Culture Fiend

Faust as a Rap Video?

It’s the world premiere of Bed Snake at Washington Ensemble Theatre.

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

Blood Kry$tal Wolf will mess you up.

A world premiere at Washington Ensemble Theatre always has potential. It could be a one-woman musical about cancer, or a story of a girl who falls in love with a robot told without any dialogue. Those were some of my favorite creations—smart, funny, bizarre, innovative—and exactly what I’ve come to expect from the tiny fringe theater on 19th Avenue.

Tonight’s premiere of Bed Snake, written by WET co-artistic directors Noah Benezra and Hannah Victoria Franklin, promises to “melt your face.” I kind of like my face, so I don’t know if I’m up for that. But when I chatted with Franklin about the show last week, I learned that at its core is the familiar Faust story of a man who sells his soul to the devil for fame and fortune. Only this time, it’s set inside a rap video.

Wannabe star Wolf makes a deal with snaky lady Kry$tal and rap duo Blood Kry$tal Wolf is unleashed on the world. They’re (loosely) inspired by South African rap-rave crew Die Antwoord, who also prefer dollar signs to the letter S and love to make audiences uncomfortable. (David Letterman didn’t know what to make of their freaky face masks and black contacts.) “They’re weird, offensive, and hysterical in a sideways way,” Franklin said of Die Antwoord. “We said, Let’s riff on that.”

It’s going to be a manic concert-as-theater performance with homemade music videos, strobe lights, crunk, hip-hop, and somewhere in there, a story. Fingers crossed.

Bed Snake
May 11–28, Washington Ensemble Theatre, $10–$25

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Theater, WET

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 20–29, with tickets available at brownpapertickets.com.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Balagan Theatre

Witness Art in Progress at the Project Room

Open studio, big ideas.

Posted by: Adriana Grant on Sep 14, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Jess Van Nostrand.

Paul Kikuchi is a musician by training; next week, he’ll be a craftsman, creating an instrument from bamboo.

Instead of being a clean, white cube like so many art centers, the Project Room gets messy. Fungus-infested law books clutter the shelves. Spools of yarn dangle during knitting classes. And perhaps messiest of all, the public is invited to interact with artists at work. The loft space on Capitol Hill (two doors down from new bar Artusi) houses a communal table, perfect for hands-on projects, meals, and debate. You’ll be privy to both discussions and experiments integral to the creative process.

The Project Room is the brainchild of curator Jess Van Nostrand, who, after curating great art at the coffee shop Joe Bar, revamped the Cornish College of the Arts exhibitions program. Her Project Room invites artists to create on-site, with open studio hours for community participation, and it serves as a locus for discussion.

Starting this month, new program Authorship asks sculptors, choreographers, and poets alike to address the idea of a “maker” and how that concept operates in an age of easy appropriation. The first event, “Accidental Manufacture,” features jazz trombonist/composer Stuart Dempster and percussionist/composer Paul Kikuchi building improv instruments on September 23 from 4-6pm, with a performance to follow. Iceland’s Design Collaborative Vík Prjónsdóttir leads the next event—a talk entitled Culture and Collaboration in Clothing Design—on September 28 at 6. Art is always in progress at Project Room; this sort of free-ranging, seat-of-the pants creativity is what the new space is all about.

Find the series calendar at projectroomseattle.org.

The Project Room 1315 E Pine St. Hours are determined by programming. All events are free and open to the public.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Visual Art, Free

Slideshow: Capitol Hill Block Party

Don’t fear the hipster throngs: The crowd, weather, and music all rocked this weekend.

Posted by: Julie Reposa on Jul 25, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

Photo: Julie Reposa

Ravenna Woods lead singer Chris Cunningham plays a lively set at Neumos.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Ravenna Woods lead singer Chris Cunningham plays a lively set at Neumos.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Seapony, a new Seattle band on the Hardly Art label, play the Vera stage.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Bellingham natives Federation X play a KEXP live session on the Caffé Vita Bean Room stage.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

People lounge after a KEXP Live Session at the Caffé Vita Bean Room.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

A family takes a break from all the rockin’ to enjoying some homemade ice cream. (I confess, after I took this picture I decided they had the right idea and indulged myself with a frozen treat—rockin’ out is hard work, after all.)

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces plays a song from her just-released solo album Last Summer at Neumos.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Nikki Benson of Lovesick Empire thanks the crowd at Neumos after a power-house set by the band.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Local purveyors of frosted goodness, Cupcake Royale, hawk their tasty almost-too-pretty-to-eat treats at the Block Party.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

A fine question.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Singer Carolyn Berk of Portland band Lovers.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Crowd? What crowd? Fans gather at the mainstage on Day 2 of CHBP to hear Los Angeles garage rock band Best Coast.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast sings lazy hazy garage-tinged odes to summer, Saturday night on the main stage.

View Slideshow » Photo: Julie Reposa

The Vera Project booth. Can you spot the musician?

Editor’s note: First-time Block Partier Julie Reposa joined the masses on Capitol Hill this weekend to revel and capture some highlights. Here’s her story. —LD

Despite the near-perfect weather, I felt a hint of trepidation when I arrived at the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday. Having heard some crazy crowd-control stories from years past, I secretly dreaded a hipster pig-pile.

While the festival site was certainly crowded, it was much more orderly than expected. (In fact, even the porta-potties were pretty clean.) I wish I had found a map of the festival layout sooner, though. Where was the main stage? Where was the beer garden? How many steps would I have to walk between the two…in case that became an issue?

But finally it was time to get down to business: seeking out the highlight of the bill, local folk-rockers the Head and the Heart on the mainstage. Emanating pure joy and delivering catchy melodies, the band has emerged as a new favorite, snagging spots at several Northwest festivals (including Sasquatch earlier this summer, and Doe Bay Festival in August). Their star is rapidly on the rise—3.8 from Pitchfork be damned!

Speaking of rapidly rising stars: Indie pop act Cults came and went at Neumos—and I missed it. My only consolation was that (from what I hear) the crowd was packed in like sardines in a can for the entire set. No doubt we’ll see Cults come through Seattle again soon, but in the meantime, I suggest you pick up their self-titled debut album. (You can thank me later.)

On Saturday, local indie poppers Telekinesis packed the mainstage and gave an exuberant performance. Bellingham punks Federation X played a power-packed KEXP live set at the quaint Caffe Vita Bean Room with huge stacks of bean-filled burlap sacks acting as unlikely seating.

Back-to-back sets by Portland band Lovers and Seattle band Seapony felt especially satisfying, both because the narrowness of the Vera stage helped corral bands closer to audiences for an intimate feel, and because Pagliacci Pizza and Bluebird homemade ice cream were also within reach.

In the end, the hipster hellscape I secretly feared never overwhelmed the festivities. Overall, the crowd seemed to be a good mix, accommodating families and younger children as well as the aforementioned hipster throngs. And for the most part, it was easy to walk around without being all up in each other’s business. If you ask me, Washington state has the best music festivals in the country. Next up: Bumbershoot!

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Slideshow, Music Festival, Capitol Hill Block Party

Tonight Only: The Best and the Brightest at NW Film Forum

Neil Patrick Harris can do no wrong.

Posted by: Seattle Met staff on Jun 29, 2011 at 02:55PM 2 Comments

This new comedy stars Neil Patrick Harris and Bonnie Somerville as New York yups desperately trying to enroll their daughter in the perfect private kindergarten. Amy Sedaris plays the consultant they hire to make it happen. It looks hilarious, and it’s only screening for one night at Northwest Film Forum: tonight at 7 and 9pm. Tickets aren’t available online anymore, but we just called Film Forum and they said they have plenty of seats left. Just show up (at least) 30 minutes before showtime to secure a seat—it sounds like there are a lot of Amy Sedaris fans in Seattle.

The Best and the Brightest plays June 29 at Northwest Film Forum.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Film, Northwest Film Forum

Capitol Hill Block Party Lineup for 2011

So many music fests, so little time.

Posted by: Julia Scherzinger on Jun 01, 2011 at 03:00PM 0 Comments

MGMT rocked last year’s Block Party.

Photo by Douglas Bair.

Music fest junkies, rejoice. Today we bring you not only Bumbershoot’s full lineup, but Capitol Hill Block Party’s as well.

The full listing of who’s playing and when:

Friday, July 22: Ghostland Observatory, the Head and the Heart, Ra Ra Riot, Thurston Moore, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Fresh Espresso, Hollyhood feat: Tigerbeat, Yuck, F*cked Up, Cults, Woods, The Fresh and Onlys, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, THEESatisfaction, Brothers From Another/Kung Fu Grip, Shad, Sol, Craft Spells, Skarp, Boat, Grave Babies, “The Rolling Stones”, Absolute Monarchs, Constant Lovers, Elephant Rider, Yarn Owl, and the Wheelies.

Saturday, July 23: TV On the Radio, Les Savy Fav, Best Coast, Handsome Furs, Telekinesis, Fences, Champagne Champagne, Comeback feat: Ononos, DJ Porq, and Colby B, the Young Evils, Cold Cave, Austra, Ravenna Woods, the Lumineers, Eleanor Friedberger, Lovesick Empire, He Whose Ox is Gored, Baths, Beat Connection, Teen Daze, Painted Palms, Seapony, Lovers, Witch Gardens, Yuni in Taxco, Hausu, Akimbo, Nazca Lines, Virgin, Don’t Talk to the Cops, Reporter, Slow Dance, and Sports.

Sunday, July 24: Explosions in the Sky, the Cave Singers, Battles, the Posies, My Goodness, Papercuts, Pink Mountaintops, Federation X, Loch Lomond, Grynch, Campfire Ok, Lumerians, Lisa Dank, Grand Hallway, Lake, Cold Showers, Dunes, Virgin Islands, Land of Pines, the Pharmacy, the First Times, Spurm, Tacocat, Buster Blue, Spaceneedles, and a Closing Party featuring Mad Rad, Mash Hall, Metal Chocolates Darwin, and Beat Connection DJ set.

Capitol Hill Block Party runs July 22–24. Tickets are $27.50 for a single day ticket—on sale Friday—or $75 for a three-day pass, available at capitolhillblockparty.strangertickets.com.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Music Fest, Capitol Hill Block Party

Seattle Premiere of Reservoir Dolls

At Theater Schmeater, playing with Dolls is a dangerous sport.

Posted by: Annie Rose Favreau on May 25, 2011 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

Dolls doing the perp walk.
Photo courtesy R. MacStravic.

Want to see talented women relish a raunchy, foul-mouthed script? Skip Bridesmaids and buy a ticket to Theater Schmeater’s Reservoir Dolls.

The all-female cast (well, almost—there’s a policeman in there too) delivers an ironic makeover of Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 macho cult classic Reservoir Dogs. With the exception of some colorful gender-inverted expletives, the adaptation by Erika Anne Soerensen (who plays Ms. Pink and is a darn sight prettier than Steve Buscemi) is a blow-by-blow replica of the drama about a jewel heist gone horribly awry.

Tarantino-style violence is difficult to pull off in a theater as intimate as Schmeater’s. Realistic fist-fights are simply harder when the audience is five feet from the action. But if you can suspend your inner critic, you can enjoy these femme fatales punching, slapping, kicking, and shooting each other with commendable gusto. The production has a designated Bloodmaster (Julia Griffin), an indication of how much red goo ends up on stage.

From the uneven cast, Ms. White (Christine White) and Ms. Blond (Lisa Viertel) are clear standouts. Husky-voiced White has an expert grasp on dark humor. When Ms. Pink asks her, “Is it bad?” a blood-drenched Ms. White deadpans, “As opposed to good?” And Ms. Blond is simply terrifying. With her cowboy boots, slow saunter, and psychopathic stare, she comes off as a sexy cross between Annie Oakley and Hannibal Lecter. Her torture scene with the policeman (Ben Burris) confirms that a shoe-string production can induce just as many creepy crawlies as a blowout like ACT’s gruesome The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

Is there a woman-power message behind the mayhem? Not really. But it tweaks your brain a little; there’s something necessarily—if subtly—different about watching women (rather than men) discuss the true meaning of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin.” Different, but no less entertaining. The point: Women can perform these violent, expletive-laden roles with as much conviction and crudity as the guys.

Reservoir Dolls is at Theater Schmeater through June 18.

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Tags: theater, Capitol Hill, Review, Theater Schmeater

Sasquatch! Poster Show at Vermillion

More than 60 new band posters are on display.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 19, 2011 at 09:50AM 0 Comments

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Foo Fighters by Don Clark (Invisible Creature).

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Foo Fighters by Don Clark (Invisible Creature).

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Modest Mouse by Justin Santora.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Ratatat by Lia Cerizo.

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela by Shogo Ota (Modern Dog).

View Slideshow » Illustration:

Image courtesy sasquatchfestival.com.

Yeasayer by Frida Clements.

Even if you’re not schlepping to Eastern Washington next weekend for the four-day Sasquatch! music festival, any rock geek can appreciate an exhibit of band poster art. And Sasquatch! poster art is a time-honored tradition: like $7 beers and those amazing Gorge sunsets. Every music act in the lineup, from Foo Fighters to the Flaming Lips, gets its own piece of artwork to commemorate the event, and more than 60 of those 2011 posters will be on display at art bar Vermillion on Capitol Hill, starting Friday.

The exhibit is free, and all-ages from 6–9pm; it goes up to 21+ after 9. Posters will be on display through May 29, but if you can’t make it to Vermillion, enjoy a sample in our slideshow (left), or go to sasquatchfestival.com/gallery.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Visual Art, Posters, Music Festival

TV on the Radio, Ra Ra Riot to Play Capitol Hill Block Party

Bringing you (part of) the 2011 lineup.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 18, 2011 at 10:15AM 0 Comments

Brooklyn boys TV on the Radio will play Capitol Hill Block Party.

Capitol Hill Block Party is back this July for three days of music in the streets, beer gardens, and teeming throngs of hipsters, with a lineup that includes now-regulars Ra Ra Riot; TV on the Radio touring behind a new album; and all kinds of local hip hop.

Here’s the partial lineup for the July 22–24 music fest (full lineup announced June 1):

TV on the Radio, Explosions In the Sky, Ghostland Observatory, Thurston Moore, The Cave Singers, Battles, Ra Ra Riot, Les Savy Fav, Handsome Furs, The Posies, Kurt Vile and the Violators, Yuck, Fucked Up, Telekinesis, Cults, Cold Cave, Woods, Fences, Pink Mountaintops, My Goodness, Papercuts, Austra, The Fresh and Onlys, Mad Rad, Fresh Espresso, Champagne Champagne, Federation X, THEESatisfaction, Ravenna Woods, Akimbo, Young Evils, Black Breath, Grynch, Absolute Monarchs, Eleanor Friedberger, Grave Babies, Beat Connection, Grand Hallway, Campfire OK, Loch Lomand, Skarp, Lisa Dank, Sol, Painted Palms, Mash Hall, Metal Chocolates, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Sports, Teen Daze, Craft Spells, Boat, Lake, Virgin Islands, Spurm, Elephant Rider, The Pharmacy, Lovesick Empire, Constant Lovers, Slow Dance, Don’t Talk to the Cops, Nazca Lines, Tom Wright Trio, Lovers, Yarn Owl, The First Times, Reporter, Lumerians, Seapony, Wheelies, Slow Dance, The Lumineers, Witch Garden, He Whose Ox is Gored, Land of Pines, Buster Blue, The First Times, “The Rolling Stones” (a Seattle Rolling Stones cover band featuring members of Truckasaurus, Flexions, Blood Brothers and Whalebones), Hausu, Yuni in Taxco, Spaceneedles, Comeback! feat. Ononos, Hollyhood! DJ sets by Fourcolor Zack, Tigerbeat, Sean Cee, and DJ N8.

Three-day passes ($75) for the 15th Capitol Hill Block Party go on sale Friday, May 20, at 10am at capitolhillblockparty.strangertickets.com. Single-day tickets ($25) go on sale June 3.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Ticket Alerts, Music Festival

Brandi Carlile Plays a Free Show at Molly Moon’s

In honor of her new album, Live at Benaroya Hall, out today.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on May 03, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Brandi Carlile looks like a balsamic strawberry kind of girl.

Back in November, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile played two sold-out shows with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. If you couldn’t make it—or you were in row ZZ—there’s another opportunity to see her perform: up close, personal, and while eating salted caramel ice cream.

Brandi Carlile will play a free set at Molly Moon’s on Capitol Hill tonight, May 3, from 7–8pm. She’s back in town to promote the release of her new album, Live at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony, which drops today—same day as the Fleet Foxes’s much-heralded sophomore album, Helplessness Blues. Too…much…local…talent.

For a preview of Brandi’s latest, check out filtermagazine.com.

UPDATED 1:40pm. Brandi will also play Cupcake Royale on Pike St in Capitol Hill at 4pm and Easy Street Records on Mercer Street in Lower Queen Anne at 10pm.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Concert, Free Show, Brandi Carlile

Inside the Mind of a Goat: Scenes of Great Beauty at Erickson Theater

Posted by: Annie Rose Favreau on Apr 20, 2011 at 12:30PM 1 Comments

Photo courtesy Chris Bennion.

A young inventor (Brian Claudio Smith), who’s dying to make a flushable toilet, seeks comfort from his goat (Michael Patten) in NCTC’s O Lovely Glowworm.

At first, New Century Theatre Company’s O Lovely Glowworm, or Scenes of Great Beauty seems…well, absurd. Characters are conjured from the pained mind of a taxidermied Irish goat: There’s a homicidal mermaid lounging on a soap bar, a WWI vet who takes his pants off in moments of stress. (The Goat’s quite proud: “I have, with great effort, created an inner life, and it’s lovely!”)

Yet from this chaotic jumble, playwright Glen Berger (who cowrote Broadway’s equally chaotic Spider-Man) shakes out moments of resonance, exploring philosophic puzzlers—life, death, and endurance in the face of anguish—with dark wit. Only here could a man, in his final seconds, wonder if he’s been short-changed at the dry cleaners.

But real life doesn’t have the benefit of a sardonic playwright. On the show’s opening night, NCTC’s Darragh Keenan and Paul Morgan Stetler raised a glass to the late Mark Chamberlin. A veteran Seattle actor, Chamberlin was slated to appear as the Goat until his sudden death in March. (The role is now filled gracefully by Michael Patten.) “Without Mark’s support, this show would not have been possible,” said Keenan. Too true. In a recent Seattle Examiner interview, Stetler said Chamberlin was the driving force behind NCTC’s decision to produce Glowworm in the first place. “Mark was the one who lobbied for us to do this. The idea of not doing the show never really crossed our minds. Mark would have kicked our ass if we canceled.”

This actor’s sudden passing and the celebration of his life grant a special synergy to the show. We are reminded, in the words of NCTC’s artistic directors, of the “brevity and fragility of this life of ours.”

With such heavy themes, one might expect a drama. But the cast shines brightest in high-comedy moments. Slapstick fistfights, cutting one-liners and Peter Dylan O’Connor’s delightful physicality—keep an eye out for his rumble with a vintage bicycle—carry the lengthy show between flashes of poetry.

O Lovely Glowworm is on stage at Erickson Theatre through May 14.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Review, Theater, In Memoriam, New Century Theatre Company

Watch Coachella Live at Moe Bar

No tickets to the California music fest? No problem.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Apr 13, 2011 at 05:00PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy Sean Pecknold.

We can’t get enough of this Gogol Bordello photo from Sasquatch! 2009. Eugene Hütz is getting air.

This in from Moe Bar:

We are excited to announce that Moe Bar next to Neumos will be screening all three days of Coachella live! Fri Apr 15, Sat Apr 16, Sun Apr 17.

After the success of showing the LCD Soundsystem final concert, we wanted to go big or go home! The festival will be displayed on two flat screens as well as a large drop projection screen at the rear of the bar. Come out to see performances by Black Keys, Mumford and Sons, Duran Duran, The National, Nas and Damian Marley, PJ Harvey, Cold War Kids, Gogol Bordello, Interpol, Bright Eyes, and more, all while getting your drink on! For the full lineup of what you can expect each day, please visit coachella.com.

Set times have not been posted for the event as of yet, but we anticipate the stream to start at 5pm. This means Happy Hour 5–7. $3 Wells and Microdrafts, $2 Domestics. There will be NO COVER for this event. FREE. Just bring your sexiest dance moves.

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Tags: Capitol Hill, Music Fest, Music Festival, Neumos, Moe Bar