The Curtain Rises -- Kirkland Performance Center Gears Up For Opening Night, A Concrete Step In The Cultural Growth Of The Eastside
Pounding hammers, clouds of dust and the high-pitched whine of drills are gradually quieting in the Kirkland Performance Center. Yet as workers put on finishing touches, the buzz it has stirred is just beginning to escalate.
Arts advocates on both sides of the lake say the new hall, which opens next Friday with a fully booked inaugural season, is a sign of the Eastside's cultural awakening. They also say the 402-seat, $6 million theater underscores the demand for additional, bigger art venues for the Eastside's expanding audience.
Their eyes are on the horizon.
"It shows that this community is growing past being a bedroom community, past being just an engine for commercial success," said Andrea Singleton Schmidt, manager of the Bellevue Philharmonic. "It's maturing and finding its soul, and it's a wonderful process to witness."
A short stroll from the waterfront, the rounded, sandstone structure stands out on Kirkland Avenue, at the edge of Peter Kirk Park.
Its marquee is something of an art piece. Translucent panels stretch above the entry, a skylight and umbrella to patrons. Two 14-foot, cylinder-shaped structures stand sentry at the vestibule housing the box office and concession area. There's a small garden patio off the lobby that eventually will include sculptures.
The main-stage theater slopes in Greek-amphitheater style with just 40 feet between the stage and the last row. The intimacy was accomplished by eliminating mid-section aisles and limiting the rows to a dozen, said Robert Becker, the chief architect.
Acoustically engineered wall panels tipped in at varying angles will create a richer sound.
"We wanted to have the audience feel a one-to-one relationship with the stage and experience a quality theater at the same time," Becker said.
As the June 12 opening approaches, the long effort to build a performing-arts center in Kirkland is somewhat forgotten amid the sponsors' jubilation. But the path was not always easy.
"I had some friends say, `Chuck, you're never going to make it,' " said Chuck Morgan, former publisher and owner of the local weekly newspaper and a Kirkland resident since 1946. ". . . It'll be 10 years this June. We didn't know it was going to be that long."
Initially planned as a home for the Village Theatre, which remained in Issaquah when it found space for a 500-seat home there, the performance center was the dream of Morgan and former Kirkland Mayor Bill Woods, a retired pharmacist. They were convinced that a key component was lacking in Kirkland's civic life.
By 1989, the pair had raised about $100,000 and set their sights on the old library lot on Kirkland Avenue.
The city eventually chipped in about $1.4 million, while state and county contributions added more than $2.5 million. More than 1,000 individual donors, as well as corporations and foundations, provided the rest.
Eastside arts organizations are optimistic about the center's future, in part because so many major Seattle groups have booked dates in the opening season lineup.
"It's a public acknowledgement from Seattle that we have a very strong arts constituency here, that they're willing to pack up and come here," said Singleton Schmidt.
Tom Pechar, managing director of the Seattle Children's Theatre, said the company thought long and hard before agreeing to play the Kirkland Performance Center. If the company can fill the Kirkland venue, it will do slightly better than break even, Pechar said. But the company also hopes to capture as a new audience some of the newcomers flooding the Eastside.
"We have no guarantee of success," Pechar said. "But we think it's important enough to speak to audiences on the Eastside."
The traffic-clogged Lake Washington bridges also persuaded several Seattle groups to give the Kirkland center a try.
"Imagine if you live on the Eastside and you're going to the theater after work," Alexander explained. "There's the traffic. It's probably $20 to park. You haven't eaten dinner yet, and you're stressed before the show. Here, there's free parking (400 stalls). And you can go out to a restaurant, buy anything from a sandwich to a gourmet dinner and stroll around the marina."
The Kirkland center's executive director, Steve Lerian, is confident of success. He points to a study that indicated about 65 percent of Eastsiders would support a performance center.
The first season's schedule promises a broad spectrum of works, from jazz to Celtic fiddling, which Lerian says reflects the wide interests of those surveyed.
Eastside arts groups are celebrating this additional opportunity to perform on a professional stage, but also say the demand for more venues is clear. Not only is the Kirkland center fully booked, the Theater at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue has scheduled performance dates through 1999.
"This is just a start," said Deborah Hadley, artistic director for the Redmond-based Washington Academy of Performing Arts, of the Kirkland center. "We need one of these theaters in each community."
Hadley's academy, with programs in dance, theater and music for children and adults, will move its 32 ballet and musical-theater performances from its small studio into the new state-of-the-art theater this season. Half of the dates will be free school matinees.
But for the Bellevue Philharmonic, the size of the new Kirkland
theater will limit the orchestra to smaller chamber-music performances.
While cheering the new Kirkland center, some also have their eyes on the perennially discussed proposal for a larger, regional performance center in Bellevue.
"Kirkland (Performance Center) is not a spark by itself," said Singleton Schmidt. "But when you combine the Bellevue Art Museum and the Kirkland Performance Center, you're seeing a very exciting time for arts on the Eastside, a new sense of energy and participation."
Although a regional performance hall - estimated to cost about $50 million - is not expected anytime soon, Eastside groups are moving closer to that goal.
Standing Ovation, the fund-raising organization for Eastside arts, has claimed a more active role under its new executive director, Janie Nurse. Monthly meetings of the Eastside Arts Coalition began in February, drawing representatives from 28 Eastside arts groups who discuss common needs and collaborative strategies such as joint marketing and shared mailing lists.
There's a lot of adrenaline pumping. More than half the $20 million needed for a new Bellevue Art Museum has been raised. Issaquah's Village Theatre boasts more than 12,000 season-ticket holders, 20 percent of whom journey from Seattle. Officials of the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra are attempting to breathe new life into the 31-year-old organization, which recently named a new conductor.
"I see nothing but upturn," said Peter Donnelly, president of the Corporate Council for the Arts. "You have a very educated, young community. There's now a density of population that allows support systems to be in place. There's a terrific desire and need for arts centers on the Eastside, and (the Kirkland Performance Center) is going to be an important link."
Keiko Morris' phone message number is 206-464-3214. Her e-mail address is: kmor-new@seatimes.com
------------------- Opening celebration -------------------
The Kirkland Performance Center opening celebration begins next Friday with a live big band at 11:30 a.m., co-hosted by Bill Yeend and comedian Pat Cashman.
On June 13, "A House Warming" will feature entertainment and activities for children, including crafts, costumes, a play stage and tours beginning at 11 a.m.
Studio East will present "The Ugly Duckling" at 11 a.m., followed by the Northwest Puppet Center performing "Qweti - Tales of the Makah Tribe" at 1 p.m. Annieville Blues will play at 2:15 p.m.
All performances are free and some tickets may be reserved in advance. Call 425-893-9900.
Actress Bernadette Peters will help christen the hall June 17 and 18. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served at 6:30 p.m. before Peters' 8 p.m. performance. Tickets are $250 ($150 tax-deductible).