Whazzat? M's in first?

As we prepare to flip our calendars to May I notice that the Seattle Mariners, losers of more than 100 games on a $100 million-plus payroll in 2008, are 13-9, in first place by 2 1/2 games, and are the only club above .500 in what is looking like a truly pathetic AL West.

Who'd-a thunk?

Pitching has been the key. As of this evening, the M's have the best ERA in the American League at 3.47, just a shade ahead of ... Kansas City? Felix Hernandez (4-0, 2.38) has been lights out, Erik "The Great" Bedard (2-1, 2.61) nearly as good, and Jarrod Washburn (3-1, 3.42) is doing well after putting up an atrocious 23-43 record with ERA in the mid/upper 4s in three years with the Mariners.

Sweetie the Official Scorer has taken an early liking to Chris Jakubauskas, an independent-league refugee who made the club at age 30 and has gone 1-3, 5.23 so far. The numbers are a bit deceptive; Jak has pitched well in four of five appearances, three of them starts. The high ERA is due mainly to one stinker of a start against Tampa Bay. The other day against the White Sox he pitched a complete game, allowed two runs on two hits, and lost. 

The defense has been much improved, especially in the outfield, where Endy Chavez and Franklin Gutierrez have been a far sight better than the assorted cripples who flanked Ichiro last year. Though we can't help noticing that the statue known as Raul Ibanez is tearing it up to the tune of .359 with seven homers and 17 RBI for the Phillies. 

The offense has been another story. Russell Branyan leads the club in batting (.333) and homers (4). Meanwhile prodigal son Ken Griffey, Jr. is batting a robust .200 with a pair of 'taters and five RBI, but word is he's been great as judge of the kangaroo court. Ichiro missed the first eight games with ulcers -- what does this dude have to worry about? -- but is hitting over .300. 

Don't go printing up the playoff tickets just yet. But it looks like the Mariners have as good a chance as any of the flawed teams in the AL West to capture the flag and take their chances in the playoffs.

Sunday in the Park -- spot on!

The first act of 5th Avenue Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Sunday in the Park with George was top-notch musical theater. By midway through Act II Weisenheimer found himself wishing he'd followed the lead of several audience members in his row who bolted at intermission in order to enjoy a sunny Seattle spring Sunday. Act I was a fascinating tale of French artist Georges Seurat, the making of his famed painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" (at right), and all of the characters therein. Act II, however, devolved into a whiny complaint about having to hang out with PR people, Texas zillionaires, and museum board members in order to make art a living.

Long after the performances and music are fogotten I'll remember the amazing set, lighting, and projection of this production, designed by David Farley, Ken Billington, and Timothy Bird & the Knifedge Creative Network, respectively. The plain white walls of the set came alive with the ever-changing art, scenes, critters, and characters of the show. The scenes in George's studio as he worked on the giant-sized painting were great,  as we the audience looked through the back side of the work to watch George at work and explaining his technique, which became known as Pointillism.

The best part of Act II was the opening number, "It's Hot Up Here," in which the denizens of the painting voice their gripes with the hot weather and the fact that they're trapped in eternity with some folks who aren't necessarily to their liking. 

Billie Wildrick was marvelous as Dot, George's model and mistress in Act I, and as Marie, George's daughter and young George's grandmother, in Act II. Hugh Panaro played both Georges, though was much more interesting as the focused, creative genius Seurat in the first half. When he got all of those folks in place in their poses for the painting, Sondheim and Lapine should have left it at that. It would have been a plenty good story and straight to the point.

Sunday in the Park with George runs at the 5th through May 10.

One FUNNY Pez dispenser...

Princess Leia didn't actually drive Carrie Fisher to drink, dope, and bipolarism, but after seeing Fisher's one-woman show Wishful Drinking at Seattle Rep one realizes that the actress can't quite shake the character, as much as she'd like to. The show features not one but two Leia wigs, Leia shampoo, Leia action figures, a life-size, concrete Leia sex doll, a Leia sculpture on a turntable with anatomically correct "galaxy snatch," and more.

"I'm a PEZ dispenser and I'm in an abnormal psychology textbook," Fisher marvels. "Who says you can't have it all?"

And who's that on the cover of her book, adapted from the stage show? Yes, for Fisher, Leia is always there. Damn George Lucas.

"Lucas owns my image," Fisher deadpans. "When I look in the mirror I have to send him a couple bucks."

I tend to be skeptical of one-actor shows, which seem mostly aimed at being inexpensive and making money, especially when they feature someone of Fisher's star power. Wishful Drinking really isn't theater. It's more like a two-hour stand-up act with some psychotherapy thrown in. But it was a hell of a lot of fun.

"If my life wasn't funny it would just be true," Fisher says, "and that's unacceptable."

I thought the funniest part of the show was the complicated "family tree" of Fisher's parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and their multiple marriages and dalliances. Carrie uses the opportunity to skewer the folks, though she clearly still adores them -- she lives next door to her mom!

The set for the show was simple, with a comfy chair, a couch, a few tables, and a background wall on which scores of images were projected. 

Fisher's story is a wild one, and she has the performing chops to make it totally hilarious. Wishful Drinking will be at the Rep through May 3.

Innovation in the match industry

I had to laugh recently when I bought a box of matches. The box cover proclaims: NEW LOOK! Same Great Product.

I must admit, I was a bit confused when I first opened the box. It was filled with little sticks of blond wood ("the highest quality Aspen wood" according to the box) with some red stuff and a white tip at one end. I'd expected some matches, but I'd never seen anything like this!

Or, was the "new look" a reference to the packaging? Well, I went to the Diamond Web site (yes, even matches have a Web site, though I didn't find a blog or Facebook page; they'd better get with it.) They don't have a definitive history of their logo, but the red and blue box with a diamond shaped logo has been used since the company was founded in 1881. I also learned that, in 1910, Diamond patented the first nonpoisonous match in the U.S. The next year President Taft asked Diamond to release the patent, which it did "for the good of mankind."

It may not really be a new look, but the matches work fine. They're fueled by the "Diamond Ignition System," you know.

Theater review backlog

Weisenheimer has been to several theater events in recent weeks, but darned if I've been able to find time to write about them all. Here are a few mini-reviews:

Closer by Patrick Marber. At Balagan Theatre, directed by Lisa Confehr.

Full disclosure: I've joined the board of Balagan Theatre, so maybe I'm not an impartial reviewer anymore, if I ever was, but Balagan is doing great work and Closer is no exception. This is the play on which the 2004 Mike Nichols film, starring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen, and Jude Law, is based. The Balagan production includes solid performances all around, most notably by Mike Dooly as Larry. We're enjoying Dooly's work; he aced Iago in Balagan's production of Othello in December. Props also to Susan Graf, gorgeous and fearless in the role of the stripper Alice. Cool set, too, with video backdrops of the aquarium, the bedroom window, the gallery, and other locations.

Closer got a nice review in The Stranger. Catch it in its last week.

The Merchant of Venice at Seattle Shakespeare Company, directed by John Langs.

There are some really solid actors in the Seattle Shakespeare Company's Merchant as well. Charles Leggett was absolutely marvelous as Shylock, and Klea Scott was strong, dynamic, and sassy as Portia. I found the scene in which Shylock and daughter Jessica (Melanie Moser) pray together wonderfuly poignant, especially as we know Jessica is about to run off with Lorenzo. 

We weren't quite sure about the casting of Will Beinbrink as Bassanio. His performance was well enough, and sure, he correctly chose the lead box to win Portia's hand, but he just didn't seem to have the right stuff to make Portia all ga-ga over him.

Merchant wraps up its run this week as well.

Hello, Dolly! at the 5th Avenue Theatre, directed by David Armstrong

Jenifer Lewis (right) was perfect in the role of Dolly Levi in the 5th Avenue Theatre's production of Hello, Dolly! Lewis is a wonderful actor and dancer and can really belt out a tune. Weisenheimer was a little concerned about the casting of Pat Cashman of "Almost Live!" fame in the role of Horace Vandergelder. I figured it was just a cheap ticket-selling stunt. Cashman himself, in his program bio, advised, "Sit near an exit!" But he did well in the role of the grumpy and miserly feed store owner -- and they didn't make him sing and dance too much. Costumes, dancing, music, sets were all top-notch as we've come to expect from the 5th Avenue.

Big cutbacks at Seattle Rep; next season announced

The Seattle Times reported Friday that the Seattle Repertory Theatre is cutting its budget by more than a third for next season -- whacking $3.5 million from a $10 million budget. They'll do it by going to a four-day work week for many employees, running fewer shows, and fewer performances of the ones they stage. They can't draw from their endowment next year; its value has dipped below the $14 million original principal. Subscription sales are down, too.

The budget announcement came hand-in-hand with the release of the Rep's 2009-10 season. The lineup includes a couple of sure winners. Warner Shook will direct a production of Noel Coward's Hay Fever (in Weisenheimer's view, Shook can do no wrong) and they'll also stage August Wilson's Fences next spring. They'll reach into the familiar with David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, and hook up with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival to co-produce Equivocation, which is running in Ashland at OSF this year.

It's interesting that the way to cut the budget is to do fewer shows -- less product. You'd think they should do more. But as they say, your ticket doesn't pay the full cost of the production.

Broadcasting legend Bill O'Mara passes away

Broadcasting pioneer Bill O'Mara passed away this morning at age 92, according to a report from KING-TV, where he was sports director for a number of years. O'Mara gained some fame as the main broadcaster for the hydroplane races,  back when that was the only game in town in Seattle. But he remained behind the mic until about two years ago, when new ownership at KLKI radio (it's now KWLE) in Anacortes sacked him at age 90. He'd been doing high school sports at KLKI for nearly 20 years.

Bill O'Mara

I worked with O'Mara at KRKO in Everett back in 1988-90. That was my last radio gig. O'Mara, already pushing 70, took a liking to me for some reason and seemed to enjoy helping the "young guys." I'd just turned 30 when I showed up there. If memory serves, O'Mara left for KLKI at about that time -- KRKO was constantly cutting back. We did lots of high school sports, football and boys and girls basketball. The most exciting moment was in 1990 when Everett High School boys were in the state basketball tournament. The Seagulls beat two-time defending state champ Redmond in the second round on a last-second three-pointer, and O'Mara went nuts with a Russ Hodges moment: "The Everett Seagulls win it... the Seagulls win it..." They lost in the third round to eventual champ Shadle Park. I was calling the girls' games that year, but have no such memories, except I think there were about five Spokane schools in the tourney.

O'Mara often used the exclamation "Oooh-WHEE!" And, of a player who'd just done something extraordinary, he'd say, "Jones is a real tour-de-force out there!"

O'Mara had a lot of great stories about his days at KING-TV, when they were flying by the seats of their pants. All you had to do to get him started was ask, "What would Mrs. Bullitt think about that?" He was a great devotee of the matriarch of KING Broadcasting, especially for the freedom she gave them to go out and create.

I saw him in late 2007 at a gathering of former KRKO employees. There are a lot of us formers! He'd lost a step or two but was still ahead of most of us, and complaining about how tough it was to look for work at age 90. The KING-TV obit linked above includes the video below, a story they did about O'Mara on his 90th birthday.

UPDATE: The Times ran an obit on Sunday.

RIP, Bill. You were a real tour-de-force.