This Week in Arts: Wednesday Roundup (1/15)
The packed January foreshadowed last week is rearing up, as this week brings a surge of theatre shows opening and some great short-runs in dance.
Looking for recommendations? See the editor’s picks for January here.
Openings
There are a ton of openings this week, happening all over the Puget Sound. In Seattle, Bohemia — the acclaimed show of classical music, acrobatics, burlesque and absinthe at — opens Thursday and runs through January 26. It’s the shows last run at the Triple Door, before creators Opal Peachey and Mark Siano travel on to other ventures, locally and internationally. Also this weekend, Washington Ensemble Theatre opens Dance Nation at 12th Avenue Arts; ArtsWest opens The Revolutionists on Thursday in West Seattle; and, speaking of West, Seattle Rep begins previews of True West by Sam Shepherd this week, before its January 22 opening.
Around the sound: In the south end, on Friday Olympia’s Harlequin Productions opens the farce Noises Off, which runs through February 8. And south of Tacoma, the Lakewood Playhouse opens Heathers: The Musical, which runs through February 9. On the eastside, Village Theatre opens She Loves Me, a rom-com musical on which the movie You’ve Got Mail is based. It opens Thursday and runs through February 23 in Issaquah, before moving to the Everett location.
Short Runs & One-Offs
Plenty of short runs are happening this week, most notably in dance. Friday through Saturday, the Central District Forum for Arts & Ideas presents the second installment of this season’s Showing Out: Contemporary Black Choreographers, curated by Dani Tirrell. The showcase features seven short new works from Saira Barbaric, Kyle Bernbach and Gilbert Small, Brian J. Evans, Keelan Johnson, Neve Kamilah Mazique-Bianco, Michael O’Neal Jr., and Markeith Wiley.
Also on Friday and Saturday, 14/48: The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival kicks off its second weekend at ACT Theatre. Each weekend features a different set of artists, and two nights of different short plays, all concocted (written, designed, rehearsed and performed) that weekend. And in more short-run theatre, Edmonds Driftwood Players opens [MISS], part of its Theatre of Intriguing Possibilties series. It runs Thursday through Sunday only.
On Saturday night, Seattle Dances presents an annual celebration of dance excellence, DanceCrush. The combination celebration and performance features new works alongside the awards party, and is held at the Erickson Theatre on Capitol Hill.
Some great arts are happening on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Multi-disciplinary artist Gabrielle Civil is in residence this week at Velocity with three local queer Black dancers — Randy Ford, Neve Mazique-Bianco, and Fox Whitney — creating new work. On Monday afternoon, the group performs Wild Beauty: What happens if we take our time? in a free performance at Velocity. And on Monday night, Sound Theatre Company’s Reparations presents a special Hansberry Night, honoring Valerie Curtis Newton. They’ll hold a reception after the show and solicit donations for the Hansberry Project’s programming.
Other options for Monday night include A Sensible Cabaret with Kirsten deLohr Helland and Lia Lee at the Knife Room; Bon Appetit! at the Rendezvous; and the Magic Hat in the Rendezvous’s Grotto.
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 each month see Miryam Gordon’s openings coverage here.