Chris Bennion
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Don't like musicals? Don't worry—this resplendently campy Broadway version of the John Waters film is fast and funny enough to amuse even the dubious. The plot concerns the big dreams, big hair, and big heart of '60s Baltimore big girl Tracy Turnblad (Keala Settle, pictured with Austin Miller), who wants nothing more than a spot on her local TV dance show. Waters gave the Tony-winning adaptation his stamp of approval, and it's no wonder: The score by Marc Shaiman (who co-wrote the devious tunes for the South Park movie) and Scott Wittman is as irresistibly irreverent as the Master of Bad Taste himself. Previews begin Tues., Sept. 7. Opens Thurs., Sept. 9. 7:30 p.m. Tues. Wed.; 8 p.m. Thurs. Sat.; 7 p.m. Sun.; 2 p.m. matinee Sat.; 1:30 p.m. matinee Sun. Ends Sun., Sept. 26. $22 $72. The 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave., 206-292-ARTS. STEVE WIECKING
WEDNESDAY
MUSIC
Gift of Gab
According to "Just Because," one of the standout tracks on Blackalicious member the Gift of Gab's solo bow, 4th Dimensional Rocketships Going Up (Quannum Projects), Gab is "dipping your third eye into a tab of liquid acid/For some psychedelic clarity to breathe amongst the madness." Despite this promise and the CD's overly sci-fi-ish bent, Gab sounds pleasingly earthbound about it all; his laid-back flow ensures that. So does the production, mostly handled by Seattleites Vitamin D (who opens this show) and Jake One, who lace Gab's flow with low-key, smartly chosen jazz and funk samples that are as slippery as they are funky. 8 p.m. Wed., Sept. 1. $15 adv. Chop Suey, 1325 E. Madison St., 206-324-8000. MICHAELANGELO MATOS
THURSDAY
ART SPACE
Tashiro Kaplan Opening
Join the 50 elated new artists/residents-and the many others with studio or gallery space- of the renovated, reimagined Tashiro Kaplan building as they celebrate the opening of the rent-controlled artists' colony and haven in Pioneer Square. This pre First Thursday kickoff begins with a dedication by the mayor; immediately following, the building's five galleries and many of the live/work spaces will be open for perusal, performance, music, and, of course, art. 5:15 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 2. Free. Tashiro Kaplan building, 115 Prefontaine Place S. LAURA CASSIDY
THURSDAY
VISUAL ARTS
Shaun O'Dell
O'Dell's color drawings, like little hierarchy diagrams of America's westward expansion, are filled with an ambiguous assortment of swooping arrows, snippets of maps, and tiny iconlike historical figures. His intricate and well-balanced tangle of Pilgrim heads, wildlife, and networked tree branches all create a sort of spiritual graph of the clash between human economy and nature. The unique visual language is remarkably consistent throughout this Seattle opening-and, I admit, I have a weakness for any show that includes such ridiculous titles as Prophesy Extraction at the Confluence of Kykuit, the Western Medicinal Compact and the Southern Decline of a Blind Consensual Chiming (pictured). Reception 6 8 p.m. Thurs., Sept. 2. 10:30 a.m. 5:30 p.m. Tues. Sat. James Harris Gallery, 309-A Third Ave., 206-903-6220. ANDREW ENGELSON
SATURDAY
DANCE
The Slumber Gin
Gregory Barsamian's Die Falle, a hypnotic "kinetic sculpture" on view at the Museum of Glass, is a spinning zoetropelike re-enactment of a dream, seen in the dark by strobe light. Choreographer Peter Kyle's trio, inspired by that work, is practically an opposite of the sculpture—a gentle exploration of light, filtered through a curtain or casting shadows of dancers on a wall. Where the two disparate pieces meet is in their sense of repetition: In Barsamian's creation, a tiny figure escapes from a dream, only to go straight back to bed; Kyle's dancers constantly pace across the space but never get to the other side. 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sat., Sept. 4. $8 $10. Museum of Glass, 1801 E. Dock St., Tacoma, 253-284-4750. SANDRA KURTZ
