Moisture Festival
The Moisture Festival, now in its fourteenth year, includes magic, music, trapeze and juggling, all performed by people so toned and charismatic that it will make your jaw go slack. Each varietè show brings together talent from around the world for a performance that is funny, stunning and thoroughly entertaining. You’ve got 10 more days to get to Seattle’s bizarrely named festival, and this weekend marks the last cabaret performances.
If you go: Moisture Festival, Hale's Palladium and Broadway Performance Hall, through April 9 ($11-26)—N.C.
Plate of Nations
Plate of Nations, an event that spotlights great restaurants along MLK (many owned and operated by immigrants) is in its seventh year. With $15 lunch specials and $25 dinner specials, it’s the perfect way to try a restaurant, or a cuisine that’s entirely new to you. You can head to The Original Philly’s for authentic cheesesteak and friendly service, or go beyond pho and banh mi at Vietnamese restaurants like Huong Duong and Hoang Lan. I’m always a fan of Ethiopian food at Café Ibex; I recommend going with a group of 4 or 5 and splitting both the veggie and meat platter. New to the line-up is Seasoned in Seattle, a catering business with a neighborhood café. Their menu hits all the right notes with a menu full of fresh, in-season produce, adding a crescendo via a la seasonal fruit cobbler with lavender whipped cream.
If you go: Plate of Nations, Along MLK Jr. Way S, through April 9 ($15-25)—N.C.
Burke NiteLife: Dinos on the Rocks
I love when the Burke does after hours events, and this one may be everything I've dreamed of. While you wander around with a Pink Pachyderm cocktail, you can look at fossils up-close (including a T. Rex jaw!), watch fossil preparation and get a picture with the Jurassic Park jeep. The only way the event could be improved is if Bruce Springsteen were performing too; he’s a big enough performer to honorably share the stage with dinos (something for the comment box, and to keep dreaming about).
If you go: Burke NiteLife: Dinos on the Rocks, 6 p.m. March 31 ($5-15 includes drink tickets)—N.C.
Before We Flew Like Birds We Flew Like Clouds
I don’t think K.T. Niehoff is capable of making anything that’s ho-hum. The multi-hyphenated creative — dancer, choreographer, filmmaker, designer — delivers sensorial experiences that marry performance with dance, sound, fashion and video. Her latest creation features virtual reality, recorded interviews, helium balloons, singing and dance in a piece that explores our relationship to our bodies through the stories of an astronaut, a professional athlete, a survivor of a near-death experience and a differently-abled person. If this sounds awesome to you, head over an hour early to the box office to stand in line and pray, pray, pray that you can get a much-coveted walk up ticket.
If you go: Before We Flew Like Birds We Flew Like Clouds, 12th Avenue Arts, March 31 and April 1 ($25)—F.D.
yankee pickney
A solo show by Jèhan Òsanyìn that explores racial identity through her own experience as a Jamaican-American and the stories of other brown and black people. In his review for The Seattle Times, Brendan Kiley raved about Òsanyìn’s “emotionally charged performance.” And yes, this is a solo show but it reportedly also features Garvey, a dog.
If you go: yankee pickney, Theater Schmeater, March 30-April 1 ($27)—F.D.
