The Seattle Shakespeare Company presents Coriolanus on Jan. 6-29 at the Center House Theatre, 305 Harrison Str. Bred for the battlefield, the triumphant soldier Coriolanus discovers he is out of his depths when elected to the Roman Senate where the politics can be twice as treacherous as warfare. Behind his meteoric rise is his powerful mother who raised him to be a warrior of no equal. Shakespeare makes politics personal in this tragedy by plumbing the depths of emotions between mother and son, pride and patriotism, ego and honor. For information, call (206) 733-8222 or visit www.seattleshakespeare.org
If you like spontaneous theater, then don’t miss ACT Theater’s 2012 installment of The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival. The fundraising and new member festival runs Jan 6-14 and includes plays written and performed the very same day. The World’s Quickest Theatre Festival is by invitation only and the Artist Roster ranges from experienced fringe theater artists to Seattle’s performance elite. Tickets are $20 online / $25 day of show / $40 for an All-Fest Pass. For information, call (206) 292 – 7676 or visit www.acttheatre.org.
Book-It Repertory Theatre presents its third annual reading series exploring potential new works in The Novel Workshop Series, January 12 – 15, this year in collaboration with the UW School of Drama. The readings will take place at the Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre on the Seattle UW Campus. MFA acting, directing, and design students will perform in these readings that will be developed through intensive workshops and master classes taught by book-It artists. Four novels have been chosen for this year’s series: She’s Come Undone, A Little Princess, Wuthering Heights, and The Mysterious Affair at Styles. The readings of Book-It Style™ adaptations of the four novels will explore the potential of each for full production on Book-It’s main stage in future seasons. Public readings begin Thursday, January 12, and continue through Sunday, January 15. All tickets to evening’s readings are $10 per person. For more information, call 206-216-0833.
Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses
Organized by EMP, Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses is the most extensive exhibition of memorabilia celebrating the music and history of Seattle grunge luminaries, Nirvana. The exhibit features more than 200 rare and never-before-seen artifacts and photography from the band, their crews, and families. The museum is located at 325 5th Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109. 206-770-2700, main line; 206-770-2702, box office; 1-877-EMP-SFM1, toll-free; www.empsfm.org
Got kids? Teatro ZinZanni is excited to offer Seattle families BIG TOP ROCK, the local art non-profit’s latest original production for youth. A project of the ZinZanni Institute for Circus Arts (ZICA), BIG TOP ROCK is a collaboration with Seattle’s unique and nationally recognized Kindiependent at www.kindiependent.com/ music collective, a group of six of the region’s top musical acts for kids. BIG TOP ROCK will offer up three family-friendly music and circus-filled shows throughout October 2011. Each BIG TOP ROCK production will feature music sets by two different, local kindie bands from Seattle’s Kindiependent music collective. “Kindiependent's main goal is to teach kids about the excitement of creative collaboration,” said Jack Forman, bassist for award-winning band Recess Monkey. “Our partnership with ZICA brings it to a whole new level. How exciting for kids to see ways that music and circus arts perfectly complement each other!”
The Nordic Heritage Museum announces the third annual Nordic Lights Film Festival on January 6 – 8, 2012. This cutting-edge cinematic festival offers an immersion into the world of hot Nordic films during the chilly winter film season, focusing on contemporary, award-winning films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. All films are presented at the new SIFF Cinema Center, located in Seattle in the Seattle Center’s Northwest Rooms, between the Key Arena and the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Join Seattle Repertory Theatre the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Seattle Rep PONCHO Forum at 155 Mercer Street to discover groundbreaking new works. Each reading is followed by a chatback with the playwright. This reading series is co-sponsored by the Rep’s New Play Program and the Northwest Playwrights Alliance. Admission is free (donations gladly accepted). No RSVP necessary—just show up!
Music
Classical music superstar Joshua Bell joins the Seattle Symphony and Music Director Ludovic Morlot to perform Max Bruch’s popular Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor on Tuesday, January 10, at 7:30 p.m. The program also includes Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 and two works by Carl Maria Von Weber: the Overture to Der Freischütz and Oberon Overture. This one-night-only concert takes place in the S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium at Benaroya Hall. Tickets are available from $45 to $157.
Books:
Chinese poet, essayist and translator Xi Chuan will read from several of his works, including “Yours Truly & Other Poems” and “Notes on the Mosquito: Selected Poems,” from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 9 at The Seattle Public Library, Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 4, Room 1. The program is free and open to the public. No registration is required. Parking is available in the Central Library garage for $6 on weekends. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
The Seattle Public Library will offer a free assistance to students filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8 and from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 4, Washington Mutual Foundation Meeting Room 1 and Boeing Technology Training Center Room 4. The sessions are free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Parking is available in the Central Library garage for $5 on weekends. Students and parents should bring their latest tax information and/or last pay stub from the previous year in order to complete the FAFSA form. For more information, call the Library at 206-386-4636 or Ask a Librarian.
Author Eric Dregni will be at the Nordic Heritage Museum at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 14, to read from his book, Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America. Eric Dregni tracks down and explores the significant—often bizarre—historic sites, tales, and traditions of Scandinavia’s peculiar colony in the Midwest. Dregni reveals the little-known tales that lie beneath the surface of Nordic America and proves by example why generations of Scandinavian-Americans have come to love and cherish these tales and traditions so dearly. Contact Heather Skinner, Publicist, at presspr@umn.edu with questions or requests.
Magnolia Book Club Meets monthly at 6:15 p.m. at the Magnolia Community Center, 2550 34th Ave. W. For dates or more information e-mail Kacey at kaceyk21@hotmail.com or visit readinginmagnolia.wordpress.com.
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