October 2007

Fall Arts Events

SPEND A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Iphigenia in Tauris is “a rousing tale of rescue and redemption with blood, flames and swordfights” and is ideal for younger audiences, according to Rosemary Jones, spokesperson for Seattle Opera.

The Seattle Opera premiere, produced in cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera, tells the story of what happens after the Trojan War. Iphigenia is a lost Greek princess and temple priestess. Her brother, the prince Orestes, is on the run from the Furies and is shipwrecked outside the temple. The wicked King of Tauris, Thoas, orders Iphigenia to sacrifice Orestes. However, just in the nick of time, she recognizes her brother. A battle is fought, Thoas is defeated, and the goddess Diana appears to send Iphigenia and Orestes safely home.

Performances are Oct. 13, 17, 20, 24, 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 14 and 21 at 2 p.m. at Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St. in Seattle. Tickets are $25 - $162; student rush tickets are $20, available at the box office two hours before the show. The performances are in French with English captions, and children need to be old enough to read the subtitles silently. Jones advises families to read up on Greek myths and the Trojan War beforehand, particularly recommending The D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths by Ingri D’Aulaire and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire.

Discounted tickets for children ($15) are also on sale for family matinee performances of Pagliacci on Jan. 20, 2008 and Tosca on March 9, 2008. Since the operas are tragedies, with deaths and suicides, parents should read the synopses on the Seattle Opera Web site to decide if the content is appropriate for their children.

For more information or tickets, call 206-389-7676 or 1-800-426-1619 or visit www.seattleopera.org. Seattle Opera also participates in the Seattle Center’s TeenTix program, offering $5 rush tickets for teens throughout the Puget Sound area. For more information on signing up, visit www.seattlecenter.com/teentix.

COME OUT AND PLAY ON TARGET FAMILY DAY

Kids and parents can take backstage theater tours, participate in improvisation workshops or attend performances on Target Family Day Oct. 20 as part of the Live Theater Week festival Oct. 15-21. All events are free.

Theatre Puget Sound will present workshops, games and activities on the fourth floor of the Center House at Seattle Center, noon - 3 p.m., on Oct. 20. Workshop highlights include “Musical Theater,” “Improv/Theater Games,” “West African Storytelling & Dance,” “Stage Make-up,” “Stage Combat,” “Introduction to Shakespeare,” “Creative Movement” and “Puppetry.”
Families can take advantage of free events all around the Puget Sound area, including:

• Chicken Little by StoryBook Theater/Studio East, Everett
• Cinderella by Storybook Theater/Studio East, Kirkland
• Hansel and Gretel by Second Story Repertory, Redmond
• Something Wicked This Way Comes, a hands-on, family friendly introduction to Macbeth, Harlequin Productions, Olympia
• Disney’s High School Musical, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center
• Star Power and Camp Super Friend, Taproot Theatre, Seattle
• Open rehearsal of Civic Light Opera’s Seussical, the Musical, Magnuson Park Community Center, Seattle
• Backstage tours of the Kirkland Performance Center, ACT Theatre and the Seattle Repertory Theatre
• “Kid-Prov” workshops at Unexpected Productions in downtown Seattle
• “Improv for Everyone” workshop at Unity Theater in Snoqualmie
• Open house and musical revue, Knutzen Family Theatre, Federal Way
• Artist meet and greet with the cast of Holes, Lakewood Playhouse, Lakewood
• Sleepy Hollow Halloween Party, The Driftwood Players, Edmonds

For more information on Target Family Day or other Live Theater Week events, contact Theatre Puget Sound at 206-770-0370, www.seattleperforms.com/ltw. None of the Family Day events requires advance reservations. Tickets to Free Night of Theater events, on and around Oct. 18, will be available online Oct. 8.

NEW EXHIBITS OPENING AROUND TOWN

Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (EMP|SFM) are opening a new exhibition, American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music on Oct. 13. It’s the first bilingual, interpretive and interactive museum exhibition to tell the story of the impact of Latinos in American popular music, and highlights inspiration from New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, San Antonio and San Francisco. It will run at EMP|SFM at Seattle Center through Sept. 7, 2008. (206-770-2700; wwwempsfm.org).

The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) is debuting John James Audubon, American Artist and Naturalist. Along with 60 of the original hand colored engravings from The Birds of America, the exhibition features original letters, rare books, photographs and personal items from the naturalist’s adventurous life. The Birds of America folio consists of 435 individually hand colored copperplate engravings of life-sized birds printed on sheets of “Double Elephant” laid paper measuring 26.5 x 39 inches. The exhibit runs through Jan. 6, 2008 at MOHAI, 2700 24th Ave. E., Seattle (206-324-1126; www.seattlehistory.org).

This fall, the Seattle Art Museum, First Avenue and University Street in downtown Seattle, showcases Japan Envisions the West: 16th -19th Century Japanese Art from Kobe City Museum, which will be presented in two parts, Part I: Oct. 11 - Nov. 25 and Part II: Dec. 1 - Jan. 6, 2008. Japan Envisions the West features 142 cultural treasures from the Kobe City Museum, including paintings, prints, maps, ceramics, lacquer ware, metal ware, glass ware, leather ware and textiles (206-654-3100; www.seattleartmuseum.org).

— Wenda Reed

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