Hot Weekend Lineup: June 2-4
The weather’s still temperate, but the stages are hot! Below are great-looking shows with short runs or closing this weekend.
Pride in the Park: June 3 @ Volunteer Park
Stephanie Anne Johnson. Brittany Davis. Drag queen story time. Seattle sunshine.
They’re all on stage and all free to see this weekend, at the all-day festivities kicking off Pride month at Volunteer Park.
Musical performances and more start at noon.
Performed outdoors at Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. RSVPs welcomed; no tickets required.
See schedule and event info here.
Playwright & Director Conversation – All New Cells: June 3 @ The Shattered Glass Project
A new geeky, trans-centric dark comedy opens tonight and runs for three weekends, but the conversation is a one-night-only event.
Join playwright Aliza Goldstein and director Alison Kozar (with casting director Buddy Todd moderating), as they discuss the themes and staging of this new work after Saturday’s performance.
Performed at Theatre Off Jackson in Seattle’s International District. Pay-what-you-choose tickets available for all performances.
Tickets and show info here.
Summer Performance: June 3 @ Olympic Ballet Theatre
The established north-end ballet dazzled earlier this year in Debuts, as company dancers performed new works by choreographers Arcadian Broad and Seattle’s legendary Donald Byrd.
In Summer Performance, the company showcases the expansive possibilities of ballet: from an excerpt from an Imperial Ballet work nearly lost to history, to a brand-new piece by company dancer and choreographer Alberto Gaspar.
The spacious but intimate stage is a perfect setup to experience new dance.
Performed at Edmonds Center for the Performing Arts.
Tickets and show info here.
Targeted: June 2-4 @ Spectrum Dance Theater
Donald Byrd has been busy creating emotionally compelling, right-from-the-headlines works all across the country, and this latest is no exception.
In Targeted, Byrd takes on the motivations of an 18-year-old White Supremacist who attacked and murdered Black people in a Buffalo grocery store in May 2022.
The theatrical dance performance completes a trilogy that includes Grief (2022) and Strange Fruit (2019), and features current and former Spectrum company dancers, prominent actors Arlando Smith and R. Hamilton Wright, and drummer Davee C. Carpenter.
See NWT’s review of SHOT, a related Spectrum work, here.
Performed at Cornish Playhouse at the Seattle Center. Pay-what-you-choose tickets are available for all showings.
Tickets and show info here.
More Than Friends: Through June 4 @ Lowbrow Opera Collective
Lowbrow loves bucking the traditional opera — old, heteronormative, exclusive, and long — and its latest fits squarely within that mission.
The trio of short works focuses exclusively on queer love, in new takes inspired by old stories. Two are brand-new, and all three are intriguing.
But it’s the performances in Emily & Sue, an a cappella “popera” that composer Dana Kaufman and librettist Aiden K. Feltkamp originally created for an Amherst College celebration, that really send this show into orbit. Christine Oshiki, a Lowbrow co-founder and frequent performer, has a rare combination of transcendent vocals and understated, saucy glances that bring touches of humor into content that might otherwise take a bleak turn. She blends beautifully with the stellar vocals of Kirby Burgess (as love interest Emily Dickinson), along with Robin Wyatt-Stone and Eric Angus Jeffords, and drummer Haley Posey.
Performed at 18th & Union, in Seattle’s Central District. Sliding-scale tickets and streaming tickets offered for all performances. In-person tickets are sold out; wait list may be available.
Show info and tickets here.
Broho Takes Flight: June 4 @ The Brotherhood Lounge (Olympia)
I’ve already talked about one of the coolest shows around town: aerialists performing in the middle of an Olympia dive bar.
There’s a special reason to pay attention to this one: it’s the last one of the season, before they take a scheduled hiatus over the summer. So if you’re jonesin’ to catch this unique act, put on by the Airbound Underground Circus Collective, do it this Sunday.
Performed at The Brotherhood Lounge (21+) in Downtown Olympia. Both bar and admission ($15 donation requested at the door; no one turned away for lack of funds) are cash only.
Read NWT’s feature on the series in top May picks here.
Show info here; venue info here.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.