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Watch This: Kiss Me Goodbye
I was trying to jack off a hangover away last Sunday afternoon when I heard a knock on the door. I shoved related accoutrements under the bed, convinced as I often am because I have no money that eviction was underway. As I went for the door, the possibility occurred...
Full Disclosure: The Second Coming Of Puberty
“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” Simone de Beauvoir revolutionized our understanding of the self by detaching sex from an innate and essential way of being. With her lengthy study of the sources of women’s oppression in her book The Second Sex, she laid...
Norwescon: 39 Years of Fandom and Counting
This is part of a series of profiles of conventions, local to Seattle and across the country, with missions that are relevant to the LGBTQ community. While I’ve been an active convention goer as an adult for the last several years, I also attended a number of...
Three Minutes And Thirty-One Seconds
In music, as in life, beginnings are often the most exciting part. Every song, every album, every concert and performance and dance routine must begin somewhere. It could be the opening guitar riff of Purple Haze, the lazy bass and snare heralding Proud Mary, or...
Kendra Kassebaum Returns to the Scene of the Crime in Assassins
Actress Kendra Kassebaum is perhaps best known for her long stint as Galinda/Glinda in the smash musical Wicked. But one past project that has remained near and dear to her heart is the dark-hued Stephen Sondheim/John Weidman musical Assassins, which she appeared in...
Trans Activist Danni Askini Announces WA House Run
Gender Justice League Executive Director and trans rights activist Danni Askini has announced her candidacy for the 43rd district of the Washington state House of Representatives, a seat being vacated by Brady Walkinshaw. A win for Askini would make her the first...
Watch This: Naked Strangers And The Taste Of Bald Eagles
Shortly after I met my girlfriend Mary Anne, we stayed for a weekend at that most patchouli-scented of romantic destinations, Doe Bay. The resort, on Orcas Island, is famous for its clothing-optional hot springs and rentable yurts. On our first day there, in June, we...
Angie Louise Dishes on March is Cabaret Month
Theatre and cabaret favorite, and film-maker, Angie Louise is a whirling dervish of the Seattle entertainment scene. Whether you recall her at the 5th Avenue as a wicked Fraulein Kost in Cabaret, or know her from her edgy Weimar-era inspired band The Love Markets, or...
Painting the Town With Levi Hastings
You may not know the name Levi Hastings but, if you’ve picked up a copy of The Stranger, the Mercury, or City Arts magazine lately, you’ve probably seen his work.
Make It Stop: The Illegitimacy Of The Grammy Awards
I don’t like the Grammys. I’ve known this for years, and I make no secret of it. When an institution bestows an award on the Baha Men but withholds from Patti Smith, Morrisey, Public Enemy, Bjork, Notorious B. I. G., Tupac, and Katy Perry, I have some doubts about...
Critical Condition: Annapurna, When Less is More
Annapurna is the latest production by Theatre 22 at 12th Avenue Arts. It's a two-hander, one set play. It is not an epic. It may not change your life. It is not immersive theatre in the sense that the audience moves around the stage with (which is fine by me and my...
Watch This: Once In A Blue Moon
I was at the Blue Moon Tavern, where the booths are (appropriately) crescent-shaped, secluding their occupants from the rest of the bar. My date and I had been there about thirty minutes when a wobbling man in a linen suit flopped into our booth and just sat there,...
Hard to Swallow: When Comics Get Down And Dirty
I have a confession to make. I’ve always preferred erotica to porn. While I appreciate the voyeuristic nature of adult films, erotica can lead you down paths that are less realistic. Paths into territory that’s hard to portray on a screen. Genres you wouldn’t expect....
DoNormaal. She Will Explode.
DoNormaal. Photo by Stacey Jurss via donormaal.com It was 10pm on Saturday night. I got out of my car, waited for my friend to crush her Four Loko can underfoot, and walked into a house show in Fremont. The house was a nondescript two-story outfit that sometimes...
Critical Condition: Six Degrees of Stephen Sondheim
This week’s column spotlights a new Seattle staging of a classic Stephen Sondheim show, and a cast recording of a musical “fable” about the legendary leading lady of one of his early efforts, Gypsy. The profound impact of Stephen Sondheim on the Broadway musical, post...