Ok, I like the idea with the transparent view. I did try using a widget controller, but with that option, you don't have much control of placement or size.
I got it working with the transparent view idea. Not bad, but a couple minor issues at least the way I did it. Just a prototype so not really styling it nicely (I'd probably have the button look similar to the widgets with just an icon). I added the close button, but couldn't figure a way to have it sit directly in the table widget, so it's kind of awkwardly above it. And my section is in a sidebar with a map which seems to cause the embedded map widgets like 'Select' to display above the view. See screenshot.
Another minor detail. I'd like to have the transparent view visible by default but I can't configure that and it always shows the table visible.
Thanks for the suggestion.