Culture Fiend

Met Picks: Allen Stone and Seattle Rock Orchestra, The Callers, David Lynch Retrospective

The top 10 things to see or do this weekend.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Jan 12, 2012 at 04:30PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy WET.

The Callers: yet another reason to get out of the house.

THEATER

Thru Jan 15
West Side Story
Here come the Jets: The Broadway revival of West Side Story snaps, kicks, and Krupkes its way into Seattle, now with 10 percent of the songs and dialogue in Spanish. Paramount Theatre, $25–$80.

Jan 13–Feb 6
The Callers
WET playwrights Ali el-Gasseir and Ella Dorband examine the voices on the other end of a psychic hotline or phone sex chat in this world premiere, directed by Intiman’s new artistic director Andrew Russell. It’s a world of dial tones and busy signals (what, no call waiting?), with over 150 phones covering the walls in the black box theater. Washington Ensemble Theatre, $10–$25.

Jan 13–Feb 5
How to Write a New Book for the Bible
Bill Cain, who penned the 2009 Shakespearean drama Equivocation, borrows from his own life for his latest play. When the Jesuit priest goes home to care for his dying mother, he copes by writing the story of his family in Biblical style. Seattle Repertory Theatre, $12–$64.

CONCERTS

Jan 12
Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious
Fans of NBC’s The Office know Robinson, aka warehouse manager Darryl, plays a mean keyboard. When he’s not taping, the former elementary school music teacher tours with his jazz-funk group the Nasty Delicious. Paramount Theatre, $29.

Jan 14 & 15
Allen Stone and Seattle Rock Orchestra
Chewelah, Washington native Stone bears more of a resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite than Raphael Saadiq, but you won’t find a finer new soul act in town. He’s backed here by members of the 50-piece orchestra. Neptune Theatre, both shows have sold out.

CLASSICAL & MORE

Jan 14–28
Seattle Opera’s Attila
He can sing, he can sack countries. John Relyea stars as the King of the Huns in Seattle Opera’s debut performance of Verdi’s Attila. McCaw Hall, from $25.

FILM

Jan 13–19
In Dreams: The Films of David Lynch
SIFF Cinema samples from the oeuvre of director David Lynch for two weeks of twisted flicks, including Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Mulholland Dr., Dune, and a Twin Peaks screening. SIFF Cinema at the Uptown, $5–$10.

VISUAL ART

Thru Jan 22
Videowatercolors: Carel Balth Among His Contemporaries
Just a little over a week left to see Videowatercolors (video stills printed on watercolor paper or canvas) by Dutch artist Carel Balth. Examine his new media approach to landscape imagery in relation to more traditional photography and painting by contemporaries Gerhard Richter, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Luisa Lambri (also on display). Henry Art Gallery, admission $6–$10.

EAT & DRINK

Jan 14
Chef’s Tour of the Market
Starting now, and continuing for the next month, a different Seattle chef will host a weekly tour of Pike Place Market. Simon Zatyrka of Cutters Bayhouse hosts the first tour. All tours are limited to 14 participants, and end with a cooking demo and light meal at kitchen showroom SieMatic Seattle. The next tour is led by Franz Junga of Il Fornaio. Pike Place Market, $75.

PUBLIC HOLIDAY

Jan 17
30th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Rally and March
Before Occupy Wall Street, we celebrated equality and economic justice for all on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Recapture the spirit of MLK with a march from Garfield High, through the Central District, and to the Federal Building. Free.

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Met Picks, Weekend, Neptune Theatre, McCaw Hall

West Side Story, Now En Español

Songs and sneers are partly in Spanish in the touring Broadway revival.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 12, 2012 at 12:50PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Joan Marcus.

Jerome Robbins’s choreography translates well anywhere.

Here come the Jets: The Broadway revival of West Side Story snaps, kicks, and Krupkes its way into Seattle this weekend, but not without some added drama. When the show first (re)opened in New York in 2009, critics and purists had mixed reviews about its new bilingual score and book by Arthur Laurents (with the blessing of Stephen Sondheim). Maria sang “Me Siento Hermosa” instead of “I Feel Pretty,” and the Sharks rumbled and jeered predominantly in Spanish. The production has since pulled back on some of the translation, from 18 percent of the dialogue and lyrics in Spanish to 10 percent, director David Saint recently told The Seattle Times. And after attending opening night in Seattle, I can say that what I lost in translation was minimal—nothing I couldn’t infer from repeated viewings of the movie and musical. The show feels authentic, grittier, more sexual, though the thugs are still too pretty. It’s a 21st-century West Side Story that’s carried by Jerome Robbins’s timeless choreography.

West Side Story
Paramount Theatre, through Jan 15

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Tags: Paramount Theatre, Broadway

Isaac Layman and ‘The Toughest Art-Making Month of My Life’

We embark on a four-week master class with a local photographer. And without a camera.

Posted by: Adriana Grant on Jan 12, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Class is in session.

Editor’s note: For this new four-week series, Culture Fiend’s art writer Adriana Grant has enrolled in a master class with Seattle photographer Isaac Layman at the Frye. This is her story.—LD

I enrolled in photographer Isaac Layman’s master class expecting to use my camera. But during our preclass tete-a-tete, we spoke more about poetry than pictures. Though Layman is known as a photographer—his striking large-scale, hyperrealist images are in their first solo museum exhibit at the Frye (through January 22) and have been reviewed by NPR, Artweek, and Art in America—his class isn’t about a specific media. It’s about building one’s creative practice.

In jeans and sneakers, Layman appears easy-going, but when he’s talking about art, his dark eyes flash and he throws his arms about.

“This is going to be,” he warns, “the toughest art-making month of your life.”

During class, Layman recounts part of a David Sedaris story. “Life is a four-burner stove. One burner is family, one is career, one is friendship, and one is health. To be good at what you do, you have to turn off one burner. To be really good, you have to turn off two.”

Our first assignment: spend 20 hours a week making art. My project focuses on a 20-hour writing commitment, and though I have no specific poem output in mind—Layman suggested 40 poems, but I told him that was practically a book—I’m in the process of kick-starting my own writing practice. I’m hoping his hard-core dedication proves contagious.

I’m not shutting off a burner, but I’ve got several hours of writing to do before our next meeting.

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Tags: Visual Art, frye art museum, Master Class , Isaac Layman

A Spring Awakening for Balagan Theatre

The fringe theater company comes alive in its new home on Capitol Hill.

Posted by: Stephanie Rubesh on Jan 11, 2012 at 05:00PM 1 Comments

Photo courtesy Andrea Huysing.

Melchior (Earp) and Wendla (Huey) get frisky in Balagan Theatre’s Spring Awakening.

The great thing about the Tony-winning rock musical Spring Awakening, with its classroom of repressed 19th-century German schoolkids trying to understand sex, is that it’s rippling with adolescent energy. All that confusion, pain, and joy—it’s impossible not to feel something as you follow their path to discovery. What a smart move by Balagan Theatre to pick this play as its debut in its new home at Erickson Theater in Capitol Hill. Balagan, a recently homeless fringe theater company, has come alive with this production and its cast of talented young up-and-comers, directed by a rising star himself, Eric Ankrim (soon to play Curly in Oklahoma! at 5th Avenue Theatre).

Brian Earp and Diana Huey compliment each other as charming rebel Melchior and wide-eyed innocent Wendla, lead roles made famous by Glee stars Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele. And special mention goes Justin Huertas and Ben Wynant, who, as classmates Hanschen and Ernst, show great range as their characters embrace their homosexuality—one timidly, the other tenaciously—and then each other.

Like a teen in the throes of hormone overdrive, Jerick Hoffer, with his powerful voice, goes a bit over the top in his portrayal of volatile Moritz, who’s wracked with guilt because he’s hot for his piano teacher. But he has an award-winning score backing him up, done justice by music director Kimberly Dare and her chamber orchestra. Ultimately, Spring Awakening promises a bright future for Balagan. Note: Audience members must be 14 years or older due to adult subject matter, language and some nudity.

Spring Awakening
Erickson Theater Off Broadway, through Jan 15
UPDATED 1/12/11. The January run of this show has sold out. They will remount the production April 12–15 and 19–21, with tickets available at brownpapertickets.com.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Balagan Theatre

Radiohead to Play KeyArena on April 9

Tickets go on sale this Saturday.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 11, 2012 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

Thom Yorke and crew come to Seattle this spring.

Very interesting. First Coldplay announces an April 25 concert at KeyArena. And now Radiohead is coming on April 9 as a warmup to their mid-April headlining gig at Coachella Music Festival in California. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of ‘90s arena rock—this is good news all around. It means that KeyArena bookers, in the thick of planning a spring/summer concert season to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Seattle World’s Fair, are getting the big national acts over Tacoma Dome.

And with Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones considering a North America tour this year—in addition to the Black Keys, who already have a Portland date on the calendar (UPDATED and now a local date!) —Seattle could be in for a very big spring. Here’s hoping.

Tickets ($70) to see Radiohead at KeyArena on April 9 go on sale this Saturday at 10am at ticketmaster.com.

KeyArena shows confirmed:

Blake Shelton, Mar 9
Lady Antebellum, Mar 20
Coldplay, April 25
UPDATED The Black Keys with Arctic Monkeys, May 8, tickets on sale Jan 20 at 10am
Roger Waters: The Wall Live, May 24
Neil Diamond, July 23

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Tags: Concert, Ticket Alerts, KeyArena

Inside the Comic-Con of Academia

Culture Fiend’s Allie Oosta reports back from the MLA Convention.

Posted by: Allie Oosta on Jan 10, 2012 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Professors, grad students, academics, and well-read citizens jammed into as many sessions as they could.

After a weekend at the MLA Convention, surrounded by both geeks and nerds, I confirmed that it’s the Comic-Con of academia—except with tweed blazers in place of latex costumes. That aside, the convention has nothing to do with the semicolon-obsessed MLA you might remember. Instead, it’s a weekend surging with intelligent, insightful conversations on culture, trends, the evolution of art, language, and the written word. Here’s what you missed:

How Seattle Changed Comics with Susan E. Kirtley, JoAnne Ruvoli, and Christopher Pizzino
•Pizzino discussed how former Seattleite Charles Burns used comics to convey trauma. Whether it’s the marriage of text and images or those little word bubbles in the creator’s handwriting, we empathize with put-upon comics characters, and Burns tapped into that.
•Kirtley focused on Lynda Barry, whose female characters often struggle through day-to-day life in Seattle. Class differences, concerns about race, and gender all play a part in her pages. And because Seattle was such a major character, her personal recollections made both comics and our city more accessible.

The Seattle Sound: A Look at Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney, Hendrix, and More with Lindsay E. Waters, John Melillo, and John McCombe
•In addition to being the city at the forefront of punk and grunge, McCombe talked about Seattle’s creation of the anti-rock star rock star through frontrunners like Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock and his “loser ethic.”
•The so-called Seattle Sound, created by Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and Modest Mouse, is unique by being a combination of soft and quiet, and loud and hard noises, (McCombe) or a type of music that focused on noise, empathy, heaviness, and juxtapositions like “joyful alienation” and “carefree angst” (Melillo).
•Waters discussed how Sleater-Kinney connected with fans by translating feminism into emotional text. Their sound “created music that scared people—made them want to run and ignore the reality of the words,” said Waters. He says that the band’s Carrie Brownstein hated the “soft, safe gumminess” of music. She asked, “Where’s the black and blue?” and used that mantra for inspiration.

Pinter in Seattle: A Creative Conversation with Frank Corrado and Harry Burton
Seattle’s currently in the middle of a serious love fest with Harold Pinter. This session opened with Dr. Susan Hollis Merritt’s long (but heartfelt) introduction to the late Nobel laureate playwright; she even recalled his death in December 2008 as one of the worst days of her life. She then introduced Frank Corrado and Harry Burton— and it was clear that all three oozed Pinter passion. Corrado, a Seattle actor, has curated a series of regular Pinter readings at ACT, while Burton just produced a film of all of his escapades with the man himself. Judging by the audience, there’s a dedicated, if elder, Pinter club in Seattle that regularly attends Corrado’s Pinter Fortnightly series. But are they reaching new audiences? I was the youngest one there by decades. Maybe things will change with the Pinter Festival, slated for summer 2012.

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The Vocal Stylings of Attila the Hun

He can sing, he can sack countries.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 10, 2012 at 09:30AM 0 Comments

Image courtesy Rozarii Lynch (foreground) / Yossi Zwecker and Israeli Opera (background)

John Relyea sings the title role in SO’s Attila.

We fancy the king of the Huns a bass-baritone—so John Relyea is well suited to lead the hordes as they sack Italy in Seattle Opera’s upcoming production of Verdi’s Attila. The Toronto native has already impressed local audiences as a tragicomic hero (Don in 2011’s Don Quixote) and a sadist (Bluebeard in 2009’s Bluebeard’s Castle); this year he’ll further test his talents as a conqueror (Attila) and a servant (Leporello in the Met’s Don Giovanni).

Seattle Opera’s Attila
McCaw Hall, Jan 14–28

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Tags: Opera, Classical and More, Seattle Opera, McCaw Hall

Are You a Geek or a Nerd?

Seattle’s Killer Infographics breaks it down for you.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 06, 2012 at 12:45PM 1 Comments

I’m so conflicted—does my love of fantasy fiction trump my inability to code? I feel like a gerd. Where do you stand? (Thanks to Seattle design film Killer Infographics for this most excellent Friday afternoon time waster.)

From: MastersInIt.orgre0-

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Preview: Season 2 of Portlandia Starts Tonight

Watch this clip, and highlights from their Seattle stopover.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 06, 2012 at 10:45AM 0 Comments

It’s back! Portlandia airs Fridays at 10pm on IFC.

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Tags: Portlandia

Met Picks: Coriolanus, Doctor Atomic Symphony, 14/48: World’s Quickest Theater Festival

The top 10 things to see or do this weekend.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Jan 05, 2012 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

THEATER As Ralph Fiennes releases his silver-screen update of Shakespearean tragedy Coriolanus, Seattle Shakes tackles the story of the Roman soldier who, after being elected to the Senate, faces even greater treachery in the Forum than on the battlefield. Thru Jan 29.

14/48: The World’s Quickest Theater Festival finds more than 50 local artists writing, designing, rehearsing, and performing 14 original 10-minute plays within 48 hours, all with an overarching theme chosen at random. Phew. Chaos, hilarity, and genius ensue. Jan 6–14.

CLASSICAL & MORE Seattle Symphony plays a 75-minute, no-intermission “Rush Hour” concert featuring selections from John Adams’s 2007 Doctor Atomic opera dramatizing the Manhattan Project. Enjoy preshow happy hour drinks and small plates starting at 5:30. Jan 6.

FILM When the Stone Roses pulled out of their headlining slot at the ‘95 Glastonbury Festival, Pulp filled in at the last minute—in front of 80,000 people—and played the show of their lives. Documentary The Beat Is the Law: Fanfare for the Common People illuminates Pulp’s rise to the top of the Britpop world. Jan 6–8.

Grab a booth, maybe some mac n’ cheese, a little (lot) of wine, and watch Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure at Central Cinema. Thru Jan 10.

PLAN AHEAD The National Theatre of London beams a live production of Collaborators —a new play by the screenwriter of Trainspotting—to SIFF Cinema at the Uptown on Monday. Jan 9 & 15.

FAMILY Seattle Children’s Theatre refreshes the 2003 Broadway musical A Year with Frog and Toad based on Arnold Lobel’s beloved book series. Amphibious BFFs fly kites, ride sleds, and celebrate Christmas to a jaunty score. Thru Jan 15.

BOOKS & TALKS Nerd alert: The MLA Convention, aka the Comic-Con of Academia, comes to town this weekend with seminars on literature, Nirvana, Pinter plays—and yes, even comics. Jan 5–8.

VISUAL ART Platform Gallery hosts Suzanne Opton’s Soldier/Many Wars, a collection of photo portraits of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan that are as sad as they are startling. Jan 5–Feb 11.

And take a trip back in time at Photo Center NW, where five contemporary artists show photo portraits of modern-day skaters, surfers, cowboys, art critics and soldiers, all created using 19th-century photo technology. It’s Surface: Contemporary Wet Plate Collodion Portraiture. Jan 5–Feb 15.

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Tags: Met Picks, Weekend

Art After-Hours: Where to Go this First Thursday

Museums are free, galleries stay open late. So…many…choices…

Posted by: Adriana Grant on Jan 05, 2012 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Image courtesy Photo Center NW.

Jenny Sampson, Malcolm, San Francisco, 2010.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy Photo Center NW.

Jenny Sampson, Malcolm, San Francisco, 2010.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy Greg Kucera Gallery.

Sean McFarland, Untitled (exit), 2010, C-print, 30 × 36 in., edition of 3.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy Platform Gallery.

Suzanne Opton, Soldier: Mickelson-Length of Service Undisclosed, 2005, archival pigment print.

In January the galleries seem to rev up after a sleepy holiday season—or time away showing at Art Basel Miami Beach. But these First Thursday openings are the ones not to miss.

Surface: Contemporary Wet Plate Collodion Portraiture
Photo Center NW, Jan 5–Feb 15
Wet plate collodion photography dates back to the 19th century, and requires the subjects to sit still for one (very) long minute in order for the image to set on a glass panel; the strain is often reflected in the models’ hardened faces and posture. For this group exhibit, five contemporary artists dabble in this alternative process technology. Daniel Carrillo is known locally for his delicate ambrotype portraits of Seattle artists and art critics. Savannah’s Ellen Susan captures Army soldiers with the same photo process used during the Civil War. National Geographic photographer Robb Kendrick shows images of contemporary cowboys in America, Mexico, and Canada. Jenny Sampson’s tintypes feature skateboarders at rest, while Joni Sternbach’s capture surfers on rocky beaches. Artists’ reception Jan 12, 6-8 pm.

Sean McFarland
Greg Kucera Gallery, Jan 5–Feb 18
For his Seattle solo debut, the Bay Area photographer muses moodily on landscapes in the half-light of dusk. Ivy snakes up tree trunks, all rich greens and shades of black, while a mess of brambles and thorns nearly suffocates. Opening reception Jan 5, 6–8pm; artist talk Jan 7 at noon.

Suzanne Opton: Soldier/Many Wars
Platform Gallery, Jan 5–Feb 11
Opton’s photo portraits of soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are as sad as they are startling. She focuses on their faces—heads resting sideways on the ground, and some with such vacant stares you fear for where their thoughts lie. Artist’s reception Feb 2, 6-8pm; artist talk Feb 3 at Henry Art Gallery.

View the slideshow for images from each exhibit.

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Tags: Visual Art, Pioneer Square, First Thursday

Turandot, La Bohème Top 2012 Seattle Opera Season

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 04, 2012 at 04:00PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Marianne Leach / Nashville Opera.

Soprano Lori Phillips, pictured here in Nashville Opera’s 2006 production of Turandot, reprises the lead role in Seattle.

Seattle Opera opens the 2012-2013 season with Puccini’s opulent Turandot, and boasts a double bill of 20th-century one-act operas. Here’s the lineup:

Turandot
Aug 4–18, 2012
Formidable soprano Lori Phillips, who sang the role of Turandot in over a half-dozen cities, steps in here as the cold-as-the-other-side-of-the-pillow princess. Italian tenor Antonello Palombi costars as her suitor on opening night. (This is a coproduction with Pittsburgh Opera and Minnesota Opera.)

Fidelio
Oct 13–27, 2012
SO revives Beethoven’s only opera: a two-act drama about a daring wife who disguises herself as a male jailer to rescue her wrongfully imprisoned husband. Last seen here in 2003, this updated production by director Chris Alexander and designer Robert Dahlstrom sets the struggle for freedom in a modern-day prison.

Cinderella (La Cenerentola)
Jan 12–26, 2013
Expect big voices and even bigger mice in Rossini’s romp, with Seattle debuts by Italian mezzo soprano Daniela Pini in the title role, and American tenor René Barbera as her prince.

La Bohème
Feb 23–Mar 9, 2013
‘Tis the season of Puccini. Long before Mark and Mimi were ill-fated partners in Broadway’s Rent, it was Rodolfo and Mimi who battled tuberculosis in the name of love. Tenor Francesco Demuro (a standout as Alfredo in 2009’s La Traviata) will sing opposite Elizabeth Caballero.

La Voix Humaine and Suor Angelica
May 4–18, 2013
SO wraps its season with the local premiere of two 20th-century one-acts: Poulenc’s “monodrama” La Voix Humaine, about a woman in a last-gasp, 40-minute phone plea to her ex; and Puccini’s melodrama Suor Angelica, featuring a saintly choir and a nun with a complicated past.

Single tickets for the 2012–2013 season go on sale May 29 at seattleopera.org.

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