Our music critics have already chosen the 21 best concerts in Seattle this week, but now it's our arts critics' turn to pick the best events in their areas of expertise. Here are their picks for the best events in every genreâfrom Triple Threat with Kimball Allen to the Ballard SeafoodFest to the opening of Doris Totten Chase: Changing Forms at the Henry. See them all below, and find even more events on our complete Things To Do calendar.
Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile appâavailable now on the App Store and Google Play.
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WEDNESDAY
FILMOh, I Get It
If you care about Seattle comedy, donât miss this screening of short film Oh, I Get It, a documentary about queer comedy and social change in Seattle made by feminist film collective Union Street Films. The event will also feature a panel discussion with director Danny Tayara, Establishment editor-at-large and former Stranger contributor Ijeoma Oluo, and popular queer comedian El Sanchez, whom youâve almost certainly seen perform around Seattle.
Silent Reading Party
Invented by our own Christopher Frizzelle, the reading party is every first Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m. That's when the Fireside Room at the Sorrento Hotel goes quiet and fills with people with books tucked under their arms. (And, occasionally, a Kindle or two.) By 7 pm, you often can't get a seat. And there's always free music from 6 to 8 pm.
WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY
ARTAdrien Leavitt: Queer Feelings
Adrien Leavitt has been working on this multifaceted project for several yearsâat this exhibit, see the cumulative results of this wonderful, queer, local, body-positive, sex-positive photography project that celebrates community and vulnerability.
Closes Saturday.
THURSDAY
ARTFirst Thursday Art Walk
Once a month, Seattleites flock to the streets in Pioneer Square for a chance to stroll, sip on booze, and attend as many art openings as possible at First Thursday. It's the city's central and oldest art walk, and takes place in a historic neighborhood known for its abundance of galleries. Wine and hobnobbing will steal the scene for some, but at its core, it's an impressive communal unveiling of new artwork. In July, make sure to catch the opening receptions for Quota. and For the '99 and the 2000s: A Reflection of C.R.E.A.M.
Rosé All Day
You love pink wine, so try pink cider. Seattle Cider Company will take over five taps at the Woods with rosy brews: Berry, Gravenstein Rosé, Cucumber Hibiscus, Winesap Rosé, and Wild-Fermented Raspberry. If you like them tart, floral, sweet, or all of the above, drink them in pints or flights. These ciders will keep rotating at the Woods all month.
Queeropoly BBQ
Meet up with politically minded queer people to discuss democracy vouchers, money in politics, and LGBTQ activism.
The Roast of Mama Tits
There's going to be a roast of Mama Titsâor as the press release says, "a celebratory take down of Seattleâs favorite Skyscraper Hostess"âfeaturing drag stars Bianca Del Rio and Jackie Beat, director Chi Chi Larue, San Francisco queens Heklina and Sister Roma, and Seattle queens Robbie Turner and Mark Finley. I don't know why I'm treating this so breathlesslyâprobably because I'm deep into the latest season of RuPaul's Drag Race, and it's getting tense, and it's the only reality TV show I watch. Also the gay thing. CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE
Triple Threat with Kimball Allen
Kimball Allen has an uncanny knack for gathering talent for his shows, like a mad chef grabbing unlikely ingredients and whipping them together in a bowl until he's ready to present you with the world's most unlikely gourmet feast. Spilling out of his bowl this time is Wes Hurley, fresh from winning best documentary short at SXSW for his film Little Potato. The bewitching Waxie Moon will twirl by, as well as comedian/dreamer/puppetmaker Emmett Montgomery, octogenarian singer Shirley Claire, and the cast of Paradise Theatre's Thoroughly Modern Millie. What do all of these acts have in common? Absolutely nothing, except that they somehow work perfectly together. MATT BAUME
Elaine M. Hayes: Queen of BebopâThe Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan
This is not the first biography of jazz star Sarah Vaughan, also known as "Sassy" or "The Divine One." But it does seem to be the first book about the iconic singer that highlights her role as a pioneer of women's and civil rights. Author Elaine M. Hayes's Queen of Bebop "updates and corrects the historical record on Vaughan and elevates her status as a jazz great."
Seattle StorySLAM
A live amateur storytelling competition in which audience members who put their names in a hat are randomly chosen to tell stories on a theme (this week, it's "beauty"). Local comedians tend to show up, but lots of nonperformers get in on the action as well.
Storytelling at NAAM
"Griot" (pronounced gree-oh) is the term for the traveling storyteller of West African tradition. Join Eva Abram and several griots for an experience of an ancient storytelling practice. Don't forget that it's first Thursday, so admission to the whole museum is free.
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
PERFORMANCESweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
ArtsWest presents Stephen Sondheimâs Sweeney Todd, a musical offering murder, cannibalism, and barbershopsâplus songs that are creepy, catchy, quick, and witty.
Tickets are sold out online. Closes Friday.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
PERFORMANCEDownstairs
The Construction Zone is a month-long workshop where audiences have the chance to see new work by contemporary playwrightsâand get a preview of what's coming up next at ACT, because ACT chooses one play from the series to feature in their next season. The 2016 edition of The Construction Zone featured four new plays, and the winner was Theresa Rebeck's Downstairs, a dysfunctional family play about a brother who refuses to move from his sister's basement. At almost the same time Downstairs is being featured on the main stage at ACT, it will also be performed (with a celebrity cast) at Vermont's Dorset Theatre Festival.
Closes Sunday.
Much Ado About Nothing
Paul Constant (former Stranger books editor and co-founder of the Seattle Review of Books) wrote, "Because Much Ado About Nothing is arguably the world's first rom-com, every major player makes one asshole move that seems totally out of character." Come see the drama in a beautiful outdoor setting, presented as part of Seattle Shakespeare's Wooden O summer series.
Pericles
Paul Constant wrote, "Pericles is so poorly written that, for centuries, Shakespeare scholars tried with all their nerdy might to deny he wrote it. Funny thing is, it was beloved in Shakespearean times because it's the Armageddon of Shakespeare plays, a title usually reserved for the oft-underappreciated Titus Andronicus. The first hour alone is packed with cheap-seat-pleasing thrills: shipwrecks, a jousting match for the hand of a princess, and buckets of scandalâthe play opens with an incestuous relationship and, before everything is done, a murder plot is foiled by pirates, and someone gets sold into sex slavery." See Pericles performed outdoors at this event presented as part of Seattle Shakespeare's Wooden O summer series.
Pressure Cooker: Please Open Your Mouth
Produced as part of Cafe Nordo's new works incubator, The Pressure Cooker, this experimental work written by Joanna Garner and directed by Norah Elges Schneyer is set in a "clandestine supper club," and offers audiences the chance to "explore their fantasies, fetishes, and taboos around food, sex, and society."
FRIDAY
QUEERRainbow Bingo Tiki Luau
Dinner, bingo, and drag combine in a holy trifecta to do good for seniors in Seattle. Play 12 bingo games and win prizes with spirited hosting from the drag Sisterhood of Perpetual Indulgence, Sylvia O'Stayformore, and the Blak Nâ Blus Band. Food and beer/wine/jello shots will be available to purchase. 21+ only.
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
FILMCzech That Film
This touring film festival is billed as "the largest Czech cultural event in the United States," traveling around American cities while showing off the variety and talent in Czech cinema. When it stops in Seattle, audiences will have the chance to see seven feature films, from an animated take on The Little Mermaid to a horror film about the "Noonday Witch."
Ballard SeafoodFest
Ballard SeafoodFest is here, and it's gonna be a doozy this year. They anticipate 75,000 attendees, which means it will be an absolute cluster. Dogs, triple-wide strollers, dogs in triple-wide strollers, you're sure to see it all there, blocking your way to the next delicious treasure you seek. That said, there's a ton of delicious treasures there, and they're so very worth braving the crowds for. If you descend into the fishy maelstrom, you'll be rewarded with seafood from the likes of Off the Rez, Where Ya at Matt, Barriga Llena, Bread and Circuses, and Tumble Swede. Speaking of Tumble Swede, owner Lexi is also offering Ole and Lena's Herring Shack this year, which she described to MyBallard blog thusly: "Our tongue-in-cheek contribution to dry Norwegian humor will be offering nothing but herring.â Nothing but sweet, sweet alderwood-smoked herring, pickled herring with carrots and onions, and crispy deep-fried herring. Yes, please. TOBIAS COUGHLIN-BOGUE
Seattle International Beerfest
Bring your own blanket to laze on the Seattle Center lawn and enjoy more than 200 types of classic or "exotic" beers.
SATURDAY
ARTGeorgetown Art Attack
Once a month, the art that resides in the tiny airport hamlet of Georgetown ATTACKS all passersby. In more literal terms, it's the day of art openings and street wonderment. This month, don't miss the reception for Gretchen Bennett.
Fred Armisen
Portlandia star and Saturday Night Live veteran Fred Armisen will join with stand-up comedian and writer Jacqueline Novak for an evening of comedy at the Neptune. We have no idea what topics these jokers will cover, but prepare for Armisen to skewer Seattle in the same way he's dissected and sneered at the culture of our sister city.
Tickets are sold out online.
More Fats More Femmes 3.0
Celebrate your babely bod while shopping for plus size vintage clothing and accessories at this stacked size-inclusive market hosted by Indian Summer owner Adria Garcia, ex-IS manager (and current Stranger music calendar editor) Kim Selling, and current IS shopgirl Abby Cooke. They'll have pieces from a wide variety of styles, from size 12 to 30, and surprise vendors for jewelry and tarot reading.
Sex and Cannabis: Stronger Orgasms?
Can weed-infused "lube" (not really lube, as it can destroy condoms) really enhance your orgasms? By most accounts, the answer is: oooooh yes, at least for people with vaginas. Learn more from Chelsea Cabrera and local dominatrix celebrity Mistress Matisse, the two founders of Velvet Swing cannabis lube, for a talk on weed's possibilities for sexual enhancement. There'll be sex toy and massage candle raffles and bubbly, too.
PROOF: Washington Distillers Festival
Washington State is booze-rich, and PROOF gives you the chance to sample gin, whiskey, vodka, and bourbon, meet distillers, and buy bottles of your favorite Washington-made spirits. The festival is back for its fourth year at Fremont Studios, and will again showcase the huge variety of spirits produced by makers (more than 40 participating) from the Washington Distillers Guild (the largest of its kind in the nation). There will also be bites from many top-notch Seattle restaurants like RN74, Theo Chocolate, the Carlile Room, and Uli's Famous Sausage. Plus: you can also expand your alcoholic horizons and attend a few series of "educational yet entertaining sessions," during which expert bartenders will create beverages using the featured festival spirits.
Anastacia-Renee's Gramma Book Release
After decades of work, Anastacia-Reneé is dropping three wildly different books this year. This party celebrates the birth of (v.), which was published by local heroes Gramma Press. Stranger Genius Award nominee Robert Lashley thinks the book is so good that it "deserves every stage poetry can give it," and it looks like its first stage is going to be a good one. There's going to be food, drinks, a photo-booth situation, and also readings by Tommy Pico, Sarah Galvin, and Imani Sims, as well as a Q&A with Reagan Jackson. If there's such a thing as "the poetry event of the summer season," this is it. RICH SMITH
Hot Off the Press Book Fair
Seattle's world-renowned Fantagraphics Books, known for their boundary-pushing cartoons and graphic novels, will host their annual Hot Off the Press book fair. They'll have new releases you must check out immediately, including Simon Hanselmann's One More Year, plus selections from Breakdown Press, Hey Lady, Short Run Micropress, and Fogland Studios.
Jonathan Safran Foer
I've been hearing mixed reviews about Here I Am, the first novel in over a decade from award-winning author and Natalie Portman confidante Jonathan Safran Foer. Christian Lorentzen from Vulture calls it "a Philip Roth novel in the style of a Hallmark card." But Publisher's Weekly gave it a star and calls it an intensely "imagined and richly rewarding novel." Where you fall along that spectrum will likely depend on whether you thought Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close were masterful, genre-bending works of postmodern beauty or twee as fuck. There's only one way to find out. RICH SMITH
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
ARTDoris Totten Chase: Changing Forms
This summer, the Henry presents the first retrospective of Seattle/New York artist Doris Totten Chase (1923-2008). Chase started out as a painter and sculptorâone of very few women associated with the Northwest School. In 1968, she shot a video of dancers interacting with her sculptures, and soon she was using Boeing's computer imaging technology to produce early and influential computer-generated video art. Chase lived and worked in New York during the '70s and '80s, and today her video and film works are in the collection of MoMA. Now is your chance to see them in the other city Chase called home. EMILY POTHAST
This exhibit opens on Saturday.
SUNDAY
QUEEREverybody's Gettin' Tipsy!
Tipsy Rose Lee has returned from regaling the drag enthusiasts of Puerto Vallarta, and she's got a whole new show to try out in the States. Everybody's Gettin' Tipsy will guide you through "the do's and don't's of drinking in Mexico" as she dances, lip-syncs, and sings.
Queer Press Fest
Meet 10 comics and zine artists from the queer community.
Tommy Pico and Sarah Galvin
Kumeyaay Brooklyn-based poet/editor Tommy Picoâwho has been published in Poetry magazine, hosts the Food 4 Thot podcast, and boasts an excellent Twitter feedâwill visit for a reading from his second collection, Nature Poem. This city's celebrated Sarah Galvin will also launch her new volume with Gramma Poetry, Ugly Time.
Get all this and more on the free Stranger Things To Do mobile appâavailable now on the App Store and Google Play.
