Downtown Bellevue has it all, restaurants, nightlife, shopping, and more. On any given weekend, you can have champagne brunch, shop for a new outfit, catch an afternoon happy hour, fit in a game of bowling, go out dancing, listen to live music, catch a comedy show, and even grab a late-night snack. So what’s next?
The biggest thing missing in this city is live entertainment, and I’m not talking people-watching at the mall or karaoke night! We’re missing plays, musicals, ballets, concerts, and the like. With Tateuchi Center in the works, the breadth of music, dance, theater, and arts will be expanded.
On a recent trip to Seattle for a showing of Teatro Zinzanni, it got me to thinking; this sort of thing needs to be in Bellevue. In fact, the show I saw even made reference to the Eastside city. Some of the featured performers in the show were Diva and The Dixies, in which they referred to as the songstresses from Bellevue. Bellevue is ready for more song and dance!
From cabaret, to circus arts, to dinner shows, the Downtown Bellevue crowd is ready for what’s next. There are many aspiring and professional artists that call Bellevue their home. They are singers, dancers, acrobats, actors, and performers. Even though Bellevue has evolved from a suburb to a city, these artists still cross the bridge for gigs in Seattle. After seeing the spectacle that is Teatro Zinzanni, it really brought to light the fact that Bellevue is ready for what’s next.
Exactly! If I want to see live, local musicians, I am driving to Seattle. No choice. We need a place that is booking local and small indie bands!
I know it’s not in Downtown, but Crossroads seems to do a pretty good job with this stuff, and some of the Friday and Saturday night performances there can really pack ’em in. They do limit the genres they’ll allow on the stage a fair bit though (the closest they’ll get to any sort of rock music is the occasional Beatles cover band) but for the most part there’s always something interesting playing there on Fridays and Saturdays.
We do have local musicians performing in downtown Bellevue – especially during the jazz festival. This year there were over 50 shows, most of them free. Did you attend? We need people to support the entertainment we have to prove the model and garner more choices.
@Leslie, the Jazz festival is not universal in its appeal. I think it’s important to understand the evolving psychographics and how the city and it’s offerings can appeal to all city dwellers.
New programs can be launched on small scales to test their effectiveness.
I just hope the performing arts center can be built… some day.
Also would be nice to have more local bars where they play live music. I am tired of all the corporate chains with fancy interior but little soul.
And thanks, but (personally) absolutely no to Teatro Zinzanni. =)
I have begged a friend of mine who has toyed with opening a new music venue, similar to Nuemo’s or Crocodile, to PLEEEEAAASE open it in Bellevue, we need it so badly!!! Property could be a problem but I for one would support it!
Old Mustard location off of Main….? Smaller venue but would it be worthwhile?
After living in downtown Bellevue for 3 years I really asked myself what’s next each time. After a while, there’s not much left to see. However, I personally do not want Bellevue to turn into Seattle and it’s best to leave it just the way it is. Now I live near Kirkland waterfront, exploring it and enjoy the dynamic of it. A lot more places here opens later at night, too and nothing beats any waterfronts.