THEATER
OPENING THIS WEEK
APPLE TO GRANDMA · Seattle Children’s Theatre
*I REMEMBER MAPA · Northwest Asian American Theatre
THE NORMAL HEART · Theater Schmeater
STOP KISS · Seattle Repertory Theatre
ONE WEEK ONLY
FEAST · On the Boards
RUMITONES, ORBITONES, AND SINGING STONES · Broadway Performance Hall
*STRAIGHT · Re-bar
UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS IN JAZZ · Meany Hall
CLOSING THIS WEEK
BORIS GODUNOV · Seattle Opera
*CABARET · Paramount Theater
DOUBLE CLIMAX · Seattle Mime Theater
LITTLE MURDERS · Northwest Actors Studio
L’UNIVERSE · A Contemporary Theatre
STUDIO SERIES 2000 · Freehold
STUFF AND NONSENSE · Theater Babylon
OPENING AND CURRENT RUNS
APPLE TO GRANDMA
In what sounds like another one of those literary hallucinogens for kids (à la Lewis Carroll), Speeltheater Holland comes to Seattle with some trippy puppets in a tale of moons, caterpillars, and a big, tasty apple. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center, 441-3322. Fri at 7, Sat-Sun at 2 and 5:30. Runs Fri Jan 28 through April 16. $8.25-$20.50
BORIS GODUNOV
Mussorgsky’s show about a large Czar who expresses all of his emotions in bone-rattling song, with Russian bass Alexander Anisimov in his Seattle Opera company debut. Seattle Center Opera House, 389-7676. Fri-Sat Jan 28-29 at 7:30. $30-$103.
*CABARET
Forget all that other touring fluff: This dark, slightly lewd production of the Kander and Ebb musical, featuring a surprisingly savvy Joely Fisher, is the only one worth your hard-earned dollars. Paramount Theater, 911 Pine St, 292-2787. Tues-Sat at 8, Sat-Sun 2 pm matinees, Sun at 7:30, through Jan 30. $21-$50.
DOUBLE CLIMAX
Promising “a noir film on stage,” talented solo performer K. Brian Neel throws himself headfirst into a complicated whodunit, playing all the suspects in a breezy piece that won “Best of Fest” at North America’s largest fringe festival in Edmonton. Seattle Mime Theatre, 915 E Pine St, Fourth Floor, Thurs-Sat at 8, runs through Jan 29. $15.
DOUBLE INDEMNITY
It’s a dark, dark night in the city of angels. One drop of fear — one drop — and love curdles into hate. James M. Cain’s hard-boiled Roman noir graces the stage at On the Boards, performed by Book-It Repertory. On the Boards, 100 W Roy, 216-0833. Thurs-Sat at 8, Sun at 2, some additional performances, through Feb 12. $15. See review this issue.
*FREE WILL AND WANTON LUST
Consolidated Works presents a remount of the acclaimed Printer’s Devil production of Nicky Silver’s dark farce, which won a 1996 Stranger SPIT award for Best Comedy the first time around. A wild ride featuring the fabulous Stephen Hando, among others. Consolidated Works, 410 Terry Ave N, Thurs-Sun at 8, through Feb 6. $14. Thursdays are two-for-one.
*I REMEMBER MAPA
Alec Mapa, a gay Filipino actor with rapid-fire comic timing, muses on the resilience it takes to survive in an entertainment industry that casts Linda Hunt as a Eurasian male. His one-man show may be just shy of self-congratulation, but Mapa’s honesty and truly funny observations make it worth your while. Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave S, 340-1049. Tues-Sat at 8, Sun at 4. Runs Tues Feb 1 through Feb 20. $9-$15.
Late Night Catechism
And the nun goes on. This is an evening of audience participation and interactive improv theater: think Sister Windy crossed with Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You. ACT, 700 Union St, 292-7676. Thurs-Sat at 8, Sun at 2, extended for eternity. $24.50-$29.50.
LITTLE MURDERS
Northwest Actors Studio presents Jules Feiffer’s dark satire, with its commentary on violence in American society. “Bereft of even one grace note, Faye B. Summers’ staging displays not the slightest notion of what is really going on in Feiffer’s play, or in any play, for that matter.“ (Steve Wiecking) Northwest Actors Studio, 1100 E Pike, 324-6328. Fri-Sat at 8, Sun at 7, through Jan 29. $10/$8.
L’UNIVERSE
The Flying Karamazov Brothers continue their hands-on exploration of science, juggling, music, comedy, and the cosmology of the universe, in this performance which takes advantage of new technologies created by MIT’s Media Lab. Directed by Gordon Edelstein. A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), Seventh Ave & Union St, 292-7676. Tues-Thurs at 7:30, Fri-Sat at 8, Sun at 7:30, some matinees, through Jan 30. $20-$45.
MARTIN GUERRE
Mystery, deception, mistaken identity, secret ambition, hidden desire, religious persecution — c’est Martin Guerre, set against the squalor of medieval France. But in this pre-Broadway debut produced by Cameron Mackintosh, love rules the day. 5th Avenue Theater, 1308 Fifth Ave, 292-2787. Tues-Sat at 8, Sun at 7:30, Sat-Sun matinees at 2, through Feb 12. $14-$60.
MONKEY. THAT’S RIGHT, MONKEY.
Red Card Productions, the folks who got some good press with Eddie Paul Rex a while back, return with a bizarre comedy about the travails of a finicky, superintelligent research monkey. Your guess is as good as ours. Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 640-5738. Thurs-Sat at 8, Sun at 7, through Feb 13. $10. See review this issue.
THE NORMAL HEART
It should be interesting to see what Theater Schmeater makes of Larry Kramer’s already somewhat dated AIDS love story, and whether or not they should have bothered. An activist and a reporter awaken to harsh realities in the early years of the epidemic in this production directed by Sean McEnaney. Theater Schmeater, 1500 Summit Ave, 324-5801. Thurs-Sat at 8, select matinees at 2. Runs Fri Jan 28 through March 4. $12.
POLAROID STORIES
In Naomi Iizuka’s take on Ovid’s The Metamorpheses, a bunch of street kids reach some kind of epiphany about humanity, presumably without asking you for beer money. Meany Studio Theatre, University of Washington, 543-4880. Tues-Thurs at 7:30, Fri-Sat at 8, Sun at 2, through Feb 6. $7-$10.
RUMITONES, ORBITONES, AND SINGING STONES
Lelavision, the unique performance troupe featuring Ela Lamblin and Leah Mann, combine sculpture, music, and dance in a show about ever-changing perceptions and some really trippy instruments. Broadway Performance Hall, 1625 Broadway, 329-3724. Fri-Sat Jan 28-29 at 8, Sun Jan 30 at 2 and 7. $8-$12.
STOP KISS
A first kiss between two young women in a park provokes a violent attack in this acclaimed play by Diana Son. Funny and moving, Son’s play was the talk of Off-Broadway (winning raves in The New Yorker and elsewhere), and should be a hot ticket. Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle Center, 443-2222. Tues-Sun at 7:30, Sat-Sun matinees at 2. Runs Mon Jan 31 through March 4. $10-$42.
*STRAIGHT
Big time Seattle homo David Schmader will soon enlighten Los Angeles with this newly revised version of his hit one-man show about his adventures with those anti-gay “conversion therapy” nuts. It’s smart, dry, and just damn funny, and it’s remounted at Re-bar for just one night. Re-bar, 1114 Howell St, 323-0388. Fri Jan 28 only at 8. $12.
STUDIO SERIES 2000
Freehold students, alumnae, and faculty let loose in this series featuring 18 different performing events — each week featuring a new lineup of staged readings, dance, and original plays. Call for scheduling info. Freehold’s East Hall Theatre, 1525 10th Ave, Second Floor, 323-7499. Thurs-Sat at 8, Sun at 2, through Jan 30. Donation.
STUFF & NONSENSE
Theater Babylon presents this one-man show, written and performed by Eric Newman, about the Victorian painter, traveler, and limerick writer Edward Lear. “Newman makes a game, affectionate attempt, but the artist remains indistinct; Lear’s poems and reflections need to be hung on something grander than Newman’s studious research.“ (Steve Wiecking) Theater Babylon, 1418 10th Ave, 720-1942. Thurs-Sat at 8, through Jan 29. $9.99 (Thurs pay-what-you-will.)
*TEXARKANA WALTZ
The Empty Space presents Seattle playwright Louis Broome’s award-winning, highly imaginative comic drama of a Southern family coming to terms with its horribly violent past. “Everything has worked to turn Broome’s broad, wistful saga into something warm and rewarding. With high comic and tragic style, the show croons a whiskey-soaked tale of the stories that both conceal us from and reveal us to each other and ourselves.” (Steve Wiecking) Empty Space Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave, 547-7500, through Feb 12. Call for showtimes. $18-$26.
DANCE
FEAST
Four new pieces from two Seattle companies — glassbones ensemble and BetterBiscuitDance — in an evening of surreal, kinetic, and highly visual performance (including both a giant see-saw and a human-sized bird’s nest). On the Boards, 100 West Roy, 217-9888. Fri-Sun Jan 28-30 at 8. $10-$12.
UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS IN JAZZ
Spectrum Dance Theater closes its 1999-2000 season with works featuring the music of Nat King Cole and Harry Nilsson, plus a premiere performance of SUPER STRAIGHT is coming down, a physically demanding piece inspired by visual artist Robert Longo and created by renowned choreographer Daniel Ezralow. Meany Hall, University of Washington, 325-4161. Fri-Sat Jan 28-29 at 8, family matinee Sat Jan 29 at 2. $8-$25.
FESTIVALS, CABARETS, & COMEDY
BRILLIANT TRACES
Eat a gourmet buffet dinner while watching melodrama unfold in Cindy Lou Johnson’s Brilliant Traces, in which a sweat-stained bride and a curmudgeon are trapped in an Alaskan snowstorm. Liberty Deli, 2722 Alki Ave SW, 405-8433. Fri-Sat at 6:30, through Feb 5. $22.
IMPROSIA: COMEDY OF THE GODS
Performing character-driven scenes based on audience suggestions. Wit’s End, 770 N 34th St, 547-2330. Sat at 9:30. $7.
*THREE DOLLAR BILL
Seattle’s original gay/lesbian/bisexual stand-up comedy night is still standing in its second year. Comedy Underground, 222 S Main St, 324-8025. Tues at 8. $6.
LATE NIGHT
Jet City Improv
Improv comedy and music based on audience suggestions. Ethnic Cultural Theater, 3940 Brooklyn Ave NE, 781-3879. Fri-Sat at 10:30.
Theater Sports
Improv comedy with a competitive edge, brought to you by Unexpected Productions. Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, 781-9273. Fri-Sat at 10:30, $9. Sun at 7, $5.
CALLS
STAGE MANAGER SOUGHT
The Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society is holding interviews for a reasonably paid, non-equity position for its 11-performance production of Yeoman of the Guard at the Bagley Wright Theatre. Submit letter, resume, and three references to: Mike Storie, Producer, Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, 1500 E McGraw St, Seattle, WA 98112.
CONSOLIDATED WORKS
ConWorks is continuing to read for several roles in their upcoming production of King Lear, directed by Derek Horton. Call 381-3218 to schedule an appointment.