crosscut.com : Arts Beat

Tallis in Seattle

Crosscut — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:00:01 PDT

A not well-publicized but well-done chamber music concert featured Britain's Tallis Scholars.

Another change at the top for ACT Theatre

Crosscut — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:31:01 PDT

Seattle's A Contemporary Theatre has just replaced its managing director, the veteran Seattle arts administrator Kevin Hughes, with his second-in-command, Carlo Scandiuzzi, whose title will be executive director. George Nunes is promoted to general manager.

Choose your own adventure — in mating

Crosscut — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 02:00:01 PDT

Theater Schmeater's Adventures in Mating takes audience participation to the extreme, as they decide how it all turns out.

As PONCHO regroups, Seattle arts struggle

Crosscut — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 21:00:01 PDT

The key problem is the shortage of public funding for the arts, as private donors are realizing they can't shoulder all the costs.

A Portland festival for pianoheads

Crosscut — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:00:01 PDT

This annual gathering of students and teachers is unique in America, and another example of Portland's distinctive musical culture.

How art reflects nature: an interview with David Guterson

Crosscut — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:00:01 PDT

The stories of 52-year-old Bainbridge Island author David Guterson have much to owe Washington state, which serves as a powerful setting for everything he writes.

How to be a modern mayor: the Denver model

Crosscut — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:00:01 PDT

Denver is about to have its 15 days of fame, as host to the Democratic National Convention next month. I suspect one star of the show will be Mayor John Hickenlooper, my idea of the best mayor in the nation. NewWest.net recently did a good interview with the mayor, and it's a fine introduction to his winning style. It's also an audio interview.

Chamber music: the Lakeside formula

Crosscut — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

A recent concert shows both the rewards and the pitfalls of Seattle Chamber Music Festival's philosophy of programming with mix-and-match musicians from the summer circuit.

The founder of ArtsJournal talks about arts and new media

Crosscut — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 05:00:01 PDT

Seattle journalist Douglas McLennan is a leading national figure in Web journalism. Here he talks about his venture, the imperiled state of newspaper arts coverage, and why Seattle and Portland orchestras are not much noticed across the nation.

Review: Faith and mental illness on Seattle's streets

Crosscut — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:33:01 PDT

Craig Rennebohm provides a refreshing look at compassion and caring for Seattle's outcasts in Souls in the Hands of a Tender God: Stories of the Search for Home and Healing on the Streets (Beacon Press, 2008 194 pages).

This Streetcar rides a little too smoothly

Crosscut — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:00:01 PDT

Director Sheila Daniels' debut at Intiman tackles a play so vivid in our memories that it is hard to make it new, or to bring back what once made it so incendiary.

Seattle Symphony diversifies the product line

Crosscut — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:00:01 PDT

The symphony embarks on some new, non-traditional programming directions as it faces a decline in season ticket buyers and tight finances. So far, it seems to be working.

Can Bill Gates also reinvent capitalism?

Crosscut — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:12:01 PDT

Michael Kinsley, the founding editor of Slate and a half-time Seattle resident, is involved in an interesting new project. It's a Web site gathering quality commentary about "Creative Capitalism." It's well worth looking at.

As the Sonics leave town, it may help the arts

Crosscut — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:17:01 PDT

In all the reporting about the Sonics decision, we tend to overlook the intense clamoring over a taxing source, the so-called "stadium taxes," that bedevils the politics. A lot of groups want to lay claim to those taxes, which are supposed to go away after the Kingdome, Safeco Field, and Qwest Field are paid off, but are really catnip to politicians for their pet causes. The taxes have two attractions: they are not really an "increase" if you just extend their life, and they fall mostly on visitors, who don't vote locally.

One of the main supplicants is the arts. Thereby hangs an interesting story.

Oklahoma is OK: They have lots of Dale Chihuly glass!

Crosscut — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:00:01 PDT

And they even have their own Underground. When the Seattle SuperSonics move to the Sooner State, they'll miss some things but not others. After a visit, our correspondent compares and contrasts.

'Technicolor Armageddon' at the Seattle Symphony

Crosscut — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:01 PDT

A season-ending display of the Symphony's firepower, with Wagner and Mahler, produces some lovely moments and some curious spells of sputtering.

Profits from poems

Crosscut — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:00:01 PDT

While poets are often advised to secure a good day job rather than try to support themselves as poets, two Seattle bookstore owners have done the unthinkable: They make a living selling nothing but poetry.

Music festival alert: Vancouver, B.C., is the place for jazz

Crosscut — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:00:01 PDT

One of the world's premier music festivals is going on to the north of us, and lovers of live music ought to sit up and take notice.

ACT's Noel Coward show: joyful and unrestrained

Crosscut — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:00:01 PDT

It would be easy to miss the mark with this revue, but ACT's production, with the extra spice of alarmingly good actors, makes A Marvelous Party marvelous to behold.

A Tadao Ando chapel may soon find a home in Bellevue

Crosscut — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:00:01 PDT

The building designed by the acclaimed Japanese architect would be donated by an Eastside arts patron, Barney Ebsworth. A site has been found, but it will take an economic recovery to fund it. Seattle tried but failed to land the prize.