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The Pronto Podcast — Brown Paper Tickets’ Event Guide for Seattle

BPT_buttonWelcome to The Pronto! Brown Paper Ticket’s event guide for Seattle.

Tune in every Tuesday to check out a few of our favorite events in the Emerald City! You can check back to the blog every Tuesday at 10am or hit “subscribe” on the player and get each week’s Pronto delivered right to your computer.

Have a friend that’s visiting Seattle this week? Why not share this podcast with them and give them ideas of something to do? 

This week’s podcast features our top picks including a belly dance dinner, an improv happy hour and a benefit concert for the Philippines.

By tomorrow, Thursday, December 26, it’s probably time to get out of the house. So head on down to High Dive for Hip-Hop at the High Dive featuring Dirtay, Mike G. and M.A.R., and the The Sav among others. Good tunes in Fremont.

It is the giving season. On Friday night, December 27, help people who are in serious need. Roosevelt High School in Ravenna hosts An Evening with Stephanie Reese & Friends : A Benefit Concert for Victims of the Typhoon in the Phillippines. Great music, great cause.

Sick of Santa? Weary of wreaths? Tired of Tinsel? Unnatural Redhead Productions brings Midwinter Madness to the Jewelbox Theater in Belltown on Friday, December 27. That’s all kinds of burlesque for your viewing pleasure.

Friday, December 27, and Saturday, December 28, head on over to Unexpected Production’s Market Theater for Improv Happy Hour. That’s a sampler of improv formats and styles during what some would consider the best hour of the day.

Saturday, December 28, catch La Faux at Julia’s on Broadway on Capitol Hill. This show features a full cast of impersonators, dancers and outrageous acts. And if you’re hungry, chow down on some dinner while you enjoy the show.

Saturday, December 28, have a nice meal and check out some belly dancing at Kezira Cafe in Columbia City. The show is free with dinner. You really can’t go wrong with this one.

Dress up in your favorite handmade attire or make something new for Maker’s Masquerade at Jigsaw Renaissance in the ID on Saturday, December 28. While you’re there, learn how to make simple circuits using aluminum tape and LEDs. Pretty fun, right?

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Tuesday Tease: The Christmas Special Gets Burlesqued!

295088-250In case you hadn’t noticed, Christmas is coming soon and that means that this year’s Christmas specials have arrived! Christmas specials are heralds of the approaching holiday, announcing it’s impending arrival with song and dance. Elves and Grinches blaze a trail into our hearts and minds which Christmas day fallows. In short, Christmas specials are special.

With that in mind, and since this is the Tuesday Tease, here is a light smattering of burlesque Christmas specials that are happening this year!

New York, New York

TONIGHT! Tuesday, December 17 | Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special  One of, if not THE, most infamous holiday specials ever created. The program told the story of Han Solo and Chewbacca racing against time to get to the Wookie home planet, Kashyyyk, in time for Chewy to spend Life Day with his family. The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, on November 17, 1978, pre-empting Wonder Woman and The Incredible Hulk. It has never been rebroadcast or officially released on home video. David Hofstede called it ‘the worst two hours of television ever.’  George Lucas has reportedly said:  ‘If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.'”

The folks at Hotsy Totsy Burlesque have made some improvements. Rather than featuring left over cast, props and footage from the original Star Wars, Hotsy Totsy Burlesque’s tribute to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special will showcase performances by Brief Sweat, Clara Coquette, Hard Corey, Ivory Fox, Jenny C’est Quoi, Rosey La Rouge, gogo by Erika Rodgers and will be hosted by Herry Pitz and Handsome Brad.


New Orleans, Louisiana

TOMORROW! Wednesday, December 18 | Naked Girls Reading Christmas Carol  What would Christmas be without Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic A Christmas Carol? The number of adaptions of the story are too numerous to count. Everyone from Patrick Stewart to Mr. Magoo have portrayed the books tight-fisted protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge. However, one aspect of the story is almost always missing from the storytelling. The live reading of the story. Charles Dickens himself had a long tradition of public readings of A Christmas Carol, a tradition that has been almost lost to time and technology. But fortunately Naked Girls Reading has brought this tradition back, with improvements that would have been unheard of in Victorian England.
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Arts >

The Pronto Podcast — Brown Paper Tickets’ Event Guide for Seattle

BPT_buttonWelcome to The Pronto! Brown Paper Ticket’s event guide for Seattle.

Tune in every Tuesday to check out a few of our favorite events in the Emerald City! You can check back to the blog every Tuesday at 10am or hit “subscribe” on the player and get each week’s Pronto delivered right to your computer.

Have a friend that’s visiting Seattle this week? Why not share this podcast with them and give them ideas of something to do? 

This week’s podcast features poetry, a talk on the music industry, School of Rock’s Holiday Party and more!

Tonight, Tuesday, December 17, through Thursday, December 19, it’s movie time at Northwest Film Forum on Capitol Hill. Improvement Club is equal parts musical comedy, dance party and mockumentary. Good fun.

Wednesday, December 18, head over to the Richard Hugo House on Capitol Hill for Who Will Speak— A Celebration of Poetry and Readers. Authors Roger Reeves and Natalie Diaz will read from their debut books. This one is presented with Copper Canyon Press.

How about a trip to Vashon? On Thursday, December 19, hit up Open Space for Art and Community for Acrobatic Conundrum: The Way Out. This one features heart stopping acrobatics, aerial, theater and dance wrapped around a story of survival. Worth the trip.

If you’re more concerned about your music career than the holidays, check out Martin Atkins’ workshop Welcome to the Music Business— You’re F*cked on Friday, December 20. Atkins has worked with Public Image Limited, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails, among others, so he knows what he’s talking about. This one is free and it’s at the Brown Paper Tickets office in Fremont.

You know about School of Rock, right? Kids learning to play in rock bands. On Friday, December 20, head over to Fred Wildlife Refuge on Capitol Hill for School of Rock’s Season Preview Show and Holiday Party. Bring your ear plugs. It might get loud.

Saturday, December 21, get your erotic holiday spirit in gear at The Sultry Solstice Cocktail Party at Love City Love on Capitol Hill. That’s song, dance, spoken word performances, skits and visual art. It’s bound to be a hot night.

Spend the evening at a coffeeshop in the U District as Cafe Soulstice presents the band Yesod, on Saturday, December 21. Best described as a blend of world, blues, jazz and ambient music styles, these rich, living soundscapes go great with your favorite caffeinated beverage.

On Sunday, December 22, why not celebrate the winter solstice at Columbia City Theater with The Longest Night: Bellydance for the Solstice. This show features performances by Verbena Belly Dance, Carouselle Tribal Belly Dance and the Blue Lotus Dance Company.


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The Mid-Week Beat: Paying Tribute This Weekend

elvis-impersonators-590x310As many musicians out there know, a large portion of learning to be a instrumentalist or songwriter is learning to properly steal from your influences. Many musicians struggle to be original but chances are, someone has played the combination of chords and notes that you “wrote” before. That said, if you really get down to it, the actual notes and chords don’t really matter. It’s what you bring to those chords that matters; your unique perspective and individual playing style. No matter what you do to differentiate your sound from sounds of the past, there’s bound to be a little of your influences in there somewhere. That’s okay, as long as you also bring a little of yourself into the mix as well.

With that said, there are two very different ways to approach a tribute show. Some artists attempt to re-create the exact sound of the artist they’re paying tribute to, others choose to re-interpret an artists songs in their own unique way. I find the latter to be more enjoyable because it really distills music down to its pure form and pays homage to the folk tradition, where songs were passed down over the years; constantly changing and being re-interpreted. By interpreting a song in their own voice, a musician ensures that those songs will continue to grow and change for years to come. Songs by revered songwriters like Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen are constantly being changed and re-interpreted by musicians, while artists like Elvis or Neil Diamond often get impersonated, with musicians donning their cadence, look and stage presence.

Today on the Mid-Week Beat, we feature both kinds of tributes: impersonations and interpretations. If you’re a fan of the original artists, chances are you’re going to enjoy hearing the songs you love regardless of whether they’re done straight or in an entirely different style. What matters are the songs.
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Music >

Artist Ticket Picks: A Lou Reed Tribute, An iPhone Film Festival, A Bluegrass Christmas Musical and More!

297276-250Welcome 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:

Friday, November 29 I A Tribute to Lou Reed and the Velvet UndergroundSeattle, Washington   Almost a month ago, we lost a seminal force in rock music: Lou Reed. We paid our own tribute to Lou here on the blog but tributes to Lou and his music with the Velvet Underground and solo are starting to pop up all over the country. This one at Columbia City Theater promises to be especially good with performances by Hounds of the Wild Hunt (Acoustic), Gibraltar, Bigfoot Wallace, Ruler, Ian and Rian of Invisible Shivers, Kevin Sur and guests.

Head out and pay tribute to a true pioneer in the world of rock and roll.

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Tuesday Tease: Merry Christmas! Get Ready for Your New Years Tease!

tuesday_tease_new_years_teaseYou’ve survived the apocalypse and it’s finally Christmas! Hope all of you are with loved ones today, enjoying a relaxing day off.

That said, don’t rest on your laurels too long! It’s time to get ready for New Years Eve; the end of the holiday season and the beginning of a new year, full of new possibilities and new adventures! I know it’s been a long year and I know you’re tired but why, with all that’s going down on New Years Eve, would you stay at home watching a glittery ball drop on TV? Why do that when you can go out and watch glittery bras drop, live and in person?

New Years Eve was made for burlesque: glitter, dancing, champagne and celebration all wrapped up (or more accurately unwrapped) into one night of amazement and fun! You need to be out there, champagne glass in hand, saying “goodbye” to 2012 and welcoming 2013!

Whether you want to sit back, sip your drink and watch the festivities or get out on the dance floor and party, we have got an event for you!
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See It First for Less: The Nutcracker Opens in Bellevue on Friday, December 9th.

Thanksgiving is over and Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed so it’s time to start making those holiday plans with the family. Nothing says Christmas more than The Nutcracker and here in the Pacific Northwest, International Ballet Theatre, based in Bellevue, Washington, will bring their version of this holiday classic, complete with the original Russian flair, exquisite costuming and theatrical pageantry of the original, to the Meydenbauer Theatre. Even better, they’re offering discounted tickets for opening night available exclusively through Brown Paper Tickets for a limited time. Opening night is on Friday, December 9 and tickets are going fast so pick yours up right over here.

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