TeenTix Blog

Jody Diamond and Gamelan Pacifica @ Cornish College of the ArtsTONIGHT!Okay, first, what's a gamelan, right? Let's go to Wikipedia:"A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included."Gamelan Pacifica is a 30 year-old Seattle-based gamelan orchestra. It is an active and adventurous ensemble, with a reputation for creating diverse productions merging traditional and contemporary musical forms with dance, theater, puppetry, and visual media.Jody Diamond is a composer, performer, and scholar and one of the premier proponents of contemporary gamelan music in America today.But none of that is really why you're gonna go to this concert. This is why:Want some more?Jody Diamond and Gamelan PacificaSaturday, December 5th @ 8 pmPONCHO Performance Hall, Cornish College of the ArtsMore info at the Cornish Music Series site

A review of Plaid Tidings at ArtsWest by Shannon L.The Plaids, a barbershop quartet, were killed when broadsided by a bus on the way to a show. They returned to earth just one more time in the show Forever Plaid… or did they? The Plaids are back at Arts West in Plaid Tidings, and I certainly hope it will be back for many more. These four men, plus a small orchestra, executes spot-on choreography, never waver off-pitch, and still manage to stay perfectly in-character as they blend Christmas tune after Christmas tune into a wildly entertaining show for the holidays. Musically directed by R.J. Tancioco, the harmonies are bitingly bright and pristinely in tune.Aaron Finley, John Bartley, Daniel Stoltenberg, and Ryan McCabe in Plaid Tidings at ArtsWest. Photo by Matthew Durham.Of all the holiday shows out there, I don’t remember one that has made me cry from laughter (actual tears were streaming down my face), and again from an exquisitely simple and touching final line… until now. On their opening night, the cast of Arts West’s Plaid Tidings was, unfortunately, playing to a less-than-half-full house of elderly people, my mother, my younger brother, and me. We were the ones laughing the hardest. Even after a long Wednesday at school and two unbearable hours of mind-numbingly bland Driver’s Ed, this show is the perfect pick-me-up for any teenager. It has something for almost everyone; be ready to jump out of your seat and onto the stage, because these boys need help, and they’ll ask for it! The fact that it had little plot barely mattered. This sequel to the show Forever Plaid is filled with singing and precise barbershop-style songs, relatable characters, and hysterical comedy. Featuring John W. Bartley as the Charlie Brown-esque Smudge, Aaron C. Finley as leader-of-the-group Frankie, Ryan McCabe as baby brotherly Jinx, and Daniel Stoltenberg as endearingly quirky Sparky, this cast fails to disappoint. It would definitely be a mistake to miss this one.Plaid Tidings plays at ArtsWest now through December 27th.

Our video of the day is a short little promo for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Equivocation, currently playing at Seattle Rep (and our Pick of the Week).This video makes you want to see the play, which is remarkable considering that it simultaneously reminds you of how all theatre - even really really good theatre - always always always looks absolutely stupid on video. Enjoy.EquivocationSeattle Repertory TheatreThrough December 13th

Rashomon @ SIFF CinemaHey! You! Dude who's never seen Rashomon! I *know* I didn't just hear you call yourself a real film nerd, right? RIGHT? Yeah, that's what I thought.RashomonDecember 4 - 10SIFF CinemaMore info at siff.net

Equivocation @ Seattle Repertory Theatre"Equivocation is a stunningly thoughtful play. It boldly holds its audience accountable for its response. It stands and says: Listen up. Art matters, because life matters...Cain’s provocative script, performed by Ashland’s riveting actors, makes for one night at the theatre you are not permitted to forget." - Teen Tix reviewer Lauren WPhoto by Jenny GrahamIn Equivocation, the Prime Minister to King James commissions William Shakespeare to write a play about a thwarted attempt to kill the king. But when Will and his band of actors discover the government’s version is neither true nor interesting, they must choose between losing their artistic integrity or losing their heads. Bill Cain’s contemporary writing is brilliantly woven with threads of King Lear and Macbeth. This production was a smash hit at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and this marks the first time in 25 years that an OSF show will be seen in Seattle."...this is a thrilling night of theater and you should treat yourself to catching this incredible show before it moves on. And that is the truth." - BroadwayWorld.comEquivocationThrough December 13thSeattle Repertory TheatreMore information at seattlerep.org

It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play presented by Taproot Theatre @ North Seattle Community CollegeIf you live in the Phinney/Greenwood neighborhood, or have been following local news lately, you probably already know that Taproot Theatre, along with several other businesses and homes in the Greenwood neighborhood, was severly damaged in one of a rash of fires that were set by an arsonist over the past month.Mark Lund, Candace Vance and Grant Goodeve in Taproot Theatre's It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play. Photo by Erik Stuhaug.Taproot had planned to present a new play, Sherlock Holmes and and the Case of the Christmas Carol, as their seasonal show this year (and they are still presenting two staged readings of the play - by local playwright John Longenbaugh - on December 4th & 5th at SPU.) But, when their space became unusable, they realized that they didn't have room for that production, and quickly pulled together a remount of their popular live radio play version of It's a Wonderful Life. It's an apt choice: a story about one individual's value to a community to respond to one individual's attempt to decimate a community. Expect a heart-string-tugging evening and a lesson in the healing power of art.It's a Wonderful LifePresented by Taproot Theatre at North Seattle Community College's Stage OneThrough December 30thMore information at taproottheatre.orgDirections to NSCC's Stage One here

Returning for its 26th season in Seattle, the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker ushered in the holiday season last weekend to an enthusiastic audience. Created by Kent Stowell and Maurice Sendak (author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are) TheNutcracker has been a holiday tradition for Seattle families for many years. And this year, it can be counted on again to be the fun, whimsical, but also powerful experience that has charmed Washington for decades. The crown jewel of the show is the world that Sendak creates with his costumes and sets. Each piece is intricate and detailed—upon close examination, mice line the frescoes of Clara’s house, Where the Wild Things Are-like monsters can be found in the backdrops at the start of Act Two, and his sets vary in style from European to Oriental to the bizarre. It is this intricacy and detail, combined with his vibrant but simple style that makes Nutcracker come alive in a world formed of the same imagination that whisks Clara away. Combined with Tchaikovsky’s timeless score, Stowell’s choreography, and a small army of excited PNB School students, the production takes off. Building off of boundless energy and passion, you cannot help but be drawn into the spirit and cheer of it all. I had the chance to dance for three years in the PNB’s Nutcracker several years back, and the experience defines Nutcracker for me every time I have seen it since. From the first time I saw it, dancing in the Nutcracker was my childhood dream, and I entered the PNB school just to be in Nutcracker. Now, when I return to Nutcracker, I am captivated just as I was when I was four. In the end, Nutcracker continues to be a tradition for just this reason. Not just any show can make you remember how to dream and feel like a kid again, year after year after year. Uniquely heartfelt and touching, words do not describe what it is like to experience it, and cannot even come close to the joy of coming back again. Nutcracker creates a world that for a few hours you will be blessed to fall into; and when the curtain closes, you will be just as sad to go as Clara. Pacific Northwest Ballet'sThe Nutcracker plays at McCaw Hall now through December 30th. Please note that this production is NOT Teen Tix eligible.

A Review of The Yes Men Fix the World at Northwest Film Forum by Laura V.No isn't an answer for Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno as they battle the free market by pulling pranks on large corporate businesses. In The Yes Men Fix The World, Mike and Andy decide to impersonate employees from corporate companies including Dow Chemical, World Trade Organization, Exxon Oil, McDonalds, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the New York Times. Their objective: to spread awareness by changing the truth with outrageous props to support their mission ranging from Gilda the Skeleton, Reggie the human flesh candle, and the Survivorball; and with each spoof, the Yes Men clearly get their message to the business men that are drinking the "free market kool-aid." The Yes Men successfully made their point throughout the film. They gave the audience a well-developed, unbiased approach to how the free market is draining natural resources and how the free marketeers are affecting the middle and lower classes, without letting us know. Using vintage cartoon clips and other primary sources, the Yes Men used interviews of locals from Bhopal to the men of the Cato Institute to get their point across and let us understand what really fuels the wealth, prosperity, freedom, privatization and capitalist system of the "free" world. I highly recommend this film for anyone who loves a prank or two. The Yes Men took on corruption and had fun exposing the truth by simultaneously spreading awareness to a broad audience, and as Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno put it, "if we can do that, imagine what you can do."The Yes Men Fix the World plays now through December 3rdat Northwest Film Forum

A review of A Christmas Carol at ACT by Jenny S.Christmas has come to the ACT Theatre, and there is not a Rockette in sight. Nary a reindeer blinks its luminescent nose, and only a woebegone handful of snow drifts from the technically endowed ceiling of the theatre. It is against this austere backdrop that Kurt Beattie and R. Hamilton Wright set the stage for Dickens’ formidable fable, revealing a story that is masterful in its simplicity. What seems the stuff of hearthside entertainment, allegorical drudgery, or at the very worst, literature to be consumed under the forceful eye of a high school English teacher, proves itself to be a mirror to society, withstanding the test of time from Dickensian England to health-care-crisis-two-wars-for-the-price-of-one America.R. Hamilton Wright as Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at ACT Theatre. Photo by Chris Bennion.A Christmas Carol is a seminal classic. It follows the story of one Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly old coot whose grizzled gray locks have certainly seen better days. He delights, if you can call it that, in counting his abundant stacks of cash, and would probably be most welcome in an Algebra class. He displays an untoward amount of energy spitting on those who have the misfortune to stumble across the path of his contempt for Christmas, charity, and seasonal cheer. Bah humbug indeed, for our aged protagonist is shown the error of his ways by three Christmas sprites, who respectively show him his downfall in an unhappy childhood, the misery he has inflicted, seemingly on the whole of England, though particularly the cheerily destitute Cratchit family, and finally a vision of Scrooge’s own coffin being paraded through the streets of London, to the despair of few. When the last, faceless specter dressed in the type of rags found moldering on the Costume and Display sales rack finally sinks into the floor of the theater amidst billows of red smoke, Scrooge is a changed man. Leaping and even tap dancing with glee that belies his age, dear ole Ebenezer runs through the street in his bathrobe, purchases for the impoverished Crachits a turkey the size of Santa Claus, and the rest is history. Or Christmas future, at the very least.The two directors, Kurt Beattie and R. Hamilton Wright, not content only to mount a first class production, also alternate the role that has become a household name and even a catchphrase. In the November 29th performance, R. Hamilton Wright exhibited curmudgeonly cruelty in the best way possible. Seething in upper class furor, he crows that the poor “had better die quickly, and decrease the surplus population!” After his transformation Wright is spiffily hilarious, tap dancing around the rounded theater crowing “I feel happy!” and contradicting his era by anachronistically high-fiving strategically seated audience members. Brandon Whitehead also stands out as the jovial Mr. Fezziwig, and Chloe Forsyth pulls heartstrings and knows it, as the freakishly adorable Tiny Tim. The supporting actors twist their tongues around a panoply of British accents, and pop merrily about the stage ringing in the yuletide spirit and sporting different shades of plaid.This production is not a new one, it is in its thirty-fourth incarnation at ACT and has become a perennial favorite of Seattle crowd. The 2009 production betrays its age only in that it has been honed over time into a perfectly un-preachy confection. More than any one actor or technical enchantment, Dickens’ words shine in the script adapted by Gregory A. Falls. Once one allows high school enforced reading prejudices to fall away, Dickens’ words, bright and polished as sleigh bells, really do fulfill the great expectations one has of the literary giant.The Beattie and Wright production of A Christmas Carol is visually appealing, intelligent, and occasionally humorous. (I don’t wish to spoil a surprise, but there is a sudden and very hilarious moment involving cross-dressing.) And I’ll be the first to admit that Tiny Tim’s travails actually had my eyes welling up. So stock up on peppermint humbugs, Kleenex, and good cheer, and bear witness to a show that was captivating theater-goers when your parents still believed in Santa. - Jenny S.November 29th, 2009A Christmas Carol plays at ACT now through December 27th.Only the following select performances of A Christmas Carol are Teen Tix-eligible. There are NO companion (2 for $10) tickets for any of these performances.December 8 @ 7pmDecember 10 @ 6 and 8:30pmDecember 11 @ 6pmDecember 15 @ 6 and 8:30pmDecember 16 @ 6 and 8:30pm

Review of It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Taproot Theatre by Shannon L.As some of you may already know, Taproot Theatre Company’s space was severely damaged when the building immediately next door was set on fire as a victim of a string of arsons in the area on October 23rd. Authorities didn’t think they’d be able to save the building. Luckily, they were wrong. Taproot is currently being restored and remodeled and hopes to be open again in January. While a large setback - and I mean LARGE setback; Taproot couldn’t find another venue to accommodate the world premiere of John Logenbaugh’s Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, and had to find a Plan B show for the holidays - you couldn’t guess that this company of six actors was a Plan B at all.The production of It’s a Wonderful Life is different and entertaining, featuring a perfect blend between the personalities of the actors, and the characters of the story itself. Filled with real-life sound effects right on stage like high heels, car doors, horns, bells, and whistles, you become part of the “live” 1947-style broadcast of the beloved story It’s a Wonderful Life. Eric Riedmann, whom you may know as the “Audio Visual Guy” from Disney’s 1999 10 Things I Hate About You plays the man behind the sounds... and the several impeccable accents. The actors switch between characters without a hitch, and when you’re “off the air,” they live onstage as 1947 versions of themselves. Featuring TV star Grant Goodeve as George Bailey, the production is a Christmas Carol-esque show that shows us the impact of our lives on others, and how without us, others may cease to exist. While It’s a Wonderful Life provides the opportunity to look at theatre through a new lens, it was difficult to see past the cliché-colored haze of do-gooder George Bailey and be swept into the story. This is a Christmas show; of course it has a happy ending! Real life doesn’t work like that, which is why I didn’t find it believable. I would like to make one thing clear though: the story, not the acting, was insincere. This is a great show to enjoy around the holidays; if you don’t mind the cheesy topping, this is definitely a worthwhile evening.- Shannon L.November 27th, 2009Its A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Playpresentedby Taproot Theatre, performing at North Seattle Community CollegeNow through December 30th

Richard Price @ Seattle Arts & LecturesAll of you writers out there should flock - FLOCK! - to hear novelist and screenwriter Richard Price speak about his work (novels Clockers and Lush Life, screenplays and teleplays The Color of Money, Shaft, The Wire) tomorrow night at Benaroya. Here's an excerpt from his most recent novel, Samaritan, about a writer named Ray who returns to his Bronx home to reconnect with his daughter and teach creative writing at his former high school. (Note: I transcribed this from this NPR interview, so it may not match the version in print.)"This is great, great. Okay, this class, forget it, okay? Don’t even think of it as creative writing. It’s just stories. The writing assignments: stories, tellin’ stories. Can somebody wake this guy up?"One of the girls punched the boy Jamal whose forehead was resting on the table. Ray so happy now, stories his lifelong lifeline, to his daughter, to romance, to himself, stories the ballast, the crash cart, the air."And the thing is, what are you, Hopewell projects kids? Neighborhood kids? Oh man, nobody out there knows what you know. What you may think of as, as everyday, as boring? That’s like, Nah. That’s, me? When I wanna read somethin’, a book, a story, a newspaper article. I’m thinking time is tight, why should I read this, what does this individual have to tell me that I don’t already know?”Photo by Damon Winter, the New York TimesHe then checked himself, something off in the message.“Not that what you write has to be a showstopper, mind boggling, or you know, can you top this. All I am saying is, believe me, you are all so much more interesting, so much more special than you might think.So every week, you’re gonna write me a few pages, doesn’t have to have a beginning or an end, just some kind of snapshot, word picture, bring it in and read it to the class, or I’ll read it for you and we’ll talk.Questions?”Jamal, the sleeper, raised his hand. Does spelling count. The girl with the big framed glasses, Myra, clucked her tongue in irritation.“Spelling is good, it’s good to have spelling.”His disappointment in the question was neutralized by this Myra. Something cooking there.“Can we write in pencil?”“Pencil, pen blood, as long as I can decipher it.”“Does it have to be true?”“Fool me.”Richard Pricepresented by Seattle Arts & Lectures @ Benaroya HallTuesday, December 1st @ 7:30*captioned*More info at lectures.org

Tomorrow is a very special day here in Teen Tix land, a day that only comes once a year, a day that we know lots of you spend your whole year dreaming of: it's Teen Tix day at the Nutcracker!!!Every year, as a show of appreciation for the love that you give them all year long, PNB sets aside some tickets just for Teen Tix members for one performance of their wildly popular Nutcracker ballet. This year, that day is tomorrow!There are a limited number of Teen Tix tickets available for the Nutcracker ballet tomorrow, Sunday, November 29th at 5:30 PM.Here's the deal: There are 100 Teen Tix tickets available. They will be sold, in person only, starting at 4:00 pm at the box office at McCaw Hall. There are NO companion (2 for $10) ticketsavailable - you may buy one ticket per Teen Tix member only. Once they are sold out, that's it. No more Teen Tix. So get your holiday spirit on, get in line early, and have a wonderful time.P.S. One of our official Teen Tix photographers will be there taking pictures of Teen Tixers in line for the show, so, if you see her, say hi!For more info about the show or directions to McCaw Hall, visit PNB's website

Look what we discovered while watching clips from the documentary The Yes Men Fix the World (running this week at Northwest Film Forum and our Pick of the Week): Reggie! Yes, that's right, local treasure Reggie Watts took a break from being a musical comedic genius to play the role of "Reggie Watts," an Exxon janitor who donated his cancer-ravaged body to produce thetest version of Vivoleum, ExxonMobil’s new fuel made from the human flesh of climate change victims. At least that's what a conference full of oil and gas execs heard when the Yes Men impersonated Exxon at Canada’s GoExpo 2007. Don't you want to know how those oil and gas execs reacted?The Yes Men Fix the WorldNovember 27th - December 3rdNorthwest Film Forum

The Yes Men Fix the World @ Northwest Film ForumJoin the Yes Men, Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonanno, as they battle the free market mentality with their politically charged hijinks. Their method: select a corporation they don’t like, set up a fake website and wait until they’re invited to speak at an event as a representative of said despised company. This time around, Andy and Mike take on Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton and the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Incorporating vintage cartoons and archival footage, Bichlbaum and Bonanno construct a fast-paced, highly entertaining look at their unique brand of activism. The absurdity of their actions may amuse, but the Yes Men have a serious point to make: business as usual is no longer acceptable.Watch the trailer.Full schedule:Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum will be in attendance at screenings Nov 27th - 29th!Friday, Nov 27 at 07:00PMFriday, Nov 27 at 09:00PMSaturday, Nov 28 at 07:00PMSaturday, Nov 28 at 09:00PMSunday, Nov 29 at 07:00PMSunday, Nov 29 at 09:00PMMonday, Nov 30 at 07:00PMMonday, Nov 30 at 09:00PMTuesday, Dec 01 at 09:00PMWednesday, Dec 02 at 07:00PMWednesday, Dec 02 at 09:00PMThursday, Dec 03 at 07:00PMThursday, Dec 03 at 09:00PMThe Yes Men Fix the WorldNorthwest Film Forum

The Yes Men Fix the WorldNovember 27 - Dec 3Northwest Film Forum

Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act @ Seattle Art MuseumA certain little most famous artist ever has been getting a lot of attention lately, so we thought we would point out that, alongside SAM's current show of Michaelangelo sketches, there is another, bigger, totally different show happening. It's called A Balancing Act and it takes you on a tour through the career of American master-sculptor Alexander Calder.Polychrome Dots and Brass on Red, 1964, Sheet metal, brass, wire and paint. Collection of Jon and Mary Shirley.© 2009 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Justin GollmerOver at I don't know about this, Stephen Cummings says:"Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act...(despite its lame title) is top notch...for those who are new to the work, this neutral, retrospective type presentation is the best sort of introduction possible...I was just making a quick stop by the museum to check out some photos, and thought, as long as I was in the building, might as well take a glance upstairs — wasn't until two and a half hours later that I managed to pry myself away from the fourth floor. If you haven't seen the show yet, go sooner rather than later because you'll want to come back again, and again, and again."You may already know Calder and just not know that you know him. He is the artist who created the big red eagle sculpture (Eagle) in the Olympic Sculpture Park."Eagle" @ Olympic Sculpture Park by Henry Roxas on flickrThis show, however, focuses on Calder's mobiles, the works for which he was most famous. Jen Graves describes her favorite:Bougainvillier, 1947"Bougainvillier (Bougainvillea), from 1947, an exquisitely delicate standing mobile with a generous, curved black base ringed by a black sphere stretching up to a red cantilever that sprouts leggy branches and tiny white blossoms. It's like a garden nymph from outer space."And over at Another Bouncing Ball, Regina Hackett boils it down for you: "Alexander Calder: A Balancing Act at the Seattle Art Museum is nothing but extraordinary." (Regina's also got a bunch more pretty pictures of the exhibit on her blog - if you're not convinced yet, check it out.)Alexander Calder: A Balancing ActThrough April 11, 2010More info at seattleartmuseum.org

Review of Equivocation at Seattle Repertory Theatre by Lauren WSpeculative Shakespeare—it is beginning to become a genre unto itself. Bill Cain’s Equivocation is a curious addition to the fictional Bard canon, because it confronts the very fact that allows it to exist. “You will be the only major writer with no history,” the villain Robert Cecil prophesies to Shagspeare (Cain’s name for the character). Cecil accuses Shakespeare of being a chronic pleaser, incapable of boldness in life or art. “People will go to your plays as they go to church, leaving unchanged but feeling somehow improved.” Cecil’s indictment of Shagspeare is just as biting for the audience as it is for the character. Are we all too happy that our favorite writer has no troublesome affiliations, and we can read into his works whatever we see fit?Equivocation at Seattle Rep. Photo by Jenny Graham.Equivocation is the story of Shagspeare’s relationship with the English government (and thereby the relationship of art to politics). He has been commissioned by the King to write a play about the gunpowder plot of 1605. When it becomes clear that Shagspeare is being asked to write propaganda, he recoils: “I am a writer, not a town crier.” But soon, it is not just a question of to write or not to write— it is a matter of truth and justice, with Shagspeare’s writing caught in the moral crossfire. Perhaps Shakespeare was not a revolutionary; Cain’s script proposes that he ought to have been. The play self-consciously examines the purpose of a play, forcing its audience to keep up and think twice about its reactions.This show is imported from the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and it shows; the production values are impeccable. The set, formed with sturdy, elegant wood panels, gives the impression of the theatre in the round, but is used for everything from a castle to a dungeon. The sound and light designs are subtle and effective. Best of all is the superb acting talent represented. Notable is John Tufts’ vigorous performance in multiple roles. He imbues young actor Sharpe with a kinetic petulance, writhes passionately as prisoner Tom Winter, and nails King James’ Scottish brogue and giddy demeanor—sometimes playing more than one in the space of a scene. Anthony Heald shows the full arc of Shagspeare’s journey here—this is clearly a role he has lived in. The part of Judith, Shagspeare’s daughter, is small but deftly written, and Christine Albright’s cynical charisma brings a sparkling female presence to the production. All the actors move with a well-timed rhythm, surely the result of adept direction.But all this brilliant execution comes to nothing without a quality script to execute. Equivocation is a knotty play—it’s often too clever for its own good, chockfull of semiprofound one-liners and winking self-references It juggles a few too many themes—is it about activism? Grief? Art? Truth? And its moral, when made overt, can become overbearing. All this aside, Equivocation is a stunningly thoughtful play. It boldly holds its audience accountable for its response. It stands and says: Listen up. Art matters, because life matters. Equivocation is the manipulation of words to convey a particular meaning. For Cain, it is “to answer the question really asked, and to answer it with our lives.” Cain’s provocative script, performed by Ashland’s riveting actors, makes for one night at the theatre you are not permitted to forget. - Lauren WNovember 18th, 2009EquivocationThrough December 13thSeattle Repertory Theatre

Review of Isabella Rossellini @ Seattle Arts & Lectures by Spencer T.What is there to say about Isabella Rossellini? That she is incredibly talented? That she is both very smart and very beautiful? That she is funny? These are all true, but I think she might best be described as wonderfully weird. The daughter of Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian “neo-realist” director Roberto Rossellini, Isabella was a model, then an actress, and now has moved on to writing and directing. If this all sounds very impressive but rather dull, keep in mind that it is Ms. Rossellini who has finally answered mankind’s eternal question: “why vagina?”. The series she directs, writes, and stars in is entitled Green Porno. These two minute internet shorts from the Sundance channel detail the sordid and fascinating sex lives of animals, be they earthworms or whales, and manage to be hilarious and strangely informative at the same time.

Isabella Rossellini as Charlie Chaplin in her film tribute to her father, My Dad is 100 Years OldWednesday night Seattle was fortunate enough to host Rossellini for Seattle Arts and Lectures' Special Events series. She spoke about her parents and childhood, about becoming a mother herself, and of course, Green Porno. She showed clips of her various works, including a short surrealist film she made about her father for what would have been his 100th birthday. She played all the characters in the film, including Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, and Ingrid Bergman. That is, all of the characters except for her father, who was represented by a giant stomach that jiggled when it spoke. Her talk was intellectual, intriguing, funny, and yes, very odd. A more satisfying lecture is hard to imagine.- Spencer TNovember 18th, 2009Next up in Seattle Arts and Lectures Special Events series:"Godmother of punk" Patti SmithMonday, January 25th, 2010More info at lectures.org

Our Pick of the Week, the Henry Art Gallery And All Of The Wonderful Things That It Has, has a NEW WONDERFUL THING: The Gift Shop Presents: Presents"Sol, Jason, and Claire are bringing gifts back to the Gift Shop! They’re stocking the Gift Shop with presents they have made together and individually, along with contributions from their friends. During the three weeks of the exhibition anyone is invited to make a gift, bring it in, and exchange it for one they find. In the spirit of “white elephant” and “secret santa” games, this encourages speculation, anticipation, excitement (or disappointment?)—challenging each of us to confront our desires and expectations. What are you willing to give? What do you expect and hope for in return? This project examines the celebratory aspect of making art and giving, the element of surprise in getting presents and in collaborating, and the potential for new relationships and dialogue within our community.The exchange of gifts will begin during the opening party this Friday the 20th from 5 - 8 pm. Anyone who wants to participate can wrap a gift, place it in the gallery, and choose one to take home. The gift exchange will continue during the Henry’s regular gallery hours, Friday November 20th through Sunday December 13th."The Gift Shop Presents: Presentsby Sol Hashemi, Jason Hirata and Claire CowieThe Gift Shop at the Henry Art GalleryUniversity of Washington, SeattleThu - Fri: 11 am - 9 pmSat - Sun: 11 am - 4 pmClosed: Mons, Tues, Weds, & Nov. 26thfacebook event: The Gift Shop Presents: Presentshenryart.org

In the mood for some avant-garde Japanese piano music? Maybe you are and you don't know it. How will you know unless you try it?Here's a promotional video for pianist Rei Hotoda, who is performing a recital of compositions for solo piano by Asian and Asian-American composers entitled “Snatches of Conversations” tomorrow night at Cornish College of the Arts. Rei HotodaSaturday, November 21st @ 8:00 PMPONCHO Performance Hall, Cornish College of the Artsmore info