brangien.davis's blog

Seattle’s beloved indie-folk/chamber-pop/just-plain-endearing band Hey Marseilles released its much-anticipated second album, Lines We Trace, in March. Now the band is releasing the official video for one of the new songs, “Heart Beats.” We’re especially excited about this video because it was written and directed by our own staff photographer, Hayley Young. Read more »

As Swan Lake prepares for takeoff at Pacific Northwest Ballet (4/12-4/21), the company is posting some rehearsal videos that are pretty irresistible—in large part because they offer a peek at backstage ballet fashion, which never fails to mesmerize. How do the dancers end up wearing such a colorful mishmash of leotards, tights, heat wraps, flouncy skirts, shrugs and leg warmer-style knitted garments of varying lengths and locations? And how do they come up with such innovative ways to layer them? Read more »

You really haven’t seen obscene hand gestures until you’ve seen them performed by a fully nude, slightly sweaty, winking blond woman. In playwright Young Jean Lee’s Untitled Feminist Show, playing at On the Boards through Sunday night, Amelia Zirin-Brown (aka Lady Rizzo) performs this hilariously filthy solo, using only her pantomiming skills and her incredibly expressive face. It’s one of many truly funny moments in this show, which is performed entirely in the nude and with no dialogue. Read more »

Only two more days to see Klavier–Stücke (meaning, "piano pieces"), Trimpin’s latest art installation to cleverly blend high-tech gadgetry with deconstructed pianos. The ingenious Seattle-based “sound sculptor” (read more about Trimpin in the profile I wrote for our January issue) has created several pieces for the show. Read more »

As a Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon has received countless accolades (see: 9 Tony Awards, including Best Musical), so little needs to be said about its quality: the tremendously catchy songs, funny writing and outrageous, South Park-style raunchy lines and lyrics. But the big question is: How does the touring show hold up to the New York production? Personally, I don't know. I didn't see the NYC show. But I can say the Seattle show makes for a genuinely fun evening. Read more »

This press release from Taylor Shellfish Farms about the upcoming Shellfish-tival inspired a couple Friday afternoon thoughts...

1. I think if you're going to call something a Shellfishtival you should fully embrace it and drop the hyphen.

2. The lineup seems a little heavy on feces-related fun. What's with the poop party?

  Read more »

The press preview for the new King Tut exhibit at the Pacific Science Center began with the customary parade of thanks to partners and sponsors, along with civic boosterism regarding this “marquee event” and the tourist dollars its going to rake in for the city (90,000 tickets have already been sold—claustrophobes, take heed). It all started to blur together, as giant photos of selected Egyptian artifacts looped in a soothing slideshow, over and over, on the immense IMAX screen in the PACCAR theater. Read more »

SIFF! Is! Here! So much indie film goodness... it's overwhelming, isn't it? One way to make the SIFFxperience more manageable is to go locavore—plan to see as many of the locally produced films as possible. Read more »

Congrats to the 15 local artists on The Stranger's shortlist for the Genius Awards (released today)! I'm a big fan of this year's list—especially since in past years Seattle mag has selected several of the Genius nominees as winners of our own Spotlight Award. The Genius winners won't be announced until September 22, but meanwhile, you can read up on a few of the nominees via the previous profiles I've written... Read more »

This weekend Seattle filmmaker (and Seattle magazine Spotlight Award winner) Lynn Shelton presents her lovely new film, Your Sister’s Sister, at the Sundance Film Festival. Or at least, she’s trying to­—according to her Facebook page, she’s currently still stuck at SeaTac and may miss her big moment altogether, which is terrible! Read more »