Thursday, Oct. 23
Lit Crawl SeattlePart of a nationwide series of literary walking tours, now in its third year, Lit Crawl stages its readings at one-hour intervals so you can choose and walk among its dozen-odd venues—most of them conveniently clustered on Capitol Hill. In addition to this week’s SW cover boy Domingo Martinez (see page 9), the roster of Northwest literary talent runs deep. Elissa Washuta, of the bipolar memoir My Body Is a Book of Rules, will join in a discussion with novelist Jonathan Evison (The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving). Spokane novelist Jess Walter (The Zero) will read from his new book of stories. Humorist Lindy West, of The Guardian and Jezebel, will join other female writers for a roundtable called “Working Stiffs.” And former SW staffer Bruce Barcott will discuss his forthcoming book (out in January) about the new entrepreneurial stampede to profit from legal marijuana, Weed the People. The evening concludes with a 9 p.m. after-party at Hugo House ($5 for the first pint, followed by cash bar), where most all the participating authors will convene. Richard Hugo House, Town Hall, Elliott Bay Book Co., and other venues. See litcrawl.org for map and full schedule. Free. 6 p.m. onward.
By Brian Miller
O’Neal out of the rehearsal studio. Photo by Nate Watters
Opposing ForcesWhen Amy O’Neal came to Seattle to study dance at Cornish in the ’90s, she arrived with a polyglot movement education, a disdainful attitude toward ballet, and an interest in the social dances she’d seen in clubs and on television. After two decades of performing and choreographing, that experience is broader. Hip-hop and breakdancing are now part of her repertoire. Part of last season’s Northwest New Works Festival, her solo piece Something Light for the Sake of the Dark uses the physical control at the heart of much breakdancing to focus our attention on detailed isolations and frozen, exquisite moments. It was a tour de force for her as a performer and choreographer, bringing the full toolkit of postmodern construction to bear on the task. Her newest project is another challenge in that direction. O’Neal won’t be dancing Opposing Forces ; instead she’s enlisted some of those dancers she shadowed in the past, creating a talented cast of five. Fever One, Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “JustBe” Angeles, Mozeslateef, and Michael O’Neal Jr. are award-winning performers, but they’re hardly ever seen in concert dance settings. (Through Sun.) On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St., 217-9888, ontheboards.org. $23–$25. 8 p.m.
By Sandra Kurtz
DogfightWhere were you in ’91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple—if only for one tender night—because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (Through Nov. 22.) ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., 938-0963, artswest.org. $5–$37. 7:30 p.m.
By Brian Miller
Universal
Monday, Oct. 27
The Phantom of the OperaThis is a special one-off Halloween-themed edition of the popular Silent Movie Mondays series, with organist Jim Riggs accompanying the famous 1925 silent, starring Lon Chaney Sr. as the lonely, misunderstood, disfigured ghoul who haunts the Paris Opera. Based on the prewar serial novel by Gaston Leroux, the big-budget Universal Studios adaptation was a lavish horror spectacle, full of crowd scenes, fire, collapsing walls, falling chandeliers, thwarted passion, and fright makeup. The success of the movie—remade several times—helped make Universal the leading purveyor of monster and fright movies for the next three decades. This film and The Hunchback of Notre Dame also cemented Chaney’s iconic status during the silent era (and later created a career for his son in talkies). Tonight, filmgoers are encouraged to wear c ostumes for the occasion, which can be commemorated at a photo booth in the lobby. Trader Joe’s will supply the seasonal snacks. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, stgpresents.org. $10. 7 p.m.
By Brian Miller
Tuesday, Oct. 28
Jonathan PowellBorn in England of Parsi descent, composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji (1892–1988), fed up with the cool reception his dumbfoundingly ambitious music got in conservative Britain, became something of a musical hermit. As he put it, “No performance at all is vastly preferable to an obscene travesty,” and it wasn’t until the 1970s and ’80s that he at last met pianists with the technique, devotion, and stamina required to bring to life his immense and complex music. There’s the hothouse lushness of Scriabin, but with a greater sinewy severity; the chaotic ecstasy of Messiaen, but with blurrier outlines; the formidably complex rhythms and saturated textures of Ives’ “Concord” Sonata—all mixed with rigorous contrapuntal structures that pile on further difficulties. Jonathan Powell has been one of the composer’s chief proselytizers, and brings two recitals’ worth to Seattle: shorter works tonight as an appetizer, and on Saturday, Nov. 1, Sorabji’s 1949 Sequentia cyclica super Dies irae—377 pages long, seven hours of music in all, deployed in bouts of roughly three, two, and two hours with two intermissions. You’ve heard nothing like it in this city, I promise you. PONCHO Concert Hall, Cornish College of the Arts, 710 E. Roy St., cornish.edu. $10–$22. 8 p.m.
By Gavin Borchert
