SGN Apr 19, 2019 - Part 2

Arts & Entertainment

PNB’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream a pure delight

by Sharon Cumberland

SGN A&E Writer

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET

GEORGE BALANCHINE’S A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

MARION OLIVER MCCAW HALL

Through April 21

Pacific Northwest Ballet’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is beyond charming – it’s a pure delight from start to finish. Everything in this production comes together to create an evening as magical as the sprites, imps, and fairies who populate it. The conjuncsee MIDSUMMER page 7

Urinetown makes you laugh till you wanna ….

by Miryam Gordon

SGN A&E Writer

URINETOWN THE MUSICAL ACT THEATRE AND 5TH AVENUE THEATRE (AT ACT THEATRE) Through June 2

by MK Scott SGN Contributing Writer

LESLIE JORDAN “EXPOSED” THE TRIPLE DOOR April 22 @ 7:30pm Doors open @ 6pm

On Monday, April 22, Emmy Awardwinning actor and comedian LESLIE JORDAN brings his autobiographical one-man show “EXPOSED” to The Triple Door (216 Union St.) at 7:30pm (doors open at 6pm) to benefit the AIDS Memorial Pathway proj-

Mary Kay Place magnificent in Kent Jones’ touchingly sincere Diane

There is so much cheeky humor and sarcasm in this ACT Theatre/5th Avenue Theatre joint production of Urinetown the Musical! Bill Berry’s direction is sharp and pointed. He emphasizes both the humor and an ultimately dark message that hits you on see URINETOWN page 6 see DIANE page 8

Seattle Opera presents “Decolonizing Allure: Women Artists of Color in Conversation”

Upcoming panel discussion subverts Carmen ’s white, patriarchal narrative

SEATTLE OPERA “DECOLONIZING ALLURE: WOMEN ARTISTS OF COLOR IN CONVERSATION”

THE OPERA CENTER

April 26 @ 7pm – FREE

At one point in time, a Seattle Opera ticket offered a relatively predictable experience: an enchanted night out, a grand presentation, and often a familiar telling of a popular work. But in the past few years, Seattle Opera has been inviting audiences to explore this art form from a different perspective. Prior to its May performances of Carmen, the company will hold a free panel discussion that will flip opera’s depiction of the exotic “Other” on its head. On April 26, the company presents “Decolonizing Allure: Women Artists of Color in Conversation” at The Opera Center (363 Mercer St) at 7pm.

Who is Carmen, the leading lady of Bizet’s opera? Is she a dangerous seductress, a feminist martyr, or a complex Roma woman making her way in the world as an outsider? Or perhaps Carmen is merely a hurtful “gypsy” stereotype, a reflection of the fragilities and insecurities of the 19thcentury French society that created her.

“The western arts industry has often been a space in which men – usually white men – have shaped the characters and narratives of Women of Color, depicting them as hypersexualized, exoticized, and ill-fated,” said Alejandra Valarino Boyer, Director of Programs and Partnerships. “Carmen inspires us to examine how women artists of color respond to these tropes and their legacy, be it rejecting them, subverting them, or reclaiming them. These artists take back power by creating art in their own image.”

Panelists include award-winning performer/activist Sara Porkalob; two visual

artists Aramis O. Hamer (creator of the iconic purple goddess at KEXP’s building on the Seattle Center campus), and Perri Rhoden, who celebrates her Black identity on canvas. Additionally, two university professors will speak: Naomi André, author of Black Opera: History, Power, Engagement from the University of Michigan; and Michelle Habell-Pallán, author of Loca Motion: The Travels of Chicana and Latina Popular Culture (2005) from the University of Washington.

“Through this panel discussion, and all our community conversations in recent years, we’re creating space for voices who have not had an opportunity to be shared in opera,” said General Director Aidan Lang. “It’s time for a new power structure where diverse people, stories, and perspectives are inherently woven into the fabric of our art.”

To RSVP and for panelist bios visit seattleopera.org/communityconversations.

Woody Shticks, back at ya: Who Cares!

WOODY SHTICKS WHO CARES!

18TH & UNION

April 25-28 @ 7:30pm

Back by popular demand, Woody Shticks plunges back into the existential comedy vacuum with renewed glitz, gusto, and grilled cheese to get to the bottom of it all. But again, Who Cares! Shticks revives this sparkling solo explosion packed with kicky comedy and devastating discoveries. Carry a tomato in your throwing hand on this bewildering trip through space and time – from the waterbeds of yore to the wastelands of tomorrow – because you’re about to take back your taste while you laugh your way through your favorite lies. Directed by The Libertinis and dripping with pizzazz, Woody and his favorite imaginary friends still question who we are, where we’re going, and Who Cares!

Comic stripper and hanky-panky hooligan Woody Shticks continues his third

About Seattle Opera Established in 1963, Seattle Opera is committed to serving the people of the Pacific Northwest with performances of the highest caliber and through innovative educational and engagement programs for all. Each year, more than 95,000 people attend Seattle Opera performances, and more than 400,000 people of all ages are served through school performances, radio broadcasts, and more. By drawing our communities together, and by offering opera’s unique fusion of music and drama, we create lifeenhancing experiences that speak deeply to people’s hearts and minds. Connect with Seattle Opera on Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, and on Classical King FM. 98.1. www.seattleopera.org

year of audacious co-productions with 18th & Union. Five-time Bawdy Storytelling favorite, one third of The Libertinis, and forty pounds of fun in a two-pound sack, he’s been hailed as “razor-sharp” by Seattle Star, “comedy gold” by BroadwayWorld, and “too gay to book anything but children’s theatre” by his college acting teacher. Woody has taught master classes at Seattle FringeCon and Intiman’s Emerging Artist Program, headlined the Seattle Fringe and Intersections Festival, and will tour his Schlong Song to the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and around the UK in May 2019. Who Cares! plays April 25-28 at 7:30pm at 18th & Union (1406 18th Ave.) in the Central District. Choose your own ticket for $15, $20, or $25 and learn more about Woody’s global takeover by visiting www. WoodyShticks.com/WhoCares!

Courtesy of Woody Shticks

day. I love rainy, blustery … I’m a depressive. I love when it rains. Rains, rains, rains. So, hopefully, it’s going to rain every day I’m there.

MK: Awesome.

Actually, the first time I actually saw you was in an independent film in 2000 called Lost in Pershing Point Hotel

Leslie Jordan: Hmm-hmm? I can’t believe you saw that. I wrote that …

MK: I did! Yes, it was at the Seattle International Film Festival.

Leslie Jordan: Wow! And we shot that thing on a – I think we had less than $80,000 – and we ran it out of the old hotel in LA – What’s that hotel called? – The Ambassador, where Kennedy [Robert F. Kennedy] was shot. And it was in complete disarray and hadn’t been touched since the ’70s. It’s been boarded up. We didn’t have to do – it was, you know, it was ready for a movie that took place in the ’70s. And it was my journey, and it turned out pretty good. It’s hard, you know, to shoot a film on that amount of money, but it was – it won this big grant from the Los Angeles Film Festival out of 600 scripts. They gave us ten grand. And it was fun. I actually remember that. Not many people remember that.

MK: I was saying that was my first introduction to you. And I just thought, my goodness, this guy is wonderful. And then, of course, I then soon followed you when you were on “Will and Grace” as Beverly Leslie. And also “Sordid Lives,” “Brother Boy.”

Leslie Jordan: Right. And it’s all come together in this new show that I’m doing. I have a TV show called “The Cool Kids.” On FOX. It’s garnering a lot of followers. So it’s all coming together nicely.

shoot. And so they had already called about next season and said, you know, would you be interested? And we said, well, yes, you know, it will depend on “The Cool Kids,” if it’s picked up. And my schedule. But absolutely, are you kidding? But then because of my contract with Fox I can really only do, they’ll only allow me to do two of “Will and Grace,” which I think is so silly, because the more I’m on there the more people know and will follow me over on “The Cool Kids,” and they don’t come on the same now. But now the jets are flying over, I can’t get a break here now on the phone. Okay, go ahead, I can hear you now.

MK: Also, I’ve actually been seeing you quite a bit, your videos that you’ve been posting on Instagram, and they’re just absolutely hysterical.

Leslie Jordan: Why, thank you! That was Fox, the Fox, when the series started, you know, (do things on Instagram), I said, I don’t even know what you’re talking about. And they said, what?!? You could be an Instagram star. And I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve heard of Twitter. And I do, but they said, no, no, no. So they set me up. And I just had more fun and I’ve gotten so many followers. The wonderful thing I found out, not to – , you know, that I could go on there and sell out, you know, on the show, like kill everybody, – look, y’all got to come to Seattle, if you’re ever there. And I’ll do that, you know, for the last minute tickets.

MK: Well, that’s what I’m saying. It’s just amazing how the tickets have just been

“I have to say that my real joy is what you’re going to see Monday, April 22, that’s what I love doing and that’s what I’m really best at. Remember, Bette Midler, people love her movies and everything, but I was like, no, you’ve got to see Bette live before you really understand what that message is all about. And that’s me. You’ve got to see me live.”

MK: Is it looking good that “The Cool Kids” will be back next fall? Or next season?

ect (The AMP) which will open at the north end of Cal Anderson Park in 2020.

Best-known for his standout roles in “Sordid Lives,” “American Horror Story,” “The Help” and as Beverley Leslie on NBC’s hit series “Will & Grace,” and now playing a lead role in the new comedy series “THE COOL KIDS” on FOX, Mr. Jordan has charmed fans for over four decades!

In “EXPOSED,” Leslie invites his audiences behind-the-scenes of his childhood and career! Offering a charming and hilarious look-back at his life experience as a flamboyant youth raised as a Southern Baptist, as well as the “unbelievable real-life stories” and treasured anecdotes from his renowned stage and television performances.

MK Scott: Leslie, we had the pleasure of meeting at the GLAAD Awards last year and I told you that we would be back, have you back to Seattle. Now that we have, how do you feel about being back?

Leslie Jordan: Well, I just love Seattle. You know, I’ve been up there several times with the Seattle Men’s Chorus. I’ve actually performed at The Triple Door, but it wasn’t my show, it was another show hosted by Kimball Allen, I do so many. (I did 44 venues last year.) But anyway, I did, and that was such a fun venue. And I thought I’d like to come back and do, you know, that venue, and then for you to, to bump into you at GLAAD – it’s all come together beautifully. And I just love, love, love Seattle. I go up there all the time and people will always apologize for the weather. Well, I’m in LA where it’s 73 fucking degrees every single

MK: We’re looking forward to seeing you bring “Exposed” to Seattle. What can we expect?

Leslie Jordan: Well, “Exposed” is kind of like the “Best of.” I’ve been doing one person shows since about 19 – gosh, ’93 – ’90 was my first one, and it was called “Hysterical Blindness and Other Southern Tragedies That Have Plagued My Life Thus Far.” And that went to New York and did really well. And then I did “My Trip Down the Pink Carpet” and that one went to the West End of London and all over the place. And what I’ve done is, over the years, I collected all my stories about coming to Hollywood and growing up in the Deep South. And I just put them all together into a show that’s 75 minutes. It’s tight. It’s … it just covers all the bases. And it’s a lot more than people think because it’s about a little boy who got on a bus, you know, in 1982, a young man, and went to Hollywood with $1,200 sewed in his underpants, that his mother sewed. And all, you know, and even before that, growing up in the Deep South, it’s a journey, and it ends in a very unlikely place, in the White House, where I was asked to throw the ball out in memory of 49 people that were murdered in the night club down in Orlando. So I never held a baseball, and I had to throw the ball out at the Washington Nationals vs. Chicago Cubs game. So it’s just stories, and I sing a little bit (I don’t sing very well) – oh, but there’s no telling what I’ll do. Who knows? Who knows? It’s different every night and I’ve never had a complaint. So I’m looking forward to it.

Leslie Jordan: Well, it is. We hesitate because you never know with TV. And the only thing in our way is a political big deal where Disney bought Fox, 20th Century Fox, which is our producing company that sold the show to FOX, which doesn’t own the FOX network. And so it’s, you know, we just, the new head of FOX is a guy named Charlie Collier, who has been very supportive, but he won’t say, you know, he just will not, he says he’s got a network, and oh, there’s all kinds of stuff about “SmackDown,” that live wrestling show, which I happen to know, because, you know, I’m just from the South, I don’t watch it, but I know about those live, but it’s a Friday night staple. It’s live. They do it live from somewhere. And I thought, well, that’s our night to be on TV, so that’s one, I’ve got about a million worries. Anyway, we hope it’ll will be back. And I am, we’re pretty sure it will be. I don’t know how they could just throw us out. So we’ll see.

MK: Any new appearances on “Will and Grace” or “American Horror Story”?

Leslie Jordan: Yes, I’ve already called. Not “American Horror Story.” I don’t think my schedule would allow that. That show, “American Horror Story” is just a really difficult show. It’s an hour long, and we do 14 hour days, and their schedule is so volatile because they do a lot of rewriting. “Will and Grace” is willing to accommodate me. Like if I have a hiatus from “The Cool Kids” I can go over there and shoot, you know, in two or three days. I come in on the main stage and rehearse. I mean, I come in on Monday and rehearse, and Tuesday come and do the Wednesday night

doing so well, I think we got like about 75% to 80% sold already.

Leslie Jordan: You know the last time that I did The Triple Door I looked on the guest list and there was Eddie Vedder.

MK: Yes! Eddie Vedder! My god, yes, from Pearl Jam! (Laugh)

Leslie Jordan: And I said, what do you mean, Eddie Vedder? They said, he’s very supportive. He comes to The Triple Door quite a bit, and it’s – well, anyway I said, what are you talking about? Pearl Jam is going to come? Well, what happened was they were all going to come see me. And then they got stuck. They were rehearsing their world tour, so all their wives came. Eddie’s beautiful wife, Jill, and I got to meet her, and she’s already come, and she said I’m going to come again. They may have already gotten their tickets. It might just be a star-studded night!

MK: Now you’ve got lots of TV and film. What do you enjoy the most? Do you enjoy the film work? Or do you enjoy the TV work more?

Leslie Jordan: Well, TV, for me, is just where I, I’m the funny guy that comes in with a zinger. That’s my job, you know, on TV. And I’ve done that for 30 some odd years, I’ve won an Emmy doing it. And so I love the TV money, but what I do when I’m coming to Seattle is my joy, in front of people, but it’s not, I mean, there’s money in it, but not that big, big money. So the wonderful part is that when we did “Will and Grace” or “The Cool Kids,” that’s in front of a live audience, with that TV money! (Laugh) I have to say that my real joy is what you’re going to see Monday, April 22nd. That’s what I love doing and that’s what I’m really best at. I told a friend of mine

the other day, I said, you’d have to see me live. You have to see me live before you understand what I’m all about. Remember, Bette Midler, people love her movies and everything, but I was like, no, you’ve got to see Bette live before you really understand what that message is all about. And that’s me. You’ve got to see me live.

MK: All right. What is your response to the fact that this performance will be, this performance in Seattle, will be a benefit for the AIDS Memorial Pathway project that we’re building on Capitol Hill?

Leslie Jordan: Well, I am, a gay man who ended up in the 1980s buried in the Intel phone directory. I really did. You know, that was my generation. When I got to LA in 1982 I wanted to get to West Hollywood, and that’s where I just heard the little queers hanging from the trees, and it was a city in crisis when I got there. And it was, you know, we realized very quickly that nobody was going to help us. Nobody. We couldn’t get the President. You know, Legionnaries’ Disease came around and killed 11 straight people and the whole country was mobilized, you know. Like I’m saying, you know, we’re going, we’re dropping like flies over here. {Laughs) And nobody would help us. And we learned that we had to, we had to take care of our own. And so I’ve always, over the years, done anything I could do, you know, and it’s still a fight, you know, that we have to keep fighting. And so I think it’s important that we remember. And I’m just so tickled that I could be a part of that, you know, and leave a little mark because that’s my, you know, that was my generation. It is my generation. And, you know, there’s so many of us that are walking around thinking, you know, I shouldn’t be here. You know, I missed the AIDS, I did everything that everybody else did, yet I didn’t. I’m here and I’m healthy, and so it’s up to me, you know, to keep waving the flag and burning the torches and whatever we need to do. And I just feel [it’s] so lovely that the Pathway [will be] right in the middle of everything. And when you see the fruition of things like that – I know we were talking about doing a quilt, and I thought, oh what a wonderful idea. And then I went to see the quilt [The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt], and you’re just, you’re just speechless. You know? Just once it all comes to fruition, it’s going to be wonderful. So I’m so happy to be a part of it.

MK: And I have one last question, which is my burning question: What would Beverly Leslie say in response to Karen Walker voting for Trump? Oh, wait! Beverly voted for Trump?

Leslie Jordan: Oh, yes. Listen, he’s a Republican to the core. Poor Beverly, see, he’s a Republican to the core. We even did an episode, we did an episode not too long ago where I had given so much money to Marilyn Melanie and Donnie that they named the Wall for me. They named the Wall down in Mexico, they’re building that Mexican wall, and we went down there to christen my wall and then here comes Karen Walker. She’s the best in my part of the wall. I said, no, it’s not. She wanted my part of the wall, they had given her part of the Wall, but she wanted my part because more drugs come through. (Laugh) And I said, well, Miss Walker, we thank you. She says, keep them out?!? And so her and I get in a tussle on our little RVs and fly over into Mexico, and we get put in Russian cages. (Laugh) You’ve got to find that episode. It’s so hilarious.

MK: Oh, my god. Yes.

Leslie Jordan: No, he would vote. He would vote, oh, he’s a big Republican. There was also an episode where she announced: You Republicans, Beverly Leslie is a homosexual. (Laugh) I said, shit! Oh, no he’s a Republican. He’s Republican.

MK: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Leslie Jordan: Okay, good. I’ll talk to you soon. Bye-bye.

WARNING: Leslie Jordan’s “EXPOSED”: may cause a great deal of laughter and a few tears!!!

Presented by BECU and produced by Unite Live and Seattle Gay News

Tickets: $45. Seating and dinner service begins at 6pm (All Ages). Call The Triple Door Box Office at (206) 838-4333 or online at https://tickets.thetripledoor.net/ eventperformances.asp?evt=1633

“When I got to LA in 1982 I wanted to get to West Hollywood, and that’s where I just heard the little queers hanging from the trees, and it was a city in crisis when I got there. And it was, you know, we realized very quickly that nobody was going to help us. Nobody... And we learned that we had to take care of our own. And so I’ve always, over the years, done anything I could do, and it’s still a fight, you know, that we have to keep fighting.”

at 6pm,

Award-winning new plays by Washington state playwrights provoke thought,

entertain at 2019 BAT Playwrights Festival

$12 tickets to see two plays

For about the price of a matinee movie ticket, enjoy two award-winning new plays during the 2019 BAT Playwrights Festival. Performances run April 26 through May 19.

BAT’s Festival offers four weekends of four thought-provoking and entertaining new shows written by Washington State playwrights.

Tickets are $12, and each ticket includes admission to two plays – a one-act followed by a full-length – and a short talk-back with the audience after each play.

The Burien Actors Theatre (BAT) production features specialty drinks themed to the Festival and plenty of free on-site parking, plus BAT’s famous opening night party.

URINETOWN

continued from cover

the way out the door. The choreography by Charlie Johnson fits the bill with fun allcompany movement that really entertains.

The multi-staircased set by Martin Christoffel helps the audience get different scenes to watch without almost any large scene changes. Lighting by Robert Aguilar is particularly effective in helping us know where we should be looking.

A swaggering Brandon O’Neill as Officer Lockstock (and yes, Matthew Posner plays Officer Barrel) narrates in no uncertain terms this satire (a 2002 Tony Awardwinner) that resonates more and more clearly as our politics move closer to totalitarianism and our climate declines rapidly. Little Sally (Arika Matoba) receives Lockstock’s exposition and comments on it herself, taking it one step further each time. Climate change was not nearly the impending societal issue in 2002, but this spoof supposes that water has become so scarce, in a 20-year drought, that people’s elimination is regulated. They don’t quite spell out why, but if you think about it, it’s probably because they have to save and reprocess the pee so the water can be extracted for regular uses like showering and watering of crops. Water politics is now looming larger and larger all over the world!

So, a large corporation, Urine Good Company, led by nefarious CEO Caldwell B. Cladwell (Kurt Beattie) now has a monopoly on pay toilets and there are terrible consequences for anyone who doesn’t follow the law and pay to pee. They get hauled off to Urinetown! No one in the general public

THE FESTIVAL PLAYS

From April 26 through May 5, the one-act Not Food for Monsters is paired with the full-length Hardened Criminals

The dark comedy Not Food for Monsters, written by Devin Rodger and directed by Heather Bernadette, explores what happens when an uptight front office manager at a high school loses her self-control for the first time, finding herself in the ensuing chaos. In the full-length drama Hardened Criminals, written by Suzanne Bailie and directed by Devin Rodger, a father pursues an unorthodox solution to his daughter’s drug addiction with unexpected results.

From May 10 through May 19, the one act The Great Fish & Jonah is paired with the full-length Goldendale The Great Fish & Jonah, written by Matthew Weaver and directed by Rachel Rene, is a humorous modern take on the classic story of Jonah and the Whale – er – Great Fish. In Goldendale, written by Kevin K. Berry and directed by Rochelle Flynn, the Martins are selling their home in a small, conservative farming town in Washington – until they find out the couple buying are two men.

After each play is performed, audience members are invited to participate in a talk-back with the director and playwright. These talk-backs are an opportunity for the audience to discuss the show with its creators and for the playwrights to get honest audience response to their work.

These plays contain some adult language and/or mature content, except for The Great Fish and Jonah. BAT’s policy is to inform audiences of content but to let parents, guardians and teachers make decisions that they feel are appropriate for the youth and teens in their care.

knows where Urinetown is, but wherever it is, whoever goes there NEVER RETURNS!

Cladwell’s naïve daughter, Hope (Sarah Rose Davis), has just graduated from her very expensive education and come home to work in his corporation, printing and faxing things. But before she gets there, she meets Bobby Strong (Mikko Juan), a young man who helps Penelope Pennywise (Mari Nelson) collect the pee fee, though he wishes he didn’t have to. Of course, they attract each other, and more than that, Hope spreads her idealism to him and sort-ofaccidentally causes a people’s revolt!

A versatile ensemble takes on several other roles and includes Andi Alhadeff, Chris Ensweiler, Brian Lange, Leslie Law, Sarah Russell and Nathaniel Tenenbaum. Each of them gets a character or moment to shine.

The musical styles spoof many other Broadway styles and musicals in subtle ways, but are often very big fun: “Don’t Be the Bunny” being a key song that most kids will likely walk out singing. A small band, headed by music director R.J. Tancioco, is hidden from view and occasionally overamplified, but does a surprisingly good job with so few instrumentalists.

This is a terrific ensemble cast with many moments to shine. If I start to acknowledge the big belt and presence of Nelson in “It’s a Privilege to Pee”, and the plaintive sweetness of Davis singing “Follow Your Heart”, and the anthem-delivery of Juan in “Look at the Sky”, and… I’d be trying to name too many individual moments. Suffice to say that this is a great production of this sneakily funny musical!

For more information, go to https:// order.acttheatre.org/events/urinetown or call (206) 292-7676.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, and Sunday matinees at 2pm at Burien Actors Theatre, 14501 4th Ave. SW in Burien. For tickets and other information, go to www.burienactorstheatre.org or call (206) 242-5180.

The BAT Playwrights Festival is sponsored by the 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax, the City of Burien and Pickled & Preserved.

THE CASTS, DIRECTORS AND DESIGNERS

Stage director Heather Bernadette directs the Not Food for Monsters cast of Melissa Collins Henderson (Ms. Wardell) and Kinsey Lahn (Chloe).

Stage director Devin Rodger directs the Hardened Criminals cast of Michael Mendonsa (Tom), Susan Echols-Orton (Julie), Shawna Petty (Beth), Phillip Wheeler (Nate) and Kris Keppeler (Sharon).

Stage director Rachel Rene directs The Great Fish & Jonah cast of Haley Forrester (Jonah) and Rex Waters (The Great Fish).

Stage director Rochelle Flynn directs the Goldendale cast of Connie Murray (Doris), Scott Green (Jesse), Adam King (Jeffrey), Stela Diaz (Colleen), Tim Takechi (Steve) and Steve Murphy (Jim).

The creative team for the show is: Maggie Larrick, set design; Craig Orsinger, lighting design; Cyndi Baumgardner, props and set dressing; Eric Dickman, sound design; John Lynch, fight choreography, and Heather Bernadette, Festival stage manager.

ABOUT THE BAT PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL

The mission of the BAT Playwrights Festival is twofold: To encourage Washing-

ton State playwrights to pursue their craft and to showcase new unproduced plays written by Washingtonians.

Playwrights are invited to submit their scripts, which are evaluated by a panel of judges who select the winners. BAT produces the winning plays in the Festival. Top winners in the one-act and full-length script categories are produced in the Festival as fully staged shows.

BAT officially launched the BAT Playwrights Festival in 1999. The Festival has typically been produced every other year. This year, BAT has chosen four playwrights to be honored with awards.

ABOUT BURIEN ACTORS THEATRE

Exciting live theater has been a tradition in Burien since 1955. Incorporated in 1980, Burien Actors Theatre is a leading producer of quality live theater serving residents of the Seattle and south Puget Sound areas.

BAT gives audiences an intriguing and invigorating theatre experience with unusual and fantastical productions they can’t stream online or see anywhere else. The company’s mission is to treat audiences to productions of the highest artistic integrity that excite, engage and involve both the local and expanding theatrical communities in the Puget Sound region. BAT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity and operates on revenue from ticket sales, donations, grants, sponsorships and volunteers.

Courtesy of Burien Actors Theatre

Discuss your opinions with SGNCritic@ gmail.com or go to www.facebook.com/ SeattleTheaterWriters. More articles can be found at MiryamsTheaterMusings. blogspot.com.

tion of Shakespeare’s story, Mendelssohn’s music, Balanchine’s choreography, and the wonderful PNB team of costumers and set designers form the perfect framework for PNB’s world-class dancers.

This is George Balanchine’s choreography at its most charming – partially because 24 children provide a huge dose of delightfulness dancing as little bugs – with antlers, wings, striped legs – in the muted oranges and greens of a rain forest. Balanchine knew how to give children quick and simple steps while moving them in powerful patterns. They flap their arms up and down in perfect time with the music, scamper across the stage, strike poses, and collapse into a puppy pile as only children can do. Together with the fairies and butterflies in this Northwest version of the Forest of Arden they cast a magical spell over the audience – you are entirely convinced that an alternate universe exists where conflict is elegant and revenge is both clever and temporary.

Taking the major plot points from Shakespeare, the ballet shows us two worlds – the humans and the fairies – that intersect in the forest. The fairies can see the humans, but the humans are oblivious to the magical beings that swirl around them. When the Fairy Queen, Titania, refuses to give up her little train-bearer to the Fairy King, Oberon, he takes his revenge by sending the imp Puck to gather flowers that will cause Titania to fall in love with the first creature she sees. Shakespeare’s “mechanicals” – the laborers who are in the forest to rehearse a play – provide the source for Oberon’s trick: Bottom, the weaver, is given the head of an ass and is set before Titania as she sleeps so she’ll fall in love with him when she wakes. Her love dance with the astonished and confused Bottom is one of the comic highlights of a tale that has many laugh-out-loud moments. The conflict between the human couples – two boys in love with the same girl – becomes a comic mess when Puck confuses the couples and uses the magic flower to cause both boys to end up in love with the girl both had rejected. It’s surprising how clearly the complicated story is told in pantomime –but then, Balanchine was trained in Russia, where pantomime is a high art of clarity in both movement and gesture. The audience can see exactly what’s happening, no matter how tangled the narrative.

Another surprising aspect of this ballet is how closely Balanchine matches the pantomime and dance to Mendelssohn’s gorgeous music. One would think that Mendelssohn was composing at Balanchine’s behest, much as Tchaikovsky wrote his compositions to meet the requirements of choreographer Maurice Petipa. Yet even though Mendelssohn died fifty-eight years before Balanchine was born, his compositions – both the overture that Mendelssohn wrote as a boy of seventeen, and later works that fit well with the original themes – come together in a seamless whole.

Balanchine created this work in 1962 for the New York City Ballet, and for 35 years it was performed exclusively in Karinska’s neoclassical/Renaissance style costumes and David Hays’ minimalist set. But in 1997 the George Balanchine Trust – that guards the integrity of his choreography and productions – gave permission to PNB to refresh the design and costumes and to offer a new visual concept to A Midsummer Night’s Dream while preserving Balanchine’s exact choreography. This feat reproducing the choreography was accomplished by Francia Russell, who is not only a founder of PNB but one of Balanchine’s own dancers and stagers, who travels the world to help ballet companies recreate the repertoire of Balanchine works.

While NYCB continues with the original setting and costumes (you can see them on You Tube) PNB offers a far more organic, detailed, and effective staging than the original. Scenic and costume designer Martin Pakledinaz has an unqualified success in both the costumes and the set, which manages to trick the eye, at key moments, into understanding that the fairy world is tiny compared to the human world, even though they appear

to be equal when the two worlds interact. In Titania’s domain, for instance, a frame of enormous roses descends to define her court and because they dwarf the dancers you suddenly realize that the butterflies are really the size of butterflies, and the little bugs probably live under leaves and petals. The same effect is achieved with an enormous spider web that descends while the humans are chasing each other through the woods. The contrast suggests that the midsummer magic involves humans shrinking when they’re in the Fairy realm – like Alice shrinking in Wonderland.

On opening night the dancing was terrific all around. The three focus characters, Titania danced by Laura Tisserand, Oberon

by Kyle Davis, and Puck by Jonathan Poretta, embodied the elegance, power, and rascality of their roles to perfection. Poretta is retiring at the end of this season – a great loss to the company and to his fans – but the role of Puck is a perfect denouement for him, given his wonderful sense of humor, explosive energy, and technical skills. I was equally impressed with Kyle Davis’ performance of Oberon, who has to execute fourteen entrechats in a row while traveling back and forth across the stage – in addition to repeated pirouettes and jetés. Tisserand, who was dancing Titania for the first time, joins a long line of ballerinas who have distinguished themselves in this role.

The four lovers – Lindsi Dec, Rachel Foster, Benjamin Griffith, and William Lin-Yee – achieved the trick of being sad, angry, desperate and confused while the audience laughed their heads off. And words cannot convey the charm and precision of the corps de ballet – including, this time, so many children and young dancers from the PNB Ballet School, whose precision and deportment conjured up a magical world before our eyes.

The second act of this ballet – when all the humans get together for a triple wedding – is one of Balanchine’s lovely sequences of dance in which an elegant corps forms, un-forms, and re-forms pattern after pattern, embodying the music without the need of a story. Mendelssohn’s elaborate musical patterns unfold as principal dancers show you every permutation of duet. Leslie Rausch and Jerome Tisserand performed a particularly beautiful love duet in which the couple embodies affection at its most courteous, ending with one of the loveliest final gestures I’ve seen, in which the cavalier changes his partner’s position from a forward to a backward bending pose in a kind of sigh – and the entire audience sighed to see it.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is so complete an evening of dance and music that it’s as though we get the best of a story ballet like The Nutcracker in Act One and the best of an abstract ballet like Jewels in Act Two. Both acts are supported by the Pacific Northwest Ballet Orchestra led by conductor Emil de Cou. It’s worth the price of the ticket just to sit in the auditorium and listen to them play Mendelssohn’s great music. I learned in a session of “Ballet 101” – lectures about ballet that take place in the Phelps Center (one of two PNB School sites) – that PNB has one of the few permanent ballet orchestras in the country, with fifty professional players. No wonder they play so well together, and are such a joy to hear.

Kudos to everyone who participated in creating this marvelous evening. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is truly a dream for the audience. It’s playing through April 21 at McCaw Hall. Don’t miss it – and bring the kids. They’ll love seeing other kids on stage, doing such wonderful things, wearing great costumes. They’ll get the humor as well as the beauty – and so will you.

Imaginatively indistinct Out of Blue an uncomfortably austere enigma

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer

OUT OF BLUE

Now playing

Adapted from Martin Amis’ best-selling novel by director Carol Morley (The Falling), the mystery-thriller Out of Blue is relentlessly frustrating. Featuring a strong, undeniably dynamic performance from esteemed, Oscar-nominated character actress Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April ), magnificently shot with moody, gorgeously unbalanced precision by veteran cinematographer Conrad W. Hall (Panic Room), the movie is so visually arresting and so magnetically acted watching it is hardly a chore. But Morely’s script is so purposefully disjointed and indistinct becoming emotionally involved as to whether a murder mystery will be solved and a killer will be brought to justice is incredibly difficult, and by the time events reached their climax I just wasn’t clear what it was I was supposed to be taking away from anything I had just watched.

Veteran New Orleans Detective Mike Hoolihan (Clarkson) is known for breaking the toughest cases. Currently she is investigating the apparent murder of socialite astrophysicist and college professor Jennifer Rockwell (Mamie Gummer), the daughter of Vietnam war hero, successful businessman and powerful Louisiana politician Col. Tom Rockwell (James Caan). She was found shot in the head by a .38 caliber handgun in her university’s observatory, and considering the volume of evidence left at the scene Hoolihan is not lacking for suspects. The detective’s immediate attention falls on two of Jennifer’s closest colleagues, fellow professor Prof. Ian Strammi (Toby Jones), who harbored a secret crush on her, and graduate student Duncan Reynolds (Jonathan Majors), with whom she was in a passionate romantic relationship. But little involving this case is as it initially appears to be. The entire Rockwell

DIANE

Martin). Mostly, the small-town Massachusetts native works overtime to keep checking in on her drug addict son Brian (Jake Lacy), hoping that one day all her motherly smothering will influence him to get clean for good so he can do something positive with his life. Diane does all of this and more, thinking that if she can give enough of herself over to assisting in the welfare of others she’ll someday be able to quiet past demons that have doggedly haunted her for much her adult life.

Diane is the feature-length narrative debut for documentarian, author and film historian Kent Jones (Hitchcock/Truffaut). This is a leisurely paced, delicately bal-

family, including the colonel’s wife Miriam (Jacki Weaver) as well as their two sons Walt (Brad Mann) and Bray (Todd Mann), seems to be hiding information that might be vital to the case, while local television news reporter Janey McBride (Yolanda Ross) has way more insight into what happened to Jennifer than she by all rights should have access to. It’s a giant conundrum made all the more confusing by this case’s apparent linkage to a series of unsolved killings of blonde-haired young women shot by a .38 caliber handgun roughly three decades ago, all of this triggering Hoolihan to question everything she knows about police work while forcing her to doubt her own sanity and grasp on tactile reality.

I’m not familiar with Amis’ book so I have no idea how closely Morely’s adaptation mirrors the source material. What I can say is that Hoolihan is a smart, determined cop with a murky past, one she isn’t entirely familiar with herself, whole sections of her childhood apparently missing from her memory. This lends the material a psychological ambiguity that oscillates between

anced drama of a woman trying to do the best she can for everyone and anyone she even passingly becomes connected to during her life, oftentimes doing so by placing her own needs towards the bottom of her priorities list. It is a movie rooted in the human connections between friends and family, especially as they pertain to mothers and sons, the inability to forgive one’s self for misdeeds both real and imagined leaving a lasting scar that will never heal.

There’s not a lot more to it and that’s just fine. Unlike Ben is Back or Beautiful Boy (other recent efforts revolving around somewhat similar themes) Jones isn’t all that interested in detailing all of the ins and outs of a parent dealing with an adultaged child battling drug addiction. Because of this, the conversations Diane and Brian engage in are authentic and truthful, their pointed brevity having a viscerally lacerating edge that’s psychologically lethal. But this is just one of the various stories hidden at the heart of the character-driven puzzle the filmmaker has constructed, each piece sliding easily into place alongside the one next to it in order to craft a fully-formed picture of one woman’s life in all of its magnetically idiosyncratic minutia.

There does come a point where Kent begins to fast-forward in time, these leaps typically happening after the death of a close friend or loved one to either age or illness (or a combination of both). While these happenings are natural, each coming in a manner that does not feel calculated or overtly melodramatic, they do have the unfortunate side effect of causing the last third of the film to move in herky-jerky fits and starts. The

being intriguing, ponderous, maddening and compelling, and I found as the film went on my own feelings kept twisting towards the negative side of the equation more than they did the positive. There were entire sections where I started to wonder if all of this was happening inside the detective’s fevered imagination and wasn’t real at all, almost as if this was a feature-length spin-off of “CSI” with the awkward title of “CSI: A Beautiful Mind” or “CSI: Shutter Island.”

The entire relationship between Hoolihan and McBride is odd to say the least. I’m pretty certain I understand the nature of it, that I get what is going on between them. Morely keeps things so intensely abstruse I couldn’t help but get exasperated by the ephemeral nature of their appearances together and the questioning give-and-take that fuels their conversations. It’s all just too vague, and while I’m all for leaving as much as possible up to the audience to decipher for themselves, at a certain point a little clarity, just a tiny bit, would have been welcome. Granted, in large part thanks to the constant aura of psychological instability that

flow of the picture becomes more episodic during it climactic act, and as such I felt like my connection to Diane was slightly damaged just at the very point I was supposed to be embracing her with open arms as tears streamed down the side of my face.

Having an actress as commanding as Place proves to be is the ultimate difference maker as far as my caring about any of those relatively minor missteps is concerned. This might just be the best performance I’ve seen from any actor this year, and considering my immense affinity for Julianne Moore in Gloria, Lupita Nyong’o in Us and Dev Patel in The Wedding Guest that’s saying a heck of a lot. The award-winning actress is marvelous, and as she’s in practically every scene of the film that this is a good thing is an obvious understatement. Place manages to twist herself physically and emotively into such pretzel-like knots I was astonished by the emotional magnitude of what it was she was doing. It’s spectacular stuff, and I can pretty much guarantee I’ll be thinking about the actress and what it is she accomplishes as the titular character for the remainder of 2019.

There’s a wonderful scene late in the movie where Diane is at a dinner party hosted by Brian after he’s gone through another stint in recovery and discovered newfound religious fervor. It’s great mainly for the manner in which it showcases how people can every so often talk over one another in such a way no one hears anything that anyone else is trying to say. It also helps put into additional context the diverse ways in which Diane looks at the world. While she is selfless in her philan-

Morely goes out of her way to create, and few of the supporting players are given ample opportunity and freedom to go in a variety of bonkers directions as far as it pertains to their respective performances. Caan appears to be relishing every second he’s on screen, his bellicose belligerence adding a level of angry menace that slowly begins to leach onto each cell of the film’s narrative DNA as if it were a virus out to destroy all it comes in contact with. As for Weaver, her whack-a-doo eccentricity is a sight to behold. As events progress the two-time Oscar nominee heads to a level of excited peculiarity that’s bizarre, and while I can’t say this is a good thing, I can state it gives the actress’ performance an unforgettable kookiness that in its own idiosyncratic way is kind of spectacular.

I will say that having the potential murder victim be an esteemed astrophysicist is far more essential to the overall tone and thematic momentum of the story than I initially anticipated it was going to be, and it’s quite possible I got somewhat lost amidst all of the scientifically theoretical psychological gobbledygook. But the end of the movie does have an intense transient power that admittedly held me spellbound, and while I’m not sure enough of the narrative’s various plot strands are comfortably resolved I still couldn’t take my eyes off the screen nonetheless. Clarkson’s marvelously constrained performance goes a long way towards augmenting all of that, while Morely’s confident direction leads me to believe everything ends up exactly as the filmmaker intended, and it is almost as if she could care less if I or anyone else was happy about that.

Out of Blue is something imaginative and unique even as it traverses some fairly rudimentary determined cop murder mystery thriller terrain. Whether this is a positive or a negative I cannot say. But it does make the movie hard to forget and even more difficult to dismiss, Morely’s latest a curiously imprecise enigma I’m going to be thinking about for quite some time to come.

thropy, goes to church and volunteers at a soup kitchen, she just as clearly also doesn’t want religion shoved down her throat, choosing to discover her connection to spirituality and faith in her own way and at her own pace. This adds an additional layer of unforeseen conflict between mother and son that’s made all the more uncomfortably bruising when the truths fueling Diane’s internalized torments are finally revealed. I can’t say I’m surprised Jones’ first fictional film is as confident and as handsomely made as this one proves to be. The director is an accomplished writer with a uniquely personalized voice and Hitchcock/Truffaut is as meticulously constructed a documentary as any I’ve had the pleasure to watch this decade. Here, he not only gives Place the role of her career but he also allows supporting players Lacy, Martin, O’Connell and Bonnie and Clyde Oscar-winner Estelle Parsons a few individualized moments to shine.

Jones allows his actors and his scenario equal room to breathe and evolve, the film having its own sense of ephemeral fluidity that’s richly absorbing and dramatically distinctive. This feeling is augmented considerably thanks to Wyatt Garfield’s (Beatriz at Dinner) austere cinematography and Mike Selemon’s raw, uncompromisingly severe editing style, all of this giving Diane an impassioned layer of poignant specificity that’s superb. There’s much to love here beyond Place’s stunningly magnificent performance, Jones delivering a striking drama of introspective precision that’s almost impossible to resist.

Bi Gan’s Journey a haunting feat of storytelling ingenuity

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer

LONG DAY’S

JOURNEY INTO NIGHT

Now playing

Luo Hongwu (Huang Jue) has returned to his hometown of Kaili after roughly two decades. He reminisces about his childhood, his various adventures with a former best friend nicknamed “Wildcat” and other random acts of madness that led him to leave all those years prior. Most of all he recollects about a mysterious woman, he thinks she was named Wan Quiwen (Tang Wei), and finds himself now compelled to see if he can find her. During his search past and present collide hurtling him through time and space in an increasingly nonconventional manner, his quest culminating in a small, secluded town known as Dangmai, a place where fantasy and reality seemingly live together in cryptic harmony.

I’m no expert on Chinese filmmaker Bi Gan’s well-regarded debut Kaili Blues I haven’t seen it, and even though a lot of people I respect made a great deal of fuss over the film, for whatever reason I’ve never taken the time to give it a look. As such, I do not know how it compares to his ambitiously moody sophomore effort Long Day’s Journey Into Night, an intimately personal and emotionally adventurous drama that has nothing to do with the Eugene O’Neill play it’s lifted its English language title from. What I can say is that this motion picture is nothing if not original, the whole thing a piece of existential visual poetry featuring a final hour so staggeringly gorgeous and hypnotically fascinating I seriously doubt I’ll see its like for the remainder of 2019.

None of which means I personally understood what it was I had just watched. A part of me feels the instantaneous need to dive in again immediately, to try and absorb more of this strange, dream-like, vaguely film noir-reminiscent universe Gan has fashioned for his chain-smoking hero Hongwu to wander around in not nearly as

aimlessly as it first appears. Another section of my psyche wonders what the fuss is all about, thinks this search for answers and meaning in a universe that lacks precious little of either element is nothing more than leisurely-paced nonsense. The whole thing is a peculiar descent into memory, family, forgiveness, longing and potentially even love that kept me sitting at arm’s length as the story bobbed and weaved randomly along as if it were a kite being blown across the sky by the wind. It is a movie that forgoes most of the normal cinematic rules as it attempts to make up new ones, not all of what it comes up with working out as comfortably or as irresistibly as I can only assume they were supposed to.

At least, that’s my best guess. Gan toyed with my mind something fierce, and by the time Hongwu literally descended into the 3-D landscape of Dangmai I almost stopped caring entirely about anything that was going on. But then the filmmaker

unleashed such a jaw-dropping visual feast that I couldn’t take my eyes off of the screen. He coupled those miraculous sights and sounds with a pair of performances from Jue and Wei that left me in a constant state of awe. The veteran actors navigate their way around this one-shot hour of cinematic virtuosity with a gripping resilience that’s magnificent, each giving complicated, fearlessly raw performances that only augment the inherent dramatic sensitivity that’s refreshingly on full display. It’s hard to dig too fully into any of what Gan is doing as to do so would give away key insights into what it is I can only assume the filmmaker is attempting to accomplish. Just know this last hour is not just some expertly constructed technical feat devoid of emotional resonance. Just the opposite. The wispy, ghost-like atmosphere generated by this single take approach allows for the sequence to become an existential fantasy overflowing in pain, pathos,

forgiveness and selfless understanding. Each step Hongwu takes is one inch closer to his hopefully being able to put past demons to rest and move forward in his life away from those missteps, mistakes and missed opportunities that have haunted him for almost 20 years. While it is unclear if this happens, or for that matter if it is even supposed to happen, the feeling that it still might come to pass anyhow permeates each frame of the film, giving things a poignant eloquence that’s second to none.

At 133-minutes the movie is unquestionably long. More importantly, Gan is a director who is utterly unafraid to take his time, letting his story play itself out at its own measured pace while appearing not to care if some in the audience find their mind beginning to wander as they wait patiently for something explosive to happen. He has also enlisted three cinematographers, Yao Hung-I, Dong Jinsong and David Chizallet, to help him shoot everything he imagined for his various characters to experience, the film having a somewhat discordant quality that’s emotionally discombobulating yet at the same time seems equally essential to the film being able to cast the type of mesmeric spell it crafts with such fastidious ease. Finally, a few of the supporting actors play dual roles introduced and followed throughout the story, Wei included, this curious bit of deception adding an extra layer of alluring surrealistic whimsy that caught me by surprise.

As the screen faded to black I can’t say I fully understood all of what Gan’s visually rambunctious drama of memory, regret and intimacy was trying to tell me. I also will not claim that the unhurried pace didn’t almost put me to sleep on more than one occasion. Be all of that as it may Long Day’s Journey Into Night is a piece of cinematic poetry where every syllable, every beat, has wormed its way into my soul and has aggressively refused to release its vicelike grip. It is a divine exercise in acrobatic filmmaking eccentricity, seeing this film in all its theatrical glory a feat of storytelling legerdemain few who witness it firsthand will soon forget.

Blandly inauthentic La Llorona conjures up disappointment

by Sara Michelle Fetters

A&E Writer

LA

Los Angeles social worker Anna TateGarcia (Linda Cardellini) thought she was going out on a normal welfare check when she headed to the home of Patricia Alvarez (Patricia Velasquez) and her two sons. But after she finds the boys locked in the closet and the apartment in a state of chaotic disarray, even though she’s close to the family she has no other choice but to put the kids in protective custody. Later that night they are found miles away from the locked halfway house they were boarded at safe and sound at the start of the evening, both mysteriously drowned in a pool near the city reservoir. It is 1973 and Anna is a single mother grieving over the death of her police detective husband, so this latest tragedy has left her shaken, even more so with Patricia

angrily blaming the social worker for her children’s deaths. She violently spews out curses that someone or something called “La Llorona” will come for Anna’s kids Chris (Roman Christou) and Samantha (Jaynee-Lynne Kinchen) and will take them away into a realm of never-ending darkness and despair. Soon strange things begin to happen, Chris and Samantha seeing a weeping woman (Marisol Ramirez) in a wedding dress beckoning them to come close. After turning to the Catholic Church for help, it is suggested to Anna that she seek out a former priest named Rafael Olvera (Raymond Cruz), this man of God now a curandero who makes it his mission to battle the supernatural forces of demonic evil.

Inspired by a real Latin America folktale, The Curse of La Llorona is another entry in the ever-expanding universe of The Conjuring. Following hot on the heels of The Nun, Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation, this little horror offering isn’t without its positives, mostly notably Cardellini’s passionate and emotionally-resolute performance as an aggrieved mother still reeling from unimaginable tragedy and now willing to do whatever it takes to save the lives of her two kids. But there’s little in the way of energy driving this supernatural ghost story, the whole thing often feeling like it is going through the scary movie motions more than it is interested in doing anything imaginative or original. It’s rather boring, and even if some individual moments do strike a suitably unnerving tone this is still

a rather forgettable affair difficult to get excited about.

This is a shame. The legend of La Llorona is pretty powerful stuff, this heartbreaking piece of Mexican folklore a mournful parable of loss, betrayal, pain, tragedy and unimaginable grief that’s haunted generations of believers and nonbelievers alike. This story inspired the first episode of the long-running hit television series “Supernatural,” while the character herself has appeared in a number of motion pictures, most notably the 1961 Mexican production La Maldición de la Llorona, also known as The Curse of the Crying Woman

But the actual heritage of the character and her history feel more like window dressing here than they sadly do anything substantive. I never got the sensation that screenwriters Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis (Five Feet Apart) saw the character as anything more than a convenient device to help generate a handful of overly theatrical scares. The Hispanic characters in the film don’t have any real dimensionality, not even Patricia or Rafael, all of them filling more of an archetypal need required to progress the story to its climax than anything believably three-dimensional. There’s no sense of authentic history, no sense of cultural significance, the connection linking Anna and her children to this world so tenuous and poorly realized it ends up holding precious little meaning whatsoever.

Director Michael Chaves stages a handful of solid scenes, not the least of which is

a rather clever early reveal of La Llorona utilizing a child’s clear plastic umbrella opening and closing in the rain. The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 composer Joseph Bishara turns in another solid score, his compositions here far more symphonically melancholic and much less boisterous than I initially anticipated they were going to be. I also really liked the performances turned in by child actors Christou and Kinchen, the pair having a solid brother-sister dynamic and I was genuinely moved a couple of times by the selfless way in which they attempted to look out for one another.

Yet as far as positives go, that’s all I’ve got. I will add that after this, Green Book and The Founder, I wish someone, anyone, would give the talented Cardellini a role worthy of her gifts. Even though she throws herself into the proceedings here with intense vivacity, and even though she has a handful of strong moments that hint at the core emotional components the filmmakers obviously wished to explore more fully than they ultimately do, there’s still precious little about this thriller that causes my blood pressure to rise or for my skin to tingle in anything akin to suspenseful animation. The Curse of La Llorona is a massive missed opportunity that failed to maintain my interest, this latest entry in producer James Wan’s spookily successful ghost story universe conjuring up a profound sense of disappointment that left me dejectedly frustrated.

1533 13th Ave. - 323-1525

SEATTLE

BATHS

SEATTLE

BATHS

CLUB Z - (men)

1117 Pike near Boren - 622-9958

CLUB Z - (men)

HOT HOUSE SPA & SAUNA - (women)

SW corner of Pike & 11th

1117 Pike near Boren - (206) 622-9958

(stairs behind Wildrose) - 568-3240

HOT HOUSE SPA & SAUNA - (women)

STEAM WORKS - (men)

SW corner of Pike & 11th

1520 Summit - 388-4818

(stairs behind Wildrose) - (206) 568-3240

STEAM WORKS - (men)

1520 Summit Ave - (206) 388-4818

RESTAURANTS & BARS

88 KEYS - 315 2nd Ave. S. - 839-1300

RESTAURANTS & BARS

BALTIC ROOM - 1207 Pine St. - 625-4444

THE BOTTLENECK LOUNGE

2328 E. Madison St. - 323-1098

88 KEYS - 315 2nd Ave. S - (206) 839-1300

C.C. ATTLE’S BAR & GRILLE

BALTIC ROOM - 1207 Pine St. - (206) 625-4444

1701 E. Olive Way - 726-0565

THE BOTTLENECK LOUNGE

2328 E. Madison St. - (206) 323-1098

RETAIL SHOPS

DIESEL BAR - 1413 14th Ave. - 322-1080

GLO’S - 1621 E. Olive Way - 324-2577

HOT MAMA’S PIZZA - 700 E. Pine St. - 322-6444

BABELAND - 707 E. Pike St. - (206) 328-2914

JAZZ ALLEY - 2033 6th Ave. E. - 441-9729

CASTLE SUPERSTORE #17

JULIA’S - 300 Broadway Ave. E. - 860-1818

1017 E. Pike St - (206) 204-0126

KREMWERK - 1809 Minor Ave. #10 - 682-2935

DIEGO PELLICER - 2215 4th Ave. S - (206) 624-0070

MADISON PUB - 1315 E. Madison - 325-6537

DOGHOUSE LEATHERS

NEIGHBOURS - 1509 Broadway - 324-5358

1312 E. Pike St. - (206) 257-0231

OUT WEST - 5401California Ave. SW

EMERSON SALON - 909 E. Pike St. - (206) 323-7437

FANTASY UNLIMITED

THE PINE BOX - 1600 Melrose Ave - 588-0375

POCO WINE ROOM

2027 Westlake Ave. - (206) 682-0167

1408 E. Pine St. - 322-9463

1510 1st Ave - (206) 624-1784

POKE BAR - 1542 12th Ave - 402-5178

HASHTAG - 3540 Stone Way N - (206) 946-8157

PONY - 1221 E. Madison St. - 324-2854

HERBAN LEGENDS - 55 Bell St - (206) 849-5596

HERB(N) ELEMENTS

PURR - 1518 11th Ave. - 325-3112

R PLACE - 619 E. Pine - 322-8828

11013 Lake City Way NE - (206) 535-8769

RE-BAR - 1114 Howell at Boren - 233-9873

ROOT TABLE 2213 NW Market St. - 420-3214

LAUGHING BUDDHA TATTOO

1534 Broadway - (206) 329-8274

THE CANTERBURY - 534 15th Ave. E. - 322-3130

CHANGES IN WALLINGFORD

CAPITOL CIDER - 818 E Pike St. - (206) 397-3564

C.C. ATTLE’S BAR & GRILLE

2103 N. 45th - 545-8363

1701 E. Olive Way - (206) 726-0565

SEATTLE EAGLE - 314 E. Pike - 621-7591

SHORTY’S 2222 2nd Ave - 441-5449

THE NEW YORK XCHANGE

STOUT -1530 11th Ave - 397-3825

225 Broadway E. - (206) 726-3300

TOULOUSE PETIT

ONYX LEATHER

THE CRESCENT - 1413 E. Olive Way - 720-8188

THE CANTERBURY

THE CUFF COMPLEX

534 15th Ave. E - (206) 322-3130

CHANGES IN WALLINGFORD

2103 N. 45th - (206) 545-8363

THE CRESCENT

1413 E. Olive Way - (206) 720-8188

THE CUFF COMPLEX

1533 13th Ave. - (206) 323-1525

DIESEL BAR - 1413 14th Ave. - (206) 322-1080

GLO’S - 1621 E. Olive Way - (206) 324-2577

HOT MAMA’S PIZZA

700 E. Pine St. - (206) 322-6444

JAZZ ALLEY - 2033 6th Ave. - (206) 441-9729

JULIA’S - 300 Broadway Ave. E - (206) 860-1818

KREMWERK - 1809 Minor Ave. #10 - (206) 682-2935

THE LUMBER YARD

9619 16th Ave. SW - (206) 695-2007

MADISON PUB - 1315 E. Madison - (206) 325-6537

NEIGHBOURS - 1509 Broadway - (206) 324-5358

OUT WEST

5401California Ave. SW - (206) 937-1540

THE PINE BOX - 1600 Melrose Ave - (206) 588-0375

POCO WINE ROOM

1408 E. Pine St. - (206) 322-9463

POKE BAR - 1542 12th Ave - (206) 402-5178

PONY - 1221 E. Madison St. - (206) 324-2854

QUEER BAR - 1518 11th Ave - (206) 687-7491

R PLACE - 619 E. Pine - (206) 322-8828

RE-BAR - 1114 Howell at Boren - (206) 233-9873

ROOT TABLE 2213 NW Market St. - (206) 420-3214

SEATTLE EAGLE - 314 E. Pike - (206) 621-7591

SHORTY’S 2222 2nd Ave - (206) 441-5449

STOUT -1530 11th Ave - (206) 397-3825

TOULOUSE PETIT

601 Queen Anne Ave. N - (206) 432-9069

UNICORN - 1118 E Pike - (206) 325-6492

UNION - 1318 E. Union St. - (206) 328-1318

WILDROSE - 1021 E Pike - (206) 324-9210

ZIPPY’S GIANT BURGERS 9614 14th Ave SW - (206) 763-1347

1605 12th Ave. #8 - (206) 328-1965

601 Queen Anne Ave N - 432-9069

UNICORN - 1118 E Pike - 325-6492

OZ - 3831 Stone Way N - (206) 251-0630

PACIFIC NORTHWEST SHOP

4411 Wallingford Ave. N. - (206) 535-6920

PANACHE - 225 Broadway E. - (206) 726-3300

PONDER - 2413 E Union - (206) 420-2180

RUCKUS - 1465 E Republican St - (206) 257-4805

TABOO ADULT VIDEO

9813 16th Ave SW - (206) 767-4855

TRUE LOVE ART GALLERY & TATTOO

1525 Summit Ave. - (206) 227-3572

UNDER U 4 MEN

709 Broadway Ave. E - (206) 324-6446

UNCLE IKE’S

2310 E Union St - 1-800-GET-DRUGS 501 15th Ave E - 1-800-GET-DRUGS

9822 15th Ave SW - 1-800-GET-DRUGS

WILD AT HEART

1111 NW Leary Way - (206) 782-5538

BELLINGHAM

LOVER'S

193 Telegraph Road - (360) 752-1862

RUMORS CABARET 1119 Railroad - (360) 671-1849

DES MOINES

ADULT AIRPORT VIDEO 2 21635 Pacific Hwy S

ADULT

LOVER’S - 112 SE Everett - (425) 353-3607

LOVER’S - 3402 Broadway - (425) 252-8754

KENT

WILDROSE - 1021 E. Pike - 324-9210

ZIPPY’S GIANT BURGERS

5633 Airport Way S - 466-5954

9614 14th Ave SW - 763-1347

LOVER’S - 25801 104th Ave. SE - (253) 852-1720

RETAIL SHOPS

THE FANTASY SHOP 604 Central Ave. S - (253) 850-8428

CASTLE SUPERSTORE #17

NASHVILLE’S SPORTS BAR (Drag Shows) 114 - Railroad Ave. N - (253) 852-0909

1017 E. Pike St - 204-0126

DOGHOUSE LEATHERS 1312 E. Pike St. - 257-0231

LA CONNER

EMERSON SALON - 909 E. Pike St. - 323-7437

HASHTAG - 3540 Stone Way N - 946-8157

NEW YORK EXCHANGE

THE HERON INN & WATERGRASS DAY SPA 117 Maple Ave. - (877) 883-8899 info@theheron.com

225 Broadway E. - 726-3300

ONYX LEATHER - 1605 12th Ave. #8 - 328-1965

OZ - 3831 Stone Way N - 251-0630

PANACHE

OLYMPIA

225 Broadway E. - 726-3300

RUCKUS 1465 E Republican St. - 257-4805

DARBY’S CAFE

THE FANTASY SHOP 9630 16th Ave. SW - 762-3299

211 5th Ave. SE - (360) 357-6229

LOVER’S 3959 Martin Way E, Suite D - (360) 456-7300

TABOO ADULT VIDEO 9813 16th Ave SW - 767-4855

JAKES - 311 4th Ave. E - (360) 956-3247

TOYS IN BABELAND - 707 E. Pike St. - 328-2914

UNDER U 4 MEN

PORT ANGELES

709 Broadway Ave. E. - 324-6446

MAPLE ROSE INN 112 Reservoir Rd - (800) 570-2007

UNCLE IKE’S 2310 E Union St - 1-800-GET-DRUGS

SPOKANE

501 15th Ave E - 1-800-GET-DRUGS 9822 15th Ave SW - 1-800-GET-DRUGS WILD AT HEART 1111 NW Leary Way - 782-5538

ANDY’S - 1401 W. 1st Ave. - (509) 747-0304

THE BLIND BUCK

BELLINGHAM

204 N. Division St. - (509) 343-9425

GLOBE BAR AND KITCHEN

LOVER’S 193 Telegraph Road - (360) 752-1862

204 N. Division St. - (509) 443-4014

NYNE BAR AND BISTRO

RUMORS CABARET 1119 Railroad - (306) 671-1849

232 W. Sprague Ave. - (509) 474-1621

DES MOINES

EVERETT

KENT

LA CONNER

TACOMA

CASTLE SUPERSTORE

OLYMPIA

PORT

SPOKANE

TRI-CITIES

TACOMA

TRI-CITIES

TUKWILA

Meetings Events Activities

TO GET A CALENDAR LISTING: To have your meeting or event considered for the Community Calendar, please mail, fax, or drop off details to: SGN, Attn: Community Calendar, 1707 23rd Ave., Seattle, WA 98122. SGN phone: (206) 324-4297. E-mail: sgn2@sgn.org.

INCLUDE: Date, time, location, contact phone # for publication (if possible), brief description of event & sponsoring organization. DEADLINE: Tuesday 5pm.

NOTE: 10-digit dialing has come to the Seattle area. The (206) area code must now be used to dial local calls. Location of meetings/events is in Seattle unless otherwise noted.

SATURDAY - April 20

Seattle Frontrunners Fun Run. 9am. Greenlake (outside Evans Pool). Every Saturday. GLBT running & walking club sponsors weekly runs, monthly potlucks, track & field activity, annual Run With Pride. (206) 4488518. www.seattlefrontrunners.org.

Positively Living Coffee Social. 10am-12 noon. Cupcake Royale, 1111 E Pike St. Every Saturday. Casual social get-together for the HIV community. (206) 9571600. Sponsored by LIfelong. New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100, Room 3. Meets daily. Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous is a 12-step/12-tradition-oriented fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope to overcome sex and love patterns of addiction. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org. Lambert House Queer Rec. 1pm. 1818 15th Ave. Meets 3rd Saturday each month. Outdoor & indoor adventures for youth ages 22 & under. www.lamberthouse.org

PNW G/B/Q Longhaired Men. 2pm. Locations vary. Check the website for details. An informal social group for longhairs, growers, longhair admirers & their friends. We gather for brunch on the 3rd Saturday each month to socialize, chat & often go out afterwards for coffee or some activity. Please join us! For information & to RSVP: www.longhair.shorturl.com

Seattle Prime Timers Monthly Potluck. 2pm. Plymouth Church, 1217 6th Ave (downtown between University & Seneca), lounge. Meets 3rd Saturday most months. Cost: $5 per person (please try to bring exact change) to help pay for room rental. Please bring a dish that will serve eight or more to share. Free parking below the church (entrance on University). Enter lounge via garage elevator (to 2nd floor) or front doors on 6th. Info: www. seattleprimetimers.org.

Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 6pm-12 midnight. Call for location & details. Every Saturday. (253) 671-2838. www.oasisyouthcenter.org.

Seattle Women’s Chorus: “Legends of Rock.” 7pm. South Whidbey HS Performing Arts Center, 5675 Maxwelton Rd, Langley. Tribute to loud, proud women of rock including Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith and many more, with special guest artist Sarah Rudinoff. Benefits Citizens Against Domestic and Sexual Abuse (CADA). Tickets: $25 through Brown Paper Tickets, (800) 8383006 or www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4101492. More info: www.seattlechoruses.org. (Also Sun., April 28 at Benaroya Hall, Seattle. See listing.)

SUNDAY - April 21

EASTER

Center for Spiritual Living. 9am meditation; 9:30am & 11am services. The Mountaineers, 7701 Sand Point Way NE. Blessings & we hope to see you soon! (206) 527-8801 ext 203, www.cslseattle.org Gay Men’s Bowling in Everett 9:30am. Glacier Lanes, 9630 Evergreen Way, Everett. Every Sunday. Spectators welcome. Join us for lunch afterwards! Sponsored by the Snohomish County Gay Men’s Task Force. For info email John at johndmarsh@mac.com; www.gaysnohomish.org Tacoma First United Methodist Church. 9:30am Worship, 11am Adult Education. 423 Martin Luther King Way, Tacoma. This reconciling congregation welcomes with warm hands, warm hearts & open minds GLBT persons seeking a spiritual home. (253) 627-0129, www. fumctacoma.org

University Lutheran Church. 9:30am Worship, 10:30am Coffee Fellowship, 11am Adult Forum & Education Hour. 1604 NE 50th St. All are welcome. We choose love. (206) 525-7074. universitylutheranseattle.org Baha’i Prayer & Fellowship Circle. 10am. Pearl Warren Bldg, 606 12th Ave S. Meets 3rd Sunday each month. Share prayers, readings, thoughts & music. All backgrounds, all faiths welcome. (206) 391-2188. Plymouth Church United Church of Christ. 10am Worship. 1217 6th Ave. Love your (LGBTQ) neighbor as yourself. (206) 622-4865, plymouthchurchseattle.org University Congregational United Church of Christ. 9am all ages education; 10am Worship. 4515 16th Ave NE. UCUCC is an open & affirming congregation. (206) 524-2322; www.universityucc.org.

Wallingford United Methodist Church. 10am Worship. 2115 N 42nd St. A progressive congregation. In 1984 Wallingford UMC became the 9th reconciling Methodist church in the U.S. (206) 547-6945 (office); (206) 2855077 (George).

All Pilgrims Christian Church. 10:30am Worship. 500 Broadway E. Come as you are. All are welcome. A congregation of the Disciples of Christ & the United Church of Christ. (206) 322-0487, www.allpilgrims.org

Ethyl Forever Car Club, Pacific NW Region Lambda Car Club Monthly Tire Kick/Social. 10:30am. Randy’s

community calendar

Restaurant, 10016 E Marginal Way S (south of the Museum of Flight). Meets 3rd Sunday each month.

This monthly informal auto enthusiasts’ event starts with breakfast and a show & tell, and continues to a chosen point of interest. Open to all LGBTQ persons & friends who have an interest in the automobile, not just collector or performance vehicles. ethylforever@hotmail.com

Northminster Presbyterian Church. 10:30am Worship. 7706 25th Ave NW. A village church in the city open to all. (206) 783-3402. www.northminsterpres.org (Conveniently located a block from the Metro #40 bus route.)

St. Clement’s Episcopal Church. 10:30am Worship. 1501 32nd Ave S. Great music. Dynamic preaching. Holy communion. Encountering the transformative and unconditional love of God in Christ. Join us! www. stclementseattle.org

Seattle Sunday Bowling. 10:30am. West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW (at SW Oregon St). Open bowl every Sunday for the GLBT community & friends. You don’t have to worry about how you bowl! $6.50 + $3 shoe rental. (425) 785-4729.

Emerald City Metropolitan Community Church Seattle. 11am Worship. Chapel at University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St. MCC is a progressive Christ-centered faith community committed to providing a nurturing environment for individual & community growth thru Jesus Christ while celebrating unity in diversity. MCC is Seattle’s oldest Gay-friendly church. (206) 325-2421, www.mccseattle.org. Meditation for GBT Men. 11am-1pm. Cal Anderson House, 400 Broadway. Suitable for beginning & experienced meditators. Sponsored by Dharma Buddies. Contact Forrest Rode, (206) 920-6117, or Doug Allison, doug.l.allison@gmail.com. Find us under “Dharma Buddies” on Meetup.com or at DharmaBuddies.org. (Women are invited to contact our sister meditation group at www. LotusSisters.org.)

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. 11:15am (also 7:30am, 9am, 5pm). 15 W Roy St. We are an accepting, progressive, Anglo-Catholic parish, renewing its people for their Christian lives in today’s world through worship, spiritual formation, engagement in the arts, and acts of compassion. www.stpaulseattle.com

Just for Today (NA). 12-1:15pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100. Every Sunday. Drop-in 12-step Narcotics Anonymous group open to anyone in recovery. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

Paths to Recovery Al-Anon Family Group. 12-1:30pm. Seattle University Student Center, 901 12th Ave, Room 122. Every Sunday. LGBTQ supported. The Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives & friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength & hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness & that changed attitudes can aid recovery. Greater Seattle AIS 24-hour number (206) 625-0000; www.seattle-al-anon.org

Orca Swim Team Workout. Sun: Afternoon; Mon/ Weds/Fri: Evenings; Tues/Thurs: Mornings. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. Pre-registration required. Orca Swim Team workouts are for both competitive & recreational swimmers. www. orcaswimteam.org

Easter Bonnet Contest! 3-5pm with parade at 4pm. C.C. Attle’s, 1701 E Olive Way. Free entry, cash prizes (1st place $100, 2nd place $50, 3rd place $25). Presented by Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle and hosted by Olympia 43 Rodeo Drive; proceeds benefit JC/Lady Graytop Scholarship Fund. Info: www.imperialcourtofseattle.org or www.facebook.com/ISCSORE. Rain City Soccer Club - Kickabout. Sunday afternoon usually at 3pm. Location varies. Join us for Seattle’s mostly-weekly mostly-LGBTQ pickup soccer game. We play an organized, 2-hour scrimmage on nice fieldturf surface. Sometimes there is a brief training/practice session before we play. Usually there is a “one-beer” after the scrimmage. To sign up visit www.raincitysoccer.org Seattle Poly Potluck & Discussion Group. 5-8pm. (contact for new location) Meets 3rd Sunday each month. For people interested in polyamorous, open, and ethically non-monogamous relationships. $5 donation; please bring a potluck dish. This event is open to the public. Look for us on Facebook or Meetup. Shame to Grace (SAA). 6-7:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100. Every Sunday. Sex Addicts Anonymous is a fellowship of men & women who share their experience, strength & hope with each other so they may overcome their sexual addiction & help others recover from sexual addiction or dependency. Seattle SAA helpline (206) 237-8828, SAA International Service Organization 1-800-477-8191. (206) 322-2437. www. peerseattle.org Pride League Bowling. 6:30pm. West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW. Every Sunday. Regular league bowling. Jeff, (206) 932-3731; leagues@wsbowl.com. Integrity/Puget Sound. 7pm Worship & Fellowship. St. Mark’s Cathedral, Thomson Chapel, 1245 10th Ave E. Integrity is an international ministry of Gay & Lesbian

Episcopalians, their friends & families, dedicated to education, support & service within the Church & the GLBT community. (425) 226-2746.

MONDAY - April 22

New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

SOBER On Meds. 1-2pm. Peer Seattle 1520 Bellevue Ave #100. Every Monday. 12-step group open to anyone in recovery & living on a medicine regimen. (206) 3222437; www.peerseattle.org

Strength Over Speed (SOS). 2-3:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100. Peer support for Gay and Bisexual men recovering from crystal meth addiction. www.strengthoverspeed.org. (206) 322-2437, www. peerseattle.org

Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)

Meditation Class for LGBTQ Seniors. 6:30pm. GenPride Senior Center, 401 Broadway E, Suite 223. Free class every Monday for LGBTQ seniors, their caregivers and allies. Beginners welcome. www.gapseattle.org Freely Speaking Toastmasters. 7pm. Gay City, 517 E Pike St, downstairs space. Every Monday (except holidays & the last Mondays in August & December). Seattle’s only LGBT speaking club. www.FreelySpeaking.org

Lotus Sisters South Seattle/Columbia City Meditation & Dharma Discussion. Gather at 6:45pm; sit at 7pm. Meets 4th Monday each month. Short presentation with discussion to follow. Oriented to LBTQ sisters. Email us or call (206) 550-5587 for details and location; www. LotusSisters.org. (Wheelchair accessible.)

PFLAG/South King County Monthly Meeting. 7pm. Unitarian Universalist Church, 25701 14th Pl S, Kent Meets 4th Monday each month. Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays is a national support organization for parents, spouses & families of GLBT persons, as well as those sexual minorities. PFLAG/Puget Sound: (206) 325-7724.

Trans Youth Group. 7-8:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Monday. A chance for youth to talk with others about their experiences & concerns related to identifying as Transgender. www.lamberthouse.org Destiny/Unity AA Meeting in Tacoma 7:30-8:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N “K” St, Tacoma. Every Monday. LGBTQ-friendly AA meeting. (253) 474-8897. (Also meets Fridays.)

Lambert House Art Night. 7:30-9:30pm. 1818 15th Ave. Every Monday. Bring your ideas & let’s have some fun. (206) 322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org

Leslie Jordan – “EXPOSED!” 7:30pm. Triple Door, 216 Union St. Emmy Award-winning star of “Will & Grace,” “The Cool Kids,” etc. in a one-night appearance benefiting The AMP: AIDS Memorial Parkway. Sponsored by BECU, SGN, and Unite Seattle. Tickets $45, at www. tickets.tripledoor.net or (206) 838-4333.

Washington Gender Alliance Support Group Meeting in Shoreline 7:30pm. Center for Human Services, 17018 15th Ave NE, Shoreline. Every Monday. www. washingtongenderalliance.com

TUESDAY - April 23

Orca Swim Team Workout. Morning. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)

New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave #100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

LGBTQ+ Group. 1:15-2:15pm. Orion Center, 1828 Yale Ave. Every Tuesday. A group for LGBTQ youth ages 13-24 & their allies. Sponsored by YouthCare. (206) 622-5555.

LGBTQ Questioning & Allied Youth Drop-in Group in Renton. 6-8pm. Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS), 1025 S 3rd St, Renton. Every Tuesday. Confidential. Snacks provided. Bring friends or come alone - anyone 12-18 is welcome. Questions? Call Sarah Hardin, (425) 271-5600 ext 155, or email sarahh@rays.org Strength Over Speed (SOS). 6-7:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Peer support for Gay and Bisexual men recovering from crystal meth addiction. www.strengthoverspeed.org. (206) 322-2437; www. peerseattle.org

ALISS - Aging Lesbians in South Seattle Evening Gathering. 6:30-8pm. Southeast Seattle Senior Center, 4655 S Holly St, Rainier Ave S & S Holly St., Social Hall. Meets 2nd & 4th Tuesday each month. This is a group primarily for Lesbians but all are welcome to attend. Facilitator: Fai Coffin; Cost: FREE. Metro route 7. Wheelchair accessible. Kate, (206) 722-0317; www.sessc.org. Diverse Harmony. 6:30-9pm. Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Ave. Every Tuesday. Diverse Harmony is the nation’s first Gay/Straight Alliance Youth Chorus. Youth ages 13-22 are welcome regardless of sexual orientation. www.diverseharmony.org LGBTQ MS Connection/National MS Society. 6:308pm. Swedish Conference Center, Cherry Hill Campus, James Tower, 550 17th Avenue, Room E, 1st Floor. Meets 2nd & 4th Tuesday each month. MS Connection is a support group with the goal of providing a safe environment for the LGBT community to express their experiences and the impact of MS on their lives and the lives of their loved ones, as well as provide support

for one another. Contact Shelly at (206) 250-5002 or LGBTMSConnection@gmail.com.

No Man’s Land - For Female-Identified Youth, Ages 22 & Under. 7-8:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Tuesday. Topics range from family issues to school happenings to like/lust/love relationships. All Queer females welcome. Come discuss how smart. strong Queer women live their lives. (206) 322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org

PFLAG/North Seattle Monthly Meeting. 7-9pm. Haller Lake United Methodist Church, 13055 1st Ave NE. Meets 4th Tuesday each month. (206) 325-7724 or northseattle@pflagseattle.org. PFLAG, a national organization founded in 1972, provides support, education and advocacy for families and friends of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer persons and is committed to moving LGBTQ equality forward. Tuesday Night Sex Addicts Anonymous (GLBTQI). 7-8:30pm. All Pilgrims Christian Church, 500 Broadway E (enter at 509 10th Ave E; buzz in, Colonial room). Every Tuesday. SAA is a fellowship of men & women whose primary purpose is to stop addictive sexual behavior & help others recover from sexual addiction. Seattle SAA helpline (206) 237-8828. SAA International Service Organization 1-800-477-8191. Here & Now Gay & Lesbian AA Meeting in Tacoma 7:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N “K” St, Tacoma. Every Tuesday.

Men’s Discussion Group. 7:30-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Every Tuesday. Peer group for Gay & Bi men. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

Spiritual Empowerment. 7:30-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. A vibrant drop-in workshop for those of any spiritual belief. (206) 322-2437; www. peerseattle.org

Seattle Otters Water Polo Team. 8-9:30pm. Medgar Evers Pool, 500 23rd Ave E (at E Cherry St). Every Tuesday & Thursday. GLBT & GLBT-friendly co-ed water polo team is open to all who want to play. Beginners & experienced players welcome. Check our website for up to the minute details, or call the Otter Hotline (206) 414-8797. www.otterpolo.com

Seattle Poetry Slam. Doors 8pm, Show 8:30pm. Rebar, 1114 Howell St. Every Tuesday. A spoken word poetry event that features a weekly open mic, feature poet, and slam (poetry competition). Come out and express yourself. LGBTQ- & QTPOC-friendly; all genders welcome. $5. 21+. seattlepoetryslam.org

WEDNESDAY - April 24

Mature Friends Walk Around Greenlake. 11am. Meet up at 10:50am with a group of older men gathered at the north end of the parking lot that is next to the boathouse along the southwest side of Greenlake. Every Wednesday. Walk around Greenlake followed by lunch at a local restaurant. www.maturefriends.org

Mature Friends Dining Out Luncheon. 12 noon. Roosters Restaurant, 611 Broadway E. Meets 2nd & 4th Wednesday each month. Just drop in - no RSVP required. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www.maturefriends.org New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

True Colors: Connecting LGBTQ Teens in Shoreline 4-5pm. Every Wednesday. Discussing your important issues, building a supportive community. For information, location & to REGISTER call Lindsay Bagley (206) 362-7282 x 8018 or email lbagley@chs-nw.org Living Positively. 5-7pm. Lifelong, 1016 E Pike St., 3rd Fl. Every Wednesday. Social and support group for the HIV community with various topics for discussion and conversation. (206) 957-1600 or www.lifelong.org. Sponsored by Lifelong.

GLOBE (GLBTQ Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered): A Support Group for GLBTQ+Youth (14-20) serving Snohomish County & surrounding communities. 6-8pm. Phone or email for location. Every Wednesday. Sponsored by PFLAG Everett. Brenda, (425) 263-2908. globeleaders@hotmail.com

Queer Seattle Book Club. 6pm. University Book Store Cafe, 4326 University Way NE. Every Wednesday. This month: the plays of Tennessee Williams (see website for details). https://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/ SGLBookClub/ Lotus Sisters Meditation & Dharma DiscussionNorth. 6:15-8pm. Ravenna Bryant neighborhood. Every Wednesday. Call (206) 525-7295 for location. www. LotusSisters.org.

Seattle Frontrunners Fun Run. 6:30pm. Volunteer Park, 14th Ave E & E Prospect St. Every Wednesday. Meet at Black Sun sculpture across for museum. (See Saturday at 9am.)

Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)

Ingersoll All-Trans Drop-In Support Group. 7-9pm. Seattle Counseling Services, 1216 Pine St, Suite 300. Every Wednesday. All Transgender, Gender Variant, Gender Queer, Gender Questioning, allies, family & friends are welcome. This is a drop in group to get & give support, social interaction & information for the whole Gender community. No fee, donations welcome. www. ingersollcenter.org

Mature Friends Weekly Bridge Group. 7pm. Wallingford Community Senior Center, lower level of Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnywide Ave N. Every Wednesday. All levels welcome. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www. maturefriends.org

SEAMEC Monthly Meeting. 7pm. 1605 12th Ave, Suite 21. Meets 4th Wednesday each month. SEAMEC inter-

community calendar

views, researches & rates candidates for public office on issues of concern to the LGBT community. www. voteseamec.org

Washington Gender Alliance Open Support Meeting in Everett 7:30-9pm. Everett United Church of Christ, 2624 Rockefeller Ave, Everett. Every Wednesday. Trained peer facilitators lead a structured support meeting helping people deal with issues of gender identity & expression. All adults are welcomed, including those who are questioning, allies, or identify as FTM, MTF, Transgender, Queer, or Intersex, among others. (360) 445-2411; www.washingtongenderalliance.com.

THURSDAY - April 25

Dining Out for Life. All day. Various locations. 26th annual fundraiser for Lifelong’s vital services to people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic illness, as well as to homebound seniors. Over 90 participating Seattlearea restaurants will donate 30-50% of their proceeds, so “Eat your generous heart out!” See list of participating restaurants at www.diningoutforlife.com/seattle.

Orca Swim Team Workout. Morning. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)

Aging Ballard Lesbian Exchange (A.B.L.E.) Monthly Lunch Get-Together. 12 noon. Ballard NW Senior Center, 5429 32nd Ave NW. Meets 4th Thursday each month. Look for the A.B.L.E. sign on the table. We are Lesbians, 60 years (generally) and up, living (mostly) in the north half of Seattle. The purpose of this group is to connect, socialize, and support each other. We have been meeting since 2015. The group hosts evening potlucks, outings and get-togethers. Co-sponsored by Puget Sound Old Lesbians Organizing for Change. (PSOLOC).

BABES Women’s Support Group/Lunch Meeting. 12-2pm. Call for location. Every Thursday. The BABES Network is a peer led agency; a sisterhood of women facing HIV together. (206) 720-5566 or 888-292-1912; www.babesnetwork.org.

New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

Safe and Sober (AA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 4-10pm. Call for location & details. Every Thursday. (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter.org (Also Fridays 4-10pm & Saturdays 6pm-12 midnight.)

Everett-Snohomish County Friendship Dinner for persons living with HIV/AIDS, their friends, and for those who want to support them. 6pm. Trinity Lutheran Church, 2324 Lombard Ave, Everett. Meets last Thursday each month. For further information, please call 360-202-3978. Sponsored by AIDS Project Snohomish County (APSC) and Gay Men’s Task Force. B-GLAD (Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans & Questioning Adolescent Drop-In Group). 6:30-8pm. Call for location. Every Thursday. Sponsored by Youth Eastside Services, which offers many programs for GLBT youth. (425) 747-4937.

Boys Group - For Male-Identified Youth, Ages 1422. 7-8:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Thursday. Youth take the opportunity to talk about issues that relate to their everyday lives, with the facilitation of a male volunteer. (206) 322-2515 ext 16. www. lamberthouse.org

Linked Lives: Disrupting the Cycle of Social Isolation. 7pm. Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave. Prof. Karen Fredriksen Goldsen of the UW School of Social Work lectures on the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation, and how to address it effectively. Presented in partnership with the Frye Museum’s Creative Aging Programs. Info: https://fryemuseum.org. 21st Century Bowling. 7pm. West Seattle Bowl, 4505 39th Ave SW. Every Thursday. Regular league bowling. Jeff, (206) 932-3731; leagues@wsbowl.com. Buddhism & Recovery. 7:30-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100 Every Thursday. A meditation/ recovery group. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org Gay Fathers Association of Seattle. 7:30-9pm. Group Health, 201 16th Ave E, Central Bldg, Lower Atrium. Every Thursday. Support meetings for Gay fathers & Gay men who are currently or previously married. Safe, anonymous, non-judgmental environment of caring fathers & friends. You are not alone. For information, community events & “questioning” visit www.gfas.org or our message board at http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/ gayfathersseattle

Gay Male Sexuality & Relationships. 7:30-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Every Thursday. Ongoing support group open to Gay and Bisexual men. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org [NOTE: Please contact the facilitator prior to attending.]

Seattle Otters Water Polo Team. 8-9:30pm. Medgar Evers Pool, 500 23rd Ave E (at E Cherry St). Every Tuesday & Thursday. (See Tuesday listing at 8pm.)

FRIDAY - April 26

Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival. 10am-6pm. Seattle Center Armory and Fisher Pavilion. Performances, exhibits, demonstrations, food, and children’s activities celebrating Japan’s cultural heritage. Performances include Taiko drumming, martial

arts, choral music, much more. Info: www.cherryblossomfestiorg. (Continues Sat.-Sun., April 27-28.)

Ageless in Recovery (AA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Every Friday. A drop-in AA group for 55+. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

New Beginnings (SLAA). 12-1pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100, Room 3. Meets daily. (See Saturday listing at noon for details.)

Road to Recovery (SLAA). 12-1:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Every Friday. Ongoing 12-step group for sex and love addicts. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

Lake City Seniors LGBTQ2+Allies Peer Support Group. 1-2:30pm. Lake City Community Center, 12531 28th Ave NE. Meets last Friday most months. Please call to confirm. Small group of mostly 50+ come together to connect, share and learn from one another. For questions or more information, please contact Claudine Wallace, (206) 472-5471 or claudinew@soundgenerations.org.

Oasis Youth Center in Tacoma - For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender & Questioning Youth, Ages 14-25. 4-10pm. Call for location & details. Every Friday. (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter.org (Also Thursdays 4-10pm & Saturdays 6pm-12 midnight.)

LGBTQ & Allies 18+ Free Friday Night Drop-In Volleyball. 6-7:45pm. Miller Community Center, 330 19th Ave E. Every Friday. (206) 684-4753.

Orca Swim Team Workout. Evening. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)

Strength Over Speed (SOS). 6-7:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Peer support for Gay and Bisexual men recovering from crystal meth addiction. www.strengthoverspeed.org. (206) 322-2437; www. peerseattle.org

Game Night. 7pm-11pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100 Every Friday. Card games, board games and fellowship. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

Lambert House Queer Movie Night. 7-9:30pm. Lambert House, 1818 15th Ave. Every Friday. Lambert House is a nationally-recognized activities & resource center for GLBT & questioning youth, ages 14-22. (206) 322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org

Rain Country Dance Night. 7-11pm, lessons at 7:15pm. The Cuff, 1533 13th Ave. An evening of country-western dancing for the LGBTQ community. FREE. www.raincountrydance.org.

Destiny/Unity AA Meeting in Tacoma 7:30-8:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N “K” St, Tacoma. Every Friday. LGBTQ-friendly AA meeting. (253) 474-8897. (Also meets Mondays.)

LGBT Friday Night Al-Anon Family Group. 8-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100, Room 3. Every Friday. The Al-Anon Family Groups are a fellowship of relatives & friends of alcoholics who share their experience, strength & hope in order to solve their common problems. We believe alcoholism is a family illness & that changed attitudes can aid recovery. Greater Seattle AIS 24-hour number (206) 625-0000; www.seattle-al-anon. org; (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

SATURDAY - April 27

(See previous Saturday for ongoing activities.)

Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival. 10am-6pm. Seattle Center Armory and Fisher Pavilion. See Fri., April 26 listing. (Contiunues Sun., April 28.) Seattle Counseling Service 50th Anniversary Gala. 5pm (VIP), 6pm (GA). Westin Seattle, 1900 5th Ave. Join host Aleksa Manila in celebrating SCS’s 50 years of service to the local LGBTQ community. Tickets ($250 VIP, $200 GA) and info at (206) 323-1768 or https:// seattlecounseling.org.

Mature Friends Monthly Potluck. 6pm. Wallingford Community Senior Center, Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Suite 140. Monthly potluck meets last Saturday most months. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www. maturefriends.org

SUNDAY - April 28

(See previous Sunday for ongoing activities.)

Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival. 10am-6pm. Seattle Center Armory and Fisher Pavilion. See Fri., April 26 listing. Earth Gay at Colman Park. 10am. Colman Park, 1800 Lake Washington Blvd S. Make new friends, connect with old ones. Sponsored by Patagonia Seattle and the National Parks Conservation Association.

Volunteer Park Spring Restoration Day. 10am-2pm. Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave E. Join your neighbors in helping clean, mulch, weed, and generally spruce up Volunteer Park for spring and summer fun. Free coffee and donuts served. For more info contact Jeff Rinedahl at jeff@volunteerparktrust.org or (206) 353-9148. Vernal Moon Black Owl Market. 12 noon-6pm. Fred Wildlife Refuge, 128 Belmont Ave E. More than 20 artists and craftspeople offer unique goods from the PNW. Also features Tarot readings, tattoos, and gift for first 25 attendees. Free, all ages (bar 21+). www. blackowlmarket.com.

No Safeword Writers Group. 1pm. See website for location. Meets 2nd & 4th Sunday each month. NSWG exists to provide mutual support for members’ efforts. Support is in the form of critique & commentary on each

other’s work, information about publishing opportunities, & discussion of issues facing writers. NSWG’s primary focus is erotic writing - but they welcome anyone who writes. The only requirements are to write, to attend, & to be respectful. For info & location, www.nosafewordwritersgroup.org

Trans Shorts & Speed Friending. 1:30-4pm. Seattle Public Library, University Branch, 5009 Roosevelt Way NE. Fourth annual free mixer for Queer/Trans people featuring fun movies, “speed-friending” activity with discussion prompts, and refreshments. Info: (206) 684-4063.

Seattle Prime Timers Rap Group. 1:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Room 1. Meets 4th Sunday each month. This month’s topic: “How has wealth corrupted our values?” Coffee and tea will be served. Parking available for $5 at 1521 Belmont Ave. (between Pine and Pike). Info: www.seattleprimetimers.org. Seattle Women’s Chorus: “Legends of Rock.” 4pm. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St. Tribute to loud, proud women of rock including Tina Turner, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith and many more, with special guest artist Sarah Rudinoff. Tickets: $15-65 at www.seattlechoruses.org or (206) 388-1400.

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Allyship - an organization of LGBTQ individuals fighting for economic and social justice. www.LGBTQAllyship. org, allyship@yahoo.com, (206) 279-8169. American Veterans for Equal Rights - www.aver.us Another Gay Social Club! - www.meetup.com/AnotherGay-Social-Club/ Bellingham/Whatcom County - www.theslowlane. com/guide.html

BiNet Seattle is a mixed gender, social group for Bisexuals, their partners & other Bi-friendly folks - www. binetseattle.org.

Bremerton/Kitsap County - www.outwestsound.org Capitol Hill Alano Club - www.chacseattle.org

Cascade Rainbow Community Center (Mount Vernon) - (360) 840-8499 and on Facebook.

COLAGE unites people with LGBTQ parents and caregivers into a network of peers and supports them as they nurture and empower each other to be skilled, self-confident, and just leaders in our collective communities - www.colage.org

Central Washington University GALA Hotline: (509) 963-1994.

DIFFA/Northwest (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS). (206) 763-8885; www.diffanorthwest. org

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT: Crisis Clinic, (206) 461-3222 (24 hour line); King County Sexual Assault Resource Center (KCSARC) - 24-hour crisis line for information, support, & medical & legal assistance: 1-888-99-VOICE; Northwest Networksupport & advocacy for Bisexual, Trans, Lesbian & Gay Survivors of Abuse & Dating Violence, (206) 568-7777 (voice), 517-9670 (tty), www.nwnetwork.org; Pierce County Domestic Violence Helpline: Teresa, (253) 798-4166; Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities - offers on-going support groups for men: 323-1768; Seattle Police Dept Domestic Violence Unit, (206) 684-0330; State Wide Domestic Violence Hot Line, 1-800-562-6025. In an emergency call 911 Report domestic violence and sexual assault. Equal Rights Washington - (206) 324-2570; www. equalrightswashington.org

Everett/Snohomish Cty - www.gaysnohomish.org

Freely Speaking Toastmasters - www.freelyspeaking.org

Gay City promotes wellness in LGBTQ communities by providing health services, connecting people to resources, fostering arts, and building community. Gay City Health Project’s Wellness Center provides anonymous & confidential HIV/STD testing. 517 E Pike St. More info or to schedule an appointment, (206) 860-6969. www.gaycity.org

Gay & Lesbian National Hotline (GLNH): 1-888-THEGLNH (1-888-843-4564). Non-profit, peer-counseling, information & local resources telephone hotline for GLBT people across the country.

Generations Aging With Pride empowers elder LGBTQ adults to live with pride and dignity by promoting, connecting, and developing innovative programs and services that enhance belonging and support, eliminate discrimination, and honor the lives of older members of our community - (206) 393-3400; info@gapseattle.org; gapseattle.org

GLSEN/WA - Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network - (206) 330-2099; www.glsenwa.org

Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) - (206) 363-9188; www.thegsba.org

HIV/AIDS Program, Seattle/King County Dept of Public Health, provides confidential/anonymous information about & testing for HIV/AIDS. (206) 205-7837. For a comprehensive list of HIV/AIDS service organizations see the GSBA Guide or visit www.thegsba.org or call Lifelong AIDS Alliance, (206) 328-8979.

Imperial Sovereign Court of Seattle & the Olympic & Rainier Empire - www.facebook.com/ISCSORE; www. imperialcourtofseattle.com

Lambert House - (206) 322-2515; www.lamberthouse. org

LGBT Library - 517 E Pike St. Open Mon-Fri 2-8pm; Sat 2-5pm. A wide range of fiction and non-fiction for the LGBT community and allies can be borrowed free of charge.

LGBT MS Connection - (206) 250-5002; LGBTMSConnection@gmail.com. Support group for LGBT persons with MS and their partners and their caregivers. Sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Lifelong AIDS Alliance - (206) 328-8979, www.lifelongaids alliance.org

Lion’s Main Art Collective - www.lionsmain.org

MEN: Gay City: (206) 860-6969, www.gaycity.org; Knights of Mantra: (206) 329-0886, www.jetchapterkofm.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.maturefriends.org; Northwest Bears: www. nwbears.com; The Olympians: www.TheOlympians. net; POZSeattle: www.pozseattle.com; Q-Squared: www.qsquared.org; Rain City Jacks: www.raincityjacks. org; Seattle Gay Couples: www. seattlegaycouples.org; Seattle Men in Leather: www.seattlemeninleather. org; Seattle Prime Timers: Gay & Bi men 40 & over, www. seattle primetimers.org; Tacoma Older LGBT: www. tacomaolderlgbt.org. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.)

MUSIC: Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; Rainbow City Band: 1-866-841-9139 ext 2126; rainbowcityband@onebox.com; www.rainbowcity band. com; Seattle Men’s Chorus and Seattle Women’s Chorus: (206) 388-1408, (206) 323-0750. www.seattlechoruses.org.

Northwest Lesbian & Gay History Museum Project - gayhistnw@aol.com

Northwest Rainbow Alliance for the Deaf - www. nwrad.org

Olympia/Thurston County - www.RainbowCenterOly. org

Out & Equal Workplace Advocates/Seattle Regional Affiliate supports the work of LGBT employees and the growing number of ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) making a difference within local companies, including Alaska Airlines, Amazon.com, Amgen, AT&T, Bank of America, Deloitte, Macy’s, Microsoft, Russell Investments, Safeco Insurance, Starbucks Coffee, Xerox. www.outandequal.org/affiliates/seattle Out & Proud Grays Harbor Coalition - http://outandproudgh.org

PARENTHOOD: Families Like Ours provides a gateway for LGBT families interested in adoption & provides a network of safe placement agencies, training, support & resources: (206) 441-7602, www.familieslikeours. org; Family Works offers support, information & activities for LGBT families: (206) 694-6727, www.familyworksseattle. org; Gay Fathers’ Association of Seattle offers support groups & social activities: www.gfas. org; Proud & Loud Families - Northwest, www.meetup.com/proudand-loud-families-northwest, plfnorthwest@aol.com; Queer Parent Networking Dinners: (206) 568-7777, qpnd@nwnetwork.org, www.nwnetwork.org; Rainbow Families of Puget Sound: www.rainbowfamiliesps.org

PFLAG is the national organization for parents, families, allies, and LGBTQ people united for equality with chapters in Seattle, Bellevue/Eastside, the Puget Sound region and across Washington state. PFLAG Seattle: (206) 325-7724, info@pflagseattle.org, and www.pflagseattle.org; PFLAG Bellevue/Eastside: (425) 483-6642, info@bellevue-pflag.org, http://community. pflag.org/PFLAGBellevue; PFLAG Pacific Northwest: www.pnwpflag.org; PFLAG Washington State: www. pflagwsc.org.

Peer Seattle (formerly Seattle Area Support Groups) is a non-profit organization that builds community and cultivates powerful, healthy lives by providing emotional support and personal development services to those affected by HIV/AIDS, the Queer communities, and those who love them. Our work is done in a spirit of safety, trust, inclusiveness, and celebration of individual differences. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org

PEOPLE OF COLOR: AARTH (African American Reach & Teach Health Ministry), (206) 850-2070, www.aarth.org; Asian/Pacific Islander Queer Network Program at API Chaya, (206) 467-9976; Center for MultiCultural Health, (206) 461-6910, www.multiculturalhealth.org; Entre Hermanos, GLBT Latinos/as, (206) 322-7700, www.entrehermanos.org; Ile LaiLai, (206) 781-3565, iya@ilelailai.org; Men of All Colors & Cultures Together (MACCT), (206) 923-8313, macctseattle@yahoo.com, www.macctsea.org; Northwest Two Spirit Society, https://www.facebook.com/ groups/nw2spiritsociety/, Nubian Pride Productions, nubianpride@gmail.com; People of Color Against AIDS Network (POCAAN) offers rapid HIV testing, M-F, 10am-5pm, (206) 322-7061, www.pocaan.org and on Facebook; QBASS - Queer Black Alliance of the South Sound, (253) 256-1846, weareqbass@gmail. com; Sistah 2 Sistah, LBT women of African descent, (206) 322-7061, (206) 255-8951; Somos Seattle, somosseattle.org; Trikone-Northwest, GLBT South Asians, (425) 985-4376, www.trikonenw.org; Two-Spirit Honor Project, 1-866-685-0164; U.T.O.P.I.A. Seattle, www.utopiaseattlewa.org; VietQ Greater Seattle, vietqorganization@gmail.com Pierce County AIDS Foundation - (253) 383-2565; www.piercecountyaids.org Pride Foundation - (206) 323-3318; www.pridefoundation. org Pride Lives - www.facebook.com/PrideLives/ Project NEON is a program of Seattle Counseling Service providing FREE information & services to Gay & Bi men to reduce health risks associated with methamphetamine use. (206) 323-1768. www.crystalneon.org Public Health-Seattle & King County Online Comprehensive Health Information for Sexual Minorities: www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/personal/ glbt.aspx

Q Law: The GLBT Bar Association of WA - (206) 682-6711; www.q-law.org

Q Law GLBT Legal Clinic - (206) 235-7235. Queer Geek! - queergeekseattle.org Rainbow Center - Resource Center for Tacoma/Pierce County LGBTIQA community. Through education, advocacy and celebration, the Rainbow Center expands resources, and safe space for the LGBTQIA community.

community calendar

Tacoma Pride Festival. (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org

Resource & Referral Line can connect you to LGBTfriendly resources throughout Puget Sound and beyond. Call (206) 323-LGBT Mon-Fri 2-8pm; Sat 2-5pm. At other times leave voice mail and your call will be returned. Or visit www.gaycity.org to view list of resources online or through Facebook.

SEAMEC interviews, researches & rates candidates for public office on issues of concern to the LGBT community. www.voteseamec.org

Seattle Area Support Groups & Community Center (SASG) i- SEE LISTING for Peer Seattle.

Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network - BiSeattle.wixsite. com/SBWN and on Facebook.

Seattle Counseling Service for Sexual Minorities is a community mental health service for GLBT persons & their families providing comprehensive mental health services on a sliding scale. (206) 323-1768.

Seattle LGBTQ Commission - (206) 684-4503. www/ seattle.gov/lgbtq

Seattle Out & Proud - (206) 322-9561; www.seattlepride.org

Seattle Police Department Sexual Minorities Community Advisory Council: kim.bogucki@seattle.gov Seattle PrideFest - www.seattlepridefest.org

Seattle Treatment Education Project (STEP) E-zine is an electronic resource distributed to people affected by HIV/AIDS, case managers, front line workers & other health professionals. Now a part of Lifelong AIDS Alliance, (206) 328-8979, www.thebody.com/step/ steppage.html

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network - (202) 328-3244; www.sldn.org

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Abbey of St. Joan - (206) 860-3666; www.theabbey.org

Snohomish Health District HIV/AIDS Program provides free confidential/anonymous HIV counseling & testing 9am-5pm Monday-Friday, until 7pm Tuesdays. (425) 339-5298.

South Sound Q Calendar - LGBTQ events in Tacoma, Olympia & Sound Puget Sound area; www.SouthSoundQCal.com

Spokane/Inland Northwest - www.outspokane.com; www.stonewallnews.net

SPORTS & RECREATION: Bent Car Guys: www. bentcarguys.org; Border Riders Motorcycle Club: www.borderriders.com; Bottom Dwellers Scuba

Club: www.bottomdwellers.org; Capitol Hill Cyclers: join their Facebook group or email capitolhillcycling@ groups.facebook.com or jordan.l.simonson@gmail.com; Cascade Flag Football: www.cascadeflagfootball.org; Cascade Flyers: www.cascadeflyers.org; Emerald City Mudhen Rugby: www.mudhenrugby.com; Emerald City Softball Association: www.emeraldcitysoftball. org, www.eteamz.com/womensecsa; Ethyl Forever Car Club: ethylforever@hotmail.com; Festival of the Babes: www.festivalofthebabes.com; Olympic Yacht Club: www.oycnw.org; OutVentures: outdoor education & recreation activities, www.outventures.org; Pacific Northwest Gay Rodeo Association: www.pacificnwgra.org; Puddletown Squares: www.puddletownsquares.org; Rain City Soccer: www.raincitysoccer.org; Rain Country Dance Association: a country-western dance organization catering to the LGBTQ community but open to all, www.raincountrydance.org; Sea Dawgs: LGBT ice hockey - SkateSeaDawgs@gmail.com and on Facebook; Seattle Frontrunners: www.seattlefrontrunners.org; Seattle Gay Basketball Association: www. seattlegaybasketballassociation.com; Seattle Orca Swim Team: www.orcaswimteam.org; Seattle Otters Water Polo: www.otterpolo.com; Seattle Quake Rugby: www.quakerugby.com; Seattle Tennis Alliance: www. seattletennisalliance.org; Seattle Unified Bowling Association (SUBA): magee98106@aol.com, www. teamseattle.org/bowling.htm, www.theprideleague. com, Century 21 League; Seattle Volleyball Club: www.seattlevolleyballclub.com; Ski Buddies: www. skibuddies.org; Team Seattle Gay Sports Network is an umbrella organization for a wide range of local GLBT sports activities, (206) 367-4064, www.teamseattle.org (see website for comprehensive list of sports clubs); Triangle Recreation Camp at Bender Creek: recreational camping for GLBT folks. Must be 21; ID required. trc@ camptrc.org, www.camptrc.org, 1122 E Pike St #1069, Seattle 98122-3934. Strength Over Speed - www.strengthoverspeed.org Tacoma/Pierce County - Rainbow Center, 2215 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, a resource center for the LGBTIQA community of Pierce County, (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org

Three Dollar Bill Cinema - TWIST: Seattle Queer Film Festival; Translations: Seattle Transgender Film Festival; Outdoor Cinema at Cal Anderson Park. www. threedollarbillcinema.org

TRANSGENDER: Emerald City Social Club: (425) 827-9494; Gender Alliance of the South Sound: www.SouthSoundGender.com; Gender Diversity: www.genderdiversity.org; Gender Justice League:

www.genderjusticeleague.org; Gender Odyssey: www.genderodyssey.com; Hermanos Trans Latino & Foreign-Born Support Group: (206) 322-7700; Ingersoll Gender Center: (206) 329-6651, www. ingersollcenter.org; Lion’s Main Art Collective: www. lionsmain.org; The New BoyZ Club: www.olympiaftmgroup.webs.com; Olympia Trans Discussion Group: www.facebook.com/pages/Olympia-Trans-DiscussionGroup/262449878114; [trans] ACTION: Trans* & Gender Non-Conforming Sex Workers’ Support Group - a safe, peer-led space. mail@utopiaseattle.org; TRANSform Washington: transformwashington.com; Trans Resource & Referral Guide: kctransguide.org; Washington Gender Alliance: (360) 445-2411, www. washington genderalliance.com

WOMEN: Aging Ballard Lesbian Exchange (A.B.L.E.): We are Lesbians 60 years (generally) and up, living (mostly) in the north half of Seattle. The purpose of the group is to connect, socialize and support each other. ruthemilyvogel@gmail.com; Aging Lesbians in South Seattle (ALISS) - Lesbian Group at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center. This is a gathering primarily for Lesbians but all are welcome to attend. Kate, (206) 722-0317; www.sessc.org; BABES: support groups for HIV+ women. (206) 720-5566, 1-888-292-1912; Coming Out Women Support Group of Tacoma: www. comingoutwomen.org; Festival of the Babes: www. festivalofthebabes.com; Mature Friends: Gay men & women 40 & over, www.maturefriends.org; Puget Sound Old Lesbian Organizing for Change: http:// psoloc.org, (253) 777-3357; Older Lesbians Organizing for Change/WA State Chapter: gloria@oloc.org, mary@oloc.org, www.oloc.org; Pacific Northwest Lesbian Archives: www.pnwlesbianarchives.org; RainshadowWomen: RainshadowWomen@aol. com; Seattle Bisexual Women’s Network: BiSeattle. wixsite.com/SBWN; Seattle Girls of Leather: www. sgol.org; Tacoma Lesbian Concern (TLC): www.tacomalesbianconcern.org; Tacoma Older LGBT: www. tacomaolderlgbt.org; Women of West Seattle (WOWS): a fun, member-driven social group for Lesbians, http:// groups.yahoo.com/group/womenofwestseattle; YWCA Women’s Health Outreach: providing low or no-cost mammograms for income eligible 40+ LBTQ individuals. Follow us at http://lbtqhealth-ywca.blogspot.com, twitter.com/ingridWHO or email lbthealth@ywcaworks. org, (206) 461-4493. (See also listings under Bisexual, Parenthood, People of Color, Transgender.) YOUTH: B-GLAD (Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Trans & Questioning Adolescent Drop-In Group): Youth Eastside Services offers many programs for GLBT youth, including B-GLAD, (425) 747-4937; Coyote Central: www.coyotecentral.org; Diverse Harmony: www.diverseharmony. org; GLSEN/Washington State (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) & Washington State GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance) Network: GLSEN works to create safe schools for LGBT students. WA GSA Network supports youth-led GSA’s to fight harassment & homophobia in Washington state schools. (206) 330-2099; www.glsenwa. org; www.wagsa.org. GLOBE (GLBTQ Loving Ourselves, Becoming Empowered): a support group & HIV/STD prevention program for GLBTQ youth, 14-20, in Everett, (425) 263-2908, www. globeyouth.org; It Gets Better Project: www.itgetsbetter.org; Lambert House: an activities & resource center for LGBT youth, 14-22, in Seattle, 1818 15th Ave @ E Denny Way; (206) 322-2515, www.lamberthouse.org; Lifelong HEYO (Health Education Youth Outreach): for LGBTQ youth, ages 16-24: (206) 957-1665; www. llaa.org/HEYO; www.MatthewsPlace.com ; The Mockingbird Society: (206) 323-KIDS (5437), www. mockingbirdsociety.org; Oasis Youth Center: for GLBTQ youth, ages 14-25, in Tacoma, (253) 671-2838, www.oasisyouthcenter.org; OKAY! LGBTQ+ Outreach for Kent Area Youth: (253) 859-0699 ext 3034. OKAY! is an open support group for youth ages 13-19 who identify as LGBTQ+. A program of Kent Youth & Family Services; OUT There Adventures: www.outthereadventures.org; Parents, Family & Friends of Lesbians & Gays (PFLAG)/Puget Sound: (206) 325-7724, www. seattle-pflag.org; Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS) Drop-In Center & Young Adult Shelter: 1609 19th Ave @ E Pine St., (206) 726-8500; www.psks.org; Pizza Klatch: weekly lunchtime support groups for LGBTQ youth in Thurston County, www. pizzaklatch.org; Prism: for LGBTQ youth, 14-21, in Puyallup - Cherise.Alexander@ multicare.org; www. facebook.com/PuyallupPrism; Proud Out Wonderful (POW!): for LGBTQ youth, 13-21, in South King County, (206) 326-9112, www.facebook.com/proudoutwonderful; Q Youth Resources: in Kitsap County - (360) 698-3335; www.kchaf.org; Renton Area Youth Services (RAYS): LGBTQ, questioning and allied youth drop-in group, ages 12-18 - Sarah Hardin, (425) 271-5600, ext 155; sarahh@rays.org; Roots Young Adult Shelter: 1415 NE 43rd St., (206) 632-1635; www.rootsinfo.org; Safe Schools Coalition: www.safeschoolscoalition.org; (206) 451-SAFE, (206) 451-7233 (non-emergency), 1-877-SAFE-SAFE (1-877-723-3723) (crisis line); Seattle Young People’s Project (Queer Youth Resource Board): (206) 860-9606, www.sypp.org; Street Youth Ministries (SYM): (206) 524-7301 ext 111; www. streetyouthministries.org; Teen Link: (206) 461-4922, 1-888-431-TEEN; The Trevor Project: 866-4-U-Trevor; www.thetrevorproject.org; True Colors - Connecting LGBTQ Teens: in Shoreline, (206) 362-7282 x 8018, lbagley@chs-nw.org; Vista Youth Center: for LGBTQ, questioning and allied youth, ages 14-21, in Kennewick, (509) 396-5198, www.vistayouthcenter.org; YouthCare/ Isis Program (Transitional Living Home for LGBTQ Young Adults, 18-22): (206) 522-8412; YouthCare/ Orion Center Young Adult Shelter: 1828 Yale Ave @ Stewart St. (206) 622-5555; Youth in Focus: (206) 723-1479; www.youthinfocus.org; Youth Suicide Prevention Program (OUTLoud-GLBTQ): (206) 297-5922, ext 116, 1-800-273-TALK, www.yspp.org

10 [HOUSEMATES]

11 [FOR RENT]

Rainier Valley Duplex Studio unit, brick patio on busline near light rail. 4849 S. Holden St. Cederstrand Apartments 206-725-5545 18/3

San Francisco-style Victorian Rowhouse Extremely walkable, very bikeable, excellent transit. 905 15th Ave. $1,425.00 Cederstrand Apartments 206-725-5545 18/3

14

[HELP WANTED]

BUSY EXECUTIVE INDIVIDUAL IS SEEKING A PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Our company is the fourth-generation family-owned company providing design, build, finance, operation and outfitting services. We are looking for the right applicant who is personable, friendly and has great computer and communication skills. Hours are 2530hrs weekly. Salary is $28/hr. Applicant should apply to jobinquiries@mail.com /

19

[HOME SERVICES]

TIDY'S LANDSCAPING & HAULING

Shrubs, Blackberry & Ivy Removals * Dump Runs, Evictions, Basements & Garage Clean Outs * Bi-Weekly, Monthly & All Year-Round Yard Maintenance. Free Estimates. Tidy, 206-354-8949. 14/3

19 [PET SERVICES]

KITTY CO. –

WE EXCLUSIVELY SERVE CATS

Capitol Hill based provider of in-home cat sitting services. Licensed, bonded, insured and meticulous about your cat care needs. Book now for peace of mind while you’re away. Gay owned! www.kittycoseattle.com; 206-612-1533 39/3

20 [HEALTH & WELL-BEING]

ENERGY/BODYWORK

Therapeutic massage. 30 years experience. Relaxation, major/minor injuries, chronic muscle pain. Small Ballard home office/studio. Massage table or massage chair. Convenient parking. (I’m a Gay-friendly straight male graphic artist, web author.) First session 50% off = $45/1.5 hours (travel extra). By appointment only. References available. Chris Pringer, Reiki Master, 206-286-0899. If you get a voice message mentioning “extension #,” please hang up and call back again; otherwise, please leave a message. Brochure, testimonials, etc. via chalicebridge.com/BMI-Brochure. html. 44/21

21 [LICENSED MASSAGE - NON-SEXUAL]

EXCEPTIONAL BODYWORK

Given by highly trained LMP. I specialize in injury treatment, acute, chronic, and repetitive stress motion. I have a studio on CapHill, and one just north of the UW. Insurance accepted. Matt Shafer, LMP, 206-2357766. 13/12

[BODYWORK]

EROTICALLY CHARGED nude full body rubdown from playful top, stimulating the senses. Get seduced. Incalls in Renton area. Scott, 206-355-4469. 08/3

GREAT MASSAGE

Given by highly-trained, clean-cut, handsome guy. I have two private studios, one on CapHill, and one just north of the UW. Call/text Matt, 206-235-7766. In/ out calls. 13/12

SEEK CLERGY 4 FRIENDSHIP

Gay male, professional, discreet, spiritual, attractive, 49, Southeast Asian, 5'9", would like to meet Gay clergy of any affiliation, late 40s to 90s, for conversation, sharing, friendship, meals, travel. Email golden23 at lycos dot com. 12/3

RAIN CITY JACKS

RCJ is Seattle’s private club hosting hundreds of group jack-off events since 2005. Hot, friendly, and genuine male bonding for men 18+ only. Email or visit our web site for information. info@raincityjacks.org; www. raincityjacks.org. 14/12

WANTED: Adult gay videos from KINK Video in SF and from ARENA Entertainment in LA. Please phone 1 (250) 386-3949 in BC, Canada. 12/3

FREE & ANONYMOUS HIV & STD COUNSELING/TESTING Walk-In or by Appt GAY CITY HEALTH PROJECT 517 E. Pike St. M-F: 3pm-8pm;

Haunting Wind a starkly ethereal psychological stunner

by Sara Michelle Fetters SGN A&E Writer

WIND

Currently available on VOD

Somewhere on the windswept plains of the American frontier, Lizzy Macklin (Caitlin Gerard) lives with her husband Isaac (Ashley Zukerman). One day they are happy to welcome two newlyweds to their stretch of deserted nothing, Gideon Harper (Dylan McTee) and his pregnant young wife Emma (Julia Goldani Telles). The two women become fast friends, each learning about the other in intimate detail. But this isolation weighs on Emma and she becomes convinced the never-ending howl of the wind is hiding some sort of demonic presence intent on doing all of them deathly harm. Her growing terror leads to unimaginable tragedy, and while Isaac is off with Gideon dealing with the repercussions of a gruesome disaster, Lizzy is left alone, only her disintegrating psyche and panicked imagination left to keep her company for multiple days and nights at a time.

A striking psychological horror-western, director Emma Tammi’s debut The Wind is something special. Written by Teresa Sutherland, the movie is a devastating journey into darkness where fantasy and reality are in constant flux, Lizzy a stalwart figure of forthright courage who finds her grasp on the tactile practicalities of everyday life slipping as the night wind unforgivingly howls as if it were in constant anguish. Truth and fiction start to have no meaning, and even the appearance of a kindly Reverend (Miles Anderson) looking for a hot meal and a bit of pleasant conversation brings no lasting solace to the person most in need of feeling its comforting embrace.

The nonlinear style of storytelling can be initially distracting. The movie opens with as shocking an event as can be imagined only to almost immediately double back to the moment Isaac introduces Lizzy to both Gideon and Emma. Yet, as the film goes on this presentation begins to cast a suitably nightmarish spell, even if it is difficult to get a grasp on what is actually happening. Is all of this only a figment of Lizzy and Emma’s fevered imaginations? If it isn’t, if these visions and apparitions aren’t brought on by something psychological, if it isn’t madness, that means the demons born out of the shrieking winds whipping through the desert plains that Emma eventually becomes so terrified of are real, this constant question an unnerving conundrum that had me sitting on the edge of my seat eager to learn the answer to.

I am haunted by this movie. Sutherland’s script is ephemeral and doesn’t spend a lot of time explaining what is going on. Yet its emphasis on Lizzy’s transformation,

how it centers her in the story and refuses to pass judgment on any of her actions, all of this works in ways that are difficult to describe. The subtlety of this one woman’s journey into the unknown is striking in its ruggedly forthright resolve, her complexity as a protagonist slowly coming into increasingly intense focus as things build to their quietly devastating conclusion. It’s a meticulous piece of screenwriting where every piece connects to the ones next to it in multiple ways, making it up to the viewer to interpret the reality behind the finished picture even if the image itself remains purposefully indistinct.

Tammi’s direction of Sutherland’s script is superb. The filmmaker’s formalist western visual style echoes the likes of John Ford (most notably The Searchers), Anthony Mann (The Man from Laramie comes to mind) and Monte Hellman (specifically The Shooting), yet her determined concentration keeps things coming from a distinctly feminine sensibility which suits

the material perfectly. Tammi achieves a level of discombobulating uncertainty that is rooted in the practical tactile realities of the situations Lizzy finds herself facing, Isaac’s tone-deaf reactions to his wife’s pleas for understanding and sympathy arguably more terrifying than the potentially supernatural evil that might be lurking right behind the man’s own front door. Gerard is incredible as Lizzy. She’s in virtually every scene of the film, and almost all that ends up transpiring is seen via her increasingly frazzled point of view. The actress does a sensational job giving Lizzy life, the strength of her presentation overflowing in small, almost minuscule cracks that cleverly hint at the deathly stark madness of the terrors that will eventually be unleashed during the story’s climactic act. Gerard’s scenes with Anderson, as brief as they are, are breathtaking, the two having a haunting back-and-forth that left me shivering in anticipation as to what the outcome of their meeting might prove to be. She also has terrific rapport with Telles, the byzantine nature of their relationship concealing psychological and physical dangers that will leave lasting scars, some of them lethal.

I can’t get The Wind out of my head. Tammi’s intensely focused horror-western bursts free of its genre roots to achieve an emotional resonance that sends chills up my spine just thinking about it again now. This is a haunting foray into isolation and madness that has far more to say about what it is to be a strong, resolute woman than some may initially think it does, its windswept howls for acceptance and understanding helping make this motion picture a timeless stunner I’ll be thinking about and deconstructing for a very long time to come.