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April 21, 2006
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Bits & Bytes

Friends With Money charms film fans, Sleeping Beauty continues at PNBallet, Cannibal! returns to Thumper's cabaret, Arnaldo! headlines Dine Out in Renton
by Milton W. Hamlin - SGN A&E Writer Every night there seems to be a half a dozen choices on the current arts and entertainment calendar. Rounding Third just opened Intiman Theater's 2006 theater season with a gala kickoff Wednesday night. The Seattle Repertory has extended Nine Parts Of Desire for one additional week-through Sunday-reflecting terrific audience interest in this stark one-woman show that deals with sexual repression of Iraqi women. The Rep's new Tuesdays With Morrie, a three-hankie emotional (and comic) outing, is delighting season subscribers and drawing single ticket sales, giving the Rep a strong finish to a very uneven first year for new its new artistic director. Pacific Northwest Ballet has five rotating cast of leads for its lavish encore staging of The Sleeping Beauty, which ends its audience-delighting run this Sunday. New film provide the proverbial "something for everyone." Friends With Money moves into its second week of charming Seattle film fans, the wink-wink slyness of The Notorious Bettie Page is sure to pack the Harvard Exit Theatre this opening weekend with its nostalgic look at bondage/stag films and soft-core pin-ups of the 1950s, Scary Movie 4 broke box office records every where last week and will probably hold the number one spot again this week. On the cabaret scene, Cannibal, The Musical! returns to Thumpers for an April 21-May 13 encore visit. Jimmy Hoard just finished his semi-annual cabaret outing at Thumper's, and Ruby Bishop continues to draw a huge crowd on an otherwise quiet Monday night at the popular Gay-owned, Gay-staffed and Gay-welcoming restaurant and bar. What a week for Emerald City entertainment fans-and, of course, for Bits&Bytes. LOBBY HERO SCORES AT BATHHOUSE STAGE The Seattle Public Theatre has a hit with its current staging of Kenneth Lonergan's award-wining Lobby Hero, the play that first brought attention to the film and stage writer/director best known for You Can Count On Me, one of the finest independent films of the past decade. Both the play and the film share some stylistic areas-both titles are ironic variations on the truth. No one can count on the likeable anti-hero in the celluloid You Can Count On Me and no one is a hero in Lobby Hero. Lonergan's pleasant-and unpleasant-gathering of losers in Lobby Hero make a compelling case for the underdog. The "door man" who wants to believe he is a "security guard," the "honest, career cop" who is anything but, the female "rookie" in pigtails who longs to join the police force for real, the "on the rise" African American administrator of the security firm who clearly has no where to rise to. Rita Giomi, one of Seattle's best directors of contemporary, cutting edge plays, guides the talented cast through the show's meandering structure and varying themes. It's slow going at times, but Emerald City audiences have waited a long time for a solid production of the important off-Broadway success. Seattle Public Theatre is in residence at the intimate Bathhouse Theatre on the north shore of Green Lake. Reservations at 524-1300. Lobby Hero continues through April 30. SLEEPING BEAUTY CHARMS AT PNB Pacific Northwest Ballet has a happy hit on its hands with the revival of Ronald Hynd's beloved The Sleeping Beauty. Hynd uses the immortal music of Tchaikovsky for his updating of the 116-year old ballet. While it is totally his work, he respects the historical Russian original and incorporates elements of major sections, usually the dances for the principals, in his creation. It was a smash in its American premiere at PNB in 2001 and equally as successful in its 2003 PNB encore. The spectacular production opened last week and continues this weekend with its final performance Sunday, April 23 Serious Seattle-area dance fans are delighted about the prospects of five rotating repertory casts of leading dancers. With tickets starting at just $20, many Emerald City dance aficionados are planning on attending multiple performances to see established PNB stars and up-and-coming young dancers. On opening night last week, a radiant Kaori Nakamura danced the principal role of Aurora, the title character. The petite ballerina was embodiment of the word "perfection," in her solo work, her pairings with Olivier Wevers' Prince Florimund and in the world famous Rose Adagio sequence where Nakamura balanced en pointe as she danced with each of her four suitors. Carrie Imler was radiant as the Lilac Fairy, the most important of the supporting roles. All three roles are rotated within the company-audiences this weekend will see totally different principals but the overall effect will undoubtedly be the same-total enchantment. On opening night there were some minor problems-the men simply couldn't jump at the same speed in an elaborate sequence in Act One. Later, the Queen's flowing train snagged on some off-stage set element and she lurched on stage in a very unregal-like manner. When the curse of the evil fairy takes place, the vines turning the palace into a 100 year tomb started growing up the soaring columns before the curse was given. These were minor problems-the famous Quibbles & Concerns this scribe is guilty of mentioning. The colorful costumes-vivid hues in the prologue melding into burnished golds for the final act-and handsome unit set were major elements of the ballet's success. The storybook characters in Act Three-Puss 'n Boots & The White Cat, Red Riding Hood & her Wolf, the Bluebirds pas de deux were all audience-pleasing highlights, as were every scene with the charming children from PNB's widely praised ballet school. The final stage moment was one of pure enchantment. Stewart Kershaw, one of the many unsung heroes of PNB's long history of success, conducted the PNB orchestra with polish and precision. The world famous music by Tchaikovsky was brought vividly to life by the accomplished playing by the orchestra members. With a full symphonic orchestra, a huge cast of accomplished dancers, elaborate sets and costumes, The Sleeping Beauty is a remarkable bargain with tickets starting at just $20. Next on PNB's remarkable schedule is the first Seattle production of Georges Balanchine's Jewels, a three-part work that PNB excerpted with the elegant Rubies sequence. Emeralds and Diamonds will receive their Northwest premiere with the PNB stagings. Can't wait&. Ticket information on all PNB performances at 441-2424. FRIENDS WITH MONEY DELIGHTS SEATTLE A high-profile cast, a soft, art house opening, an appealing cast of characters and a truly human story all combine to make Friends With Money a total delight from start to finish. General audiences have embraced the film that opened with an art house-style start last week in Seattle and across the national. Just two theaters in Seattle screened the film, and employees reported that the audiences "loved the film." With four strong female leads and a talented, on-target female director, Friends With Money has also drawn the "chick flick" crowds and the pro-feminist and LGBT audiences that often turn a word-of-mouth relationship comedy/drama into a hit with a general audience. Friends With Money has all the makings of an art-house hit, an independent film that sleeper hit/smash written all over it. The wonderfully winning script ask a simple question: would we be friends with long-time friends if we met them today? Do these four college friends still have anything in common 20 years later? Jennifer Aniston heads the cast and does creditable work as Olivia, a former high school English teacher who left that unfulfilling career to become a housekeeper. She is still unfulfilled and still has terrible taste in men. And-an important and-she has almost no money. Borrowing her client's dildos, stealing expensive face cream, conning cosmetic samples out of clerks in high class department stores-these events fill her days but not her dreams. Joan Cusack, Frannie in the film, has another problem. She and her husband-both with multiple trust funds-have to give away $5,000,000 by Friday to keep their tax accountant happy. "Give it to Olivia," Jane (a brittle, unhappy Frances McDormand-the brilliant, Oscar-winning actress from Fargo) suggests. Alas, Olivia is not a non-profit charity and that is what the moneyed friends need. A successful fashion designer with no sense of fashion, McDormand's Jane has retreated from life-she has stopped shampooing her hair ("it just gets dirty again") and will soon stop taking baths. In the midst of a mid-life melt down, her husband offers support but can't really understand why is life is crumbling as well. Late in the film, her loving husband-and the sympathetic audience-learns why she really stopped washing her hair. It is such a obvious reason, such a heartbreaking moment that the preview crowd signed with recognition at the press screening. Catherine Keener, following her fine work in Capote, is Christine, a writer who shares her career with her husband-a charming man who really doesn't understand her at all. They have started building an new addition to their home that will block views for most of their neighbors. Christine really does not understand what that building addition will do to their life in the neighborhood, and, when she does, she is appalled at the insensitivity she and her husband have exhibited. Director Nicole Holofcener, with her third feature, proves to have an uncanny ability to zero in on the telling details-the one "Metrosexual" husband everyone loves but dismisses as being "So Gay," the endless discussion of charity dinners where people spend $1,000 a plate for a lavish dinner ("Why don't people just give the money to the poor?" one character asks). For GLBT audiences, another poignant moment is when Cusack's Frannie confides in her husband that she suspects their son will grow up Gay. "He spends too much time on the playground with other little boys who don't like playing with balls&little Gay boys." To this fan of Friends With Money, there is not one false note in the entire film. It is a revelatory gem from start to finish. The appealing comedy/drama character study continues in limited release this weekend. It is likely to expand slowly in a limited number of theaters week by week, the release pattern that turned the Gay-themed Brokeback Mountain into a general-audience smash. CANNIBAL! ENCORES AT THUMPER'S CABARET Cannibal-The Musical! was such a hit for Thumper's Cabaret On The Hill series that the campy musical revue from South Park's Trey Parker returns tonight for a four-weekend, eight-performance encore. "The Camp Classic Goes Gay Cabaret" blares the ad for the hit staging. "Butchered, Produced and Directed by Kristyne Bosaiya" may win the award for "Truth In Advertising" but there is no doubt that this original "Gay" adapta tion was a huge, huge hit for Thumper's and Knock Out Productions, which staged the show. Reservations-a "must"-and information are available at 328-3800. The encore staging continues through May 13. There is a $15 cover charge. DINE OUT FOR LIFE FEATURES ARNALDO! IN RENTON CABARET Next Thursday, April 27, thousands of Seattle diners will join in the 13th Dine Out For Life, an annual event that raises thousands of dollars for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, a terrific charity that supports people living with HIV/AIDS in Seattle and King County. Each participating restaurant donates a portion of its proceeds for the day to the charity group. Many members of the GLBT community make it a point to support the various participants. This year, Arnaldo!-Seattle's "favorite chanteuse-and Renton's Jubilante! Restaurant join together for a very special night. Arnaldo! hosts and performs in a special one-night-only cabaret-"with special guests," he enthused to Bits&Bytes-with a fairly low cover charge-just $5. And, and it is an important and, Arnaldo and his guest artists will donate that total to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance as well. Such a deal&Arnaldo's cover charge is often in the $15-$18 for cabarets at Thumper's and other area venues. Bits&Bytes plans to load up a car and trek out to Renton with four friends for the truly special cabaret and dinner event. At SGN's press time, Jubilante! reported that "a few reservations" were still available. Details at (425) 226-1544. Be sure to tell 'em that Bits&Bytes sent ya.