Recent Stories with tag awesome

David Nixon (the meaning of life not pictured)

Occasionally, you come across a piece of art that can be enjoyed even without knowing exactly where it's headed. For me, that kind of gratification--art for art's sake--can be found in the writing of Marquez, Murakami, and Borges, Meirelles' City of God, and every single episode of Arrested Development. The Annex's new solo show by David Nixon--philosophy professor, actor, musician, artistic polymath, and member of absurdist art pop theater band "Awesome"--Center-Cut Ham Dinner Night Slide Show (Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 p.m. through Nov. 17th), doesn't quite reach those artistic heights, but it aims high and delivers non-stop ruminative delights, all while making comedy out of the big questions.

Take it from a doctor of philosophy: the topic at hand is nothing less that the Meaning of Life. Is it the ability to take simple pleasure in even the smallest of moments, like a cat? Can it be found in hard work, nature, family, or religion? What about the pursuit of sex, creativity, happiness, intellectualism, and/or money? The answer, of course, is yes and no to all of the above, especially since no matter what you do, or how you find your own individual meaning, you're still going to end up dead. (Spoiler alert.)

Nixon pursues these ideas through a mixture of monologues, pre-recorded music, cartoons, digital animation, and physical humor. The show's sharp and sly nature reveals itself in the details, like the homage to the Slog (the Slög). It's clear that Nixon is always thinking, and even parts of the performance that look sloppy are actually well-coordinated and choreographed to a T. The whole piece just moves, and by the time it starts to feel like it's running long, it's over. Such is life.... (more)

"Awesome's" "West," directed by Matthew Richter, opening at On the Boards Thurs., April 21. Photo by Victoria Lahti.

Last night's performance of West at On the Boards was sold out; the box office opened at 3 p.m. today for the final show in the run, so if you're meaning to see it, strike while the iron is hot. Otherwise, fans of the band "Awesome," returning for their second or third viewing, are going to geese your seats. 

Fans of the band also will know what they are in for, musically, but it's unlikely that you could anticipate much else. Collaborating with "Awesome" are director Matthew Richter and scenic designer Jennifer Zeyl (who, full disclosure, has the office next door and made me promise to see the show--she's not the boss of me, I was going anyway, so there, integrity intact). The result is aptly described by Anne Blackburn on OtB's blog as a "feral musical," and the production value would make Michel Gondry weep.

The stage is filled with packing crates of various sizes and (it turns out) function. They're the cultural containers, you might say, while the totemic suitcases are personal. If you enjoyed playing with blocks as a child, you'll end up wanting to take Zeyl's crates home with you. They glow and bounce, open up on dioramas, blind you with light, join up into boxcars, and release music. Actually, one releases the history of Western development.

West has faults--or fault lines, if you liked the disjunctures--that keep it from cohering into a narrative: its episodic scenes are comic, goofy, mournful, elegiac, confessional, enigmatic, even violent. The band trades a suitcase and a pilgrim's cape (it's a sort of "Man Traveler with No Name" look) but it's a mostly formal exercise, since you don't get to "know" any of them. I felt at times that I was watching seven Buster Keatons trying to out-poker face the other, though Basil Harris tells a good joke.... (more)

I was on board with pop-comedy-theater collective/band "Awesome" from pretty much the beginning. They are seven of the smartest, funniest, most all-around talented artists in town, hands down. They're also a group of genuinely good guys, except for Rob Witmer--HE KNOWS WHAT HE DID. No seriously, I love 'em to pieces, so of course, I've been excited for their latest long-form show West, directed by Matt Richter. Jeremy already mentioned that West kicks off its On the Boards run tonight (through Sunday, tix $18), but I talked to trumpeter Evan Mosher to get the full deets. We also discussed a group of local teenagers with a major crush on the band (see video above), as well as the most important thing EVAR: the final season of Lost. (PS: Give them some money.)

Your new performance piece, West, is "inspired by the journey of Lewis and Clark and the myths of westward expansion." But you're certainly not the first artists to tackle the American frontier. Why do think the region (or the idea of the region) is so artistically fruitful?

First, the impulse came from wanting to do something that was rooted in an actual physical place where we live and make our art. Our previous shows have come from more existential/absurdist ground, and we wanted to push into a new area. (We ended up with another existential romp, more on that later.) But really, each of us in the band has a pretty intensely romantic personal relationship with the (North)west. Most of us traveled a few thousand miles to settle here, and who doesn't love a good road-trip story? Lewis and Clark's journals are often referred to as our first national on-the-road epic. Again, we deviated from that story almost immediately, but it's still there in the show's DNA.

This is your second piece to be performed at On the Boards. How does the experience/process with West compare to that of noSIGNAL?

I think the main difference is that we worked with a director (Matthew Richter) from almost the very beginning of the process, whereas with noSIGNAL, we brought John Kaufmann in very late, after most of the writing was already done. For WEST we also brought in top-notch designers early on (shout-out to L.B. Morse, Jen Zeyl, Harmony Arnold, and Zac Culler). And with Matt steering that conversation with the designers, and communicating all the evolving concepts between us and the designers, we were able to create something on a much grander scale than all our previous shows. This is by far our most ambitious project.... (more)

"Awesome's" "West," directed by Matthew Richter, opening at On the Boards Thurs., April 21. Photo by Victoria Lahti.

First off, tonight is the opening night of "Awesome"'s West at On the Boards. Directed by Matt Richter, in West the seven art rock/cabaret/musical theatre artists that are "Awesome" plunge deep into an exploration of the themes of American westward expansion. Beyond that, I really don't know much about the show, but if you've never seen "Awesome," these are some crazy-talented musicians who aren't making your standard musical theatre-fare. For more information, the kids at Teen Tix speed-dated most of the company in the guise of "interviewing" them (I'll admit, Basil Harris is kind of dreamy...), so feel free to check that out for more info.

Speaking of On the Boards, tonight is also the opening night of Amelia Reeber's this is a forgeryat the Erickson Theatre off Broadway, which originally debuted at OtB last year at the Northwest New Works Festival. It's a quirky solo dance work that, as Reeber told me in an interview last fall, ironically came out of her exasperation with dance incorporating large amounts of video. "Ironically" because this is a forgery features a lot of video components, including giant cats and birds, but Reeber has a very unique approach to interacting with video that blew me away when I saw the piece at NWNW. Reeber went on to become the winner of the first Seattle edition of The A.W.A.R.D. Show in December, which came with a $10,000 first-prize grant that she's used to fund turning this is a forgery into an evening-length work, and this is something that I can't recommend highly enough. You've got two weekends, tickets are only $15, go see it.

And finally, speaking of The A.W.A.R.D. Show...and On the Boards...well, The A.W.A.R.D. Show is returning to On the Boards this fall. Started at NYC's Joyce Theatre in 2006, the show is an attempt to encourage new audiences to engage with dance by putting a series of artists in competition with one another for an audience vote that carries some serious bank. The concept has been controversial amongst artists pretty much everywhere it's gone (it's since expanded to several cities throughout the U.S.), but with that said, a $10,000 kitty is a whopping opportunity for almost any artist (two runners-up get $1,000 a piece), and probably worth the effort considering the tenuous state of arts funding in Seattle next year. So if you're a dancer/choreographer who's looking to compete, follow this link to the OtB site and fill out your application by May 11.

The cast of The French Project at Gainsbourg, Sept. 14-16.

Tonight through Wednesday, a collective of Seattle performers, writers, and musicians are launching an ambitious performance series called The French Project at Gainsbourg , the Francophile lounge Seattle Weekly music writer Hannah Levin opened up in Greenwood with her husband last year. The show starts at 8 p.m., but doors open at 7 p.m. and seating is limited ($10 at the door, 8550 Greenwood Ave. N.).

The core cast of the show features Erin Jorgensen, Sara Edwards, Basil Harris, and Charles Smith performing a repertoire of Parisian tunes from everyone from Edith Piaf to Jacques Brel to the bar's namesake, Serge Gainsbourg (plus, hopefully, Boris Vian, whose omission from the set-list would be tout à fait impensable! ).

Edwards and Jorgensen were half of a four piece performance group who wowed audiences at On the Boards ' Northwest New Works Festival this last spring with a deeply moving piece called Sunday Service , that explored the loss and persistence of religious faith through music and text. It was by far the deepest, most serious piece at the festival, and also suggests the musical talents of the group involved. The show also features two members of Seattle's Awesome! : Basil Harris, one of the core performers of The French Project , and Rob Witmer will be rocking the accordion.

Poet, solo performance artist, and plumber Allen Johnson also joins the crew to channel the Parisian  poètemaudit par excellence Charles Baudelaire. And finally, Tania Kupczak will be screening a film shot by Seattle's busiest cinematographer, Ben Kasulke.