Friday, April 10 Swan Lake People come back over and over again

Published 10:59 pm Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Friday, April 10

Swan Lake

People come back over and over again to Swan Lake, in part because the starring part is such an iconic challenge for a ballerina. And in Pacific Northwest Ballet’s production, we get a chance to see three different women in the central role(s) of Odette/Odile, each at a different point in her career. Laura Tisserand is debuting in the role with this production. Lesley Rausch is deepening her earlier interpretation. But it’s Carla Korbes’ performances that are likely to be the most fraught for the audience: After 10 years at PNB, and almost 20 since venturing from Brazil to New York’s School of American Ballet, she’s retiring at the end of this season in June. (Ends April 19.) McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), 441-2424, pnb.org. $45–$192. 7:30 p.m.

SANDRA KURTZ

ByDesign

This short annual film festival most appeals to architects, graphic designers, urban planners, and plain old font freaks. And yet it’s not without topical, practical interest in our increasingly congested and expensive city. Case in point: the hour-long doc Microtopia (7 p.m. Sat.), which presents nine examples—or at least hypothetical design studies—of tiny domiciles with minimal carbon footprints. Not all are cheap or practical; one Greek architect envisions open-walled studios raised on cherry-pickers, angling this way and that to catch the best view or sun exposure. But those who are encouraged by Olympia’s “Quixote Village,” a micro-housing answer to our own Nickelsville homeless encampments, will find inspiration here. There are ways of getting around restrictive building codes—chiefly by putting shacks on wheels, without water or electricity, then clustering them around shared facilities. Some solutions are more whimsical, like a rolling barrel house in Denmark; another in Montreal amounts to a wearable tent. The missing 10th segment I wish Swedish director Jesper Wachtmeister had filmed would be on “apodments” in dense urban areas like SLU and Capitol Hill. Not all of us are homeless, or can move off the grid to northern California. Microtopia Part II ought to focus on the needs of single young professional urbanites who care more about broadband than a parking space. (Running through Tuesday, ByDesign opens tonight with a 7 p.m. party and 9 p.m. screening of Fresh Dressed, a documentary history of hip-hop apparel.) Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., 267-5380, nwfilmforum.org. $6–$11 individual, $30–$60 series.

BRIAN MILLER

Coriolis Dance

There aren’t too many events that feature an alien encounter, but Unfixed Arias by Coriolis Dance includes an array of inquisitive extraterrestrials, among a host of other characters. With a loopy scenario that feels like outtakes from Edgar Rice Burroughs performed dead serious, this highly eccentric evening will either be right up your alley, or leave you scratching your head. Either way, you’ll have a close encounter with some very talented dancers and singers. (Ends April 19.) Open Flight Studio, 4205 University Way N.E., 632-0067, coriolisdance.com. $20–$25. 7:30 p.m.

SANDRA KURTZ

Saturday, April 11

No Way to Treat a Lady

This strange musical comedy, reworked since its last appearance at Village Theatre in 1999 (also directed by Steve Tomkins), was originally inspired by the Boston Strangler—according to source novelist William Goldman. Predictable as something on LMN, Douglas J. Cohen’s 1987 gore-free, family-friendly show is one part murder-porn-gasm, one part hokey musical, and all parts fun. Suffering a deadly devotion to his late mother (a celebrated actress), failed thespian Christopher “Kit” Gill (Nick DeSantis) dons various disguises and adopts different dialects whilst murdering women who remind him of her. (If he can’t be famous, he decides, he’ll be infamous.) Dissatisfied with his media mentions, he begins an antagonistic telephone relationship with NYPD detective Morris Brummell (Dane Stokinger). This cat-and-mouse script smartly balances engaging action with witty dialogue and lyrics. This ensemble enchants with energetic singing and excellent acting. Notable are Jayne Muirhead as the cop’s suffocating Jewish mother; Jessica Skerritt as Morris’ shiksa love interest; and Bobbi Kotula, this production’s versatile champion, who distinctly depicts Kit’s mother and his victims. (Ends April 26; then runs May 1–24 in Everett.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N. (Issaquah), 425-392-2202. $35–$67. 2 & 8 p.m.

ALYSSA DYKSTERHOUSE

Tuesday, April 14

Courtney Maum

While British painter Richard may not seem all that different from the multitudes of cheating, caught-in-the-throes-of-midlife-crisis protagonists of so much fiction, the misadventures he has in trying to save his marriage are. In Maum’s debut novel I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You (Touchstone, $16), Richard’s young mistress leaves him behind in Paris, returning to America to marry. His French wife Anne-Laure has forgiven him his trespass, until she uncovers a cache of letters documenting the intense affair. Meanwhile, Richard has finally found a gallery willing to let him return to his past pop-culture/political style, something he’s been desperate to do since painting a series of conventional, pricey works. When one of those paintings—created for Anne-Laure when she was pregnant with their now-5-year-old daughter—sells, he becomes fixated on buying it back from its mysterious new owners, certain that the gesture will help him reunite with his wife. Though Richard is the novel’s main character, it’s Anne-Laure who steals its pages with her elegance, French stoicism, and ultimate revelation of fragility. This finally makes Richard realize that he’s idolized, rather than taken care of, his wife for too long. In one of the book’s best and most heart-wrenching parts, Richard, kicked out of his home, holes up with his traditional parents in London, there videotaping a series of interviews about their own enduring marriage. The tapes become part of his groundbreaking new gallery show, where the fate of his own marriage will be decided. University Book Store, 4326 University Way N.E., 634-3400, bookstore.washington.edu

. Free. 7 p.m.

NICOLE SPRINKLE