Seattle Theater+Dance

This fall, Village Theatre sent its audiences floating down the Mississippi the fall in its charming revival of "Big River," a musical retelling of Mark Twain’s "Huckleberry Finn." After a successful outing at the company’s Issaquah theater, the production moved north to Everett, where it continues through Nov. 18. Anchoring the action with sass and style, Randy Scholz plays Huckleberry, a poor boy who objects to being “civilized” after his adventures with Tom Sawyer and escapes on a raft with a runaway slave named Jim. From its publication in 1884, the book has managed to rile multitudes—as the hero is a cheeky boy as well as a highly reluctant abolitionist—and become an American classic, one of the greatest tales ever told about running away.  Scholz, who has trained in opera as well as musical theater, lives in Seattle but hails originally from Texas. We asked him how he was finding life in the Northwest as well as his own view of Huckleberry’s charm. How di...

--> The Hag wears one of Graney's favorite costumes in The Skriker. Photo: Lewis Chang Looking for a few adjectives to describe the style of choreographer Pat Graney? Try fearless, adventurous, striking, or bold – and that won’t even cover half of the catalog of an extraordinary body of work. Graney has choreographed solo pieces, theatrical pieces, and, through Keeping The Faith, healing pieces for women serving time in prison. A powerful influence for more than twenty years in the Seattle dance scene, she’s inspired numerous artists to follow her very big strides in make a place for women in choreography. Her most recent venture finds her collaborating with artists from several spheres to tell the dark fairytale of the The Skriker, a shapechanging fairy roaming a fantastical London. The Balagan Theatre production runs from now through Nov. 11 at the Erickson Theatre, 1524 Harvard. Graney took some time out from her busy schedule to answer a few questions abo...