Brown Paper Tickets uses cookies to provide the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy

Cookie Settings

Foodie Friday: Winner, Winner! Chicken Dinner!

Henrietta w Opal PeachyThis week on Foodie Friday, guest author Ronald Holden takes time from his Call Center duties to write about a hot ticket in Seattle that combines food and theater.

Dinner theater, that staple of summer resorts, gets a bad rap: tired scripts, bland food, performers of modest talent. But Seattle audiences have an admirable exception: a zany company of performers known as Cafe Nordo, whose twice-a-year dinner shows combine more-than-decent food (from pop-up kitchens) with pointed, topical satire.

It started four years ago, when Terry Podgorski and Erin Brindley, alums of a successful variety show known as Circus Contraption, created the persona of a fictional martinet, Chef Nordo Lefeszki. Their first production, in Fremont, brought together a cast of semi-professional entertainers for a show called The Modern American Chicken. The tuxedoed and feathered cast performed the saga of a hapless, happy hen named Henrietta.

“A hen is the egg’s way of making another egg,” said one character, energetically whipping egg whites. “And what makes a good egg? A good hen.”

From Fremont to Pioneer Square, from the International District to Washington Hall on the fringe of the CD, the Cafe Nordo players have found novel ways to tell their stories. A tribute to the Twin Peaks TV series; a nostalgic look at air travel; a parody of Gunsmoke-era westerns. The satire is always pointed squarely at big business, big government, big agriculture, easy targets for Podgorski’s sharp pen.
Read More…

Arts >

Artist Ticket Picks: Romani Swing, Cuban Son & Burlesque!

Welcome to this week’s Artist Ticket Picks! The Artist Ticket program gives our customers a way to donate to causes that we care about.

If you’re an event producer, you can allow your ticket buyers to purchase limited-edition tickets printed with original artwork in your event settings. The ticket buyer will pay a small, additional charge of $0.25 and receive a limited edition, collectible ticket imprinted with original artwork. The current charity of our choosing will receive 100% of the additional charge. Physical tickets must be enabled on the event.

If you’re a ticket buyer, you can check to see if the limited edition ticket is available to you at the beginning of the ticket checkout process or by visiting the Artist Ticket page. You receive a small piece of collectible art and support a valuable cause just by checking the box in the Artist Ticket widget when you’re purchasing your tickets!

See a full list of events carrying the tickets on the Artist Ticket page, as well as find out more about the beneficiary for the current run of Artist Tickets.

So, without further ado, here are this week’s Artist Ticket picks:

Thursday, October 3 I Kultura-A Night of Celebrating Romani Gypsy Music and CultureSeattle, Washington  Lache Cercel and his Roma Swing Ensemble represent the latest chapter in an important movement in Canadian World Music – elite musicians from around the world who settle in Canada and create music that incorporates their own traditions with influences they find surrounding them here. Before leaving his homeland, Lache Cercel was one of Romania’s premier musicians. Cercel’s music is firmly rooted in Roma tradition, styled with Doina Klezmer, Middle Eastern and European sounds, and held together with jazz improvisation. He calls his fusion Roma Jazz or Roma Swing. In the tradition of Django Reinhardt and Stephen Grappelli, Cercel lays classical and improvisational jazz alongside traditional renderings, which makes for a phenomenal sound.  At this special performance, Lache Cercel and the Roma Swing Ensemble will perform with the Seattle Flamenco Project featuring: Savannah Fuentes and Jed Miley.


Read More…

Arts >

The Mid-Week Beat: A Weekend of Country, Roots Rock & Bluegrass!

national_barn_dance_1940-499x401Even just a cursory perusal of Brown Paper Ticket’s music events for this weekend will reveal a plethora of great roots rock, country music and bluegrass going on everywhere. Must be the harvest season and the feeling of getting back to the farm but we got some great events going on in barns, bars and theaters across America.

In some parts of the country, this may be the last weekend of nice weather. I know here in Seattle we’re starting to feel a little extra crispness in the air and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the autumn season than enjoying the sound of banjos, steel guitars and sweet, rootsy harmonies.

Here are our picks for the upcoming weekend:

Thursday, September 5

The Bellamy BrothersEmporia, Kansas   Clark Carpet & Tile and KVOE  are proud to present Country Legends, The Bellamy Brothers tomorrow at The Emporia Granada Theatre. The Bellamys are best-known for the easy rolling, ’70s Southern soft rock classic “Let Your Love Flow” as well as “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold it Against Me?,” “Redneck Girl,” and many, many more. The Bellamy Brothers are the most successful duo in country music history, consistently climbing into the upper reaches of the Billboard country charts during the ’80s. More than most acts of the late ’70s and ’80s, the Bellamys pushed the borders of country music, adding strong elements of rock, reggae, and even rap, racking up a string of Top Ten singles that ran into the early ’90s.


Read More…

Music >

Tuesday Tease: Discounted Tickets to New York’s Gotham Burlesque!

GOTHAMLOGONew York’s Gotham Burlesque has been a critics pick at TimeOut New York almost since their inception. They regularly get glowing reviews in major publications like the New York Times and Broadway World and The NY Daily News even called it “Wonderfully theatrical…sometimes to the point of insanity.”

We featured Gotham back in August of last year and we think it’s time to shift our attention once again to this amazing monthly show at Stage 72 (formerly the Triad NYC). Hosting a monthly show is no easy task and producing a show that features the level of talent that Gotham brings every month is mind boggling. Since their inception in 2011 they have featured some of the top names in burlesque:  Dirty Martini, Jo Weldon, Nasty Canasta, Angie Pontani, the World Famous *BOB*, Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey and more!
Read More…

Arts >

Tuesday Tease: Mother’s Day Burlesque?

webnonippleI met Seattle-based burlesque producer/performer Whisper De Corvo at the Brown Paper Tickets class at The Great Burlesque Exposition in Boston a few weeks back. She told me about a Mother’s Day burlesque show she was putting on and, I have to admit that initially, I didn’t really associate Mother’s Day with burlesque. But as I talked to her more, and discovered that she was a mom herself, it started to make sense to me.

Ultimately, burlesque is a celebration of femininity and so it makes sense that daughters would want to celebrate their femininity and to pay tribute to their ultimate feminine role model, their mother. Also, as Whisper says in her interview below, it gives mother’s a chance to enjoy a night out that doesn’t revolve around child-rearing. It’s a chance to celebrate other aspects of her femininity: her beauty, her sensuality and her lust for life. And, with the burlesque revival now in its second decade, many of today’s mom’s are burlesque dancers themselves. If you want to get tickets to this one-of-a-kind show, pick them up here before they’re gone!

I tracked down Whisper last week so I could find out more about her show. Whisper also produces a number of shows around Seattle and I predict she will be a burlesque producer to watch. She certainly has original ideas and is passionate about the art of burlesque.

So, without further ado, I give you Miss Whisper De Corvo:
Read More…

Arts >

Le VIIIème ÉCU – Open Your Eyes!

imagesThe final count down has started for the 8th ÉCU, the European Independent Film festival that will take place Friday, March 29 to Sunday, March 31 in Paris, France.

With 108 films coming from 35 countries around the world, ÉCU provides movie goers with an extraordinary opportunity to see a vast array of independent movies that would otherwise be hard to find. The full line-up is available here.

It is also an opportunity for the public to meet face to face with many of the filmmakers during Q&A sessions or during one of the after-parties, or even attend one of the many workshops covering all aspects of independent filmmaking. Adam Leipiz, the CEO of Entertainment Media Partner will be leading the first workshop “Inside Tracks for Independent Filmmakers” on Saturday, March 30. You can pick up tickets for this workshop right over here.


Read More…

Film >

Tuesday Tease: Mason Dixie Burlesque Tour

MDBTLadiesImageTouring is not easy. Anyone can tell you, there’s a million things to consider when preparing for a tour and, often times, when you’re heading into a town you’ve never been before, you have no idea what awaits you.

Touring as a burlesque troupe has its own unique challenges: hauling around a ton of costumes and props, dealing with new venues and bookers and working with different burlesque troupes in different cities, who all work a little bit differently than the last.

So, our hats go off to those that can pull it off and make it seem so effortless. We’re honored to be working with the Mason Dixie Burlesque Tour for a bunch of their shows on their upcoming tour of the East Coast and Southeast and highly recommend all of you to check out their show if they’re coming to your town (Scroll down for dates and ticket links). This is world-class burlesque entertainment!

We got to sit down with the headmistress of the Mason Dixie Burlesque Tour, Miss Deanna Danger and pick her brain on the ins and outs of organizing a travelling burlesque revue. We hope this encourages all you incredible BPT burlesque producers out there to take your own show on the road. It’s a big sexy world out there, why not experience it for yourself?

So, without further ado, I give you, Deanna Danger!
Read More…

Arts >

The Mid-Week Beat: Klezmer Punk and Balkan Brass!

A few years back, with the help of bands like Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Devotchka and Beirut, traditional Eastern European music got a, much-deserved, shot in the arm. These bands, and others, took the infectious melodies of traditional Eastern European Roma (or “gypsy”) music, klezmer and Balkan brass and infused it with modern musical influences: punk and indie rock, electronic beats and hip hop, to create a worldwide musical movement that captured the attention of the mainstream music press and took the world by storm, turning a whole new generation of music fans onto this exciting musical culture. Clubs across Europe and America boasted regular Balkan club nights and accordions, cimbaloms and tubas became common sights on rock club and festival stages.

The hype around “gypsy punk” and “Balkan beats” has calmed down in recent years but this incredible music still attracts music fans smitten with the music’s infectious, minor-key melodies and driving beats. While it seemed to be a passing phase, the movement created a viable living for traditional musicians who otherwise may not have been able to travel outside of Eastern Europe or the Balkans. Most cities in the United States now boast their own Balkan brass bands and rock clubs now feature Eastern European-influenced bands on a regular basis. You may not be reading about it in Pitchfork any more, but thanks to the massive exposure of the so-called “gypsy punk” movement, this incredible music can still pack a house full of sweaty, enthusiastic dancers regardless of their cultural heritage.

This week on the Mid-Week Beat, we feature a klezmer musician that infuses his music with a punk rock sensibility, an upcoming Balkan Night in Seattle and a legendary Macedonian brass band that is touring the U.S. in May.
Read More…

Music >

Spit Take Saturday: Drew Carey

Drew-Carey-142_5x7-330x455Welcome to Spit Take Saturday, courtesy of Brown Paper Tickets’ Comedy Doer Julie Seabaugh and her professional comedy criticism site The Spit Take. Julie’s goal with the site is to “elevate the public perception of stand-up comedy to that of a legitimate art form, and to enable comedy criticism be taken as seriously as that of theater, film, music, food, even video games. No a**-kissing. No bias. No mercy. Just honest, unfiltered, long-form reviews written by professional, knowledgeable comedy critics.” 

Every week Julie will select an entry from the site to be included on our blog and hand-pick some related events happening that week that she feels all you comedy lovers out there will appreciate.

So, without further ado, let us introduce you to this week’s Spit Take Saturday!

________________________

Pretty much any decent-size city has at least one local improv troupe that performs in some community theater, recycling the same familiar games based on audience suggestions. There’s nothing more awkward to watch than desperate improv, and people who haven’t experienced a performance by an unprepared, talent-deficient improv group might not appreciate just how impressive the talents of Drew Carey’s repertory players are.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ80ciasM2E]

Carey’s February 2 “Improv-a-Ganza” show at the MGM Grand’s Hollywood Theatre in Las Vegas featured veterans of his various improv-focused projects (including GSN’s short-lived 2011 “Improv-A-Ganza” TV series, which was taped in this same theater), and all six performers demonstrated their nearly effortless improv skills, even during sketches that ended up not working. Carey himself, who started out hosting but not participating in the American version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, is a better master of ceremonies than he is an improviser, but he still managed to hold his own, bolstered by the talents of those around him. Ryan Stiles, who’s pretty much built his entire career on improv, from the original British “Whose Line” through the “Improv-A-Ganza” series and continued live performances, got the loudest applause when Carey introduced the evening’s players, but he seemed a little subdued and off his game at times. Jeff Davis, Brad Sherwood, Heather Anne Campbell, Jonathan Mangum and Carey’s old “Drew Carey Show” co-star Kathy Kinney rounded out the ensemble, each bringing their own strengths to the show.
Read More…

Comedy >

Mardi Gras Mayhem – Brass Bands, Beads and Crawfish Boils

Mardi-Gras-2011Two things that we love here at Brown Paper Tickets: Mardi Gras and brass bands! And there’s no other brass band that we love more than our buddies in Tubaluba. They marched with us at last year’s Gay Pride Parade here in Seattle and proved, without question, that they are the hottest, funkiest 2nd line brass band this side of the Big Easy.

With Fat Tuesday fast approaching, it’s time to start making your Mardi Gras plans and if you’re in Seattle, you’re in luck because Tubaluba are not only hosting a Mardi Gras bash at The Tractor Tavern but are also hosting a party bus that will take you to FOUR other Mardi Gras parties around town.

Mardi Gras revellers will meet at The Tractor Tavern at 4pm and then head over to Lower Queen Anne’s Tolouse Petit where Tubaluba will perform between 5 and 6pm. The party train will then head to the Capitol Hill neighborhood for KEXP’s Mardi Gras Bash at Havana Social Club. Next, is the Fremont neighborhood where Tubaluba will play at Nectar Lounge‘s Mardi Gras party. After Fremont, Tubaluba will head to their final destination, Ballard, where they will lead a parade down Ballard Avenue at 10pm, culminating in Tubaluba’s headlining performance on the Tractor Tavern stage. Your ticket to the party bus will get you admission into ALL these incredible Mardi Gras parties, complimentary beverages (including water), snacks and a commemorative Tubaluba Mardi Gras T-shirt. These tickets won’t last long so GET YOURS NOW!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5lJToWj4_0]

Of course, for those of you not in Seattle, there are a ton of other Mardi Gras events going on nationwide, including, naturally, the home of Mardi Gras: New Orleans. We wanted to share a few of our favorites so you can start making party plans in your own neck of the woods.
Read More…

Music >