:: The Wendy House ::

A thoroughly enjoyable evening. The musical evening was only marred by my feeling short changed on by the unexplained program change that effectively downgraded the promised experience  :-)

Ratings explained

Starting with Desert

Plum, apricot and ginger pie in Earth and Ocean.  The first 3 desert wines we requested from the menu were not in stock.  After these 3 attempts at ordering via the waitress the wine waiter came over.  I suggested that he take the trouble to inform the waitresses which of the menu items were unavailable.  Spot the spikiness.  I tried to smile while making this suggestion.  The wine waiter spontaneously offered several reasons for not having the listed wines in stock.  I wasn’t really interested in disruptions to his business processes,  he should tell the waitresses what is not available.  Sensing the depth of passion behind the Wendy Paddington Bear stare the wine waiter recovered ground by suggesting that he pick on our behalf and charge us the price of our original choice (the cheapest on the list). 

• Good deal. 
• We gladly accepted. 
• Excellent food. 
• Friendly staff. 
• Decently small portions.

Seattle symphony selection of Gershwin compositions

The conductor, Rudi Schlegel, provided a semi-formal verbal introduction for each piece to compensate for the lack of performance program notes.   He announced that ”I got rythm” had been replaced in the program and the audience simultaneously groaned.  We were never told why they pulled this obvious audience pleaser.  

We started with a plucky rumba, the Cuban overture, inspired by Gershwin’s stay in Havanna.  Good stuff.  The ‘Porgy and Bess’ symphonic picture appeared to be a patchwork of sections from different tunes within the Opera of that name.  I prefer being guided gently through a single composition than listening to compilation of musical highlights.  Not my taste.  

The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Stewart Goodyear’s interpretation of a Rhapsody in Blue. Vibrant,  then gentle,  fast then slow,  Stewart’s face and whole body flowing with the music.  Captivating.  I didn’t want it to end.  After 3 applause-prompted curtain calls Stewart played an encore.  Twinkling notes of a soft Embracable you.  After the interval,  the replacement for ”I got rythm’ was a short,  sweet ‘promenade’ performed without Stewart Goodyear.  Urgh.  More like a weak apology than a replacement.

Benaroya Hall

The actual Orchestra on stage are not steeply tiered.  This makes it virtually impossible for the people in the first 8 rows of seating in the stalls to see the brass sections,  percussion,  reeds and Banjo.  Actually we could see the Banjo by twisting our necks to look underneath the Piano. The stalls seats after about row f are steeply staggered,  this enables attendees to see more of the orchestra.  For this reason I’d recommend seats towards the back of the stalls or in the gods.  This photograph is taken from row ‘f’ looking back towards the gods:

Top notch  :-) :-)

Ratings explained

Elton John played his little heart out for nearly 2 and a half hours in the Key Arena (Basket Ball stadium) on last Friday night.  Wow.  The little man produced a range of well introduced songs from classics (Your Song) through to those on his new album (Postcards from Richard Nixon) and all sorts inbetween (I guess that’s why they call it the Blues). Very professional.  Not as lively physically as David Bowie or as interesting a stage show as Peter Gabriel. Nonetheless,

Wow 

Mumzie wriggled to the rythm in the seat next to me,  singing along,  she seemed very happy.  The audience were more excited by “Bitch” than “Saturday night’s alright for fighting“. This is America, need I say more?

On a warm weekday evening Chris Issak played a wonderful outdoors concert at Chateau St Michelle.  The shere volume of people attending the concert marred an otherwise exceptional evening. 

My companions arrived over an hour later than anticipated merely because of traffic congestion.  The Chateau provided sufficient parking and a shuttle bus service to carry customers to and from their cars.  

I have difficulty controlling my panic in crowds. Fear of Crowds. FOC  an appropriate acronym.  ”FOC! lots of people,  let me out of here!”

It was difficult to relax during the concert because of the powerful urge to skedaddle.  Normally I can ignore crowds by focussing on a conversation nearby, the main event, or some specific activity (e.g. watching a film). When this fails the Cinderalla Effect comes into play.  I leave.  Quickly.  Despite the excellent music,  good companions and cheerful nature of the crowd I left at 9.15pm before Chris Isaak had finished his main set. 

Mid-escape a girl stopped me “I love your outfit!” she beamed,   “I love your…. (pause while Wendy finds something to compliment) …facial piercings” I choked over my shoulder while dashing directly to the shuttle bus service.

Wendy FOC’d-off

Jazz Alley is a ‘Dinner and Jazz club’. That seems to mean a big room in a posh hotel. A bit more ‘classy’ than I’m normally used to. A treat.

Joe Bonamassa was not an artist I was familiar with before the evening. He played with a bass guitarist and a drummer. He had 15 guitars next to the stage. He used 8 of them during the performance. 

The music was wonderful; his hands were captivating. Like watching a fire as they danced over the strings. Many of the songs were instrumental. When he did sing Joe had a rasping voice. Sounded like the Blues to a novice like me.

There was no ‘back-stage’ when Joe and colleagues left the stage they loitered to the left with the guitars. Very informal.

Another excellent evening.

W spoilt