The SPU Theatre department describes the play as a twist on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale with the prince turned into a frog when he refuses to give up a bouquet of flowers. The Prince and his Servingman embark on a journey to find the only Milkmaid who can undo the spell.

Mamet’s version of the classic Grimm fairy tale was first staged in 1982 as a short play in Chicago in 1982. The Chicago Tribune described it as follows:

SPU promises it will provide entertainment for the whole family, but notes that children under 5 will not be admitted. On their Facebook page, they suggest that a 4th grader will enjoy it, but it may not hold the attention of a 1st grader.

The production runs May 21-25, with a 2pm matinee performance only on the 25th. All performances begin at 7:30pm except for May 25, which is a matinee only performance at 2pm. Tickets are $6 each, with group rates available for 20 or more.

For tickets, visit the box office online or call 206.281.2959.

After Sunday, you’ll be able to read the full sign!

You’re likely familiar with Picture Perfect Queen Anne from past Queen Anne View posts – well, some neighbors in East Queen Anne have partnered with PPQA to help beautify the entrance to our neighborhood with plantings and graffiti removal this weekend.

In a partnership with PPQA, the formerly maintained gardens at the  7-way stop are going to get back in ship-shape, and residents are looking for volunteers to help prune, weed, dig, haul or bring refreshments to a work-party this Sunday, May 19 at 8am.

In addition to the garden rehab, neighbors will be using paint donated from Seattle Country Day School to re-paint and cover graffiti on the Queen Anne mural under the Aurora Bridge (northbound 99 entrance).

Whether your skills or interests lean to gardening or painting, there’s an opportunity to help beautify one of the major entrances to Queen Anne! And, if you can’t make tomorrow’s event, you can donate to a fund for mulch, new plants, and ongoing maintenance via Casa Latina.

To help out via hard work or donated funds, contact Sharon Parker via email or 206.229.3681. Or, just show up bright and early Sunday morning at the 7-way stop and help beautify Queen Anne!

Queen Anne View has not met any of these pets – SAS is providing us with the description, as they know them well. We encourage potential adopters to get in touch with SAS and work with them to evaluate the compatibility of your home and a new pet.

******

Meet Spice!

This beautiful, medium sized (about 30 lbs.), ten year old, terrier mix lady is looking for a quiet and relaxing home to call hers forever. Whether it’s on a long walk or a night watching TV, Spice is happy to be your companion. One look into her eyes and your heart will melt. She is house trained and sleeps through the night. Spice follows the general commands such as sit, stay, and lay down and is very capable of learning new ones – she is very food motivated and especially likes apples, carrots and celery! She would love to sleep on the bed with you at night but has learned that she needs to be invited up, and will sleep quietly on her own bed.

Spice was surrendered to the Shelter because her owner could not afford her medical care. She has since had surgery to remove her bladder stones and received the medications she needed to clear up a nasty urinary tract infection. She’s all recovered and back to her peppy self! She will need to stay on a special diet to prevent more bladder stones from forming but it’s readily available and affordable.

Spice lived the first ten years of her life as an only pet and is not used to being around other dogs, cats or kids. She would prefer to be your only dog but has adapted well to living with her foster mom’s two larger, mellow dogs. She can be leash reactive with unfamiliar dogs but is easily distracted with treats. She would do best in an adult only home as children seem to make her uneasy and she wants to chase the smaller ones. Cats are a new thing for her and she’s very interested in barking and chasing them right now, but she might learn to live with a dog-savvy feline with supervision. Around the house, unexpected noises may cause a bark or two but you can rely on her to keep your home safe from unwanted guests.

On top of it all she will warm your home and your heart. This gal deserves as much love as she will give to you. Request a meet with Spice today and you’ll be closer to adding some Spice to your life!

Spice (SAS #13-3034) is being adored in a SAS foster home. If you would like to meet this dog, you must submit a Dog Adoption Application to SAS. Download the application and follow the instructions for submission via email or fax. If you have general questions about this dog, you may call the Shelter’s Animal Care Staff at 206-386-4294.

We all know the Mercer closure will make navigating around Queen Anne and the Seattle Center tricky this weekend, and that means a lot of confused drivers (locals and visitors alike). But, plenty of events to suit all sorts, an all-day Ballard festival, the Seattle Storm preseason opener, a road race at Gasworks, a free panel discussion with the Mayor at the Queen Anne Community Center, the U-District Street Fair, SIFF International Film Festival, and much more!

Traffic:

• Mercer: weekend closure of sections of Aurora/99 and Mercer St, 11pm Friday, May 17 – 5am Monday, May 20

Multi-Day Events:

• Boeing Boeing, Seattle Repertory Theatre, April 19-May 19
• Sister Angelica & Human Voice, Seattle Opera, May 4-18
• 44th Annual U-District Street Fair, University District, May 18-19
• SIFF International Film Festival, SIFF Uptown & Film Center, May 16-June 9

Friday, May 17

• Queen Anne Dispatch Friends & Family Event, 9am-10pm FREE
• 17th of May Festival, Ballard, 10am-8pm (festivities at 10am, parade at 6pm) FREE
• The Sheds, The Vera Project, 7pm
• Seattle Storm vs Tulsa Shock, Key Arena, 7pm

Saturday, May 18

• Seattle’s Best 15K and 10K, Gasworks, 7:30am
• Queen Anne Quick Styx Girls Lacrosse Jamboree, Queen Anne Bowl, 9am-5pm FREE
• Heather Christo Book Signing and Scones, Stuhlbergs, 10:30am FREE
• Chinese Arts and Culture Festival, Seattle Center Armory, 11am
• Coal Train Impacts in Your Neighborhood: Panel with Mayor McGinn and Prof. Dan Jaffe, Queen Anne Community Center, 12:15-1:15pm FREE
• Handbag Sample Sale & Trunk Show, 2408 Warren Ave N, 3pm-7pm
• Y-WE Speak, Seattle Repertory Theatre, 6pm
• Sounders vs FC Dallas, CenturyLink, 7:30pm
• JSusan Carr Ensemble, Queen Anne Christian Church, 8pm

Sunday, May 19

• Seattle University School of Law Graduation, Key Arena, 10am
• 31st Annual Nordstrom Beat the Bridge, Husky Stadium, 8am
• Kids Storytime with Charles Ward, Queen Anne Book Company, 1pm-2pm FREE

Have an event that you would like us to report on? Drop us an email at tips@queenanneview.com

Courtesy of Strata Architects

The City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development (DPD) has conditionally approved a new apartment building project at 717 3rd Ave N.

Llewellyn Place will be a 3-story building with 20 residential units, an outdoor courtyard, a rooftop deck including space for gardening, and an underground parking garage with parking for 11 vehicles.

Strata Architects is helming the project, which will include the demolition of the existing structure at the location. The 7,680 square foot lot is situated between a 4-story apartment building to the north and a 5-story mixed-use building to the south.

The project must address the usual conditions around excavation, disposal of hazardous materials, construction parking, street  and sidewalk closures, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Groundbreaking on the new project is expected this year.

We’ve had readers ask what they can do, so I contacted our local HomeStreet Bank. There is a fund set up at the bank that any neighbor can donate to during bank hours.

According to the Queen Anne branch manager:

In addition, our local HomeStreet Bank has fresh coffee daily and if you stop by on Friday, you may be lucky enough to enjoy home baked cookies that a loyal bank client drops off every Friday. HomeStreet Bank is at 1835 Queen Anne Avenue N.

Thanks to HomeStreet Bank for supporting our neighborhood, and if you’d like to read a first-hand account of what the fire was like, you can read Tim Shields’ blog on the fire and the aftermath. Tim lived in one of the houses that burned, and escaped with only a few of his possessions.

Future home of The Masonry, 20 Roy St

The Masonry’s menu will be headed up by chef Lucas Neve, formerly of Montlake’s Cafe Lago. Matt will be managing the craft beers himself, bringing his knowledge garnered from a past stint at Malt and Vine and his position at Seattle German Pubs.

The menu will stay fairly small, with offerings varying based on what Lucas finds fresh and in-season. The craft beer bar will also feature a rotating selection, and in addition to selling bottles, The Masonry will also fill growlers to go. Plus, for those whose tastes tend toward the grape, there’ll be a couple of house wines and a selection of bottles from wineries that are “great and often overlooked”.

Matt and team are hard at work on the new digs, and they’re currently aiming for a July 1st opening. According to Matt, “we can’t wait to get to know our beer and food loving neighbors” – so, mark your calendars for July and welcome a new business to Lower Queen Anne/Uptown!

The run-down on the closure and the aftermath are as follows from SDOT:

Weekend closure:

• Aurora/99 will be fully closed between Valley St and the southern end of the Battery St Tunnel
• Traffic traveling through Seattle via SR 99 will be directed to I-5 north of Seattle at 85th Street or south of Seattle at E Marginal Way
• Mercer Street will be fully closed to traffic between 5th Ave N and Dexter Ave N
• Traffic heading east towards I-5 will be detoured to Denny Way at 5th Ave N and will reconnect to Mercer Street at Dexter Avenue N to continue east
• Sidewalks will be closed on both sides of SR 99 between Thomas and Valley Streets and on the south side of Mercer between 5th Ave N and Dexter Ave N

Beginning Monday, May 20:

• Lane restrictions on Mercer will remain in place between 4th Ave N and 9th Ave N an alternate route for travelers heading to I-5
• Broad Street re-opens to eastbound traffic as an alternate route to I5
• Signal modifications at the intersections of 5th Ave N and Harrison St and Harrison St and Broad St will allow southbound 5th Ave N traffic to connect to eastbound Broad Street
• Due to the re-opening of Broad Street to two-way traffic, left turns from eastbound and westbound Mercer onto 9th Ave N will be restricted to facilitate traffic flow on Mercer. Travelers heading north towards Westlake and Fremont should use Dexter Avenue N to reach their destinations.

Mercer West: 5th Ave W to Dexter Ave N - Access to Northbound 99 During Construction

Mercer West: 5th Ave W to Dexter Ave N - Access to I5 During Construction

Additional traffic revisions will include:

• Mercer will be reduced to two eastbound lanes between 4th Ave N and 9th Ave N
• Local access will be maintained at Taylor Avenue N
• The sidewalk on the north side of Mercer will be closed between 5th Ave N and Dexter Ave N. The sidewalk on the south side of Mercer Street will remain open
• Aurora/99 traffic will be shifted to the west side of the roadway between Valley and Harrison streets; two lanes of SR 99 in each direction will remain open
• Northbound 99 off-ramp to Mercer will be permanently closed. A new signalized intersection at Republican Street and Dexter Avenue N will be available for northbound SR 99 traffic to reach South Lake Union

There are no signs that the current trends of low inventory, rising prices, short sales times and multiple offers will be abating anytime soon.

For Queen Anne and Magnolia there continues to be only about a 1 to 2 month supply of single-family home inventory. This tight inventory can be attributed to continued low interest rates, robust Puget Sound area hiring and a generally improved economy including significant gains in the stock market. Whether the market will become more “balanced” (defined as a 3-6 month supply of homes) will hinge on many more listings hitting the market over the coming months.

Of Queen Anne and Magnolia homes closed in April the average sale price was a little over 102% of the most recent list price.  This indicates continued multiple offer situations.

Prospective buyers also should think in terms of at least a minimum of 3-5+ year home ownership horizon and preferably maintain the option to hold onto their home through future downturns in the market. Home seller costs (excise tax, title/escrow fees, sale commissions) of approximately 9% of the sales price should also be factored into any decision to purchase.

More stats on other Seattle neighborhoods can be found at http://www.live206.com/seattle-market-update-c22527.html

John Madrid is a Managing Broker with John L. Scott Real Estate – University Village and is a 2005-2012 Seattle Magazine “Five Star” Agent. His clients include both home buyers and sellers. He can be reached at 206-498-1880, john@live206.com or www.live206.com.

Statistics are deemed reliable but are not guaranteed.  All information should be verified to the users own satisfaction. 

Le Reve will help kick off the day with tasty bakery treats and coffee service. Then around mid-day Icebox Grocery, the locally owned and operated mini-market will have drinks and samples available.

When the evening hours roll around, Queen Anne Dispatch will kick off a party atmosphere at 6pm with music by DJ Cotton Candy, wine, cocktails and appetizers. In addition, local mom and artist Kirsty Papadopoulos from Lucia K Jewelry and a rep from Lole will be on hand to chat and answer questions. Plus, mini manicures with Seattle’s own Butter London products. The party runs til 10pm.

All in all, a very local event – and everyone is welcome to join in the celebration, a one-stop shop of local businesses, artists, and products.