Thursday 7/18
Dance: Rings on Her Resume
Marie Chong founded ARC Dance 15 years ago, presenting a mix of ballet and contemporary dance with an emphasis on new choreography. But in 2011, she ran away to join the circus—Cirque du Soleil, to be specific. Chong oversaw productions throughout the U.S. and Japan, wrangling wire-walkers, magicians, and aerialists, but her heart was still in Seattle, so home she came. This edition of ARC’s Summer Dance at the Center revisits some of their strongest work, with choreography by Betsy Cooper, Penny Hutchinson, and Chong herself. No word so far about any contortionists or clowns, but you never know. (Through Sat.) Seattle Repertory Theater, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), 352-0798, arcdance.org. $20–$35. 8 p.m.
SANDRA KURTZ
Friday 7/19
Film: Steps in the Right Direction
John Waters proudly wore the mantle of cult film director back in 1988, but cult movies don’t pay the mortgage. For that reason, he had a huge and well-deserved crossover hit with Hairspray (tonight presented by Three Dollar Bill Outdoor Cinema), which also gave Divine (aka Harris Glenn Milstead) her first mainstream role. Like most of Waters’ films, Hairspray is rooted in Baltimore, which he lovingly recreates during the kitschy yet wholesome early ’60s, when plump Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake) desperately wants to appear on the Corny Collins dance show. Tracy’s willpower is unstoppable, and her dance moves are undeniable. It helps, too, that she has the solid family support of her mother (Divine) and father (Jerry Stiller). The Turnblads may not be classy, but they’re loving, and that spirit infuses this proudly PG-rated film. Waters wanted to reach the multiplex, and he did. At the same time, along with the retro dance music, there’s the sly subversion of the supporting players (Debbie Harry, Mink Stole, Pia Zadora, etc.). Waters would never be so gauche as to make a message movie, but the message is there: Camp can coexist peacefully with sincere emotion, squares and queers can get along fine, and life can be one big dance party. Following in the Friday-night series are Galaxy Quest (Aug. 2), the 1966 TV spinoff Batman: The Movie (Aug. 9), and the Schwarzenegger-tastic 1984 Conan the Destroyer (Aug. 16). Pack your own picnic, or choose from various food vendors who’ll be on hand. Cal Anderson Park (southeast corner at 11th & Pine), threedollarbillcinema.org. Free. Outdoor movie screens at dusk.
BRIAN MILLER
Food: All You Can Stomach
If you can deal with the crowd and all the corporate-sponsor booths, there’s plenty to enjoy at this year’s Bite of Seattle. For starters, what major Seattle food event would be complete without Tom Douglas spreading his culinary love (while promoting his own empire)? He hosts “The Alley” at Alki Courtyard, where $10 gets you tastes from Local 360 (root beer–glazed pork-belly sliders), Shanik (roasted spice eggplant), and others, along with his own Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen, and Cuoco. Adjacent to The Alley is a wine tasting featuring Washington vineyards (the 11 a.m.–2 p.m. happy hour buys you five tasting tickets for $12), where you can sip and listen to live jazz. New this year is a “Craft Beer Tasting” at Fisher Pavilion (assuming you didn’t get your fill at the Beer Festival earlier this month), where you can sample some 70 beers from more than 30 brewers. Or get in on some Iron Chef–style throw-downs as local chefs compete in “The Bite Cooks” on the roof of the Fisher Pavilion. You can also watch demos from Maria Hines of Tilth, Rob Sevcik of Luc, and many others. Other music stages will offer R&B and blues. The “Family Fun Zone” has a heavy emphasis on dance this year. And don’t forget tonight’s free movie at 8:30 p.m., The Goonies. (Through Sun.) Seattle Center, free to enter, biteofseattle.com. 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
NICOLE SPRINKLE
Saturday 7/20
Comedy: A Relaxed Approach
Jim Gaffigan and his wife have five kids and they live in Manhattan, so you’d imagine he has to tour constantly to keep his brood fed and sheltered. Think of the pressure: He’s a big-name stand-up comedian who plays large venues, he’s a regular on TV, and if he fails to deliver the laughs, his kids will be selling apples on the street corner. And yet he handles it all so well. It helps that he had a slow rise through the ranks, and his jokes have a relaxed demeanor; he never goes for the laughs too fast. He’s not a ranter or a curser. He falls more into observational humor about the indignities and inanities of life (including, yes, Hot Pockets). Gaffigan is also an author, having published Dad Is Fat in May. In it, he includes a long, amusing story about his and his wife’s carefree pre-kid days, in which they are constantly shushed by new parents overly concerned with their infant’s special nap needs. Gaffigan wonders: Can’t babies just nap wherever and whenever they please, with no special need for silence? And finally we get to the punch line: Driving home, the whole party accidentally runs into a deer on the highway. And the baby sleeps through it just fine. That’s the kind of insight a prospective parent needs. The Paramount, 911 Pine St., 877-784-4849, $40–$50. 7 & 9:30 p.m.
BRIAN MILLER
Sunday 7/21
Books: A Long Time Ago . . .
When Star Wars first appeared in 1977, critics noted how C-3PO and R2-D2 resembled the quarrelsome comic knaves in Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress, which in turn drew inspiration from Shakespeare. George Lucas borrowed from many classical and mythological sources, so it’s surprising that it took so long for someone to re-render his story as an Elizabethan/sci-fi mashup. That’s what Portland author Ian Doescher has cleverly done with William Shakespeare’s Star Wars (Quirk, $14.95), adapting the old lexicon, iambic pentameter, and stage conventions of the Globe to Tatooine. Appropriately for a published play, the author is ceding today’s performance to thespians: members of our local ReACT Repertory Theatre. As you’d expect, Obi-Wan and Darth Vader adapt quite nicely into verse (in part because you imagine Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones reading the lines). Vader warns Leia, “Speak thou well, or speak thy last/For fairer necks than thine my hand hath crush’d.” A chorus has been added, but an even better stage device is to grant R2-D2 soliloquies in English, to clarify all his beeps and squeaks. His character is revealed to be more than a little like Puck, as when he confides, “An imp, he calleth me? I’ll be reveng’d/And merry pranks aplenty I shall play.” (Chewbacca, sadly, isn’t granted the same communication privilege—maybe that’s being saved for The Empire Strikes Back.) ReACT is presently performing Picnic at Hugo House (through Aug. 3), but if audience response is strong enough, this could be their next production. And for props, the light sabers will be easy to find at the toy store. Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., 624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Free. 2 p.m.
BRIAN MILLER
