THEATER
Whoever started the continuing trend of theater-in-ninety-minutes-or-less gets a big Christmas bonus. ACT houses two worthy, if flawed, examples recently reviewed here: The solo The Break/s and, better, Orange Flower Water, the latter of which should be seen by anybody invested in the potential of independent Seattle theater (if you want to a valuable local asset to grow, send your dollars in the direction of New Century Theater Company).

CLASSICAL
If Monday is a vacation day for you—even if it isn’t—remember that the Seattle Chamber Music Society Summer Festival kicks off at the beginning of the week. You can attend preconcert recitals and listen to broadcasts on the lawn for free.

CONCERTS
The Tractor’s got the reliably rousing Dusty 45s on Friday with opener Vince Mira, a talent in transition who’s profiled this month by Seattle Met senior editor James Ross Gardner. You can see the 45s again for a happy, hollerin’ 4th—and for just $5—at their Waterfront Seafood Grill gig.

FILM
The late David Carradine earned cult status on three counts, by my books: TV’s Kung Fu, Tarantino’s Kill Bill, and Paul Bartel’s gonzo midnight movie-style satire from 1975, Death Race 2000. Jason Statham got lean and mean for the recent remake but it only upped the speed and the gore; Carradine and company go for fast, cheap laughs. It’s far more fun and it plays two shows a night at Central Cinema (where the pigs-in-a-blanket are still calling my name) through July 8.

Fremont Outdoor Movies is going for the zombie flash mob Guinness world record at Friday’s screening of the amusing Shaun of the Dead, so do your part and show up as a walking corpse. (Down several strong cocktails the night before, don’t sleep, then drag yourself to Fremont. Should do the trick nicely.)

VISUAL ART
Alice Wheeler captures an electric stillness in her photographs—she always seems to seize the calm just before a storm or right after. Her Women Are Beautiful opens at Greg Kucera Gallery this week.

SPECIAL EVENTS
You want to do the park-and-fireworks thing? Head over to Gas Works (early) and claim your spot for the Chase Family Fourth.

For a moving Independence Day, you can go watch the Naturalization Ceremony at Seattle Center, during which more than 500 people are sworn in as U.S. citizens.

I hope they know what they’re in for. They, and you, may want to reflect on being American the American way—with copious amounts of alcohol. And as luck would have it there’s plenty available at the Seattle International Beerfest. Sweet land of liberty, of thee we sing.