Stage

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Monday, October 20, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, October 20, 2014

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Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Monday, October 20, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Monday, October 20, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, October 20, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Monday, October 20, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, October 20, 2014

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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Monday, October 20, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

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Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, October 21, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Tuesday, October 21, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Tuesday, October 21, 2014, 7:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Cold Empty Terrible This student-devised work is “a resuscitation of a theatrical debacle embedded inside Anton Chekhov’s 1896 masterpiece, The Seagull.” Previews Oct. 15-16, opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Jones Playhouse, 4045 University Way N.E. $10-$20 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, October 22, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 7:30pm

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $5 Wednesday, October 22, 2014, 8:30pm

A Lesson From Aloes Set in South Africa during apartheid, the play explores the psychology of survival and politics. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Isaac Studio Theatre, 208 N. 85th St. $20-$40 Thursday, October 23, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Thursday, October 23, 2014

Cold Empty Terrible This student-devised work is “a resuscitation of a theatrical debacle embedded inside Anton Chekhov’s 1896 masterpiece, The Seagull.” Previews Oct. 15-16, opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Jones Playhouse, 4045 University Way N.E. $10-$20 Thursday, October 23, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, October 23, 2014

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Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Thursday, October 23, 2014

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Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Thursday, October 23, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Thursday, October 23, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Thursday, October 23, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, October 23, 2014

Little Shop of Horrors Dweeby Seymour may have changed his luck when he befriends a carnivorous plant from space. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $19-$27 Thursday, October 23, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Thursday, October 23, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, October 23, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Thursday, October 23, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Thursday, October 23, 2014

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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Thursday, October 23, 2014

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Thursday, October 23, 2014, 7:30pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Thursday, October 23, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Thursday, October 23, 2014, 7:30pm

Campfire Improv scenes based on spooky ghost stories. Opens Oct. 2. 8:30 p.m. Thurs. Ends Oct. 30. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $10 Thursday, October 23, 2014, 8pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Thursday, October 23, 2014, 8pm

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Opposing Forces When Amy O’Neal came to Seattle to study dance at Cornish in the ‘90s, she arrived with a polyglot movement education, a disdainful attitude toward ballet, and an interest in the social dances she’d seen in clubs and on television. After two decades of performing and choreographing, that experience is broader. Hip-hop and breakdancing are now part of her repertoire. Part of last season’s Northwest New Works Festival, her solo piece Something Light for the Sake of the Dark uses the physical control at the heart of much breakdancing to focus our attention on detailed isolations and frozen, exquisite moments. It was a tour de force for her as a performer and choreographer, bringing the full toolkit of postmodern construction to bear on the task. Her newest project is another challenge in that direction. O’Neal won’t be dancing Opposing Forces ; instead she’s enlisted some of those dancers she shadowed in the past, creating a talented cast of five. Fever One, Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “JustBe” Angeles, Mozeslateef, and Michael O’Neal Jr. are award-winning performers, but they’re hardly ever seen in concert dance settings. SANDRA KURTZ On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St. $23-$25 Thursday, October 23, 2014, 8 – 9pm

A Lesson From Aloes Set in South Africa during apartheid, the play explores the psychology of survival and politics. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Isaac Studio Theatre, 208 N. 85th St. $20-$40 Friday, October 24, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Friday, October 24, 2014

Cold Empty Terrible This student-devised work is “a resuscitation of a theatrical debacle embedded inside Anton Chekhov’s 1896 masterpiece, The Seagull.” Previews Oct. 15-16, opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Jones Playhouse, 4045 University Way N.E. $10-$20 Friday, October 24, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, October 24, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, October 24, 2014

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Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Friday, October 24, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Friday, October 24, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Friday, October 24, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Friday, October 24, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, October 24, 2014

Little Shop of Horrors Dweeby Seymour may have changed his luck when he befriends a carnivorous plant from space. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $19-$27 Friday, October 24, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Friday, October 24, 2014

Night of the Living Dead Lori Allen Ohm’s stage adaptation of the classic zombie shocker, performed outside. BY KIDS!!!! Opens Oct. 17. 7, 8, & 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Oct. 25. Luther Burbank Park, 2040 84th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island, WA 98040 $15 Friday, October 24, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, October 24, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, October 24, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Friday, October 24, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Friday, October 24, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Friday, October 24, 2014

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, October 24, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Friday, October 24, 2014, 7:30pm

Supraliminal Seattle Immersive Theatre’s interactive tale about the paranormal, both set in and staged at the Georgetown Steam Plant. Meet at South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W., and you’ll be bused there. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 1. South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W. $50 Friday, October 24, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Friday, October 24, 2014, 7:30pm

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Friday, October 24, 2014, 8pm

Campfire Improv scenes based on spooky ghost stories. Opens Oct. 2. 8:30 p.m. Thurs. Ends Oct. 30. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $10 Friday, October 24, 2014, 8pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Friday, October 24, 2014, 8pm

• 

Opposing Forces When Amy O’Neal came to Seattle to study dance at Cornish in the ‘90s, she arrived with a polyglot movement education, a disdainful attitude toward ballet, and an interest in the social dances she’d seen in clubs and on television. After two decades of performing and choreographing, that experience is broader. Hip-hop and breakdancing are now part of her repertoire. Part of last season’s Northwest New Works Festival, her solo piece Something Light for the Sake of the Dark uses the physical control at the heart of much breakdancing to focus our attention on detailed isolations and frozen, exquisite moments. It was a tour de force for her as a performer and choreographer, bringing the full toolkit of postmodern construction to bear on the task. Her newest project is another challenge in that direction. O’Neal won’t be dancing Opposing Forces ; instead she’s enlisted some of those dancers she shadowed in the past, creating a talented cast of five. Fever One, Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “JustBe” Angeles, Mozeslateef, and Michael O’Neal Jr. are award-winning performers, but they’re hardly ever seen in concert dance settings. SANDRA KURTZ On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St. $23-$25 Friday, October 24, 2014, 8 – 9pm

The Cherdonna Show: Worth My Salt The LGBTQ, burlesque, and drag icon’s first evening-length solo show is inspired by “Carl Sagan’s series Cosmos and female icons Kate Bush, Diane Keaton, and Marie Antoinette.” Opens Oct. 17. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Friday, October 24, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Friday, October 24, 2014, 8:30pm

The Atomic Bombshells Miss Indigo Blue emcees this burlesque troupe’s “Fall Fling!” 9 p.m. Fri., Oct. 17 & 24. Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118 $22-$25 Friday, October 24, 2014, 9pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Friday, October 24, 2014, 10:30pm

A Lesson From Aloes Set in South Africa during apartheid, the play explores the psychology of survival and politics. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Isaac Studio Theatre, 208 N. 85th St. $20-$40 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Saturday, October 25, 2014

Cold Empty Terrible This student-devised work is “a resuscitation of a theatrical debacle embedded inside Anton Chekhov’s 1896 masterpiece, The Seagull.” Previews Oct. 15-16, opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Jones Playhouse, 4045 University Way N.E. $10-$20 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, October 25, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, October 25, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Saturday, October 25, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Saturday, October 25, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Saturday, October 25, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Little Shop of Horrors Dweeby Seymour may have changed his luck when he befriends a carnivorous plant from space. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $19-$27 Saturday, October 25, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Saturday, October 25, 2014

Night of the Living Dead Lori Allen Ohm’s stage adaptation of the classic zombie shocker, performed outside. BY KIDS!!!! Opens Oct. 17. 7, 8, & 9:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Oct. 25. Luther Burbank Park, 2040 84th Ave. S.E., Mercer Island, WA 98040 $15 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, October 25, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, October 25, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Saturday, October 25, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Saturday, October 25, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Saturday, October 25, 2014

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Saturday, October 25, 2014, 2pm

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 7:30pm

Supraliminal Seattle Immersive Theatre’s interactive tale about the paranormal, both set in and staged at the Georgetown Steam Plant. Meet at South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W., and you’ll be bused there. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 1. South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W. $50 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 7:30pm

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Saturday, October 25, 2014, 8pm

• 

Opposing Forces When Amy O’Neal came to Seattle to study dance at Cornish in the ‘90s, she arrived with a polyglot movement education, a disdainful attitude toward ballet, and an interest in the social dances she’d seen in clubs and on television. After two decades of performing and choreographing, that experience is broader. Hip-hop and breakdancing are now part of her repertoire. Part of last season’s Northwest New Works Festival, her solo piece Something Light for the Sake of the Dark uses the physical control at the heart of much breakdancing to focus our attention on detailed isolations and frozen, exquisite moments. It was a tour de force for her as a performer and choreographer, bringing the full toolkit of postmodern construction to bear on the task. Her newest project is another challenge in that direction. O’Neal won’t be dancing Opposing Forces ; instead she’s enlisted some of those dancers she shadowed in the past, creating a talented cast of five. Fever One, Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “JustBe” Angeles, Mozeslateef, and Michael O’Neal Jr. are award-winning performers, but they’re hardly ever seen in concert dance settings. SANDRA KURTZ On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St. $23-$25 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 8 – 9pm

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 8pm

The Cherdonna Show: Worth My Salt The LGBTQ, burlesque, and drag icon’s first evening-length solo show is inspired by “Carl Sagan’s series Cosmos and female icons Kate Bush, Diane Keaton, and Marie Antoinette.” Opens Oct. 17. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 8:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Saturday, October 25, 2014, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Sunday, October 26, 2014

Cold Empty Terrible This student-devised work is “a resuscitation of a theatrical debacle embedded inside Anton Chekhov’s 1896 masterpiece, The Seagull.” Previews Oct. 15-16, opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Jones Playhouse, 4045 University Way N.E. $10-$20 Sunday, October 26, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, October 26, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Sunday, October 26, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Sunday, October 26, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Sunday, October 26, 2014

Kinky Boots Inspired by a true story (and movie) about a repurposed shoe factory, with a score by Cyndi Lauper. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Wed., 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1:30 & 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $45.25 and up Sunday, October 26, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, October 26, 2014

Little Shop of Horrors Dweeby Seymour may have changed his luck when he befriends a carnivorous plant from space. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $19-$27 Sunday, October 26, 2014

New Play Festival Seattle Rep’s showcase of new work by Denis O’Hare, Lisa Peterson, Cheryl L. West, and Arlitia Jones. Opens Oct. 17. See seattlerep.org for exact schedule. Ends Oct. 26. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $15 (festival pass $40) Sunday, October 26, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, October 26, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, October 26, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, October 26, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Sunday, October 26, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Sunday, October 26, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Sunday, October 26, 2014

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Sunday, October 26, 2014, 1pm

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, October 26, 2014, 1pm

Beauty and the Beast Disney’s animated classic-turned-hit musical comes to Seattle. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Oct. 21-Thurs., Oct. 23; 8 p.m. Fri., Oct. 24; 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., Oct. 25; 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun., Oct. 26. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $25 and up Sunday, October 26, 2014, 6:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Sunday, October 26, 2014, 7:30pm

• 

Opposing Forces When Amy O’Neal came to Seattle to study dance at Cornish in the ‘90s, she arrived with a polyglot movement education, a disdainful attitude toward ballet, and an interest in the social dances she’d seen in clubs and on television. After two decades of performing and choreographing, that experience is broader. Hip-hop and breakdancing are now part of her repertoire. Part of last season’s Northwest New Works Festival, her solo piece Something Light for the Sake of the Dark uses the physical control at the heart of much breakdancing to focus our attention on detailed isolations and frozen, exquisite moments. It was a tour de force for her as a performer and choreographer, bringing the full toolkit of postmodern construction to bear on the task. Her newest project is another challenge in that direction. O’Neal won’t be dancing Opposing Forces ; instead she’s enlisted some of those dancers she shadowed in the past, creating a talented cast of five. Fever One, Alfredo “Free” Vergara Jr., Brysen “JustBe” Angeles, Mozeslateef, and Michael O’Neal Jr. are award-winning performers, but they’re hardly ever seen in concert dance settings. SANDRA KURTZ On the Boards, 100 W. Roy St. $23-$25 Sunday, October 26, 2014, 8 – 9pm

The Cherdonna Show: Worth My Salt The LGBTQ, burlesque, and drag icon’s first evening-length solo show is inspired by “Carl Sagan’s series Cosmos and female icons Kate Bush, Diane Keaton, and Marie Antoinette.” Opens Oct. 17. 8 p.m. Fri.-Sun. Ends Oct. 26. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Sunday, October 26, 2014, 8pm

Disaster Movie An improv take on one of Hollywood’s most spoofable genres. Opens Oct. 19. 8:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Nov. 23. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $7 Sunday, October 26, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Monday, October 27, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, October 27, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Monday, October 27, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Monday, October 27, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Monday, October 27, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, October 27, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, October 27, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Monday, October 27, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, October 28, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, October 29, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Jay Hollingsworth’s True Story Hollingsworth asks visiting and local comics to actually explain the stories behind their supposedly true stories. 7:30 p.m., last Wednesday of every month.  The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue see website Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 7:30pm

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $5 Wednesday, October 29, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Thursday, October 30, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, October 30, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Thursday, October 30, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Thursday, October 30, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Thursday, October 30, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, October 30, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, October 30, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Thursday, October 30, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Thursday, October 30, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Thursday, October 30, 2014

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Thursday, October 30, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Thursday, October 30, 2014, 7:30pm

Campfire Improv scenes based on spooky ghost stories. Opens Oct. 2. 8:30 p.m. Thurs. Ends Oct. 30. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $10 Thursday, October 30, 2014, 8pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Thursday, October 30, 2014, 8pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Friday, October 31, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, October 31, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, October 31, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Friday, October 31, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Friday, October 31, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Friday, October 31, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, October 31, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, October 31, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, October 31, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Friday, October 31, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Friday, October 31, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Friday, October 31, 2014

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, October 31, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Friday, October 31, 2014, 7:30pm

Supraliminal Seattle Immersive Theatre’s interactive tale about the paranormal, both set in and staged at the Georgetown Steam Plant. Meet at South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W., and you’ll be bused there. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 1. South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W. $50 Friday, October 31, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Friday, October 31, 2014, 7:30pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Friday, October 31, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Friday, October 31, 2014, 8:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Friday, October 31, 2014, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Saturday, November 1, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, November 1, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, November 1, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Saturday, November 1, 2014

• 

Don Giovanni You’ve seen the bus ads; you’ve seen the TV spots, all abs and motorcycles; so you know Seattle Opera is going for the boom-chick-a-mow-mow in this revival of director Chris Alexander’s coolly decadent 2007 production of Mozart’s dramedy. Nicolas Cavallier and Mark Walters share the title role, and Lawrence Brownlee, one of today’s busiest and most acclaimed bel canto tenors, returns as the cuckolded Don Ottavio. In Italian with English supertitles. See seattleopera.org for show schedule. GAVIN BORCHERT McCaw Hall (Seattle Center), 321 Mercer St., Seattle, WA 98109 $25-$223 Saturday, November 1, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Saturday, November 1, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, November 1, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, November 1, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, November 1, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, November 1, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Saturday, November 1, 2014

The Rocky Horror Show The camp musical that launched a thousand handfuls of rice. Opens Oct. 17. 7:30 p.m. Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 11:45 p.m. Oct. 25 & 31. Ends Nov. 1. Renton Civic Theatre, 507 S. Third St., Renton, WA 98057 $20-$25 Saturday, November 1, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Saturday, November 1, 2014

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 7:30pm

Supraliminal Seattle Immersive Theatre’s interactive tale about the paranormal, both set in and staged at the Georgetown Steam Plant. Meet at South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W., and you’ll be bused there. 7:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 1. South Seattle College, 6000 16th Ave. S.W. $50 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 7:30pm

The Edge Bainbridge Island’s own improv troupe.  Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $12-$16 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 7:30pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 7:30pm

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 8:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Saturday, November 1, 2014, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Sunday, November 2, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, November 2, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Sunday, November 2, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Sunday, November 2, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, November 2, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, November 2, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, November 2, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, November 2, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Sunday, November 2, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Sunday, November 2, 2014

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, November 2, 2014, 1pm

The Vaudevillians Two 1920s musicians, played by Jerick Hoffer and Richard Andriessen, are frozen and thaw out a century later to perform songs by Janis Joplin and Gloria Gaynor. It’s being called a “vintage cabaret with a twist of drag,” and New York and Australia loved it. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sun. plus some matinees; see website for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 2. Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St. (Seattle Center), Seattle, WA 98109 $17-$67 Sunday, November 2, 2014, 7:30pm

Weird and Awesome With Emmett Montgomery “A monthly parade [every first Sunday] of wonder and awkward sharing hosted and curated by mustache wizard Emmett Montgomery. 7:30 p.m. first Sunday of every month. Annex Theatre, 1110 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 $5-$10 Sunday, November 2, 2014, 7:30pm

Disaster Movie An improv take on one of Hollywood’s most spoofable genres. Opens Oct. 19. 8:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Nov. 23. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $7 Sunday, November 2, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Monday, November 3, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, November 3, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Monday, November 3, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Monday, November 3, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, November 3, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, November 3, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Monday, November 3, 2014

Pagliacci Comedy Night Local and national comics, every first Monday. Beer and wine will be available with ID. 8 p.m., first Monday of every month. Pagliacci Pizza, 426 Broadway Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98102 Free Monday, November 3, 2014, 8pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, November 4, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Tuesday, November 4, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, November 4, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, November 5, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $5 Wednesday, November 5, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Thursday, November 6, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, November 6, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Thursday, November 6, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Thursday, November 6, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, November 6, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, November 6, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, November 6, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Thursday, November 6, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Thursday, November 6, 2014

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Thursday, November 6, 2014, 7:30pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Thursday, November 6, 2014, 8pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Friday, November 7, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, November 7, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, November 7, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Friday, November 7, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Friday, November 7, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, November 7, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, November 7, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, November 7, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Friday, November 7, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Friday, November 7, 2014

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, November 7, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Friday, November 7, 2014, 7:30pm

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Friday, November 7, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Friday, November 7, 2014, 8:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Friday, November 7, 2014, 10:30pm

Spin the Bottle Annex Theatre’s late-night variety show. Annex Theatre, 1110 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 $5-$10 Friday, November 7, 2014, 11pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Saturday, November 8, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, November 8, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, November 8, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Saturday, November 8, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Saturday, November 8, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, November 8, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, November 8, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, November 8, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, November 8, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Saturday, November 8, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Saturday, November 8, 2014

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, November 8, 2014, 7pm

Hamlet Mary Ewald plays the Danish prince in New City’s intimate production. Pay-what-you can preview Oct. 15, opens Oct. 16. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Ends Nov. 8. New City Theatre, 1404 18th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122 $15-$20 Saturday, November 8, 2014, 7:30pm

Split Second Improv Second Story’s improv competition. Two shows each Sat.: 7 p.m. for families, 8 p.m. could get naughtier. Ends Dec. 13. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $20 Saturday, November 8, 2014, 8pm

Afterlife An improv look at The Big Question. 8:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Ends Nov. 22. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $12-$15 Saturday, November 8, 2014, 8:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $15 Saturday, November 8, 2014, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Sunday, November 9, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, November 9, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Sunday, November 9, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Sunday, November 9, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, November 9, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, November 9, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, November 9, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi Friendship and cooperation are the messages in this adaptation of a classic Kipling tale. Runs Thurs.-Sun.; see sct.org for exact schedule. Ends Nov. 9. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $15-$36 Sunday, November 9, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Sunday, November 9, 2014

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, November 9, 2014, 1pm

Disaster Movie An improv take on one of Hollywood’s most spoofable genres. Opens Oct. 19. 8:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Nov. 23. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $7 Sunday, November 9, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Monday, November 10, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, November 10, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Monday, November 10, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Monday, November 10, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, November 10, 2014

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, November 10, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Monday, November 10, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, November 11, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Tuesday, November 11, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, November 11, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, November 12, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Wednesday, November 12, 2014

• 

In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, November 12, 2014

• 

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions Market Theater, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle $5 Wednesday, November 12, 2014, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Thursday, November 13, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, November 13, 2014

• 

Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Thursday, November 13, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Thursday, November 13, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, November 13, 2014

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, November 13, 2014

Teatro ZinZanni: Beaumount & Caswell in Hacienda Holiday TZ favorites Christine Deaver and Kevin Kent return for a slapstick holiday adventure. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 31. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, November 13, 2014

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Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Chekhov and comedy don’t really go together. You’ll find a thread of wry, sometimes rueful humor in his plays, but nothing aimed for belly laughs on the order of this 2012 farce by Christopher Durang. He essentially takes a Chekhovian situation-a pair of thwarted siblings still living in their dead parents’ house-and gooses it. Vanya (R. Hamilton Wright) and Sonia (Marianne Owen) are the shut-ins whose routine is disrupted by the arriaval of sister Masha (Pamela Reed), an egotistical actress. Her trade allows Durang to send up both Chekhov and Hollywood. And to explain the names: The siblings’ parents were theater nerds; but Spike (William Poole), boyfriend to Masha, is the outlier. Durang laces the comedy with many lifts and themes from Chekhov (there are cherry trees, if not quite an orchard), and he playfully considers the Russian playwright’s relevance to modern-day neurotics like these. Says one, “If everyone took antidepressants, Chekhov would have had nothing to write about.” BRIAN MILLER ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $55 and up Thursday, November 13, 2014

Clues Jet City’s board-game-based improvised murder mystery. Opens Oct. 2. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Fri. Ends Nov. 21. Jet City Improv, 5510 University Way N.E. $12-$15 Thursday, November 13, 2014, 8pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St. Downstairs from Matts & Chez Chea, Seattle see website Friday, November 14, 2014

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, November 14, 2014

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, November 14, 2014

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Dogfight Where were you in ‘91? Nancy Savoca was then a rising indie filmmaker who gathered two bright young stars, River Phoenix and Lili Taylor, for a sad, lovely period drama filmed right here in Seattle. Dogfight follows a pack of young Marines bound for the Vietnam War in 1963, when Rose and Eddie become a couple-if only for one tender night-because of a cruel bet made among Eddie and his pals. (Essentially: Find the ugliest girl you can, a dog, for a fake date bound to end in humiliation.) Now this is not the most likely Hollywood property for a stage show, yet Peter Duchan and songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul crafted a musical adaptation that debuted off-Broadway two years ago. The show received decent reviews (an “intimate, carefully tended new musical,” quoth The New York Times), and it’s here making its Northwest premiere despite the sudden collapse of Balagan Theatre, which was originally set to co-produce the show. Local audiences will remember the Pasek/Paul team from their A Christmas Story, The Musical at the 5th Avenue four years back. What they’ve done, cleverly, to evoke the late-JFK era is to have Eddie and the boys harmonize like the Four Seasons, while the more progressive-minded Rose is already looking ahead to Dylan and Joan Baez. The show’s nominally set in San Francisco, and she’s a flower child in the making. Kody Bringman and Devon Busswood star as the central couple, leading a local cast directed by Mathew Wright. (See artswest.org for schedule.) BRIAN MILLER ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $5-$37 Friday, November 14, 2014

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In the Heights See Village Theatre’s percolating production of In the Heights and be baffled anew at why this show hasn’t earned the fanatical popularity of Wicked or inspired the critical orgasms of The Book of Mormon. Sixty years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda (music and lyrics) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (book) would have inked a Hollywood deal during intermission of opening night, so solid and surefire is their 2008 story of the changes that beset residents of Manhattan’s Washington Heights neighborhood during two sultry summer days. The show’s challenges are not only emotional-from one scene to the next, it’s a roller-coaster from humor to anger to tragedy to salsa-driven joy-but technical too. In particular, the opening and closing numbers of Act 1 mix dialogue sung, spoken, and rapped in intricate succession with dance and, in the finale, a blacked-out stage. Nobody missed a beat of either kind, even though the show’s packed with incident and necessarily fast-paced. But everything lands; everything works; every song, scene, and bit gets its most impactful tempo and weight as guided by director Eric Ankrim. (Runs near daily through Oct. 26; then moves to Everett Oct. 31-Nov. 23. See villagetheatre.org for schedule.) GAVIN BORCHERT (<a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/arts/954732-129/opening-nights-in-the-heights” target=”_blank”>See Gavin’s full review.</a>) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah $35-$67 Friday, November 14, 2014

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, November 14, 2014