THURSDAY 4/29
Jesse D. Garrabrant
Meet Alison Lacey, the Storm's new Aussie hottie.
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Stage: TMI, and Then Some
Most solo performers present their emotional introspection on stage. Lauren Weedman instead performs superhuman, self-exploratory surgery. Since graduating from Almost Live, she's written and acted in one-of-a-kind shows where she unabashedly exposes her raw nerves. This generally means alienating her friends, lovers, and co-workers via personal blunders that she deftly re-enacts while we watch—and wince—in awe. "Comedy," she says, "is a way to get people to follow me into something." (That something being extreme mortification and empathy.) And people are following—she's hit her stride since moving to Los Angeles: She earns laughs in the hit Date Night (becoming enraged with Steve Carell at a book club); and fans of HBO's Hung know her as Horny Patty, the discomfortingly insatiable client of male escort Thomas Jane (she'll return for five episodes next season). Now she's back home to share No...You Shut Up, which considers the serious aspects of being a partner (to the show's director, Jeff Weatherford) and parent. She claims the touring show "gets the most laughs of everything I've done." This time around, Weedman will effortlessly embody her mother, her gynecologist, and a lesbian who warns new mom Weedman about her spawn: "That serpent sucks blood along with milk out of your breast." (Through May 8.) Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., 322-7030, hugohouse.org. $15–$20. 8 p.m. STEVE WIECKING
FRIDAY 4/30
Opera: What a Day for an Auto-da-Fé
In William Berger's tasty book Verdi With a Vengeance, an info-packed overview of the composer's operas, his summary of the plot of Verdi's sprawling historical epic Don Carlo runs 21 pages. It's a hugely ambitious project even for a large-scale company. That the part-time Bellevue Opera is tackling it at all, much less on Meydenbauer Center's cozy stage, is heroic. Admittedly, they're staging the short version—a mere four hours long. Another 21 pages might be devoted merely to outlining the rewrites Verdi made of this work, first composed for the Paris Opéra in 1867 and truncated for Italian attention spans in 1884. The title character is the Infante of Spain; the woman he loves, Elisabeth de Valois, is married off to his father, King Philip II. Eeew! Things do not end happily, not with the Inquisition looming over everything. Sung in Italian with English titles; Jonathan Pasternack conducts. Meydenbauer Center, 11100 N.E. Sixth St., Bellevue, 800-838-3006, bellevueopera.org. $15–$35. 7:30 p.m. (Repeats Sat.) GAVIN BORCHERT
SATURDAY 5/1
Stage: Historic and Preserved
Acquired last year by nonprofit group Historic Seattle, the gabled red pile of bricks being celebrated at this weekend's Washington Hall House Party has a fascinatingly mixed ethnic history. It was built in 1908 for the Danish Brotherhood Society. Later, as the Squire Park neighborhood diversified, it hosted concerts by Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, and Jimi Hendrix. Then it became home to the Sons of Haiti (who leased space to On the Boards). Purchased with funds also from 4Culture and the City of Seattle, the newly landmarked hall reopens tonight with a jazz set led by tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman, followed an omnibus of dance, music, and theater featuring the likes of choreographer Dayna Hanson and accordionist Richard Svensson. Sunday offers family-friendly crafts activities and storytelling, plus dance lessons by Savoy Swing, a stage excerpt from Nu Black Arts West Theatre, and music from Jimmy and Grace Holden. Renovations are ongoing, and the dowager now even has a Facebook page (!) to solicit donations and volunteer labor. Or rent it for your next avant-garde theater production, bar mitzvah, or wedding, and become a part of its polyglot history. Washington Hall, 153 14th Ave., washingtonhall.org. Free. 7–11 p.m. (1–4 p.m. Sun.) BRIAN MILLER
Classical: M'aidez!
Inspired by the new-music marathons of NYC echt-downtowny ensemble Bang on a Can, Paul Taub has gathered a few dozen local musicians for 12 hours of contemporary music. And for once, the cliché "everyone who's anyone" might be close to true. Performers include Stuart Dempster, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Gamelan Pacifica, the Esoterics, and, to close the event, Taub's own Seattle Chamber Players. Repertory includes music by John Cage, Henry Cowell, Louis Andriessen, Steve Reich (Tehillim), and much more. Sorted into 24-minute slots, the musicians are playing whatever they want; to tie the programming together, and in honor of the date, they were encouraged to ponder the three meanings of May Day: spring festival, workers' holiday, and help, I'm drowning! Tag-teaming as hosts are KUOW's Dave Beck, The Gathering Note's Zach Carstensen, and yours truly. Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave., townhallseattle.org. $5. 1 p.m.–1 a.m. GAVIN BORCHERT
Books: Shark, I Jump Thee!
The Fonz he was, and e'er The Fonz he shall be. Richie now directs movies. Mr. & Mrs. C. are happily retired from television. And we don't really care what became of the freckled, red-haired dude or the other guy who hung out at Arnold's. For those who formed their TV affinities during the long run of Happy Days (1974–84), Henry Winkler was the star of the show, the coolest, the leather-jacketed, James Dean–style personification of prime-time rebellion. That he was eventually tamed over the years, that he—yes—jumped the shark on water skis, we will not hold against him. And Winkler has had a fairly durable, good-humored afterlife in showbiz, including a recurring role on Arrested Development (where he again jumped a shark). But that's not why he's appearing to read from Hank Zipzer #17: A Brand-New Me! (Grossett & Dunlap, $14.99). The final volume in his preteen book series again features a dyslexic hero (like Winkler himself), with ample sympathy for "the world's greatest underachiever." Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park, 366-3333, thirdplacebooks.com. Free. 4 p.m. (Also: Eagle Harbor Books, Bainbridge Island, 1:30 p.m. Sun.) BRIAN MILLER
