5TH AVENUE THEATER

1308 Fifth Ave, 625-1900, 5thavenue.org

Secondhand Lions (Through Oct 6): A musical based on the 2003 film about a young introvert who goes to live with his uncles on a Texas farm, where he learns about secret treasure, one of the uncle's lost love, and sleepwalking.

Anything Goes (Oct 15–Nov 3): The nautical, tap-heavy musical that saw the nascency of Cole Porter standards "You're the Top" and "I Get a Kick Out of You." Starring Rachel York.

Oliver! (Nov 29–Dec 31): The most exclamatory Dickens adaptation of all time, featuring urchins, orphans, thieves, and other members of the London underground.

ACT THEATER

700 Union St, 292-7676, acttheatre.org

Middletown (Through Sept 29): A riff on Thornton Wilder's Our Town filtered through the contemporary wit of playwright Will Eno (Tragedy: a tragedy, Thom Pain (based on nothing), and other plays with erratically capitalized titles). Directed by John Langs.

The Teeny Awards (Sept 14): TeenTix, which partners with arts organizations to provide teens with $5 tickets to theater and dance events—which in turn provides those organizations with audience members whose life expectancy exceeds three months—has begun an awards show honoring teen audience favorites. Hosted by former Stranger writer and current Jezebel.com provocateur Lindy West.

The Great Soul of Russia (Oct 3, Nov 7, Dec 5): An ongoing project in which Seattle theater artists delve into texts that have some relationship to Russia or Chekhov. This quarter, actors will read from Gogol, Salinger, Mayakovsky, Flannery O'Connor, Raymond Carver, and others.

Red Light Winter and 25 Saints (Oct 23–Nov 24): Companion pieces by Adam Rapp and Joshua Rollins about loneliness and alienation. Red Light Winter concerns two college buddies who go to the Netherlands and get wrapped up in a love triangle with a prostitute named Christina. 25 Saints concerns meth dealers, coal miners, and cops in Appalachia. Presented by the Azeotrope company.

Sugar Daddies (Oct 4–Nov 3): This Christmas comedy of dark intentions commences with Father Christmas getting hit by a car.

A Christmas Carol (Nov 29–Dec 29): No matter what kind of shit you want to talk about holiday shows, and there's plenty of shit to talk, this hoary old adaptation by the late Gregory Falls (aka "the Ghost of Seattle Theater Past") is an excellent study in how to adapt a novel for the stage. It's slim, it's well paced, it hits all the important notes, and it punches audiences in the guts every time with Dickens's sensible socialism. Productions vary from year to year, of course, but from a literary perspective, it's a keeper.

INTIMAN THEATER

Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 201 Mercer St, intiman.org

Intiman Summer Theater Festival (Through Sept 15): Intiman Theater's second summer festival includes Stu for Silverton (a world-premiere musical about the real-life trans mayor of Silverton, Oregon), Trouble in Mind (a grim comedy about racism in the rehearsal room for a Broadway show), We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! (a clownish farce about a food-prices riot and the ridiculous cops who investigate it), and Lysistrata (an acutely modernized adaptation of the Greek comedy about women who go on a sex strike to try and end a war).

MEANY HALL

UW Campus, 543-4880, meany.org

AXIS Dance Company (Oct 3–5): A world-renowned dance company, some of whose members dance in wheelchairs and with crutches. AXIS has won seven Isadora Duncan Awards (and was featured on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance) and has sparked international conversations about the limitations and possibilities of all human bodies in contemporary dance.

Chamber Dance Company (Oct 10–13): A concert titled In-Gender by the Chamber Dance Company, which presents seldom-seen modern dance works, including: The Shakers (1931) and Air for the G String (1928) by Doris Humphrey, The Fugue (1970) by Twyla Tharp, Brazilian Duets (1998) by Zvi Gotheiner, and Possession Quartet (1994) by Doug Varone, inspired by A.S. Byatt's novel and scored by Philip Glass.

Momix (Oct 31–Nov 2): These "dance illusionists" (and perennial audience favorites) create rich, colorful, cirque-inflected performances and love to trompe your oeil. The piece performed here, Botanica, is a paean to the beauty of the natural world.

MOORE THEATER

1932 Second Ave, 682-1414, stgpresents.org

Stranger Genius Awards (Sept 28): Join us for the 11th annual Stranger Genius Awards, a massive arts party where people dance, people drink, and we announce which of this year's 15 finalists have been chosen as Geniuses by an electoral college of previous Geniuses. In the dance/performance category this year: Amy O'Neal, Pat Graney, and the choreography/design duo of Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey. It should be a gas.

Margaret Cho (Nov 16): Touring with her new show, Mother.

NEPTUNE THEATER

1303 NE 45th St, 682-1414, stgpresents.org

Comedy Bang! Bang! Live! (Oct 2): A live tour of the new Comedy Bang! Bang! TV show, in which Scott Aukerman, Paul F. Tompkins, and special guests will perform, interact with the audience, and record a podcast.

ON THE BOARDS

100 W Roy St, 217-9888, ontheboards.org

El año que nací (Sept 19–22): In El año que nací ("the year I was born"), young Chilean artists piece together what their parents' lives looked like during the cruel Pinochet regime using old relics (letters, clothes, videos), old memories, and rock 'n' roll. This is part of the first US tour by Argentine writer/director/actress Lola Arias.

the quartet (Oct 10–13): A "kaleidoscopic ballet, a mutating folk dance, and a titillating cheer" by choreographer Heather Kravas, one of the cofounders of the d9 dance collective.

12 Minutes Max (Oct 20–21, Nov 24–25): A long-standing Seattle tradition in which performing artists of all disciplines present new works and experiments that run no longer than 12 minutes.

Exit/Exist (Oct 24–27): South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma, who founded his company while studying with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker, has created a piece about his ancestor, the 19th-century Xhosa chief Jongum-sobomvu Maqoma, who waged guerrilla warfare against British colonizers after they claimed his father's land.

Cédric Andrieux (Nov 14–17): A one-man autobiographical performance from master dancer Cédric Andrieux, who tells a story of his career punctuated with corresponding samples of dance. Choreography by Jérôme Bel.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET

McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 441-2424, pnb.org

Air Twlya (Through Oct 6): Three works from lauded choreographer and current PNB artist-in-residence Twyla Tharp, including the debut of her new collaboration with Allen Toussaint, Waiting at the Station.

Kylian + Pite (Nov 8–17): The PNB premiere of Forgotten Land, which features the music of Benjamin Britten and Edvard Munch–inspired scenery, as well as Petite Mort, Sechs Tänze, and Emergence.

The Nutcracker (Nov 30–Dec 29): Cracking Seattle's nuts since 1983.

PARAMOUNT THEATER

911 Pine St, 682-1414, stgpresents.org

Dane Cook (Sept 25): Comedy.

The Wizard of Oz (Oct 9–13): A new musical from Webber and Rice.

Priscilla: Queen of the Desert (Nov 12–17): A touring, Tony Award–winning musical based on the film about three Australian drag queens in a battered old bus searching for their destinies in the outback.

So You Think You Can Dance Tour (Nov 19): Do you think you can dance? Evidently these people do, and America's TV-watching habits have validated that conviction. Half of dancing is thinking you can dance.

SEATTLE OPERA

McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St, 389-7676, seattleopera.org

The Daughter of the Regiment (Oct 19–Nov 2): A sprightly comedy by Gaetano Donizetti, written in the 19th century but set for the purposes of this production in the 1940s, about a girl found on a battlefield as an infant and raised by a regiment of 1,500 soldiers. She is later claimed by an aristocratic family, which opens up all kinds of questions about the gap between the military and "polite" society. This opera is also known for its glass-shattering arias.

SEATTLE REPERTORY THEATER

155 Mercer St, 443-2222, seattlerep.org

The Servant of Two Masters (Through Oct 20): A silly servant gets a ridiculous idea into his head: Work for two masters and receive two wages! Those of us currently employing the same occupational contrivance will undoubtedly relate to the folly that results.

Bo-Nita (Oct 18–Nov 17): In a new "Midwest magic realism" play by Seattle writer Elizabeth Heffron, a 13-year-old girl and her working-class mother are "determined to stay together—and out of jail." The play also includes the presence of a dead ex-stepdad. Directed by Paul Budraitis.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Nov 15–Dec 15): A world premiere by local actors David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright, based on the famous Sherlock Holmes story about a monster dog with a taste for aristocrats. Directed by Allison Narver.

TRIPLE DOOR

216 Union St, 838-4333, thetripledoor.net

Burlesque Royale (Sept 14): Extravagant and high-flying antics from Shanghai Pearl, La Chica Boom, and other performers from around the country.

Moshe Kasher (Sept 22): Comedy. "If I envision my own personal hell, it's definitely hanging out with nothing but Christians for all of eternity."

La Danse! Le Burlesque! L'Edtion Français! (Oct 3–5): A Francophile debut of new oobly-boobly routines to the tune of Gainsbourg, Bardot, et al.

The Atomic Bombshells: Lost in Space (Nov 13–16): Frills and feathers from longtime artisans of the striptease.

VILLAGE THEATER

303 Front St N, Issaquah, 425-392-2202, villagetheatre.org

Xanadu (Sept 12–Oct 20): A newish musical based on the 1980s cult film starring Olivia Newton-John as a Greek goddess who descends to earth to inspire a California goofball to open a roller disco.

Les Misérables (Nov 7–Jan 5): Careful readers will likely notice that the title of this musical is also an anagram for "less miserable," which is all those good, poor revolutionaries ever wanted to be.

ANNEX THEATER

1100 E Pike St, 728-0933, annextheatre.org

Emmett Montgomery: Beard Practice (Ongoing): The host and creator of Weird and Awesome with Emmett Montgomery at Annex Theater hosts a weekly standup comedy open mic night and "humor growth hour" for comedians of all levels.

Spin the Bottle (Ongoing): The late-night variety show featuring theater, music, dance, spoken word, film, science experiments, and more since 1997.

ARTSWEST

4711 California Ave SW, 938-0339, artswest.org

The Taming (Oct 2–26): A world-premiere comedy by Lauren Gunderson based on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and set in the world of contemporary American politics.

Little Women: The Musical (Nov 29–Dec 29): A musical adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel by Allan Knee, Mindi Dickstein, and Jason Howland.

BALAGAN THEATER

Erickson Theater Off Broadway at 1524 Harvard Ave and the Moore Theater at 1932 Second Ave, 329-1050, balagantheatre.org

Les Misérables (Through Sept 28): An "intimate and immersive" chamber production of the superstar musical, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, about a convict on the run with an orphan while the French Revolution explodes around them. Directed by Jake Groshong and starring Balagan's new artistic director, Louis Hobson. Performed at Erickson Theater Off Broadway.

Carrie: The Musical (Oct 11–26): Pig blood with a side of song. Balagan remounts the legendary "most expensive quick flop in Broadway history" (which had an off-Broadway revival in 2012) at the Moore Theater.

A Very Merry (Unauthorized) Children's Scientology Pageant (Nov 22–Dec 21): A satirical musical about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard written by Kyle Jarrow and based on a concept by Alex Timbers (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson). Productions of the musical have been menaced by litigious-sounding letters and representatives from the Church of Scientology showing up at rehearsals to hand out histories of successful legal battles the church has waged against its critics. The productions have won numerous awards. At Erickson Theater.

BOOK-IT REPERTORY THEATER

Center House Theater, Seattle Center, 216-0833, book-it.org

She's Come Undone (Sept 18–Oct 13): An adaptation of Wally Lamb's popular novel about family dysfunction, betrayal, and despair, with wisecracking throughout. (It was an Oprah's Book Club selection in 1996.)

CAN CAN CABARET

94 Pike St, 652-0832 ext. 2, thecancan.com

The Can Can Castaways (Ongoing): The Can Can Castaways, as we've often said in The Stranger, are like a gateway drug for modern dance. People show up at the subterranean, red-lit bar, order a few drinks, expect to see some hardbodies dancing—and they get that. But what they also get is expert choreography by Rainbow Fletcher and her team of dancers.

ECLECTIC THEATER

1214 10th Ave, eclectictheatercompany.org

SketchFest Seattle Showcase (Sept 26): A showcase of sketch comedy.

Quiet Monkey Fight (Sept 27–28): More sketch.

Flame in the Mirror (Oct 10–Nov 3): A new play by local writer John Ruoff about early 20th-cenutry Irish Americans.

EGAN'S BALLARD JAM HOUSE

1707 NW Market St, 789-1621, ballardjamhouse.com

That's Impossible! (Ongoing): Comedy and magic.

FREEHOLD THEATER

2222 Second Ave, freeholdtheatre.org

Philosophical Zombie Killers (Sept 14): A staged reading of a new play by Stranger Genius Award winner Paul Mullin concerning consciousness, an alcoholic professor, a rash of decapitations around Seattle, and your death. (Yes, yours.) Directed by John Langs.

GHOST LIGHT THEATRICALS

Ballard Underground, 2220 NW Market St, 395-5458, ghostlighttheatricals.org

Rope (Oct): A 1929 thriller/horror play by Patrick Hamilton in which two college students murder one of their peers to prove how smart they are. Rope is thought to be loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case of 1924.

GREENSTAGE

Theater One at North Seattle Community College, 9600 College Way N, greenstage.org

The Bacchae (Oct 12–Nov 2): As part of its "Hard Bard" series, GreenStage presents The Bacchae, a bloody Greek tragedy in which Dionysius exacts extremely gory revenge on mortals who don't worship him, including creating the Maenads, wild women who have drunken dance parties in the woods and tear interlopers limb from limb.

INSCAPE ARTS

815 Seattle Blvd S, 257-3022, inscapearts.org

Rosemary (Through Sept 21): A new play by local writer Seth Tankus, produced by a new company called RiOT, about punks, druggies, queers, and other tough-luck kids growing up in Bremerton and a girl named Rosemary who runs away to Denver with a new lover.

Play (Nov 7–10): The Satori Group has asked their favorite playwrights to "give us access to their big thing." Play will be readings of new work by Spike Friedman, Martyna Majok, and others "in an environment that supports curiosity," which includes keeping the bar open.

JAI THAI BROADWAY

235 Broadway E, 322-5781, jaithaibroadway.biz

Open Mic at Jai Thai (Ongoing): A popular spot for new comedians and experienced comedians working on new material.

LANGSTON HUGHES PERFORMING ARTS INSTITUTE

104 17th Ave S, 684-4758, langstoninstitute.org

Hello Darlin's: Mom's Got Something to Tell You! (Sept 25–Oct 26): A solo show, written by Dan Owens and directed by Jacqueline Moscou, about groundbreaking comedian Jackie "Moms" Mabley who got her start on the Chitlin Circuit and came out as a lesbian in the 1920s.

The Purification Process (Nov 2–16): "A drama with humor" about an "intelligent, beautiful, successful, and happily married" woman who gets an unfortunate health diagnosis and watches her world unravel.

LAUGHS COMEDY SPOT

12099 124th Ave NE, Kirkland, 425-823-6306

Comedy at Laughs Comedy Spot (Ongoing): Good open mic, good touring acts, plus they have a "starving artists" menu where you can get a grilled cheese sandwich for cheap!

NEW CITY THEATER

1404 18th Ave, 271-4430, newcitytheater.org

The Walworth Farce (Oct 4–27): Enda Walsh's "galloping gothic comedy out of Ireland" (according to the New York Times) tells the story of a family's personal saga that feels like "you've walked in on a Hibernian Three Stooges routine directed by a drunken Dadaist" (also from the Times). Produced in conjunction with members of the New Century Theater Company.

Poetry and Dance Films (Nov 8–30): Mary Ewald will recite poetry—probably from T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets—and dance films from Pina Bausch and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker will be shown.

NOC NOC

1509 Broadway, 324-5358

The Sinner Saint Burlesque Revue (Ongoing): A vaudeville-inspired burlesque show featuring a rotating cast of starlets. 

Le Cabaret Noir (Ongoing): "Noir" means "black" and "le" means "the," so you do the math.

PINK DOOR

1919 Post Alley, 443-3241, thepinkdoor.net

Burlesque Behind the Pink Door (Ongoing): The Pink Door has burlesque on Saturday nights, plus aerial performances, music, contemporary dance, and other stuff on other nights.

Trapecia of the Cabiri (Ongoing): Trapeze.

RE-BAR

1114 Howell St, 233-9873, rebarseattle.com

N3RDZ! (Sept 13): A geeky gala of nerd burlesque.

Black Lodge Burlesque (Oct 12–13): David Lynch–inspired burlesque, for the Eraserhead baby fetishist in each of us.

Ian Bell's Brown Derby Series: Nightmare on Elm Street (Oct 25–27): The long-running, hilarious Brown Derby Series—in which actors perform absurd, chaotic, and camped-up versions of popular movie scripts—goes for Hollywood horror with Freddy Krueger and his long, bloody knife-fingers. Brown Derby is one of Seattle's most consistently entertaining nights out.

Trivariety (Ongoing): Part interactive quiz show, part cabaret.

The Dina Martina Christmas Show 2013 (Nov 29–Dec 31): This year, psycho-drag-performance-art-comedy duo Dina Martina and her accompanist Chris Jeffries promise their legendary Christmas show will "have it all because this year's show will be THE BEST OF THE BEST," featuring holiday hits "from the beloved mash-ups to the treasured abominations."

RENDEZVOUS

2320 Second Ave, 441-5823, jewelboxtheater.com

Ear, Nose, and Throat (Oct 13): Live artistic collaboration bent on no less than "enlarging the structural paradigm."

Family Affair: A Night of Dysfunctional Performance (Ongoing): A monthly cabaret, hosted by Jennifer Jasper (I Can Hear You... But I'm Not Listening), in which guest artists "will be sharing their sick, hilarious, and ultimately relatable familial skeletons." Proceeds from each performance will go to a family in the Seattle arts community that is experiencing "an unforeseen crisis."

Comedy Womb (Ongoing): Weekly "female focused but not female exclusive" comedy open mic with special guest spots, a headliner, raffle, and more.

SEATTLE FRINGE FESTIVAL

Various locations, seattlefringefestival.org

Seattle Fringe Festival (Sept 18–22): Last year saw the first Seattle Fringe Festival in many years. It was a modest affair, but good enough to justify another go this year. As of press time, artists and schedules for 2013 had yet to be announced. Check the website for details.

SEATTLE MUSICAL THEATER

7120 67th Ave NE, seattlemusicaltheatre.org

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Sept 13–Oct 6): Based on the 1988 Steve Martin/Michael Caine comedy, this musical about con men on the French Riviera, written by Jeffrey Lane and David Yazbek, was nominated for a cartload of Tony Awards in 2005.

SEATTLE PUBLIC THEATER

Bathhouse Theater, 7312 W Green Lake Dr N, 524-1300, seattlepublictheater.org

The Realm of Whispering Ghosts: If Truman Met Einstein (Through Sept 15): A play about an American GI and a young Japanese woman killed at Hiroshima who meet in the Bardo—a form of Buddhist afterlife—and try to retroactively influence history so that President Truman might have met Albert Einstein and the USA's approach to warfare might have been different. Directed by Arne Zaslove.

Broke-ology (Sept 27–Oct 20): In this play by Nathan Louis Jackson, adult brothers cope with the failing health of an aging parent and the associated emotional and financial challenges. Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, produced in association with the Hansberry Project.

The Habit (Nov 15–Dec 1): All-new sketch material from the well-loved Seattle comedy group.

SEATTLE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Center Theater, Seattle Center Armory, 733-8222, seattleshakespeare.org

Much Ado About Nothing (Oct 23–Nov 17): "I can see he's not in your good books." "No, and if he were, I would burn my library." Directed by George Mount.

SKYLARK CAFE & CLUB

3803 Delridge Way SW, 935-2111

Westside Burlesque Revue (Ongoing): A monthly show with a rotating roster of burlesque performers.

SPECTRUM DANCE THEATER

800 Lake Washington Blvd, 325-4161, spectrumdance.org

Studio Series 1 (Oct 4–20): Truth and Betrayal by Cyrus Khambatta and Prodigal by Donald Byrd, which reflect the themes of Spectrum's 2013/2014 season: sex, race, and religion.

STONE SOUP THEATER

4035 Stone Way N, 633-1883, brownpapertickets.com

Noël Coward Comedy Duo (Nov 8–30): Two short plays by Noël Coward: Hands Across the Sea (a comedy about a gossipy socialite, mistaken identities, and people overhearing things they shouldn't) and Still Life (one of Coward's more sentimental plays, which tracks the evolution of a secret and serious affair, and inspired the film Brief Encounter). Directed by Theresa Thuman.

STRAWBERRY THEATER WORKSHOP

Lee Center for the Arts, 905 12th Ave, 800-838-3006, strawshop.org

The Douglas Paasch Puppet Playhouse (Oct 3–6): A three-day puppetry showcase, including performances, in honor of the late Douglas Paasch, who contributed unusual and inventive puppets to productions at Seattle Children's Theater and Strawberry Theater Workshop, including his personality-filled, stylistically roughhewn creations for the Woody Guthrie musical biography This Land.

TAPROOT THEATER

204 N 85th St, 781-9707, taproottheatre.org

The Matchmaker (Sept 20–Oct 19): Thornton Wilder's play about love and money that inspired the musical Hello, Dolly!.

Le Club Noel (Nov 22–Dec 28): Taproot's Christmas show is a world premiere by Candace and Sam Vance, in which they re-create a holiday-season cabaret show in Paris on the verge of WWII.

TEATRO ZINZANNI

222 Mercer St, 802-0015, dreams.zinzanni.org

Hail Caesar: Forbidden Oasis (Sept 12–Jan 26): Frank Ferrante returns to his recurring character Chef Caesar along with a Ukrainian contortionist, a trapeze act, the acrobats Les Petits Frères, and former Cirque du Soleil performer Andrea Conway Doba.

THEATER OFF JACKSON

409 Seventh Ave S, 340-1049, theatreoffjackson.org

The Fussy Cloud Puppet Slam: Volume VII (Sept 28): Puppetry for adults, hosted by comedian Emmett Montgomery.

Animal Cruelty (Oct 10–Nov 9): Printer's Devil Theater presents another gallows-humor, noir-inflected puppet show from Sgt. Rigsby and His Amazing Silhouettes, this one about a hardboiled chicken. (GET IT?!?)

TPS THEATER 4

Seattle Center Armory, 770-0370, tpsonline.org

The Raft (Through Sept 14): In this new play by local writer Ben Eisner, two callow young friends are stuck together in a lifeboat after a rogue wave smashes the pleasure boat they were on with their friends and family. As they run out of food and water, they distract themselves by inventing a disaster movie starring Matt Damon. Starring and directed by Ryan Sanders and Mike Mathieu (of the Cody Rivers Show).

UNEXPECTED PRODUCTIONS

1428 Post Alley, 587-2414, unexpectedproductions.org

Break Up Songs (Through Sept 21): Improvisational emotional catharsis inspired by the termination of relationships.

Words, Sounds, Silence (Through 28): An improv routine that dwells in the spaces between the words.

Campfire (Sept 26–Oct 31): An improvisational tapestry of tall tales told around the proverbial campfire.

Cannibal! The Musical! (Oct 4–Nov 2): Trey Parker, of South Park fame, composed this ode to the only man ever convicted of cannibalism in America, Alferd "Alfred" Packer.

Duo Comedy Showcase (Ongoing): Competing duos perform comedy and improv, tournament-style.

185 Buddhas Walk into a Bar (Nov 8–9): Zen and the art of improv. A one-woman show from Amanda Rountree.

A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol (Nov 29–Dec 28): The improvidickens yuletide classic returns.

UNICORN

1118 E Pike St, 437-2532, unicornseattle.com

Mimosas with Mama (Ongoing): The demise of the Broadway Grill cannot stop drag diva Mama Tits from hosting this brunch buffet with the titular mimosas and a drag cabaret to go along with! Now find Mama at the (very festive) Narwhal, in the basement of the Unicorn.

VELOCITY DANCE CENTER

1621 12th Ave, 325-8773, velocitydancecenter.org

Daniel Linehan Performances (Sept 12–14): The West Coast premiere of his internationally acclaimed piece Not About Everything, which the New Yorker described as a "self-reflexive tour de force," plus community-forum talks about Linehan's experience "carving out a dance career in the US and Europe."

The Fall Kick-off and Big Bang! Party (Sept 26–29): Velocity kicks off its fall season with a series of parties and performances featuring Jody Kuehner (Cherdonna Shinatra of Cherdonna and Lou fame) and Stranger Genius Award finalists Pat Graney, Amy O'Neal, and Zoe Scofield/Juniper Shuey, plus work by Kate Wallich, Alice Gosti, and many others.

WASHINGTON ENSEMBLE THEATER

608 19th Ave E, washingtonensemble.org

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Sept 19–Oct 7): A large tiger roams the streets of Baghdad thinking about the meaning of life in this Pulitzer Prize–nominated play by Rajiv Joseph. Directed by Michael Place, starring Mike Dooly as the tiger, Ali el-Gasseir as Uday Hussein, Ryan Higgins as an American soldier, and many others.

WEST OF LENIN

203 N 36th St, 352-1777, westoflenin.com

Soft Click of a Switch (Sept 12–28): A disaffected young man and a morose middle-aged man—called, in one London review, "the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of the streets"—meet, then learn how to make bombs from a library book. Things start exploding. Starring Brandon Ryan and Mark Fullerton, directed by Peggy Gannon.

Sandbox Radio Live! (Oct 21): The Sandbox Artists Collective (Leslie Law, Scot Augustson, Paul Mullin, Elizabeth Heffron, Charles Leggett, and many others) presents another of its quarterly live radio shows with music, short plays, fake ads, and other stuff. This round's theme is "howl."

5th of July (Oct 4–26): A Lanford Wilson play about a gay, legless Vietnam vet and his lover hosting a group of old friends and family at a rural Missouri farmhouse. Directed by Julie Beckman.

WING-IT PRODUCTIONS

5510 University Way NE, wingitpresents.com

Jet City Improv (Ongoing): An improv institution.

Men of Action (Through Sept 20): Exotic adventure improv in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

This article has been updated since its original publication.