The Half Brothers, along with their brethren in "Awesome," are helping redefine "musical theater," making work that's fringier, weirder, and more varied than the jazz hands/Broadway clichés. For Small-Town Rumors and Chicken Tales, this storytelling-bluegrass trio will perform their song cycle from last year's Northwest New Works at On the Boards. Also up: a new puppet play from Sgt. Rigsby & His Amazing Silhouettes, short stories by local playwright and fable-writer Bret Fetzer, punk-rock marimba from Erin Jorgensen and the Sunday Services, and more. (Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave S, www.brownpapertickets.com. Fri–Sat at 7:30 pm, $12 adv/$15 DOS.)