The Stranger's Winter 2018/19 Art + Performance Guide

WINTER 2018/19

The comedian Andy Iwancio got married in the smoking section of a Denny’s. She is a trans woman and her partner is a trans man. “I guess our wedding theme was confusing our parents further,” Iwancio jokes.

The novelist Zadie Smith is world-famous for her wit, her characters, and her gift for reflecting the zeitgeist. But when asked to comment on call-out culture, Smith joked about being given enough rope to hang herself.

The deadline to get an event listed in the spring issue of Seattle Art and Performance—which comes out March 13 and covers events from March 18 to June 9—is January 30. Send details to calendar@thestranger.com or visit thestranger.com/submit. For advertising information, contact adinfo@seattleaandp.com or 206-323-7101.

Editorial

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Dan Savage EDITOR OF PRINT Christopher Frizzelle MANAGING EDITOR Leilani

The clarinet virtuoso Kinan Azmeh would prefer not to be categorized. “In all my work, I’ve tried to promote the idea that music is a continuum,” he says. He’s premiering a new piece with the Seattle Symphony this season.

Henrik Ibsen’s classic play A Doll’s House ends with the main character, Nora, slamming the door and abandoning her family—a move that upended theater itself. In Seattle Rep’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, Nora is back, and she has things to say.

Smith STAFF WRITERS Lester Black, Nathalie Graham, Katie Herzog, Dave Segal COPY CHIEF Gillian Anderson

EDITORIAL

Things To Do

The 24-year-old artist Anthony White paints brightly colored still lifes and the bathroom-mirror selfies of his friends. And he does it all with plastic. Specifically, plastic rods fed into a glue-gun-like machine. The result resembles frosting. 14

It is a hard-knock life, as the musical Annie reminds us. But two 11-year-old actors are having the time of their lives playing the plucky orphan at 5th Avenue Theatre. A behindthe-scenes glimpse at the production.

Art & Production

“

IN A DENNY ’ S, I ’ M A 10 ”

Trans comedian Andy Iwancio on what she’s learned over 11 years of doing comedy in Seattle.

BY DAVE SEGAL

Seattle comedian Andy Iwancio got married in the smoking section of a Denny’s restaurant. “Out in the world, I’m a 5 or a 6,” Iwancio said recently onstage at Comedy Nest in the Rendezvous Grotto. “In a Denny’s, I’m a 10—11, if I don’t order hash browns.”

A wedding in a Denny’s would be an odd enough decision for anyone, but to add an extra soupçon of unusual, Iwancio is a trans woman, and her partner, Linus Needer, is a trans man. “I guess our wedding theme was confusing our parents further,” Iwancio jokes, sitting in her University District apartment wearing a Conan O’Brien T-shirt.

“We actually came out to each other over the course of our relationship,” she says, with a sense of wonder still in her voice. “We’re technically straight—with air quotes, highlighted in pink, covered in glitter and jizz, rolled up into a dildo, and sent to San Francisco. It’s more like we had a foursome and took home leftovers.”

Most unexpected of all? Their longevity: Iwancio and Needer have been together for 17 years, a rarity for most human beings, let alone comedians. The happy couple decided to have Mad Lib wedding vows. “Most people are together till death do us part. We’re together till Count Chocula do us part.”

Iwancio’s life sounds like it could become a sitcom—destined to air in 2023… maybe. She has wielded this material off and on over the last 11 years in the Seattle comedy scene, and in other American cities where she thinks jokes about the travails of trans folks will have a chance of hitting.

She married her partner in a Denny’s. They had Mad Libs wedding vows.

She also teaches DJing at the Vera Project and is a vegan. “But I’m a bad vegan,” she says, pointing to her leather shoes.

Iwancio got her start on the circuit at Comedy Underground in 2007. She was more involved in DJing electronic music at the time and didn’t take comedy seriously—perhaps a sound strategy, in retrospect. Iwancio was coming out as trans then, so honing her jokes was a slow process.

“I just call it ‘the hormones thing,’ because ‘transition’ makes it seem like you’re in a line of traffic at all times,” she says. “When the reality is, you’re just saying you were something all along. Also, I’m super-privileged to even have hormones, the old boob pills.” Around 2012, Iwancio began showing up at more open mics and eventually became a fixture at Comedy Womb (now Comedy Nest), a haven for woman- and queer-cen-

tric stand-up comedians to perform in a non-misogynistic environment. (There are many other spots in town to get your fill of comedic toxic masculinity.)

Iwancio acknowledges that comedy—and DJing, for that matter—traditionally has been considered “a dude thing. So any trans person speaking out loud is its own act of revolution, in some regards.”

And she points out that the mere fact of putting your body onstage as trans presents challenges. Iwancio cites the dreaded “crotch check” as one pitfall. “I sat down for a while, because what you wear onstage, and what you don’t wear onstage as a trans woman, at least, is how you’ll be read. So if I wear bigger clothes, I’m read as a dude. Then it seems like, unless I specify that I’m speaking from the trans viewpoint, I seem like I’m a dude making fun of trans women, because I’m being clocked as a dude. But if I show up in something that has my tits out more, then I have a better chance of the trans stuff landing.”

One advantage trans comics have is the shock of the new. With so few trans comics working in the field, anyone in it potentially has material that was unavailable to standup comics before them. “People are just happy to not hear the same thing over and over again. I haven’t really fought any sort of open aggression from folks. People seem to want to know about the trans experience.”

In October, Iwancio opened for the popular actor/podcaster Cameron Esposito at the Neptune Theatre, to an audience of 700 people, and her 15 minutes went well, especially because she got to meet Esposito. “I only had one or two goals in comedy, and one was to do her podcast, Put Your Hands Together, which is really rad. So to get to open for her is a good consolation prize.”

In November, Iwancio traveled to Los Angeles for five dates, including an appearance at Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal’s Hot Tub variety show. Contemplating the awesomeness of that, she says, “If I stop doing

comedy this year, I would retire having done mostly everything I’ve ever wanted to do.”

Despite the advances in comedy she’s making, Iwancio waxes pessimistic about the breakout potential for trans women comics. “I’ll be dead before there’s a famous trans woman comedian. That’s probably just me being very exaggerated and grim.” She admits that there are just some places in the United States that trans women comics can’t thrive, but she is driven to perform in cities where trans people live and may have never seen her brand of comedy.

“Sometimes, closeted people come up to me after a show and in a hushed voice tell me that they are trans. And that’s not often, and it sounds like some sort of special, teary-eyed moment in an interview, but it does keep me going in some respects.” ■

See Andy Iwancio perform at Safeword at Kremwerk on January 4, and at regular comedy nights around town.

STEVE KORN

She’s also a DJ and a vegan. “But I’m a bad vegan,” she says, pointing to the leather on her shoes.

STEVE KORN

ZADIE SMITH DECLINES TO COMMENT

The brilliant writer wrestles with call-out culture.

BY KATIE HERZOG

Zadie Smith, the famous novelist and essayist, politely (and wisely) declined to be interviewed for this article. Who could blame her? When I e-mailed her requesting an interview, I made the terrible mistake of being honest. What I should have said was that I was interested in talking about her work in advance of her appearance in Seattle on February 27. Instead, I wrote that I was interested in talking with her about call-out culture and the purity politics of the American left.

If you spend any time on social media, you know what I’m talking about with the term “call-out culture”: a teenage girl wears a culturally appropriated prom dress, a cis actor gets cast to play a trans character, a white poet publishes a poem from the point of view of a person of color—and Twitter is set aflame with righteous indignation. The offender must be reeducated, immediately. The online left increasingly runs on outrage like this, and the reason I wanted to talk to Zadie Smith about the phenomenon is because she’s written about it.

In a 2017 essay for Harper’s, Smith wrote about the controversy surrounding Dana Schutz’s Open Casket, an abstract painting of Emmett Till’s mutilated body that inspired a heated protest at the Whitney Biennial. At the time, a number of black artists and activists and their allies argued that Schutz, a white woman, was appropriating black pain for her own profit. They urged the museum to remove the painting from its walls and, what’s more, to destroy it. In a letter to the exhibit’s curators, the artist Hannah Black wrote: “The subject matter is not Schutz’s; white free speech and white creative freedom have been founded on the constraint of others, and are not natural rights. The painting must go.”

The painting remained on the wall, but Smith’s essay, which neither praised nor condemned Schutz’s work, wasn’t received much better than Open Casket itself. The essay was essentially about who is permitted to comment on what, and Smith’s status as a British and light-skinned biracial woman was seen by some critics as (to borrow a word) problematic—although, as Smith pointed out in her essay, Hannah Black is

both biracial and British, too.

A critic of Smith’s piece, Candace McDuffie, wrote in Ploughshares: “While Smith acknowledges the complexities of being biracial, she doesn’t probe her privilege of having light skin nor does she pay the same attention

“Are my children too white to engage with black suffering?”

to what cultural appropriation actually is.”

Other readers took issue with Smith’s use of the word “quadroon” to describe her own multiracial children. “Are my children too white to engage with black suffering?” she writes. “How black is black enough?” It’s a question she leaves unanswered.

Still, in some ways, Smith has insulated herself from criticism. She has been a major literary figure for more than a decade, ever since her generation-defining debut

novel White Teeth. She isn’t online, where most of the yelling takes place, because she doesn’t need to be. Being inaccessible makes it harder for the public to bully a person out of their opinions.

But that doesn’t mean Smith isn’t aware of the backlash, and despite it, she’s continued to write and to speak about the pressure to be, or at least to appear to be, woke. It’s a trend that started to filter through the American left while Obama was still in office, and, post-Trump, has become a seemingly unstoppable force, drowning out the bad—the wrong, the unwoke, the impure—in its wake.

Smith explored this moment of shifting morality in a stunning piece of satire, “Now More Then Ever,” published as a short story in the New Yorker last July. “There is an urge to be good,” the story begins. “To be seen to be good. To be seen. Also to be.”

This piece of fiction takes place in a world that resembles “woke Twitter” come to life. In the evening, people stand at their windows, holding signs printed with large black arrows. They point their arrows at people

condemned as problematic—people who are “beyond the pale.” Those sorry souls they’re pointing to have been canceled, disgraced, publicly shamed for offenses that aren’t immediately apparent.

Smith’s narrator, a professor, lives at an unnamed university—in real life, uiversities are the epicenter of call-out culture and illiberal activism—and Smith jumps around between slightly (but only slightly) absurdist scenarios that might take place on today’s woker campuses. All acts, people, and history are judged by the contemporary standards of what’s okay and what’s not, no matter what people may have thought 5 or 50 or 500 years ago, and while the narrator doesn’t quite understand all the new unwritten rules and regulations, she knows she must obey them or risk cancellation herself.

And so she follows along, pointing her arrow at a colleague named Eastman. The narrator says, in explaining why she’s shaming him: “Not only does he not believe the past is the present, but he has gone further and argued that the present, in the future, will be just as crazy-looking to us, in the present, as the past is, presently, to us, right now!”

Perhaps predictably, this story was not universally well received. The writer Isaac Chotiner, for instance, called it “an extremely reactionary piece of short fiction” on, naturally, Twitter. But for those who loved it, it was Smith at her best: observant, funny, full of character, and insightful, but also just a step removed from the tempest.

After I e-mailed her, telling her what I wanted to interview her about, she wrote back: “This e-mail should be filed under ‘being offered enough rope to hang yourself.’” It’s not hard to see why she would decline to open the particular can of worms on offer: The backlash to such an interview isn’t just a possibility, it’s almost a guarantee.

In her writing, though, she’s able to comment on what’s happening without, it seems, getting too bogged down in the muck. Is it because she’s a British national commenting on American life? No. It’s because she’s Zadie Smith. ■

A Conversation with Zadie Smith is Wednesday, February 27, at Benaroya Hall.

DOMINIQUE NABOKOV

A recent short story of hers takes place in a world that resembles “woke Twitter” come to life.

SILK ROAD STAR

Virtuosic clarinetist Kinan Azmeh premieres a new concerto with Seattle Symphony.

BY LEILANI POLK

There is something captivating and mysterious about the timbre of a clarinet. It’s like the gazelle of woodwinds, supple and graceful, its sonic quality more subdued than its brassy siblings, yet more rich and distinctive.

In the hands of Kinan Azmeh, the clarinet becomes even more hypnotic. The soloist and composer generally works within a classical, jazz, and Arabic musical framework, crossing and melding qualities, incorporating new elements and influences (like Indian rhythmic structures) as he goes.

He’d rather not be categorized, however, because he doesn’t believe the lines between genres actually exist. “In all my work, I’ve tried to promote the idea that music is a continuum,” he says. The vocabulary used to describe music varies from culture to culture, he explains, but at its heart, music is just a means of expressing ideas or emotions that are too complex to convey with words.

There is one consistent element in most of what he does: “I love confusing people, myself included, about what is composed and what is improvised. It comes from my belief that some of the best composed music is music that sounds really spontaneous and feels natural, as if it is improvised, and some of the best improvisations are the ones that sound structured and have a clear form, as if they were composed.”

He says improvisation is something that was missing in his academic training. “But it’s the thing that I actually enjoy doing the most in my life as a professional musician.” It’s not a new notion. “We know Mozart as a composer, and also we know that he played several instruments and he conducted and everything, but people forget to mention that he was an improviser, too. And for me, it’s something that is important to remember, that this has always been the tradition.”

Azmeh has been playing clarinet for more than three decades, studying in his native Damascus, Syria, and then in New York City (graduate work at Juilliard, doctorate

from the City University of New York). He’s also scored films and contributed to multidisciplinary projects (like his audiovisual performances with Syrian American artist Kevork Mourad) and toured with a range of artists, most notably Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble.

For his new clarinet concerto—which has its world premiere with Seattle Symphony on February 6 at Benaroya Hall, an evening during which he will also perform with the Silk Road Ensemble—Azmeh explains that both its emotional and musical content are connected to his association with the symphony. This connection started when President Trump’s first Muslim-country travel ban left him stranded in Beirut in February of 2017. Seattle Symphony was the first institution to reach out to him upon his return to the United States, via an invitation to perform in the Music Beyond Borders: Voices from the Seven event.

He says it was very meaningful, this small gesture of solidarity. “And it moved me, how people sometimes make a statement about something though they are not directly affected by it. I think that’s what really defines activism in a way, when you are advocating for something that actually doesn’t affect your personal life.”

His new composition leaves two openings for optional improvised solos, what he calls “windows of excitement,” where, if an instrumentalist wants to contribute more, “then you open that window and the form of the piece becomes more flexible.”

He’ll join Silk Road Ensemble for the rest of the program. “For me, it’s like the worlds colliding in a very positive way, that concert. Because I’m playing with Seattle Symphony, which I really love, and then with Silk Road, which is my family, a family away from my family. Merging all these elements together is going to be wonderful.” ■

Kinan Azmeh and Silk Road Ensemble perform Wednesday, February 6, at Benaroya Hall.

CONNIE TSANG

NORA IS BACK

With the slam of a door, Ibsen’s iconic character changed theater forever. Now she’s back, and she’s got some things to say.

BY CHASE BURNS

Modern theater started with the slamming of a door.

That’s what they say, at least.

The door slams two hours into A Doll’s House, by the 19th-century Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The character slamming the door is Nora Helmer. She’s just had an epiphany: Her marriage sucks and she hates being a mother. Her happiness is a lie, built on top of other lies. Her husband pleads for her not to go, but she walks out. Then… blackout. The end.

Western civilization responded by pulling its collective hair out over the meaning and impact of Nora’s final gesture. Are we supposed to celebrate her choice? Why would a mother abandon her children? Is this feminism?

The end of the play was so controversial that Hedwig Niemann-Raabe, who played Nora in the 1880 premiere of A Doll’s House in Germany, demanded that Ibsen write a different ending. The actress reportedly told the playwright, “I would never leave my children.” So instead of leaving her children, it was rewritten so that Nora’s husband would force her to look at her kids until she felt so guilty, she’d collapse on the floor, unable to leave. That ending didn’t last long. Ibsen went back to A Doll’s House’s original finale. His restored ending became world famous. Nora ignited Europe.

The “technical novelty” of Ibsen’s drama, according to Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, was its introduction of “discussion” into the “well-made” play. The standard method of constructing a well-made play during Ibsen’s time was to incorporate exposition in a play’s first act, a situation in its second, and an unraveling in its third. With Ibsen, there was exposition, situation, and then a new invention: discussion. This introduction of the discussion is the crack that

allowed for modernism to invade the theater.

Critics of the time found Ibsen “consistently dirty” and “deplorably dull.” One publication wrote that “97% of the people” who go to his shows are “nasty-minded people who find the discussion of nasty subjects to their taste in exact proportion to their nastiness.”

Another publication wrote that his admirers were “unprepossessing cranks in petticoats,” “educated and muck-ferreting dogs,” and “effeminate men and male women.” Wow.

Ibsen may have been a muttonchopped grouch, but his audiences sound fabulous.

Even Shaw, who considered Ibsen one of his defining influences, admitted that by placing the discussion at the end of A Doll’s House Ibsen made audiences “fatigued,” which is a polite way of saying the play is mostly boring.

A Doll’s House, Part 2, which makes its Pacific Northwest debut at Seattle Rep on March 15, is the opposite of boring. Written by Lucas Hnath, the play begins 15 years after Nora’s dramatic exit. Now a very different woman, Nora stomps back through that famous doorway with a request so extreme, it may result in her death. Unlike A Doll’s House, this sequel of sorts is funny, loud, and, most refreshingly, short: 90 minutes with no intermission.

Now, nearly 140 years after Nora first slammed the door, she’s opening it back up.

Hnath’s Nora is a different woman, and A Doll’s House, Part 2 is a different play from its predecessor. I don’t want to give too much away, but what’s so startling about Nora’s return is how contemporary her problems feel. How are we supposed to construct our marriages? Who do they benefit? And does it really matter if the kids are all right?

In A Doll’s House, Part 2, Ibsen’s famous discussion picks up right where it left off. ■

A Doll’s House, Part 2 runs March 15 to April 28 at Seattle Repertory Theatre.

CASSANDRA SWAN

ANTHONY WHITE’S EYE-POPPING PAINTINGS

He loves to paint naked bathroom selfies and millennial trash.

BY JASMYNE KEIMIG

Anthony White is standing in front of an unfinished painting in his Central District studio, considering the nude figure before him.

Around the studio, finished pieces hang near half-done ones. They depict crumpled Dick’s to-go bags, nipples, stickers, iPhones, bendy straws, skateboards, Capri Sun, sunglasses, nail polish, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Smirnoff Ice, graffiti, and luxurious trash like crumpled Tiffany bags. The surfaces almost look like the local baker had a field day with a sheet cake because of the way the figures are made of fat, methodically laid squiggles of glaringly bright plastic. It’s hard for me to resist the temptation to lean over and lick them with my tongue.

“Do you want one of these?” he asks, holding out a plastic container full of gummy bears and popping a couple in his mouth.

White is 24 years old and his work is maximalist to the highest degree. It has been causing waves in the Seattle art scene, and for good reason—it’s really fucking cool, and it seemingly came out of nowhere. White graduated from Cornish College of the Arts last spring, had an exhibition in the queer/feminist/ punk art space the Factory in June of 2018, and shortly thereafter got scooped up by the most blue-chip art dealer in Seattle, Greg Kucera Gallery. In between, he made his debut at the Se attle Art Fair.

‘Spring Clean’ (left) is a still life with millennial trash.

‘Libra Season’ (detail, inset) is based on a mirror selfie sent to the artist by one of his friends. Both are on exhibit at Greg Kucera Gallery Jan 3 to Feb 16.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GREG KUCERA GALLERY

He makes his giant, vibrant paintings on handmade wooden panels, although calling them paintings is almost a disservice to them. They occupy a unique middle ground between painting and sculpture.

terest in sculpture, so I was constantly figuring out which materials I liked and which ones worked a certain way,” he tells me. “I think a material definitely has a purpose, so those choices should always be correct.”

Running his finger just above the surface of one of his paintings, White explains, “I do these repetitive motions to get each and every line on here.” His paintings immediately bring to mind the smooshed-together plastic ridges of a 3-D printed object. Only instead of a life-size

For the past year, White has primarily been working with a type of plastic used in 3-D printing called polylactic acid (PLA). Coming in a variety of different colors, the plastic is formed into one long, thick rod and unceremoniously shoved into a hotglue-gun-like machine. The gun warms up the plastic, making it malleable enough to manipulate and fill in the penciled-in sketches on the panels while still maintaining a puffy shape.

“I started off at Cornish with a huge in-

He paints with colorful plastic rods fed through a gluegun-like tool.

replica of a human skull or a miniature Eiffel Tower, the painting in question deals exclusively with the two perfectly round ass cheeks of an anonymous male subject taking a mirror selfie on a bathroom floor. Contrasting with the messy humanity

he portrays, he was inspired by the unseen hand of the 3-D printer, a process fed off of algorithms, numbers, hardware, metal, and data points, meant to take the human equation out of design. The surfaces resemble woven, hardened bits of fabric, which is funny given the precursor to computer processors: the 19th-century looms that simplified the process of manufacturing complex patterned textiles. “I am a 3-D printer,” White says and laughs. While we’re in his studio together, White is in the process of putting together pieces for his January show, Smoke and , at Greg Kucera Gallery. He’s one of the youngest artists Kucera has signed, and his work is markedly different from the rest of Kucera’s cohort.

On a recent visit to the gallery in Pioneer Square, White’s THE RECIPE —a still life crammed with items like a RAZR cell phone, cough syrup, flowers, and a DVD of Mysterious Skin—was hanging above Kucera’s desk. Kucera first encountered White’s work at his BFA show at Cornish. It was “just so grown up—it was head and shoulders above most of what we see in BFA or even MFA shows in terms of completeness of vision,” Kucera said. “I felt like it had arrived fully formed.”

The gallerist added: “At the same time, I felt a kind of repulsion toward the work. Like, ugh, all that plastic. Those nubile young boys in all their narcissistic glory. Yet I realized I was seeing something that I hadn’t seen before. When you’re in the contemporary art world, you do start to pay attention to that—what is your reaction to this? And if you are just being placated by art, you are not having a reaction.”

By the way, it’s not just nubile young boys. Dominating the majority of White’s studio space on the day I visit is a yet-tobe-finished giant circular panel, halved to make the process of painting it easier. Two girls lie across either flank of the piece wearing sunglasses, bikini bottoms, and not much else. It’s based off a photo of two friends White took in August, while they were taking in the late summer sun (and smoke) at a nude beach in the city.

The figures are surrounded by cheap

vodka and champagne bottles, bongs, and bright snack wrappers. These “low-level” cultural objects are mixed in with luxury items from Commes de Garçon, Off-White, and Versace. A ruby-and-diamond-encrusted bra from the 2000 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, worn by Gisele Bündchen and valued at more than $15 million, is casually thrown on a beach chair behind the two women. Their respective Cash and Venmo apps, open on the screens of their phones, show $0 in their bank accounts. Meanwhile, that infamous Kendall Jenner self-made billionaire Forbes cover peeks out of one of their bags. “I put that in there a couple of days ago,” White says, motioning to the magazine.

“We think we need all these things to keep us comfortable or happy, and we want to be seen with these certain things—but it’s just shit in the end,” White says. “These things are supposed to convey a message about us, but they don’t. It’s this false thing that we try to have represent us.”

His work consistently deals with this contradiction between abundance and lack. The high and the low. Narcissism and vulnerability.

It’s worth noting that the mirror selfies he paints are based on photos friends have sent him. They are a testament to his friends’ best selves, the original source photos taken in moments of comfort or beauty.

There’s something lustful about these figures, the way their bodies curve just so, and the fact they’re naked or mostly naked. Usually there are other things within the context

who don’t have that kind of power or wealth.”

He often keeps little personalized details from the photos friends send him. In one painting, the figure’s phone case has a tiny Goku sticker. “I want to immortalize the people that I think wouldn’t be otherwise, especially in a painting.”

Although White also adds his own elements to the portraits—like patterned backgrounds that he believes best fit each of the figures—these images are presenting their subjects in a way they wanted to be seen. There’s a perceived candidness, but it’s entirely constructed. This feeling is only heightened by White’s chosen medium, a signifier of artifice, of something not quite real or natural.

White is also a curator and an enthusiast

of the painting that give a hint at the subject’s own private life: Astroglide lube, Takis, cigarettes, whip-it canisters.

Around each plastic-painted selfie is a meticulously ornate frame that White makes himself with the PLA hot gun, meant to elevate the figures inside them. “In the colonial age, portraits were being made of people with high wealth; if you had a portrait done, it’d mean you had money,” he says. “I’m kind of flipping that and cataloging these really abundant photos that are taken by people like me

Jean Nagai, a Seattle-born, Los Angeles–based artist who hasn’t shown in the city for a few years.

of other artists’ work. He oversees a recurring group art show called While Supplies Last that began last March and features works from more than 100 different artists for only $30 a pop. “I’m trying to be this community building, co-inhabiting thing… I want to bring a community of people’s art into Seattle.”

While Supplies Last will have a monthlong residency in February at Mount Analogue, located in one of the storefront spaces at the TK Building. White is also guest-curating a show at the Factory in December featuring

And what about White, who grew up in California before going to Cornish? Is he sticking around? “For the most part, I’ve experienced a lot of Seattle that I’ve wanted to,” he says. “I want to travel, and I think I’ll find another city that I really like. And I do love New York.” While it’s clear that he has a lot of love for this city, there is a wistful look that comes across his face at the mention of New York City. Of possibility. After all, New York is the center of the art world. Given what he’s accomplished so far, given that “fully formed” quality of his work Kucera talks about, I have no doubt he could find massive success there.

His work is very much of this century:

blisteringly bright and loud, distinctly American, inspired by (and commenting on) technology. These maximalist paintings are littered with remnants of what it meant to grow up in the millennial era, containing references beyond what most people in the art world think a still life or a portrait could consist of. The garishness and plastic-ness of his work, its presumed disposability, is also what makes it hypnotic, compelling, and something you want to fall headlong into.

Now is your chance to see the works in person and shake the artist’s hand, so that, years later, you can say you knew him when. Just don’t lick the paintings, okay? ■

Anthony White: Smoke and Mirrors runs January 3 to February 16 at Greg Kucera Gallery. Opening reception Thursday, January 3, 6–8 pm.

Clockwise from top right: a ruby-and-diamond-encrusted Victoria’s Secret bra thrown on a beach chair; a crumpled Dick’s bag; the infamous Kendall Jenner Forbes cover; the artist in his Central District studio.

PORTRAIT BY TORI DICKSON; ALL OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF GREG KUCERA GALLERY

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Art

WINTER 2018/19

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MARCH 17

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Books & Talks

Festivals

Immersive drag performance art at the Frye Art Museum, an interactive bodega at ArtXchange, subversive photography at Greg Kucera Gallery, culturally juxtaposed objects at Seattle Art Museum, and other exciting museum and gallery exhibitions are all waiting to be discovered in our winter art calendar.

Find out which authors you should hear read this season—including novelist Zadie Smith, journalist Dan Rather, and contemporary poet Solmaz Sharif—from our winter books & talks calendar.

Want to ski down mountains in between indie-rock sets? Sip hot toddies while you nibble on fancy french fries? Dress in cosplay to meet geeky celebs? Ice-skate through the world’s largest Christmas-light maze? Head to our winter festivals calendar first.

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Film

Turn to our winter film calendar for everything from holiday flicks like It’s a Wonderful Life at the Grand Illusion to probable Oscar contenders like Mary Poppins Returns with an all-star cast, plus gems like the Nordic Lights Film Festival.

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Music

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Dancers in The Nutcracker, actors in The Lion King, aerialists at the Moisture Festival, podcasters like our own Dan Savage, and comedians like Conan O’Brien will bring warmth to Seattle stages—and our performance calendar—this winter. P

The Seattle Symphony’s production of Handel’s Messiah and the Royal Room’s A Charlie Brown Christmas performances reliably set the tone for the season, but also check out our winter music calendar for the likes of a ukulele virtuoso, a Steve Jobs opera, and a KISS concert.

Performance

DESIGN BY GREG NEWCOMB; PHOTO BY JIJI LEE

Art

MUSEUMS

Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

★ Alfredo Arreguín: Life Patterns

This Mexican-born Seattle artist, according to his representatives at Linda Hodges Gallery “recognized as one of the originators of the Pattern and Decoration movement in painting,” imitates mosaic, tile, and floral decorations in oils. A salmon fisher and nature lover, he often depicts life in the Salish Sea. This exhibition will mount more than 30 of his works, particularly his more recent achievements. (Through Sun Feb 3)

BIMA@5: Selections from the Permanent Art Collection The museum celebrates its five years of existence with some highlights from its donated collection, such as Chris Maynard’s ingenious feather cut-outs. (Through Sun Feb 3)

Borderland: ARKIR Book Arts

Group/Iceland This traveling exhibition features 53 Icelandic artist books about the concept of “land” as well as works by BIMA founder Cynthia Sears. (Through Sun Feb 3)

★ Heikki Seppa: Master Metalsmith Heikki Seppa, who died in 2010, was a master smith born in Finland who immigrated west and eventually taught in the USA, where he co-founded the Society of North American Goldsmiths. The museum displays a range of his works, including jewelry, functional pieces, and sculpture. (Through Sun Feb 3) Kait Rhoads: Bloom Rhoads uses beaded murine glass sculpture to simulate a coral reef with a two-story bloom of kelp. (Through Sun Feb 3) Pamela Wachtler: Impressions of Place In the museum bistro, see regional landscapes in oil. (Through Sun Feb 3)

Bellevue Arts Museum

★ Dylan Neuwirth: OMNIA Dylan Neuwirth transforms the entire museum into an enormous metaphor for the cycle of life through five exhibitions composed of neon, video, performance art, digital art, and sculpture. Two parts of this multifaceted takeover are installed outside, on the building’s exterior and on the balcony, while two more are found within the museum. The last piece in the entire installation is an online flash gallery entitled New Folklore. (Through Sun March 24)

★ Polaroids: Personal, Private, Painterly Robert E. Jackson’s exhibition of his collection of Polaroids, cocurated with museum executive director and chief curator Benedict Heywood, is a curious and deeply interesting look into the candid lives of others. All the subjects and authors of these snapshots are unknown to Jackson—the photos are what Heywood described as “pure images.” The photos don’t come across as narrative in and of themselves, but more like beautiful, half-second windows into random people’s lives. (Through Sun March 24) JK

★ BAM Biennial 2018: Glasstastic Artists from Oregon and Washington will contribute their most innovative pieces in glass to this year’s BAM Biennial. (Through Sun April 14)

★ Clyde Petersen: Merch & Destroy Animation filmmaker, musician, artist, and roadie Clyde Petersen presents a “heartfelt yet abject love letter” to touring life, drawn from his own two decades of experience with Aesop Rock, Kimya Dawson, his own band, Your Heart Breaks, and others. With a style that’s equal measures innocence and wry distance, he’s constructed a Ford Econoline and a greenroom out of cardboard that’s complemented by a set of guitars

By Chase Burns, Jasmyne Keimig, Katie Kurtz, and Joule Zelman

Thuy-Van Vu and Samantha Scherer: New Work

DECEMBER 7–JANUARY 12

Scherer's watercolors appear craggy, aching, and vulnerable. (G. Gibson Gallery)

from the same humble materials, and co-created with Darius X for the show Shredders: A Fantasy Guitar Store (Through Sun April 14) JZ

Burke Museum

Testing, Testing 1-2-3: Work in Progress Some of the coolest parts of the Burke Museum are inaccessible to the public. The museum is getting ready to change that while they prepare for an even bigger change: the creation of an entirely new Burke Museum opening in fall 2019 that they hope will serve and educate the public better (which is exciting—the old Burke is a hard act to follow). This exhibit demos some of their ideas about how they might engage visitors at the new museum, including highlighting behind-thescenes work and letting guests grab a sneak peek into their labs. (Through Mon Dec 31)

Frye Art Museum

★ Group Therapy Group Therapy features a roster of international artists addressing themes of healing and self-care through a range of media. With its proximity to Harborview Medical Center (the region’s largest trauma care hospital) and several other hospitals, the museum will also function as a community “free clinic” with immersive installations and participatory projects. By including racism, sexism, and political tribalism as social pathologies, the show reframes what it means to be ill in the 21st century and offers community building as one possible curative.

(Through Sun Jan 6) KK

★ Cherdonna Shinatra: DITCH Cherdonna Shinatra is a drag performer, dancer, choreographer, and generally fun lunatic. Her drag shtick is that she’s a woman playing a man playing a woman, which used to be a radical idea but has now become pretty run-of-the-mill. Which is great! That said, Cherdonna is more than a woman playing a man playing a woman, she’s a performance artist dedicated to interrogating how the

female body is consumed by the male gaze/gays. Her new work at the Frye, DITCH, will create immersive DAILY performances that are COMMITTED to making the world happy in a time of Trump. If anyone can do that impossible task, Shinatra and company can.

(Jan 26–April 28) CB

★ The Rain Doesn’t Know Friends from Foes: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian Three Dubai-based Iranian artists—the Haerizadeh brothers and their friend Hesam Rahmanian—transform internet news images through painting and animation in an interrogation of mass media consumption, violence, and voyeurism. For this exhibition, they show two animations combining photographs of migrants striving to reach Europe with “painterly patterns, fablelike animal imagery, and surreal mirroring effects.” (Jan 26–April 28)

★ Tschabalala Self In the first solo museum presentation of her work on the West Coast, New Havenbased Tschabalala Self’s art resists the norms of traditional portraiture. Dealing with the “iconographic significance of the Black female body in contemporary culture,” the figures in Self’s work both accept and reject the stereotypes and fantasies surrounding the Black female body. They are not there to instruct or reprimand, but to simply be. At once garish, cheeky, and thought-provoking, Self’s use of collage gives the paintings a textured look that makes you want to reach out and touch them (don’t, though). (Jan 26–April 28) JK

★ Quenton Baker: Ballast In 1841, American-born slaves on the brig Creole commandeered the ship bringing them toward a continued life of misery and cruelty. They landed on British territory, where they found their freedom. Award-winning local poet Quenton Baker uses this story to examine black history from a personal standpoint, à la his collection This Glittering Republic. The survival struggle of long-ago people and the lingering effects of slavery on the psyche of

those born free inspired Baker’s “erasure poems,” which he created by blacking out words in the Senate report on the Creole. Baker uses this selective elimination process to take control of the historical narrative, directing the viewer’s consciousness to unintended meanings. (Through Sun Feb 3) JZ

Gretchen Frances Bennett: Air, the free or unconfined space above the surface of the earth Cinematically tinged drawings, photographs, and video by Gretchen Frances Bennett combine influences in sources like Céline Sciamma’s Tomboy a French film about a gender-nonconforming child, and “screen grabs from online spiritual guides’ video channels.” (Feb 15–June 2)

Henry Art Gallery

★ Martha Friedman: Castoffs The ancient two-finger amulet, made of dark stone like obsidian or hematite, was placed in ancient Egyptian coffins, presumably to protect the corpse within. Brooklyn artist Martha Friedman, a master of uneasy forms, places glass-blown versions of these talismans alongside distorted, blobby approximations of the male body. She derived these sculptures from casts of the body of Silas Riener, a dancer and choreographer, before embellishing and altering them with rubber tubing and sheeting and metal spikes. Friedman’s dissection of the male body might be taken as an inversion of—or revenge for—the age-old male gaze, in which the torso is not only objectified but dismembered. (Through Sun Feb 10) JZ

★ Gurvich Contemporary Artist: Carolina Caycedo London-born Caycedo, whose parents are Colombian, lives in LA, and produces environmentally and politically engaged public art projects in many countries. Her work has also been seen in numerous biennials, from Venice to Sao Paulo. Here, she’ll be involving the public in projects related to Be Dammed, her ongoing reflection on

human labor by assembling a “honeycomb” out of glass tubes. (Through Sun March 31)

Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)

WW1 America 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice, signed on November 11, 1918. MOHAI hosts a body of artifacts, recordings, multimedia presentations, and more, created by the Minnesota History Center, to reveal a picture of America between 1914-1919—its contradictions, hopes, terrors, and dizzying transformations. (Through Sun Feb 10)

Museum of Northwest Art

Surge 2018 Climate change and its devastating effect on coastal people are filtered through the lens of art in this third annual Surge exhibition, hosted with the Skagit Climate Science Consortium (SC2). Artists collaborate with environmental scientists and communicators in an effort to inform the public. (Through Sun Jan 6)

Nordic Museum

★ The Vikings Begin Dating from the mid-7th to late 11th century, artifacts in this exhibition come from 15 grave boats found buried around the grounds of Sweden's Uppsala University. Seattle is the farthest west these objects have ever been. The exhibit space is moody and sense-stimulating, with an ominous drumbeat playing throughout and two giant screens depicting animal sacrifices and Viking battle scenes. (Through Mon April 15) JK

the interconnectedness of waters and the freeing of waterways from dams. She'll give a lecture and lead museum visitors in an improvised dance with handmade fishing nets on February 23. (Feb 20–23)

★ Bruce Conner: Untitled Prints Bruce Conner’s latest exhibition focuses on murky and moody prints he made in 1970–71 using a new-tomarket felt-tip pen. Ink in these pens dried out quickly, resulting in Conner exploring ephemerality in his drawings, memorializing them forever by photographing and then transferring the results to print. (Through Sun April 28) JK

★ Edgar Arceneaux: Library of Black Lies Enter Edgar Arceneaux’s unassuming wooden structure—a low, irregular-sided wooden shack—and find yourself in a parallel-world library of sugar-crystal clouded books. According to museum materials, this installation—first exhibited in Paris in 2016—concerns Arceneaux’s preoccupations with history, memory, and our subjective human reconstructions of both. The result looks like a cramped, mazelike hideaway, a metaphor for the limits imposed on our views of the past by our own need for containment. (Through Sun June 2) JZ

Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Totally 80s Rewind If you’ve had it with the present, take a trip back to the 1980s and reenter the life of a nerdy teenager, complete with a classroom (think linoleum floors, vintage Apple computers, and Oregon Trail), a “Bit Zone” video arcade, a re-creation of your cool friend’s basement with a Nintendo console, and more. Live out your Stranger Things fantasies. (Through Mon Dec 31)

Museum of

Glass

Foraging the Hive: Sara Young and Tyler Budge The two artists have created a large-scale work that draws a connection between beehives and

Olympic Sculpture Park

Spencer Finch: The Western Mystery Spencer Finch (behind the 2014 South Lake Union installation that featured a glass canopy above Vulcan’s false forest, and the watercolor installation over CenturyLink Field that captured the feeling of sunset) has created another work inspired by light and color. This time, his suspended glass panes that slowly rotate at the park will create “a moving abstraction of a sunset, based on actual sunsets photographed from Seattle over Puget Sound.” (Through Sun March 3)

Seattle Art Museum

★ Claire Partington: Taking Tea The British ceramicist elucidates the history hidden in the Porcelain Room, a beloved permanent installation in the museum. Incorporating or evoking Baroque painting, fragments from centuries-old shipwrecks, human figures, and factory production, Partington delves into the Eurasian china trade. Luxury, culture, exploitation all lie behind the seeming anodyne dishes and vessels.

(Dec 7–Dec 6, 2020) Body Language This exhibition on emotional gestures includes a sculpture by much-missed Seattle artist Akio Takamori, an interpretation of German Chancellor Willy Brandt’s silent recognition of the Jews and Poles killed in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. (Opens Sat Dec 22) New Topographics The original version of this influential photographic exhibition, composed of mostly black-and-white “unheroic, man-made” landscapes, was shown at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. Old photographs by Robert Adams, Lewis Baltz, Joe Deal, Frank Gohlke, and Henry Wessel will be accompanied by other, related works by different artists. (Through Sun Dec 30) ★ Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India A traveling exhibition of some 250 artworks and objects that trace four centuries

COURTESY OF G. GIBSON GALLERY

of royal history of the Rathore dynasty of Rajasthan, India. Most of these objects—which include miniature paintings, handcrafted armor, and carved furnishings—had never traveled to the US prior to this exhibition. The SAM installation will include largescale photographic murals that evoke the geographic and historical context of these rare treasures. (Through Mon Jan 21) EMILY POTHAST

★ Jeffrey Gibson: Like a Hammer

In his first major museum exhibition, Gibson combines traditional elements of Native American art and materials with contemporary pop culture references and images. This leads to an interesting juxtaposition of cultures—like a wooden panel traditionally beaded with “I WANNA BE ADORED” (a lyric from the classic 1991 Stone Roses song) blazed across it. Or a punching bag beautifully adorned with beaded geometric patterns. (Feb 28–May 12) JK

★ Noble Splendor: Art of Japanese Aristocrats Works commissioned by rich patrons of the arts in premodern Japan are celebrated: sculptures, screens, scrolls, paintings, and metalwork. (Through Sun March 3)

Tacoma Art Museum

Key to the Collection The museum displays some of the treasured gifts of its 5,000-piece collection, including legacies of Japanese woodblock prints, European paintings, and American modern art. (Opens Sat Dec 22)

★ Rebecca and Jack Benaroya Wing Expansion and Inaugural Exhibition A half-century’s worth of glass treasures from the Pilchuck Glass School (founded in '71) is contained in this collection, and the bequeathal of it to the museum is a huge deal for Washington’s art scene, with masterpieces by Lino Tagliapietra, Mary Van Cline, Debora Moore, Dale Chihuly, and Martin Blank included. (Opens Sat Jan 19)

★ Native Portraiture: Power and Perception This exhibit invites you to contemplate structural oppression and appropriation of Native subjects in portraits by non-Native people, as well as Native artists’ reflections and reworking of this stereotypical iconography. (Through Sun Feb 10)

★ Places to Call Home: Settlements in the West See representations of Western cities throughout their history and development, including beautiful works by immigrant or immigrant-descended artists like Kenjiro Nomura and Mian Situ.

(Through Sun Feb 10) Winter in the West Another Tacoma Art Museum exhibition that explores variants to traditional images of the West. See hardy inhabitants of dramatic winter settings, from people enduring rainy season on the coast to snowy and icy conditions in the mountains. (Through Sun Feb 10)

Whatcom Museum

★ Endangered Species: Artists on the Front Line of Biodiversity

With 80 works by 52 artists, this exhibition explores the full spectrum of our natural environment with art that addresses everything from anthropogenic climate disruption to habitat restoration projects. Pieces in the show date back as far as the early 1800s through the present, and include George Catlin’s striking and strange 1832 oil painting Buffalo Bull, Grazing on the Prairie Michael Felber’s 2017 colored pencil Arctic Father and Andy Warhol’s Endangered Species series, 10 silk-screen prints from 1983, each featuring a different endangered animal.

(Through Sun Jan 6) KK

Wing Luke Museum

Blast Off to Beyond Discover how Asians and Asian Americans have explored aerospace and outer space, like So-yeon Yi, the first Korean astronaut, or Wong Tsu, the Chinese designer of the first Boeing airplane.

(Through Sun Jan 6)

★ Wham! Bam! Pow!: Cartoons, Turbans, and Confronting Hate

Vishavjit Singh responds to xenophobia—which he experienced plenty of after September 11, 2001, as a Sikh American lumped in with other South Asians and Middle Easterners— with a superhero series about a Sikh anti-bigot. (Through Sun Feb 24)

GALLERIES

Abmeyer + Wood

Kymia Nawabi: Wound to Wonder Nawabi combines fantastical, mythological, animal, and earthy representations to express her “journey in finding balance and peace from having gone from being wounded to being given beautiful wonder.” (Dec 6–Jan 12)

Calvin Ma Ma sculpts funny little robot people with houses for heads, often with jaunty chimneys poking out of their craniums like oddly shaped hats. These figures’ poses look inquisitive, vulnerable, and playful, yet their eyes are disconcertingly empty. According to the gallery, Ma’s work is pervaded by his feelings of social anxiety, the figures adaptations of the childhood toys he found less stressful than other children. (Feb 7–March 2)

Amanda Sciullo Abstract painter Sciullo, who hails from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, seeks to portray the fragility of the natural world and our obligation to protect it. (March 7–30)

ArtsWest

Jolyn Wells-Moran: Seeking the Spirit of Nature See oil landscapes shaped with bold, thick brushstrokes by artist Wells-Moran. (Through Sat Jan 5)

ArtXchange

★ Laura Castellanos: Bodega (Love Materials) There’s a sort of spiritual and spooky element to Castellanos’s work—it’s as if her paintbrush is divining some message from a god(dess) who is at once benevolent and strange, gaudy and all-seeing, lover of both bright green and blood sacrifice. Castellanos is turning ArtXchange into a giant interactive “bodega,” partially re-creating her truly legendary studio space inside the gallery, and will display everything from paintings to hand puppets to fine art. I’ve heard that there will be some budget-friendly

pieces, so save up and bring a sturdy bag! (Dec 6–Jan 26) JK

BONFIRE

sweet, rotten, sweet Dancer/ artist Piacenza describes this video installation as “a visceral communal ritual examining what it means to see, be seen, and bear witness to the passage of time.” The video is composed of recordings from Piacenza’s dance piece The Event a reflection on absurdity and meaning. Over three weekends in March, the video pieces will form the backdrop for special dance performances. (March 7–31)

Center on Contemporary Art

(CoCA)

You Got the Look Nancy Worden, Andy Cooperman, and Emiko Oye are just three of 26 American jewelry artists showing unusual and experimental pieces. (Through Sat Dec 22) cogean?

★ Ellen Ito: Cook The experimental project and home gallery space of artists Joey Veltkamp and Ben Gannon, cogean? features exhibitions that highlight domestic arts and crafts. Their fifth show at the 100-year-old house they share on Cogean Avenue—within easy walking distance of the Bremerton ferry terminal—is from Ellen Ito, and it is centered on sharing food as community building. Ito also organized a publication in conjunction; it features illustrations and recipes by more than 40 artists, including Matthew Offenbacher, Nicholas Nyland, and Lulu Yee. Proceeds from recipe-book sales benefit local organizations, and attendees are encouraged to bring donations for a local food bank. (Through Mon Dec 31) KK Cole Gallery

Night Life See evening scenes and cityscapes in oil, watercolor, and encaustic by Jennifer Diehl, Ron Stocke, Angela Bandurka, Willow Bader, and Susan Waite. (Through Mon Dec 31) Columbia City Gallery Chop Challenge: Recycled Textile Art Artists transform damaged Eileen

Fisher textiles into original textile works. (Through Sun Jan 6)

My Other Story Di Faria, Carol Hershman, Elinor Maroney, Leslie Moon, and Olivia Zapata’s ceramics, glass, woodcuts, and jewelry are on display for your admiration.

(Through Sun Jan 6) Core Gallery

CORE Holiday Show The gallery’s annual group exhibition returns with contributions from across the artist collective. (Through Sat Dec 15)

Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center

★ Neddy Artist Awards Exhibit One of the largest and most prestigious art awards in the state of Washington, the Neddy Awards provide cash prizes to outstanding artists living in the Puget Sound region. See the artists’ work at this exhibit.

(Through Sun Dec 16)

Davidson Galleries

★ Georges Rouault: The Complete Miserere The print-focused gallery brings another European heavy hitter to town: Georges Rouault, who lived from 1871-1958 and worked in Fauvist and Expressionist modes. Here, you can see his two-part series composed of the Miserere (plea for the pity of God) and Guerre (war), which responded to the horrors of World War I with Christian and humanist imagery.

(Through Sat Dec 22)

★ Arthur Luiz Piza Sao Paulo-born, Paris-educated Piza is known for his unusual style of gouging designs in ultra-thick copper plates with hammers and chisels. The unsteadily balanced, thick abstracts give an impression of weight and power.

(Dec 6–22)

Eastern European Printmakers

As of press time, the galleries hadn’t yet told us which Eastern European printmakers will be featured in this exhibition, but the works on offer at Davidson are generally beautiful etchings or prints from the 19th and 20th centuries, and are always worth a look. (Jan 3–Feb 2)

Théo Tobiasse See the figurative lithographs of Lithuanian Israeli artist Théo Tobiasse, a fascinating figure who survived the Holocaust in Paris by hiding for two years in a tiny apartment with his family. (Feb 7–March 2)

★ Dion Zwirner Looking at Dion Zwirner’s paintings is like looking at a breathtaking landscape through a looking glass covered in rainwater—beautiful, emotional, and wet. Zwirner’s abstract approach to documenting the natural world is refreshing and deeply dewy. The colors she uses drip and bleed into one another, marrying horizons, seas, trees, clouds, and earth in a way that almost reminds you of a place you’ve been to in a dream. (March 7–30) JK

The Factory

★ Jean Nagai: With Spirits

Featuring LA-based Japanese American artist Nagai’s large-scale, semi-abstract, intricately-designed paintings and works from his 100 Days/100 Paintings project. Anthony White guest curates. (Thurs Dec 13)

Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery

★ 12th Anniversary Show Underground comix artist/painter Jeremy Eaton classifies his art as “energetic,” and his pop-surrealist grotesques and abstracts certainly testify to a wild and abundantly weird imagination. We don’t know exactly what he’s showing here, but recent works have included a depiction of an infernal David Bowie head floating in a crowded solar system and a series of misshapen, hairy, demonic pinups. (Dec 8–Jan 9)

Foster/White Gallery

Sarah McRae Morton The shadows of ancestors loom in Morton’s art in this exhibition with themes of spirit and lineages. (Dec 6–23)

Andrew Wapinski Wapinski introduces an element of natural chaos into his work by melting chunks of pigmented ice on canvas, then

adding layers of gesso and sand. He thus elicits the “complex narratives surrounding man’s interaction with the environment, particularly in the historic coal mining town in which he grew up.” (Jan 3–26)

James Martin: Riding the Moon Train Circus denizens, anthropomorphic animals, and mythical beings populate James Martin’s art. Martin was born in 1928 in Everett and has been creating these whimsical scenes for decades. This exhibition will include selections from his lengthy career. (Jan 3–26)

Tony Angell: Sketches in Stone Tony Angell’s naturalistic bird sculptures are enriched by his studies of corvidae, seabirds, and owls, on which he has published several books. You may already have seen his works at the Seattle Aquarium, the Frye, or the Woodland Park Zoo. Now discover his slate-relief carvings. (Feb 7–23)

Cameron Anne Mason Seattle artist Mason’s heavily textured, dyed textile/ print art mimics natural Pacific Northwest landscapes. (March 7–23)

G. Gibson Gallery

★ Thuy-Van Vu and Samantha Scherer: New Work Seattle-based artists Vu and Scherer seem like an intuitive pairing for a gallery show. Presenting new work, both artists get at the tender underbelly of their subjects. With Vu, inanimate objects (typewriters, quilts, piles of wood) take on a human, alive quality in a rather quiet way. Scherer’s watercolor subjects seem to just surface against the background—craggy, aching, and vulnerable. Whatever these two artists put out is thoughtful, contemplative, and a “don’t miss” in every way. (Dec 7–Jan 12) JK

★ Fay Jones and Robert C. Jones: In Tandem Fay Jones is known for her monumental Westlake Station mural, for her Joan Mitchell Grant in 2013, and for her evasion of overt symbolism in favor of playful figurative allusions. Her husband Robert C. Jones is another titan of the Seattle art scene: His colorful gestural abstractions are embedded with Matissean black lines, and are a pleasure to look at. (Jan 9–Feb 23)

Gallery 110

Gallery Artists: The Holiday Show Buy work from gallery artists Michael Abraham, Jeremiah Birnbaum, Aaron Brady, George Brandt, Mimi Cernyar Fox, Susan Christensen, and many others. (Dec 6–29)

Deborah Curtiss: Women (& Men) Out of Line Curtiss sets up her canvases in an unusual manner: They have four sides of different lengths, making an unstable-looking medium for her portraits. (Jan 2–Feb 2) Nancy Coleman: What The Constitution?! Coleman critiques the “ongoing misapplications” of the US Constitution. (Jan 2–Feb 2) International Juried Exhibition See diverse work by artists in various media in this year’s iteration of the gallery’s tradition. (Feb 7–March 2)

Phil Eidenberg-Noppe: Transcend-Dance These photographs, which the artist calls “both ‘documentary’ and ‘impressionist,’” celebrate the beauty and exaltation of cultural dance in the PNW. (March 7–30) Rajaa Gharbi Tunisian artist and award-winning poet and translator Gharbi expresses the tumult of the country’s 2011 revolution as well as drawing on “a fictitious conversation with the father of Analytical Art at her recent art residency in Russia.” Her acrylics are accompanied by an installation, to which visitors are invited to contribute. (March 7–30)

Gallery 4Culture

Ruth Kazmerzak Iowa-born, Seattle-based artist and citizen science advocate Kazmerzak arranges “marine debris” alongside photography and sculpture to draw our attention to the “natural and the non-natural.” (Jan 3–31)

★ Jite Agbro Jite Agbro is concerned with what you’re wearing. Well, okay, maybe not exactly with what you’re wearing right now, but more with how what we wear and how we wear it is an expression of our “projected narratives and our authentic selves.” Here, the Seattle-based Nigerian American artist

will be presenting her latest series of large-scale mixed-media works that investigate class distinction and markers of status, drawing inspiration from the human body and what that body can wear. (Feb 7–28) JK

Katherine Groesbeck Groesbeck’s sculptures are inspired by the relationship between boxers and “cutmen,” the helpers who smear Vaseline on the athletes’ faces. (March 7–28)

Ghost Gallery

★ Holiday Mini Art Exhibit Pay the happily resurrected Capitol Hill gallery a visit for its 12th annual holiday mini art exhibit, where you can choose from hundreds of small works by locals and artists farther afield. (Dec 13–Feb 10)

Veronica Mortellaro The gallery welcomes ink/mixed-media artist Mortellaro, whose ethereal, serenefaced figures seem to spill over the canvas. (March 14–April 7)

Glassbox Gallery

★ Artifacts from the Multiverse Don’t miss this exhibition of props, costumes, and “alternate realities” from the breakout Northwest film Prospect. (Dec 6–Jan 5)

Dori Hana Scherer Glass and metal sculptor Scherer, who’s exhibited pieces in many excellent group shows as well as a solo show at Specialist, debuts new work. (Feb 7–March 17)

Greg Kucera Gallery

★ Margie Livingston: Extreme Landscape Painting This isn’t your grandma’s landscape painting—there’s not a sun setting over an empty field or a river snaking toward the horizon in sight. Rather, the title refers to Livingston’s practice of harnessing a canvas to her body and then dragging it behind her. Sometimes the canvas will be painted in different layers of colors before being dragged, resulting in a heavily textured painting with various colors exposed and interacting with one another. The Seattle-based artist’s work is interesting, telling a story of the city and acting as an artifact of her performance.

(Through Sat Dec 22) JK

★ Saul Becker: Uneven Terrain

A Saul Becker landscape might be a painted sky hanging over a photographed sea on a piece of paper that fits in the palm of your hand. Real places are pulled into a frame, altered digitally and mechanically, and Frankensteined together. This is one way to be a contemporary landscape painter, to extend the tradition of using a flat surface and paint to evoke place, within a society awash in photography. (Through Sat Dec 22)

JEN GRAVES

★ Anthony White: Smoke and Mirrors If you haven’t come across work by (or curated by) Anthony White at one of the city’s art walks in the past year, you have been missing out on a very talented up-and-comer. The curator behind this local exhibit series has also shown his own fused PLA (polylactic acid) portraits, which resemble plastic tapestries. His subjects are frequently selfie-taking youths framed by opulent mirrors or cast against intricate, space-flattening wallpaper patterns. (Jan 3–Feb 16)

★ Joe Rudko: Photographs Seattle-based Rudko cuts up found photographs to create and reinterpret the way we encounter and think about images—sometimes to trippy result. Whether rearranging shredded photos into a complex labyrinth or seemingly weaving together two different pictures into a lattice, Rudko makes you think about the physicality of the photo itself. (Jan 3–Feb 16) JK

Harris Harvey Gallery

Thomas Wood: Northwest Landscape Paintings and Early Prints Bellingham landscape and print artist Wood continues his emphasis on the beautiful Northwest with recent oils plus older intaglio work. (Dec 6–29)

★ Richard Morhous: The Color of Light Light-obsessed painter Richard Morhous, a Seattle fixture, dramatizes the play of beams and colors in acrylics. (March 7–30)

Cherdonna Shinatra DITCH

On view January 26–April 28, 2019

Also on view: Tschabalala Self and The Rain Doesn’t Know Friends From Foes: Ramin Haerizadeh, Rokni Haerizadeh, Hesam Rahmanian

704 Terry Avenue | fryemuseum.org | Always Free

Image: Courtesy of the artist. Design: Greg Newcomb. Photo: Jiji Lee.

Cherdonna Shinatra: DITCH

Hedreen Gallery

★ Elizabeth LaPensée: heart of the game Guggenheim Fellowship-winning Anishinaabe/Métis/Irish artist and writer LaPensée explores issues of Indigenous sovereignty through game design, both digital and analog. For this exhibition, she offers a chance to discover her “interventions,” including Thunderbird Strike the “iPad singing game” Honour Water the role-playing game Dialect, and levels from an Indigenous answer to Oregon Trail, called When Rivers Were Tails (Through Sun March 3)

Henry Art Gallery

★ Between Bodies In February 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)—an international body of climate scientists— issued a statement declaring that global warming is “unequivocal,” and the rise in global temperatures is “very likely” the result of human activity. At the time, this was the most strongly worded assessment the IPCC had ever issued. Since then, the warnings have continued to ratchet up, as has governmental complacency. We need to adopt new ways to address climate change before it really, truly, absolutely, unequivocally is too late. This exhibition includes queer, feminist, and indigenous perspectives that are absolutely critical to an expansive view. (Through Sun April 28) KK

Jack Straw New Media Gallery

Erin Elyse Burns: Unfolding Burns, an assistant professor at Cornish College of the Arts, draws out the “ritual gesture and sound” of meditation. (March 1–April 12)

Jacob Lawrence Gallery

★ Clotilde Jiménez: Apple of My Eye London-based Jiménez’s self-portrait collages are fascinating in that they take on an almost Frankenstein’s monster–like quality, this aggregate idea of identity and self. Culling the figures in his portraits from scraps of free magazines, kitchen towels, and cloth, and combining them with drawn or painted-on elements, his work is a deft exploration into the queer black male body and Jiménez’s own identity. (Through Sat Dec 29) JK

★ Jacob Lawrence Legacy

Exhibition: Danny Giles Chicago-based Giles is interested in a lot of things—namely, how to address “the dilemmas of representing and performing identity and interrogate histories of oppression and creative resistance.” Using sculpture, video, and live performance, Giles’s work doesn’t necessarily give answers but pushes us to ask questions about police surveillance, understandings of race and identity, and the relationship between state power and anti-black violence. (Feb 4–28) JK

Linda

Hodges Gallery

Fred Holcomb, Group Show of Gallery Members Holcomb’s serene landscapes from across the continent are shown alongside various works by members of the gallery. (Dec 6–29) Sylwia Tur, Nicholas Nyland Linguistics scholar Tur sculpts angular, delicate, architectural, mysteriously symbolic-looking shapes in white porcelain. Her pristine objects are complemented by Nyland’s blazes and tangles of color, painted onto ceramics or paper. (Jan 3–Feb 2)

M. Rosetta Hunter

Art Gallery

★ Youth in Focus For the past 25 years, low-income city youth have expressed themselves and captured glimpses of their daily lives thanks to Youth in Focus’s arts program, which pairs the young photographers with adult mentors. (Through Fri Dec 14)

★ Meghan Elizabeth Trainor: Witancraeftlic Witchcraft and electricity unite in Trainor’s sculptural portrayal of folk healing, magic, and technology, an eerie installation of

bones, jars, sigils, and “familiars.” The result is an unsettling yet weirdly optimistic vision of hidden feminine occult power. (Jan 2–31)

Aming mga Pangitain: Our Visions The gallery and Pinoy Words Expressed Kultura Arts (PWEKA) host five regional Filipino American Artists: Beija Flor, Raphael Laigo, Sam Rodrick Roxas-Chua, Lisa Szillassy, and Jeaneatte Tiffany. The opening reception on February 6 will feature a musical performance by Roger Rigor and the Barriotiques as well as poetry by Roxas-Chua, Desiree Gomez, and Louis Vital. (Feb 4–28)

Mariane Ibrahim Gallery

★ Alexandra Karakashian: in on itself Based in Cape Town, this young, award-winning Johannesburg-born painter has been frequently exhibited in her home country as well as at the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London. (Through Sat Dec 22)

METHOD

Out of the Box Past gallery exhibitors Cathy McClure, Casey Curran, and Markel Uriu have been invited to display artworks in shadow boxes. Attend the silent auction on December 18 to pick up some lovely art and raise money for the gallery. (Through Tues Dec 18)

★ Henry Jackson-Spieker: Sight Lines There is something a bit anxiety-inducing about being in a gallery or museum. As if there’s some specific way you are meant to behave and even look at art in those kinds of spaces. The latest installation from Seattle-based Jackson-Spieker is trying to disrupt and interrogate that very notion. He uses the gallery's windows as the primary viewing perspective, creating a clear “sight line” made of lattice-string sculpture that can only be seen from outside the gallery, obstructing free movement inside the space itself. (Jan 3–Feb 23) JK

Mary Coss: Groundswell METHOD collective artist Coss will return with more politically observant art. (March 1–April 6)

Michael Birawer Gallery

Small Works Group Show Do your holiday shopping at a gallery full of work by C.A. Pierce, Michael Birawer, Robin Weiss, Brooke Borcherding, Kippi Leonard, Keegan Hall, and UyenTran Gjerde. (Through Mon Dec 31) Gordy Edberg Browse works on paper by architect Edberg. (Jan 1–31)

★ Genna Draper Draper’s mixedmedia canvases may be abstract or representative, but they tend to be highly textured, layered, and earthily colored, sometimes mixing in elements of collage. (Feb 1–28) Robin Weiss Robin Weiss is known for cheery plein air Seattle city scenes and environs. (March 1–30)

Mount Analogue

★ Sara Long: Building a Body of Light Local painter Sara Long, who’s shown light-bathed nudes and lush portraits of people and animals, has a new exhibition exulting in nature, sunlight, and sensuality. (Dec 6–28)

Patricia Rovzar Gallery

Celebrate Art: 26th Annual Group Exhibition A group show celebrating the gallery's 26 years of existence. (Through Fri Dec 28)

Photographic Center

Northwest

By the Book: 9+ Designers Delve into photographic monographs and the art of design as a collaborative process in this display of over 100 books. (Through Thurs Dec 13) 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition Every year, the PCNW presents a juried exhibition with work chosen from submissions from around the world. This year’s jurors will be Lara Behnert, who leads Starbucks’s global art program, and Conor Risch, senior editor of Photo District News. (Jan 17–March 14)

Pilchuck Seattle

Pilchuck Holiday Sale Shop ceramics, glass art, and other crafts for the holidays. (Through Fri Dec 21)

Pottery Northwest

The Jean Griffith Legacy See the recently departed and mourned sculptor Jean Griffith’s works. Join the gallery on January 12 for a memorial service. (Jan 7–25)

Anyuta Gusakova Pore over porcelain dreams by resident artist Gusakova. (Feb 1–22)

Student Show Students ranging from absolute beginners to veteran potters reveal what they’ve been laboring over. (March 1–April 26)

Prographica / KDR

Gesture A group of artists show studies of gesture, whether literal or technical, in photographs, works on paper, and sculpture. (Dec 6–22)

Caroline Kapp: Big Story and Evelyn Woods: Perambulations See Caroline Kapp’s photography in Big Story and Evelyn Woods’s paintings and drawings in Perambulations. (Jan 3–Feb 9)

Push/Pull

Collective Conscience The art cooperative invites past and current members to contribute work under $100 to this non-themed exhibition. All the pieces are ready to take home, and you can also buy an issue of the second Collective Conscience comics and illustrations anthology. (Through Mon Dec 31)

Star Crossed The collective’s artists adopt astrological images in their own version of the zodiac, each artist inspired by one sign. (Jan 17–Feb 19)

Love & Anxiety The Costa Rican artists of Love & Anxiety produce The Joy a black-and-white zine full of distinctive portraits, cartoons, icons, and even schematics. Love & Anxiety artists Marco Kelso, Clea Eppelin, and others display their handiwork at the gallery. (Feb 21–March 19)

Re:definition

★ Re:Definition 2018: Celebrating 90 Years of Community, Culture and Space For the Paramount’s 90th birthday, respected curators Juan Alonso-Rodríguez, Tracy Rector, and Tariqa Waters preside over an exhibition of their own and other locals’ works, including “large-scale panels, ceiling installations, video projection, and a rotating salon wall of artwork created by youth from various non-profit organizations.” Alonso-Rodríguez’s painting and activism won him a Conducive Garboil Grant in 2017, Rector’s a Stranger Genius Award winner, and Waters is a longtime Stranger favorite for her roguish and iconoclastic sensibility. They’ve chosen Christopher Paul Jordan, Junko Yamamoto, Rhea Vega, Kenji Hamai Stoll, Joe (wahalatsu?) Seymour, Jr., and Gabriel Marquez to display work. (Through Sun Dec 30)

Roq La Rue

★ D. Allan Drummond UChicago biochemistry professor and natural science sculptor Drummond’s marvelously detailed animal sculptures, including 3-D-printed insects and other arthropods, colonize the gallery. (Dec 7–Jan 6)

SAM Gallery

Collectors Choice An important question that is all too often invisible in gallery descriptions: Who’s actually buying the art? This show pairs artists and those who collect their work (often on behalf of corporations), among them, the respective collector-artist sets Christine Carosi and Ryan Molenkamp, and Cliff Webster and Kate Protage. (Dec 6–30)

Introductions Get acquainted with new gallery artists like Niki Sherey, Joseph Steininger, and Jennifer Towner. (Feb 7–March 3)

Journeys Enid Smith Becker, Dan Hawkins, and Robin Siegl evoke sights and sounds they’ve experienced during journeys. (March 6–31)

Schack Art Center

Holiday Art Exhibit Buy glass and ceramic art and pieces by the Northwest Pastel Society at this regionally focused holiday art market.

(Through Sat Dec 29)

Shift

David Traylor: Home This installation juxtaposes paintings and quilts by David Traylor with writings by William Marsh and sound design by Steve Braunginn. (Dec 7–29)

Robin Arnitz: New Figures Arnitz paints in a figurative and emotive mode; past series have included self-portraits with her facial features erased and her identity only guessable from what’s around her. (Dec 7–29)

★ Wallflower: Kara Mia Fenoglietto God, is there any feeling more oppressive than the exquisitely pinching pain of high heels? The sweaty tyranny of a too-tight bra? Fenoglietto’s newest exhibition explores the crux of femininity and entrapment through her conceptual fashion designs, taking inspiration from patterns and themes associated with homemaking accessories mass-marketed to women. Fenoglietto hopes to stimulate conversation around gender stereotypes and map out a course for liberation from them. (Jan 3–26) JK

Karey Kessler: Between Place and Thought Kessler paints colorful, conceptual maps of areas like “Almost Majestic” and “Infinite Light.” Her work teases out an internal landscape that reflects on the immigrant experience as well as individual spirituality. (Feb 7–March 2)

Lynda Hardwood Swenson: Interior/ Exterior Swenson, who works in nontraditional photography, print, etching, and painting, is joining the gallery as a member. At this exhibition, find “reflections on climate change, feminism and the accumulation of memory.” (Feb 7–March 2)

Anna Dawson: Captured and Re-captured Dawson gives old portrait photographs a second life in her pieces. (March 7–30)

Peggy Murphy: Uprising Murphy’s wild, scrawling works on paper are based on “observations on an unruly garden.” (March 7–30)

SOIL

Tabitha Nikolai, Garima Thakur: Sex Temples Per the gallery description: “Nikolai is a trans woman raised in religiously conservative suburban Utah, and Thakur is a queer woman raised in a traditional Desi family in New Delhi, India.” Together, the two women, now based in Portland, decorate the gallery with prints of the Khujuraho monuments in Madhaya Pradesh (the eponymous “sex temples”) and install gaming stations composed of explorations of sex and gender. (Dec 6–29)

Escapism from LA A host of accomplished local artists tackles the current exodus of LA residents to the PNW as a springboard for pieces about escape, growth, and unmooring. (Jan 3–Feb 2)

The SOIL/Jake Partnership In collaboration with the Jacob Lawrence Gallery, the Pioneer Square art space displays work by Danny Giles, this year’s Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency Artist. (Feb 7–March 2)

Object, Space, Action Four NY-based artists (Charles Sommer, Paige Silverman, Francesca Simonite, and Rachel Bussieres) create or evoke objects bereft of utilitarian or referential characteristics. (March 7–30)

Jana Brevick: Ears and Shoes Tired of wrists and necks getting all the love, Brevick has crafted sculpture and jewelry for your feet, as well as some ornaments for your (less neglected) ears. (March 7–30)

Jeffrey Gibson: ‘Like a Hammer’

FEBRUARY 28–MAY 12

He combines traditional elements of Native American art with contemporary pop-culture references. (Seattle Art Museum)

Statix

Screen Dreams Calling all Flatstock lovers: Take plenty of cash to this exhibition of silk-screened posters. Bring your favorite pieces home. (Dec 6–29)

Kamryn Tulare: 100 Heads Discover the fruits of an impressive project: Tulare has made 100 portraits in the past year. Stop at the opening party for free drinks and live music, and maybe take home the affordable art. (Jan 3–Feb 2)

Stonington Gallery

★ Fast Forward: Skateboards and Paddles Upon closer inspection, these two modes of transportation share a lot of similarities. Not only do they take us where we need to be, fast, but they can also act as a canvas for personal expression. In this giant group show, more than 35 artists have decorated longboards, traditional skateboards, and paddles in whatever way they see fit. The results are sure to be intriguing. (Dec 6–Jan 6) JK

★ Two Ravens: Alison Marks & Crystal Worl The gallery presents work by two Alaska-based artists on their own and in collaboration, Alison Marks (Tlingit) and Crystal Worl (Tlingit/Athabascan). Marks had a solo exhibition last year at the Frye called One Gray Hair which Emily Pothast praised for its “playful, fluid” reimagination of Tlingit traditional forms. Worl, a cofounder of the wonderful Trickster design company, has a background in metalsmithing and moving images. The gallery explains: “ all modern Tlingit people are either part of the Eagle or Raven moiety. Both Marks and Worl are of the Raven moiety, forming the title for their show. But Raven is more than just their clan marker: Raven is one of the most important mythic characters on the Northwest Coast.” (Feb 7–28)

★ Drew Michael During his fourth solo exhibition at this gallery, the up-and-coming Yup’ik/Inupiaq mixed-media sculptor once again experiments with traditional masks and charring practices, blending Western, Native, and even Byzantine influences. (March 7–31)

studio e

★ Warren Dykeman: Attention Span Do you remember learning about cuneiform—one of the earliest systems of writing? Wedges made with reeds that made language? started thinking about cuneiform, then went down a hobo code rabbit hole while trying to figure out the symbolism in Dykeman’s work. Which led me to early computer language. Does the mirror frame plus green square plus tree plus the letter “Z” add up somehow? A painting emblazoned FRONT STAB seems easily interpretable, but the one declaring SAFE FAZ leads us back into the cryptic. (Through Sat Dec 22) KK

Sarah Norsworthy: Green Fuse Norsworthy is an instructor at North Seattle College whose work has been shown in group exhibitions at the Alice, the Henry, and other innovative spots. (Jan 3–Feb 9)

Solids + Voids | An exploration of boundaries by Sallyann Corn and Joe Kent An exhibit of works by the two founders of fruitsuper, a design company offering simple, pretty, ludic household goods and decorations. (Feb 14–March 30)

Threshold Gallery at Mithun Phirak Suon & Jacob Foran: 3D Printed Ceramics These designers strive to straddle the line between sculpture, pottery, and decor. (Dec 7–Feb 5)

Anna Hooser: Paintings Hooser’s brushstrokes are inspired by old

photographs acquired at yard sales and antique shops. (Feb 7–April 2)

Traver Gallery

★ Charlie Parriott, Cappy Thompson, Dick Weiss: Old Friends, New Work Thompson is responsible for the 90-foot-long window mural—a woodland/celestial scene of painted glass—at Sea-Tac International Airport. Thompson will show work with Weiss, an Everett-born glass artist whose large-scale piece can also be seen at Sea-Tac, and Parriott, who spent 12 years as a colorist at Chihuly Studio before helping to run the hot glass studio at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. (Through Sat Dec 22)

True Love Art Gallery

Rich’s Fantastic, Cosmic 40th Birthday Party Join in a birthday bash for artist Richard McBride Stevens and admire exuberant art by Adam One, Amy Liz, Angelita Martinez, Craig Cundiff, Eli Nickerson, Erich J. Moffitt, John Lytle Wilson, Maj Askew, Ten Hundred, and Reed Carpenter. (Through Sun Jan 6)

Vachon Gallery

Dan Paz: the sun never knew how great it was until it struck the side of a building Paz uses a variety of mediums, including high-resolution video, sculpture, photogram, and dance, to explore the spaces of youth detention centers and sports and recreation areas. (Dec 6–Feb 2)

Virago Gallery

Wayward: In From the Wild All that is wild, animal, and unmasterable is lauded in this showcase of art by visual creators who’ve been on the Wayward Retreat, an inclusive haven on Quadra Island, BC, for women artists. (Through Thurs Jan 10)

Winston Wächter Fine Art

Betsy Eby: I Am Ocean Eby uses encaustics to abstractly evoke the gorgeous colors of the ocean she can visit from her Maine island home. (Dec 15–Jan 30)

Annika Newell Newell often chooses an unusual medium for her exhibitions: light bulbs. The gallery writes, “Newell likens her sculptures to the exchange of knowledge and ideas reaching a critical mass.” (Through Sat Dec 22)

ZINC contemporary

Sofia Arnold: Fever Dreams The gallery says that this exhibition is drawn from the artist's “early life as the daughter of 1970s era ‘back to the landers’ in the unglaciated hills of Southwestern Wisconsin.” Arnold’s work does indeed have a lush, primeval quality with surrealistic tendencies. (Through Sat Dec 29)

ART EVENTS

All Pilgrims Church

Lavender Rights Project Enjoy hors d’oeuvres and a free drink as you raise money and bid on art for queer and trans people in need of legal services. (Fri Dec 14)

Bellevue Arts Museum

★ Metanoia: Performance by Dylan Neuwirth As part of the solo exhibition Omnia, Dylan Neuwirth will perform with virtual reality. Be pulled into his autobiographical narrative about family and addiction. (Sun Feb 3)

Chihuly Garden and Glass

New Year’s Eve pARTy Send off the year with a fancy bang by eating, drinking, dancing to live music, and watching fireworks from the opulent Glasshouse. (Mon Dec 31)

Club Sur

Holiday RAWk Artists, musicians, fashion show designers, and performers will showcase their talents at this holiday extravaganza. (Dec 19–20)

Jite Agbro

FEBRUARY 7–28

An exhibition about how what we wear is an expression of our "projected narratives and our authentic selves." (Gallery 4Culture)

Fogue Studios & Gallery

Art Attack Happenings Professional artists over 50 congregate at this studio to share their wealth of wisdom. Happenings might include a poetry reading, a literary event, art shows, and beer from Elysian Brewery. (Second Saturday)

Gallery Erato

Vintage SEAF Art Auction Raise money for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and mingle with other sexy art lovers while sampling yummy treats. They tease “special experiences that offer unique ways to eat your treats.” (Sat Dec 15)

Henry Art Gallery

Henry Gala & Dance Raise money for bold programming at the museum with dinner and cocktails, plus a dance party afterwards (ticketed separately). (Sat March 16)

Museum of Glass

Fire & Ice Festival Winter is a time for snow people and warm fires to complement each other from a distance, and the holidays wouldn’t be complete without them. For its third annual Fire and Ice Festival, the museum hosts a range of holiday-themed performances and demonstrations. (Through Mon Dec 31)

Pier 86 (Louis Dreyfus

Corporation Grain Elevator)

Let There Be Light Light projection art by Jonathan Womack of Jinx75

Live Visual Studio and Craig Winslow and Chris Rojas of HexagoneMisfit will spread across a huge panorama on the waterfront—namely, the working grain terminal on Pier 86—222 feet long and visible from many parts of Seattle. (Dec 14–21)

Sand Point Studios

Painting and Drawing Open House

students are up to in this studio tour and exhibition. (Tues Feb 12)

Shift

70 Years On Seventy years after the writing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was presided over by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, the world keeps falling short of its noble vision. The gallery will show selections from the Paris-based project Posters for Tomorrow, a collection of graphic design work celebrating and raising awareness of human rights. (Thurs Jan 3)

Sole Repair

ARCADE’s 2018 Holiday Auction and Community Celebration Be part of ARCADE’s holiday tradition: They’ll have an auction, a preview of the February edition of ARCADE design mag, food, drink, music, and, this year, high-tech art by Reilly Donovan. (Tues Dec 11)

ART WALKS

Find out what undergraduates and MFA

and Drawing Program

Books & Talks

FICTION

Tues Dec 11

★ Jay Rubin: Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories Jay Rubin, a frequent translator of Haruki Murakami, has come out with a new collection of translations, including an introduction and a story by Murakami himself. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Sat Dec 15

★ Finnegans Wake Seattle composer and musician Neal Kosaly-Meyer will continue his amazing feat of reciting Finnegans Wake from memory, chapter by chapter—as if reading the modernist monster wasn’t hard enough. (Gallery 1412, $5–$15)

Sun Jan 13

★ Sharma Shields: The Cassandra Spokane writer Shields is a talented writer of speculative fiction, as evinced by her 2015 novel The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac. She’ll be back with an adaptation of the Cassandra myth transposed to the Hansford Research Center in the early days of World War II. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Tues Jan 22

Elise Hooper: Learning to See Elise Hooper (The Other Alcott) will read from her new historical novel about the photographer Dorothea Lange. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Wed Jan 23

★ Tessa Hadley: Late in the Day When 50-something Zachary dies, grief tears not only at his wife Lydia but also at their friends Alex and Christine. Hadley is one of Wales’s best-known and most-laureled novelists and short-story writers. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Thurs Feb 21

★ Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore: Sketchtasy Sketchtasy is the latest offering from Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, author of approximately one million essays and stories and books. This novel features a radical queer character dealing with profound loss and isolation from community. Sketchtasy is a work of fiction set during the tail end of the AIDS crisis. Alexander Chee praises the book as “bold, glittering, wise.” RS (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Wed Feb 27

★ An Conversation with Zadie Smith Zadie Smith has been a major worldwide literary figure her entire adult life—since White Teeth was published in her early 20s. She’s also a fantastic essayist, art critic, political commentator, and satirist. She’s also a mother. There is nothing she can’t do. CF (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $20–$80)

Mon March 4

Irvine Welsh: Dead Men’s Trousers The antiheroes of Trainspotting, having more or less gone straight, return to Scotland and their wild ways for one last trip. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Tues March 5

★ Richard Chiem: King of Joy Local fiction phenom Richard Chiem is launching his long-awaited novel, King of Joy, from Soft Skull Press. Chiem’s low-key and yet somehow extremely intense readings cast a spell on audiences. RS (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

By Christopher Frizzelle, Katie Herzog, Leilani Polk, Rich Smith, and Joule Zelman

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore: ‘Sketchtasy’

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21

This novel features a radical queer character dealing with profound loss. (Elliott Bay Book Company)

Wed March 13

★ Helen Oyeyemi: Gingerbread The author cooks up surrealism in this tale of a family recipe passed down through the ages. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Last Tuesday

★ Loud Mouth Lit The writer Paul Mullin curates a “fresh, local, organically sourced” monthly literary event dedicated to Seattle writers. (St. Andrews Bar and Grill, 8 pm, free)

POETRY

Mon Feb 11

★ Seattle Arts & Lectures: Solmaz Sharif Unless you’re getting your news from Democracy Now, or unless you have family in the Middle East/Central America/Afghanistan, or unless you’re detained in a tent at the border, the disastrous consequences of America’s foreign policy may be escaping your daily life. But that news stays news in Solmaz Sharif’s LOOK a finalist for the 2016 National Book Award and one of the best books of contemporary poetry published in the 21st century. LOOK shows us how easy and seductive it is for people to see others as objects, enemies, props to generate fear for the sole purpose of gaining a small bit of power. It shows us how governments use language to achieve those ends, and it offers a different kind of language that we might use to short-circuit that mechanism. Don’t miss this one. RS (Broadway Performance Hall, 7:30 pm, $20/$80)

Wed Feb 13

★ Poetry in Translation: Lunar New Year Edition Washington State’s beloved poet laureate, Claudia Castro Luna, curates this bilingual poetry series. (Northwest Film Forum)

Second Monday

★ African-American Writers’ Alliance Poetry Reading Hear

poets from the Northwest’s African American community in a reading organized by the NW African American Writers’ Alliance, which promotes emerging and seasoned writers and publishes anthologies. (Third Place Books Seward Park, 7 pm, free)

Third Thursday

★ Margin Shift A poetry reading series that emphasizes the contributions of anyone who might normally be at the margins of the mainstream literary scene. (Common AREA Maintenance, 6:30–10 pm, free)

ESSAYS

Mon Jan 7

★ David Shields: Nobody Hates Trump More Than Trump What the hell is wrong with Donald Trump? UW professor and best-selling author David Shields tries to get to the bottom of this terrible mystery. KH (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Thurs Jan 10

★ Sharon H. Chang: Hapa Tales and Other Lies This book is a meditation on colonization, Native sovereignty, stereotypes of Hawaii and Hawaiians, Asian American and mixed race identity, and activism. (Third Place Books Seward Park, 7 pm, free)

Fri Feb 1

★ Pam Houston: Deep Creek In her delightful novel Contents May Have Shifted, Pam Houston took on the need to flee. In her latest book, Deep Creek, she takes on home—her own home in particular, a 20-acre homestead high in the Rockies, where she watches over the resident Irish wolfhounds, horses, donkeys, Icelandic sheep, and wild animals that pass through. KH (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

HISTORY

Jan 13–14–15

★ National Geographic Live: When Women Ruled the World Why has history been so much more interested in female rulers’ beauty than in their power? Kara Cooney, professor and Egyptologist, will reveal how women like Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Nerusobek upend our perceptions of the so-called fairer sex in the ancient world. (Benaroya Hall, $28–$48)

Fri Feb 8

Dana Frank: The Long Honduran Night Dana Frank follows the aftermath of the 2009 military coup in Honduras up to the present day. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Wed March 13

Joseph Hill: Emerging Trends in the Study of Black ASL Professor Joseph Hill will speak about Black ASL from the 1960s to the present and its future prospects in this UW Public Lecture. (Kane Hall, Room 120, 7:30 pm, free)

MEMOIR/ BIOGRAPHY

Wed Dec 12

Christopher Sandford: The Man Who Would Be Sherlock How much do you know about the author of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes? Sandford draws parallels between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s life and the biography of his most famous fictional creation. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free) Fri Jan 11

Stephanie Land: Maid The author, a single mother, eked out a living cleaning houses while she attended college. She’ll share her autobiography in an effort to destigmatize women

be morally or pragmatically justified, and she will be discussing her new book, The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences—as well as criminal justice in the US—with UW professors Katherine Beckett and Steve Herbert at this Town Hall event. KH (Pigott Auditorium at Seattle University, 7:30 pm, $5)

Wed Dec 12

★ Seattle Think & Drink: The State of Journalism Seattle Times reporter Marcus Harrison Green, University of Washington Communications Professor and Seattle journalism researcher Matthew Powers, and The Stranger’s own associate editor Eli Sanders will discuss the current state of the news, how it got here, and what may be ahead. LP (Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, 7 pm, free)

Thurs Jan 17

★ Jonathan Weisman: (((Semitism))) The mass shooting that took the lives of 11 people at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh proves that anti-Semitism is alive and well in America. There is no better time for a book like (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump in which Jonathan Weisman examines how we can fight intolerance. LP (Stroum Jewish Community Center, 7:30 pm, $15–$25)

Mon Jan 28

★ Katherine Boo Join investigative journalist, New Yorker staffer, and MacArthur “genius” grant and Pulitzer Prize recipient Katherine Boo for a talk on marginalized populations. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $20–$80)

who face the same challenges she did. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Sat Jan 19

★ An Evening with Dan Rather He might be off the evening broadcast, but he’s hardly disappeared, and his sane, sensible voice has never been more needed than in the Trump era. He’ll be talking about the terrible president, and more, when he appears in Tacoma. KH (Pantages Theater, 7:30 pm, $49–$150)

Thurs Jan 24

★ Ha Jin: The Banished Immortal This biography of the eighth-century Daoist poet Li Bai (aka Li Po) is a tale of wandering, beauty, and gorgeous writing. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Sun Feb 10

★ Renata Lubinsky: Around Seattle in 80 Dates Author and stand-up comic writes about her post-divorce romantic misadventures. (Stroum Jewish Community Center, 2 pm, $10–$20)

Sat Feb 23

Dani Shapiro: Inheritance Many people discover fascinating facts about their lineage through DNA genealogy websites. Dani Shapiro found out that her father was not her biological sire. Her discovery of family secrets and questioning of her own identity form the backbone of this book. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

POLITICS/ CURRENT ISSUES

Tues Dec 11

★ Ashley Nellis and Steve Herbert with Katherine Beckett: The Case Against Life Sentences Ashley Nellis of the Sentencing Project argues that any prison term over 20 years cannot

Thurs Jan 31

★ Seattle Arts & Lectures: Soraya Chemaly Chemaly’s 2018 book Rage Becomes Her exhorts women to harness their righteous anger for social change. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $35/$60)

Mon Feb 11

★ Ronan Farrow Somehow, in the middle of helping to redefine the way journalists report on sexual assault, Ronan Farrow finished up a book about the decades-long decline of American influence around the world. In War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence Farrow takes a look back at American diplomacy through the eyes of weary and disaffected public servants. RS (McCaw Hall, 7:30 pm, $270–$480 (series))

Wed Feb 13

★ Samuel Sinyangwe: Using Data to Advance Racial Justice Social-justice-focused data scientist Sinyangwe founded the activist website We the Protestors, which helps to track police violence and advance solutions to systemic racist repression through Campaign Zero. UW Public Lectures brings him to speak to Seattleites. (Kane Hall, Room 120, 7:30 pm, free)

Thurs Feb 28

Aldon Morris: W.E.B. Du Bois at the Center The Northwestern University Professor of Sociology and African American Studies will argue that NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois was the “father of scientific sociology in the United States,” based on research compiled in his latest book, The Scholar Denied. (Kane Hall, Room 120, 7:30 pm, free)

Tues March 5

★ Seattle Arts & Lectures: Dean Baquet and Marty Baron in Conversation Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and New York

JESSE MANN

Books & Talks

Seattle Arts & Lectures: Solmaz Sharif

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Her poetry shows us how governments use language to manipulate us, and offers a different kind of language we can use to short-circuit that mechanism. (Broadway Performance Hall)

Times executive editor Dean Baquet will be speaking with Washington Post editor Marty Baron, who was part of the Boston Globe team that broke the story of the Catholic Church’s child molestation scandal. What are the biggest dangers facing journalism today? We will find out. KH (Benaroya Hall, $20–$45)

Wed March 6

Markus Gabriel: Objectivity and the Humanities – Prospects for a New Realism Come to this UW Public Lecture for a defense of the humanities and an argument for a new “paradigm concerning objectivity,” asserting the value of humanities fields in tandem with the natural sciences. (Kane Hall, Room 120, 7:30 pm, free)

SCIENCE/ NATURE

Feb 24–26

National Geographic Live — Untamed Come face-to-face with snakes, lions, jaguars, whales, hawk moths, and other magnificent creatures. (Benaroya Hall, $28/$48)

ART/DESIGN

Mon Dec 10

Bob Peterson: Click Meet the man who photographed Clint Eastwood, Michael Jordan, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Philip Roth, and many other personages for Life magazine. He’s now coming out with a book of his best images. (Elliott Bay Book Company, 7 pm, free)

Thurs Dec 13

★ Trolls in the Nordic Imagination: Scary, Clumsy, and Lovable with Professor Emerita Lotta GavelAdams A “short, snappy, entertaining” lecture on contemporary depictions of Scandinavian forest trolls. I am, as they say, here for this. RS (Nordic Museum, 7 pm, donation)

Thurs Jan 31

Hal Foster: Conversations About Sculpture Essential for admirers of the large-scale sculptor Richard Serra, this book by art historian Hal Foster draws on 15 years of conversations with the artist. Hear Foster hold forth in person on Serra’s

life, work, and influences. (Olympic Sculpture Park, 7pm, free)

Wed Jan 16 & Feb 6–13 & Feb 27–March 13

Art History Lecture Series

Practicing artists and art historians will speak on such artists as Edvard Munch, Hilma af Klimt, and Lucian Freud and on topics like “Humor in Visual Art,” “Post-Impression and the Emergence of Color,” and “Bad Paintings by Good Artists.” (Gage Academy of Art, $15/$50/$135)

HORROR

Mon Dec 17

Thrilling Tales Liven up your December evening with readings of the chilly tales “Back for Christmas” by John Collier and “Crime’s Christmas Carol” by Novell Page. (Central Library, 7 pm, free)

HEALTH

Wed Feb 6

Lawrence Wallack: Advancing the First Language of Public Health As part of UW’s Public Lectures series, Emeritus Professor at the Portland State University School of Public Health Lawrence Wallack will speak about how public health measures can balance contrasting American values of individualism (which Wallack calls the “first language”) and progressive change while dealing with distrust of “big government.” (Kane Hall, Room 120, 7:30 pm, free)

MISCELLANEOUS

Jan 11–20

★ Tasveer South Asian Litfest A number of important neighborhood institutions—Tasveer, the Gardner Center, Elliott Bay Book Company, Hugo House, KUOW, and the Northwest Film Forum—will come together to host writers of all forms and genres from South Asia and the South Asian diaspora. (Various locations)

Wed Jan 16

Local Voices Seattle Arts and Literature’s resident Writers in the Schools will read works in progress.

SILENT READING PARTY

First Wednesday of Every Month

Fireside Room • Sorrento Hotel • 6PM

Gain insight and inspiration from these authors. (Hotel Sorrento, 7:30 pm, free)

Thurs Feb 28

Ignite Seattle #38 With five minutes and 20 PowerPoint slides (each 15 seconds long) for each topic, the Town Hall-presented Ignite Seattle is back, with its fast-paced take on public speaking and education. (SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 7:30 pm, $10/$15)

First Wednesday

★ Silent Reading Party The silentreading party turned nine years old in 2018. For almost a decade, people have been gathering in the Fireside Room of the Sorrento Hotel to escape the distractions of the city, and the distractions of their cell phones, to read silently to themselves in overstuffed chairs or couches in front of the fire while waiters bring them things and Paul Moore plays exquisite piano. It’s an odd phenomenon—nothing happens— but it’s as popular as ever. There are sometimes lines out the door. Get there at least an hour early for prime seating. CF (Hotel Sorrento, 6 pm, free)

Last Tuesday

★ Literary Happy Hour Capitol Cider invites poets and authors to read their work to a happy hour audience ($1 off drafts before 6pm). (Capitol Cider, 5–7 pm, free) OPEN MIC/ STORYTELLING

Second Tuesday

The Round Every month, musicians share the stage with a slam poet and live painter. (Fremont Abbey, 8 pm, $8–15)

First Thursday, Third Friday

★ 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. Local comedians tend to show up, but lots of nonperformers get in on the action as well. First Thursday readings take place at the Fremont Abbey, followed by third Friday events at St. Mark’s Cathedral. (Various locations, 8 pm, $10)

Left Bank Books is a worker owned and operated bookstore celebrating over 40 years in Pike Place Market. 92 pike st. 206//622//0195 www.leftbankbooks.com

Open 7 Days a Week

ARASH SAEDINIA

Festivals

SEASONAL

Dec 14–16

Christmas Lighting Festival The Bavarian-style village transforms into the most whimsical of winter wonderlands in December, featuring hundreds of twinkling lights, visits from St. Nickolaus and other Christmas characters, carolers, and much more. (Leavenworth Festhalle, free)

Sat Dec 15

Seattle SantaCon Regardless of how you feel about SantaCon—the annual bar crawl that encourages adults to dress as the jolly Christmas mascot and jingle their bells to various downtown watering holes—it will likely outlive us all. (Downtown Seattle, 12 pm–2 am, $5–$20)

Through Sun Dec 23

Christmas Ship Festival Every holiday season, the Spirit of Seattle (Argosy Cruises “Official Christmas Ship”) sails to 65 Washington waterfronts, bringing Christmas choirs and sparkling light displays. (Various locations around Puget Sound, $48)

Issaquah Reindeer Festival

Celebrate the holiday season’s most iconic mammal at Issaquah’s annual family festival. Visitors can visit Santa in his house, meet his reindeer team (and his kittens), hear a story from an elf, and more. (Cougar Mountain Zoo, 10:30 am–4:30 pm, $16)

Through Mon Dec 24

Snowflake Lane Flurries of snow (shot from a machine) dust the streets as bright lights, festive music, toy drummers, and other holiday cheerful emblems appear for nightly parades. (Bellevue Collection, 7 pm, free)

Swansons Reindeer Festival Shop a variety of seasonal plants, bulbs, arrangements, and Christmas trees, plus other gifts (books, jewelry, home decor) at the decked-out nursery. Plus, visit with Santa and his real-life reindeer, check out model trains, and enjoy live music throughout. (Swansons Nursery, free)

Through Wed Dec 26

Seattle Festival of Trees Every year, the historic hotel celebrates the season with a fancy dinner, caroling, an impressive display of decorated trees, and a teddy bear suite. (Fairmont Olympic Hotel, free)

Through Sun Dec 30

★ Enchant Christmas Safeco Field will be transformed into a magnificent winter wonderland complete with the “world’s largest Christmas light maze” (explorable via an ice-skating trail), seasonal concessions, live entertainment, and an artisan Christmas market. (Safeco Field, $25–$85) Garden d’Lights Walk among “half a million” sparkling lights in the shapes of flowers, plants, birds, and waterfalls at this annual holiday display. (Bellevue Botanical Garden, $5)

Mon Dec 31

First Night Tacoma This family-friendly (e.g., alcohol-free), arts-focused NYE celebration in Tacoma’s downtown theater district features all sorts of fun activities around different indoor venues.

(Tacoma, 6 pm–12:15 am, free)

Indulgence Dance the final hours of the bonkers year that was 2018 away to an eclectic array of music. (Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP), $69/$350)

Seattle Center New Year’s Eve Local Top 40 cover band Sway brings contemporary hits to the Armory dance floor to ring in the new year, while the Fountain of Light electronic video dance party rages outside.

(Seattle Center, 8 pm, free)

Spectra 2019: New Year’s Eve Under the Arches Dance off the last hours of 2018 with live DJs and sip drinks from an open bar while waiting on the Space Needle’s annual fireworks show to begin. (Pacific Science Center, 9 pm, $125/$200)

Through Tues Jan 1

Gingerbread Village For the 26th year in a row, diabetes research center JDRF Northwest has invited local architecture firms to use their skills for a holiday tradition: crafting an elaborate gingerbread village. This year’s theme is “Welcome to Whoville.” (Sheraton Hotel, $5 suggested donation)

Through Sat Jan 5

★ WildLights The zoo will light up with more than 700,000 (energy-efficient) LED lights that re-create wild scenes and creatures at the annual WildLights display. (Woodland Park Zoo, 5:30–8:30 pm, $12/$15)

Through Sun Jan 6

Winterfest From a winter train village to an ice rink, and from music and dance performances to ice sculpting, Winterfest promises five weeks of free festive cheer for all ages. (Seattle Center, free)

Zoolights Holiday traditions don’t get more classic than strolling through the Point Defiance Zoo when it’s transformed into a luminous wonderland of 3-D animal light installations. (Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, 5–9 pm, $10/$12)

Jan 18–27

Lake Chelan Winterfest Lake Chelan hosts two weekends of wintery fun for the whole family, including ice sculptures, live music, wine and beer tastings, a polar bear splash, a massive beach bonfire, and a fireworks show. (Lake Chelan Valley, $5–$120)

Jan 19–20

Bavarian Ice Fest Washington’s Bavarian-inspired village retains its holiday magic and whimsy into 2019 for its annual Bavarian Ice Fest. Head there for snow sculptures, wintery games, a snowmobile sled pull, live ice carving, and more. (Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce, $5)

MUSIC

Tues Dec 11

★ Deck the Hall Ball 2018 Radio station 107.7 (“The End”) presents a stacked lineup for their annual winter music spectacle with Death Cab for Cutie, Young the Giant, Bastille, Billie Eilish, and Jenn Champion. (WaMu Theater, 5 pm, $75–$300)

Mon Dec 31

Resolution Festival 2019 Resolution is an annual end-of-the-year electronic music bash that gathers extremely popular and mainstream EDM and nü-rave artists into an arena-like space and unleashes their energy onto a throng of writhing young adults. (WaMu Theater, 6:30 pm–1:30 am)

Jan 11–13

Seattle Pop Punk Festival Shake off that winter chill and get your energy levels up for two day’s worth of pop punk bands, including the Wanna-Bes, Dreadful Children, Who Is She?, Young Fresh Fellows, and many more. (El Corazon, $13–$25)

Jan 25–26

★ Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival The infamous German-themed town/tourist attraction nestled in the Cascades hosts this cozy mid-winter music festival filled with beardo-magnet amenities like skiing and snowboarding, a hot-toddy garden, wine tastings, and

By Julianne Bell, Elaina Friedman, Kim Selling, and Joule Zelman

Timbrrr! Winter Music Festival

JANUARY 25–26

Two days of good cold fun and great music in the Bavarian-themed village. (Leavenworth Festhalle)

festival-branded flannel shirts. This year’s lineup includes Shannon & the Clams, Kyle Craft, the True Loves, Parisalexa, Tres Leches, and many more. BRITTNIE FULLER (Leavenworth Festhalle, 4 pm, $45–$930)

Feb 21–24

Wintergrass Festival Bluegrass artists from near and far will gather to play their twangy, resonant music at this annual festival. This year, see Billy Strings, Steep Canyon Rangers, Della Mae, Sideline, Bill & the Belles, and many others. (Hyatt Regency Bellevue, $15–$380)

Sat March 9

Look Up Fest: Underwater For a long evening of “high strangeness,” this paranormal mini music festival and art exhibition will feature local psychedelic dream and electro pop bands, plenty of beer, and multimedia art displays inspired by aquatic paranormal encounters. (Base: Experimental Arts + Space, 6 pm–12 am, $16)

Brazilian Carnaval 25th Anniversary! Eduardo and Ana Paula Mendonça present this Seattle-based celebration of Brazilian Carnaval that will take into account issues of power, racial exclusion, and social inequality. Expect a variety of region- and culture-specific Brazilian music and dance. (Crocodile, 8–11:30 pm, $18/$25)

FOOD & DRINK

Thurs Dec 13

Winter Feast | Food Truck & Holiday Gift Bonanza Snap up some street food from the Mobile Food Rodeo with 20 food trucks, and peruse the goods of local crafters and artisans. (Fremont Sunday Market, 10 am–3 pm)

Sat Jan 19

Winterhop Brewfest At this annual festival, join hundreds of other beer lovers to try PNW brews and take in local music at various downtown Ellensburg businesses and venues. (Downtown Ellensburg, $40)

Fri Jan 25

Winter Drams Spirits Festival 2019 The Seattle Spirits Society presents 100 craft spirits from 25 local companies, a mixology workshop, and snacks and unlimited tacos from Marination.

Complimentary cigars included. (WithinSodo, 7–10:30 pm, $25–$120)

Sun Jan 27

Belgian Fest Belgian beers don’t have to be from Belgium—this brew fest highlights over 100 Washington breweries’ Belgian-style beers, including Tripels, Dubbels, Saisons, Wits, Abbeys, and Lambics. (Fisher Pavilion, 12–9:30 pm, $27–$45)

Feb 21–24

Seattle Wine and Food Experience This annual extravaganza of all things edible and drinkable is an ode to gluttony in three parts: Comfort, a festival of “feel-good foods and crafty brews,” with bars for french fries, Bloody Marys, hot toddies, and milk and cookies; POP! Bubbles and Seafood, a night of bubbles and bivalves with a celebrity shucking contest; and the Grand Tasting, which showcases local and regional wines, beer, cider, spirits, and tastes from big-name Seattle chefs. (Various locations, $55–$250)

Sat Feb 23

Hops & Props A celebration of craft brews from the Northwest (and beyond). Enjoy three-ounce pours from over 100 breweries and cider houses, a spread of bites from McCormick & Schmick’s, and live music. (Museum of Flight, 7–10 pm, $40–$95)

Sun Feb 24

Seattle Cake Con There’s cake, but also chocolate, ice cream, macarons, doughnuts, and other sweets. In addition to tasting things, attendees can enter decorating competitions, see live demos, and chat with experts across confectionary disciplines. (Fremont Foundry, 11 am–5 pm, $19–$55)

Sat March 2

Snohomish Wine Festival The Snohomish Wine Festival is back for the 10th year of showcasing local and regional wines. (Crossroads, $30)

March 2–3

Penn Cove Musselfest This annual festival, celebrating all things “bold, briny, and blue,” features boat tours of the Penn Cove Mussel Farm, a mussel-eating contest, cooking demos with local chefs, a waterfront beer

Jan 26–27

Têt in Seattle—Vietnamese Lunar New Year Celebrate the Year of the Pig at this annual festival. As always, there will be hands-on cultural activities, traditional food, crafts, martial arts performances, and more. (Fisher Pavilion, free)

March 16–17

Irish Festival Chock-full of performances, live music ideal for practicing Irish jigs, short film screenings, genealogy workshops, food, and more. (Fisher Pavilion, free)

GEEK

Jan 11–13

OrcaCon The bad news: You won’t find many, if any, killer-whale-related activities here. The good news: You will find tons of tabletop games, roleplaying games, and miniature games to fill your weekend. (Hilton Bellevue Hotel, $60/$70)

Feb 8–10

Supernatural Convention Supernatural is the longest-running American fantasy TV series in history (now in its 12th season, renewed for a 13th). The fans who’ve kept it alive will delight in this chance to celebrate the show, attend parties, watch panels, take photos, and meet cast members. (The Westin Seattle, $80+)

garden, and a tasting competition with 16 restaurants from all over Coupeville vying to have their mussel chowder declared the finest in town. (Coupeville Recreation Hall, $10–$45)

March 3–10

Seattle Cocktail Week This weeklong event elevates the movers and (cocktail) shakers of the Seattle bar scene with special libations available at participating venues, plus master classes, seminars, pop-ups, bar takeovers, competitions, a tasting event, and more. (Various locations)

ARTS & PERFORMANCE

Dec 15–16

Renegade Craft Fair Shop for crafts from new and returning makers while you enjoy live DJs, food trucks, and cocktails. (Magnuson Park Hangar 30, 11 am–5 pm, free)

United Indians Art Market Discover clothing, jewelry, drums, and art from local Native makers, watch Native performances, and feast at a salmon bake. (Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center, 10 am–4 pm, free)

Dec 22–23

IllustrAFest Northwest artists— primarily of the illustrative variety, but also featuring comic, anime, craft, and gaming artists—will show and sell their wares. (Yesler Community Center, 12–6 pm, free)

Feb 1–3

Foolscap 2019 Sci-fi writers, artists, and general fans gather for a weekend of conversation and guest talks, including with Seattle author Nancy Kress. (Hilton Seattle Airport, $25–$60)

CULTURE

Jan 19–20

Limmud Festival of Jewish Learning Limmud (which means “learning” in Hebrew) invites people of all backgrounds to discover Jewish art, music, food, history, and more through activities like hands-on workshops, live performances, and panel discussions. (Bellevue College, $36–$72)

March 14–17

★ Emerald City Comic Con Geeks across fandoms save their most inventive cosplay for the biggest local comic event of the year. The four-day event is packed with panels, meetups, special events, fun parties, and tons of guests hanging out in the artist alley, like Black Panther World of Wakanda’s Afua Richardson, Agents of Realm’s Mildred Louis, and Star Wars’s Katie Cook. (Washington State Convention & Trade Center, $30–$45)

MISCELLANEOUS

Jan 25–Feb 2

Seattle Boat Show The Seattle Boat Show is a feast for the eyes of maritime enthusiasts and professionals alike, with vessels lining the harbors along CenturyLink Field, South Lake Union, and Bell Harbor Marina. (Various locations)

Feb 2–4

★ SR 99—Step Forward Celebrate the final days of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and check out the new SR-99 tunnel at this grand opening festival that will include a fun run and bike ride, live music, food trucks, and tours. (Waterfront Park, free)

Feb 16–17

Seattle Bike and Outdoor Show Bike nerds and outdoor adventurers can peruse gear from over 75 exhibitors, see presentations from experts, and enjoy test rides. There’s also an “actionpacked performance” from the Ride & Glide Professional BMX Stunt Team. (CenturyLink Field Event Center, $12)

Feb 20–24

Northwest Flower & Garden Festival Walk among 20 display gardens representing different parts of the globe, attend seminars, and find lots of plant treasures for your garden. (Washington State Convention & Trade Center, $19)

March 9–10

Seattle Kennel Club Dog Show Many prize pooches will show off their various abilities. Learn about different breeds and look into taking home a pup. (CenturyLink Field Event Center)

CONNECTION

By Chase Burns, Christopher Frizzelle, Charles Mudede, Leilani Polk, and Joule Zelman

FILM SERIES & FESTIVALS

Dec 8–June 15

★ Pr0n 4 Freakz ScumTrust Productions and NWFF are partnering to bring you queer and trans smut every two months. Also included: a “sexy witch market” and post-screening Q&As on sex, pleasure, queerness, and gender. (Northwest Film Forum)

Jan 12–13

★ Whidbey Island Film Festival: Femme Fatales of Film Noir Catch up with those crafty dames in classics like Gilda (starring Rita Hayworth), Double Indemnity (with a magnificently evil Barbara Stanwyck), The Killers (featuring Ava Gardner), and The Maltese Falcon (with Mary Astor as Brigid O’Shaughnessy to Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade). (Whidbey Island Center for the Arts)

Jan 16–18

★ Sundance Short Film Tour These shorts from Sundance, grouped into live-action and animated categories, are always a treat. (Northwest Film Forum)

Jan 17–April 18

★ Nocturnal Emissions Series

A third Thursday series of classic slashers and supernatural chillers with a burlesque performance before each screening. On offer: bizarre mortuary zombie flick Phantasm, landmark black indie horror film Ganja & Hess, Wes Craven’s cannibal satire The People Under the Stairs, and woman-directed Slumber Party Massacre II. (Northwest Film Forum)

Jan 24–Feb 9

★ Children’s Film Festival Seattle The Children’s Film Festival is founded on two premises: 1) Children are not stupid and 2) they deserve beautiful world cinema just like us grown-ups with underused film degrees. (Northwest Film Forum)

Sat Feb 2

The Grave Plot Film Fest Resurrect Halloween in February with a grab bag of gory, nasty, scary, funny short films. (Ark Lodge Cinemas)

Feb 4–April 19

★ Silent Movie Mondays The theater presents five silent-era masterpieces and rediscovered treasures from Austria, Norway, Germany, and Sweden with live musical accompaniment: Variety/Variété (scored by the Amy Denio Ensemble), A Man There Was/Terje Vigen and Laila (with Tedde Gibson on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ), Asphalt (with Donna Parker on the Wurlitzer), and The City Without Jews/ Die Stadt Ohne Juden (with a commissioned score by Gunter A. Buchwald performed by Music of Remembrance). (Paramount Theatre)

Feb 15–16

★ Everett Film Festival When it was created in 1997, the Everett Women’s Film Festival was dedicated to “highlighting the strength, humor, and creativity of women through provocative and entertaining films.” Over the years, the festival has expanded its vision by presenting films not only made by women, but also those that shed light on the lives of women from various cultures, times, and experiences. (Everett Performing Arts Center)

Feb 15–21

★ Noir City If you love cinema, then you must love film noir. And if you love film noir, then you must love the Noir City festival, which will feature a number of known and less

known movies of the genre. CM (SIFF Cinema Egyptian)

Through Feb 17

★ Cine Mexicano Series: ’70s Art House See very different Mexican art house films from the 1970s on third Sundays, including Juan Manuel Torres’s The Other Virginity Raúl Araiza’s The Rattlesnake and Alberto Isaac’s Tívoli. Co-presented with Consulado de México en Seattle. (Northwest Film Forum)

Feb 22–24

★ Seattle Asian American Film Festival Featuring films by and about Asian Americans. The fest always includes diverse features and short films about the rich, varying experiences of these populations, particularly in Seattle and the PNW. (Northwest Film Forum)

March 1–3

★ Nordic Lights Film Festival The Nordic Museum will take you on a cinematic tour of Scandinavia with films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and perhaps even the Faroe Islands. (SIFF Cinema Uptown)

March 8–10

★ ByDesign Film Festival This annual cross-disciplinary festival is all about “design in motion”: film, documentary, and multimedia devoted to design and architecture. (Northwest Film Forum)

March 8–14

★ Animation Show of Shows Celebrate the art of animation over six days with enchanting films from the US, France, Germany, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Spain. (SIFF Cinema Uptown)

RELEASES AND RUNS

Dec 7–27

★ It’s a Wonderful Life The sacrifices George Bailey makes for being “the richest man in town” in this 1946 Christmas classic resonate bitterly even as they lead to the finale’s effusive payoff. SEAN NELSON (Grand Illusion)

Opening Wed Dec 12

Once Upon a Deadpool It’s the PG-13 Christmas version of Deadpool 2 featuring Fred Savage, the little boy in The Princess Bride (Wide release)

Wed Dec 12

Wobble Palace A squabbling millennial couple splits up and divides custody of their LA apartment, each desperately searching Tinder for a replacement partner, in this sex comedy by Eugene Kotlyarenko. (Northwest Film Forum)

Opening Fri Dec 14

★ Mary Queen of Scots I can’t think of a film that’s more Oscar-baity than this one, with Margot Robbie, riding high off I, Tonya, and Saoirse Ronan, who won everyone’s admiration after Lady Bird facing off in an epic battle of the queens. We’re going to be talking about this film all winter, so just go and see it now. CB (Wide release)

★ Mortal Engines Peter Jackson is the big name behind this ultra-bigbudget ($100 million) postapocalyptic steampunk adventure based on the novel of the same name by Philip Reeve. Fans of PJ’s work are likely already on board, and at the very least it will look really good. LP (Wide release)

The Mule Director/lead Clint Eastwood plays a senior citizen cocaine runner who’s about to do one last job before going straight. The character

‘The

Trouble with

Wolves’

JANUARY 4–6

It’s capitalists (ranchers) versus nature (wolves) in this new documentary. (Northwest Film Forum)

is based on Leo Sharp, a real-life courier for the Sinaloa cartel. Bradley Cooper co-stars. (Wide release)

★ Shoplifters Kore-eda Hirokazu, one of Japan’s most interesting and best-known filmmakers, returns with a film about a close-knit family of petty thieves making do on the outskirts of Tokyo. (SIFF Cinema Uptown)

★ Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse Adapted from a relatively recent story arc, based on a Spider-Man character created in 2011, the animated film follows the (SPOILER ALERT) death of Peter Parker, and finds the Spider-Man mantle picked up by a young Afro-Latino teen, Miles Morales; the writers drew inspiration for Morales from Barack Obama and actor/rapper Donald Glover. LP (Wide release)

Dec 14–16

★ People’s Republic of Desire Westerners, and especially Americans, should know about YY, the Chinese social network that’s something like YouTube and Instagram Live, but on cocaine. Hao Wu’s documentary is a rare dive into the network, which sports more than 300 million active users (Snapchat reports 187 million users) who exchange virtual roses as a currency, with top users making as much as $20K a month for apparently doing nothing more than cam-girling without getting naked. CB (Northwest Film Forum)

Dec 14–18

★ Die Hard Bruce Willis plays John McClane, a white NYC cop whose estranged white wife not only lives in LA but appears to have gone to the other side. While McClane visits his wife at Nakatomi Plaza, things go crazy and we enter the world inside of the building: its elevator shafts, air ducts, and structural spaces. Here, postmodern architecture meets Reagan-era Hollywood cinema and makes lots of movie magic. CM (Central Cinema)

Die Hard will also play at the Museum of Pop Culture on Saturday, December 22.

Dec 14–18 & 22–23

Elf Will Ferrell plays a grown man who has spent his entire life laboring under the delusion that he’s one of Santa’s elves. The side effects of this include a deeply ingrained sense of whimsy and a proclivity for concentrated sugars. (Central Cinema)

Dec 14–20

Impulso Emilio Belmonte films a portrait of Rocío Molina, the inventor and practitioner of an extremely intense flamenco-modern dance hybrid. (Northwest Film Forum)

Sat Dec 15

The Best of VHSXMAS Blast your brain with clips from Scarecrow’s treasure trove of bonkers holiday videos. (Grand Illusion)

Opening Wed Dec 19

★ Mary Poppins Returns In this sequel to the five-decades-old original, the titular role is filled by ever-charming Brit Emily Blunt, who, as Mary Poppins, returns to help her former charges, Michael and Jane Banks (played by Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer, respectively), after the former experiences a loss that he can’t seem to recover from. Notable guest spots include Meryl Streep and Dick Van Dyke. It’s supposed to be fun and full of optimism—both things we are in dire need of these days. LP (Wide release)

Wed Dec 19

★ Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan Chor Yuen’s slightly kinky wuxia classic from 1972 stars Lily Ho as a beautiful young woman trained in a secret style of kung fu by her smitten madam. This pulpy, stylish treat is brought to you in part by the Confucius Institute of the State of Washington. (Northwest Film Forum)

Thurs Dec 20

Film Court: ‘Jingle All the Way’ The audience decides whether the Arnold Schwarzenegger- and Sinbad-starring

action-comedy is a Christmas stinker or a stealth classic at this interactive screening. (Central Cinema)

Opening Fri Dec 21

Aquaman The son of a lighthouse keeper and a sexy sea-maiden discovers he’s heir to Atlantis. All hail Jason Momoa! Can you save us from climate change, too? James Wan directs. (Wide release)

★ Welcome to Marwen The inspirational drama from Robert Zemeckis is a true-life tale about a man, Mark Hogancamp (played by Steve Carell) who, after getting so violently assaulted he suffers brain damage, constructs a miniature World War II village in his yard to help in his recovery and deal with his mostly lost memories, populating it with dolls that represent himself, his friends, and even his attackers. It’s a mix of live action and stop-motion-style animation, and is probably not for anyone who has emotional attachment to the 2010 documentary, Marwencol, about the man on whom this film is based. LP (Wide release)

Opening Tues Dec 25

Holmes and Watson Who better to play the genius detective and his doughty sidekick than Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly? (Wide release)

★ If Beale Street Could Talk If Beale Street Could Talk is Barry Jenkins’s third film. His first, completed in 2008, Medicine for Melancholy is a poem to San Francisco. His second, Moonlight, completed in 2016, is a poem to Miami. This film, completed this year, is a poem to New York City by way of a 1974 novel by the great American writer James Baldwin. The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival and is considered by many to enhance Jenkins’s reputation as one of the most important directors of our post-Obama times. CM (SIFF Cinema Egyptian)

★ On the Basis of Sex You’ve been waiting on this biopic about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s early pre-SCOTUS life, as a lawyer working alongside her husband to bring a groundbreaking gender discrimination case before the U.S. Court of Appeals. You’re going

because you need some hope in these dark times, where we seem to be going backwards and repeating past mistakes, and you’re going despite the fact that British actress Felicity Jones (as RBG) has an awful American accent. LP (Wide release)

Tues Dec 25

★ Fiddler on the Roof Sing-Along Join SIFF’s holiday tradition of belting along with Tevye and family in Norman Jewison’s 1971 adaptation of the beloved musical. It’s a bittersweet story of a poor shtetl milkman as his daughters come of age and fall in love—and anti-Semitic feeling rises. Your ticket will include Chinese takeout from Leah’s Gourmet Kosher Food and pre-film klezmer music by Orkestyr Farfeleh. (SIFF Cinema Uptown)

Kung Pao Xmas: Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas Did you know that some of the biggest songwriters most associated with Christmas pop—Irving Berlin, Mel Tormé, and Jay Livingston— were Jewish? This documentary delves into their lives and features interviews with modern-day celebrities. There will also be an optional Chinese dinner. (Stroum Jewish Community Center)

Thurs Dec 27

The Rocky Horror Picture Show— Holiday Edition Fill the void between Xmas and New Year’s with some naughty mad science antics courtesy of Vicarious Theatre Project’s shadowcast screening. (Central Cinema)

Dec 28–30

The Sound of Music How do you solve a problem like Maria? Rewatch the yodel-filled ex-nun musical and find out. (Central Cinema)

Mon Dec 31

★ Moulin Rouge Sing-Along If you’re anything like me, the hardest part of watching Moulin Rouge on the big screen for the first time was not getting to sing along. Now all the musical-theater nerds who love this movie will get their chance CF (SIFF Cinema Uptown)

Opening Fri Jan 4

Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable Sasha Waters Freyer’s documentary peeks behind the camera of Garry Winogrand, a prominent street photographer of the 1960s and ’70s. (SIFF Film Center)

Escape Room Six strangers with different backgrounds are lured into a super-high-tech escape room— more like escape realm—and find themselves scrambling for their lives. (Wide release)

Jan 4–6

★ The Trouble with Wolves This documentary is mostly set in Montana and concerns the growing conflict between ranchers (capitalists) and wolves (nature). The latter were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park about 20 years ago to balance its ecosystem. But nature cannot be contained. The wolf packs increased, and began hunting and killing cattle. The ranchers hate the wolves because they are literally eating their profits. CM (Northwest Film Forum)

Jan 4–7

★ Labyrinth The film that introduced the public to the yet-to-be-fully-dismissed theory that David Bowie was, in fact, a Jim Henson creation. Pay tribute to the musical alien on his birthday week as he embodies the somewhat inappropriately sexy Goblin King. (Central Cinema)

Jan 4–9

★ Pan’s Labyrinth Pan’s Labyrinth picks up scraps and notions from scattered fairy tales—fear of sexual maturity, thirst for rules and the righteous urge to subvert them, doubtful reconciliation with death—and weaves them into an original fantasy of furious power. ANNIE WAGNER (Central Cinema)

Jan 4–10

★ On Her Shoulders A young Yazidi woman escaped sexual slavery at the hands of ISIS and now campaigns to make the world pay attention. This documentary about Nadia Murad reveals the pains of being a survivor, activist, and representative of a brutalized people. (Northwest Film Forum)

Opening Fri Jan 11

A Dog’s Way Home Happy dog Bella, voiced by Bryce Dallas Howard, must find her way back to her family after running too far after a squirrel. (Wide release)

The Upside In this remake of the French smash hit Untouchable, Bryan Cranston stars as a rich paraplegic man who hires a guy with a spotty record (Kevin Hart) to take care of him. (Wide release)

Jan 11–13

Over the Limit Marta Prus’s documentary follows amazing Russian gymnast Margarita Mamun as she endures grueling training and psychological punishment meant to push her to the Olympic Games. (Northwest Film Forum)

Jan 11–15

★ The Man Who Would Be King The great John Huston directs Sean Connery and Michael Caine in Rudyard Kipling’s adventure tale about two swindlers in search of treasure in Kafiristan. (Central Cinema)

Jan 11–16

★ The Royal Tenenbaums About an extended family of neurotic geniuses whose bastard of a patriarch wants to bring them closer together. Too bad they hate his guts. The film is hilariously funny, dryly tender, and impeccably designed. SEAN NELSON (Central Cinema)

Opening Fri Jan 18

Glass M. Night Shyamalan merges the universes of Unbreakable and Split in a repressive mental hospital. Samuel L. Jackson is once again Mr. Glass, Bruce Willis is David Dunn,

and James McAvoy the Horde. All are bent on escaping the treatment regimen of Dr. Staple (Sarah Paulson). (Wide release)

Jan 18–23

★ The Warriors If you love pleather vests, Molotov cocktails, and all-out gang battles in ’70s-era NYC, you’re in luck. (Central Cinema)

Opening Fri Jan 25

The Kid Who Would Be King A bullied kid in London stumbles across Excalibur, the sword of the Once and Future King, and miraculously pulls it out of its stone. That means he’s the only one who can stop the evil queen Morgana and her horde from killing the crap out of everybody. (TBA location)

★ The Nightingale In 19th-century Tasmania, a revenge-obsessed young Irish woman and an Aboriginal tracker set out into the wilderness after a cruel British officer. From Jennifer Kent (The Babadook) (Wide release) Serenity A reclusive fisherman named Baker Dill (Matthew McConaughey) is forced to confront a turbulent chapter of his life when his ex-wife (Anne Hathaway) implores him to murder her current shitty husband. Directed by Steve Knight (Locke and Hummingbird, Peaky Blinders). (Wide release)

Jan 25–29

★ Akira In this dystopian 1988 cyberpunk animation, a teenage gang member is granted psychokinetic powers in a government experiment, but the transformation process doesn’t stop there—and all Neo-Tokyo is in danger. The film melds body horror, moto gangs, and a Godzilla-style creature in a fever dream of animation and taiko drums. (Central Cinema)

★ Fantastic Mr. Fox Mr. Fox is a happily married husband and uncertain father torn between 9-to-5 domesticity and the thrill of raiding the henhouse. Toss in a neurotic son who wears a towel like a superhero cape, a sewer rat who dances like a West Side Story extra, a rock-and-roll soundtrack, and drily funny dialogue, and you’ve got a Wes Anderson storybook. SEAN AXMAKER (Central Cinema)

Opening Fri Feb 1

★ Capernaum A 12-year-old boy, played by real-life Syrian refugee Zain Al Rafeea, sues his parents for the “crime” of giving him life in this awful world. This film from director Nadine Labaki reportedly does an incredible job of dramatizing life for refugee children condemned to non-personhood by their lack of identity papers. (Cinemark Lincoln Square)

Miss Bala Some critics have high hopes for Catherine Hardwicke’s action thriller, about an innocent young woman ensnared in the machinations of drug gangs and US border authorities, not least because it’s a still-too-rare example of a major film headed by a Latina actor, while others worry that it will further demonize Mexicans at the border. (Wide release)

Opening Fri Feb 8

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Lego heroes fight Lego space villains with the aid of A-list voice actors like Chris Pratt and Margot Robbie in another installment of the popular animated action movies. (Wide release)

What Men Want Taraji P. Henson will probably be fun in this film about a sports agent who gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts and uses her power to her career advantage. (Wide release)

Sat Feb 9

★ Kimya Dawson and Clyde Petersen: Performance and Torrey Pines Screening An irresistible DIY-animation classic that doesn’t need words to beguile. Dawson and Petersen will kick off the evening with a musical performance. (Bellevue Arts Museum)

Opening Thurs Feb 14

★ Alita: Battle Angel If you are like me, you are starved for a cyberpunk film. The world just does not make enough of them. While we wait for an adaptation of William Gibson’s Neuromancer we can watch Alita: Battle Angel, which is based on a manga of the same name by Yukito Kishiro. Expect Cartesian puzzles, confused cyborgs, thrills, and a big city with millions of humans and machines. CM (Wide release)

Opening Fri Feb 22

Rhythm Section In this thriller based on the novel by Mark Burnell (who also wrote the screenplay), a devastated woman discovers that the plane crash that killed her family was not an accident. Now she lives only to get even. Starring Blake Lively and Jude Law. (Wide release)

Thurs Feb 28

Doubtful A troubled writer is forced into community service teaching poetry to juvenile offenders. He’s surprised to realize how much his soul is nourished by his charges. This Israeli film won Best First Feature at the Jerusalem Film Festival. (Stroum Jewish Community Center)

Music

CLASSICAL

Tues Dec 11

★ Celtic Woman The heavily lauded group of Emerald Isle faerie queens will perform folksy classics and traditional Irish music. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $35–$125)

Fri Dec 14

A Holiday Party with Ladies! A trio composed of Lydia Ramsey, Erin Austin (OK Sweetheart), and Miranda Zickler (Kuinka) will perform an intimate holiday show together to benefit Seattle homeless care nonprofit Notice A Need. (The Cloud Room, 6:30–10 pm, $40–$60)

Dec 14–16

★ Handel’s Messiah Fun Fact: Even though people celebrate the virgin birth of Mr. Jesus with Handel’s Messiah every Christmas, librettist Charles Jennens actually conceived of the piece as an Easter opera. That’s because the last two-thirds of the composition cover the life, death, and resurrection of the Nazarene prophet. But traditions are hard to kick, and that “Hallelujah!” chorus still rules, as does the Seattle Symphony Chorale, who will surely be in rare form. RS (Benaroya Hall, $24–$89)

Dec 14–23

A Festival of Lessons & Carols For the 40th year, Northwest Boychoir will join with Vocalpoint! Seattle to present the story of the Nativity told through reading, choral arrangements, and audience-participation carols. (Various locations, $5–$81)

Sat Dec 15

Led to Sea, Betsy Olson Band Led to Sea approaches pop with a classical eye, creating chamber-like works with a marketable edge. (The Royal Room, 8:30 pm, $10/$12) Seattle Choral Company: December Dreams Seattle Choral Company stages a concert of “reflective holiday music that will have you dreaming of Christmases past and present.” (Saint Mark’s Cathedral, 8 pm, $25)

Dec 15–16

★ NOCCO: Virtuosity North Corner Chamber Orchestra's early winter show features pieces like Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in G Major, and Igor Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat, with Byron Schenkman on harpsichord and Steven Morgan on bassoon. (Dec 15: Resonance at SOMA Towers, 2–4 pm, $20/$30; Dec 16: Yesler Community Center, 7:30–9:30 pm, $10–$30)

Sun Dec 16

Holiday Sing-Along with Sing Noel Eight-part harmony group Sing Noel (aka the 32nd Street Singers) lead a program of interactive and traditional holiday favorites, plus some classic drinking songs. (The Royal Room, 5:30 pm, free)

Dec 16–23

★ Seattle Men’s Chorus: Jingle

All the Way The chorus presents a program of dazzling seasonal tracks, like their own revamped takes on “Silver Bells,” “Do You Hear What I Hear,” and many more. (Benaroya Hall, $15–$85)

Tues Dec 18

We Three Kings: The Irish Tenors’ Holiday Concert The world-renowned vocal group performs holiday classics and traditional pieces from the Emerald Isle. Show proceeds benefit programs and services of Ballard NW Senior Center. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $65–$150)

Dec 28–30

★ Beethoven Symphony No. 9

It was Beethoven's last symphony. He was almost totally deaf when he conducted the premiere, so the performers had to ignore him entirely, and he couldn’t hear the applause at the end. A contralto named Caroline Unger had to turn him around so he could see the clapping hands and stuff thrown into the air. Unger was on the bill because Beethoven added singing to the final movement of this huge mother, which takes more than an hour to perform. Whew. AH (Benaroya Hall, $47–$131)

Sat Dec 29

Seattle Rock Orchestra’s 10th Anniversary Concert The orchestra performs rock and pop filtered through an orchestral lens. For their 10th anniversary spectacular, they’ll tackle Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. (Moore Theatre, 7:30 pm, $25–$35)

Jan 4–8

Pacific MusicWorks: Corelli Goes Global Some of revolutionary 16th-century composer Arcangelo Corelli's innovative pieces will be performed by renowned baroque violinist Ingrid Matthews and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky. The program also features composers he influenced. (Various locations, $15–$25)

Sun Jan 6

Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Finland Finnish trio Soittorasia will open the series with a program of music spanning the folk and classical traditions of Finland, complete with more than10 instruments at play. (Nordic Museum, 4 pm, $25/$30)

Tues Jan 8

★ JANE with the Seattle Symphony A screening of the National Geographic documentary about primatologist Jane Goodall, JANE, with its Philip Glass-composed score performed live by Seattle Symphony. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $35–$85)

Fri Jan 11

★ Jesse Myers: Glass Half Full You should strongly consider grabbing a blanket and a pillow, and heading out to Chapel Performance Space to listen to local pianist Jesse Myers play about half of Philip Glass’s 20 etudes. Glass composed them over the course of his long and successful career, and they’re some of the best pieces of minimalist music ever devised. RS (Chapel Performance Space, 8–9:30 pm, $10/$15)

Sat Jan 12

★ Free at The Frye: Pacific Duo Voice and guitar twosome Pacific Duo will present a program that showcases their specialized repertoire. (Frye Art Museum, 2 pm, free)

★ Portland Cello Project: Radiohead’s OK Computer An all-star collective of cellists (joined by the odd horn players, a rhythm section, and guest vocalists) that deliver music you don’t normally expect to see performed on cellos, like Radiohead. LP (Tacoma Rialto Theater, 7:30 pm, $29–$49)

Sun Jan 13

★ Indigo Mist with Bill Frisell Renowned Seattle-area jazz guitarist Bill Frisell is one of the music world’s most reliable providers of sublime virtuosity. With Indigo Mist—featuring all UW faculty members—he released a fascinating album in 2014, That the Days Go by and Never Come Again that revels in bold improvisations and inventive covers of standards. On this night, they’ll bust out a program of all-new, original music.

DS (UW Meany Studio Theater, 7:30 pm, $20)

Tues Jan 15

★ Jeremy Denk If the fact that Baroque revivalist and Bach expert Jeremy Denk is a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant isn’t enough to make you want to go to this, then take the word of the New York Times: “Mr. Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear, no matter what he performs.” (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 pm, $47+)

Jan 17–18

★ Brahms Symphony No. 3 Conductor Andrey Boreyko comes to Seattle from Naples, Italy, to lead the Symphony in Brahms’ momentous third symphony. (Benaroya Hall, $22–$122)

Jan 18–27

★ Seattle Chamber Music Society Winter Festival A two-weekend festival of six concerts flanked by free pre-concert recitals and featuring 20 acclaimed musicians in 2019, including violist Rebecca Albers, pianist Andrew Armstrong, cellists Edward Aaron and Ani Aznavoorian, and violinists Tessa Lark and James Ehnes. (Benaroya Hall, $20–$55)

Tues Jan 22

★ Itzhak Perlman Grammy- and Emmy-winning violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman will perform an evening set of Bruch’s Violin Concerto. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, sold out)

Fri Jan 25

Side-by-Side Concert with University of Washington Orchestra Side-by-Side concerts pair the Seattle Symphony with another musical group for a session of classical jams and witnessing masterworks together. This session will feature the UW Orchestra performing pieces by Beethoven and Bernstein. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, free)

Jan 25–26

★ Marginal Consort Japanese musical/visual art collective Marginal Consort mixes homespun electronic instruments, found instruments, and traditional instruments to create sound environments that are both unsettling and meditative. RS (On the Boards, $26–$70)

Sat Jan 26

Ólafur Arnalds Iceland’s native son is known for creating electronic music infused with minimalist piano and string meditations as well as elegant tech-house anthems. He’ll be joined by a “uniquely wired ensemble of a string quintet, drums, two Disclaviers, and other artists and technological elements.” (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $28)

Sun Jan 27

★ Celebrate Asia The annual concert from Seattle Symphony has celebrated traditions of Seattle’s Asian communities for 11 years now. The 2019 concert will feature music by famous Korean composers. (Benaroya Hall, 4 pm, $31–$97)

Thurs Jan 31

Gabriel Kahane An evening of unique fusion-heavy orchestra pop by the pioneering vocalist and composer. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, $15–$20)

Jan 31–Feb 2

★ Beethoven Piano Concerto No.

3 This program offers two landmarks of classical music literature and one world premiere that will likely be very good. Shostakovich composed his First Symphony when he was 18, and the piece is full of all the cartoonish humor and aimless ambition you’d expect from a genius teen. I could listen to the second and third movements of Beethoven’s third Piano Concerto every

By

Andrew Hamlin, Charles Mudede, Leilani Polk, Kim Selling, Dave Segal, and Rich Smith

Harry Partch Ensemble

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9

A rare chance to experience Harry Partch's bizarre assemblage of built instruments. (UW Meany Studio Theater)

day for breakfast and feel right with the world. That’s why I’m so excited to hear pianist Jonathan Biss play Caroline Shaw’s world premiere. Apparently Shaw, the youngest person to ever win a Pulitzer Prize for music, composed it “as a response to Beethoven.” RS (Benaroya Hall, $22–$122)

Sat Feb 2

“The Play of Sounds”: Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 2 Seattle Philharmonic stages Tchaikovsky’s rowdy and joyful Orchestral Suite No. 2, the overture to Joseph Haydn’s opera L’incontro improvviso, and music by French composer Elsa Barraine. (Benaroya Hall, 2 pm, $20/$30)

★ Jake Shimabukuro Hawaii’s prodigious ukulele virtuoso jumps through genres (jazz, rock, funk, classical music, folk, bluegrass, and even flamenco), and mixes original compositions with covers that have his own personal stamp of uke agility and adventurous originality. LP (Tacoma Rialto Theater, 7:30 pm, $29–$85)

Wed Feb 6

Melia Watras UW music professor and violist Melia Watras performs with Richard Karpen (composer), Cuong Vu (trumpet/composer), and Michael Jinsoo Lim (violin) in celebration of her new album, Schumann Resonances (Brechemin Auditorium, 7:30 pm, free)

★ Silk Road Ensemble Kinan Azmeh will be joined by members of the Silk Road Ensemble and the Seattle Symphony for the world premiere performance of his clarinet concerto. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $22–$122)

Thurs Feb 7 & Thurs Feb 28

Brechemin Piano Series Hear young UW pianists take what they’ve learned thus far through the academic year and flex their musical muscles in a progressive student recital.

(Brechemin Auditorium, 7:30 pm, free)

Fri Feb 8

★ Tanya Tagaq Inuk experimental artist and throat singer Tagaq combines traditional throat singing with electronic arrangement, punk attitude, and some death-metal vocal flourishes to create dramatic music with a political slant.

JOSEPH SCHAFER (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 8 pm, $37+)

Feb 8–9

The Brass: Ferdinand the Bull This Tiny Tots concert will feature the flower-smelling story of Ferdinand the Bull, and is designed to introduce kids ages zero to five to Seattle Symphony's brass family. (Benaroya Hall, $12)

Pacific MusicWorks: Leading Ladies The ladies will take center stage in pieces by passionate 17th century composer Barbara Strozzi and her contemporaries; with sopranos Tess Altiveros and Danielle Sampson with Stephen Stubbs and the Pacific MusicWorks House Band. (Feb 8: Trinity Lutheran Church, 7:30 pm, $5–$25; Feb 9: Seattle First Baptist Church, 7:30 pm, $35–$45)

Feb 8–10

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in Concert Relive the nostalgia of your ‘80s childhood with this special screening of Steven Spielberg’s classic synced up with the Seattle Symphony playing John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score. (Benaroya Hall, $60–$120)

Fri Feb 8, Sun Feb 10 & Tues Feb 12

Pacific MusicWorks: Will Power — Shakespeare in Song Soulful tenor Zach Finkelstein will join the Pacific MusicWorks Underground House Band for a program of Baroque music with words written and inspired by Shakespeare. (Feb 8: Naked City Brewery & Taphouse, 7:30 pm, $15/$25; Feb 10: Resonance at SOMA Towers, 3–5 pm, $25; Feb 12: The Royal Room, 8 pm, $15–$25)

Sat Feb 9

★ Harry Partch Ensemble Partch built his own assemblage of bizarre, gargantuan instruments (Chromelodeon, Cloud-Chamber Bowls, Zymo-Xyl, and Spoils of War, etc.) tuned to a microtonal scale (43 unequal tones per octave, bro), which allowed the itinerant American composer to create disorientingly beautiful works that sound as if they’re beamed in from another universe. DS (UW Meany Studio Theater, 7:30 pm, $10)

Sun Feb 10

Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Nordic Neighbors: Latvia Popular Latvian composer Peteris Vasks will continue the series with a program of contemporary classical pieces and Latvian folk music, including music for flute, string quartet, and vocal ensemble. (Nordic Museum, 4 pm, $25/$30)

Thurs Feb 14 & Sat Feb 16

★ Prokofiev Symphony No. 7 Paul Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which you’ll remember from Disney’s Fantasia will give way to Prokofiev’s sweeping and yet wistful Seventh Symphony. Violinist Aleksey Semenenko will also tackle the challenging but downright jaunty solos in Sibelius’s one-and-only Violin Concerto, colloquially known as the “Polonaise for Polar Bears” due to its icy texture and pounding rhythm. RS (Benaroya Hall, $22–$122)

Tues Feb 19

Baroque Ensemble UW students, led by faculty member Carole Terry and Cornish College’s Tekla Cunningham, will perform on baroque instruments. (Brechemin Auditorium, 7:30 pm, free) Debussy String Quartet Claude Debussy only ventured into writing for string quartets once, and the result was a genre-breaking triumph fit for the most avant-garde of chamber music groups. (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $40)

STEVE KORN

Feb 22–23

Amadeus Live with the Seattle Symphony Feel the power of Mozart on screen and in surround-sound with this Seattle Symphony presentation of the 1984 film screened in sync with the full orchestra and Seattle Symphony Chorale playing Mozart’s most celebrated works. (Benaroya Hall, 8 pm, $35–$90)

★ Masters of Hawaiian Music: George Kahumoku Jr, Nathan Aweau, & Kawika Kahiapo A two-evening set of slack-key and slide guitar, ukulele, and songs from traditional and contemporary Polynesian musical eras. (Triple Door, 8 pm, $27–$35)

Feb 23–24

Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater Enjoy a joint performance by Seattle contemporary dance company Whim W’Him and the Early Music Seattle Orchestra as they present Pergolesi’s ancient hymn. (Town Hall, $20–$45)

Thurs Feb 28

★ Habib Koité and Bassekou Kouyate Two of Africa’s biggest musical stars breeze into town to liven up the elegant Triple Door. (Triple Door, 6:30 pm, 9 pm, $32–$40) Music of Today: DXARTS The UW School of Music and DXARTS—Center for Digital Art and Experimental Media co-sponsor this series showcasing innovative new works and modern classics composed and initiated by faculty members and guest composers. (Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, 7:30 pm, $15)

Thurs Feb 28 & March 2–3

★ Sir András Schiff The legendary Hungarian pianist leads Seattle Symphony from both keys and the conductor’s podium through renditions of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, Bach’s Piano Concerto No. 3, and Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra. His show on March 2 will be a solo program of pieces from Bach, Bartok, Schumann, and Janacek. (Benaroya Hall, $22–$122)

Fri March 1

★ Emerald City Music: 18 Musicians Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians ranks as one of history’s most universally revered long-form works of minimalism. The 59-minute piece evokes an ever-regenerating sense of hope and lofty aspiration as it cycles through its 12 busy, intricate movements. Its cumulative effect is to create the illusion you’re ascending to a realm of heavenly beneficence and rejuvenation. This staging involves an international ensemble of vocalists, percussionists, pianists, and chamber musicians. DS (415 Westlake, 8–11 pm, $45)

Sun March 3

★ (Im)migration: Music of Displaced Peoples In this quarterly series that highlights music by composers affected by diasporas and migration, UW piano professor Robin McCabe will lead UW music students through multiple works. (Brechemin Auditorium, 4 pm, free)

Wed March 6

Emerson String Quartet The heavily lauded quartet will celebrate their 41st anniversary as a group this season. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 pm, $50+)

March 7–9

★ Joshua Bell—Mendelssohn Violin Concerto The renowned violinist will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and Haydn’s Symphony No. 102. (Benaroya Hall, $61–$138)

Fri March 8

UW Symphony with Concerto Competition Winners The UW Symphony is joined by winners of the UW Concerto Competition and the Student Composition Competition in a program including pieces by Strauss and de Falla. (Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, 7:30 pm, $15)

March 8–12

Pacific MusicWorks: Scottish Folk & Baroque Internationally renowned Scottish fiddler and violinist Brandon Vance joins harpsichordist and guitarist Henry Lebedinsky for a program featuring the intermingling of art and folk music throughout 18th-century Scotland, traditional reels, jigs, marches, and more. (Various locations, $15–$25)

March 9–10

Seattle Pro Musica: Pacific Voices A program of a cappella choral music by contemporary Asian and Asian American composers like Hyo-Won Woo, Victor Paranjoti, and the “Mozart of Madras,” A.R. Rahman. (March 9: Seattle First Baptist Church, 7:30 pm, $12–$38; March 10: Trinity Lutheran Church, 7:30 pm, $12–$38)

Sun March 10

SYSO: Ravel - Schumann - Mahler Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra performs Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie Espagnole, Robert Schumann’s Concert Piece for Four Horns, and Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony. (Benaroya Hall, 3 pm, $16–$54)

Mon March 11

Max Raabe & Palast Orchester: Dream A Little Dream Dashing baritone Raabe resuscitates songs and musical styles of past eras. Here, he's joined by Palast Orchester in a program of classic pieces from the Roaring ‘20s (and the less roaring ‘30s). (Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $35–$70)

Tues March 12

★ Nils Frahm The classically trained German pianist merges pensive sonatas with percolating electronics into a minimalist soundtrack for the modern age. BRIAN COOK (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $27–$43)

UW Wind Ensemble with Ben Lulich The ensemble will be joined by Seattle Symphony's principal clarinetist in a program of music by John Williams, Óscar Navarro, Tian Zhou, and others. (Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, 7:30 pm, $10)

Wed March 13

UW Chamber Singers & University Chorale: ODRANOEL A spring quarter concert that pays tribute to the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's passing. (Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, 7:30 pm, $10)

Thurs March 14

Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist Concert: Amarilys Rios Rosa, Puerto Rican Bomba Every quarter, the UW School of Music invites a visiting artist to present their area of expertise in a concert. This quarter’s Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist is Amarilys Rios Rosa, a masterful drummer and dancer who specializes in bomba. (Brechemin Auditorium, 7:30 pm, free)

March 14–17

Bach’s Mass in B Minor Not at a church but maintaining the same level of holy reverence, the Seattle Symphony will perform Bach’s epic and thunderous mass. (Benaroya Hall, $22–$122)

Fri March 15

Seattle Symphony with UW Music Faculty Join UW School of Music faculty Melia Watras (viola), Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir (cello), and Cristina Valdés (piano), along with members of the University Symphony in a program that includes world premieres by UW Music director Richard Karpen and faculty member and Seattle Symphony Orchestra bassoonist Seth Krimsky. (Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, 7:30 pm, free)

Sat March 16

HYMN: Sarah Brightman in Concert The English stage and screen luminary’s long résumé includes work as a multi-lingual classical crossover soprano, musician, songwriter, conductor, and dancer. (Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, $46–$246+)

Northwest Symphony Orchestra: Music for the Soul The orchestra will be joined by Choral Sounds Northwest and Columbia Choir for an explosive performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. (Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 8 pm, $15/$20)

Sun March 17

★ Byron Schenkman & Friends: Mozart Violin Sonatas Hear three Mozart sonatas in conversation with Francesca Lebrun’s Sonata in D Major, which makes you feel like you’re hopping around some German field trying to catch butterflies in a net and laughing a lot. RS (Benaroya Hall, 7 pm, $10–$48)

Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series: Iceland Icelandic cellist Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir and pianist Angelo Rondello will join forces in a program of works written in the decade after the Icelandic economic crash of 2008. (Nordic Museum, 4 pm, $25/$30)

★ Sultana: Music of the Sephardic Diaspora Woodwind players Nina Stern and Daphna Mor will join their talents for a performance of pieces that engage in the lush musical traditions of the Sephardic diaspora, with eclectic and improvisational Eastern rhythms. (Town Hall, 2:30 pm, $20–$45)

First Thursday

Ladies Musical Club Ladies Musical Club, the longest running musical organization in Seattle, now active for 125 years, performs a selection of classical works every month during SAM’s free first Thursdays. (Seattle Art Museum, 12–1 pm, free)

OPERA

Sat Dec 15

Grand Opening: Seattle Opera’s New Civic Home Featuring performances by Seattle Opera’s Chorus and Teen Vocal Studio and members of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. Also on tap: a rehearsal of Il trovatore, a dramaturgy talk, a Verdi sing-along, a costume presentation, and a self-guided tour. (Opera Center, 2–5 pm, free)

Jan 12–26

★ Il Trovatore Giuseppe Verdi’s opera is famous for having one of the silliest plots in all of opera, but also for its rousing choruses, gorgeous coloratura arias, and heroic numbers. (McCaw Hall, 7:30 pm, $73-$180)

Feb 3–10

★ The Rape of Lucretia Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera—about an ancient Roman noblewoman whose rape by an Etruscan prince spurred a rebellion that overthrew the Roman monarchy—was first performed in 1946. (Broadway Center for the Performing Arts, $26–$56)

Feb 23–March 9

★ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs Contemporary opera probably isn’t the most intuitive delivery system for the life story of the CEO of the world’s largest tech company, but in some ways it kinda makes sense. Jobs was a major mythical figure for geeks, a reportedly tyrannical boss who basically wore a costume all the time, and a literary enthusiast! Regardless, the opera has been getting great reviews since its premiere in Santa Fe last year. RS (McCaw Hall, $25–$335)

JAZZ

Tues Dec 11

★ Charlie Hunter Trio Innovative writer and bandleader Hunter is widely considered an authority on the sevenand eight-string guitar. His trio includes Lucy Woodward and Derrek Phillips. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $31) Tristan Gianola Quartet New Orleans guitarist/composer Gianola is joined by Marina Albero on keys, Geoff Harper on bass, and Adam Kozie on drums. (The Royal Room, 7:30 pm, $10)

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3

JANUARY 31–FEBRUARY 2

Also: Jonathan Biss plays Caroline Shaw's world premiere. (Benaroya Hall)

Thurs Dec 13

Art of Jazz: Bill Anschell Trio An evening of jazz standards by pianist and composer Anschell with band assistance from bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer D'Vonne Lewis; co-presented by the SAM and KNKX (Seattle Art Museum, 5:30 pm, free)

Sun Dec 16

★ Jazz in the City: Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir Ever since 1973, the Total Experience Gospel Choir has been racking up awards and international recognition. They’ll be led here by “Seattle’s First Lady of Gospel,” Pat Wright. (Frye Art Museum, 2–4 pm, free)

Mon Dec 17

★ The Music of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Listening to “Christmastime Is Here (Instrumental)” is like watching falling snow through a window. The room is warm, something is roasting in the oven, and outside, the flakes are falling faintly through the universe and upon the trees, the hedges, the telephone poles, and the rooftops of a thousand apartment buildings. This is Vince Guaraldi’s “Christmastime Is Here (Instrumental).”

CM (The Royal Room, 7 pm)

Dec 18–19

The Senate Seattle string trio the Senate will reunite for the holiday season with two nights of barnburning Dionysian folk and rock-infused jazz. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $33)

Wed Dec 19

JazzED: Home For The Holidays Locally renowned jazz musicians, alumni, faculty, and students of the JazzED program will perform the classic pieces of Duke Ellington’s Jazz Nutcracker (The Royal Room, 7 pm, free)

Dec 20–23

★ Norman Brown, Bobby Caldwell, and Marion Meadows Grammy-winning guitarist Brown is joined by Caldwell and Meadows on his R&B and jazz-centric Joyous Christmas Tour. (Jazz Alley, $50)

Sun Dec 23 & Thurs Dec 27

Home For The Holidays Locally renowned jazz musicians play holiday

pretations of jazz standards.” (Tula’s, 7:30–10:30 pm, $20)

★ The Music of Aretha Franklin A night of tribute performances by Stephanie Johnson and Ayesha Brooks, among others. (The Royal Room, 6:30 pm, $15/$20)

Mon Dec 31

★ Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio A celebratory evening of old-school Hammond B-3 funk. (Triple Door, 7 pm, 10:30 pm, $90–$125)

New Year’s Eve at the Royal Room The Royal Room Orchestra brings you the swing of yesteryear, with dancing, dinner, and live renderings of pieces by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Sun Ra, and more. (The Royal Room, 8 pm, $70)

★ Straight No Chaser The a capella group is a little white bread and they make all the percussion noises with their lips, which pisses off some people, but they’re talented, choreographed, and cute. AH (McCaw Hall, $35–$65)

Jan 2–3

Pearl Django Two nights of Hot Club-style gypsy jazz with intricate finger-picking and a global repertoire. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $31)

Jan 4–6

Love, Lust & Rock ‘N’ Roll Pink Martini vocalist Storm Large is backed by Seattle Symphony in a concert of American jazz classics, Broadway ballads, and rock goddess anthems. (Benaroya Hall, $30–$96)

standards. The Dec 23 show will feature John Otten, Chris McCarthy, and Spencer Edgers, while Dec 27 will feature Raphael Zimmerman, Bell Thompson, Kammy Yedor, Isak Gaines, Ben Feldman, and Luke Woodle. (The Royal Room, 7 pm, $8–$15)

Wed Dec 26

The nu Trio Hardcore jazz crew the nu Trio (trumpeter and composer Nathan Breedlove, Phil Sparks, and Brian Kirk) will helm an intimate evening of “cultural spirit music” and cosmic tracks. (The Royal Room, 7:30 pm, $10/$12)

Dec 26–27

Groove for Thought The contemporary vocal ensemble comprises seven singers that have been performing together for over 15 years. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $26)

Fri Dec 28

30th Annual Sacred Music of Duke Ellington Concert Legend has it that Duke Ellington began his sacred music composing with six notes standing in for the six syllables opening the Bible: “In the beginning, God.” AH (Saint Mark’s Cathedral, 7:30 pm, $20–$40)

Dec 28–31

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band Mexican American namesake Sanchez is a renown conguero and has built on his Latin-jazzy sound with elements of R&B, soul, cha-cha, and salsa music. He and his band will play seven shows over four nights. LP (Jazz Alley, $37)

Sat Dec 29

★ Brittany Anjou with Evan FloryBarnes & Matt Jorgensen Jorgensen (drums) and Flory-Barnes (bass) will join forces with Seattle-raised but NYC-based pianist and composer Anjou. CM (The Royal Room, 5 pm, $10)

★ D’Vonne Lewis Lewis is many things, but most importantly (to us, anyway) he is a graduate of the Roosevelt High School jazz program, a Stranger Genius, and Charles Mudede's favorite drummer. (Tula’s, 7:30 pm, $20)

Sun Dec 30

Bill Anschell Standards Trio Pianist/ composer Anschell with bassist Jeff Johnson and drummer D’Vonne Lewis play a set of “spontaneous inter-

★ Nearly Dan Nearly Dan’s 12 members (who’ve played with Ray Charles, the Temptations, and Gladys Knight among others) interpret the hits and deep cuts of Steely Dan with a professionalism that would impress Donald Fagen and the late Walter Becker’s accountants. DS (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm, $35)

Jan 8–9

Kat Edmonson The American vocalist makes what she refers to as “vintage pop,” blending jazz and swing with trad and chamber pop, ‘50s rock, blues, bossa nova, and folk music. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $29)

Jan 9–10

Paris Combo The chanteuse-led quintet blends jazz, French pop, cabaret, hot club, and Latino and Mid East rhythms. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, $37–$45)

Jan 10–13

Peter White The contemporary acoustic jazz guitarist brings his full band behind Groovin’ his third album reinterpreting classic songs from the ‘50s through the ’80s. (Jazz Alley, $35)

Sat Jan 12

Alma y Azúcar with Supersones An evening of cha cha, bossa nova, Latin jazz, rumba, son, and salsa with contemporary influences. (The Royal Room, 8 pm, $15) Noche de Musas: Seattle Women in Jazz Showcase A diverse and worldly female-driven showcase. (The Royal Room, 4:30 pm, $5/$10)

Tues Jan 15

Levin Brothers The Boston-born, classically trained siblings gleaned early inspiration from 1950s recordings by jazz bassist Oscar Pettiford and jazz French horn player Julius Watkins. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, $22–$30)

Jan 15–16

Martin Taylor and Laurence Juber Jazz guitar virtuoso Pat Matheny has called Taylor “one of the most awesome solo guitar players in the history of the instrument.” (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $32)

Wed Jan 16

Piano Starts Here This iteration of the series celebrates the jazz legends who exhibited expansive originality and inno-

BENJAMIN_EALOVEGA

BELLEVUE CHAMBER CHORUS

Gloria! Renaissance and Baroque Masterworks for Christmas

featuring Vivaldi’s Gloria with chamber orchestra, organ and soloists Natalie Ingrisano and Melissa Plagemann

Saturday, December 15, 2018, 7:30 pm

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Bellevue

Sunday, December 16, 2018, 4:00 pm

Lake Washington United Methodist Church, Kirkland

Choral Kaleidoscope

Saturday, March 9, 2019, 7:30 pm

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Mercer Island

Sunday, March 10, 2019, 3:00 pm

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Bellevue

Retrospective: A Celebration!

Saturday, May 18, 2019, 7:30 pm

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Mercer Island

Sunday, May 19, 2019, 3:00 pm

St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Bellevue

(425) 522-3436 bellevuechamberchorus.org

Music

vation, with the evening's music played on a Steinway B grand piano. (The Royal Room, 7:30 pm, $5–$12)

charged band to come out of the Philly soul scene. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $37)

Sun Feb 17

Feb 13–14

Jan 17–20

★ An Evening with Chris Botti Grammy-winner and pop-jazz trumpeter Botti and his band play ballads, and jazz and Americana songbook standards. (Jazz Alley, $102)

Jazz Innovations UW student jazz ensembles will pay homage to the many varied icons of jazz, and tackle new and progressive orchestral jazz compositions. (Brechemin Auditorium, 7:30 pm, free)

Jazz in the City: Michael Powers The Seattle contemporary jazz legend and widely admired guitarist will play a free live set. (Frye Art Museum, 2 pm, free)

Feb 17–19

DINNER & DRINKS BURLESQUE, MUSIC,

Sat Jan 19

Django’s Birthday Party Celebrate what would have been Django Reinhardt's 108th birthday with an evening tribute by musicians from all over the Puget Sound. (The Royal Room, 6 pm, free)

Jan 24–27

War The LA funk/soul ensemble's hit-laden 1970s catalog is so potent and redolent of greasily groovy good times and carefree summers that you can be assured, they’re going to transport you to a better, warmer place. DS (Jazz Alley, $57)

Jan 29–30

Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, and Bill Stewart The jazzy organ trio has pumped out 11 studio albums both under various members’ names and as a unit. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $31)

Sat Feb 2

The Cumbieros A Seattle-based band made of musicians from Chile, Brazil, and North America that combines traditional Colombian cumbia with ska and rock. (The Royal Room, 8:30 pm, $10/$15)

Feb 5–6

The James Hunter Six Hunter's songwriting and arrangements touch on early-1960s R&B, soulful ballads, up-tempo dancers, and nods to period ska. MIKE NIPPER (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $29)

Thurs Feb 14

★ Gail Pettis Quintet: Love Goes to the Movies Earshot Jazz-acclaimed 2010 Vocalist of the Year Pettis will perform a program of romantic movie themes and jazz standards. (Tula’s, 8 pm)

Feb 14–17

Mindi Abair and the Bone Shakers Featuring contemporary sax woman Abair with her bluesy, jazzy band of bad boys. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, 9:30 pm, $36.50)

Sat Feb 16

A Love Supreme with The John Hanrahan Quartet Hanrahan will electrify John Coltrane’s 1965 album, widely considered to be the most genre-defining jazz recording of all time. (The Royal Room, 5 pm, $15)

The Soliloquies of Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway A celebration of the legendary musical collaboration of Flack and Hathaway (1945-1979), who recorded an eponymous duet album in 1972. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $27)

Feb 16–18

Joan Osborne Sings the Songs of Bob Dylan with Brenda Xu The legendary Grammy-nominated vocalist will interpret classic Dylan tracks with local folk-influenced string musician Brenda Xu. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, $35–$45)

Feb 19–20

★ The Bad Plus A Minneapolis trio of impeccable taste and talent with a catalog heavy on avant jazzy reimaginings of indie rock, pop, and electronic music., from Aphex Twin’s “Flim” to Johnny Cash's “I Walk the Line.” LP (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $31)

Wed Feb 20

Aaron Diehl The pianist and composer tackles modern classical works and explores mid-20th-century “third-stream” music. (Triple Door, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, $30–$38)

Feb 21–24

Arturo Sandoval The much-decorated Cuban trumpeter and classical musician was the founding member of the Grammy Award-winning Cuban jazz fusion group Irakere. (Jazz Alley, $37)

Mon Feb 25

Feb 12–13

★ The Delfonics with Greg Hill Featuring the most dramatically

★ SRJO’s Basie Bash: I Got a Right to Sing the Blues Revisit the legendary collaborations of Count Basie’s career with many of history’s greatest jazz singers. (Feb 16: Benaroya Hall, 7:30 pm, $15–$50; Feb 17: Kirkland Performance Center, 2 pm, $15–$50; Feb 18: Edmonds Center for the Arts, 7:30 pm, $10/$36)

Sinne Eeg Popular Danish jazz vocalist Sinne Eeg is known for her distinctive tone and artistic live performances. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $26)

Feb 26–27

Terence Blanchard with the E-Collective Grammy-winning NOLA trumpeter and composer Blanchard returns to Seattle with his current quintet. (Jazz Alley, 7:30 pm, $31)

Feb 28–March 3

★ Joey Alexander Trio The mastery of jazz takes years upon years, which is why 15-year-old jazz pianist Joey Alexander is so freaky. How did he pack into himself so much information in such a short amount of time? CM (Jazz Alley, $41)

Fri March 1

The Great Royal Room Mardi Gras Celebration: A Tribute to Henry Butler An evening of classic funk and jazz from New Orleans, and tribute to famed NOLA pianist Henry Butler. (The Royal Room, 6:30 pm, $12/$15)

Tues March 5

The Great Royal Room Mardi Gras Celebration: Fat Tuesday Enjoy “The Music of New Orleans,” featuring songs by The Meters, Dr. John, the Neville Brothers, James Booker, Professor Longhair, and more. (The Royal Room, 7:30 pm, $12/$15)

March 6–8

★ Herb Alpert and Lani Hall Three nights of Latin-inspired instrumental jazz

Mon

March 14–17

★ Catherine Russell Lauded by the Wall Street Journal as “the best jazz and blues singer going today,” Russell takes the stage for four straight days, with six shows worth of genreblending elegance. (Jazz Alley, $33)

Fri March 15

★ Starbucks Hot Java Cool Jazz Hear several Seattle high school jazz bands on this night, thanks to a support partnership between Starbucks and STG. (Paramount Theatre, 7 pm, $22)

TOP POP, ROCK & HIPHOP SHOWS

★ George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

Neptune Theatre, Dec 11–12

★ Ice Cube The Showbox, Wed Dec 12

Average White Band Jazz Alley, Dec 12–16, Dec 14–15

An Appalachian Christmas with Mark O’Connor & Friends

Moore Theatre, Thurs Dec 13

Big Brass

Extravaganza Nectar, Thurs Dec 13

★ Patterson Hood, Guests Fremont Abbey Arts Center, Dec 13–14

Dweezil Zappa Neptune Theatre, Fri Dec 14

Tenacious D Moore Theatre, Fri Dec 14

★ Minus the Bear, Tera Melos

The Showbox, Dec 14–16

★ Freddie Gibbs, G. Perico Neumos, Sat Dec 15

★ Kurt Vile & The Violators, Jessica

Pratt

Moore Theatre, Sat Dec 15

Malaa Showbox Sodo, Sat Dec 15

The English Beat Benaroya Hall Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Sun Dec 16

Myles Kennedy, Walking Papers Moore Theatre, Sun Dec 16

Allen Stone

Neptune Theatre, Dec 16–17

Aminé, Buddy Showbox Sodo, Tues Dec 18

★ John Grant Columbia City Theater, Tues Dec 18

★ John Legend

WaMu Theater, Tues Dec 18

Travis Thompson, Sylvan LaCue, Laza

The Showbox, Fri Dec 21

San Holo, Chet Porter, Taska Black, DUSKUS Showbox Sodo, Dec 21–22

Ookay (Live)

The Showbox, Sat Dec 22

Thievery Corporation, The Suffers

The Showbox, Fri Dec 28

The Polish Ambassador, Yaima, Wildlight

The Showbox, Sat Dec 29

Railroad Earth, Shook Twins

Neptune Theatre, Sat Dec 29

7th Annual Artist

Home New Year’s

Eve Celebration

Neptune Theatre, Mon Dec 31

★ Cold Cave, Drab Majesty El Corazón, Mon Dec 31

New Year’s Eve with Thunderpussy and Red

Fang

The Showbox, Mon Dec 31

Wicked Karma: Bollywood New Year’s Eve Showbox Sodo, Mon Dec 31

Young Dolph

The Showbox, Sat Jan 5

★ Greta Van Fleet

Paramount Theatre, Jan 9–10

KONGOS

Neptune Theatre, Sat Jan 12

★ NAO, Xavier Omär

The Showbox, Sun Jan 13

★ Jacob Banks

The Showbox, Wed Jan 16

Yonder Mountain String Band The Showbox, Thurs Jan 17

LANCO

Showbox Sodo, Fri Jan 18

REO Speedwagon

Emerald Queen Casino, Fri Jan 18

Super Diamond, Petty Theft

The Showbox, Fri Jan 18

★ YG

WaMu Theater, Fri Jan 18

Big Head Todd & The Monsters

The Showbox, Sat Jan 19

★ Toro Y Moi

Neptune Theatre, Sat Jan 19

Colter Wall

The Showbox, Sun Jan 20

Peter Murphy

Neptune Theatre, Sun Jan 20

Ace Frehley

Neptune Theatre, Wed Jan 23

★ Andre Nickatina a.k.a. Dre

Dogg

The Showbox, Thurs Jan 24

The Knocks, Young & Sick, Blu DeTiger

The Showbox, Fri Jan 25

Ólafur Arnalds

Moore Theatre, Sat Jan 26

Dorothy Neptune Theatre, Sat Jan 26

★ Emily King Neumos, Sat Jan 26

The Infamous Stringdusters, Midnight North

The Showbox, Sat Jan 26

Tritonal Showbox Sodo, Sat Jan 26

Silverstein, Hawthorne Heights, As Cities Burn, Capstan

The Showbox, Sun Jan 27

Snail Mail

Neptune Theatre, Mon Jan 28

The Lemon Twigs

Neptune Theatre, Tues Jan 29

MØ, Mykki Blanco

Showbox Sodo, Tues Jan 29

Dierks Bentley, Jon Pardi, Tenille Townes, Hot Country Knights

Tacoma Dome, Fri Feb 1

★ LP Showbox Sodo, Fri Feb 1

Alan Walker Showbox Sodo, Sat Feb 2

Interpol

Moore Theatre, Sat Feb 2

JJ Grey & Mofro, The Commonheart

Neptune Theatre, Sat Feb 2

KISS

Tacoma Dome, Sat Feb 2

The Amity Affliction, Senses Fail, Belmont

The Showbox, Mon Feb 4

A$AP Rocky ShoWare Center, Wed Feb 6

Hippo Campus

Neptune Theatre, Feb 6–7

Dark Star

Orchestra The Showbox, Thurs Feb 7

★ King Tuff, Tropa Magica Neumos, Fri Feb 8

Cowboy Junkies

Neptune Theatre, Feb 8–9

Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band

Tacoma Dome, Sat Feb 9

Boombox Cartel

Showbox Sodo, Sat Feb 9

Sat March 16

★ Daymé Arocena Cuban star Daymé Arocena is a quintuple threat as a singer, composer, arranger, choir director, and band leader. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 8 pm, $37+)

Hippie Sabotage, Sebastian Paul Paramount Theatre, Sat Feb 9

★ Justin Timberlake, Guests

Tacoma Dome, Feb 10–11

Blackberry Smoke

The Showbox, Tues Feb 12

An Evening with The Nels Cline 4

Columbia City Theater, Wed Feb 13

★ Jesse McCartney Showbox Sodo, Wed Feb 13

Johnny Mathis

Paramount Theatre, Wed Feb 13

★ Aurora, Talos

The Showbox, Thurs Feb 14

★ Ella Mai Showbox Sodo, Thurs Feb 14

Lauren Daigle, Scott Mulvahill, Ahi

Paramount Theatre, Thurs Feb 14

A Bowie Celebration: The David Bowie Alumni Tour Benaroya Hall

S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium, Fri Feb 15

The Motet

The Showbox, Fri Feb 15

★ Alex Cameron & Roy Molloy Barboza, Sat Feb 16

Gryffin Showbox Sodo, Sat Feb 16

Guster, Henry Jamison

The Showbox, Sat Feb 16

★ Kacey Musgraves, Soccer Mommy

Paramount Theatre, Tues Feb 19

An Evening with Drew & Ellie Holcomb

Neptune Theatre, Thurs Feb 21

Poppy, Kailee Morgue, Jaira

Burns

The Showbox, Thurs Feb 21

★ Kris Kristofferson & The Strangers

Paramount Theatre, Fri Feb 22

Saves the Day, Remo Drive, Mighty

The Showbox, Fri Feb 22

★ Teenage Fanclub

Neptune Theatre, Fri Feb 22

★ Sharon Van Etten, Nilüfer

Yanya

Neptune Theatre, Sat Feb 23

Waxahatchee, Bonny Doon

Saint Mark’s Cathedral, Sat Feb 23

Lukas Graham Moore Theatre, Sun Feb 24

Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Necrot, Blood Incantation

The Showbox, Tues Feb 26

Beirut, Helado

Negro

Paramount Theatre, Wed Feb 27

Royal Trux

The Showbox, Wed Feb 27

Joe Jackson

Neptune Theatre, Thurs Feb 28

★ Robyn

Paramount Theatre, Fri March 1

Atmosphere

Showbox Sodo, Sat March 2

Joshua Radin, Lissie, Lily Kershaw

Neptune Theatre, Sat March 2

Action Bronson, Roc Marciano, Meyhem Lauren

Neptune Theatre, Thurs March 7

Cherry Glazerr, Palehound Neumos, Thurs March 7

★ Jungle, Houses

The Showbox, Fri March 8

JD Souther, Lizzie Weber Triple Door, Sat March 9

★ Noname The Showbox, Sat March 9

★ Adia Victoria Barboza, Tues March 12

★ Nils Frahm Moore Theatre, Tues March 12

Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets

Paramount Theatre, Wed March 13

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, Flor, Grizfolk Moore Theatre, Fri March 15

Dar Williams, Lindi Ortega

Neptune Theatre, Fri March 15

Metric, Zoé, July

Talk

Moore Theatre, Sat March 16

CHARLIE HUNTER TRIO ft LUCY WOODWARD and DERREK PHILLIPS

DECEMBER 11

The authority on the seven and eight - string guitar continues to stun audiences with his ability to simultaneously bust out tasty bass parts, melodic leads and swinging rhythms.

THE JAMES HUNTER SIX

FEBRUARY 5 – 6

A permanent fixture in the world of Rhythm and Soul, British Soul singer hits the US in support of his latest Daptones Record release Whatever it Takes!

THE BAD PLUS

FEBRUARY 19 – 20

Progressive jazz scientists. “A combustible trio with a book of finely orchestrated, catchy original tunes, and a knack for radically reconstituted pop covers.”

– The New York Times

TERENCE BLANCHARD featuring THE E-COLLECTIVE

FEBRUARY 26 – 27

Five-time Grammy winning jazz trumpeter and composer. Experimental, eclectic and exotic.

MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO

MARCH 7 – 10

“The world needs more musicians like her: creatively restless and ambitious,” - NPR Music

ANTONIO SANCHEZ & MIGRATION

MARCH 19- 20

Five-time Grammy-winning jazz drummer and composer, most recently noted for his composition of the original film score for Birdman

Performance

THEATER

Dec 7–29

★ Murder on the Mistletoe Express Cafe Nordo’s perennial Christmas heroine, Becky-June Beasley-Jones (last seen in 2017’s A View from Santa’s Lap). Here, Becky-June races home for “Grandma’s last Christmas,” but all sorts of sinister events disrupt the trip on the Mistletoe Express. Seattle treasure Scot Augustson (Penguins) writes and directs, and Butch Alice stars as Becky-June. As with Nordo’s other productions, the show will be accompanied by a four-course meal. (Cafe Nordo, 7:30 pm, $89)

Dec 8–Jan 6

Puss in Boots, a British Panto Enjoy the boisterous tradition of family-friendly British panto, a theater production that encourages audience participation (read: applauding Puss, booing the ogre, and singing along), and features broad humor and outsized characters. Fremont Philharmonic Orchestra will back the original songs. (Hale’s Palladium, $15)

Dec 14–24

★ Sugar Plum Gary A misanthropic disposition combined with a strong satanist worldview distinguishes Sugar Plum Gary from other yuletide figures. Every year around this time, “somewhat beloved storyteller and comedian” Emmett Montgomery slips into a red onesie and takes the stage to give audience members completely unsolicited advice on how to best navigate the season, and it’s often pretty funny if you’re into dark, absurd humor. RS (18th & Union, 7:30 pm, $12–$22)

Through Sun Dec 16

★ Our Great Tchaikovsky Hershey Felder embodied Irving Berlin last year to the measured praise of Sean Nelson, who lightly criticized the added schmaltz while calling Felder “an astonishingly gifted vocalist and pianist.” Here, Felder returns as the tragic composer of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker in another exploration of the musically creative mind.

(Seattle Repertory Theatre, $77–$82)

★ Veils Lia Sima Fakhouri directs Tom Coash’s play about a black American Muslim who, during a study-abroad trip to Cairo, starts a blog about the practice of veiling with a non-veiled Egyptian woman. Protests related to the coming Arab Spring, different approaches to feminism, and pretty shocking acts of violence—one of the characters is forced to take a “virginity test”— strains the burgeoning friendship and the hopes of finding common ground.

RS (West of Lenin, $25)

Sat Dec 22

★ A Very Didion Christmas Like baby Jesus, Joan Didion is immortal. In this hilarious and highly inappropriate one-act, audiences will get to meet not one but two incarnations of her immortal spirit. Created and performed by Christopher Frizzelle, print editor of The Stranger, and Sarah Paul Ocampo, co-founder of the Typing Explosion, this show features the literary legend reflecting on hanging out in the afterlife with Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell. (Hugo House, $20)

Through Sun Dec 23

99 Tropes An artist takes over the writers’ room in a network television station and airs a show that shocks America in this comedy about “race, gender, culture and money in today’s entertainment business.” (12th Avenue Arts, $25)

By Chase Burns, Christopher Frizzelle, Katie Herzog, Leilani Polk, Dave Segal, Rich Smith, and Joule Zelman

‘Veils’

THROUGH SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16

Two Muslims from different cultures (American and Egyptian) find common ground. (West of Lenin)

Jane Eyre A Tony-winning 10-person “chamber musical version” of the Gothic literature classic with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon and book and additional lyrics by John Caird. (ArtsWest, $20–$42)

Through Mon Dec 24

Christmastown: A Holiday Noir If your holiday season lacks slinky dames, growling gumshoes, and hardboiled bosses, try Seattle playwright Wayne Rawley’s Christmas noir. Directed by Kelly Kitchens. (Seattle Public Theater, $17–$34)

Through Fri Dec 28

★ A Christmas Carol ACT Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol is a dependable, simple pleasure, with just enough variation to warrant returning year after year. For the 43rd (!) edition, Kurt Beattie will direct and Ian Bell and David Pichette will alternate as Scrooge. (ACT Theatre, $27–$87)

Through Sun Dec 30

★ My Ántonia Look, Willa Cather is a literary lesbian prairie goddess and My Ántonia is one of her most famous masterpieces. Published in 1918, My Ántonia is a story of an orphaned boy from Virginia who befriends a bunch of bohemian immigrants in Nebraska. The play version of the novel is lyrical, pretty, and very American in a way that will make even a depressed, sapphire-blue liberal cry patriotic tears. CB (Center Theatre, $15–$50)

Jan 4–12

★ 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival True to its name, the 14/48 Festival turns around 14 brand-new, theme-based, 10-minute plays in two days. The high-pressure

nature of the event produces an evening of surprising theater for audiences. Though there are always a few experiments that don’t quite come together, it’s endlessly fascinating to see the way one theme filters through the minds of several very different theater artists. Expect shit to get weird. RS (ACT Theatre)

Jan 7–13

★ Sovereign: Black Queer One Womyn Show Festival This year, the multidisciplinary festival of solo performances features hot burlesque from Briq House, equally hot music from Patience Sings, and challenging, humorous, and kinda sad performance art from Tyisha Nedd. Hopefully Aishe Keita will show off her classical chops with a powerful monologue. And while I do not normally endorse “healing sound artists,” I can testify to the recuperative qualities of Naa Akua’s performances. Akua will likely offer up some suggestions on healing a queer black soul from her new solo show, Akwaaba. RS (18th & Union, $12–$25)

Jan 8–Feb 3

All’s Well That Ends Well This Shakespeare play may have the spoiler-iest title, but it’s a bit of a hybrid. It also boasts a conniving heroine that later shocked the Victorians and pleased George Bernard Shaw with her sexy machinations. Victor Pappas will direct. (Center Theatre, $48–$55)

Jan 11–28

★ B Two proponents of non-violent anarchy, Alejandra and Marcela, learn dangerous things from a man who knows how to make bombs, Jose. The reliably daring Washington

Ensemble Theatre troupe will produce Guillermo Calderón’s 2017 play. Jay O’Leary (who previously staged Welcome to Arroyo’s) will direct. (12th Avenue Arts, $25)

Jan 17–Feb 16

★ Everybody Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Pulitzer-shortlisted morality play is cast by lot every night, so no one in the nine-person show knows exactly what role they’ll be playing. As Strawshop points out, that means that there are 720 possible cast configurations every night. It’s a nice element of spontaneity in a drama about the inevitability of death. (12th Avenue Arts, 7:30 pm, $10–$36)

Jan 18–Feb 10

Last of the Boys A Vietnam vet living in isolation in the California Central Valley finds his lonely existence interrupted by his army pal, the pal’s girlfriend, and the pal’s girlfriend’s mother. This is a play by Seattle’s own Steven Dietz (Fiction). (Seattle Repertory Theatre, $17–$77)

Jan 19–Feb 3

Rutherford and Son UW Drama will revive a 1912 London smash hit about family treachery and big business. According to press materials, UW will be only the third company in the US to stage Githa Sowerby’s feminist one-hit-wonder. (Jones Playhouse, $10/$20)

Jan 23–March 2

Arsenic and Old Lace In this gleefully morbid farce, a pompous theater critic discovers that his sweet old aunts are serial poisoners. (Taproot Theatre, $27–$50)

Feb 7–17

★ 140 LBs Local force of theater Sara Porkalob will direct Susan Lieu’s autobiographical solo play about trauma, family, and beauty. When Lieu was a child, her mother died under anesthesia during a routine tummy tuck. This piece reveals how, as an adult, she strove to find out who her deceased parent really was—and sought out the person who killed her. (Theatre Off Jackson, $25)

Feb 8–10

★ Roger Guenveur Smith: Frederick Douglass Now Roger Guenveur Smith blew the top off my fucking skull when he came through Seattle with his Rodney King solo show. Smith is an incomparably good character actor with an incredible command of language and a jazz-infused storytelling technique I haven’t seen from anyone else on the planet. Frederick Douglass Now is a solo show about the self-liberated abolitionist who is “getting recognized more and more,” the president notices. RS (Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, $25)

Feb 14–March 10

★ American Junkie In American Junkie Seattle memoirist Tom Hansen presents his no-bullshit, matter-offact account of heroin addiction, self-destruction, and eventual recovery in the 1990s. According to press materials, Jane Jones and Kevin McKeon’s adaptation of his story for the stage will be “a tight, 90-minute ride through Seattle’s music scene during the grunge era.” There’s little doubt Hansen’s story won’t resonate with people living through the current ravages of the opioid crisis. RS (Center Theatre, $20–$42)

Feb 22–March 24

Jan 24–Feb 17

M. Butterfly The fascinating David Henry Hwang play about exoticism and fetishization, in which a French diplomat becomes infatuated with a Chinese opera star, not realizing (or unable to admit to himself) that women are not allowed on the Beijing stage and the object of his fantasy is actually a man. (ArtsWest, $20–$42)

Jan 25–Feb 17

Fire Seasons A 12-year-old boy in a working-class community overdoses on OxyContin, and everyone in his life tries to pick up the pieces. The playwright is Aurin Squire, the first winner of the theater’s Emerald Prize. Directed by Kelly Kitchens. (Seattle Public Theater, $90 (season))

Jan 30–Feb 17

★ Uncle Vanya Chekhov’s melancholic play about unrequited love, adultery, boredom, and despair is a boon to actors and a monument of naturalistic literature. Presented by the Seagull Project and ACTLab. (ACT Theatre, $20+)

Wed Feb 6

Labor Will Feed the People: Celebrating the Seattle General Strike Centennial During the five-day Seattle General Strike of 1919, 65,000 laborers in the city halted work to demand higher wages. This performance of Ed Mast’s play—accompanied by the Seattle Labor Chorus, activities, and a pop-up exhibit—dramatizes many perspectives of those involved. Presented by UW Labor Archives of Washington in collaboration with historian James Gregory. (Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), 6:30 pm, $10)

The Woman in Black A young lawyer discovers a ghastly supernatural mystery around the missing children of Crythin Gifford in the stage version of Susan Hill’s gothic novel. (Seattle Repertory Theatre, $192–$320 (season))

March 1–31

★ Romeo + Juliet You know the story, you know the “Wherefore art thou” monologue, but this production will be something new. Organizers write, “ACT is partnering with leaders in the Deaf community to create a production that honors the glorious language of this timeless play and makes it accessible for Deaf and hearing audiences alike.” (ACT Theatre, $36)

March 2–17

In the Heart of America Naomi Wallace’s Obie-winning play about love and war involves a Palestinian woman, her Marine brother, his American lover, and the ghost of a Vietnamese mother whose infant daughter was killed at My Lai. (Jones Playhouse, $10/$20)

March 6–23

Sheathed In Maggie Lee’s play, produced by Macha Theatre Works, two swordswomen try to adjust to peace and overcome their pasts—and, in one case, their unquenched desire for revenge. (Theatre Off Jackson, $15–$25)

March 14–April 7

★ John A young couple trying to reknit after a cheating incident is haunted by ghosts at their bed-and-breakfast getaway—and the owner of the house has memories of her own. Annie Baker’s play was listed as one of the 10 Best Shows

AMY POISSON

of 2015 by Time and received critical praise all around. (ArtsWest, $20–$42)

March 15–April 28

★ A Doll’s House, Part 2 Nora, in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll House, is arguably *one of most famous female roles in 19th-century theatre*. Every leading ingénue has had her turn playing the “little lark”—even Seattle’s Cherdonna Shinatra recently took on the role. But the ending of the play is famously up for interpretation, and Tony Award-nominee Lucas Hnath’s cheekily-titled A Doll’s House, Part 2 takes on the challenge of picking up where Ibsen concludes. It’s funny, smart, and maybe *the best old play* to come out of the 2010s. CB (Seattle Repertory Theatre, $192–$320 (season))

CHILDREN’S THEATER

Through Sun Dec 30

The Velveteen Rabbit The story of a loved, then spurned toy rabbit who has his ultimate dream fulfilled will be enlivened by this UK production. (Seattle Children’s Theatre, $20–$40)

Sat Feb 16

PJ Masks Live! Catboy, Owlette, Gekko, and PJ Robot step off the screen to entertain your kiddles. (Paramount Theatre, 2 pm, $16–$99)

Sun Feb 24

Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood Live Take your tots to a live musical version of the popular PBS show. (Paramount Theatre, 2 pm, $16–$76)

March 14–July 7

★ Balloonacy I don’t have children, so I can’t say if babies will like Balloonacy one of the cutest pieces of theater made for young children in recent years. But I once saw Balloonacy at Minneapolis’s Children’s Theatre Company, and WOW, is it one of the most magical things created for the stage—a wordless, situational comedy about an old man who lives alone and is trying to celebrate his birthday when suddenly, red balloons bust into his apartment to tease and tickle him. It’s basically an allegory for socialism, but for kids.

CB (Seattle Children’s Theatre)

MUSICAL THEATER

Dec 12–14

Onus: A Cabaret Fourth-year students of Cornish’s musical theater program will present songs about “responsibility and obligation” by Beyoncé, Weezer, Sara Bareilles, Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields, and others. (Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, 8 pm, free)

Dec 13–Jan 6

★ Disney’s The Lion King Julie Taymor’s jaw-dropping, puppet-filled production will visit Seattle in its Circle of Life. Elton John music, Tony-winning direction, treachery, youth, and revenge...the works. (Paramount Theatre, $75+)

Through Sun Dec 16

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat A biblical musical that was so popular in the ‘70s, written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and conerning the favorite child in a big family who’s sold into slavery by his jealous brothers to an Elvis-like Pharaoh. (Seattle Musical Theatre, $40)

Mon Dec 17

Bon Appétit! Lovers of light opera and cake will enjoy this operetta about Julia Child making cake, as well as other treats (including a slice of cake). (Rendezvous, 7:30 pm, $26)

Performance

‘The Sleeping Beauty’

FEBRUARY 1–10

Staged by Pacific Northwest Ballet. (McCaw Hall) ANGELA

Dec 19–31

Jamie and the Intergalactic Revolution of Planet Rhythmo Negato Jamie, a young woman dealing with gender dysphoria, goes on a pretty wild New Year’s ride when she’s abducted by aliens and forced to use music to save their world, Rhythmo Negato. (Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, 7:30–9 pm, $31–$190)

Through Sun Dec 23

★ A Very Die Hard Christmas Marxiano Productions will stage a merry holiday musical starring top-notch sketch comedy outfit the Habit, which promises to pepper the rip-roaring action with songs, jokes, and more. (Seattle Public Theater, $15–$30)

Through Thurs Dec 27

A Charlie Brown Christmas Take a break from the incessant commercialism of the holiday season with Charlie Brown and friends in this musical theater adaptation. (Taproot Theatre, $25)

Through Sun Dec 30

★ Annie This production of the classic musical is being directed by Billie Wildrick (of the 5th Avenue’s recent Pajama Game), and she’s joined by an all-female creative team. CF (The 5th Avenue Theatre, $29–$155)

★ In the Heights Every decade, a musical comes around that reminds the general public that musicals can be popular, cool, and mainstream. The ’80s had A Chorus Line the ’90s had Rent, the early ’00s had Wicked, and the teens had Hamilton But before Lin-Manuel Miranda became a household name for creating Hamilton he was snatching up trophies and accolades for his other hugely popular musical, In the Heights CB (Seattle Repertory Theatre, $17–$135)

Jan 4–6

Sing-a-Long-a Sound of Music Watch a former nun go sloppy for a hard-hearted Austrian captain—and join your voice with hers at this event. The screening of the musical film will feature subtitles in case you’re shaky with the words. A costume contest will be judged before the screening. (The 5th Avenue Theatre, $35)

Jan 17–Feb 24 & March 1–24

★ I Do! I Do! Get ready to weep nostalgic tears at the Village Theatre’s production of a multiple Tony Award-winning musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, which portrays 50 years of a loving marriage. (Jan & Feb: Village Theatre; March: Everett Performing Arts Center; $29–$74)

Jan 23–Feb 2

★ Dear Evan Hansen All I know about this show is that I very badly want to see it, it won a bunch of Tonys, and it’s about how social media can really screw up people’s lives. I’m so there. CF (Paramount Theatre, $25+)

Feb 1–24

Rock of Ages The hair metal musical punctuates a romantic story with noisy tunes by Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, and others. (The 5th Avenue Theatre)

Through Sun Feb 3

Roald Dahl’s ‘Matilda’ A psychokinetic genius girl faces down an evil, bullying school principal in the musical based on Dahl’s messed-up kids’ novel. (Dec 5–30: Village Theatre; Jan 4–Feb 3: Everett Performing Arts Center)

Feb 8–24

Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida Thrill to Elton John’s Tony- and Grammy-winning pop reinterpretation of Verdi’s monumental opera about a beautiful Nubian slave princess and the Egyptian soldier who falls in love with her. (Seattle Musical Theatre, $40)

Sat Feb 9

The Choir of Man Nine British guys—excuse us, “blokes”—rollick on a stage transformed into a functional pub and sing popular and pub songs, dance, and stomp to the beat. (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $29–$50)

Sat March 9

★ Monty Python’s Spamalot Eric Idle’s adaptation of the endlessly-quoted film Monty Python and the Holy Grail boasts all the surreal one-liners and ridiculous songs of the original, and then some. If you’re

a true fan of the movie, you can probably recite most of the dialogue already, but Spamalot delivers a whole new experience. (Pantages Theater, 3 pm, 7:30 pm, $55–$139)

March 14–April 21

★ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time A playwithin-a-play adapted from the novel by Mark Haddon. Precocious, non-neuro-typical teenager Christopher sets out to solve the murder of his neighbor’s dog, a crime of which he’s been unjustly accused. But his investigation, which is shaped by unusual fears and abilities, leads him to his own family’s secrets and lies. (Village Theatre, $32–$74)

DANCE

Dec 7–16

Buttcracker IV... The Final Countdown! This festive and raunchy holiday show promises glittery professional dance and holiday satire set to a hair-metal soundtrack. (Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, 7:30 pm, $18/$25)

Dec 14–16

★ Merce 100: Seattle Artists Respond to Merce Commemorate one of Washington’s greatest performing artists, choreographer Merce Cunningham. Local dance stars Donald Byrd, Christiana Axelsen, Kate Wallich, Thomas House, Amy J Lambert, Ella Mahler, Daniel Edward Roberts with Victoria Watts, and Louis Gervais will be joined by poet Maya Sonenberg, Thunderpussy frontwoman Molly Sides, and others to mark the Cornish alum’s 100th birthday. (Velocity Dance Center, 7:30 pm, $20/$25)

Nutcracker Six- to 18-year-old students in the Preparatory Dance Program at Cornish College of the Arts present their annual performance of The Nutcracker (Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, $25)

Sat Dec 15

Performance Lab On the Boards’ latest incarnation of its performance development series will begin with a performance-with-feedback-opportunities showcase curated by Charles Smith and Syniva Whitney. (On the Boards, 3 pm, $10)

Sat Dec 22

★ Savion Glover’s All Funk’d Up, The Concert Savion Glover is the modern-day boundary-pushing equivalent of Fred Astaire. This program finds the tap dancer with both performance and choreographic chops adding his own tapping percussion to the funky, grooving, horns-escorted tunes of the six-piece live band that accompanies him on stage. Backup dancers included. LP (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $37–$67)

Through Fri Dec 28

★ George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker If you haven’t seen this Christmas classic since you were a kid, give it a go this year. In 2014, PNB replaced its beloved Maurice Sendak set with one by Ian Falconer, who did the Olivia the Pig books. The new set is gorgeous in a Wes Anderson-y way, and it reflects the genuine weirdness and beauty in the story. I mean, the last 45 minutes of this thing is a Katy Perry video starring dancing desserts and a glittery peacock that moves like a sexy broken river. Bring a pot lozenge. RS (McCaw Hall, $28–$212)

Jan 10–12

★ Alonzo King LINES Ballet: Figures of Speech King’s latest creation meditates on extinct and vanishing languages. With the help of slam poet and linguistic preservation activist Bob Holman, King’s flawlessly graceful dancers will respond physically to the sounds of indigenous poetry. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 8 pm, $60–$68)

Performance

Fri Jan 18

★ Seattle International Dance Festival: Winter Mini-Fest Shura Baryshnikov (RI), Gabriel Forestieri (NYC), and Danny Tan (Singapore) will join Seattle’s Khambatta Dance Company for two weekends of “internationally inspired” dance performances. (Erickson Theatre Off Broadway, $23/$30)

Jan 18–26

★ 3 x 3 Choreographer Zoe Scofield was the co-recipient of the 2013 Stranger Genius Award in performance for her inventive, angular, rebellious style. She’ll join the dance company Whim W’him as choreographer for this triptych, alongside Yin Yue, founder of New York’s YY Dance Company, and WW director Olivier Wevers. (Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, $30–$55)

Jan 25–27

Faculty Dance Concert The UW Department of Dance will showcase original work by faculty members Rachael Lincoln, Dr. Juliet McMains, Jennifer Salk, and Alethea Alexander, plus Kawasaki Guest Artist Etienne Cakpo’s large-scale dance and a debut piece by Mellon Creative Fellow Brian Brooks. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, $20)

Feb 1–10

★ The Sleeping Beauty Ronald Hynd’s adaptation of Marius Petipa’s choreography gracefully brings the story of the dormant lovely to life, accompanied by the classic Tchaikovsky score. Presented by Pacific Northwest Ballet. (McCaw Hall, $37–$143)

Feb 7–9

★ reSET: Kaitlin McCarthy and Cameo Lethem Washington Ensemble Theatre will generously open its set on off-nights for the reSET program, in which dancers take inspiration from the sets of currently running plays. In this case, Kaitlin McCarthy and Cameo Lethem will perform on the set of B. (12th Avenue Arts, $12)

Feb 21–23

Fri Feb 22

★ Company Wayne McGregor New pieces from the 25-year-old British dance company, headed by the world-renowned choreographer of the Royal Ballet, that unveil “the body as archive.” (Moore Theatre, 7:30 pm, $39–$61)

March 6–10

Dance Majors Concert See fresh new choreography by UW undergraduate dance majors, with “immersive sound, innovative set and costume designs, and performances by emerging, adventurous new artists.” (UW Meany Studio Theater, $10–$20)

Sat March 9

★ Batsheva Dance Company: Venezuela The world-renowned Tel Aviv-based dance company presents director Ohad Naharin’s Venezuela a meditation in two parts on “the dialogue and conflict between movement and the content it represents.” (Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, $43–$87)

March 15–24

★ Director’s Choice Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal stages

Sun

★ Mark Morris Dance Group Superb choreographer and Seattle native Mark Morris and company will debut a new work set to the music of local iconoclastic composer Harry Partch, who invented his own scales and instruments. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 8 pm, $60–$68)

CABARET

Savion Glover’s All Funk’d Up, The Concert

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22

Savion Glover is the modern-day boundary-pushing equivalent of Fred Astaire. (Moore Theatre)

fairies, exciting, clothes-dropping times, and who knows, maybe some “woody” jokes. (Triple Door, $45–$85)

Dec 16–23

★ Valtesse Versailles Bathe your senses in an evening of old-fashioned, decadent strumpetry with the sensual-chic dancers, contortionists, and aerialists of Valtesse. (The Ruins, $75/$100)

Through Sun Jan 13

★ Wonderland Wonderland returns! Can Can will transform its venue into a snowy chalet and populate it with teasing beauties. If you just want to see pretty people dancing and eat short stacks or crab beignets with the fam, there’s also a kid-friendly brunch version. (Can Can, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, $40+)

Jan 17–26

Bohemia This “macabre and mystical” cabaret-style musical set in 1890s Prague features the music of Dvorák and Chopin and art nouveau by Alphonse Mucha—plus “beautiful green fairies, aerial numbers, dance, burlesque, classical piano battles, comedy, and original songs.” (Triple Door, $20–$40)

Sun Feb 3

Dirty Sexy Chocolate Show It’s a raunchy cabaret-cum-cooking show set to soul music and rich chocolatey cooking smells. Yes, you get to taste the chocolate goodies at the end. (Triple Door, 7:30 pm, $28/$35)

Feb 8–14

★ The Atomic Bombshells in J’ADORE!: A Burlesque Valentine

The saucy vixens of the Atomic Bombshells troupe will break out their brand of busty, feathery, glitzy fun in a show featuring special guests Cherdonna Shinatra and the local dance collective Purple Lemonade. (Triple Door, $28–$45)

Dec 21–24

★ BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx

Monsoon: To Jesus, Thanks For Everything! - Jinkx and DeLa BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are like peanut butter and jelly: two great tastes that taste great together. They were on back-to-back seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race they are both stunning drag queens from Seattle, they are both fiery political commentators, and they’ve never had a proper theatrical production, just the two of them. CF (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $39–$69)

Sun Jan 13

The Blair Bitch Project Fright queen Jackie Hell heads the case in SailorHank Productions’ parody about three queens seeking the trailer of the titular Bitch in the spooky woods. (The Royal Room, 8 pm, $15/$20)

Wed March 13

★ An Evening with Katya Katya is a star and universally admired across drag scenes. Her vibe is a mix of Archie McPhee, the movie Contact and inappropriate things your stepmother told you over the holidays. Do those things not excite you? Then don’t go see Katya. It won’t be a safe space for you. CB (SIFF Cinema Egyptian, 8 pm, $20–$110)

First Saturdays

★ ArtHaus The weirdo drag battles at Art Haus produce the kind of shockingly brilliant, deeply strange, and delightfully incomprehensible performances that I imagine when old timers talk about the off-the-wall art people used to make before the first wave of tech money started “ruining” everything. RS (Kremwerk, 7 pm, $7/$10)

Sundays

Fridays–Saturdays

The Midnight Show Sleeping is so boring when you could be spending the wee hours with the foxy dancers of Can Can. (Can Can, 11:45 pm, $30/$40)

Sundays

The Sunday Night Shuga Shaq

The players of “the only monthly ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR Burlesque Revue in Seattle,” including host Ms. Briq House, will strut their stuff. (Theatre Off Jackson, 7 pm, $15–$30)

DRAG

Dec 6–24

★ Dina Martina Christmas Show

If you think you know what drag is, if you think you know what humor is, if you think you know how the English language works, I heartily encourage you to throw your “knowledge” out the window and go see the Dina Martina Christmas Show There is no one like Dina Martina. And there is no one like her die-hard, inside-joke-obsessed, constantly laughing crowds. CF (ACT Theatre, $27–$47)

Dec 7–30

★ Homo for the Holidays: Jingle All the Gay! At this point, we can call Homo for the Holidays a Seattle institution. After a decade of successful shows and a dramatic changeover in the cast this spring, Kitten N’ Lou are producing a “new chapter” and bringing the children a revamped gay holiday burlesque wet fever dream. CB (West Hall, $25–$42)

Wed Dec 12

A Drag Queen Christmas: The Naughty Tour If your holiday tastes bend toward the naughty, join bona fide queens of VH1’s War on the Catwalk for fresh Christmas looks and “adult humor.” (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $22–$54)

★ Mimosas Cabaret The drag diva titaness Mama Tits presides over weekly iterations of Mimosas Cabaret featuring a short musical, plus songs, comedy, dance, and brunch. (Unicorn, 1 pm, $25)

Thursdays

★ So You Think You Can Drag Live drag competitions are the latest thing in Seattle’s drag scene. This one is the biggest in the city, with a grand prize of $5,000 and a competing cast filled with some of the best queens in town. (Really, when is Irene DuBois going to get on Drag Race?) Watch the girls duke it out each week as they one-up their way to the top. Bring cash for tips and be prepared to scream like hell for your favorite.

CB (R Place, 8:30 pm)

Second Saturdays

★ Cucci’s Critter Barn Every second Saturday, stylishly alarming Cucci puts on a drag show with local stars the likes of Betty Wetter, Butylene O’Kipple, Jade Dynasty, and Irene Dubois, plus special guests. (Kremwerk, 7–10 pm, $7–$15)

★ Rapture Hosted by unidentified frocking object Arson Nicki. Expect to see the avantest of the avant-garde creatures, peculiar performances, and a runway that may double as a portal to the Negaverse. You’ll never forget any of what you see—or to make anyone believe that it happened. MATT BAUME (Timbre Room, 10 pm–2 am, $10–$12)

First And Third Wednesdays

★ Heels! Betty Wetter and Butylene O’Kipple’s monthly party features drag queens, video artists, live music, and a “not so typical” go-go dancer.

(Cha Cha Lounge, 9 pm, free)

Last Saturdays

★ KINGS: A Drag King Show

Flipping the traditional drag script, the Kings of Kremwerk will bring royalty to the stage, with a rotating monthly theme. (Kremwerk, 7–10 pm, $7–$12)

CIRCUS & ACROBATICS

Dec 20–22

★ Acrobatic Conundrum: Something Stolen Acrobatic Conundrum trades the cheeseball spectacle of circus arts for the more expressive vocabulary of modern dance without sacrificing the athletic rigor associated with the form. RS (12th Avenue Arts, $24–$100)

VARIETY

Dec 7–23

★ Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas Shoemaker (Ms. Pak-Man) and illustrious friends lead a fearless investigation into the War on Christmas. Their weapons: “comedy, songs, dance numbers, amazing videos and partial nudity!” (Re-bar, 8 pm, $25/$30)

Sat Dec 22

Dark Fusion Theater presents: “Satan Is Coming to Town!” Diva le Déviant will present a diabolical holiday party with variety performers Titano Oddfellow, Jackie Hell, Bettie Beelzebub, Vector Vervain, and Little Bear, plus musical guest T-Rox. (Rendezvous, 8:30 pm, $37–$67)

Mon Dec 31

Moisture Festival New Year’s Eve Extravaganza At this NYE spectacular, Moisture Festival variety performers will wow you with juggling, aerial feats, and more. (Hale’s Palladium, 8 pm, $75)

Jan 17–19

And Then I Got Fired: On Being Trans, Unemployed & Surviving A variety show from J. Mase III, who previously collaborated with Dani Tirell in Black Bois. (Gay City, $15/$20)

Feb 1–24

Twisted Cabaret Presents: A Comedy Circus Frank Oliver plays every single juggler, acrobat, magician, musician, mime, and everyone else onstage in this show. (Hale’s Palladium, $20–$200)

Feb 7–17

A Certain Type of Brilliance Rejoice in femme magic—the “ability to pull amazing things out of thin air, to create on a dime, to use our vulnerability and creativity as our greatest assets in resistance to oppression”— with a show that will be created by rotating casts just 24 hours before stage time in response to a prompt. (Gay City, $15/$20)

Feb 7–24

★ Alien/Angel Former Stranger staffer Devin Bannon takes on the persona of Klaus Nomi, the famously strange German falsetto singer who became a celebrity of the underground art scene in New York in the 1980s. (Cafe Nordo, $60–$79)

Sat Feb 9

Venice is Sinking Masquerade Ball

2019 The Seattle Design Center’s annual masquerade ball inspired by the Venetian palaces along the Grand Canal is straight-up majestic, featuring a variety of circus acts, musicians, and actors working tirelessly to set a dreamy mood. (Seattle Design Center, 7 pm, $10–$235)

Feb 13–16

★ Skeleton Flower Haruko Crow Nishimura directs Degenerate Art Ensemble’s storytelling/video/music/ dance event inspired by Nishimura’s mother, who was married to her father by arrangement. Through fairy tales, the ensemble explores the issue of feminine power and ambition and the punishment often meted out to women who dare. (Erickson Theatre Off Broadway)

Performance

March 14–April 7

★ Moisture Festival Devoted to the variety of performers Seattle has fostered over the years, from circus acts to comedians, burlesque dancers to musicians, and jugglers to tap dancers. Variété is the recurring event, with a rotating lineup, and there are also matinée and rather racier late night versions. If you love circus acrobatics, clowning, comedy, and/or sexy dance, you owe it to yourself to go. (Hale’s Palladium, $22–$36)

Last Fridays

★ La Petite Mort’s Anthology of Erotic Esoterica See “the darker side of performance art” at this eerie, secretive variety show with circus arts, burlesque, music, and more. (Palace Theatre & Art Bar, 8 pm, $23)

Mondays

★ The Magic Hat Presented by Emmett Montgomery and Friends Five “brilliant humans(?),” ranging from seasoned stand-up comics to sketch performers to audience members, are selected (presumably out of the Magic Hat) throughout the show to perform weekly at this comedy variety show, otherwise described as a “friendship machine that will make the world a better place.” (Rendezvous, 7 pm, $5)

PODCASTS & RADIO

Tues Jan 15

Stuff You Should Know The Stuff You Should Know podcast explains how things work, from global warming to giraffes to personalized medicine to restaurant inspections. (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $23–$33)

Wed Jan 16

★ Judge John Hodgman This evening will bring you a live version of his eponymous podcast Judge John Hodgman, wherein he rules on important matters like “Is it OK to rifle through the trash for prize coupons

in a Canadian pizza parlor?” (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $29)

Jan 17–April 18

Seattle After Party Podcast Join this podcast for a live show about the cultural luminaries of our lovely city. (The Pocket Theater, third Thursdays, 7 pm, $10/$14)

Fri Jan 18

★ Welcome to Night Vale If you’re part of the “cult” that religiously follows this podcast, you’ll know that’s its subject is not just a “friendly desert community.” Set up like an old-timey live radio play, it will simultaneously soothe your nerves and give you the shivers. AMBER CORTES (Neptune Theatre, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, $29/$34)

Sat Feb 2

★ Unorthodox Live: Featuring Dan Savage The Stranger’s own sex advice dealer and editorial director plus other guests will join the popular Jewish-themed podcast for a Valentine’s Day live recording. (Stroum Jewish Community Center, 8 pm, $30–$55)

Wed Feb 20

And That’s Why We Drink Feed your hunger for wine-slurred scary paranormal stories with Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $24/$74)

PERFORMANCE ART

Mon Jan 14

★ Isabella Rossellini: Link Link Circus The iconic film star and activist conceived, codirects, and performs in a loosely structured, vaguely circus-themed theater piece about animals—their thoughts, how they communicate, and the difference between their learned and innate behaviors. Rosselini apparently uses puppets, projections, animated videos, and a darling rescue doggie to help explain her points. LP (Triple Door, 6:30 pm, 9:30 pm, $30–$55)

Feb 14–16

★ Nicola Gunn: Piece for Person and Ghetto Blaster Experimental theater artist Gunn’s piece examines the moral repercussions of an angry exchange she had with a man who was throwing rocks at a brooding duck. (On the Boards, $26–$70)

Feb 21–24

★ Nicola Gunn: Working with Children Gunn dissects “the phenomenon of artists who make work with children for an adult audience” in a combination of theory, fake interview, and fiction. (On the Boards, $26–$70)

First And Third Mondays

★ SH*T GOLD Velocity invites artists from all mediums and genres to contribute up to five minutes of risky material to this very supportive open mic night. (Velocity Dance Center, 10 pm, free)

COMEDY

Dec 6–22

★ Crabgrass Productions’ ‘The Judy Garland Christmas Special’ An imaginary dress rehearsal for Judy Garland’s doomed 1963 television Christmas special. There’s terrifically bad singing, comically inept dancing, and Garland shoots Santa dead.

PAUL CONSTANT (Theatre Off Jackson, $22/$27)

Dec 15–16

Float This sweet tale of lesbian romance, female friendship, a Budapest Women’s Club in the Midwest, and getting through the holidays will be presented by Mistresspiece Theater. (The Pocket Theater, $10/$14)

Jan 4–Feb 16

The Cotton Gin: An Improvised Puppet Show for Grown-Ups Rowdy, bawdy puppets, worn out from entertaining children, hang out at the Cotton Gin bar and entertain you with songs and jokes in this improv show. (Unexpected Productions’ Market Theater, 8:30 pm, $0–$15.00)

Wed Jan 16

★ Andy Borowitz The wildly popular New Yorker satirist and founder of the cheeky, National Press Club Award-winning Borowitz Report will help us make sense of “what the @#$ is going on.” (Moore Theatre, 7:30 pm, $33–$123)

Jan 24–26

Sick. Fat. Femme. Self-described “loudmouth” Lucia Leandro Gimeno promises laughs and stories in this queer-centric show. (Gay City)

Sat Feb 16

★ Chain Lynx Fence Stranger arts calendar editor Joule Zelman will host another night of all queer, femme, and nonbinary comedians, adepts of improv, stand-up, and sketch. (The Pocket Theater, 8:30 pm, $10/$14)

Tuesdays

★ Comedy Nest Open Mic The rules of this pro-lady stand-up night: no misogyny, racism, homophobia, hatred, or heckling. Based on the size, quality, and diversity of the crowds it attracts, the rules work. Having so many women onstage and in the crowd makes male comics more mindful of their sets and their audience, while reinforcing what should be obvious: Women can be just as funny (or unfunny) as men. Equality, hurrah! (Rendezvous, 8 pm, $5)

Third Sundays

★ Match Game Contestants will try to guess local celebrities’ answers to silly questions during this beloved, long-running, ribald series run by Richard Rugburn and Miss Moist Towelette. (Re-bar, 7 pm)

STAND-UP

Tues Dec 11

★ Conan & Friends: An Evening of Stand-Up and Investment Tips Everybody loves Conan O’Brien, who has embarked on an 18-date tour with a rotating group of comedians, his first time on the road since 2010. LP (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $125–$848)

Thurs Dec 13

★ Gina Yashere Gina Yashere is the British correspondent on Trevor Noah’s Daily Show and she’s also broken the Top 10 on Last Comic Standing. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $19/$24)

Sat Dec 15

Christopher Titus He ran for “president” last year on his Amerigeddon tour. If you know him from his eponymous show on Fox, you’ll want to see him in person. (Neptune Theatre, 8 pm, $25–$45)

Dec 21–22

Andy Haynes LA-based, PNW-raised Haynes has appeared on Conan and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and in Montreal’s Just for Laughs Festival. (Laughs Comedy Club, $15/$20)

Fri Jan 11

Bert Kreischer: Body Shots Former party boy Kreischer, the inspiration for National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, went on to host a travel show, Bert the Conqueror and now has a podcast, the Bertcast (Moore Theatre, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, $35)

Sat Jan 12

★ Lewis Black: The Joke’s on Us Tour The old, white, alpha-male ranter might be the last such über-curmudgeon we’ll ever need. DS (Pantages Theater, 8 pm, $45–$75)

★ Sebastian Maniscalco His observations cover a range of topics, from the people who shop at Whole Foods, to the bizarre trusting culture of using Uber. LP (Moore Theatre, 7 pm, 9:30 pm, $40–$60+)

Sat Jan 19

★ Adam Conover: Mind Parasites Live! Conover has destroyed your innocence about sex, death, malls, the future, cowboys, pilgrims, loofahs, and a lot more in Adam Ruins Everything in which he goes about debunking popular misconceptions. (Showbox Sodo, 8 pm, $38–$75)

★ Iliza A set from Iliza “Elder Millennial” Schlesinger, comedian and author of Girl Logic. (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, 10:30 pm, $35)

Thurs Jan 24

★ Ophira Eisenberg The host of NPR’s Ask Me Another and Housingworks’ The Moth is also the author of the comedic memoir Screw Everyone: Sleeping My Way to Monogamy. (Stroum Jewish Community Center, 8 pm, $25)

Fri Jan 25

Comedy Club A Russian-language show. (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $58–$183)

Fri Feb 1

★ Dana Gould Gould is one of the most inventive, brilliant, and respected comics in the business. SEAN NELSON (Triple Door, 7 pm, $25)

Fri Feb 8

Brian Regan A popular, clean-talking observational comedian. (Paramount Theatre, 8 pm, $41–$66)

Sun Feb 10

Russell Peters: Deported World Tour New material from “Canada’s number one stand-up export.” (Paramount Theatre, 7 pm, $46–$86)

Fri Feb 15

★ Chris D’Elia Reasonably famous for his roles on Undateable and Whitney, Chris D’Elia is a handsome T-shirt- and jeans-wearing schlub whose comedic material’s common as hell, but his animated, on-point gestures, vocal inflections, and impressions amplify his humor into some genuine ROFL bits. DS (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $33)

Fri March 1

★ JB Smoove The actor, writer, and comic has been active since his break on Def Comedy Jam in 1995. He’s since appeared in and written for a range of films and TV shows (you likely know him best as Leon Black in Curb Your Enthusiasm), in addition to writing a book (The Book of Leon: Philosophy of a Fool came out last year), and continuing to deliver sets of his well-honed stand-up. LP (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $27–$37)

Wednesdays

★ Joketellers Union A weekly event run by Brett Hamil and Emmett Montgomery, whose keen observational and absurdist humor, political satire, and improv skits have been cracking up crowds in this city and elsewhere for over a decade. The night will showcase local and touring comics— both established and on the rise. DS (Clock-Out Lounge, 8:30 pm, $7)

First Thursdays

★ Super Queer Comedy Get a taste of “the best LGBTQ comedy from Seattle and beyond” at this monthly showcase. Aila Slisco hosts. (Palace Theatre & Art Bar, 7 pm, $10) Through Sat Dec 22

★ Uncle Mike Ruins Christmas Mike Murphy (Uncle Mike, on Saturdays), Graham Downing (Cousin Graham, on Fridays), and Jet City cast members reenact and trample over your fond Christmas memories in a happily vulgar performance. (Jet City Improv, 10 pm, $17/$18)

Jan 10–25 & Jan 31–Feb 15

Yes Anderson Run out of Wes Anderson movies to watch? Scratch that quirky itch with a brand-new “film” acted out by improv performers. (Jet City Improv, $17/$18) Sun Jan 27

★ Middleditch & Schwartz A two-person long-form improv show from Emmy-nominated Thomas Middleditch (Richard Hendricks of Silicon Valley) and Emmy-winning Ben Schwartz (Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on Parks and Recreation). (Moore Theatre, 8 pm, $27–$43)

Feb 20–24

★ Seattle Festival of Improv Theatre Rejoice in the local, national, and even international improv scenes with potentially more than a hundred performers in a couple dozen groups, all of whom share a love for making up stories onstage. (Various locations, $22/$74)

March 9–April 27

★ Bechdel Test Inspired by the Bechdel Test, Jet City Improv re-creates films that fail the test, but with a Bechdel-approved twist. You name the movie; they make it pass. KH (Jet City Improv, 10 pm, $17/$18) March 14–22

★ The Matchelorette Directors Kayla Teel and Michael Draper with a cast of improvisers will re-create the seedy/addictive TV show The Bachelor (Jet City Improv, 7:30 pm, $17/$18)

ANATOMY OF A MUSICAL

Annie plays at the 5th Avenue Theatre through December 30. BY CHRISTOPHER

FRIZZELLE

THE TWO ANNIES

After 500 girls auditioned, and six callbacks over six months, Visesia Fakatoufifita, 11, and Faith Young, 11, got cast as the iconic orphan. Fakatoufifita, who is of Tongan descent, saw The Little Mermaid at the 5th Avenue Theatre two years ago, starring Diana Huey as Ariel. She turned to her parents and said, “Mom, her skin is brown like mine! That means I can do this, too!”

THE WIGS

This production features 40 wigs handmade by the 5th Avenue’s hair/wig team. All are made with human hair, with the exception of the Santa wig, which is made of yak hair. The Annie wigs were custom made to fit Faith and Visesia’s heads and were specifically styled for their faces and personalities.

THE DIRECTOR

Billie Wildrick has starred in countless 5th Avenue shows, including Sunday in the Park with George Into the Woods and Ragtime. She is making her 5th Avenue directorial debut at the helm of Annie Rounding out the all-female creative team are choreographer Kelli Foster-Warder (Ragtime) and music director Caryl Fantel (Holiday Inn).

DADDY WARBUCKS

The industrialist and philanthropist Oliver Warbucks is played by Timothy McCuen Piggee, one of Seattle’s most respected actors, recently seen in Angels in America at Intiman and The Legend of Georgia McBride at ACT. Other actors who’ve played the Warbucks role include Albert Finney and Jamie Foxx.

ANNIE’S DOG

The role of Sandy is alternated between two dogs, Macy and Sunny, rescued by William Berloni, the acclaimed animal trainer for Broadway. Visesia and Faith each have their “own” dog that performs with them, because the dogs have special and specific bonds with individual actors.

The part made famous by Carol Burnett in the movie will be played by Cynthia Jones, who debuted at the 5th Avenue as the Queen in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

THE COSTUMES

There are about 180 in the show. The crew in the costume shop has worked on or been in a total of 17 Annie productions.

THE ORCHESTRA

There are 17 musicians in the orchestra for this production, including five in the woodwind section who play a total of 17 instruments between them.

A FIRST

This is the first time the 5th Avenue Theatre has self-produced a production of Annie. A nationally touring Annie relaunched the theater after its historic reopening in 1980.

MISS HANNIGAN