Congrats to one of our favorite food vendors, Marination Mobile! They circled the wagon for us at the now-infamous Badminton Royale tournament back in September.

Seattle’s Hawaiian-Korean taco truck Marination Mobile has been voted the winner of Good Morning America’s Best Food Cart Challenge.

READ MORE. Reblogged from the Slog

I’m proud the show flows so nicely. It surprised me how ’solo’ and ‘dance trio’ the show is. Duh. Interesting that I had several artists in the evening comment to me how their piece felt out of place with the others. There is no place, which makes them all in place—an entertaining and stimulating place. Read: Bake You A Cake choreographed by Gabriel Bruya is a fifties fantasy dream kitchen with rustic American dresses and stiletto heals, sweeping the floor with sweet smiles, inviting you right in the eye. I could taste those cakes. Jose Amador’s El Hijo Prodigal de Boricua spooked my shit, energetically conveying a true Santeria (Christian/Voodoo) tale about his family in Puerto Rico. Why did I feel for that whipped black bird? Tamer Abdo’s Stigma flowed in dichotomies: lithe and powerful, sultry and harsh, peaceful and brittle. His finger-play in the light, and sultry caress up his neck and through his hair turns me on and then he violently flogs his body to the stage. His life and story are tremendous. Ask him about it. I Love You, I Hate You Mike Pham white feather leotard ice gymnastic dance body bag wrestle twirl and spin triple axle glitter added face drip. Should I laugh or hurt? Little Man Monk by TWIG Theater defies explanation. He is live, he is being, more than I am in a year. Karin Stevens Dance’s And You Will Renew the Face of the Ground to me swims in water above the stage. The dancers undulate through arches and waves (the hand-kind). I don’t know why it is so watery to me, as apposed to ground. Love it though. Charles Smith’s Tassel In Black is a freakin’ hysterical and retarded graduation speech. He IS the smartest kid in the school.

I’ve had a wonderful time hanging with the OTB, taking pride in the work of others I’ve been lucky enough to witness before others. In retrospect, the hardest part about curating is declining good artists who auditioned with entertaining pieces. (These should be called showings, not auditions, by the way.) But in the end curating is about connecting a flow to the evening. In this we succeeded with flying colors. My twelve year old daughter said it was surprising, interesting, and fun. Pretty much sums it up.

- curator K. Brian Neel

One of the most enjoyable things for me about this 12 Minutes Max showcase was the progression of pieces throughout the evening. Even though the five out of seven of the pieces are essentially solos, it doesn’t feel like a solo-heavy show because three out of five solos involve video, a musical instrument and two puppeteers for the solo puppet. Another thing that caught my eye were the costumes. Jose Amador and Tamer Abdo were both modestly dressed, but each had their own powerful message. Karin Stevens’s dancers subtle costumes matched beautifully and supported the sharp ensemble choreography. Gabriel Bruya’s costumes helped create the 50s period-appropriate atmosphere along with matching retro pyrex containers. Heidi Pendergast/Twig Theater’s two puppeteers’ eastern tunics augmented (the puppet) Little Man Monk’s robe. Charles Smith had a perfect collared shirt, tie, and button up V-neck sweater for his 12-Minutes-of-fame valedictorian speech.

- curator Danny Herter

Amy O’Neal belts out “Everything She Wants” with support from some very enthusiastic back-up dancers. Click on the photo for more images from the event on our Flickr page.

If you missed it, don’t be sad! Eric will be hosting a second evening in March.

Regina Hackett lays out Eric Fredericksen’s track from singing in the shower to becoming a karaoke host extraordinaire.

Read up on it at Another Bouncing Ball.

Curating this 12 Minutes Max was truly a pleasure, and I think we selected a knock-out line up. The best part about this 12 Minutes Max is the variety of performances.  Not only do we have a variety of styles, like dance, theater, puppetry, and video/performance art, but also a contrast in mood and tone. Some pieces are hilarious, some eerie, while others are touching, beautiful, bizarre, and nostalgic.  Tell yourself and tell your friends, don’t miss it!

- $12 for 12 Minutes Max Guest Curator Danny Herter

A couple OtB alumni are doing good things around Seattle in the coming weeks. Here are a couple events to add to your calendar:

Paul Taub – Paul is a member of Seattle Chamber Players (coming in Feb 2010) and is currently celebrating 30 years of being a musician in Seattle. His concert on Sat, Nov 14, features a well rounded selection of pieces for the evening, including works by Reza Vali, Toshio Hosokawa, Jovino Santos Neto, Bun-Ching Lam, Wayne Horvitz, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Julie Mandel, and Henry Brant’s “Ghosts and Gargoyles.” Read more and buy tickets

Wynne Greenwood – This 08/09 alum is pairing up with K8 Hardy to present a series of film works titled FEMINIST FORM. Here’s all the relevant details:
Saturday, November 21
Doors open at 7:30pm
Screening begins at 8pm
Hiawatha Artist Lofts Community Room
843 Hiawatha Pl. S

After performing and then working at On the Boards, I have to say that the amount of karaoke I have done has increased about 600%. Which is why I am so excited for Speak and Sing on Wednesday!

Some fond OtB memories for me include jamming into Seattle’s Best Karaoke (SBK) with Hand2Mouth Theatre, then with Linas Phillips and Co. (I think we broke a couch?), or the many nights at Ozzie’s – most notably with Elevator Repair Service and Nature Theater of Oklahoma, also the site of a legendary chair dance to Darling Nikki, not to mention the rockin’ karaoke parties at OtB the past two seasons.

Eric Fredericksen, director at Western Bridge, is hosting Speak & Sing Contemporary Karaoke Practice in the Studio theater at OtB on Wednesday. I think I’ve gone to karaoke with Eric about 100 times! Highlights include a dark and rainy night in a Filipino restaurant in Vancouver BC, Karaoke at SBK where there were only three of us invited (we didn’t want to share songs!), and our EPIC Snowpocalypse marathon last winter when we slogged through the snow toward the Crescent in holiday sweaters (and later, Mexican Wrestling Masks) that started at 4 in the afternoon. And most recently on Halloween when we all jammed into an RV with a limited songbook but with the blue glow from the TV to keep us all warm…

Eric is a great host – he is really great at pacing the evening with everyone’s song choices and making the evening about the singers AND the non-singers – opening up a fun and lively conversation about the songs and engaging everyone in the art of karaoke. Whether it be eliciting obscure facts about the songs/artists, wild musings on the time period and style of songwriting, or just getting up on the dance floor – karaoke with Mr. Fredericksen can be a transcendent experience! Don’t miss out on the fun! Here’s a brief interview with Eric:

1) What is your earliest Karaoke memory?

Going to the China Gate, before the kitchen fire destroyed their red wallpaper with naked flappers in black flocking. It lost a lot of its charm when it went for the third-world-airport look, but I still managed to court my wife there.

2) What is your favorite karaoke era?

The early ’80s. The best songs to sing at karaoke are ones you heard a thousand times when you were in your early teens, when you really didn’t have a choice whether to hear them or not, and when you hadn’t developed an individual taste strong enough to stand up to them. Which is why I like singing “My Sharona,” “Walk Like an Egyptian,” “Mr. Roboto,” and “Faithfully.”

3) What karaoke song should be eliminated from songbooks forever?

“New York State of Mind.” And “Summer Nights” from Grease.

4) What karaoke song can you never find?

“Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” The only Gary Numan I can ever find is “Cars.”

5) Did you ever see the movie “Duets”? What did you think?

I didn’t see it, sorry! Was Huey Lewis in it? I’m still into Huey.

6) Who is your dream duet partner? What song would you two sing?

Other than my lady? I’m thinking a young Flavor Flav. We’d sing everything, me singing, him eating a sandwich and occasionally yelling “Yeah, boy!”

Speed Round

Pick one:
Elton John or Billy Joel?
Either guy’s ballads kill a room.

Radio Gaga or Somebody to Love?
Radio Gaga! See my earlier answer about the early ’80s.

Oklahoma! or South Pacific?
Oklahoma! I wish you could find more uptempo show tunes at karaoke. Less “People Will Say We’re in Love,” more “Surrey with the Fringe on Top.”

The Crescent or Bush Gardens?
Crescent! A kindly host goes so far. But I love Susie, the waitress at Bush Gardens, and I’ll pour out a Mai-Tai for Kenny, even though he kicked my friends out all the time for crimes like “singing too loud” or “pretend karate fighting.”

Finish the Lyric:
“Ladies leave your man at home…”
The club is full of ballers and their pockets fulla gold
“‘Cause she looks like a flower…”
But I’m a creep? I don’t know that one. (MP: It’s from She Bangs!)
“Thinkin’ of you’s workin’ up my appetite…”
Gonna grab a little afternoon delight

Thanks, Eric! Blog readers – join us this Wednesday 8PM – advanced tickets encouraged – seats are limited so get your tickets now!

-Mike P

Check them out:

“Man oh man! Last night I was fortunate enough to see the last performance of Diane Szeinblum’s piece “Alaska” at On the Boards. At it’s most fervent moments, the piece cast a hypnotic spell over the audience.”

- Seattle MetBlogs

“This is pretty heady stuff, and Szeinblum’s conceptual Alaska is rather more dark, desolate and austere than our majestic, cruise-ship friendly, oil-rich, eccentric, and ruggedly individualistic neighbors many have in their minds.”

- Cross Cut

Jim Demetre reviews Alaska:

When we use the word “contemporary” to describe a work of dance we are usually talking about two things. First are the formal elements of movement employed in conveying the meaning; elements that are of the moment and constitute a kind of recognizable global vernacular. Second is the vaguer realm of mood, tone, and sensibility. Does it define something particular about the era in which we live?

Argentinean choreographer Diana Szeinblum’s Alaska, which opened Thursday at On the Boards and runs through Sunday, can clearly lay claim to the former properties. When it comes to the latter, however, the piece is as traditional and familiar as that other product of Argentina, the tango.

Read the full review