HAPPY SUMMER!
Odd that we never had a winter, isn't it?
Does that augur an August snowfall? Whatever happens to the climate, we'll always have the arts. Even when Seattle is just an archipelago of condo roofs poking out of a warm cup of water called the Pacific Ocean, Seattle Art and Performance will be here, with its ridiculously generous calendar, to celebrate indoor arts.
In honor of the dawning of the age of Arctic drilling, we've added a new calendar called History & Science, which can be found here. You're aware they recently discovered, for the first time ever, a dinosaur bone in Washington State? In the San Juans? Part of a
TYRANNOSAURUS,
most likely. One of these guys:Another new feature of this issue is Show Us Your Dressing Room, in which we intrude upon a Seattle performer's sacred space. This season we walked in on actor
QUINN FRANZEN
backstage at ACT Theatre during Threesome, which plays through June 28. (See here for details.) Apropos of dressing, and of rooms, and more specifically of Quinn Franzen's sacred spaces, allow us to show you the rest of Kelly O's photo:
And lest you think the image gratuitous (more like GREAT-uitous), Franzen is said to make his entrance in Threesome without clothing and remain that way for most of the first act. It's called journalism.
Speaking of Threesome, the playwright,
is one of 15 artists nominated for a 2015 Stranger Genius Award. The Stranger believes fine art does a bad job of standing up for itself in popular culture, and the Genius Awards are our way of doing something about it. They're also an excuse to spend this entire issue heaping praise onto the artists we believe are doing the most fascinating work in Seattle right now.
And rock bands are eligible, too. For instance:
Nominees are selected by Stranger critics in five categoriesâart, performance, literature, film, and musicâand there's a party in their honor September 12 at the Moore Theatre. Among the nominees is this individual:
Who will perform the opening number at the Genius Awards, accompanied by the Seattle Rock Orchestra. (Get your free ticket at strangergeniusawards.com.) And speaking of
she is also performing at the Triple Door with BenDeLaCreme and other gender-benders July 1â3. See here for details.
The rest of the Genius Award nominees are:The FILM calendarâincluding the documentary 3½ Minutes, 10 Bullets, about a 17-year-old boy who was killed after a dispute over loud musicâcan be found here.
The PERFORMANCE calendar is here.
The COMEDY calendar, inclusive of Tim Minchin, can be found here.
The FESTIVALS calendarâFremont Solstice Music Festival, Capitol Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, and more galoreâcan be found here.
The JAZZ calendar is here.
The CLASSICAL calendarâopera, symphony, etcâis here.
Summer READINGS are listed here.
And the ART calendar is here.
Don't forget: If you stay indoors all day, you never need sunscreen. 
