The SunBreak » Constance Lambson

Drinking for Dykes at Tommy Gun Friday

Constance Lambson — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 23:45:03 +0000

Pride Weekend is just around the corner, and the lovely ladies who are organizing the 17th Annual Seattle Dyke March (June 25th) have come up a few dollars short. Oh, the horror! To help close the budgetary gap, our good friends at Tommy Gun (1703 E. Olive Way, on Capitol Hill) are hosting a benefit party Friday, June 17th (that's tomorrow) at 8 p.m. Grab your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your sister, your brother, your neighbor, a perfect stranger or two, and get your groove on for a great cause.

Encore! L’Edition Française est Merveilleuse

Constance Lambson — Sat, 28 May 2011 01:06:51 +0000

A review should be useful. A review should tell the reader why her life will be better, richer, and more fulfilled by spending X amount of dollars to for Y hours worth of entertainment or edification. Right? And I try, I really do try, but after last night’s performance of La Danse! Le Burlesque! L’Edition Francaise! at the Triple Door, all I can do is bounce up and down, and squeal.

Seattle Opera’s Magic Flute Defies Expectation (Review)

Constance Lambson — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:48:16 +0000

Seattle Opera's 2011 production of The Magic Flute defies expectation by taking Emanuel Schikaneder's libretto at face value. Instead of a carnival romp of mystical forest creatures and fantastic effects that bear little to no relation to the text, Seattle's Flute is fairly restrained, dominated by the Masonic imagery and ideals evoked by the libretto.

Ladies of the Corridor is Fancy Terrible

Constance Lambson — Thu, 12 May 2011 17:45:31 +0000

As Dorothy Parker once said of something or other, "This wasn't just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it." She might have been describing her own play, Ladies of the Corridor, written in 1953 with popular contemporary playwright Arnaud d'Usseau. Marion Meade, editor of The Portable Dorothy Parker and well-known Parker biographer, described Ladies as "the best play [Dorothy Parker] wrote, but most of the plays she wrote were pretty bad." The best of a very bad lot is not, unfortunately, good.

Intiman’s All My Sons Kicks Ass (Review)

Constance Lambson — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 22:05:38 +0000

Go see it. No, really, you have to go see Intiman Theatre's production of All My Sons (hurry, it's only playing through this Sunday, April 17, and seats are limited).

Readings, Signings, and Literary Events for the Week of March 21, 2011

Constance Lambson — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:10:27 +0000

It's our literary events roundup for the week, along with a test for robots. Could you prove that you are human? What is human? What is humanity? Humaneness? Is the quality that we call "soul" really what defines us, and is it truly ineffable? Brian Christian raises these questions with the book he wrote after participating in the Turing Test for the "Most Human Human."

Literary News &tc.: Japan’s Books & Awards Season

Constance Lambson — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 23:52:35 +0000

Japanese librarians and bibliophiles have put together a collection of photographs of libraries damaged by the earthquake. The good news is that no people were injured. The bad news is that hundreds of public and school libraries were damaged.

Readings and Signings for the Week of March 14, 2011

Constance Lambson — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:04:50 +0000

The local branch of The Bushwick Book Club expand their horizons this week by taking Where the Sidewalk Ends to three separate events. Catch local musicians playing songs inspired by Shel Silverstein at Town Hall, as well as an evening performance at The Can Can. Also, Seattle Tilth’s Lisa Taylor presents her newest book about food, this one focused on urban farming. 3/14/2011 6 p.m. Pilot Books Writer’s Group New exercises every week. Come prepared to write and discuss. Aye, Cap’n! 3/14/2011 6:30 p.m. Elliott Bay Book Company Markus Zusak I Am the Messenger Young Adult Book Group 3/14/2011 7 [...]

Everyone Loves an Underdog Like Pluto

Constance Lambson — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 07:21:00 +0000

Poor Pluto. Back in 1930, when the discovery of Pluto was announced, the little ball of ice and dirt on the outer limit of the Solar System became a big celebrity. The ninth planet! How exciting! But less than 100 years later, on August 24, 2006, the little planet that could was kicked out of the club, demoted despite its three moons. Well, Seattle decided not to take that lying down. Not to mention, there is no such thing as a bad reason to paint banners and take to the streets. So tomorrow, March 12th at 2 p.m., the fourth [...]

Gibran and Chabon Go to the Movies & Harry Potter Gets a Walking Tour

Constance Lambson — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:32:00 +0000

Is there any book that filmmakers won’t option? According to Deadline.com, Salma Hayek’s production company, Ventanarosa Productions, has optioned Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet. A team of directors has been put together to create an animated, big-screen version of one of the world’s most popular books. On board so far are Sylvain Chomet of The Triplets of Belleville, John Stevenson of Kung Fu Panda, and Marjane Satrapi, author/illustrator of Persepolis. Also headed for the big screen is Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, currently in development at Sony Pictures. Scott Rudin, and Joel and Ethan Coen are attached to that project, [...]