includes appearances by Radiohead, Coldplay, and the Black Keys.

But if we had to hold out for one show, it’d be the Material Girl’s. Who else will bring along an army of backup dancers dressed as gladiators? She’s still got it at 53—and she can draw a larger audience than the biggest game in American sports. According to the Nielsen ratings, more than 114 million tuned into her halftime show on Sunday night, while Manning v. Brady drew 113.3 million viewers. Madonna, 1. Football, 0.

Madonna World Tour 2012
October 2, KeyArena; tickets go on sale February 13, 10am, at ticketmaster.com

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Tags: Concert, Ticket Alerts, Seattle Center, KeyArena

Intiman Raises $1 Million—The Show Will Go On

The regional theater will reopen this summer with a four-play festival.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 07, 2012 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Ali Mohamed el-Gasseir.

Back in business (From left) Directors Allison Narver, Andrew Russell, and Valerie Curtis-Newton take the reins of Intiman’s 2012 summer festival.

With the help of 1,000 investors, Tony-winning regional theater Intiman met its $1 million goal —enough to go forward with a 2012 summer festival. Intiman’s board of trustees voted unanimously last night to reopen the theater after a budget crisis crippled its 2011 season nine months ago.

“We’ve taken the last nine months to regroup, reorganize and strategize on how best to seize this opportunity, and we’re so thrilled this community has rallied to help us blaze towards the finish line,” artistic director Andrew Russell said in a statement. “We’re here because of them, no question."

With the funds in place, Intiman will relaunch under Russell with a four-play summer festival slated for July and August. The 2012 season is the group effort of the company’s new multidisciplinary collective and 12-actor repertory, featuring an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, staged within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, starring Marya Sea Kaminski with choreography by former PNB principal Olivier Wevers; a contemporary two-act play by director Valerie Curtis-Newton set inside the theater and in the courtyard; and an original show by Dan Savage.

The theater still has sizable debt, which it will pay off over time, but the $1 million pledges will go toward the festival. Subscription tickets from 2011 will be honored this year.

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Tags: Intiman Theatre, Seattle Center

Behind the Scenes of Don Quixote, the $3 Million Ballet

Pacific Northwest Ballets presents the U.S. premiere of this updated classic.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 02, 2012 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Photo: Courtesy Dutch National Ballet.

What’s your story? Choreographer Alexei Ratmansky chants this like a mantra, asking it of each dancer during a recent Pacific Northwest Ballet rehearsal for Don Quixote. In this case, principal Seth Orza is being coached on the story he’s telling with his oversized red cape—a surprisingly unwieldy prop he bears in the role of Espada, a self-satisfied toreador. He whirls it up and over his head, once, twice, three times.

“And up! And up!” Ratmansky urges. Orza looks like he’s going through a CrossFit workout. “Use more of a swing, see how it flies… You should look like you’ve been doing this your whole life!” Clap, clap, clap, clap. Ratmansky signals Orza to stop, and the dancer doubles over, panting.

“I just whipped myself,” Orza says, laughing. They’ve been doing cape work for about 20 minutes, and though spirits are still high, this speaks to the ambition of Ratmansky, the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet and the man behind this $3 million update of the classical Petipa and Gorsky ballet (originally created for the Dutch National Ballet). The devil’s in the details—a story to be told with every whirl of the cape and flutter of the fan.

So when PNB presents the U.S. premiere of Don Quixote this weekend, the attention isn’t solely on actor Tom Skerritt, who’ll play the tragicomic hero, or the five different principal couples, or the lavish sets and costumes by Jérôme Kaplan. It’s a package deal. This is one of the most opulent productions in PNB’s history, with 46 company members and 24 PNBS students performing, 280 costumes, 46 wigs and hairpieces, one smiling moon—and one very discerning choreographer who’s breathing new life into the classics.

Don Quixote
Feb 3–12, Pacific Northwest Ballet, McCaw Hall

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Tags: PNB, Dance, Seattle Center, McCaw Hall

Intiman’s Final Countdown

Will the theater raise the $1 million it needs to stay open?

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 31, 2012 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

The many faces of Intiman Theatre.

Is today truly the day? A recent KUOW broadcast noted that Tony-winning Intiman Theatre needed to raise $1 million by the end of January in order to stay open. But arts consultant Susan Trapnell, who’s been hired to help Intiman get out of the budget crisis that crippled its 2011 season, just told me that the theater’s board members won’t vote on the future of Intiman until next Monday—so there are a few more days to show support for the regional theater.

“Everything is a pledge”—not a donation—"until we know we have enough," Trapnell said. They’ve secured commitments for $823,000 to date. The clock’s ticking, and every gift makes a difference. (Pledges can be made at intiman.org.)

With the funds in place, Intiman will relaunch under new artistic director Andrew Russell with a four-play summer festival slated for July and August. It’s a 2012 season that’s both risky and inviting—the collaborative effort of the company’s new multidisciplinary repertory—featuring an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, staged within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, starring Marya Sea Kaminski with choreography by former PNB principal Olivier Wevers; a contemporary two-act play by director Valerie Curtis-Newton set inside the theater and in the courtyard; and an original show by Dan Savage.

The repertory will honor Intiman’s classical roots, but this lineup foretells an exciting future of cross-pollination, bringing in top local choreographers, musicians, directors, playwrights, and artists—even Seattle Symphony conductor Ludovic Morlot is on board. Now they just need to get the theater up and running…and restore institutional credibility.

“Forty years of live theater is worth fighting for,” Russell says in the video below. Meet a few of Intiman’s new artists in the clip.

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Tags: Intiman Theatre, Seattle Center

New AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix Exhibits to Open at Experience Music Project

Plus: Learn the history of the leather jacket.

Posted by: Brian Colella on Jan 24, 2012 at 09:45AM 1 Comments

Photo courtesy: VARA (Beeld en Geluidwiki – Gallery: Fanclub), via Wikimedia Commons

See EMP’s new collection of Hendrix memorabilia, courtesy of the estate of Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell.

EMP released a schedule of four new exhibitions slated for 2012, including a collection of Jimi Hendrix paraphernalia focusing on the artist’s time in London, where the Jimi Hendrix Experience was born and where Hendrix died in 1970. Among the items: previously unseen artifacts from drummer Mitch Mitchell’s estate.

Here’s the full lineup:

AC/DC: Australia’s Family Jewels
Apr 28–Sep 24, 2012
The touring exhibit makes its only stop in North America, presenting more than 400 items—including guitars, promotional posters, Angus Young’s schoolboy costume, and Bon Scott’s Highway to Hell sweatshirt—from the Aussie band’s nearly four decades in rock and roll.

Icons of Science Fiction
June 9–Ongoing
Coinciding with the reopening of the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, EMP hosts some of sci-fi’s best known props and costumes from film and TV: an Imperial Dalek from Doctor Who, Captain Kirk’s chair, and Yoda’s cane, among others.

Worn to be Wild: The Black Leather Jacket
Oct 20, 2012–Jan 20, 2013
Follow the leather jacket as it transcends its utilitarian beginnings and becomes an emblem of badassness. The leather on display includes outfits belonging to Elvis, and couture by Jean Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace.

Hear My Train a Comin’: Hendrix Hits London
Nov 17, 2012–Ongoing
The home of the world’s largest Hendrix collection celebrates what would have been the guitarist’s 70th birthday, and the 45th anniversary of the infamous performance at the Monterey Pop Festival that ended with Hendrix igniting his guitar and smashing it to bits.

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Tags: exhibit, Seattle Center, Jimi Hendrix, Experience Music Project