RON SWARNER: WE NOW HAVE A FREAKING BELLA BALL! >>>
When the City Club of Tacoma announced it was putting on a show to celebrate its first 25 year of existence, it wasn't hard to predict how the party would go down. The club brought in artist Lynn Di Nino to produce it under event chair Sue Schaeffer. Di Nino, in turn, brought in musician/actor/comedian Doug Mackey. Mackey and Di Nino have had their hands on just about every cool and innovative event in town. When the party finally happened last night at Washington State History Museum, their event, titled "All Together Now," had everyone in tears – induced by laughter.
After wine, buffet and a greeting by City Club President Ann Gosch, City Club co-founders Lilly Warnick and Patricia Lantz discussed the clubs first year, vision and hopes on stage over a glass of wine.
In celebration of their 25th year, City Club recognized the accomplishments of other organizations in our community that have made a significant impact during the last quarter century. One by one the "25@25" honorees where recognized and awarded a handcrafted Bella Ball. The honorees were: Associated Ministries, Bates Technical College, The Black Collective, Boys & Girls Clubs of South Puget Sound, Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, Centro Latino, City Arts, Emergency Food Network, Tacoma Farmers Market, Tacoma Goodwill, The Grand Cinema, Korean Women's Association, KPLU, Museum of Glass, The Nonprofit Center, The News Tribune, pierce County AIDS Foundation, Puyallup Tribe of Indians, Tacoma School of the Arts Partners, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma Historical Society, Tacoma Musical Playhouse, University of Washington Tacoma, Washington State History Museum and, drum roll, the Weekly Volcano.
Then Mackey took over.
Complete with Beatles accent and wig, Mackey launched into the show portion of the party, back by keyboardist Gavin Guss and six high school age students loaded with vocal talent: Grace Oberhofer, Rachel Lind, Henry Nettleton, Claire Idstrom, Bryan Gula and Grant Troyer. Amazing voices!
Ringleader Mackey and the kids took the crowd on a musical journey through Tacoma's dark side. They reworked famous Beatles songs changing the lyrics to poke fun at the Luzon building, Frank Russell, The spire, Tollefson Plaza, Bicentennial Pavilion, downtown condos, LeMay Car Museum, Rep. Norm Dicks, potholes, and unfortunately for Tacoma, many more.
It was the funniest roast of Tacoma I have seen.
Mackey tells me a video of the show is in the works.
On behalf of my business partner Ken Swarner and the entire staff of the Weekly Volcano, I would like to extend a big heartfelt thanks to the City Club of Tacoma for such a great honor. Ken and I have been covering the Tacoma scene for more than 23 years – including 414 weeks with the Volcano. We love this city.