THURSDAY 11/12
©Michael Lavine
“Johnny Cat,” one of Lavine’s Ave rats, in ’83.
Carol Friedman
Allison: on the road again.
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Classical: Chorally Ambiguous
Carl Orff: a hapless German Shostakovich, muddling through as best he could under a psychotic tyranny? Or a musical Riefenstahl, lending his labor and reputation to the Nazi cause, then denying it all later? It doesn't help that his 1937 cantata Carmina burana—settings of medieval songs mostly about sex and drinking—became immediately very popular in Hitler's Germany. Or that its ominously galumphing opening/closing chorus, "O fortuna," is pretty much the ultimate sonic analogue to jackboots marching in formation. For a full, fascinating discussion of the life of this composer (1895–1982) under the Third Reich, see Michael H. Kater's Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits. (Kater's discussion of the elderly Richard Strauss, who had a Jewish daughter-in-law and grandsons to worry about, is especially poignant.) One culpable thing Orff did do is compose new music for A Midsummer Night's Dream to replace the Jewish Felix Mendelssohn's Nazi-discarded score; Seattle Symphony conductor Gerard Schwarz wryly redresses this wrong by preceding the Orff tonight with Mendelssohn's Son and Stranger overture. Also, concertmaster Maria Larionoff plays Spohr's elegant Violin Concerto No. 8. (Repeats Fri.–Sat. at 8 p.m.) Benaroya Hall, Third Ave. and Union St., 215-4747, seattlesymphony.org. $17–$100. 7:30 p.m. GAVIN BORCHERT
FRIDAY 11/13
Photography/Music: Down on the Ave
Fresh out of Evergreen State College in the early '80s, photographer Michael Lavine shot documentary portraits of U District proto-punks, some barely able to shave, who haunted the Ave. It's no insult to say those photos didn't make him famous, because it was as a studio photographer that he later gained national recognition. Ironically, during the height of our grunge explosion, Lavine moved to New York; there his loft served as a Sub Pop branch office for Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney (among others) when they came to play. Now he's collected those images in Grunge (Abrams, $24.95), with iconic portraits of Kurt Cobain and company. (Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth wrote the intro.) Tonight's launch party, with performances by Mudhoney and members of Tad, is all about the music. But more interesting, because they're less familiar, are those anonymous street teens yearning for a new style: preppie meets punk, safety pins and Vans, Goth mashed up with Mod. Hard to remember now, but those styles weren't so rigidly codified in the early Reagan years. If today the shorthand for grunge is flannel shirt, these kids remind us that the trend began at the Salvation Army, because they had nothing else to wear. Neumos, 925 E. Pike St., 709-9442, neumos.com. $12 (21 and over). 8 p.m. Also: Easy Street Records, 4559 California Ave. S.W., 938-3279, easystreetonline.com. Free. 4 p.m. Sat. BRIAN MILLER
Film: Sodium Aesthetic
Screening through Thursday, Margot Benacerraf's 1959 Araya is a stunningly photographed document of a singular culture. Benacerraf's work of poeticized ethnography begins in the wispy clouds before swooping down on the barren terrain of the titular peninsula, located in northern Venezuela. "All was desolation," intones the narrator, but desolation never looked so good. Neither did backbreaking labor. Over the course of a single day, Benacerraf follows the lives of Araya's inhabitants as they stack massive pyramids of salt—the "white gold" that is the region's chief resource—against the sky or roam the shantytowns selling fish, while the oozy narration rehashes key phrases ("All life comes from the sea") to emphasize the circularity of the subject's existence. Does the film unduly aestheticize poverty? Well, obviously, never more so than in a repeated image of four bare-chested boys beating salt piles in unison. Still, Benacerraf seems determined to show the human face—not just the chiseled physique—of this place. Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $6–$9. 7 and 9 p.m. ANDREW SCHENKER
Stage: Clock in a Croc
You've got a hook for a hand and a crocodile on your tail. That damn Tinkerbell is flitting about your face, and that brat Peter Pan is driving your crew toward mutiny. It's hard being Captain Hook. Where is the love, the sympathy? And Wendy—completely out of a pirate captain's league. Such are his dilemmas in the 1954 musical Peter Pan, hatched by an eye-popping assemblage of talent: director Jerome Robbins, composers Jule Styne and Mark Charlap, and lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green. And lest we forget, Mary Martin was the original Peter; and thus Broadway history was made. SCT is dusting off this perennial family favorite (recommended for ages 6 and up). Linda Hartzell directs. Eric Ankrim plays Peter and David Pichette his maritime nemesis. Like the captain asks: "Who's unlaughable? Who's unliftable? Whose existence is quite unforgivable?" You know the answer: Hook, Hook, Hook. (Through Jan. 10.) Seattle Children's Theatre, 201 Thomas St. (Seattle Center), 441-3322, sct.org. $18–$42. 7 p.m. BRIAN MILLER
SATURDAY 11/14
Comedy: Trash Talker
Known as "the Queen of Mean," Lisa Lampanelli only called me an idiot once during a recent e-mail interview. Who are her comedy role models? "My idols are obviously Don Rickles and Howard Stern," she explains. "But the person who has inspired me most is Kathie Lee Gifford. She has proven that you can have a career even if everyone on the planet hates your guts." Does she ever apologize for her ethnic and insult comedy? "Hell, no! Who do I owe an apology to? It's not my fault people are the ethnicity they are. I just point out their faults." And lastly, why the big gay fan base? "Gay men are the best audience members ever! Because after taking it in the ass all day, my insults seem like a walk in the park." Don't say we didn't warn you. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 467-5510, stgpresents.org. $39.75. 8 p.m. LIBBY MOLYNEAUX
