A Look Back
Met Recap: Seattle Arts and Entertainment in 2014
A year's worth of highlights, oddities, and sad goodbyes

Some guys with some trophy for something that happened in 2014. Can't remember the specifics.
VISUAL ART
- Seattle Art Museum put the power of pop art on display in Pop Departures.
- Tacoma Art Museum underwent a major expansion to house its new collection of Western American art.
- The artifact that inspired the Seattle Seahawks logo found its way back to Seattle.
- Your Feast Has Ended at Frye Art Museum offered a stunning look at personal style.
- Asian Art Museum explored art deco's influence on Japan.
- The playful flair of Spanish mater painter Joan Miró shined at Seattle Art Museum.
- Frye Art Museum let social media curate an exhibit. The results were less than spectacular.
- Bellevue Arts Museum showcased the first solo museum exhibit of Dan Webb's wooden works.
MUSIC
- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis won four Grammys. Kendrick Lamar is probably still upset.
- Seattle Symphony had a moment in the national spotlight thanks to John Luther Arthur's Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean.
- April marked the 20th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.
- Outkast's long-awaited reunion proved well worth the wait, as the duo's Sasquatch! Festival performance proved to be the best festival set of the year.
- Bumbershoot moved the main stage back outdoors to Memorial Stadium and it made for a better festival.
- The Comet Tavern reopened, but without the old divey vibe and constant concerts.
- Beyoncé and Jay-Z had a family night on the town at Safeco Field.
- Capitol Hill Block Party was as summery and crowded as ever.
- Shabazz Palaces took us on another cosmic audio journey in the form of Lese Majesty.
- Jenn Ghetto tried to make us cry with S's Cool Choices. She seceded.
- We made two more free Seattle Met Mixtapes featuring Seattle's best new music. Get 'em.
THEATER
- As the best production to hit the Seattle stage this year, The Suit fit perfectly at Seattle Rep.
- The Intiman Theatre Festival successfully undertook the daunting task of producing all of Tony Kushner's epic Angels in America.
- The Book of Mormon returned for another hilarious run at the Paramount.
- Seattle Rep went all-in on Robert Schenkkan's Lydon B. Johnson plays All the Way and The Great Society and the results were both artistic and financial successes.
- Washinton Ensemble Theatre's Ed Downloaded embedded memories in our brain.
- Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales brought uproarious laughter to Seattle Rep with The Vaudevillians.
- Language shaped the dystopian world of Satori Group's Returning to Albert Joseph.
- The touring production of Once captured the musical magic of the acclaimed film.
DANCE
- Amy O'Neal used breakdancing to break gender norms in Opposing Forces.
- Pacific Northwest Ballet's star dancer Carla Körbes announced she'll retire in 2015.
- After years of development, Zoe | Juniper debuted BeginAgain at On the Boards.
COMEDY
- The Colbert Report ended, which meant television lost its best character.
- Chelsea Peretti discussed her violent comedic influences before recording her standup special One of the Greats (the best standup special of the year).
- The new Parlor Live Seattle brought more national standup acts to the heart of the city.
- Andy Daly talked about the comedy that fueled his new show Review (the show's episode "Pancakes. Divorce. Pancakes" is the single best half hour of television this year).
- Bob Odenkirk talked about A Load of Hooey (that's his book's name, not a comment on the interview).
- Someone in Bellevue made a salmon cannon. Thankfully, John Oliver was on top of this hard-hitting news story.
- Mike Birbiglia will close out 2014's comedy year on New Year's Eve at the Moore Theatre.
FILM
- Richard Linklater discussed the creation of his acclaimed epic Boyhood before it screened at SIFF.
- Seattle's own Chris Pratt became a legitimate movie star thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy.
- Both the Cinerama and the Egyptian Theatre (SIFF Cinema Egyptian) reopened their doors.
- Almost Live! alum Bob Nelson earned an Oscar nomination for his Nebraska screenplay.
- Lynn Shelton made her most star-studded feature yet in the refusing to come of age film Laggies.
- With the help of Kickstarter, Scarecrow Video became a non-profit in order to survive.
- Megan Griffiths's Lucky Them was partially a cinematic love letter to Capitol Hill and Seattle music.
- In an initially unpopular move, Kate Becker took over as the director of Seattle's Office of Film and Music.
BOOKS & TALKS
- Seattle's G. Willow Wilson broke new ground in the world of major comics with her teenage Muslim version of the superhero Ms. Marvel.
- Amanda Knox is now writing the news, not making it.
- Local comics imprint Fantagraphics survived through tough times thanks to an outpouring of fan support.
- Between books, Ken Jennings returned to Jeopardy for the "Battle of the Decades."
- The Art of Racing in the Rain author Garth Stein returned with A Sudden Light.
- Oprah came to KeyArena and did Oprah things.
VIDEO GAMES
- Infamous: Second Son brought a digital version of Seattle to life on the PlayStation 4.
SPORTS
- In case you missed it, the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. We basically devoted a whole issue of Seattle Met to the squad.
- We told the story about how Tacoma landed golf's 2015 U.S. Open.
- In (and after) the NFC Championship game, Richard Sherman made sure America knew his name.
- Washingtonians competed in the Winter Olympics in Sochi (wait... that was this year?).
- Macklemore got his own Mariners bobblehead. Because of course he did.
- Ben Gibbard played a lot of basketball in the new the Postal Service film. We analyzed his game.
GOODBYES
- Seattle Repertory Theatre lost its two leaders when artistic director Jerry Manning unexpectedly passed away and managing director Benjamin Moore retired.
- Death Cab for Cutie guitarist and producer Chris Walla left the band after 17 years.
- Pacific Northwest Ballet dropped the final curtain on Stowell and Sendak's Nutcracker.
- Burdened with financial problems, Balagan Theatre closed its doors.
- PNB principal dancer Kaori Nakamura took her final bow.
- After more than three decades at the job, Seattle Opera general director Speight Jenkins left his post.
- Indie rockers the Lonely Forest called it quits after playing Bumbershoot.
- Our office became substantially less fashionable with the departure of Seattle Met's longtime style editor Laura Cassidy.