“Cirque de la Symphonie”: This event is being described as cirque meets the Seattle Symphony, combining the best of those worlds to meld acrobats with the music of Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.
There are two performances tonight and Saturday at Benaroya Hall. This program is part of Seattle Symphony SummerFest, which runs through July 14. Patrons can preview a video of Cirque de la Symphonie on the SummerFest blog at www.summerfest2008.wordpress.com.
Seattle Symphony associate conductor Carolyn Kuan will lead the orchestra in Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture,” Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” from “The Nutcracker” and more. The orchestra plays while cirque artists perform feats choreographed to the music. Cirque de la Symphonie is a new production created to bring cirque to the concert hall. Included in the program are aerial artists, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers and strongmen.
Shakespeare in the Park: For its 20th anniversary, GreenStage is presenting full weekends of drama with two of Shakespeare’s greatest hits.
The plays begin tonight and continue through Aug. 16 at Volunteer Park, 1247 15th Ave. E., Seattle. All performances are free though donations are accepted.
The weekend of drama starts with “Twelfth Night,” a story of a bizarre love triangle mistaken identities, disguises, revenge, tomfoolery, sword fighting, passion and music. The plot revolves around Viola who is disguised as a boy and sent on an embassy of love to Countess Olivia, who finds herself smitten by the messenger.
GreenStage is also performing “Hamlet,” starting Saturday. When Hamlet’s father, the King, dies, and his mother remarries the King’s brother, thoughts of revenge, lust, ambition, and murder intertwine.
Both plays in this summer’s season have meaning to GreenStage: “Twelfth Night” was the first play presented under their GreenStage name, and “Hamlet,” one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, seemed fitting for a 20th anniversary.
Seattle Shakespeare Company will be performing two of the Bard’s classics in outdoor settings at several parks throughout Pierce, King and Snohomish counties.
Performances of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” can be seen Wednesday and Thursday at Lynndale Park in Lynnwood.
This casino-themed take on Shakespeare’s most popular comedy keeps the stakes high for fairy rulers Oberon and Titania as they gamble with love and power, drawing two sets of mortal lovers and a handyman and actor called Bottom into their game. Watch for the wild card Puck who muddles the romance and stirs up the comic confusion.
Also, the company is performing “Romeo and Juliet” starting July 23 in Lynnwood with performances Aug. 2 in Marysville and Aug. 3 in Everett. Go to www.seattleshakespeare.org for a complete schedule.
Verona has been turned into a battlefield yet hope emerges when two young strangers discover a love that makes them forget their historical bitter hostility. Romeo and Juliet continues to be a timeless call for peace and reconciliation in a culture where conflict rages.
“The Wind in the Willows”: Theater Schmeater is presenting this outdoor production of Kenneth Grahame’s children’s classic that focuses on four animal characters who have been given human characteristics to help them grapple with the concepts of morality and friendship.
The show opens Saturday with performances through Aug. 9 at Volunteer Park in Seattle.
“Odalisque”: This is a reading by playwright David Quicksall who wrote about the tortured history of a single piece of art — a painting known as “Odalisque.”
The reading begins at 2 p.m. Sunday at The Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave., Seattle.
The setting is 1927 and the place is Nice, France. Henri Matisse, a world-renowned artist, creates a painting of an oriental slave girl, or the “Odalisque.” Then the Nazis confiscate the work from the Roths — a French, Jewish family. Fast forward to present day in the United States where Deborah Roth searches the world’s art galleries and museums for her family’s lost treasure.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
