DANCE
You’ve undoubtably heard the clichéd film adage “The city is a character.” Well, in Compagnie Käfig’s Pixel, light is a dancer. The French-based acrobatic street-dance company’s acclaimed work features complex digital lighting projections which shift the choreographic landscape in innovative and instantly engaging ways. SETH SOMMERFELD Meany Center, UW campus, meanycenter.org. $52–$60. 8 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 8–Sat., Nov. 10.
Hypernova Contemporary Dance Company takes on Rainbow Fletcher’s Bitter Suites, which reminisces about adolescence against a backdrop of ‘80s–’90s allusions. GAVIN BORCHERT Velocity Dance Center, velocitydancecenter.org. $15–$50. 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8–11.
Seattle dancemaker Kate Wallich revisits Industrial Ballet, her 2016 fantasia set to ”the transgressive industrial music of the ’80s and ’90s.” GB The Moore, stgpresents.org. $25–$45. 8 p.m. Tues., Nov. 13.
MUSIC
With apologies to the Menzingers (the very good punk headliner at El Corazon on Wednesday), Daddy Issues is the band that makes this gig can’t-miss. For my money, the Nashville trio’s moody explosion of claws-out dark bubblegum grunge on Deep Dream made it the best album of 2017. It’s a fuzzed-out and blunt album-length side-eye at toxic masculinity. Somehow this is the first time Daddy Issues is in Seattle in the year and a half since that record was released. SS El Corazon, elcorazonseattle.com. $20–$22. 7:30 p.m., Wed., Nov. 7.
The heartwarming, youthful twee pop rock of Frankie Cosmos’ Vessel makes it the best Sub Pop release of 2018. With Kero Kero Bonito and Tanukichan. SS The Neptune, stgpresents.org. Sold out. 9 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10.
CLASSICAL, ETC.
Marnie is Nico Muhly’s intriguing new opera, based on the Hitchcock movie and the novel that preceded it, broadcast live in HD from the stage of the Met in NYC. GB See fathom events.com for participating theaters. 9:55 a.m. Sat., Nov. 10.
Definitively addressing classical music’s programming gender imbalance, the contemporary-friendly string quartet Brooklyn Rider plays works by Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Matana Roberts, and Caroline Shaw (the 2012 Pulitzer winner whose commissioned piano concerto the Seattle Symphony will premiere in January). They’ll precede all this with Beethoven’s Quartet op. 132, with its rapturous slow movement, alternately otherworldly and decidedly worldly. GB Meany Center, UW campus, meanycenter.org. $40–$48. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Nov. 13.
FILM
The groundbreaking 1984 indie Stranger Than Paradise opens the Grand Illusion’s monthlong Jim Jarmusch festival on Wed., Nov. 7. The slate also includes Down By Law (the Louisiana-prison-set “neo-Beat noir comedy”), Night on Earth (five tales in five cities), and Mystery Train (his 1989 homage to Memphis). GB Grand Illusion. See grandillusioncinema.org for screening schedule. $5–$9.
Lindsey Grayzel’s doc The Reluctant Radical centers on the civilly disobedient Ken Ward, opponent of the fossil-fuel industry. GB SIFF Cinema Uptown, siff.net. $13–$14. 7 p.m. Wed., Nov. 7–Thurs., Nov. 8.
Of his new sci-fi Western Prospect, director Zeek Earl says, “The whole film was built and shot in Seattle. We rented a ex-boat building warehouse in Fremont for a year that was a shop, studio, and post-production suite.” He’ll appear at two local screenings. GB. Regal Meridian, prospectthefilm.com. 6:30 p.m. Thurs., Nov. 8 and 7:30 p.m. Fri., Nov. 9.
After successfully relaunching the B-movie-mocking classic on Netflix, Mystery Science Theater 3000’s 30th anniversary tour pairs new host Jonah Ray with original host Joel Hodgson for a rollicking night of talking back at the big screen. (Check out our interview with Jonah Ray for more info.) SS The Moore, stgpresents.org. $37–$50. 3 & 7 p.m., Sun., Nov. 11.
VISUAL ARTS
A panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt is a centerpiece of the Good Mourning Arts Festival, multimedia arts event focusing on the subject of grief. GB Crown Hill Center. See GoodMourning.art for calendar of events. Ends Dec. 2.
BOOKS & SPEAKERS
Former NFL pro Robert W. Turner II interviewed more than 140 colleagues to write Not for Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete. GB Third Place Books Ravenna, thirdplacebooks.com. 7 p.m., Fri. Nov. 9.
David Shields is at work on a bio-doc (Lynch: A History) about the enigmatic Beastmoding ex-Seahawk; he’ll discuss it with the Kurt Steeter of The New York Times. GB Frye Art Museum, fryemuseum.org. 2 p.m. Sat., Nov. 10.
Contributors to the Shout Your Abortion book — Amelia Bonow, Lesley Hazleton, Miki Sodos, Alana Edmondson, S. Surface, Alayna Becker, and Shawna Murphy — gather to celebrate the collection of photos, essays, and creative work that ties to the campaign’s goal of destigmatizing abortion. GB Elliott Bay Book Company, elliottbaybooks.com. 7 p.m., Sat., Nov. 10.
Pete Souza was the Chief Official White House Photographer for President Obama, documenting those years in Obama: An Intimate Portrait. His new book, Shade: A Tale of Two Presidents, compares and contrasts him with you-know-who. (Here he’s pictured at a Flag Day celebration at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.) If you missed Souza’s Moore appearance in April, catch him tonight. Brandi Carlile is scheduled as a special guest. GB Benaroya Hall, lectures.org. $10–$187. 7:30 p.m. Sun., Nov. 11.
STAGE
Thanks to witty tunes courtesy musical comedian Tim Minchin, Matilda the Musical — the stage adapatation of Roald Dahl’s story of an underloved, bookish 5-year-old girl with telekinesis — can entertain audiences of all ages. SS Village Theatre (Issaquah), villagetheatre.org. $59–$84. Nov 8–Dec 30.
Artists collide with the mob in Y York’s play Framed, with music by Wayne Horvitz. GB 18th and Union, 18thandunion.org. $12–$25. Nov. 9–25.
FOOD & DRINK
If you love chocolate, the Northwest Chocolate Festival is like dying and going to a sweet, sweet heaven. The world-renowned event is jam-packed with artisan tastings from vendors that span the globe (20-plus countries), plus educational seminars and workshops to help attendees further understand that cacao seed magic. SS Pier 91, nwchocolate.com. $20–$125. 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat., Nov. 10–Sun., Nov. 11.
