Trader Joe's Silent Movie Mondays return to The Paramount this week with the first of five programs celebrating the comic genius of Harold Lloyd. In the '20s, Lloyd stood shoulder to shoulder with Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton - and for sheer laugh-getting expertise, often eclipsed both. The series consists of four silent-film double features and a fifth evening highlighting an early Lloyd talkie. The silents all will be accompanied live by Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ
'Rhoda: A Life in Stories' Book-It Repetory at the Center House Theatre, Seattle CenterWednesdays-Sundays through May 12Tickets: $15-$32, 216-0833 or www.book-it.orgRhoda, the headstrong tomboy who grows into a sexpot, gulps life as avidly as a marathon runner gulps water. She swears and has tantrums. As this narcissist grows up (I hesitate to say matures because she really never accomplishes that), she sleeps around and enjoys both liquor and drugs. She's every parent's nightmare, except you can't help but be charmed by her and admire her gumption and survivor skills.Rhoda, a character who has appeared often over the past 25 years in the short stories of Ellen Gilchrist, comes to life on Book-It's stage. We see the incarnations that span her life from a 1940s childhood to old age. The adaptation by Rachel Atkins incorporates 10 of the Rhoda stories in a theatrical presentation that draws together the raunchy with the poignant.
Seattle Opera ends its season with the all-time favorite "La Boheme," opening at McCaw Hall on May 5. Originally scheduled for 10 performances, the run was expanded by two performances in response to popular demand.Puccini's opera was first performed in Italy on Feb. 1, 1896. Over the years, from 1965 to 1998, Seattle Opera has presented six highly successful productions of it. I attended all of them, entertained international VIPs, celebrated special occasions and introduced students and newcomers to the joys of opera.Yes, I have many fond memories of "La Boheme"-dancing on the stage and dinner with the stars in the foyer of the old opera house. Ah me, so much for nostalgia.
Donald G. Rerecich, longtime resident of Queen Anne, passed away April 13 after a long illness. He was 63.Mr. Rerecich was born to Dominic and Jennie Rerecich on Feb. 20, 1944. He and his siblings attended Queen Anne High School, from which he graduated in 1963. A few years later he joined the Army and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Following that, he came back to Seattle, joined his loving family and started a career as a meat cutter. He worked on Bainbridge Island and also on Queen Anne Hill, where he had apprenticed while still in high school.He enjoyed fishing and a good chess game with his family and especially with his brother-in-law, Gerald Casey. Mr. Rerecich was preceded in death by his brother Richard. He is survived by Jeanette, his wife of 34 years; his loving sisters, Yvonne, Marcia and Maryann; his three sons and many nieces and nephews, who loved him very much. He will be missed.Persons wishing to make a donation in Mr. Rerecich's memory may do so to the charity of their own choosing.
Bridgeman vaults Metropolitan Market on topVisiting Masons outlast 5 Spot5 Spot bats come alive to beat Video Isle
The Magnolia Chorale, now in its 19th year, is looking for a music director to begin in the 2007-2008 season.The chorale performs two concert seasons, in the spring and pre-holiday times.Résumés can be mailed to: the Chorale, 3213 W. Wheeler St., PMB 377, Seattle, WA 98199: or e-mailed to williamz@fhibsea.com, prior to May 1.
Original artwork by two eighth-grade students, Esther Graves and Jamie Thelen, from Catharine Blaine School was chosen and entered into the Seattle School District annual Naramore Art Competition. The competition is open to all middle and high schools throughout the district. Graves' portfolio included the pieces "Reflection" and "Fish Behind Glass," and Thelen's contained "Toucan" and "In the Future."
Seattle Country Day School was recently named a 2007 Earth Hero at School by King County Executive Ron Sims. The school was recognized for its stewardship of three Queen Anne parks where students in the K-3 division work year-round planting flowers and trees, weeding, spreading soil and mulch, raking leaves, collecting litter and learning the importance of caring for the environment."Our 'Earth Heroes at Schools' have dedicated themselves to preserving and protecting our local environment, and to educating young people and others about the importance of being committed stewards of our earth and its resources," Sims said. "I'm proud to recognize their achievements."
The exciting rhythms of Cuban and Afro-Cuban dance and percussion will be taught to area young people starting April 28. This is a free two-month program available to Seattle youth, 13 to 21 years old. No previous experience is required.All young people who want to explore this dynamic cross-cultural art are urged to come Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m. to noon to the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center on the old John Hay campus (Fourth Ave. N. and Boston St.). Instruction will be Thursday afternoons and Saturday mornings through June 21.
Zoë Claire of Reckless Video commented on the lively atmosphere in her shop on a snow day a couple of months back. Neighbors couldn't get to work or school because of dangerous driving conditions, but they could walk down to the shop to share weather woes and rent a good movie or two.Since the early days of video rental I have patronized locally owned neighborhood video stores. Of course, at that time - the early 1980s - independent video stores were it. Chain stores didn't exist. So, when I hosted my first sleepover featuring "a video" (the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn film "Charade"), we rented it from Premier Video, the only video store in the neighborhood.
In early March my husband and I took a friend's dog, Bandit, for a walk in Magnolia. We walked down a ravine, up a residential street and into a field behind some houses, where Bandit did his business. As I stooped and deftly performed my civic duty, a friendly voice rang out, "Thank you for picking that up!" I looked up. An elderly woman waved to us from her back patio, and Bandit approached her wagging his tail.We followed Bandit, introduced ourselves and started chatting. Her name was Mrs. E.L. Brackett - Madeline. She had lived in her house since 1962. She agreed that the field was a nice back yard, "but the trees are too tall now!" she said.I asked her if I could profile her for this newspaper, and she consented. We agreed to meet in a month or so.When I called in early April, her son Kevin answered the phone. After I explained my reason for calling, he told me that she had died suddenly on March 27. I expressed my condolences and apologized for bothering him. "No bother," he said. "Why don't you write about her anyway?"Following are Kevin's reminiscences about his mother.
Archie Lloyd Barber Jr., a resident of Magnolia, died April 9 at the age of 83..Mr. Barber served his country as an Army Air Corps cadet during World War II, and as a flight engineer on the B-36 "Peacemaker" bomber during the Korean War. He married Donna Gail Messman on Christmas Day, 1946, in Sandpoint, Idaho.He and his wife moved to Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood in 2001 to live closer to family. Mr. Barber enjoyed his time in Magnolia. He was a familiar figure at the local sports fields, where he could be seen sitting on the seat of his walker wrapped in blankets and sporting a hunter's orange Winchester hat,
Original artwork by two eighth-grade students from Catharine Blaine School was chosen and entered into the Seattle School District's annual Naramore Art Competition.Esther Graves and Jamie Thelen were selected for the competition, which is open to all middle and high schools throughout the school district.Grave's portfolio included the pieces "Reflection" and "Fish Behind Glass," and Thelen's portfolio contained "Toucan" and "In the Future."
Poet Teresa White has a lot of reasons to celebrate her return to her hometown of Seattle, and Seattle has a lot to celebrate, as well. White came into town for a reading of her masterful new book of poetry, "Gardenias for a Beast," which has been hailed by famed poet laureate Billy Collins as essential reading for every lover of creative writing.Elliott Bay Books was host to White on April 2 for an hour-long reading of her own selections from this moving collection. She was a regular customer there while growing up in Seattle and she says that doing the debut reading for her new book at that venue was such a compelling idea that she couldn't resist.
I've fought a long, hard battle over "whom" and "it is I," and I'm almost ready to concede defeat. When leading journalists say "Who they met" and "It's me," I realize the next edition of Webster's Dictionary may well list the phrases as preferred. But that is the way a language grows, I guess, even though I must wipe a tear from my eye as I write this.Let me look up a word in a dictionary - any dictionary from A Child's First Dictionary to the ever-faithful Webster's Collegiate, the bible of high school and college - and I would find the word and then wander through the pages as if I were reading P.T. James.