Front Row Center
It's like a book club for the arts.
Join KUOW's Arts and Culture Reporter, Marcie Sillman and your fellow listeners for KUOW's Front Row Center. See a show together, then meet up for great conversation afterwards.
Never miss a show!
2018-2019 Season
Summer of '69
Saturday, June 22, 2019 | 2:00 PM
Presented by: Seattle Men's Chorus
Woodstock. The moon landing. Vietnam. Stonewall. In the summer of 1969, current events churned into a psychedelic era of rebellion and change. SMC transports us back to this vibrant year through the chart-topping, culture-defining music that blared through turntables and transistor radios. Joining with a coalition of LGBTQ choruses across the country, we also present a thrilling new musical theater work that tells the stories of the Stonewall riots and the birth of the struggle to live life out loud, a message that still resonates today.
Office Hour
Sunday, May 5, 2019 | 3:00 PM
Presented by: ArtsWest
Alarmed by his grisly writings, a professor invites a troubled student to her office to shed light on – and build a bridge across – the dark clouds that surround him. As the clock ticks down and tensions rise, she learns that notions of “good” and “bad” are dangerous illusions. A stirring call for empathy and a bold experiment in form, this searing play tackles thorny issues of gun violence, immigration, and “the other” to reveal our essential, human need for connection.
Get 30% off tickets by using code "OFFICEFRC" here.
Strange Fruit
Sunday, April 28, 2019 | 2:00 PM
Presented by: Spectrum Dance
Strange Fruit draws its title from the 1937 poem and song of the same name by Abel Meeropol and made famous by the great jazz singer Billie Holiday. The impetus for this world premiere work is lynching and its usage as a tool of racial terrorism during the Jim Crow Era. For this dance/theater work, the facts of lynching act as a springboard into an interior space, a state of mind. Strange Fruit tracks choreographer Donald Byrd’s feelings as a response to lynching and plays out as a series of dance/theater vignettes. The piece will be abstract, but informed by the reality of these brutal acts of terrorism.
Get 20% off tickets by using code "KUOWFRIEND " here.
Shostakovich Symphony No. 15
Saturday, March 23, 2019 | 8:00 PM
Presented by: Seattle Symphony
Johan Sebastian Bach is widely recognized as a giant of Western classical music. But many casual music lovers may not realize the extent of Bach’s influence on composers who came after him.
Seattle Symphony Orchestra Music Director Ludovic Morlot ties Bach to the 21st century in the SSO’s March 23rd Masterworks Series concert. From Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 15, and contemporary American composer John Harbison’s Bach-inspired symphony, the program will trace Bach’s musical legacy.
Join KUOW’s Marcie Sillman and Front Row Center for the performance, and a post-show conversation with Maestro Morlot. He leaves Seattle at the end of this artistic season, so it could be your last chance to take in Morlot’s artistic vision.
Taking Tea
Thursday, February 7, 2019 | 7:00 PM
Presented by: Seattle Art Museum
Join KUOW's Marcie Sillman in conversation with independent curator Erika Dalya Massaquoi about the recently debuted installation in the museum’s beloved Porcelain Room, Taking Tea. Massaquoi tapped British ceramic artist Claire Partington to create an installation for the space, the first one staged in the Porcelain Room since its debut in 2009.
All Premiere
Saturday, November 3, 2018 | 2:00 PM
Presented by: Pacific Northwest Ballet
The first of three mixed-repertory programs brings new works from choreographers the world is watching. PNB audiences know Alejandro Cerrudo (Little mortal jump) for his inventive synthesis of mood and music. Alexander Ekman’s Cacti has become an international hit: a kinetic, concussive ensemble work that is slyly ironic. PNB soloist Kyle Davis has been creating work for years, and we are thrilled to bring his premiere, A Dark and Lonely Space, to the main stage.
Richard III
Sunday, September 30, 2018 | 2:00 PM
Presented by: Seattle Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare's gripping portrait of a cunning villain’s rise and fall from power with an all-female acting company. What began with an all-female production of Bring Down the House (Henry VI trilogy) now culminates with the artists of upstart crow collective returning to complete this enthralling and bloody story of the Wars of the Roses.
And in This Corner: Cassius Clay
Sunday, October 21, 2018 | 4:30 PM
Presented by: Seattle Children's Theatre
Long before he was Muhammad Ali, 12-year-old Cassius Clay knew he would be a hero someday, no matter what anyone else had to say. In the nation’s dark time of Jim Crow racism and violence, Cassius— with the support of his family, training from Officer Joe Martin, and his own hard work—fought his way onto the gold-medal stand and into the history books.