WEDNESDAY /5/11
20th Century Fox
Cluny Brown was the last from Lubitsch.
Related Content
More About
Stage: Split Verdict
You gotta have a gimmick, as another musical once said, and this revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1970 rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar has a good one: Returning hometown hero Brian Yorkey—the Village Theatre alum who nabbed a 2009 Tony and 2010 Pulitzer for the book and lyrics of Next to Normal—has actors Michael K. Lee and Aaron Finley alternating in the roles of Jesus and Judas. This means you'll have to attend at least two performances to judge who's the better savior and traitor. Also, director Yorkey wants you to consider the duality of their intense Biblical friendship during Christ's last week of life. Despite containing one of lyricist Tim Rice's most egregious howlers—"God, thy will is hard/And you hold every card"—Superstar still reaches a rather moving level of pop art by pondering the human passion that led to the holy Passion. The show has a nervy, colloquial pizzazz. And, sorry, Phantom of the Opera phans, but this remains Webber's most heartstopping score, taking off into respectable rock torment the second Judas vents a high note of frustration ("Je-e-e-e-suuuuuuus!") in the opening song "Heaven on Their Minds." Yorkey's right to push the interplay between the two leads. In a show often called sacrilegious, Mary Magdalene's weepy "I Don't Know How to Love Him" also expresses the unspoken anguish between two men who love each other to death. (Through July 3; then moves to Everett Performing Arts Center, July 8–31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., 425-392-2202, villagetheatre.org. $20–$60. 8 p.m. STEVE WIECKING
THURSDAY 5/12
Stage: Luck Be a Lady
Reviews for the 2009 Broadway revival starring Oliver Platt apparently notwithstanding, you can't go wrong with Guys and Dolls. Too much smiley, cornpone comedy can sour the songs of Oklahoma!, but almost nothing can defeat a score that includes "Luck Be a Lady," "I've Never Been in Love Before," and the Act Two rouser "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." The 5th Avenue's native production, which begins previews tonight, features can't-miss charmer Todd Buonopane, whom you may remember as the hilariously useless sexual-harassment mediator Jeffrey Weinerslav ("It's pronounced wiener slave!") on 30 Rock. Cast as Nicely Nicely Johnson, he's got Broadway zing in spades. So of course does the show, Frank Loesser's classic 1950 musicalization of Damon Runyon's tales about Prohibition-era hoods with hearts of gold, a bet that a gambler can't seduce a Salvation Army lass, and an uncertain new venue for "the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York." Another bet? Local Billie Wildrick, who's made a career at the 5th embodying warmly befuddled women in several Sondheim shows, will get to squeeze every empathetic laugh out of the comic showstopper "Adelaide's Lament." You know: From a lack of community property and the feeling she's getting too old, a person can develop a bad, bad cold. (Opens May 19; runs through June 15.) 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 Fifth Ave., 888-584-4849, 5thavenue.org. $28 and up. 8 p.m.STEVE WIECKING
Dance: Hanging Up His Spurs
The previous time Chris Yon appeared on the Velocity stage, the Minneapolis dancer/choreographer was a wannabe cowpoke in a suburban version of the Wild West, singing and dancing like a schlumpfy Roy Rogers. For his return visit, he's bringing The Very Unlikeliness (I'm Going to KILL You!), where his models are Fred Astaire and James Brown rather than Gene Autry. Yon's non sequitur movement style, a kind of dorky virtuosity, meshes with these multiple references in a work named with "the most romantic title I could think of," he explains. Also part of the touring SCUBA program—a joint venture among three dance companies to dive down and discover new talent—are Seattleite Amelia Reeber, with a refined version of her 2010 work this is a forgery, and Philadelphia's Jumatatu Poe in Flight Attendants. He says he's inspired by hip-hop moves "where large explosive movement is confined to small spaces." Check your seat backs and tray tables. (Through Sat.) Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., 325-8773, velocitydancecenter.org. $15–$18. 8 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ
FRIDAY 5/13
Film: Touched by Lubitsch
In the (probably apocryphal) story of the funeral of Ernst Lubitsch, director William Wyler leaves the gravesite with the remark "Well, no more Lubitsch." Billy Wilder replies, "Worse than that. No more Lubitsch movies!" It's hard not to sympathize. Cluny Brown, his final completed film, may have a lightweight screenplay, but the master of sophisticated comedy and continental wit makes it sing. A romantic comedy set in 1938, it offers two uninhibited free spirits (Charles Boyer as a Czech intellectual fleeing the Nazis; Jennifer Jones as a working-class girl with a passion for plumbing) rattling around a class-conscious Britain that's blithely oblivious to the winds of war. Produced in 1946, just after World War II, there's no urgency or bite to the satire of a self-serious high society more concerned with decorum than substance; this disconnected world is flatly, almost lazily visualized. Yet Lubitsch's deft comic grace, generosity of character, and elegant direction transforms every satirical aside and absurd turn into perfectly cut (if never quite cutting) jewels. He never stoops to wink at the audience or stop for a punch line. It's all about the lyric of conversation and the dance of decorum. (Screened on a new 35mm print; not on DVD; runs through Thurs.) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $6–$9. 7 and 9 p.m.SEAN AXMAKER
