This Week in Arts: Wednesday Roundup (12/4)
This week continues the robust month of “shows that are Christmas shows” and “shows that are not Christmas shows,” with lots of variety to choose from. Here are some things happening this week.
(You can find a list of anything-but-Christmas shows here, a big list of Christmas shows here, and a quick guide of suggested starting places for your Christmas entertainment here. Showtimes and locations are listed on NWT’s Calendar page.)
Openings & Events: Christmas Shows
There are plenty more Christmas-themed shows you can to your stocking this week.
In Seattle, seasonal shows opening include choreographer Mark Morris’ irreverent spin on The Nutcracker, called The Hard Nut, at the Paramount; the return of Maggie Lee’s The Flight Before Xmas, which changed gates this year from Seattle Public Theater to Macha Theatre Works at West of Lenin; The Dina Martina Christmas Show, which ran at Re-Bar for years before moving over to the ACT holiday lineup; Jingle All the Gay, a very-gay Christmas cabaret at Oddfellows Hall; and the also-pretty-gay Christmas Killings at Corgi Cliffs, the campy dinner theatre show with (confirmed delicious) festive fare at Café Nordo.
In the south end, Nuncrackers (a spin-off of Nunsense) opens Friday at Renton Civic Theatre; and the Irving Berlin musical Holiday Inn plays at ManeStage Theatre in Puyallup. On the east side, SecondStory Repertory opens the perennial Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol.
For one night only, on Saturday the 14/48 Projects presents its annual guessing game of a show, with Theater Anonymous: It’s a Wonderful Life. No one knows the cast — not even the cast — until they pop up out of the audience. It’s a big celebration of the theatre community, complete with Santa photos and cookie decorating (and eating) before, and a crock-pot buffet after. It’s an awful lot of fun. It’s all sold out, but you can always try the wait list.
On Saturday and Sunday, the newest local GALA chorus, Puget Soundworks, presents its holiday concert called Feast, with one show each in Seattle and Bellevue. They put on lovely shows; read NWT’s review of their previous show here.
And for two nights, Copious presents readings of the new work, Black Santa. They’ll happen Monday night at Solo Bar (part of the Plays on Tap monthly reading series) and Wednesday at Copious.
Not-Christmas Shows
There’s a good variety of not-Christmas shows to catch this week, even if they’re all short runs.
At On the Boards, Seattle writer/comedian/musician Ahamefule J. Oluo presents a show about himself, his family, and especially his mother: Susan. The four-day run goes through this Sunday. It’s all sold out, but you can try the wait list. (Update: read NWT’s review here.)
This weekend only: on Friday, Alexei Cifrese returns with the popular drag-variety-comedy-surprise show, Ah Yes, the Two Genders, at Copious in Ballard; Cornish’s dance students present New Moves, a showcase of new choreography, at Velocity on Friday-Saturday; and on Sunday, two masterful choreographers — Donald Byrd and Dani Tirrell — talk over a meal in the latest installment of Sunday Dinners, a series celebrating great Black artists and Black chefs, hosted by the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas. And closing on Sunday are Pride and PrejuDICE from Dacha Theatre, and Three Sisters from UW Drama.
Looking ahead to what’s looking to be a busy night next Wednesday: at On the Boards, catch the latest in the quarterly experimental works series, Performance Lab: Uncanny Cabaret. It’s hosted and co-curated by Matt Aguayo (Angel Baby Kill Kill Kill), and features short new works in drag, dance, burlesque, lip sync, and spoken word. The showcase is held downstairs in the Studio Theater, which will transform for one night into a cabaret space.
Speaking of cabaret: also next Wednesday (and running through 12/13), Cornish holds its senior cabaret, (R)evolution. If you need added incentive, there’s a rumor (unconfirmed) that director and well-known actor Timothy McCuen Piggee arrives in drag every year.
And also that Wednesday, check out the James Baldwin-inspired event at Northwest African American Museum, called Writers Under the Influence, in which the fantastic lineup of Anastacia-Renée, Ebo Barton, LaNesha DeBardelaben, and Seattle Civic Poet Jourdan Imani Keith, pay tribute to the legendary writer and social critic.
Wednesday Roundup is a weekly (ish) feature, with NWT’s picks for the upcoming week and recaps around town.
Want to plan your show schedule further out? See what’s happening on NWT’s Calendar page, which aims to list just about every theatre show in town. And for news on all the openings, see Miryam Gordon’s openings coverage every month here.