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READINGS & TALKS
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With just a handful of pages to go in Thunder Song, a series of essays from award-winning Coast Salish author Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe, LaPointe asks her reader, “Are you listening yet?” She breaks the fourth wall, but she isn’t speaking for just herself. With poignant essays that center her own experiences, the Coast Salish landscapes, livelihoods, and people who were lost to colonialism—while unapologetically celebrating those who survive—LaPointe sees herself preventing Indigenous erasure in multigenerational company. She traces the ongoing struggle from Chief Seattle, to her great-grandmother and namesake, Upper Skagit elder Vi taqwšəblu Hilbert, to herself. Read more in our interview with LaPointe here and then see her Tuesday night at Third Place Books Lake Forest Park in conversation with poet Tayi Tibble. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR ADAM WILLEMS
(Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, free)
COMEDY
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“Well, well, well! I hope you bitches are ready!” RuPaul’s Drag Race season six winner Bianca Del Rio is also a legend in her own right, dominating the New York scene and popping up with legends like Lady Bunny. That said, your girl is back on tour and feeling dead inside, so show up to give her a reason to reanimate. LC
(Paramount Theatre, Downtown Seattle, $39.50)
LIVE MUSIC
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On his new album, Again, Oneohtrix Point Never (aka Daniel Lopatin) floats from lush orchestral compositions to glitchy apocalyptic indie rock. Describing the album as an “illogical period piece,” Lopatin taps into the point at which memory and fantasy converge to form a new reality. He will support the album alongside singer, pianist, and modular synthesist Arushi Jain. AV
(Neptune Theatre, University District, $35)
READINGS & TALKS
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It was kind of by accident that Taha Ebrahimi wrote a book. Especially an illustrated one about trees. “This is a kismet, happenstance COVID project,” she told me. “Basically, during COVID, I had all this extra time, and I was always interested in trees, but I don’t have any background in illustration or horticulture. I always thought people who knew stuff about plants and trees, those were the people who had authority. I don’t know why! Those Latin names, they just give you this impostorism.” Street Trees of Seattle: An Illustrated Walking Guide is a charming book full of hand-drawn maps, detailed sketches of leaf and petal shapes and bark patterns, and tons of very nerdy, very fascinating history about how certain species of trees got to Seattle in the first place. STRANGER ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR MEGAN SELING
(Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill, free)
FILM
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If you consider life to be both an endless pursuit of beauty and philosophical challenges, I humbly suggest that you watch more ’60s- and ’70s-era Italian films. Viva Italia! makes it easy—the selection of straordinari film italiani boasts rare 35mm prints and 4K restorations. Chef’s kiss. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, single tickets $15, series tickets $80-90)
LIVE MUSIC
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Chastity Belt’s debut album No Regerts instantly transports me to the summer of 2013—driving around Alki Beach in my friend’s VW Cabriolet, scheming for beers, complaining about boys, and shouting the lyrics to “Giant Vagina.” It isn’t just my personal memories that tie this album to the sunny season, but also the breezy guitars, the lyrics that evoke the freedom of a summer break, and frontwoman Julia Shapiro’s free-flowing, full-bodied vocals. When I hear the opening chords of “Black Sail,” I swear I can hear the crack of a can of Rainier opening. Now, a decade later, the quartet will play a hometown show to support their latest release, Live Laugh Love, which beautifully showcases their knack for riding the line between satire and sincerity. Don’t miss an opening set from the LA-based indie pop trio Peel Dream Magazine. AV
(The Crocodile, Belltown, $25)
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Philadelphia-based indie rock band Sheer Mag’s goal has always been “sheer magnitude,” which is what led to their formation and name back in 2014. Inspired by ’70s classic rock and punk, the group is fronted by stunning powerhouse vocalist Tina Halladay and has been heralded by critics as one of the most exciting bands of the last decade. They will support their new Third Man Records released album, Playing Favorites, which marks their first new music in five years. AV
(Vera Project, Uptown, $18 – $20)
COMEDY
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The Stoner Chicks love three things: women, weed, and laughter. Makes sense to me! The four local besties host a podcast on all things stoner comedy, and they’ll take their spaced-out reflections to the stage for this improv comedy night. Local laugher Alyssa Yeoman, who’s been described as a “part-time alien,” will join in on the antics. LC
(Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown, $15)
COMEDY
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America could do with more Muslim comics and their under-acknowledged observations, especially if they’re as sharp-witted as Hasan Minhaj. His charming demeanor belies a deceptively acerbic humor, honed during his trenchant appearances on The Daily Show. Minhaj truly rose to the occasion at the 2017 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he delivered hundreds of punishing left jabs at right-wing politicians. It was a roast for the ages, and if it made the president’s blood pressure rise to dangerous levels, Minhaj deserves a Nobel Prize. His Netflix special Homecoming King proved he could conceive exceptionally moving personal comedy, too. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR DAVE SEGAL
(Paramount Theatre, Downtown Seattle, $40)
LIVE MUSIC
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Even if you don’t think you know who Rhiannon Giddens is, I bet you’ve inadvertently heard her play. For example, the folk music virtuoso lends her banjo and viola skills to Beyoncé’s hit single “Texas Hold ’Em.” And, in line with Cowboy Carter, Giddens has dedicated her career to educating audiences about the banjo’s African history and the foundational role that Black musicians played in the creation of American roots music. She will perform songs from her latest album, You’re the One, which spans blues, jazz, Cajun, country, gospel, and rock. AV
(Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater, Northeast Seattle, $63 – $79)
PERFORMANCE
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“Black, trans spectrum, queer choreographer, dancer, and movement guide” dani tirrell’s upcoming world premiere is the coolest performance piece you might not have heard of yet. Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS (Book I) is a “movement meditation of sin, love, loss, and a world in which Black queer bodies are of the most high,” set to a soundscape inspired by Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace gospel album. Tirrell will be joined on stage by the movement and art group The Congregation. LC
(Moore Theatre, Belltown, $25 – $45)
FILM
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Secret Cinema is exactly what it sounds like—just show up and prepare to be titillated by whatever pops up on screen. Opportunities to be entirely surprised by a film don’t come along very often, so try it out as a reminder that there are still mysteries to uncover in the world. Or maybe you’ll hate it. Who knows! That’s the fun of the whole shebang. Go forth, switch off your brain, and let the enigma reveal itself. LC
(The Beacon, Columbia City, free)
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There’s nothing like ill-placed hysteria (see: the entire Republican platform) to put a damper on your day, but Reefer Madness manages to be the most fact-free, faux-cautionary flick ever, and somehow make it funny. You probably know the drill already: The film was created by a church group to alarm the youths about the evils of marijuana, but it backfired so spectacularly that it’s likely the most pro-weed entry in all of cinematic history. Grand Illusion will screen it in 16mm (for 4/20, duh) alongside “stoned cartoons and shorts.” LC
(Grand Illusion, University District, $8 – $11)
MUSIC
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Whether you’re looking for special RSD releases or just want to support your local record store, drag yourself out of bed bright and early this Record Store Day as shops around town fill up with vinyl-hungry shoppers. Participation varies from store to store, but expect sales and exclusive merch, extended hours, in-store performances, and other special events. There are several special releases from PNW-born bands this year, including Death Cab For Cutie’s Live at the Showbox, Fleet Foxes’s Live on Boston Harbor, Mudhoney’s Suck You Dry: The Reprise Years, Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter, and Sleater-Kinney’s This Time/Here Today. Check out the RSD website for a full list of participating stores. AV
(Various locations)
FILM
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Co-presented with SIFF, Elliott Bay Book Company, Asia Society Seattle, and Copper Canyon Press, this documentary explores the life of renowned Chinese poetry translator (and Port Townsend resident) Bill Porter, whose pen name is Red Pine. Achieving near-cult status in China as “a Westerner who has made a significant contribution to Chinese culture,” Red Pine encourages seeking enlightenment through poetry and mountain solitude. He’ll attend the screening for a Q&A with director Ward Serrill, a conversation moderated by Civic Poet of Seattle Shin Yu Pai, and a book signing. Singer Spring Cheng will set the mood. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $18.50)
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Seattle showgirl Monday Mourning will hopefully show up in a cakey beat for this screening of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, which promises to deliver the dramatics of the early silver screen. You probably already know the plot of the twisted flick, but if not, prepare to hang out in a decaying mansion with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Um, what could be better? LC
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $13 – $18)
LIVE MUSIC
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Cheekface has been around since 2017, but it was four years later that they really captured the voice of our generation with the song “We Need a Bigger Dumpster.” KEXP wouldn’t stop playing it, and for good reason—it features guitar-driven rhythms and tongue-in-cheek lyrics like “I caught a cold / I coughed on all my friends / Now everyone is coughing on everybody else / And we’re coughing on our doctors and our doctors cough out / ‘EVERYTHING IS FINE.'” Equal parts catchy indie rock and social commentary, lead singer Greg Katz’s talk-singing puts the message front-and-center as we bob our heads and smile wryly to the beat in spite of (because of?) existential dread. Hazy bedroom pop artist Yungatita will open this show. SL
(Madame Lou’s at the Crocodile, Belltown, $22)
FILM
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This inclusive festival centers films by Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, and Hard of Hearing filmmakers from around the world, with flicks screened in person April 5-7 and streamed online April 8-22. The fest will showcase 44 films from 11 countries, including standouts like The Tuba Thieves, a sensory docufiction that uses a series of “unusual thefts occurred targeting twelve Southern California high school band rooms” as a jumping-off point, and Extraordinary Women, a short film program in which “multi-talented trailblazing Deaf and Deafblind women are front and center.” LC (Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $15 – $400, Monday-Sunday)
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In sophomore director Rose Glass’s queer melodrama Love Lies Bleeding, Kristen Stewart plays Lou, a chain-smoking dirtbag dyke and gym manager who splits her time between unclogging toilets, fending off the unwanted advances of her overzealous admirer Daisy (Anna Baryshnikov), worrying about her sister Beth (Jena Malone), reheating frozen dinners in a drab apartment, and masturbating on a faded couch in full view of her cat. When she meets ambitious muscle mommy Jackie (Katy O’Brian), who’s passing through town on her way to a bodybuilding competition in Las Vegas, the star-crossed sapphic lovers immediately fall into a spiral of toxic U-haul infatuation. Glass, who directed the 2019 psychological horror flick Saint Maud, brings a startlingly singular and stylish vision to life. She’s cited David Cronenberg’s Crash and Paul Verhoeven’s Showgirls as influences for Love Lies Bleeding, and the carnal obsession of those films shines through in her work. The result is a seedy, sexy, high-octane ride that holds its own amongst the erotic thriller canon. JB
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $14.50 – $15.50, Monday-Tuesday)
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The late Taiwanese director Edward Yang is regarded as a pioneer of the ’80s-born Taiwanese New Wave, and the reasons are clear—his films tend to feel almost literary in pacing, smoky and subtle, with painstaking mise-en-scène. This series celebrates five of Yang’s 4K film restorations, so if you’re unfamiliar with Yang’s uniquely meticulous and empathetic oeuvre, now’s the time to catch up! SIFF Cinema Egyptian will screen A Brighter Summer Day, Yi Yi, and others. LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, $7.50 – $15.50, Monday-Thursday)
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Olivia Colman is a national treasure, and she doesn’t even live here. She’s English and has a delightfully historical face that lends itself perfectly to queenly roles set in the past (The Crown, The Favourite). In other words, she was born to play a prim, devout Christian in 1920s England who begins receiving lewd, sinister letters. Thea Sharrock’s black comedy is based on a real scandal that shook the sleepy town of Littlehampton, Sussex, which makes it all the more delicious. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $14.50 – $15.50, Monday-Thursday)
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Alex Garland’s latest, Civil War, is A24’s most expensive in-house production to date, following a group of military-embedded journos headed to DC “before rebel factions descend upon the White House.” Honestly, I’m wary of how he’ll handle this one, although Garland’s work does tend to thrive in dystopian settings. But Kristen Dunst stars as a photojournalist, which is reason enough to watch. Also, Garland may or may not be retiring from directing (“I’m going to take a break for the foreseeable future,” he clarified recently), so if you’re a fan of the filmmaker behind Annihilation and Men, you should plan to let his new one marinate. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, $14.50 – $15.50, Monday-Thursday)
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A sweeping sci-fi film with origins right here in the Pacific Northwest, Dune: Part Two is a sequel that surpasses the first by leaps and bounds as it transports us back to the world first created by the late local author Frank Herbert. Picking up where its predecessor left off, it follows the young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) as he aligns himself with Chani (Zendaya) and the rest of the Fremen who have found a way to survive in the harsh desert climate of Arrakis. As they battle against the forces of the galaxy looking to mine the valuable resources that the planet holds, there is soon a growing sense that the greatest dangers are only just beginning. The film also digs into fears Herbert explored about the hazards of giving power to leaders who talk a big game even as they may be the villains of their own stories. Readers of said books know how this ends, but the film offers just as much to those who are going in blissfully unaware, and its stunning visuals deserve to be seen on the big screen. In all of 2024, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film as immense and well-crafted as Dune: Part Two. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR CHASE HUTCHINSON
(SIFF Cinema Downtown, Belltown, $14.50 – $19.50, Monday-Sunday)
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Juzo Itami’s “ramen western” follows a band of milk truck drivers whose pit stop at a roadside noodle shop blossoms into a quest for the perfect noodle recipe. The genre-bending 1985 film is segmented by stirring stories that don’t relate to the main plot, but speak to the emotional power of food. Slurp it up in a new 4K restoration at this screening. LC
(Central Cinema, Central District, $12, Monday-Tuesday)
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If you count yourself among the ever-expanding subset of movie-goers whose ideal flick features Tilda Swinton and a side of surreal quirk, then Julio Torres’s Problemista (an A24 film, obviously) has your back. The film follows a Salvadoran toy designer in NYC whose work visa runs out as he works as an assistant for an art-world weirdo. Expect something freaky and wonderful that also grapples with the broken US immigration system. LC
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $7 – $14, Wednesday-Thursday)
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If you aren’t riveted by the prospect of this film, well, we’re two very different people. David and Nathan Zellner’s Sasquatch Sunset follows a family of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) over the course of one year, as they wander, grunt, and munch mushrooms in North America’s foggy forests. Riley Keough and Jesse Eisenberg star, and they look like this. We owe it to them to go see this film as payment for the zillion hours they spent having prosthetics applied. LC
(SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown, Thursday-Sunday)
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SIFF Cinema Egyptian’s latest series offers a rare opportunity to catch nine Seattle International Film Festival faves and Audience Award winners. Over the past five decades, the festival has screened over 10,000 films from all over the world, so seeing them all would be pretty much impossible. These screenings will help fill the gaps on your Letterboxd lists, though. (My suggestion? If you dug Kôji Yakusho’s warm performance in Perfect Days, watch him in Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure for something…completely different.) LC
(SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill, Friday-Sunday)
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Programmed in collaboration with artist Rana San and Seattle writer Chelsea Werner-Jatzke, this experimental festival explores the boundaries of video poetry through screenings, workshops, and discussions. In celebration of National Poetry Month, the festival honors video poetry as both a literary genre and a complex visual landscape, facilitating opportunities for critical and creative growth within the medium. LC
(Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill, $40 – $85, Friday-Sunday)
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Don’t you hate when the ghost of your dead grandfather has to warn you about the plant-munching goblins terrorizing your family’s vacation destination? Me too. You’ll get the whole gooey, ghoul-ridden story at this Hecklevision screening of so-bad-it’s-good 1990 masterpiece Troll 2, during which you can submit your wisecracks via phone. (They’ll land right on the big screen for the ego boost of everyone finding out how funny you are.) Buckle up, and don’t forget your corn and Nilbog milk. LC
(Central Cinema, Central District, $13, Friday-Sunday)
FOOD & DRINK
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Stock up on Lactaid and slip into something with a stretchy waistband: The Stranger‘s annual Pizza Week is upon us, with unique specialty pizzas available at purveyors across Seattle for $4 a slice or $25 for a whole pie. Go forth and revel in gooey ribbons of melted cheese. JB
(Various locations, Monday-Sunday)
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Gourmands across Seattle rejoice over this twice-yearly event, which gives diners the opportunity to try curated menus for $20, $35, $50, and $65 at dozens of restaurants. It’s an excellent opportunity to branch out of your usual rotation of tried-and-true favorites and cross some destinations off your culinary bucket list. Round up some friends to join you, and don’t forget to tip your server generously. JB
(Various locations, Monday-Sunday)
VISUAL ART
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Janelle Abbott, a local zero-waste visionary and critic of all things hyper-consumerist, will chat about her upcoming performance, 14 Hours, at this artist talk. Abbott plans to “perform 14 hours a day, six days in a row…to surrogate and demonstrate the daily lived experience of garment workers across the globe,” during which time she’ll quilt deadstock fabric to be auctioned in support of garment workers’ rights and reparations. (Abbott will compensate herself “based on the average daily wage of a Bangladeshi garment worker—about $3.50.”) Scope the performance via Twitch, or see it in person April 15-20 from 6 am to 8 pm. LC
(Prairie Underground, Georgetown, free, Monday-Saturday)
PERFORMANCE
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I think there is one thing we can agree on—we love Cherdonna Shinatra. If that name escapes you, let me catch you up. Cherdonna is a self-described “movement artist who works in persona.” She’s been a key component of Seattle’s arts and entertainment scene for years—she won a Stranger Genius Award in 2015 and an Artist Trust Fellowship in 2017 and has held successful residencies at the Henry Art Gallery and the Frye Art Museum—and she’s internationally recognized as a profoundly creative solo artist. Read the entire profile of Cherdonna by Nico Swenson in The Stranger‘s Arts + Performance issue.
(Repair Revolution, Industrial District, $20 – $29, Thursday-Saturday)
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Playwright Sanaz Toossi’s profound debut production won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Drama. English follows four adult students as they prepare for the TOEFL test from a classroom in Iran. The TOEFL—or Test of English as a Foreign Language—sees the group aim for fluency through gamified approaches, and the results build a “two-way crackle in the room” (The Daily Beast). This production was co-produced by Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble. LC
(ArtsWest, Junction, Thursday-Sunday)
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Pacific Northwest Ballet will present a fresh array of ballet for this performance, including a performance of Crystal Pite’s artful work The Seasons’ Canon. Back by popular demand, the “mesmerizing work” features 54 dancers “moving as one organism to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons,” which sounds like a very sophisticated way to celebrate the coming of spring. Twyla Tharp’s Shaker-influenced work Sweet Fields and Jessica Lang’s “stunning solo work” The Calling will round out the show. LC
(McCaw Hall, Uptown, $30 – $210, Thursday-Sunday)
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Chase, Rubble, Zuma, and their other four-pawed friends (if you’re a parent, you already know their names) will take on a new adventure the only way cartoon pooches know how: through teamwork and resourcefulness. This live-action spectacle will feature “dog-suited dancing actors” bopping along to familiar tunes. LC
(McCaw Hall, Uptown, $25 – $125)
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