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Best of 2008 -- The top local arts and entertainment stories

by Kim Nowacki
ON Magazine

Best way to stand out from the crowd

When a busload of Yakima Valley Community College musicians left for the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho in Moscow at the end of February, they took along with them an eight-tune set of all original compositions -- an unheard-of feat.

"Wow," said Joni Kirk, assistant director of media relations for the University of Idaho.

"We do get some from time to time," she added, "but eight new compositions is really outstanding."

The compositions -- all Latin jazz pieces -- were penned by the musicians in the YVCC Salsa Band, which included high school and community college students as well as local music educators looking for an outlet to play the music they love. And in addition to the eight new tunes, the YVCC Jazztet, a four-person combo, also debuted a four-movement free jazz suite.

Being original doesn't necessarily translate into awards, but that, said the musicians, wasn't the point.

"If winning was what really mattered," said saxophonist Nick Sokol, "we wouldn't go out and play free jazz."

Of course, when you do win, it's nice, and Sokol's composition "Clavecide!" -- a quasi-ballad with unusual time signatures and a free jazz section -- was the judges' top pick in the Community College Creative Composition category. The YVCC Jazztet also was runner-up in the Community College Combo competition, earning the Adjudicators' Special Commendation.

 

Best mission statement

In February, Ken Zontek unveiled at the Larson Gallery a collection of documentary photographs he'd taken in Afghanistan -- and a mission.

Zontek, a history instructor at Yakima Valley Community College and adjunct professor at Heritage University in Toppenish, wanted to bring two Afghan women from a shelter in Kabul to study at YVCC.

Zontek became familiar with the shelter -- and the everyday struggles the women staying there had experienced -- after he was sent to Kabul in 2004 with the National Guard. When he came back to the states in 2005, Zontek wanted to find a way to continue helping women at the shelter -- through education.

He founded the YVCC Foundation Afghan Women's Education Fund, and this past fall, sisters Heena, 18, and Khoshboo, 19, arrived in Yakima.

The two started off taking classes through an English as a Second Language program at Central Washington University and will enroll winter quarter at YVCC, where Heena will study business and banking and Khoshboo will focus on accounting.

After graduating from a four-year university, the two will return to Afghanistan to help rebuild their homeland.

"These two represent the future of their country because they have big hearts, good English skills and the character for success," said Zontek.

 

Best movie date with a message

When Allied Arts of Yakima Valley presented the Latino Cultural Film Series in March, the idea was to use film as a vehicle for discussion -- as well as an excuse to get out of the house, mingle and drink some wine.

"Being a young person in Yakima, I'm always looking for things to do," said then-26-year-old Jessica Moskwa, the newly appointed executive director for Allied Arts.

Funded in part by a $4,050 Humanities of Washington Project Grant, the three films in the series were "The Motorcycle Diaries," "Crossing Arizona" and "Quinceañera." A guest speaker led a discussion after each film.

While these films dealt with some weighty topics -- how youth experiences affect adult decisions (or even revolution), illegal immigration, teen pregnancy and cultural values and traditions -- the series wasn't meant to be a film studies class or an academic brain-drain.

Instead, it was about sipping wine, watching great films and engaging in thoughtful conversation.

"I thought this would be a good way to reach out to a diverse group of young people," said Moskwa. "The arts are about opening discussion. A lot of people are intimidated by visual art, but everyone's seen a movie."

 

Best reason to follow the advice of Petula Clark and head downtown

In April, the Committee for Downtown Yakima launched Downtown First Fridays, a monthly event aimed at helping folks rediscover downtown Yakima.

"I'm trying to get everyone to work as a team and trying to get customers to get used to it -- both are a process," said Sean Hawkins, deputy executive director for the Committee for Downtown Yakima. (Hawkins will leave the post the end of January to return to his hometown of Louisville, Ky.)

"A lot of businesses are working together for a fun night," Hawkins said before the inaugural First Friday.

And in the months since its launch, Downtown First Fridays has steadily grown -- both in the number of businesses participating and in the people who turn out to wander from one place to another for wine tastings, art showings and live music.

 

Best reason to take a risk

Kurt Labberton is certainly no stranger to Warehouse Theatre Company playbills. But during the spring WTC production of "Bookbound," his name appeared somewhere it never had before: as the play's author.

"This is a major ego risk, right," said Labberton, a dentist by day. "The last thing I want is to have egg all over my face."

As far as anyone at the Warehouse could remember, Labberton's was the first completely original work the community playhouse had mounted in its six-decade history. (Although, the cast joked, there certainly have been "original interpretations" of plays, perhaps not always on purpose.)

An entertaining and smart show, "Bookbound" centered around Jack, a painter played by Labberton, and David, a banker played by Vance Jennings, whose 30-year friendship is rooted in their love of books. The two men meet every so often in the coffee shop owned by another longtime friend, Rita, played by Mary Kloster.

"It's a cool relationship play," said Jennings. "I think Kurt has done a great job of finding nuggets from his life that are really poignant.

"There are moments when you don't even know you're acting," added Jennings. "It's an honor and a privilege to be a part of it."

 

Best sell-outs

The Yakima Valley SunDome may have lost the Sun Kings this year, but it also played host to two jam-packed performances.

In May, pop-country sensation Carrie Underwood earned the honor of being the second artist, ever, to sell out the SunDome. (Fellow country star Toby Keith was the first during his 2003 visit.)

And then in October, tickets to George Lopez all but sold out when thousands showed up to see the popular comedian's side-splitting show.

 

Best guilt trip

The biggest surprise of the fifth annual Edge Fest wasn't the Blue Mouse Theatre reunion -- although it was totally incredible.

No, it was that the daylong punk/metal/indie-rock/hip-hop/folk festival -- which shakes the Yakima Valley Community College courtyard each June -- happened at all.

"There was a lot of surprise," said Donovon Walton, the 2007-08 Associated Student Body co-director for student programs and the coordinator for this year's Edge Fest.

"No one expected it to happen," he added.

Walton wouldn't say it was necessarily guilt that forced him to take over Edge Fest -- "I don't think it was that bad," the soft-spoken Walton said with a smile -- but there definitely was pressure to keep the popular event going after festival founder Jeff Murray left for college in Spokane.

Edge Fest, which also serves as a food drive for the Northwest Harvest food bank, was the first cool event Walton remembered going to when he moved to Yakima from The Dalles, Ore., the year before.

"It was pretty much like, I can't let this stop," he said.

So he didn't.

And Danny Akin, the 2008-09 ASYVCC co-director for student programs, has already signed on to organize the 2009 festival.

"We're really trying to keep the legacy going," said Walton.

 

Best dressed

It was certainly a summerlicious July when 2003 West Valley High School graduate Blayne Walsh was announced as one of the 16 contestants for season five of the Bravo channel's "Project Runway."

While Walsh's ho-hum designs placed him either in the middle of the pack or in the bottom three most weeks, he was an obvious favorite of Liz Claiborne chief creative officer Tim Gunn, who serves on the show as mentor to the couture cast.

"No one's more sorry to see you go than I am," Gunn said to Walsh after he was eliminated in the ninth week.

Definitely one of the more colorful characters of the season, the neon-loving, purple hoodie-wearing Walsh garnered a good share of camera time for his goofy antics in the design room, over-the-top affinity for tanning and "'licious" catch phrases.

"It was me," he said during a meet-and-greet in October at his dad's Nob Hill Boulevard satellite television store. "But it was very much a hyper version of me."

His mom, Pam Warren, and dad, Rick Walsh -- divorced and both remarried -- agreed that what you saw on TV was true Blayne.

"He's great. He's always been a goofball," said his mom.

 

Best java joint

Caffeine-fueled hipsters and laptop loyalists rejoiced at the end of July with the opening of North Town Coffeehouse at the corner of North First and A streets.

Bright and airy with a couple of comfy armchairs, brick accents, a 1900s-era tin ceiling (and matching counter) and time-stained wood floors, North Town's upscale yet relaxed vibe, plus free wireless Internet and late hours, made it instantly popular. Even into the evening and after dark, the shop was alive and vibrant.

"I love drinking a beer, I love going to the bar, but this is cool because it's an alternative," said 28-year-old regular Gabe Slatten.

Owner Dave Tompkins opened North Town hoping to create a place with atmosphere -- historic and hip -- that would cater to a wide range of people. And serve really good coffee.

While the newness had worn off a bit by the end of the summer, Tompkins said North Town had established a loyal customer base.

"I think," he said, "this will be a happening place down here."

 

Best final bow

Yakima Symphony Orchestra music director Brooke Creswell, the man behind the baton for more than 40 years, announced in September that he would be stepping down from the podium after the YSO's 2008-09 season.

"The way the community and the orchestra are developing, it became very clear that this is the right time," said Creswell, the founding conductor of the Yakima Chamber Orchestra in 1967. It became the Yakima Symphony Orchestra in the 1971-72 season.

Creswell did admit to moments of doubt, and regret, when thinking about pieces he'd like to conduct or soloists he'd like to work with.

But the symphony, and Yakima, are ready for new blood.

"For me to hold on would be greedy," said Creswell, who will serve as artistic director for the 2009-10 season, during which the three or four finalists for his position will have, basically, on-the-podium auditions.

The hired music director will take over the following season.

"Yakima is poised for a huge reinvention," Creswell said. "It's exactly the time for the symphony to have new leadership and vision."

Best transformation from dance club to date spot

After closing in February to remodel and reinvent itself, Pete's Night Club emerged from a construction cocoon for a soft opening the day before Thanksgiving, unveiling the upscale Second Street Grill.

The remodeled restaurant features exposed brick walls, dark wooden tables and chairs, a fireplace, a large round bar with plenty of flat-screen TVs and beers on tap, and an intimate dining area looking out on Second Street.

Packed with restaurant industry types and plenty of downtown bar flies that first night, the new Pete's ... er, the Second Street Grill, enjoyed a warm reception. And all people could say was how it was hard to believe that in nine months, the downtown club had gone from a place known for its dancing cages to a restaurant you'd like to go to on a first date.

Best connections

In December, The Seasons got one big step closer to its somewhat unimaginable goal of becoming one of the premiere music halls in the country.

That's when the nonprofit performance hall announced Daron Hagen as the artistic director of The Seasons' Fall Side-By-Side Music Festival, which includes concerts by top name jazz and classical musicians, a composers' workshop led by Hagen -- a new addition to this past fall's festival -- and other educational outreach events.

"I'm walking on air," said Seasons president Pat Strosahl. "It's a step that's coming faster than I thought it would. It just opens up the world to you."

An acclaimed contemporary American composer with an international reputation, the 47-year-old Hagen is as unassuming and personable as he is enthralling, not to mention well-connected in the music world.

"I have always prided myself on being excellent -- and unpretentious," he said.

Based in New York City, Hagen has repeatedly said he goes anywhere "the dream is being dreamt," and that includes Yakima. He finds a kindred soul in Strosahl and his dream for The Seasons.

"Pat and I were just simpatico," he said. "That's how it happened. We kept talking and never disagreed."

 

* Lastly, we couldn't wrap up 2008 without mentioning the passing of Helen Jewett and Dick Elliott.

A devoted philanthropist, Jewett was committed to supporting the arts, education, children, recreation and improving the community's quality of life. She died Oct. 24. She was 94.

Known for his wild, yet accessible, "reflector paintings" and Ellensburg home-turned-work-of-art called Dick and Jane's Spot, Richard C. Elliott died at his home Nov. 19 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 63.

 

-- To add your top events of 2008, leave a comment on On's blog at on.yakimablogs.com.

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