ThisWeek’s
PickList

Friday, May 30

Giselle

Generally, Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Peter Boal chooses repertory with an eye to new developments in the art form, but when he looks backwards, he looks all the way—the company’s production of the 19th-century classic Giselle draws from multiple original sources to create as authentic a performance as a 21st-century company can manage. This year they’re adding new sets and costumes by Jerome Kaplan, also drawn from the original period, so that Albrecht, the noble cad, is dressed as a dandy from the 1830s. These new designs, in a vintage style, add another layer of resonance to a beautiful production. (Through June 8.) McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), 441-2424, pnb.org. $28–$184. 7:30 p.m. Fri. May 30.

Sandra Kurtz

The Price

First performed in 1968, this Arthur Miller drama may not have the stature of his famous earlier works, though it proved his biggest Broadway hit since Death of a Salesman. The Price is, most simply, a play about patrimony: Two long-estranged adult brothers argue about the wrecking-ball-bound brownstone—and its possibly valuable furniture—once owned by their late father. One brother (Charles Leggett) is a humble cop, the other (Peter Lohnes) a prosperous surgeon. Then there’s an elderly, wily antiques dealer (Peter Silbert) who tries to moderate their rivalries and resentments—all with an eye toward making a deal, of course. At 53, the playwright knew something about rising and plummeting fortunes. His affluent family was wiped out by the Crash of  ’29, just like the Franz family here. During his titanic career, Miller experienced both highs (Salesman, Marilyn) and lows