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Jump to: Comedy | Community | Fall & Halloween | Film | Food & Drink | Live Music | Performance | Readings & Talks | Sports & Recreation | Visual Art

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COMEDY

Adam Sandler: The I Missed You Tour Past Event Like List
Your dad's favorite basketball-shorted comedian is back on the road for The I Missed You Tour, and I have questions. Aside from outliers like Punch-Drunk Love, Uncut Gems, and Funny People, Sandler's cinematic track record is well-known to skew toward the comedically questionable. What will his stand-up be like? Personally, I'm hoping it harkens back to his '90s stint on SNL, but I'm not plunking down $69.50+ to find out. You should, though, and report back to me afterward. For what it's worth, his YouTube clips seem promising. I'm rooting for you, Adam!! LC
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Fri Oct 13)

Taylor Tomlinson: The Have It All Tour
Past Event Like List Age is just a number, but it can also work in your favor—just ask Taylor Tomlinson, who was a member of Forbes’ 2021 class of 30 Under 30. The now 29-year-old comedian first began performing stand-up at 16, an era in which I was busy being distinctly unfunny. On the heels of her Netflix specials Quarter-Life Crisis and Look at You, Tomlinson will return to the stage to continue slinging jokes for the millennial-and-under set. ("I don't know if you've tried to convince a dude on a dating app to wear a condom lately," says Tomlinson, "but it's kind of like convincing a five-year-old to wear a jacket over his Halloween costume.") LC
Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Oct 20–22)

COMMUNITY

MEXAM NW Festival 2023 Past Event Like List
Hispanic Heritage Month runs from mid-September to mid-October, a time during which many Latin American countries celebrate their national independence days. MEXAM NW Festival 2023 is an exhilarating multi-event, multi-venue festival curated by the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle that showcases the vibrancy of contemporary Hispanic and Mexican American culture. The festival concludes mid-October with a Día de los Muertos Concert and Festival Latinx. Most events are free and family-oriented, from a talk on the history of tacos to a parade through South Park, and much more. Expect tons of Latin American food, mariachi bands, folk dancing, arts and craft markets, fiestas, and community joy. SL
Various locations (Oct 1–15)

Taste of Iceland Past Event Like List
Did you know Seattle and Reykjavik are sister cities? In fact, Seattle is home to more Icelandic people than anywhere else in the United States. To celebrate Iceland's culture, Seattle hosts an annual Taste of Iceland festival filled with frosty festivities. This year, you'll be transported to the magical Nordic land with an Icelandic cocktail class, special tasting menus, a photography fireside chat, a film screening of Beautiful Beings, Iceland's submission to the 2023 Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, a free Reykjavik Calling concert at KEXP, and more. Don't forget to spin the Icelandair Wheel of Prizes, you could win a trip for two to Iceland! SL
Various locations (Oct 5–7)

FALL & HALLOWEEN

Carpinito Bros. Pumpkin Patch & Corn Maze Past Event Like List
You know what will make your cozy fall photoshoot better? A breathtaking backdrop of Mount Rainier, which is just what you'll get (on a clear day) at Carpinito Brothers Farm. Bring your Hinge date, your parents, and/or your kids (just not your dog) and proceed to get lost in multiple mazes spanning acres of corn, pet farm animals, and take your pick of pumpkins. SL 
Carpinito Brothers, Kent (Oct 1–31)

Georgetown Morgue 2023 Past Event Like List
The Georgetown Morgue is home to creepy carcasses and the site of a macabre murder, and it transforms into a frightening walkthrough attraction every Halloween. The fact that there are emergency exits every 15 feet and the estimated time to go through depends on "if you are walking or running" speaks to just how scary it is. The scene: a toxic stench is coming from a dilapidated catacomb uncovered by a doctor who's rumored to be capturing the citizens of Seattle. You or your loved ones could be next. Are you brave enough to investigate? SL
Georgetown Morgue, Industrial District (Oct 1–Nov 4)

Oktoberfest Northwest Past Event Like List
Enjoy a Munich-inspired Oktoberfest celebration filled with German-style food, steinfuls of beer, and live entertainment, including traditional music and dance as well as performances from '80s cover bands. Festivities include the "Bavarian Bier-lympics," a "sports haus," and a hammerschlagen tournament, where folks compete to throw a hammer in the air, catch it, and drive a nail into a stump. Families can also enjoy wiener dog races, the Stein Dash 5K, a root beer garden, and more, but only until 6 pm when the event goes 21+. SL
Washington State Fair Events Center, Puyallup (Oct 6–8)

Leavenworth Oktoberfest Past Event Like List
"The next best thing to being in Munich" is, apparently, the Leavenworth Oktoberfest. This is likely the most authentic celebration you're going to find near Seattle, complete with official Oktoberfest brats, imported German beer and wine, live oompah and polka music, and performances from Bavarian dancing groups. They even have a full-on festhalle. JR
Various locations, Leavenworth (Oct 6–14)

Stalker Farms Past Event Like List
The "original haunted corn trails of Washington State" would challenge even the most corntastic among us. If you're into being publicly frightened, head to this immersive Halloween attraction, where you'll find ghoulish actors following horrifying original plot lines for "Slasher Family Homestead," "Pogo's Funny Farm," and more. If you need a cool down, there are no actors in the Nighttime Corn Maze, but we can't guarantee that your friends won't try to make you jump. Kids 12 and under are advised to visit only during the daytime fall festival. SL
Stocker Farms, Snohomish (Oct 6–29)

FILM

Scarecrowber Past Event Like List
Physical media mavens Scarecrow Video, the city's own nonprofit video archive and resident experts on all things cinematic, will celebrate Halloween all month long at SIFF Cinema Egyptian. (Horror flicks are "every video store clerk's favorite genre," says SIFF, and I'm inclined to believe it.) Video Store Day is coming up on October 21, so show Scarecrow some love by checking out the flicks they've curated for this scawie series. Scarecrowber oozes to life on October 2 with The Bride of Frankenstein, and later in the month, I'll be shivering for Cat People, Near Dark, and Possession. (If you can't make it to a theater this month, never fear—Scarecrow's revamped mail-order rental website has your back.) LC
SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill (Oct 1–29)

Dark Dreams: The Original Film Noir Series Remind Like List
Look out for cigarette smoke and midnight jazz riffs: Greg Olson, Seattle Art Museum's film curator from 1977 until the position's elimination in 2020, will return with Dark Dreams: The Original Film Noir Series. Olson's noir expertise has been long praised by local voices like film writer and professor Dr. John Trafton, who deemed this year's lineup a "thrilling and mesmerizing journey for die-hard noir fans and the uninitiated," and journalist Charles R. Cross, who called Olson "Seattle's all-time-best film curator." Nine films spanning 60 years of noir style will screen at SIFF Cinema Egyptian; I'm stoked for the free Top Pot doughnuts on opening night and the pre-screening noir playlists by film curator Tova Gannana. LC
SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill (Oct 4–Nov 30)

SIFF DocFest Past Event Like List
Celebrating all things documentary again this year, SIFF's DocFest includes screenings of recent festival faves like Sundance Film Festival 2023 Jury Award winner Going Varsity in Mariach. I'm jazzed for fresh perspectives from Frederick Wiseman and Errol Morris, my documentarian dads, whose new films explore rural French cuisine (Menus-Plaisirs Les Troisgros) and the life of former British spy David Cornwell (aka espionage writer John le Carré). Special guests, who will attend select screenings of festival flicks, include directors Irene Lusztig, Andrew H. Brown, and Vanessa Hope, 2012 Washington State Poet Laureate Kathleen Flenniken, and Plan C founder Amy Merrill, among many others. LC
SIFF Cinema Uptown, Uptown (Oct 5–12)

Tacoma Film Festival Past Event Like List
The Tacoma Film Festival, which Stranger senior staff writer Charles Mudede deemed "the Sundance of the Pacific Northwest" last year, will return to celebrate all things independent cinema. ("What makes this festival one of the best in the region," says Mudede, "is the charm of its main location and smart programming.") Expect a killer roster of documentaries, shorts, and narrative films. Opening night will include the Tacoma premiere of Fantasy A Gets a Mattress (on the heels of several sold-out screenings in Seattle), and the fest's "centerpiece film," Immediate Family, is a rock doc on iconic musicians Leland Sklar, Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel, and Waddy Wachtel. Fancy Dance, a family drama about Indigenous women and the justice system, will screen on closing night. LC
Grand Cinema, Tacoma (Oct 5–12)

Orcas Island Film Festival Past Event Like List
All hail Orcas Island's annual film festival, which the Stranger has praised since its 2014 inception. (Last year, former Stranger staff writer Jas Keimig called it "our Cannes." Those are big shoes to fill.) The festival may not be set against a Mediterranean backdrop, but the island's Eastsound village is pretty damn scenic, too. Plus, last year's flicks earned a whopping 27 Oscar nominations, so you're bound to bear witness to something Letterboxd-review-worthy. For instance, quirky satire king Alexander Payne (Sideways, Election) will return with the '70s-set comedy-drama The Holdovers, which stars Paul Giamatti as a cantankerous New England prep school instructor tasked with supervising students on Christmas break. I'm also intrigued by this year's Palme d’Or winner, Anatomy of a Fall, as well as The Disappearance of Shere Hite, a Nicole Newnham-directed (Crip Camp) doc on the feminist sexologist and female orgasm pioneer. Cannes Best Director winner Trần Anh Hùng's historical gastromance The Taste of Things sounds like the perfect digestif. LC
Various locations, Orcas Island (Oct 11–15)

Seattle Queer Film Festival Past Event Like List
A loud-and-proud voice in the Seattle film scene since '96, the Seattle Queer Film Festival is now presented in a hybrid format, blasting an expansive range of queer stories onto big screens (and your computer screen, if that's your preference). I'm pumped for 18 days of queer magic, with in-person screenings planned October 12–22 and virtual screenings October 22–29, plus buzzy parties, live podcasting, filmmaker panels, and workshops. This year's festival theme, "Queer Joy is Cinematic," will bring the ebullience with 50 programs and over 80 films at Northwest Film Forum, Broadway Performance Hall, SIFF Cinema Egyptian, and Ark Lodge Cinema. LC
Various locations and Virtual (Oct 12–29)

Killers of the Flower Moon Past Event Like List
The calendar is inching closer to Oscar season, and with it will come a film that already rivals the chatter of this summer's Barbie and Oppenheimer, if that's even possible. Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which the Guardian described as an "epic of creeping, existential horror about the birth of the American century," follows the true story of quasi-genocidal serial killings that impacted Oklahoma's Osage tribal community in the '20s. The film takes a "show, don't tell" approach to illustrating the epidemic of violence against Native people in the United States. Calling it now: Based on the trailer alone, Killers of the Flower Moon blends Western sensibilities, true crime, and the macabre in an enthralling way that'll land each and every butt in a theater seat. LC
SIFF Theaters (Opens Oct 20)

FOOD & DRINK

Haunted Soiree: A Macabre Cocktail Party Past Event Like List
This eerie immersive theatrical party revolves around the Rasputin-inspired tale of Doctors Natalia and Grigor Volkov, who wind up dead along with all their patients at their psychiatric facility after Natalia's death during childbirth. Guests are encouraged to don their most dramatic finery, be it Halloween costumes, cocktail chic, or period-accurate outfits. The night includes themed miniature craft cocktails, live music, secret games, and roaming ghosts just dying to tell you their secrets. SL
DAR Rainier Chapter House, Capitol Hill (Oct 1–31)

Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival Past Event Like List
Port Angeles's nationally recognized crab extravaganza, which was once featured in a question on Jeopardy!, offers copious crustaceans, as well as a chowder cook-off, a "grab-a-crab" derby, local beer and wine, craft vendors, live music, art, chances to learn about Native American culture in the Pacific Northwest, and more. Get ready to tie on a bib and dig into a pile of fresh Dungeness crab accompanied by coleslaw and fresh corn. JB
Port Angeles City Pier (Oct 6–8)

Northwest Chocolate Festival Past Event Like List
If your chocolate obsession borders on pathological à la the Cathy comic strip, look no further than this two-day all-out cacao extravaganza focused on sustainability. Learn more about the rich treat via seminars and workshops, watch chef demonstrations, meet chocolatiers, and taste samples from over a hundred exhibitors from around the world. JB
Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue (Oct 7–8)

OysterFest Past Event Like List
Slurp freshly shucked bivalves and quaff wines and microbrews at this annual festival hosted by the Shelton Skookum Rotary Club. You'll also get to watch certified mollusk maniacs flaunt their shucking skills at the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championships. Besides oysters, you can nosh on other food offerings like spring rolls, garlic shrimp, homemade strawberry shortcake, and fresh cider. JB
Shelton, WA (Oct 7–8)

The Stranger's Pizza Week 2023 Past Event Like List
Calling all enthusiasts/lovers/connoisseurs/purveyors of pizza: This October The Stranger is bringing you #strangerpizzaweek! We will be showcasing spots all around the city slinging specialty 'zas crafted just for this week at $4 a slice or $20 for whole pies.
Various locations (Oct 9–15)

Olympic Peninsula Apple & Cider Festival Past Event Like List
You've heard of farm-to-table, but what about "tree-to-glass"? That's the approach of the Olympic Peninsula Apple & Cider Fest, where you can taste apples, meet brewers, learn about the process, and sip the sweet (or tart) juices to your heart's content. Sunday's Finnriver Apple Day is open to all ages, but other activities like the Orchard Brunch, Cider Saloon, and Fall Fire Party are reserved for those 21-and-up. SL
Various locations (Oct 13–15)

Bacon Eggs & Kegs Past Event Like List
This festival revolves around the combination of savory, gut-busting breakfast foods and heady booze. Day drinking is encouraged with more than 70 craft beers, ciders, and seltzers, plus mimosas, boozy root beer floats, Irish coffee, and a 30-foot Bloody Mary bar with dozens upon dozens of toppings (including tater tots, mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, veggies, herbs, pickles, puffed Cheetos, bacon, and pork rinds). You're probably going to want to clear your schedule for that requisite post-brunch nap. JB
Lumen Field, SoDo (Oct 14–15)

Seattle Restaurant Week 2023 Past Event Like List
Seattle Restaurant Week is actually two weeks, but we're not complaining—it's double the "chance to celebrate and support our culinary community" through menus curated especially for the occasion. With a variety of unique prix fixe and combo meals at various price points, it's a great time to branch out and try something new.
Various locations (Oct 22–Nov 4)

LIVE MUSIC

The Zombies Past Event Like List
If some know-it-all man asks me "Which is better, the Beatles or the Stones?" I usually respond with neither. If we're talking British all-male rock '60s rock bands, there is only one answer in my mind: the Zombies. They might only have a handful of studio albums, but their 1968 baroque-pop masterpiece Odyssey and Oracle is flawless enough to outshine all other '60s rock albums. And, in my humble opinion, frontman Colin Blunstone has the sexiest voice of all time. It's sweet, pitch-perfect, and perfectly pouty. Please treat yourself to a listen to his outrageously underrated debut solo album One Year. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. AV
Washington Hall, Squire Park (Mon Oct 2)

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis Past Event Like List
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis mastered the works of classic jazz legends like Duke Ellington and John Coltrane before carving out a unique voice and becoming one of the biggest names in contemporary jazz. Marsalis will lead a 15-piece band for an unforgettable evening of music including originals as well as those definitive standards that started his career. AV
Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Thurs Oct 5)

The Postal Service & Death Cab For Cutie: Give Up & Transatlanticism 20th Anniversary Past Event Like List
Back in 2003, Ben Gibbard was busy. Busy crafting two of the most beloved indie rock albums of the 20th century: Give Up and Transatlanticism. In honor of the 20th anniversary of both albums, Gibbard will reunite with Jimmy Tamborello and Jenny Lewis of the Postal Service to perform their seminal electronic album with classics like "Such Great Heights" and "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." Afterward, Gibbard will make things even sadder with Death Cab For Cutie bandmates Nick Harmer, Dave Depper, Zac Rae, and Jason McGerr, performing Transatlanticism in its entirety. Oh wow, 13-year-old me is already crying/screaming/throwing up at the thought of this lineup. AV
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Oct 6–7)

Earshot Jazz Festival 2023 Past Event Like List
The 35th annual Earshot Jazz Festival will sprawl across three weeks and 30 local venues, filling Seattle with established legends of the genre and exciting emerging artists. This year's lineup has so many great names, but I am most excited to see Japanese pianist Hiromi’s groove-fueled ensemble Soundwonder (Oct 8), the Grammy-nominated vocal supergroup säje (Oct 13), and acclaimed jazz trumpeter Chief Adjuah (Oct 15). Plus, there will be an evening of live music and archival footage, celebrating the life of one of my all-time favorite pianists, Mary Lou Williams (Oct 25).
Various locations (Oct 6–Nov 5)

Melody's Echo Chamber with Water From Your Eyes Past Event Like List
Freshly minted buzz band Water From Your Eyes have accrued a fair amount of excitement with their Matador debut, Everyone's Crushed, and even if the Brooklyn duo vanish in a puff of pixel dust tomorrow, they still will have left an impressive document. On Everyone's Crushed, WFYE indulge their weirdest instincts—contrary to what you'd expect of a group making its jump to the big leagues. Nonchalantly tossing aside commercial considerations, WFYE (Rachel Brown and Nate Amos) instead frolic on the fringes where noise rock, art song, and industrial dub lock horns. Theirs is not a crowded lane. Which is odd when you listen to their earlier releases. The 2017 EP Feels a Lot Like scans as fairly standard, melodious indie rock that doesn't hint at WFYE's future quirkiness. STRANGER CONTRIBUTOR DAVE SEGAL
The Crocodile, Belltown (Sat Oct 7)

Joji: Pandemonium Tour
Joji's evolution from comedy YouTuber to a member of the Asian music collective 88rising is slightly mind-boggling at surface level, but it's a trajectory that many figures in entertainment follow these days; gain a following in some random fashion before pursuing the craft they feel aligns with their innate talent and true calling. Through lo-fi jams like "Glimpse of Us," "Die For You," and "Sanctuary," Joji's emotive lyricism has won over legions of fans who have sold out iconic venues like Madison Square Garden and LA's Kia Forum. Hear his tender vocals reverberate through the Climate Pledge Arena after special guests DJ/producer Kenny Beats, and rappers Lil Toe (Ammo) and Savage Realm. JW
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Wed Oct 11)

Pink: The Trustfall Tour Past Event Like List
During this current cultural juncture that includes the Eras tour, the Renaissance tour, and the Chromatica Ball, the caliber for touring female pop stars is in the heavens—and Pink is reaching it (LITERALLY). Pink has long been known for her stunts—aerial silks, acrobatics, trapeze, and other gymnastics—but takes it to a whole new level on her Trustfall tour by catapulting herself into the air and flying around the arena. In the same spirit as the infamous Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran meme, women are out here shooting themselves out of cannons while Ed Sheeran just stands there on stage in a hoodie (just sayin'). Similarly to Taylor Swift's Eras tour, Pink's sets is divided into four acts, marking each epoch throughout her career. My favorite is her M!ssundaztood era..."Don't Let Me Get Me" belongs in the Great American Songbook! AV
Tacoma Dome, Tacoma (Tues Oct 17)

Wu-Tang Clan & Nas: NY State Of Mind Tour with De La Soul Past Event Like List
Just in time for the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, visionary hip-hop collective Wu-Tang Clan is hitting the road on a co-headlining tour with fellow NY rap legends Nas and De La Soul. "Wu-Tang Clan concluded the most important and innovative period of hip-hop that began with Run-DMC’s 1984 eponymous debut," Stranger senior staff writer Charles Mudede writes of the group. "That movement—which includes albums by Eric B. and Rakim, Public Enemy, NWA, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, and Gang Starr—closed in 1997 with Wu-Tang Clan’s "Triumph"/Wu-Tang Forever. After that, hip-hop innovation went either downhill or into the underground. If Wu-Tang Clan had appeared in the first decade of the present millennium, their commercial success would have been that of LA’s Lootpack—mad-innovative but with no mass appeal/appreciation. Wu-Tang Clan represent a moment in hip-hop when black genius was rewarded as much as black stupidity. Those days exist, sadly, only in the past." AV
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Wed Oct 18)

Kim Petras: Feed The Beast World Tour Past Event Like List
Kim Petras is the pop girlie for all of us who grew up idolizing Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie on The Simple Life. Her 2022 single "Coconuts" is something you could imagine Malibu Barbie listening to in her hot pink convertible, except for sexually explicit and not appropriate for children whatsoever lyrics ("Look at these margarit-ta-tas"). Her music evokes sticky lip gloss, bedazzled thongs, and Juicy Couture tracksuits with shades of Y2K Eurodance. She's been making music for a while now (I first heard her featured on the Charli XCX banger "Unlock It"), but she really blew up with Sam Smith's viral smash "Unholy," which won her a Grammy earlier this year. Riding this wave of success, Petras will kick off your Halloweek with songs from her debut album, Feed the Beast. AV
WaMu Theater, SoDo (Mon Oct 23)

Eddie Vedder Past Event Like List
Grunge god Eddie Vedder will play two consecutive nights in his hometown to raise money for EB Research Partnership, which he and his wife Jill Vedder founded in 2010 to discover treatments and cures for Epidermolysis Bullosa. The show is billed as an intimate solo performance, but who knows who might show up? Vedder has a long list of famous friends and collaborators including Elton John, Cat Power's Chan Marshall, and of course, pals from his respective bands Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog. AV
Benaroya Hall, Downtown (Oct 23–24)

Lil Yachty: The Field Trip Tour Past Event Like List
On his fifth album, Let's Start Here, Lil Yachty trades his bubblegum trap sound for krautrock-inspired synths, electric guitars, and whispery psych-rock vocals. The result is cinematic, delightfully proggy, and reminiscent of Ishmael Butler's mind-bending hip-hop project Shabazz Palaces. It is very exciting to see Butler's spacey, free jazz-inspired sound carry into the mainstream. And, to Yachty and Ish: if you're reading this, we'd love to see a collaboration someday. Lil Yachty will support the album backed by a live band after an opening set from psychedelic soul wiz Nick Hakim. AV
Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Tues Oct 24)

The Breeders with Belly Past Event Like List
The first time that I heard the Breeders was during the opening sequence of A Walk to Remember (2002). The film begins with high school bad boy Landon Carter pushing a classmate into a lake during a night of underage drinking. Then, the Breeders only Billboard-charting hit "Cannonball" comes in with Kim Deal (formerly of the Pixies) intoning "Check, check, one, two" followed by a bouncy bass riff and the infectious drum rhythm. What is this cool-as-hell song doing in this dorky-ass Nicholas Sparks movie? I was instantly hooked on the song, and when I went to listen to the entire album, I was equally delighted. Last Splash perfectly encapsulates raucous teen behavior, complete with amusing lyricism, tender romanticism ("Do You Love Me Now?"), and effortless freewheeling fun. The Breeders will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album by playing it in its entirety. Rhode Island alt-rock band Belly, another one of the best bands of the '90s, will open. AV
Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Wed Oct 25)

Angel Olsen Past Event Like List
While it's often hard for me to emotionally connect with contemporary indie rock, Angel Olsen's heartwrenching vocals bring me to tears almost every time I hear them. Her voice, which has been compared to artists like Emmylou Harris and Mildred Bailey, seesaws from deep restraint to free-flowing belts, sometimes in a single breath. Olsen will return to Seattle for three nights with tracks from her new stripped-down EP Forever Means and country-tinged 2022 album Big Time. Don't miss opening sets from singer-songwriter Allegra Krieger (night one), acclaimed folk artist/poet Kara Jackson (night two), and chamber pop artist Led To Sea (night three). AV
Neptune Theatre, University District (Oct 26–28)

BOO Seattle Past Event Like List
This annual EDM spectacular will haunt your Halloweekend with multiple themed stages, ghoulishly fun rides, larger-than-life art installations, and roaming performers. Plus, bone-rattling DJs like Zedd, Steve Aoki, Alesso, and more will ensure that the bass is loud enough to raise the dead.
WaMu Theater, SoDo (Oct 27–28)

PERFORMANCE

Disney's The Little Mermaid Past Event Like List
My first memory of dancing is in my childhood living room, where I wiggled haphazardly to steel drum tunes on The Little Mermaid's supplementary VHS, Sebastian's Caribbean Jamboree. If you're of the millennial or Gen Z persuasion, you probably also have some core memories related to the Disney animated flick, which turns 35 this year. (Insert a "you're old" joke here, I guess.) Anywho, scuttle on over to the 5th Avenue Theatre for this rendition of the musical, which sees all your faves jam out under the sea. There'd better be steel drums! LC
The 5th Avenue Theatre, Downtown (Oct 1–8)

Cambodian Rock Band Past Event Like List
Playwright à la mode Lauren Yee, who wove together immigrant narratives and music-led comedy in Young Americans, is back with Cambodian Rock Band, which follows a survivor's return to Cambodia after escaping the murderous Khmer Rouge regime 30 years prior. I'm a big fan of Yee's dramaturgical sensibility, which often seeks to reclaim forgotten or overlooked histories. (She's also slated to pen the musical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, so expect to see her name again!) What's got me most riled up for Cambodian Rock Band, though, is its live band, which will play jangly Dengue Fever hits and classic Cambodian oldies. LC
ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, Downtown (Oct 1–Nov 5)

Nia-Amina Minor and David Rue—Black Collectivity Presents: To Gather Past Event Like List
To Gather, a "celebration of dance artists residing and creating along the West Coast," elevates movement artists working to "excavate the rich stories that exist within the Black and Brown dancing body." As part of the program, guest curators Nia-Amina Minor (the co-founder of Black Collectivity) and David Rue (a Liberian-born dance artist) have invited choreographers and performers to present new works across two weekends. The program kicks off with the work of guest choreographer Maurya Kerr and local Seattle artists, including Akoiya Harris, Cipher Goings, Benjamin Hunter, and Symone Sanz; guest choreographer Bernard Brown finishes out the program alongside Jade Solomon Curtis, Umalalengua Okan, Milvia Pacheco Salvatierra, and others. LC
On the Boards, Uptown (Oct 5–21)

John Malkovich in The Music Critic Past Event Like List
Academy Award-winning actor John Malkovich (I bet you know him from the 1999 cult-favorite Being John Malkovich) will stop by with his part classical concert, part theater performance, and part comedy show The Music Critic. This wit-filled satirical dramatization takes on the vicious (and fictitious) music critiques written about history's greatest composers and works of music. Malkovich plays the role of the evil critic/narrator, who believes that the music of Beethoven, Chopin, and Prokofiev is "weary and dreary." Classical music funnymen Aleksey Igudesman and Hyung-ki Joo (of the comedy duo Igudesman & Joo) lodge a protest. Who will win in the end? AV
Benaroya Hall, Downtown (Tues Oct 17)

The Boulet Brothers Past Event Like List
If you prefer your alt-drag shows with a side of gore and guts, you probably already revel in the chaos of the Boulet Brothers, whose punkish brand of eleganza often features bugs, gauged needles, pig brains, and live burial. (Contestants on The Boulet Brothers' Dragula don't exactly sashay away—they're "exterminated" in a freaky death scene. Okay then!!) Grab your goth fanny packs and gag for the duo's ghoulish glam when they drop by Seattle. LC
The Crocodile, Belltown (Sun Oct 29)

READINGS & TALKS

Author Talk: Italy by Ingredient by Viola Buitoni Past Event Like List
Who doesn't fantasize about cooking and eating like an Italian nonna? Rome-born chef and food writer Viola Buitoni (yes, of the famed Italian food company Buitoni) will teach you how to do just that with her new cookbook Italy by Ingredient, which takes a new approach to the classic cuisine by focusing on luxurious ingredients like mortadella, buffalo mozzarella, guanciale, and more. Famed food writer Ruth Reichl praises the book for its lush writing, which contains delightful sentences like “Keep your ears pricked: if the sizzle becomes a screech, the vegetables are calling for help" and “No need for wine: a gin and tonic works wonderfully with spaghetti alla bottarga.” Buitoni will chat about the new release with Pasta Casalinga chef-owner Michela Tartaglia. JB
Book Larder, Fremont (Tues Oct 3)

Hua Hsu with E.J. Koh Past Event Like List
If you also keep it glued to Literary Hub's book recommendations, you've probably already heard of Hua Hsu's Stay True, which was published late last year and scored the author a Pulitzer Prize for Memoir. Naturally, the book earned a paperback release, and Hsu will drop by Third Place Books to chat about it with local author E.J. Koh, who was recently named one of the city's most influential people by Seattle Magazine. "Hsu spent 20 years writing this book as an homage to a friend, Ken, who was randomly murdered in a carjacking one night after a college party," says Third Place Books bookseller Marii Herlinger. "I can't put into words how good this is—just read it for yourself and let Hsu tell you how much he loved Ken." (If a bookseller endorses a book, I'm sold.) LC
Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park (Wed Oct 11)

Barbara Kingsolver Past Event Like List
If there's such a thing as a household-name author, Barbara Kingsolver might be one example—she's been famous ever since the '98 release of the epistolary novel The Poisonwood Bible. Her latest work, 2022's Demon Copperhead, an angry, compassionate retelling of David Copperfield set in the midst of the Appalachian opioid epidemic, won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It's a bestseller (natch), was named one of the top 10 books of the year by the New York Times and the Washington Post, and serves as a reminder that Kingsolver's talent hasn't diminished one bit. LC
Benaroya Hall, Downtown (Mon Oct 16)

Ziwe: In Conversation Past Event Like List
Although Showtime tragically canceled her pink-hued, confrontation-as-comedy show earlier this year after a mere two seasons, Ziwe Fumudoh's button-pressing 2022 interview with Chet Hanks is still the stuff of legend. The snazzy satirist and queen of discomfort has a gift for bringing out cringe-inducing behavior in privileged people, and she tends to do it all in Cher Horowitz-chic outfits. What's not to love (or be mildly nervous about)? She'll drop by Seattle to hand us our asses with a smile. LC
Neptune Theatre, University District (Sun Oct 22)

Author Talk: Veg-table by Nik Sharma Past Event Like List
In his latest release, molecular biologist-turned-bestselling cookbook author Nik Sharma turns his attention toward helping you get your five a day with over 100 veggie-centric recipes. Sharma uses his biology background to delve into plant science and demystify vegetables, and the book is packed with his own vibrant photography and inspiring prose, plus charming illustrations from artist Matteo Riva. He'll talk produce and science with J. Kenji López-Alt, author of The Food Lab and The Wok.
Book Larder, Fremont (Tues Oct 24)

SPORTS & RECREATION

Seattle Kraken 2023-24 Home Games Remind Like List
After a somewhat miserable first season in the NHL, the Seattle Kraken blew us all away with their success during the Stanley Cup Playoffs earlier this year. (No one expected them to win the first round against defending champs the Colorado Avalanche, let alone push the Dallas Stars to Game 7 in the second.) The excitement was palpable as fans filled sports bars, Seattle Center, and the plaza around Climate Pledge to watch the games. Seattle is certainly a hockey town now, and we're stoked to see what this season brings. The first at-home regular season game takes place on October 17—keep your eyes peeled for festivities happening around town, we expect some will be announced in the coming weeks. SL
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Oct 17, 2023–Apr 11, 2024)

Forever Reign: A Celebration of Megan Rapinoe Past Event Like List
First Sue Bird, now Megan Rapinoe. We're not sure our hearts can take it. Both women are incredible athletes, and retiring from their long-standing roles on Seattle sports teams this year (Bird's emotional retirement ceremony lasted almost three hours in June). Don't miss the last OL Reign match of the regular season that Megan Rapinoe will play in; it's against the Washington Spirit, but who wins will be far less important than the fanfare and ceremonies celebrating Rapinoe's career. The game will air in the primetime slot on national television, and more tickets keep being added (the tickets sold have already broken the all-time attendance record)—get yours now or forever regret it! SL
Lumen Field, SoDo (Fri Oct 6)

Rain City Showcase: LA Clippers v Utah Jazz Past Event Like List
The Rain City Showcase brings NBA basketball back to Seattle for the second year with a game pitting the LA Clippers against their Western Conference rivals the Utah Jazz. While it's not the same as getting the Sonics back, last year's game was tons of fun and full of surprise celebrity guest appearances. If we keep up the hype and enthusiasm, we're hoping the NBA takes note and gives us a team again. SL
Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Tues Oct 10)

VISUAL ART

Satpreet Kahlon: the inscrutable shape of longing Remind Like List
After winning the 2021 BAM Biennial: Architecture & Urban Design Award of Excellence, Satpreet Kahlon was granted the opportunity to present a solo exhibition at the museum, and the inscrutable shape of longing began to take shape. The Indian-born, US-raised artist explores how cultural and ancestral histories intermingle to inform the "messiness, contradictions, and nuances" of embodied life. Kahlon drew from her experiences of displacement and colonization's aftermath to create a "multisensory constellation of video, image, and sound" in a web-like installation. I'm especially intrigued by Kahlon's use of mirrored acrylic, which splinters and refracts archival footage of Panjabi folk rituals into "hundreds of tiny fragments reflected across the gallery." LC 
Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue (Oct 4–Dec 31)

Positive Fragmentation Remind Like List
Focusing on female artists whose works "employ a strategy of fragmentation," Positive Fragmentation: From the Collections of the Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation compiles a whopping 200 prints that dismantle, reconstitute, and blend new ideas. The exhibition's works include meditations on the body, explorations of urban landscapes, and a focus on women of color artists. Although these artists are often underrepresented in museum spaces, you're bound to spot a few names you recognize, like art icons Betye Saar, Kara Walker, and Wendy Red Star. Judy Pfaff, Jenny Holzer, Judy Chicago, Louise Bourgeois, and Polly Apfelbaum are also standouts. LC
(Bellevue Arts Museum, Bellevue (Oct 4, 2023–Mar 10, 2024)

Kelly Akashi: Encounters Remind Like List
A multi-site exploration of Kelly Akashi's work, which began with Formations at the Frye Art Museum, will continue with Encounters. Formations explores the Los Angeles-based artist's focus on craft and includes Conjoined Tumbleweeds, a bronze cast of plants collected from Poston, Arizona, where members of Akashi's family were incarcerated in a Japanese American internment camp during World War II. In Encounters, Akashi continues to share her interest in material transformation and time-mapping with sculptural works in wax, bronze casting, fire, hand-blown glass, silicone, and rope. LC 
Henry Art Gallery, University District (Oct 5, 2023–May 5, 2024)

Raúl de Nieves: a window to the see, a spirit star chiming in the wind of wonder… Remind Like List
I try to avoid saying a show has "something for everyone" unless it's really, truly the case, but New York-based artist Raúl de Nieves's a window to the see, a spirit star chiming in the wind of wonder… might fit the bill. De Nieves will transport aesthetic traditions of Mexican craft, Catholicism, Tarot, the European art canon, drag performance, and punk music to the Henry—seriously, I'm betting you're into at least one of those things, right? The solo exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and performances by the Mexican-born artist will include one of his signature "stained glass" installations (made with colored acetate and tape), which will imagine a celestial landscape and transform the museum’s largest gallery space into a "container of colored light." The goal? A reflective, meditative journey—anticipate temple-like seating, a kaleidoscopic atmosphere of ever-changing light, and ritualistic performances punctuating the run of the exhibition. LC
Henry Art Gallery, University District (Oct 5, 2023–Aug 25, 2024)

Clarissa Tossin: to take root among the stars Remind Like List
Brazilian-born, LA-based artist Clarissa Tossin's multimedia works (including films, sculptures, and drawings) look closely at global capitalism's "frontier mythologies," interrogating persistent legacies of colonialism in Latin America and the US through repurposed consumerist garbage. She uses what is perhaps the most potent symbol of exploitation and ecological disaster—Amazon delivery boxes—to think about climate change, mapping as a conquest-driven technology, human consumption, and even space exploration. Why am I stoked about the show? Well, because I'm a nerd: Tossin's first solo museum exhibition on the West Coast borrows its title from sci-fi writer Octavia Butler’s apocalyptic Earthseed novels. LC
Frye Art Museum, First Hill (Oct 7, 2023–Jan 7, 2024)

Rafael Soldi: Soft Boy Remind Like List
At the heart of artist and curator Rafael Soldi's new solo exhibition is Soft Boy, a video installation that represents the artist and curator's first venture into moving image work. Pulling from his experience as a queer youth in Peru to "focus on the construction of masculinity in Latin American society," Soldi dissects gender expectations through language and adolescent games. His video harkens to his time in an all-boys Catholic school, complete with playground skirmishes and performative machismo. Soft Boy also includes selections from a print series called CARGAMONTÓN, which translates to a form of hazing in Latin American schools, and mouth to mouth, which "present[s] word plays and Spanish-English pairings that reveal the gendered power structures built into language and the slipperiness of meaning." LC
Frye Art Museum, First Hill (Oct 7, 2023–Jan 7, 2024)

Refract 5th Anniversary: The Seattle Glass Experience Past Event Like List
At its core, Seattle is a glass town. Some of the greatest glass artists to ever do it cut their teeth in the furnaces of this city—Dale Chihuly, Preston Singletary, Dante Marioni, and Ginny Ruffner. In part, we have Seattle's proximity to the internationally recognized Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, WA to thank for that. Refract's four-day festival explores and celebrates Seattle's history at the forefront of the glass movement. The best part? Nearly all events are free! Go get your life! FORMER STRANGER STAFF WRITER JAS KEIMIG
Various locations (Oct 12–15)

Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence, from the collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Remind Like List
Images of Katsushika Hokusai's Great Wave have been blasted onto high school projector screens since time immemorial, but Hokusai: Inspiration and Influence takes the viewer deeper with more than 100 of the master's woodblock prints, paintings, and illustrated books. (Yes, Great Wave—or Under the Wave off Kanagawa, by its full name—will be on display, along with a LEGO interpretation of it.) You don't have to cross an ocean to see the legendary Edo-period Japanese ukiyo-e artist's scope of influence, either. Over 200 works by his teachers, students, rivals, and admirers will be showcased alongside his own pieces right here in Seattle, courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. LC
Seattle Art Museum, Downtown (Oct 19, 2023–Jan 21, 2024)