I’m going to tell you a secret and you’re going to thank me for it later.
There’s a lot to hate about the kind of entertainment that gets perpetrated this season, but Christmas: B-Sides & Rarities is not on that naughty list. Curated by Jim Jewell B-Sides has become the Seattle performance insiders’ insider holiday event: a super small, super secret, super bitter and dark (in the best sorts of ways) scrumptious “antidote to the overly cheery, relentlessly commercialized traditional Christmas fare.”
I started coming as an audience member a few years back, but Jim, in his questionable wisdom, asked me to participate in subsequent years. In fact, this time when he asked I pushed back and I asked if I could read some poetry and prose instead of the playwriting I’m better known for. Jim was kind enough to sort of shrug and say, “Sure. Whatever.” To honor his insouciant beneficence (I promise the poetry won’t be that insufferably overwrought), I have written two original pieces especially for the occasion. Next Monday I’ll be reading them for the very first time ever, along with other much more fabulous acts, such as:
- rock'n'roll from Joey Kline (formerly of The Squirrels and The Plaintiffs);
- "Magi" written by Jim Jewell and directed by Dan Tarker, featuring Jaryl Allen Draper, Fox Rain Matthews, and Madison Marie Rengli;
- "Yule Log" written by Dan Tarker and directed by Jim Jewell, featuring Megan Ahiers and Mark Fullerton;
- "Redneck" written and performed by Jennifer Neel, Paul Shipp and Joe Zavadil;
- buffoonery from UMO Ensemble vets Christine and Lyam White;
- magical, maniacal storytelling from the inimitable Jennifer Jasper
- ukelele mayhem from E-Ray and the LPs;
- and more from Scot Augustson, Kymberlee della Luce, John McKenna, and Colleen Roberston.
Tickets for this one-night-only event are $15 online or $18 at the door.
Get Tickets ahead at xmasbsides.brownpapertickets.com
B-Sides & Rarities receives marketing and logistical support from The 14/48 Projects, producers of 14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival and Theater Anonymous, so 14/48 vets get $10 tickets online with the usual code.
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