Music of Remembrance commemorates the life and work of Hungarian poet Miklós Radnóti
by Sharon Cumberland SGN A&E Writer
MUSIC OF REMEMBRANCE
THE PARTING
COMPOSER: TOM CIPULLO
LIBRETTIST: DAVID MASON
BENAROYA HALL
ILLSLEY BALL NORDSTROM
RECITAL HALL
May 19
I grew up in post-WWII America where every teenager learned the word “Holocaust,” just as they learned the name “Hitler.” We grew up with stories about how the men in our families volunteered or were drafted, how the women bought war bonds, shopped with ration stamps, and flattened tin cans for the war effort. Years later my grandmother still served “rinky-dum-ditty”
see THE PARTING page 3
Seattle Men’s Chorus celebrates the Summer of ’69
Showing their PRIDE though song and honoring the 50th anniversary of Stonewall June 21-22
As Summer Solstice hits Seattle and the annual Pride Parade approaches, Seattle Men’s Chorus (SMC) leaps into summer by storming the Benaroya Hall stage to celebrate the Summer of ’69. Woodstock, the moon landing, Vietnam war protests and the Stonewall Riots all occurred that same year and churned into an era of rebellion and change.
Take Me Out is a home run!
by Miryam Gordon SGN A&E Writer
It’s an emotional rollercoaster of a play that might instill a love of baseball in even the baseball-hatingest person! It’s a cautionary tale that words really matter. It’s a microcosm of society’s attitudes regarding the see TAKE ME OUT page 5
June flowers with choices
SMC transports audiences back to a vibrant psychedelic time when turntables and transistor radios were “where it’s at.” The repertoire includes a selection of chart-topping culture-defining hits from Marvin Gaye, Three Dog Night, Sly & the Family Stone and The 5th Dimension.
see SUMMER OF '69 page 3
by Miryam Gordon SGN A&E Writer
June is frontloaded with 9 shows opening in the same weekend! There is a ton of variety in choices from old-made-new to world premiere. Time to get your tickets!
and
Blackbird,
, 5/30-6/15 (at 18th & Union) Ray, 56, has a new identity and has made a new life for himself, thinking that he cansee JUNE OPENINGS page 6
Seattle Men’s Chorus – Photo by John Pai
A rehearsal image of West of Lenin’s The Agitators – Photo by Josiah Epstein
Mezza soprano Catherine Cook, baritone Michael Mayes, soprano Laura Strickling in Music of Remembrance’s The Parting – Photo by Ben VanHouten
The ensemble of Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s Take Me Out – Photo by John Ulman
White Rabbits Inc.
Libby Barnard
THE
for lunch – soda crackers with Cheese-whizand-ketchup sauce – a nostalgic makedo meal for those who had lived through pinched and dangerous times.
But it wasn’t until the war ended – when film crews entered the concentration camps and the Nuremberg trials began – that the full horror of Nazi crimes against humanity were exposed. Though the Jews of Europe were the primary target for death marches and gas chambers, so were the disabled, the “gypsies,” the mentally ill, and the “deviants” – homosexuals and lesbians.
Today, however, as the last WWII veterans pass away, young people are less and less aware of the Holocaust and its lessons. It’s especially ironic that as political attention focuses on new forms of rising fascism and threats to legal protections for women, LGBTQ+, refugees and the free press, the Holocaust is falling out of school curriculums and fading in common knowledge. A recent study found that 11% of all adults today have not heard of the Holocaust, and that twothirds of millennials could not identify what Auschwitz was. The 41% of millennials in the study who are aware of Nazi crimes vastly underestimated the number of Jews killed as two million, rather than the six million who were actually slaughtered. [1]
All the more reason, then, to applaud the work of Music of Remembrance, a Seattlebased organization founded by Artistic Director Mina Miller, which seeks “…to remember the Holocaust through music.” Now in its twentieth year, MOR commissions internationally famous artists to create new works of instrumental music, dance, and opera “…that give voice to those who have been victims of exclusion and persecution.” [2]
The truly impressive list of newly commissioned works by leading artists includes some of Seattle’s best-known artistic citizens: composer and former conductor of the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwartz; choreographer, former PNB star and founder of Whim W’Him, Olivier Wevers; choreographer and Director of Seattle Spectrum Dance Theater, Donald Byrd; founder of Northwest Sinfonietta and Music Director of the Lake Union Civic Orchestra, Christophe Chagnard; Cornish College of the Arts Professor of Dance, Pat Hon. MOR has also commissioned works from artists all over the world: composers Jake Heggie, Keiko Fujiie, Thomas Pasatieri, and Aharon Harlap among others. The ability of a relatively small organization to attract the best living artists of our times is a testament to the importance and gravity of MOR’s mission. By bringing more than
SUMMER OF ’69
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SMC also joins a coalition of LGBTQ choruses across the country to present “Quiet No More,” an inspiring new musical theater piece that tells the story of the Stonewall Riots and the birth of the public struggle to live life out loud.
Two performances only at Benaroya Hall on June 21 at 8pm and June 22 at 2pm. Tickets are $25-$75 and available at www. seattlechoruses.org or over the phone at 206-388-1400. The Seattle area box office is open Monday through Friday, 11am-6pm.
About Seattle Men’s Chorus/ Seattle Women’s Chorus
The internationally renowned Seattle Men’s Chorus (founded 1979) and Seattle Women’s Chorus (founded 2002) comprise the largest community choral organization in North America. Both choruses stand out as the largest LGBTQ-identified men’s and women’s choruses in the world. The choruses comprise one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest, most vibrant and successful music organizations, performing in Seattle’s most prestigious venues for an annual
30 new works into being, all focused on the human tragedy of persecution, MOR is doing its part to help all of us remember the dreadful cost of complacency in the face of fascism and legalized hatred.
This year’s commission is a moving reminder of that cost. A new chamber opera, The Parting, by composer Tom Cipullo and librettist David Mason, tells the story of Miklós Radnóti, a Hungarian poet who was murdered on a Nazi death march. Radnóti, now considered one of Hungary’s greatest poets, was conscripted into forced labor because of his Jewish heritage. After three extended periods in labor camps his health was broken and the Nazis shot him and threw him into a mass grave. His wife, Fanni, was able to locate the grave a year later, after the war in Europe ended. When Radnóti’s body was exhumed, there, by some miracle, was a notebook containing his final poems hidden in the pocket of his coat. Librettist David Mason has used these poems and Fanni’s journals to write a scenario of the young couple’s final night together – May 19, 1944. Seventy years later, to the day, an appreciative and fascinated audience saw the world premiere of this very dramatic, very beautiful and moving work.
There are only three characters in The Parting – Miklós, sung by baritone Michael Mayes, Fanni, sung by soprano Laura Strickling, and Death sung by mezzo soprano Catherine Cook. All three singers were superlative, filling the intimate space with Tom Cipullo’s elegant and nuanced score. Only six musicians formed the orchestra under the fine baton of Alastair Willis, but the music built a challenging spectrum of expression, from mystery, fear,
audience of more than 30,000 patrons. Flying House Productions is the not-for-profit organization that governs and manages the Choruses. Collectively there are over 600 singing members along with staff, volunteers, and associate members who support both Choruses. They are a leading voice for the LGBTQ community and offer more than 30 outreach events and main stage concert performances annually.
Our Mission
Our voices transform society through innovative and entertaining programs that build community, illuminate the experiences of LGBTQ people and their allies, expand inclusion, and inspire justice.
Our Vision
A more harmonious world that celebrates the unique identities and talents of all people.
Courtesy of Seattle Men’s Chorus
to Cipullo’s enticing music, like a dark fog that transforms into incense.
Cipullo’s compositional style is to serve the story at all times rather than to give himself a spotlight. His music never distracts or shows off, but weaves seamlessly into the development of the characters and the rise and fall of the drama. He is especially generous to singers, giving them intense passages and gorgeous moments while honoring each individual’s vocal expression. I kept thinking, as I listened to the natural interweaving of the three characters, that singers must love to work with Tom Cipullo.
and anxiety, to love. One of many beautiful moments came when the couple sang a duet of Miklós’ poem “After April Rain.” It was as melodic and joyful as the poem itself – while still expressing the subtext of impending separation:
“As happy, with a woman on my chest, as when the sun shines after April rain, I shout! and straight away, clean-rinsed in light, my voice rings, like that bird’s up to his middle, now, in the crystal puddle.”
The character of Death – a figure Miklós and Fanni can sense but not see –comes out of a long tradition of personifications of Death. Think of the Grim Reaper with his scythe, or of Dürer’s “Pale Rider” on an emaciated horse, or of all the skeletal representations of death as momenti mori Yet Mason and Cipullo have cleverly made this grim reaper into a sympathetic woman who is in love with poetry. Since she knows the couple’s sufferings as well as their futures, she reassures Miklós that “I am the friend who knows you will wake to the world” while also calling on him to “Use the time you’ve got!” As Miklós bends to his work on their final night, Fanni laments “Why is there always another? I want to be with him alone.” Is she referring to Death, who is haunting them? Or is she referring to Miklós’ need to write and write and write, because he knows his time is almost up?
The poignancy of young people having to decide whether to spend their last hours in service to Art or Love, weaves through the opera like smoke – sometimes, thanks
While The Parting was the main attraction of the evening, MOR also honored young Hungarian composers who were murdered in the Holocaust by opening with a concert of three pieces written by musicians who did not live to fulfill their early promise. We heard “Duo” by Lázló Weiner – a student of Kodály, who tried unsuccessfully to intercede for Weiner; “Air” by Sándor Vándor, a choral and orchestral composer who led a choir in Budapest until deported and murdered in a labor camp; and “Serenade for String Trio” by Sándor Kuti, who was the student of Ernst von Dohnányi and close friend of Georg Solti. The musicians who presented these works were truly brilliant. Especially impressive were the violinist Mikhail Schmidt and violist Amber Archibald (who, astonishingly, learned her music in four days to replace an ailing musician).
Solti said, about his friend Sándor Kuti, “I am convinced that had he lived he would have become one of Hungary’s greatest composers.” Substitute “Germany’s” or “Poland’s” or “France’s” or “Italy’s” for “Hungary’s”, then in place of the word “composer,” substitute the words “poet,” “dancer,” “novelist,” “philosopher,” “violinist,” “singer,” “scholar,” “concert pianist.” We will never fully comprehend the terrible loss to Art and to the world of those murdered in the Holocaust. For that matter, substitute the words “mother,” father,” “sister,” brother” – and anyone, millenials included – can begin to understand and remember the appalling human disaster that was the murder of six million innocent Jews and designated “others.”
With the help of Music of Remembrance and the wonderful new works it brings into the world we can hope to remember fascism at its worst, and push back against the growing threat of fascism in our own day.
[1] “4 in 10 millennials don’t know 6 million Jews were killed in Holocaust, study shows”. CBS News, 12 April 2018.
[2] https://www.musicofremembrance. org
PARTING continued from cover
Seattle Men’s Chorus – Photo by John Pai
Conductor Alastair Willis, composer Tom Cipullo, director Erich Parce of The Parting – Photo by Ben VanHouten
Opal Peachey brings her new show, The Champagne Widow, to Café Nordo
by MK Scott
SGN Contributing Writer
Café Nordo is proud to present The Champagne Widow playing June 7-30 at Nordo’s Culinarium in historic Pioneer Square. Written by Opal Peachey, composed by Annastasia Workman, directed by Billie Wildrick (Annie, recently presented at The 5th Avenue Theatre) and choreographed by Nikki Long, the ensemble of 8 skilled performers will triple down on music for The Champagne Widow
The Champagne Widow is set in the underground caves of France, where Champagne’s most luxurious bottles of bubbles come to life, and will sing the stories of the women who made them famous.
Opal Peachey (Seattle Vice, Bohemia) is also the star of the show and we chatted the other day by email.
MK Scott: As the writer and star of The Champagne Widow, what attracted you to this role and story?
Opal Peachey: I had a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Imperial Brut, gifted by a dear friend. “Veuve” Barbe Nicole ClicquotPonsardin’s picture is on the top of the cork. Veuve Clicquot is a woman? Who is she? What is her story? Learning that the word “Veuve” meant “Widow” in French was even more fascinating. What was this woman’s story? It turns out that, until 1944, women in France were considered dependents of their fathers or husbands. But, once widowed, a woman could own a business and have a bank account. Veuve Clicquot took over her deceased husband’s wine company and went on to corner the Russian market after Waterloo, define the methode champenoise with her raumage technique and invent rosé champagne. She did so much in a time when women were expected to sit quietly, marry, birth children and die, without record. I went down a bubble filled rabbit hole.
Fortunately, there are a few excellent resources on Veuve Clicquot, including Tilar Mazzeo’s “The Widow Cliquot,” a New York Times best seller. Veuve Clicquot’s story is not widely known, but it has inspired many women before me. I felt like Barbe Nicole’s story would make an excellent one-person show, a good vehicle for my writing and performing talents. The history of Champagne is also a perfect fit for my home audience – as a company member in the immersive dinner theater, Café Nordo.
However, as I wrote the first draft, embarking upon research (and a trip to France) with my dramaturg, Daryle Conners, she found that Barbe was the first of many Champagne Widows of Wine. Because Champagne the region is smack dab next to Germany, it is more war-torn than most places on earth. Lots of dead husbands, and many, many stories of Veuves whom, despite the more crushing of life’s obstacles, went on to flourish in the global wine industry. As more and more widows began to be unearthed, it became clear that this was not a one-woman show, but a full production. The show features the true stories of not only Veuve Clicquot, but Louise Pommery, Mathilde Laurent-Perrier and Lily Bollinger. All women, all luxury Champagne brands, all widows.
MK: This show is directed Seattle theatrical star, Billie Wildrick. What has been the best thing about working with her?
Opal: The best thing about working with Billie is her tireless commitment to excellence, and her love and inside-out knowledge of the musical theater art form. She’s also an “actor’s director” and a blast to be around. I approached Billie with the 2nd draft of my script. I felt strongly that a musical was the most creative way to tell these dramatic, historical stories. She is, hands
down, the best person for the job. Billie had very helpful ideas for me about moving the script towards a magical musical production (with a tasting flight and 4-course meal!), while staying true to my own irreverent humor and the ultimate mission: Making these stories of successful women known to those who enjoy their wine.
MK: Annastasia Workman is your composer for this show. How did she complement your lyrics?
Opal: Annastasia is a genius and I’m so glad she said yes to this project. I’ve co-composed with Mark Siano on several shows, but in her gentle way, Annastasia said that her best mèthode is to be sole composer. I wrote a first draft of lyrics for all the songs (music unwritten), with an understanding that Annastasia could tweak and change anything she wished. To my delight, she kept most of the lyrics! Writing lyrics before there is music is an interesting challenge and I had quite a lot of fun with it. I also give credit to Billie, who shaped and wrote lyrics with Annastasia and I for several of the songs. It’s a matriarchal process we’re having here. Very appropriate, considering the subject matter.
MK: Last time, I saw you along with your other writing partner, Mark Siano in Bohemia. Will we see you collaborate again in the future?
Opal: Oh yes, we have so much fun. The sky is the limit with big ideas and Mr. Siano. We’ll be remounting Bohemia at The Triple Door for 16 shows in 2020, and then...perhaps taking it to a wider audience far from home? There are also plans to bring a new show to the Triple Door in 2021.
Be sure to check out the The Champagne Widow from June 7-30 (Wednesday - Saturday at 7:30pm; Sundays at 6:00pm) at Nordo’s Culinarium (109 S. Main St., in Seattle’s Pioneer Square).
TICKETS: $79.00 includes the performance and a prix fixe menu. Beverage and cocktail service additional. The Champagne Widow is suitable for audiences 18 and older Online Box Office: http://bit.ly/ VeuveNordo or call 206-209-2002.
MK Scott is a Seattle-based arts blogger, Check out his magazine at uniteseattlemag. com
From stage to TV and back to stage
Kim’s
Convenience charms
by Miryam Gordon SGN A&E Writer
KIM’S CONVENIENCE
TAPROOT THEATRE Through June 22
You might wonder how a Canadian television show is playing on stage at Taproot Theatre. They’re presenting Kim’s Convenience. It happens that the play preceded the TV show and Netflix TV producers
loved the idea and turned it into a show and included the efforts of writer Ins Choi to continue the story that started in his play. In a pre-show talk, Choi described several aspects of the play that were very intentional. He said that he wasn’t accustomed to seeing a lot of Koreans on television and most of them were intense and angry and he really wanted to show humor and lightness. He described his own family as really funny and cracking each other up.
see KIM'S page 7
Opal Peachey – Photo courtesy of the artist
Obadiah Freeman, James Yi and Lia Lee in Kim’s Convenience at Taproot Theatre – Photo by Robert Wade
TAKE ME OUT
continued from cover
LGBTQ community with an offhand, highself-esteem lead character. It’s an intensely well-written play by Richard Greenberg that won the 2003 Tony Award.
All of this is Take Me Out, now being presented by Strawberry Theatre Workshop at 12th Avenue Arts. The tale tells of a superstar major league outfielder, Darren Lemming, played with pitch perfect swagger by Lamar Legend, whose contract is stratospherically high. In the middle of a normal press moment, Lemming casually implies that he’s Gay, thinking it’s not really a big deal and nothing important will come from it. However, that casual utterance pings through the rest of the play like a pinball banging out crazy points.
The audience is helped along the way by narration, as player-friend Kippy Sunderstrom (a nicely-shaded performance from Trick Danneker) helps weave backward and forward in time to reveal all the strands of a story that leads people to make decisions, large and small, that can never be undone.
While reaction from his teammates runs the gamut, there’s a new guy, Shane Mungut (Craig Peterson), a rookie relief pitcher who comes from the hardest of hard-scrabble lives but who pitches like a dream, and apparently all he ever learned was racism and bigotry of the most complete kind. He knows that better than he knows proper English.
The all-male cast also includes Nicholas Japaul Bernard (as Davey Battle), Josh Kenji (as Takeshi Kawabata), Miguel Castellano (as Toddy Koovitz), Roger Estrada (as Rodriquez), Tony Mangaña Jr. (as Martinez), Dylan Smith (as Jason Chenier) and Carter Rodriquez as Skipper the team coach. Every cast member pulls his weight in this play.
Jon Lutyens plays Mason Marzac, an accountant who awkwardly supports Lemming’s “entry” into his Gay community while taking care of Lemming’s money. His journey from non-sports-watcher to
baseball enthusiast is a beautifully hilarious one to watch. Greg Carter’s direction brings out each character crisply. The dialogue is natural and the clubhouse feeling is also naturalistic with a lot of male nudity. Carter has set a shower above the center of the stage where key moments take place.
The script is tautly written and this is now the third Greenberg play (The Violet Hour and Three Days of Rain) done here over the last decade or so. He’s a great writer
and this particular piece has much to recommend itself for as commentary on our societal prejudices, male bonding, sports obsessions, racism, and white privilege.
There are many moments that are laugh-out-loud funny, but Mungut’s choices of epithets is challenging, mean, and blunt. Peterson has a tough job, acting as a hateful, ignorant, limited guy, and does it believably.
Take yourself out and see this show. It’s a great evening. It will give you a lot to
think about and talk about after, which is one way I judge a good night of theater! For more information, go to www. strawshop.org or call 206-427-5207.
Discuss your opinions with SGNCritic@ gmail.com or go to www.facebook.com/ SeattleTheaterWriters. More articles can be found at MiryamsTheaterMusings. blogspot.com.
Craig Peterson and Lamar Legend in Take Me Out – Photo by John Ulman
Miguel Castellano in Take Me Out – Photo by John Ulman
Craig Peterson in Take Me Out – Photo by John Ulman
JUNE OPENINGS
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not be found. Una, 27, upon seeing a photo of Ray in a magazine, arrives unannounced at his office. Guilt, rage, and raw emotions run high as they recollect the illicit relationship they had 15 years ago, when she was 12 and he was 40. Blackbird is a story about living with the consequences of abuse and trauma, and demanding a new future. www.18thandunion.org
Don’t Call It a Riot, Ten Auras Productions and Trial and Error Productions, 5/31-6/23 (at 12th Avenue Arts)
Amontaine Aurore writes about the history of Seattle activism from the height of the city’s 1960s Black Panther Party to the 1999 WTO protests, uncovering the toll that a commitment to social justice can take on the day-to-day lives of activists. Reed, a 20-year-old college student who is expecting her first baby is also an active member of Black Panther Party. The effect that fighting for liberation has on the foundations of her home life flows through her 31-year journey. Turmoil challenged the Black Panther party and caused a dream deferred.
www.tenauras.com
They/Them The Festival, Annex Theatre, 5/31-6/29
An exciting roster of burlesque performers, drag artists, musicians and more, They/ Them The Festival showcases trans and nonbinary performers. They/Them The Musical, written and performed by solo artist Sam I’Am, with original music composed by Emma Staake, is part of the festival. www.annextheatre.org
Mae West’s The Drag – A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts, Play Your Part Seattle, 6/5-29 (at Gay City)
BRUTAL! VULGAR! DIRTY! The Gay comedy that shocked 1920’s America comes to Seattle. This play, about overcoming the historical stigma associated with homosexuality and drag culture, was written by the lightheartedly bawdy actress and sex symbol, Mae West. https://www.playyourpartseattle.org/ tickets
a story of class divide, immigration, and marriage in her remarkable debut. www.book-it.org
The Agitators, AJ Epstein Presents, 6/6-29 (at West of Lenin)
Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass were friends, adversaries and allies who shaped the 15th Amendment to our Constitution. They agitated the nation. As Anthony continues her advocacy and campaigning for women’s right to vote through the suffragette movement, Douglass is intent upon ending slavery and securing the rights for Black men to vote. Over the course of time, they each question the validity of their independent struggles and often spar over the conflicts of race and gender rights inherent in their complementary quests. www.westoflenin.com
Jende Jonga and his wife Neni have recently emigrated from Cameroon to America to try to make a new life for themselves and their young son. Jende gets a job as a chauffeur for an investor at Lehman Brothers and Neni studies to be a pharmacist. When the Great Recession starts to upend the economy, both of them realize that America may not be the place full of hope and promise as they had once thought. Novelist Imbolo Mbue masterfully weaves
Boy, Fantastic.Z Productions, 6/7-22 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Inspired by a true story, Anna Ziegler’s play explores the tricky terrain of finding love amidst the confusion of sexual identity, and the inextricable bond between a doctor and patient. In the 1960s, a wellintentioned doctor convinces the parents of a male infant to raise their son as a girl after a terrible genital accident. Two decades later, the repercussions of that choice continue to unfold.
https://www.strangertickets. com/94757587/boy
Island, Village Theatre Beta Series, 6/7-16
Just off the shore of New York City lies a sorrowful island that serves as a public burial ground for the lonely, forgotten, or impoverished of the city. Hart Island is an inspiring and emotional tale of an immigrant woman fighting for her child, and the unexpected compassion of a disillusioned inmate who is the only person who can help her. This haunting new musical observes two people on the fringe of society as they change each other’s lives forever. (This is a “developmental production” which will continue to be worked on for future productions.)
www.villagetheatre.org
The War in Heaven and The Waste Land, New City Theatre, 6/7-30 (at ACT Theatre)
Both of these plays are done in the same evening… Sam Shepard’s The War in Heaven asks a large question: What is the future of our humanity? Originally written as a radio play, the story follows an angel who dies the day she is born and crashes to earth. What do her poetic voice and innocent eyes observe of our world? The play asks us to reexamine our past and its effect on our increasingly uncertain future.
T.S. Eliot’s classic epic, The Waste Land, stretches across multiple characters, continents, and cultures, slipping and sliding through our collective humanity. Performed as a solo piece featuring Mary Ewald’s deft transformation from the king of the wood to famous clairvoyant Madam Sosostris to blind Tiresias to Hamlet to Dante, and more.
www.acttheatre.org
Reefer Madness, SecondStory Repertory, 6/7-30
Inspired by the original 1936 film of the same name, this raucous musical comedy takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the hysteria caused when clean-cut kids fall prey to marijuana, leading them on a hysterical downward spiral filled with evil jazz music, sex and violence. The addictive and clever musical numbers range from big Broadway-style showstoppers to swing tunes featuring Jesus Christ Himself leading a chorus of showgirl angels. www.secondstoryrep.org
The Champagne Widow, Cafe Nordo, 6/7-30
“The stories of the widows (or Veuves in French) who made Champagne into the luxury brand it is today are disappearing in the sands of the hour glass,” says play-
wright and lead performer Opal Peachey. These are the unsung stories of businesswomen Barbe Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, Louise Pommery, Mathilde Laurent-Perrier and Lily Bollinger. www.cafenordo.com
The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion, ArtsWest, 6/20-7/28 (world premiere)
Wunderkind Justin Huertas has written a new musical. Senior year (and falling in love) is hard enough, but when the discovery of her mother’s old trophy throws open the past, a young girl must reckon with a world turned upside down – with strange new abilities that seem to hint at a destiny beyond her wildest imagination. The rich threads of Puget Sound history and folklore weave a thrilling modern myth of love, family, and transformation.
www.artswest.org
Pieces of Her, 6/20-22 (at 18th & Union)
This is a solo performance about Sara Carbone’s life as a child actress and adult artist. The 70-minute play includes Sara singing and dancing her way through over a dozen characters and multiple musical styles, almost entirely without instruments. www.18thandunion.org
Man of La Mancha, Harlequin Productions, 6/20-7/27
A classic of American musical theatre, this new telling is re-imagined for the contemporary stage and will star veteran Seattle talent, Allen Fitzpatrick. With an ensemble cast of musician-actors, director Aaron Lamb entwines the classic score with the silence of Artistic Sign Language to tell a four-hundred-year-old story as it has never been heard before.
https://harlequinproductions.org
A Tale of Two Cities, Mamches Presents, 6/23-7/2 (at Jewelbox’s Rendezvous)
Based on the novel by Charles Dickens and adapted by Everett Quinton of the infamous Ridiculous Theatrical Company, we present an irreverent comedy about an aspiring drag queen who finds an inconsolable baby on his door step. To calm the child down, he reenacts the entirety of A Tale of Two Cities! Mamches Productions is excited to present Michael Oaks on stage, directed by Susan Finque. This is a 21+ event.
Don't Call It a Riot! – Photo courtesy of Amontaine Aurore
A rehearsal image of The Agitators – Photo by Josiah Epstein
He also didn’t want to sugarcoat the flaws of the family on stage. He said there were many Koreans with a lot of prejudices against non-Koreans. This particular characterization made its way firmly into aspects of the main character, Appa (father in Korean). It’s not meant to be acceptable; it’s meant to be true to real, complex individuals.
The play is about a small convenience store and the Kim family that owns it. Appa (James Yi) and Umma (“mother” Annie Yim) came from Korea, where their lives were very different and we discover that Appa used to be a school teacher. Here they created what they could and built a well-frequented convenience store to take care of their family. The kids, Jung (Parker Kennedy) and Janet (Lia Lee), are grown and Jung has left the family after a major upset some years ago and Janet wants to make her own choices.
The neighborhood is gentrifying. Mr. Lee (Obadiah Freeman, who plays several other roles), the “black man with the Asian last name”, comes to offer Mr. Kim a great offer to buy the store. He’s not likely to keep the store open, he’s probably going to tear it down and build something else. If the Kims built the store for their kids, but there are no kids who want it, what then?
David Hsieh, ReAct Theatre’s artistic director, joined Scott Nolte to direct this family comedy. Taproot put a lot of thought and heart into making sure that the cultural aspects ring true and that the spoken Korean of the two parents was robust and true.
They got some set assistance from a production in Vancouver, B.C., especially for a lot of the stocked shelf items. And then Mark Lund designed the rest of the store into Taproot’s space. It’s a well-stocked store, but I wished just a bit for more specificity of where windows were located, especially toward the front of the stage.
It’s a difficult set of decisions regarding obstructing audience views, but just a little more structure would have helped.
Appa is definitely not the politically correct character. He stereotypes who might steal from the store by race and sexual preference. He thinks his daughter should be married and that he should be the one to approve her choice of husband. The TV equivalent of this man can only be Archie Bunker, another bigot that struggled to learn lessons. Yi, as Appa, is the perfect inscrutable father. He gives little away in his face and moves quickly without warning when he wants to.
Yim is the loving, but un-wave-making mother. She tries to “manage” the difficult parts of her husband, but understands his pressures and his desire to make a successful life for their children. Lee does a great job of being frustrated with her father, but realizing that she still lives at home and owes him respect.
Freeman takes on several roles and with the help of some awkward wigs, pulls off the changes nicely. He’s particularly funny as the old schoolmate of Jung’s who is now a policeman and maybe a suitor for Janet.
Kennedy doesn’t show up until near the end of this 90-minute play, but makes the most of it when he does. It’s a poignant moment that is very much the heart of the play and one that virtually any member of any family can relate to.
This is generally a family-friendly show, but there are a few “bad” words and the bigotry that might be confusing for children under about age 10 to understand, given many children at that age might not understand why it’s OK for that father to be prejudiced. There’s not a lot of room for gray in younger children’s understanding.
There are a lot of laughs to be had and maybe some Netflix watching to be done after seeing where the whole series came from.
For more information, go to www.taproottheatre.org or call 206-781-9707.
Discuss your opinions with SGNCritic@ gmail.com or go to www.facebook.com/ SeattleTheaterWriters. More articles can be found at MiryamsTheaterMusings. blogspot.com.
Play Your* Part presents Mae West’s The Drag –
A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts
In celebration of Pride Month, Play Your* Part, a young Seattle-based theater company that produces plays to reduce social inequity, presents “The Drag – A Homosexual Comedy in Three Acts,” from June 5-29 at Gay City on Capitol Hill.
This long-forgotten 1920’s Mae West play contains frank portrayals of homosexuality and drag culture and starkly exhibits the discrimination that LGBTQ+ people faced –facts that made it so controversial that it was banned after only ten performances. Seen
afresh, this funny, stylish, poignant play is at once a celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and an opportunity to reflect on the continuing struggle for equal rights.
Be transported through history as the play evolves from stylized black and white to brilliant technicolor, and see the progress of the LGBTQ+ struggle come alive before your very eyes as we reflect together on progress yet to be made.
Play Your* Part has produced this play in partnership with the Gender Justice League, and proceeds from ticket sales will support their work. GJL is a civil and human rights organization, which works through education, advocacy, and grassroots community-building to shift culture and policies relating to transgender rights. GJL is active on many civil rights related fronts in Washington state, including in pushing the state to adapt non-binary gender markers for birth certificates, which it achieved in 2018. At performances of The Drag, audience members will have the chance to translate their entertainment into engagement, by hearing about all of the services that GJL provides and the many ways in which they can get involved.
Play Your* Part invites you to celebrate Pride with Mae West’s incredible, genderbending play, brought back to life for modern audiences. Be dazzled and delighted – but most of all, moved – by how much this “vulgar” 90-year-old play can teach us about our past and about ourselves.
Play Your* Part is committed to accommodating all who wish to attend. To ensure accessibility, no audience member will be turned away due to lack of funds. The Drag runs June 5 through June 29 playing at Gay City’s Calamus Auditorium (517 E Pike St.). All shows at 8pm except Sundays at 3pm. For tickets and more information visit https://www.playyourpartseattle.org/tickets Courtesy of Play Your* Part
Obadiah Freeman, Lia Lee, Annie Yim, James Yi and Parker Kennedy in Kim’s Convenience – Photo by Robert Wade
Phantasmagoric Rocketman a raucously glittery smash
by Sara Michelle Fetters
SGN A&E Writer
ROCKETMAN
Now playing
The Elton John biopic Rocketman can’t avoid all of the clichés of the genre. Heck, I’m not even sure it sidesteps any of them. Drug use? Check. Alcohol abuse? Check. Estranged relationship with parents? Check. Betrayed by a business manager? Check. On-stage breakdown during a major concert? Check. Diva behavior that strains relationships with those closest to him, including his best friend? Check. While all of these events and their like played a part in Elton John’s life, that doesn’t make them any less familiar from a biographical motion picture standpoint, the lack of a single solitary narrative surprise incontestably conspicuous.
It doesn’t matter. Director Dexter Fletcher’s (Eddie the Eagle) energetically emotional musical is fantastically entertaining. It is an explosive trip through the life, times and music of one of the defining artists of the 20th century, this bouncy piece of pop euphoria a phantasmagoric treat I couldn’t help but tap my toe to throughout all of its briskly paced 121minutes. It is so gosh darn enjoyable it didn’t bug me that all of the characters outside of Elton John (Taron Egerton) and Bernie Taupin (Jamie Bell) were vaguely illdefined and never allowed to be much more than relative caricatures. I also didn’t care that the framing device of the singer telling his story while in full glam-rock costuming at a rehab meeting was a little too flamboyantly on-the-nose. I didn’t care about any of that because the movie was just too well made and just too darn enjoyable to nitpick apart, Fletcher’s opus having an imaginative flair that’s borderline superb. Fletcher and screenwriter Lee Hall (War Horse, Billy Elliot) don’t waste a single sec-
ond before they proudly pronounce just what kind of movie it is they are presenting for ticket buyers to consume. Within the first five minutes adult Elton John is having a duet with his adolescent self (Matthew Illesley) on the streets of his childhood neighborhood singing “The Bitch Is Back (Introduction)” while residents dance and prance about as if they’re performing on a Broadway stage while the singer’s rehab group looks on in shocked awe. It’s as if Fletcher is channeling
All That Jazz and Absolute Beginners but with a Hairspray meets Mamma Mia! highgloss glittery shimmer, the grit and angst of the tortured artist juxtaposed against a Technicolor milieu that’s been art directed and magnificently costumed within an inch of its rockabilly heart.
By focusing on things as they do the filmmakers manage to get inside Elton John’s head. I felt as if I were living within the singer’s fevered imagination, his descent
into alcohol abuse and drug addiction feeling uncomfortably personal with each swig of gin and snort of cocaine. At the same time I could also be energized by the artist’s creative euphoria. The moment where Taupin gives him the lyrics to “Our Song” and the music just begins to flow out of him organically as if it were a living organism, the lyricist, Elton’s selfish mother Sheila (a terrific see ROCKETMAN page 13
Taron Egerton in Rocketman – Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Taron Egerton in Rocketman – Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
ROCKETMAN
continued from page 8
Bryce Dallas Howard) and his quietly affectionate grandmother Ivy (Gemma Jones) all looking on in wide-eyed tearful awe, it’s one of those scenes I didn’t want to see end. It’s priceless, so beautifully attuned to both the characters’ various emotional states as well as the larger narrative picture that I was blown away by the gorgeously subtle simplicity of what was up there on the screen.
Fletcher manages to create sequences like this time and time again. While I always knew where things were going and was seldom (if ever) shocked by what was transpiring, the director makes things feel fresh and alive while also staying true to Elton John’s internal journey towards selfactualization and unembellished understanding as to who he is as a person and what he needs to do in order to find true happiness and contentment as a musician. Musical numbers spring to life as if out of thin air, gravity disappearing and water not proving to be any sort of hindrance as “Crocodile Rock” and the film’s titular tune spring to life as if they were composed right there on the spot.
At the center of it all is Egerton, and as good as the young actor was in Eddie the Eagle and Testament of Youth I was not at all prepared for just how glorious he was going to be here. Not only does he sing Elton John’s songs with passionate urgency, he also descends deep into the emotional abyss as he builds his three-dimensional performance with intricate specificity. Egerton broke my heart on a number of occasions only to steal it back again with his goofy panache just a few minutes later. He is the engine that drives this musical towards its conclusion, and there was never a moment where I felt like I could have taken my eyes off of him even had I wanted to try.
Hall’s script isn’t timid where it deals with Elton John’s sexuality, his difficulties accepting who he is and trying to come out as a gay man one of the central battles he finds himself in the middle of fighting.
But while his affair with manager John Reid (Richard Madden) ends as anticipated (i.e. badly), the screenplay manages to get there without suffering too many obnoxiously overfamiliar pitfalls. While Hall is hardly kind to Reid he still refuses to paint him as a one-dimensional bad guy. Madden latches onto the character with forceful gravitas in large part thanks to this, and where a lesser motion picture would reduce
him to heinous and offensive stereotypes, this one thankfully refuses to do that.
Could Rocketman have been even more aggressive in its approach? Would I have liked the film more had Fletcher ratcheted the innovative intensity up even higher than he actually does? That’s certainly possible, and I can’t say that the by-the-numbers presentation of a few of the more expected beats (most of them involving Elton John’s
drug addiction) don’t have a moderate melodramatic air of inevitability that’s slightly annoying. But Fletcher, Egerton, Bell and the rest of the cast and crew overcome every obstacle with stupendous effervescence, their musical biography a heartfelt song of euphoric victory I’m going to be singing along with for a long time to come.
Intimate Photograph a rapturous portrait of romantic longing
by Sara Michelle Fetters
SGN A&E Writer
PHOTOGRAPH
Now playing
Mumbai street photographer Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is tired of being asked when he will get married. But when his beloved grandmother Dadi (Farrukh Jaffar) stops taking her medicine until he agrees to find a bride, he decides fantasy is better than reality, telling her he’s been dating a beautiful young woman, even going so far as to send her a picture of the girl to prove what he says is true. But when Dadi decides to take the train down from her small village to visit Rafi and meet this girlfriend, the photographer is beside himself with worry. The picture he sent his grandmother was of a random woman he met while doing his job and not a person he knows anything about other than her first name, Miloni (Sanya Malhotra).
Miloni is trying to figure out what she wants from her life. Her parents have insisted she give up any idea she might have of becoming an actress, forcing her to focus on her studies while they search for a suitable husband to marry her off to. But the empathetic young woman knows she wants more than what her parents have meticulously planned for her. The best way to achieve any of her dreams without alienating her family or making them feel like she is dishonoring them? That’s one question Miloni still hasn’t figured out how to answer. The central premise of The Lunchbox director Ritesh Batra’s quietly empathetic romance Photograph sounds like something out of a 1990s rom-com. Rafi convinces
Miloni to pretend to be his girlfriend and fiancée in order to appease Dadi during her brief visit, the pair slowly realizing their connection might be something far more factual than fictional when they’re forced to carry on the ruse longer than anticipated. But Batra isn’t interested in delivering empty laughs. He cares about his characters, yearns to know more about the individualistic situations that have led them to a place where they’re mutually willing to support one another in this façade. This is a movie that takes its time as it allows Rafi and Miloni the freedom to become fascinating threedimensional human beings. The director understands not every question needs an answer and not all stories have to be tidily
resolved, this poignant slice of life holding me spellbound for the entire length of its 110-minute running time.
I like that Batra doesn’t really ever entirely reveal why Miloni agrees to help Rafi. Instead, he focuses on what is happening to her at school and at home. We get to see the young woman forced to sit and be silent as her parents debate the merits of the son of her father’s business partner almost as if she isn’t even in the room. We watch her marvel at the picture Rafi first took of her, Miloni seeing herself as if for the first time after she is seen through his camera’s lens. We crouch alongside her as she listens intently to stories of village life as told by her family’s kindly maid (Geetanjali
Kulkarni), the pair’s connection unquestionably strong.
As for Rafi, his motivation to enter into this ruse is far more obvious. He speaks openly about working as hard as he does in order to pay off his late father’s debts, and while we are never told how those were accrued it’s still clear the photographer feels compelled to settle them no matter what the cost. But it is his relationship with Dadi that makes the most lasting impression. They clearly adore one another, both wanting to do what’s best for the other even if they’re not always certain on what it is going to take to do so. Rafi is a good man trying to do the right thing, his grandmother being there for both he and his two sisters when they needed her the most the primary reason this is the case.
All of the performances are excellent, Indian superstar Siddiqui playing marvelously against type with his compassionate, introspective turn as Rafi. But it is Jaffar who steals the film, her playfully subtle turn a constant delight. She also gets to utter my favorite line of dialogue from 2019 (so far) with a knowingly crooked smile that instantly stole my heart. “Why should I be a bone in your kebab?” she asks with tender whimsy, and in that one moment I knew with absolute certainty Batra had once again directed a film (The Lunchbox being the first) I was going to be thinking about for the remainder of the calendar year and likely much longer than that. Photograph is a beautiful snapshot of romantic longing and human understanding that’s nothing less than glorious, watching it a rapturously intimate pleasure I didn’t want to end.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra in Photograph – Photo courtesy of Amazon Studios
Taron Egerton and Richard Madden in Rocketman – Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
SEATTLE
BATHS
SEATTLE
BATHS
CLUB Z - (men)
1117 Pike near Boren - 622-9958 HOT HOUSE SPA & SAUNA - (women)
CLUB Z - (men)
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
BALTIC ROOM - 1207 Pine St. - 625-4444
RESTAURANTS & BARS
THE BOTTLENECK LOUNGE
2328 E. Madison St. - 323-1098
BALTIC ROOM - 1207 Pine St. - (206) 625-4444
C.C. ATTLE’S BAR & GRILLE
THE BOTTLENECK LOUNGE
1701 E. Olive Way - 726-0565
2328 E. Madison St. - (206) 323-1098
CAPITOL CIDER - 818 E Pike St. - (206) 397-3564
1533 13th Ave. - 323-1525
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
1017 E. Pike St - (206) 204-0126
JULIA’S - 300 Broadway Ave. E. - 860-1818
DIEGO PELLICER - 2215 4th Ave. S - (206) 624-0070
KREMWERK - 1809 Minor Ave. #10 - 682-2935
DOGHOUSE LEATHERS
MADISON PUB - 1315 E. Madison - 325-6537
715 E. Pike St. - (206) 257-0231
NEIGHBOURS - 1509 Broadway - 324-5358
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
LAUGHING BUDDHA TATTOO
ROOT TABLE 2213 NW Market St. - 420-3214
SEATTLE EAGLE - 314 E. Pike - 621-7591
1534 Broadway - (206) 329-8274
THE NEW YORK XCHANGE
THE CANTERBURY - 534 15th Ave. E. - 322-3130
C.C. ATTLE’S BAR & GRILLE
CHANGES IN WALLINGFORD
1701 E. Olive Way - (206) 726-0565
2103 N. 45th - 545-8363
THE CANTERBURY
SHORTY’S 2222 2nd Ave - 441-5449
STOUT -1530 11th Ave - 397-3825
225 Broadway E. - (206) 726-3300
ONYX LEATHER
THE CRESCENT - 1413 E. Olive Way - 720-8188
534 15th Ave. E - (206) 322-3130
THE CUFF COMPLEX
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
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 - June 1
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.
Burien Pride Festival. 10am-10pm. Burien Town Square Park, 480 SW 152nd St, Burien. Third annual event featuring music, booths, food, and much more. Free admission. Info: www.burienpride.com.
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. Bite of Greece. 11am-10pm. Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, 1804 13th Ave. Seattle’s annual Greek festival on Capitol Hill features food, music, dance, crafts, children’s activities, historic church tours and much more. Info: biteofgreeceseattle.com. (Continues 6/2.)
Snohomish County Pride. 11am-5pm. Willis Tucker Park, 6705 Puget Park Dr, Snohomish. The County’s third annual Pride festival, celebrating the richness of our community with art, entertainment, information, and food. Free and family-friendly. Visit www.facebook.com/ events/315150775851656 for info.
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.
Choir of the Sound Spring Pops Concert: “Viva La Diva.” 3pm & 7pm. Shorecrest Performing Arts Center, 15343 25th Ave NE, Shoreline. Highlighting the songs of Etta, Dolly, Aretha, Barbra, Cher, Whitney, Gaga and other fabulous divas. Tickets $25 at the door ($10 for children 12 and under) or visit www.brownpapertickets. com/event/3462187 for advance purchase discounts. Info: www.choirofthesound.org. (Also 6/2 at 3pm.) 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. Blue Dress Party: A Fundraising Gala Cruise. 7-10pm. On board the Hiyu, a fabulous floating venue on Lake Washington. Sail the night away while enjoying music, dancing, art, and cocktails to benefit Lifelong and raise awareness of PrEP. Sponsored by The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, The Abbey of St. Joan. Advance tickets $65 at www.bluedressparty.com.
SUNDAY - June 2
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 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 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 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
community calendar
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
Bite of Greece. 12 noon-6pm. Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, 1804 13th Ave. Seattle’s annual Greek festival on Capitol Hill features food, music, dance, crafts, children’s activities, historic church tours and much more. Info: biteofgreeceseattle.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
9th Annual South Park Queer Pride Picnic. 1-4pm. Duwamish Waterway Park, 7900 10th Ave S. Enjoy Drag Queen show, live music, dance. Free tamales for first 200 people. Bring your own picnic. Everyone welcome. Family friendly. Bring your own lawn chair or blanket to sit on. Sponsored by Entre Hermanos. www. entrehermanos.org.
Choir of the Sound Spring Pops Concert: “Viva La Diva.” 3pm. See 6/1 listing. GenPRIDE Midday Matinee. 3pm. GenPRIDE, 401 Broadway E, 2nd floor. Double feature to be announced. Popcorn and snacks provided. Free for LGBTQ seniors and their friends. Info: https://gapseattle.org. Knights of Mantra Monthly Meeting. 3pm. The Cuff, 1533 13th Ave. Meets 1st Sunday each month. K of M/ Jet Chapter is a fun-loving leather/Levi social & charitable organization that raises money for various causes & organizations. (206) 329-0886. www.facebook.com/ kofmjetchapter/ 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 PFLAG/Whatcom County (Bellingham) Monthly Meeting. 5pm. Community Food Co-op Bakery, 405 E Holly St, Bellingham. Meets 1st Sunday each month. Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays is a national support organization for parents, spouses, & families of GLBT persons, as well as those minorities. www.whatcompflag.org; PFLAG/Puget Sound: (206) 325-7724. Seattle Jazz Vespers. 6-8pm. Seattle First Baptist Church, Seneca St & Harvard Ave. Meets 1st Sunday each month (October-June). The historic Gothic sanctuary of Seattle First Baptist Church is offered to the best jazz groups in the city to perform 100 minutes of their own popular music. FREE. For info (206) 325-6051, www.seattlefirstbaptist.org/sjv 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 - June 3
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
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
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 - June 4
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.
defeatHIV Community Advisory Board (CAB). 5:307:30pm. Cal Anderson House, 400 Broadway @ E Jefferson St. Meets 1st Tuesday each month. CAB builds community involvement in order to advance defeatHIV’s clinical research into a potential gene therapy cure for HIV infection. If you want to learn more about our efforts to ensure that all of Seattle’s communities that are affected by HIV have a strong voice in the cure research of defeatHIV, please come to one of our community dinner meetings. More info, contact Michael Louella, (206) 667-5810; mlouella@fredhutch.org
Gay Men’s Task Force of Snohomish County in Everett 6-8pm. Snohomish Health District, 3020 Rucker Ave Ste 309A, Everett. Meets 1st Tuesday each month. Open to all Gay & Bisexual men in Snohomish County. “We will be discussing issues concerning the local Gay community & value your opinion, voice, comments, suggestions & attendance. Come join us as we build community in Snohomish County.” David, (425) 339-5238. 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
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
Seattle Tennis Alliance Summer Social Doubles. 6:30-8:30pm. Lower Woodland Tennis Courts, 5773 W Green Lake Way N. Most Tuesdays & Thursdays. Courts #5, 6, 7 & 8. June-August. Weather permitting. Pre-pay online if possible. seattletennisalliance.org
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
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.
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
Here & Now Gay & Lesbian AA Meeting in Tacoma 7:30pm. Christ Episcopal Church, 310 N “K” St, Tacoma. Every Tuesday. 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
- June 5
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
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
Southeast Seattle Lesbian Evening Group. 6pm. Southeast Seattle Senior Center, 4655 S Holly St. Meets 1st Wednesday each month. RSVP to Kate Hawkins (206) 722-0317. www.sessc.org. FREE. 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
White Center Pride. 7-11:30pm. Mac’s Triangle Pub, 9454 Delridge Way. New five-day event showcasing White Center’s LGBT scene kicks off with 7pm Pride Flag raising at Mac’s, followed by speakers, refreshments and entertainment. Then lace up for Pride Skate Night at nearby Southgate Roller Rink (9646 17th Ave SW, 8:30 -11:30). Info: www.whitecenterpride.org. (Festival continues at multiple venues through 6/9.)
PFLAG/Renton Monthly Meeting. 7pm. St Luke’s Episcopal Church, 99 Wells Ave S, Renton. Meets 1st Wednesday each month. Parents & Friends of Lesbians & Gays is a national support organization for parents, spouses & families of GLBT persons, as well as those minorities. PFLAG/Renton: 425-235-4139. PFLAG/ Puget Sound: (206) 325-7724. www.seattle-pflag.org.
Mature Friends Pinochle Group. 7:30pm. Wallingford Community Senior Center, lower level of Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnywide Ave N. Meets 1st & 3rd Wednesday each month All levels welcome. MF is a social organization for Gay men & women, 40 years & over. www.maturefriends.org
community calendar
Pride Skate Seattle. 8:30-11pm. Southgate Roller Rink, 9646 17th Ave SW. Meets 1st Wednesday each month. $8 admission includes skate rental. Must be 18+, with 21+ bar. Performances, roller skating, and fun! See you there! www.southgaterollerrink.com
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 - June 6
Orca Swim Team Workout. Morning. Seattle University, Redhawk Center, 14th Ave & E Cherry St. (See Sunday afternoon listing.)
Prayer for the Earth: Tibetan Sand Mandala Exhibit. 9am-5pm. UW Intellectual House, 4249 Whitman Ct NE. Watch as highly accomplished monks create and dissolve a beautiful Sand Mandala and learn the meaning of this sacred art form. Info: sandmandalatour2019.home. blog/. (Event continues 6/7.)
ALISS - Aging Lesbians in South Seattle Lunch Gathering. 11:30am-2:30pm. Southeast Seattle Senior Center, 4655 S Holly St, Rainier Ave S & S Holly St., Arts & Crafts Room. Meets 1st Thursday each month. This is a group primarily for Lesbians but all are welcome to attend. Facilitator: Fai Coffin; Cost: Free for gathering; $5 suggested donation for lunch. Metro route 7. Wheelchair accessible. Kate, (206) 722-0317; www.sessc.org.
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
First Thursday Art Walk in Downtown Seattle/Pioneer Square. 5-9pm. Art galleries in Downtown Seattle/Pioneer Square host opening night receptions. Seattle Art Museum is free today.
Rouge at Maximilien. 5-7pm. 81a Pike Place Market.
Live Parisian music during First Thursday Art Walk. Seattle Human Rights Commission. 6-8pm. Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave. Meets 1st Thursday each month. SHRC is made up of 15 citizen representatives who advise the Mayor, the City Council, & all City of Seattle Depts in matters regarding human rights. The commission advocates for justice & equal opportunity & collaborates with & educates the public & private sectors about how to prevent & eliminate discrimination city-wide. Meetings open to the public. (206) 684-4540. White Center Pride. 6-9pm. Drunky Two Shoes BBQ Patio, 9655 16th Ave SW. Beer, BBQ and Drag featuring the Rat City Queens and West End Girls. Info: www. whitecenterpride.org. (Festival continues through 6/9.)
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.
Seattle Tennis Alliance Summer Social Doubles. 6:30-8:30pm. Lower Woodland Tennis Courts, 5773 W Green Lake Way N. Most Tuesdays & Thursdays. Courts #5, 6, 7 & 8. June-August. Weather permitting. Pre-pay online if possible. seattletennisalliance.org 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
Seattle Prime Timers Coffee Reunion. 7pm. Northgate Mall, 491 NE Northgate Way. Meets 1st Thursday each month. Monthly social meet & greet. Look for your fellow Prime Timers at a table in the Food Court at the south end of the mall. Northgate is served by many bus routes including 26X, 40, 41, 67 & 75. www.seattleprimetimers.org.
Buddhism & Recovery. 7:30-9pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100 Every Thursday. A meditation/ recovery group. (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org Emerald City Social Club. 7:30pm. Call for details & location - phone staffed most Tuesday evenings or leave message. Meets 1st Thursday each month. ECSC is a confidential crossdressing social & support organization for Transvestite & Transsexual individuals, primarily MTF, which offers confidential membership, private monthly meetings, frequent events on the town, & help in coming out. (425) 827-9494.
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 - June 7
Prayer for the Earth: Tibetan Sand Mandala Exhibit. 9am-2pm (lecture 12 noon-1:30pm). UW Intellectual House, 4249 Whitman Ct NE. Watch as highly accomplished monks create and dissolve a beautiful Sand Mandala and learn the meaning of this sacred art form. Today’s event also features a public talk by Dza Kilung Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist lama and author. Info: sandmandalatour2019.home.blog/. 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
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
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. (See related listing Sunday at noon.) Greater Seattle AIS 24-hour number (206) 625-0000; www.seattle-al-anon.org; (206) 322-2437; www.peerseattle.org
White Center Pride. 9pm-2am. The Swallow Bar (9608 16th Ave SW) and the Lumber Yard Bar (9619 16th Ave SW). Pride Friday Night at the Swallow (9-2) and Swimwear Party at the Lumber Yard (10-2). Info: www. whitecenterpride.org. (Festival continues through 6/9.)
SATURDAY - June 8
(See previous Saturday for ongoing activities.)
NAMI 5K Walk for Mental Health. 8am (check-in), 9am (walk). Marina Park, Kirkland. Fun community event to help people and families in our state who are affected by mental illness. Raise $100 and receive a colorful Hero T-shirt. Sponsored by National Alliance on Mental Illness. Info and registration: www.namiwalks.org.
A Gathering of Men in Woodinville 8:15-11:30am. 21920 Highway 9 SE (WA-9), Woodinville. Meets 2nd Saturday each month. All men are welcome. www. agatheringofmen.org
Trans Health Fair. 10am-3pm. MLK F.A.M.E. Community Center, 3201 E Republican St. Meet medical providers who know Trans issues and agencies staffed by and for Trans people. Speakers include Queerdoc. com’s Dr. Crystal Ball and Tribalmed.com’s Janna Cuneo, ARNP. Free, sponsored by Lifeline. Info: www. lifelong.org/transhealthfair.
Indigenous People Festival. 11am-5pm. Seattle Center Armory and Mural Amphitheatre, Seattle Center. Join the Native community for a celebration featuring song, dance, performances, art, food and workshops sharing indigenous knowledge. Free, coordinated by the Seattle Indian Health Board. Info: www.sihb.org/events/ indigenous-people-festival-2019. Georgetown Art Attack. 6-9pm. Meets 2nd Saturday each month. Stop into Georgetown Records at Airport Way S & S Vale or visit www.georgetownneighborhood.com
Ballard’s Second Saturday Artwalk. 7-10pm. Meets 2nd Saturday each month. (206) 784-9705; visitballard.com
Blue Moon Pride Party. 9pm-2am. Blue Moon Tavern, 712 NE 45th St. Benefit for Olympia’s Pizza Klatch, an organization providing support for LGBTQ+ youth. Music by Creature Hole, Seaside Tryst, After Party. 21+. $10 at door. Check out Blue Moon’s full schedule at bluemoonseattle.wordpress.com.
White Center Pride. 9pm-2am. The Swallow Bar (9608 16th Ave SW) and the Lumber Yard Bar (9619 16th Ave SW). Pride festivities continue at these two neighboring White Center Gay bars. Info: www.whitecenterpride.org. (Festival continues through 6/9.)
SUNDAY - June 9
(See previous Sunday for ongoing activities.) Lotus Sisters Guided Meditation. 11am-1:30pm. Peer Seattle, 1520 Bellevue Ave, Suite 100. Meets 2nd Sunday each month. Senior students lead the meditation, provide dharma talks or reflections & lead discussion. (206) 329-5908; www.LotusSisters.org. (Meets in 2nd floor meeting room; no elevator.)
White Center Pride. 12 noon-8pm. Future Primitive Brewing (9832 14th Ave SW) and the Lumber Yard Bar (9619 16th Ave SW). Festival concludes with Sunday Funday Pride Fair at Future Primitive (12-4) and Tea Dance at the Lumber Yard (4-8). Info: www.whitecenterpride.org.
Camp Ten Trees Dinner & Auction Gayla. 3pm (VIP reception), 4pm (general admission). Seattle Design Center, 5701 6th Ave S. Dust off your best ’80s dresses, floral prints, and tropical tones! Aleksa Manila hosts a magical evening in the style of “The Golden Girls” to benefit the PNW’s only residential camp program for LGBTQ+ youth. Event features “Golden Girls” drag show, apps, dinner, drinks, silent & live auction, raffle, games & prizes. Visit camptentrees.org and click “2019 Gayla.” Dignity/Seattle Prayer Service. 6pm. Ravenna United Methodist Church, 5751 33rd Ave NE. Meets 2nd Sunday each month. Dignity/Seattle is the local chapter of the nationwide organization of GLBT Roman Catholics. “We celebrate our inherent dignity with pride in liturgy, mutual support, work for justice, & social activities.” Gender-inclusive & relationship affirming liturgies & prayer services. All welcome. (206) 325-7314.
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
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
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
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 - (425) 785-8593; lgbtmsconnections@comcast.net. 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 & 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 metham-
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
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. Sponsors Tacoma Pride Festival. (253) 383-2318, www. rainbowcntr.org
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
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
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Romantic Sun a supernova of tragic frustration
by Sara Michelle Fetters
SGN A&E Writer
THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR
Now playing
The Sun is Also a Star might be the most infuriating film I’ve seen in 2019, and that’s only because I ended up falling for this teenage romantic drama during its climactic act only for director Ry RussoYoung (Before I Fall ) and screenwriter Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip) to tack on a pointless epilogue that had me rolling my eyes in frustration. It’s a brief coda that practically eradicates everything this astute, reasonably intelligent adaptation of author Nicola Yoon’s best-selling novel has been working overtime to accomplish for most of its running time, sending me out of the theatre shaking my head wondering what all involved were thinking when they added this schmaltzy bit of contrived tedium to a story that did not need it.
The story is equal parts dorky romantic fairy tale and moderately clever character study that thanks to its central hook couldn’t be more of the moment. It is Natasha Kingsley’s (Yara Shahidi) last day in New York. Her family is self-deporting back to Jamaica in the morning, the teenager’s parents bringing both her and her brother to the United States when they were small children. Natasha refuses to believe hope is lost, and she journeys into the heart of the city to meet with immigration one last time. She is given the card of a local lawyer who might be able to help, and the young woman is determined to meet with him no matter if she has to wait to do so until the end of the day.
Daniel Bae (Charles Melton) has ventured downtown to be interviewed by a Dartmouth alum about his college application. His parents want him to become a doctor but he’s secretly a poet at heart. But he’s a good son and will follow their directions as to what his future is going to be even if that’s not what he really wants. After a surreal series of events has them literally lying on the sidewalk cradled in one another’s arms, and with Daniel’s interview fortuitously rescheduled to the next morn-
ing and the immigration lawyer unable to meet with Natasha until later in the afternoon, the pair decide to spend the day together. He, the brazen romantic, believes this is fate. She, the scientifically-minded pragmatist, thinks he’s full of hot air. Yet Natasha is willing to give him the afternoon to prove his thesis, because at worst Daniel’s attempt to do so will take her mind off of her family’s impending deportation and their exile from the only city, the only country, she’s ever called home.
It’s all as hokey as it sounds, but somehow no matter how outlandish and coincidental it all gets (and dang does it get both massively outlandish and insanely coincidental), Russo-Young, Oliver, Shahidi and Melton still make much of this work. What could have been an insipidly overly melodramatic slog instead bursts with imagination and originality. Natasha and Daniel are real. They are easy to root for, the pair’s nonchalant, effortlessly generated charm difficult to resist, while the observationally minimalist way in which Russo-Young chooses to follow the pair throughout their
day works shockingly well. Most importantly, Shahidi and Melton are perfect, their relationship building so magnetically even the scenario’s sillier moments have an aura of lived-in authenticity that I couldn’t have resisted even had I wanted to try.
Not that those moments aren’t somewhat trying. This is one of those strange movies that comes out of the gate firing on all cylinders, stumbles a little only to thankfully regain its footing fairly quickly, which then unfortunately leads to things getting bungled in a manner that’s annoyingly upsetting, only for the filmmakers to once again get things back on the right track with spectacular aplomb. But even when things aren’t working the underlying scenario relating to Natasha’s plight is always effective, the deplorable unfairness of her situation depicted with an understated refinement that makes it brutally affecting in a way that ripped my heart straight out of my chest.
It is because of this that the film’s last act ends up being so incredibly stellar. Russo-Young and Oliver fearlessly mine the more universally heartbreaking aspects
of Yoon’s source material marvelously, Natasha and Daniel’s relationship venturing into territory that helps crystallize an inhuman immigration policy that’s as abhorrent as it is shortsighted, xenophobic and most of all senseless. Shahidi and Melton are incredible throughout this section. Their dual ability to let silence speak for itself, their trust in one another to understand that less is more, all of this allows what is being showcased to resonate on a deeply personal level. It’s amazing, and had the movie ended with its first fade to black (which is coupled with a deftly candid voiceover from Shahidi) I’m all but certain I’d be praising this romantic drama as if it were one of 2019’s best motion pictures.
But that isn’t where things end. There’s one more scene, and it isn’t one found in Yoon’s book. If anything, this brief epilogue feels as if it were conjured up in some Hollywood studio boardroom and not by the filmmakers. It undercuts everything that has happened throughout the story, damaging the drama in ways that are frankly inexcusable. While the scene in and of itself is still well directed, and even though the actors are still excellent, the message being sent to the audience is still disastrous, and I kind of wanted something to throw at the screen in abject disgust as soon as I realized what was about to happen.
Granted, I’m still torn about just how much damage this last scene does to the film as a whole. Shahidi and Melton are undeniably tremendous, Autumn Durald’s (Teen Spirit) cinematography is outstanding and Herdís Stefánsdóttir’s score is unforgettably marvelous. The romantic moments have a Douglas Sirk-like inventiveness that allowed the melodrama to take root inside my soul with eloquent grace, Russo-Young directing with a vividly distinct confidence I was instantly drawn to. If only The Sun is Also a Star stuck the landing and hadn’t left such a sour taste in my mouth. This is definitely a case study in how a terrible ending can lead an otherwise fine motion picture down the road to disaster, and the more I continue to think about it the angrier I seem to get.
Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton in The Sun Is Also a Star – Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
