Gayly Forward: Queer Arts & Shows This Week & Beyond

Tipsy Rose Lee (she/her) as Audrey in LITTLE SHOP at Reboot Theatre. Photo: Jeff Carpenter

* = Top picks!

(as selected through R Barron’s fogged-up lenses alone)

Now thru 5/19 (Thursday-Saturday)

Little Shop of Horrors @ Reboot Theatre/Slate (International District)

Musical, $25 tickets

Note: remainder of run is sold out, but walk-ups may be available

The campy sci-fi gem follows the story of Seymour, a misfit flower shop clerk who discovers an unusual plant that gains him fame and fortune — even if it is a cannibal.  Features genderqueer & drag performers in leading roles.  

7:30 pm, Sunday 2 pm.  Info and schedule here.

(Queer arts)

Now thru 5/20 (Thursday-Sunday)

Fallen Star @ Gay City Arts (Capitol Hill)

Play/multimedia, $15 tickets general, need-based free available (online)

(Queer arts, Trans focus)

After a trans woman superhero discovers the ways the Heroes Regional Council perpetuates systems of oppression, she decides to go solo and pursue her own vision of vigilante justice.  A new play with comic-art film, by Tobi Hill-Meyer.

7 pm.  Info and accessibility info here; please arrive scent-free.

(Queer arts, Trans focus)

Now thru 5/24 (Friday-Thursday)

* Broken Bone Bathtub @ (private residences) (various neighborhoods)   

Play/performance art, $35 tickets

Note: audiences are tiny, and remainder of run is very nearly sold out

This immersive theatre project takes place inside a bathtub, in an actual home.  After a serious bike accident, a young woman musters up the courage to ask for help.  She shares her with audience members, who take on the role of her close friends, not only listening but sharing in their experiences.  Read review here.  

7 pm and 9 pm shows each day.  Info and schedule here.

(No queer content, but the audience was!)

Now thru 5/26 (Friday-Saturday)  

* Bent @ Changing Scene/Dukesbay (Tacoma)  
Play, tickets $18  

Martin Sherman’s acclaimed play on gay men during the Holocaust.  

7:30 pm, Sunday 6 pm (5/20 only).  Info and schedule here.

(Queer historical play)

5/18-5/19 (Friday-Saturday)

* The Bag Lady Manifesta @ CD Forum/Langston Hughes (Central District)

Performance art/installation, $20 tickets general

Artist/activist/healer Taja Lindley presents an immersive installation of memory, using dynamic movement, burlesque, text, soundscapes, ritual, and projection to adorn and activate her Black, queer, female body with trash bags.  An accumulation of discarded lives and abandoned histories. Read preview here.   

7:30 pm, info and tickets here.

(Queer arts, Black excellence)

5/18-6/2 (Friday-Saturday)

5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche @ Fantastic.Z/Ballard Underground (Ballard)

Play, tickets $20 general

Note: one pay-what-you-can Monday show (5/21)

A silly, sapphic story of pastry and forbidden love.  It’s 1956 and the women of The Susan B Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein are having their Annual Quiche Breakfast. Will they be able to keep their cool when communists threaten their idyllic town, turning their community center into a bomb shelter?

8 pm, Sunday 2 pm (5/27 only).  Info and schedule here.
(Queer arts)

5/20-5/21 (Sunday-Monday)

* 12 Minutes Max @ Base (Georgetown)

Modern dance/performance art, tickets $12

This session of the long-running shorts showcase (formerly at On the Boards) is curated by Florangela Davila and Tyisha Nedd, and features new works in dance, theater, music and multimedia from a great lineup of diverse local artists, including dancer Randy Ford.  

7 pm and 9 pm (Sunday), 7 pm (Monday).  Info and schedule here.

(Queer arts, Black excellence)

5/21 (Monday)

A Sensible Debutante Ball @ Sensible Theatre/Fred (Capitol Hill)

Fundraiser/party, tickets $20

Our Sensible Debutante Ball is the social event of the season. We present to you the Ladies & Gentlemen of PAGEANT, complete with a grand entrance down an elegant staircase, a parade to show off their beyond gorgeous gowns, and live entertainment to showcase their many splendid talents.

7 pm.  Info and tickets here.

(Queer fundraiser)

5/22 (Tuesday)

* First Look: Lady Day & Hedwig @ ArtsWest (West Seattle)  

Arts talk/behind-the-scenes, tickets free

Go behind the scenes of ArtsWest’s next productions with Valerie Curtis-Newton (directing Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill), ArtsWest Artistic Director Mathew Wright (directing Hedwig and the Angry Inch), and members of the cast and design teams for both shows.

7:30.  Info and online RSVP here.

(Queer arts, Education)

5/22-6/3 (Tuesday-Sunday)

* Goldie, Max and Milk @ UW Drama/Penthouse Theater (UW main campus)  

Play, tickets $20 general  

Note: 5/22 and 5/24 are previews; post-show discussion 6/3

In this new play by Karen Hartman (of the Rep’s Roz & Ray), conflicting family values surround Max, a single lesbian who just gave birth and is unemployed, with a house that’s falling apart, an ex on the loose, and no clue how to nurse her newborn.

7:30, Sundays 2 pm.  Info here and schedule/tickets here.

(Queer-focused arts)

ON DISPLAY

Now-6/2

Kook Teflon: Queer Womb @ Gay City Arts (Capitol Hill)
An artist and documentarian launches a new ‘zine (Queer Womb) and a collection of 8 paintings, all inspired by the album Drag King by Sister George.

Admission free, open during Kaladi Brothers Coffee hours.  Info here.

Now-5/26

* Jono Vaughan: Do You See Me @ Bryan Ohno Gallery (Pioneer Square)

Seattle-based artist Jono Vaughan displays works this month at the Bryan Ohno Gallery, in addition to her exhibit at Seattle Art Museum (see below).  Make it a Jono month!

Admission free, open Wednesday-Saturday 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm.  Info here.

Jono Vaughan Project 42 at SAM
The artist is in the back, center (in pink) with dancer Randy Ford (a collaborator on one of the pieces)
Photo: R. Barron

Now-8/5

* Jono Vaughan: Project 42 @ Seattle Art Museum (Downtown)

Seattle-based artist Jono Vaughan contends with the pattern of violence against transgender people through Project 42, which consists of 14 wearable pieces (eventually 42) commemorating trans people murdered in the U.S.  Each of the three dresses in this exhibition memorializes the life and death of a trans woman who was murdered: Myra Ical, Deja Jones, and Lorena Escalera Xtravaganza.  The series name from the short life expectancy of transgender individuals in the U.S., which the artist estimates is 42 years. Additionally, for those who happen to catch them — in a series of pop-up (unannounced) movements accompanying the exhibit, a collaborator wears each dress in a performance that commemorates and celebrates the individual, an act that Vaughan describes as “the returning of humanity and the sharing of missed opportunities.”

Admission to SAM $20, ticket info here. Open Wednesday-Sunday 10 am to 5 pm; extended hours Thursday (open to 9 pm).  Closed Monday and Tuesday. Info here.

PARTICI … … … PATION

(If you don’t get it, click here)

Now-5/21

* Application for Season 6: Solidarity @ Gay City Arts
Want YOUR art to be a part of Gay City’s next arts season?  Submit your application now! This season, Gay City Arts will focus on solidarity as a place from which survival, resilience, and collective joy springs.

5/26 (Saturday)

* ReShape Afternoon Workshops @ Slate (International District)

Workshops, free admission or by donation (pay-what-you-will)  

As part of the ReShape two-day art extravaganza (see below, under “Further Out” list), the community is invited to create works of their own.  Workshops are held Saturday from 12-6 in scheduled blocs, and include yoga, restorative writing, humor, and something probably performance-arty from the creator-performer of Broken Bone Bathtub (recommended above).   

12-6 pm.  Detailed workshop schedule here.  

(DIY)

FURTHER OUT:

5/25 (Friday)  

Lustré: A Decadent Queer Discothèque @ Kremwerk (Denny)
Fundraiser party, tickets $10-$50   

Dress up in your shiny best for a fundraising party, with proceeds going benefiting Gay City.  

10 pm.  Info and schedule here.

(Queer fundraiser)

5/25-5/26 (Friday-Saturday)

* ReShape @ Slate (International District)

Performance art/installations, tickets pay-what-you-will  

Six artists from different backgrounds have crafted a two-day art extravaganza emerging from a curiosity and dissatisfaction with how mental health is portrayed in American culture, especially for underrepresented voices.  Recommend viewing detailed schedule here.   

8 pm both days (artist installations), plus workshops all day Saturday.  Info and tickets here.

(Queer arts, Participatory)

5/26 (Saturday)

A Fantastic Woman @ NW Film Forum (Capitol Hill)  

Film screening, free admission (no tickets/RSVPs)
This Academy Award-winning film follows a Chilean trans woman’s quest for acceptance and comfort.  Free screening for the community; please consider donating to the trans-led organizers, Gender Justice League, Ingersoll Gender Center, and U.T.O.P.I.A Seattle.

Noon.  Info and accessibility info here; please arrive scent-free.

(Trans focus, Queer fundraiser)

5/31-6/2 (Thursday-Sunday)

You Can’t Spell “Queer” Without “Whores” @ Gay City Arts (Capitol Hill)

Showcase, tickets free, donations accepted
Sex workers are the invisible faces of the gay and queer rights movements.  This show brings Queer and Trans sex workers to the forefront to express their feelings about the marginalization they have experienced through a variety of different artistic mediums.
7 pm.  Info and accessibility info here; please arrive scent-free.  RSVP online here.

(Queer arts)

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT RELY ON THE ABOVE INFO.  Though we strive for accuracy, please check with the venue itself before making plans.

Column will run every week.  Wondering about the title? Urban Dictionary explains it for you: “Gay people, even when taking directions, do not ‘go straight.’  When we proceed in the direction we are facing we move gayly forward.”

Have events to submit?  Email press release to othervoicescalendar@gmail.com.  Find more events (queer arts and otherwise) on the Other Voices Calendar here.