WEDNESDAY 5/25
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Tempest Storm is among the GI's burlesque stars.
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Ferguson is wild about America.
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SIFF: Read All Over
In rooms decorated with Pulitzers of the past and a giant poster of Orson Welles as Citizen Kane, harassed and anxious reporters struggle to get a handle on a rapidly changing media ecology in the documentary Page One: Inside The New York Times. Filmmaker Andrew Rossi uses his all-access pass not to probe the Times' agenda-setting handling of key issues, but rather pursue the story-about-the-story of the paper's future. That material will date, but scenes of an embattled elite suddenly insecure about their future will always have relevance. A sarcastic stringbean, media reporter David Carr emerges as the film's star as he defends his paper's right to exist against a series of new-media presences who, one after the other, he verbally defenestrates. His fellow subject and NYT reporter Brian Stelter will appear at SIFF. (Repeats 11 a.m. Friday at Egyptian and 3:30 p.m. Monday in Everett.) Neptune, 1303 N.E. 45th St., 324-9996, siff.net. $11. 7 p.m.GREGG RICKMAN
Books: Inside Job
Steve Earle knows a thing or two about addiction, and he's never hesitant to share what he's been through. As a musician, he's penned songs about it, including "South Nashville Blues" and "CCKMP." As a public figure, he opens up to every journalist he meets. Even as a part-time actor on The Wire, he played an addiction counselor. It's only natural that his debut novel, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (Houghton Mifflin, $26), features a morphine-addict hero. As in his songs, Earle uses rich, raw language to paint a sunbaked picture of San Antonio in the early '60s. There, the ghost-haunted Doc Ebersole—based on the MD alleged to be the last person Hank Williams saw before he died—aches for dope and practices abortions to support his habit. Things take a turn toward magical realism when Doc grows fond of a patient, Graciela, and strange miracles begin occurring on the South Pesa strip. Earle doesn't pretend to be Faulkner, but his book is a quick, compelling page-turner full of complex characters set in a fully realized place. It's also a big advance from his 2001 short-story collection, Doghouse Roses. Where that spilled over with Earle's extroverted persona, he chooses here to inhabit his character's heads rather than dwell in his own. (He returns to play the Moore on June 9.) Trinity Lutheran Church, 1200 10th Ave. E., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. 7 p.m. BRIAN J. BARR
THURSDAY 5/26
Burlesque: Mais Oui!
From French kissing to French-cut panties, we like to think that anything French is just a little naughty, a covert look to the sexy side of the street. With encore performances of two classic burlesque numbers, plus a fast-paced farce, La Danse! Le Burlesque! L'Edition Française! will tease you without giving too much away. Lily Verlaine and Kitten LaRue, both stars of the Seattle burlesque scene, have crafted works that evoke the moody nightclub world of Serge Gainsbourg and the liberation of the go-go 1960s. Also on the bill, Whim W'him director Olivier Wevers reaches back to 19th-century farce for a trio featuring two dancers, a couch, and some disappearing bits of costume. (Through Sat.) Triple Door, 216 Union St., 838-4333, thetripledoor.net. $15–$28. 8 p.m.SANDRA KURTZ
FRIDAY 5/27
Nightlife: Revenge of the Herd
With the exception of the king and queen, how many students actually enjoyed their senior prom? Looking back, most of us would say it was an overrated evening plagued by bad fashion and personal choices (e.g., my dress was lime green, and my date back then, a major crush, is now in a relationship . . . with another man). But the Awesome '80s Prom offers a chance to do it bigger and better, to correct past mistakes and have some grown-up fun. The three-night party encourages attendees to don their most awesome '80s ensembles and groove to a DJ spinning tunes by the likes of Billy Ocean and Pat Benatar. Among the crowd will be actors playing various high-school stereotypes—like the head cheerleader and captain of the football team—so you can finally slow-dance with someone at the top of the food chain. Maybe this time, prom will live up to your expectations. (Through Sun.) Tulalip Resort Casino, 10200 Quil Ceda Boulevard, 866-716-7162, tulalipcasino.com. $30–$40 (21 and over). 8 p.m. ERIKA HOBART
Film: Take It All Off!
Step right up, gents, for a little naughty entertainment! Ogle to your heart's content pretty girls swaying and slinking down to their scanties! See baggy-pants comics make up in volume what they lack in humor! Don't mistake the titles being screened in the the Strip, Strip Hooray! series for, well, actual movies. Filmed on the cheap for towns too small to get live burlesque shows, they're basically records of its postwar revival period, when the echoes of vaudeville were reduced to stripper acts and comedy shtick stale even by grindhouse standards. This is the real thing, where the strip ends at pasties and panties and the best dancers put a little energy into the tease. The quality of talent and taste varies from program to program, but the bargain-basement 1954 Dream Follies (11 p.m. Sat.) stands out as the weirdest of the bunch. Pre-fame Lenny Bruce scripts a bizarre framing story of sex-mad men who sneak out of the office to watch the anonymous parade of girls from behind stage doors and through telescopes (and walls, apparently). And in an uncredited appearance, Bruce does Hitler shtick and cream-pie slapstick. Tawdry, cheap, and surreal. The retrospective begins tonight with B-Girl Rhapsody. (Through Thurs.) Grand Illusion, 1403 N.E. 50th St., 523-3935, grandillusioncinema.org. $5–$7. 7 and 9 p.m.SEAN AXMAKER
