From Drake and Justin Timberlake concerts to a Lin-Manuel Miranda musical and much more, our Seattle Times arts writers dish on next month’s most buzzworthy arts-and-entertainment events.
Update 11/6/18: Live Nation announced that, as a result of bruised vocal cords, Justin Timberlake’s concerts at the Tacoma Dome On Nov. 12 and 13th have been postponed until Feb. 10 and 11, 2019.
Earlier:
Look Ahead
The days are getting grayer, the temperatures chillier — perfect for spending time indoors enjoying the great concerts, shows and events on deck in November. The Tacoma Dome and its $30 million renovation welcome Drake and Justin Timberlake; authors Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bob Woodward and Susan Orlean come to town; and the Harry Potter universe opens its next chapter with the release of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” Here’s what you need to put on your calendar next month.
TOP 5 EVENTS IN NOVEMBER
MOVIES
Most Read Entertainment Stories
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”
The Harry Potter universe lives on: J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for this sequel to 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” with Johnny Depp as the title tyrant, Jude Law as the young Albus Dumbledore and Eddie Redmayne as his former student Newt Scamander, whose task is to kill Grindelwald. Wands at the ready!
Opens Nov. 16.
Moira Macdonald
MUSIC
Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus
When these ascending indie-rock stars booked a run of dates together, they decided to record a tour- exclusive single to slang on the road. Turns out their chemistry was a spigot they couldn’t shut off, as one song turned into three, which turned into six. The soul-baring trio’s shared Google Drive folder became a creative safe space where no idea — down to the Crosby, Stills & Nash-evoking cover — was out of the question. The resulting EP under the name boygenius drops Nov. 9 as the tour — co-headlined by Baker and Bridgers, with Dacus opening, and all three performing solo sets — gets underway.
7:15 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24; Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle; $25.50-$27.50; 800-982-2787, stgpresents.org
Michael Rietmulder
BOOKS
Susan Orlean
Orlean’s long been known for her wise, warmhearted nonfiction writing, in the pages of The New Yorker and in books like “The Orchid Thief” — and her latest book feels like a gift to anyone who loves books and libraries. “The Library Book” is both a true-crime mystery involving the 1986 fire that decimated the Los Angeles Public Library and a love letter to libraries everywhere. “It wasn’t that time stopped in the library,” Orlean writes, of how a visit to a public library with her son brought back memories of similar visits as a child with her own mother. “It was as if it were captured here, collected here, and in all libraries — and not only my time, my life, but all human time as well. In the library, time is dammed up — not just stopped, but saved.” (She’s speaking, natch, at Seattle Public Library.)
7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7; Seattle Public Library’s Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle; free; 206-386-4636, spl.org
Moira Macdonald
THEATER
“A Bright Room Called Day”
“We live in Berlin. It’s 1932. I feel relatively safe.” Those chilling 10 words tumble out of the mouth of an actress at a boozy New Year’s party, mere seconds into Tony Kushner’s 1985 play about the rise of Hitler. It’s also the marquee quote on The Williams Project’s poster for this production, floating alongside images of President Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and Colin Kaepernick. (From “Angels in America” to “Day,” Kushner’s plays are always hyper-temporal, very specific about the time and place in which they’re set, but somehow never wither into feeling dated.) When The Williams Project stages a play, it usually means business: hotblooded, highly relevant theater that busts beyond the normal confines of a stage. (Last year, they performed a bracing version of James Baldwin’s “Blues for Mister Charlie” at Emerald City Bible Fellowship on Rainier Avenue.) After a recent show at On the Boards, one local theatergoer buttonholed another, asking what he was excited to see in the near future. The emphatic answer: “The Williams Project doing ‘A Bright Room Called Day.’ See that.”
Through Nov. 18; The Williams Project at Hillman City Collaboratory, 5623 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle; pay what you will; 206-494-5364, thewilliamsproject.org
Brendan Kiley
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Taiwan Philharmonic with pianist Stephen Hough
This orchestra’s Seattle debut in the acoustically warm Gerlich Theater (formerly Meany Theater) will offer Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 and the “Dancing Song,” from “Three Aboriginal Songs for Orchestra” of Taiwanese composer Gordon Chin. The highly regarded pianist Hough is the evening’s soloist, in the mighty Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1. Shao-Chia Lü conducts.
7:30 p.m. Nov. 3; Gerlich Theater at Meany Hall, University of Washington; $53-$75; youth ages 5-17 free per paid adult (two youth tickets per adult); meanycenter.org
Melinda Bargreen
MORE EVENTS
BOOKS
Nathaniel Philbrick
Calling all history buffs: Philbrick, a former National Book Award winner (“In the Heart of the Sea”), is here with his latest nonfiction work, “In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown.”
3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4; Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-624-6600, elliotbaybook.com
Seattleness: A Cultural Atlas
Seattle residents Tera Hatfield, Jenny Kempson and Natalie Ross, who together wrote the book “Seattleness: A Cultural Atlas,” speak about our ever-changing city in a discussion moderated by UW geography professor Sarah Ellwood.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8; Rainier Arts Center, 3515 S. Alaska St., Seattle; $5; 206-652-4255, townhallseattle.org
Lisa Halliday
Halliday’s acclaimed debut novel, “Asymmetry,” winner of last year’s Whiting Award, just keeps gathering momentum; it was described by The New York Times as “somehow all at once, a transgressive roman à clef, a novel of ideas and a politically engaged work of metafiction.” It’s newly out in paperback.
7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9; Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-624-6600, elliottbaybook.com
R.O. Kwon, Danya Kukafka
Kwon, whose debut novel “The Incendiaries” came out earlier this year, will be interviewed by Seattle resident and best-selling author Kukafka, whose debut “Girl in Snow” received Hearst’s Crime Novel of the Year Award in the U.K.
6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10; Third Place Books at Lake Forest Park, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park; free; 206-366-3333, thirdplacebooks.com
Pete Souza
Souza, the official White House photographer for then-President Barack Obama, has a new book out called “Shade,” which juxtaposes photos from the Obama and Trump administrations.
7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $47-$147 (includes copy of book); 206-621-2230, lectures.org
Joseph Fink
The best-selling author of “It Devours!” and “Welcome to Night Vale” comes to town with his latest thriller, “Alice Isn’t Dead,” about a trucker searching for the wife she assumed to be dead.
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12; University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 N.E. 43rd St., Seattle; $19.99 (admits two, includes book); 800-335-7323, ubookstore.com
Writers Under the Influence: Ursula K. Le Guin
In honor of the late science-fiction author, local writers Eileen Gunn, David Naimon and Nisi Shawl will present stories and reflections on Le Guin’s legacy.
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17; Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-322-7030, hugohouse.org
Nathan Englander
Englander, author of the story collection “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank,” is here to talk about his latest novel, the political thriller “Dinner at the Center of the Universe.”
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17; Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 E. Mercer Way, Mercer Island; $12-$25 (higher price includes book); 206-652-4255, townhallseattle.org
Jonathan Franzen
Franzen, a National Book Award winner for “The Corrections,” will speak about his new essay collection, “The End of the End of the Earth,” which covers topics ranging from Edith Wharton to climate change.
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19; Pigott Auditorium at Seattle University, 901 12th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-624-6600, elliottbaybooks.com
David Sedaris
Sedaris’ frequent appearances here are always a pleasure (is it close enough to Christmas to ask for an excerpt from “The Santaland Diaries”?); he’ll share both published stories and works in progress. (His latest collection, “Calypso,” is a gem, focusing on his evolving relationship with his elderly father.)
7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $50-$59; 206-624-6600, seattlesymphony.org
Liane Moriarty
HBO’s mesmerizing series “Big Little Lies” was based on Moriarty’s wildly popular novel about schemes and secrets among grade-school moms in an Australian seaside town. She’s here with her latest novel, “Nine Perfect Strangers,” a page-turner set in a mysterious health resort.
7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19; Third Place Books at Lake Forest Park, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park; free (signing line tickets available with purchase of book); 206-366-3333, thirdplacebooks.com
Neil deGrasse Tyson
The astrophysicist and best-selling author (his latest: “Accessory to War: The Unspoken Alliance Between Astrophysics and the Military”) is here for two evenings of lectures. Nov. 26’s speech will focus on “Adventures in Science Literacy,” and Nov. 27 will be “The Cosmic Perspective.”
7:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 26-27; Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $45.75-$85.75; 800-982-2787, stgpresents.org
Bob Woodward
The legendary Washington Post journalist and author of “All the President’s Men” will speak about his new book about the Trump presidency, “Fear: Trump in the White House.”
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28; Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St., Seattle; $25-$75; 800-982-2787, stgpresents.org
Paul Dorpat
Local historian Dorpat’s “Seattle Now & Then” column has been part of The Seattle Times’ Sunday magazine since 1982; he and photographer Jean Sherrard will speak about their new book, “Seattle Now & Then: The Historic Hundred,” which pairs many of Dorpat’s most compelling columns with new contemporary photos.
2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25; Fremont Branch Library, 731 N. 35th St., Seattle; free, 206-684-4084, spl.org. Also at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29; Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, 17171 Bothell Way N.E., Lake Forest Park; free; 206-366-3333, thirdplacebooks.com
Natalie Baszile
As part of Hugo House’s “Word Works” series, the author of the novel “Queen Sugar” (set on a sugar-cane plantation in Louisiana, and currently a television series created by Ava DuVernay) will speak about the connection between place and character, and between place and emotion.
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29; Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-322-7030, hugohouse.org
Jonathan Lethem
Lethem returns to the detective genre, for the first time since his 1999 National Book Critics Circle Award-winning novel “Motherless Brooklyn,” with “The Feral Detective,” a tale about a lost girl set in the days surrounding the Trump inauguration.
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29; Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle; free; 206-624-6600, elliottbaybook.com. Also at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30; Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave. N.E., Seattle; $45 (includes lunch and copy of book); 206-525-2347, thirdplacebooks.com
Moira Macdonald: mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Music of Remembrance 20th Birthday Celebration Concert
A comprehensive and thought-provoking program features highlights from two decades of MOR’s pioneering legacy of brand-new music, opera, choral works and dance, featuring a cornucopia of such eminent composers and performers as Paul Schoenfield, Jake Heggie, Lori Laitman, Robert Orth, Donald Byrd/Spectrum Dance Theater, Erich Parce and the Northwest Boychoir.
4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4; Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $55; seattlesymphony.org
Jordi Savall: “Routes of Slavery”
Savall, a brilliant researcher and performer of early music, is joined here by musicians from Africa, Europe and the Americas in a wide-ranging program of music, dance and spoken word tracing the story of the African diaspora in the Old and New Worlds. Presented by Seattle Symphony and Early Music Seattle.
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $31-$51, earlymusicseattle.org
Vienna Boys Choir
Those beloved Viennese cherubs are back in Seattle, with a single performance of varied repertoire under the direction of Oliver Stech. (There are four choirs, which take turns touring; the boys’ age span is 10-14, and each choir member sings about 80 concerts a year.) The program is likely to include traditional favorites and a nod to their new recording, “Strauss Forever.”
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $25-$80; 206-215-4747, seattlesymphony.org
Inon Barnatan, pianist, in recital
Dubbed “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by The New York Times, Barnatan is offering a pretty incredible program here in Seattle — ranging from baroque pieces by Bach, Handel, Rameau and Couperin to works of Ravel, Brahms, Barber, Ligeti and Adès. It’s like an overview of keyboard history.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $25-$123; 206-215-4747, seattlesymphony.org
Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony
The world’s most recognizable symphony is heard again in Benaroya Hall, when the Seattle Symphony presents the great Fifth in a program led by conductor Kirill Karabits, chief conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony and music director of the Deutsches National Theater Weimar. The program’s soloist is pianist Boris Giltburg, the 2013 winner of the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition, performing the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 5.
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15; 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 18; Benaroya Hall, 200 University St., Seattle; $22-$122; 206-215-4747, seattlesymphony.org
Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@gmail.com
DANCE
All Premiere
Pacific Northwest Ballet, under the artistic direction of Peter Boal, likes to change things up, so the company is following last month’s lyrical Jerome Robbins Festival with this evening of very contemporary work — all of it new to Northwest audiences. Alejandro Cerrudo, whose whimsical and surreal “Little mortal jump” has quickly become an audience favorite, returns with the 2015 work “Silent Ghost”; “Cacti,” set to a string quartet and featuring dancers trapped on enormous Scrabble tiles, is a 2010 work from the Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman; and PNB soloist Kyle Davis presents the world premiere of “A Dark and Lonely Space,” his first work for the PNB mainstage.
Nov. 2-11; Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, 321 Mercer St., Seattle; $30-$187; 206-441-2424, pnb.org
HYPERNOVA: “Bitter Suites”
A little bit pop, a little bit classical and a lot pastel, “Bitter Suites” is a coming-of-age reflection courtesy of Rainbow Fletcher, who first caught the public’s collective eyeballs as the head choreographer of the Can Can Castaways — an experimental, contemporary-dance company in sexy/burlesque drag tucked in a subterranean bar at Pike Place Market. Since then, she’s worked with artist/dancers like Ezra Dickinson and Jess Klein, making work that’s highly attuned to grown-up themes (and highly athletic), but always reaching to find some sincerity and innocence underpinning the gaudiness of experience.
Nov. 8-11; Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., Seattle; $15-$25; 206-325-8773, velocitydancecenter.org
Compagnie Käfig: “Pixel”
The Lyon-based company, founded by French-Algerian hip-hop choreographer Mourad Merzouki, makes its Seattle debut with a piece about having a body in the digital age.
Nov. 8-10; Gerlich Theater at Meany Hall, University of Washington, Seattle; $41-$60; 206-543-4880, meanycenter.org
Moira Macdonald: mmacdonald@seattletimes.com; Brendan Kiley: bkiley@seattletimes.com
MOVIES
Tickets are already on sale (or will be very shortly) for the following movies at fandango.com:
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”
It’s not entirely clear exactly what this family-fantasy film has to do with the “Nutcracker” ballet as we all know and love it, but it has an impressive cast (Keira Knightley, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and ballerina Misty Copeland, for starters) and the costumes, by the great Jenny Beavan, look like a candy-flavored dream.
Opens Nov. 2.
“The Girl in the Spider’s Web”
Queen Elizabeth (“The Crown”), Neil Armstrong’s wife Janet (“First Man”) and now Lisbeth Salander … it’s safe to say that British actor Claire Foy is not getting typecast these days. She’ll play the renegade superhacker created by Stieg Larsson (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”) in this suspense drama, based on the book by David Lagercrantz.
Opens Nov. 9.
“Widows”
No movie this fall has a pedigree quite like this: Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”), acclaimed novelist/screenwriter Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”), Oscar-winning star Viola Davis (“Fences”); and a delicious-sounding plot about a group of Chicago mob widows who decide to band together to finish their husbands’ last job. It’s based on a 1983 novel by Lynda La Plante (“Prime Suspect”). I’m already in line.
Opens Nov. 16.
Moira Macdonald: mmacdonald@seattletimes.com
MUSIC
Drake
The Tacoma Dome unveils the results of its $30 million renovation with a run of November shows, starting with Drake’s double-whammy tour with trap kings Migos. The tour has been plagued with multiple postponements for ambiguous reasons. Canada’s favorite rap crooner shattered streaming records this summer with his up-and-down double album “Scorpion” — proof that everyone needs an editor.
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 1; Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma; $75.50-$595.50; 253-272-3663, tacomadome.org
Justin Timberlake
Update 11/6/18: Live Nation announced that, as a result of bruised vocal cords, Justin Timberlake’s concerts at the Tacoma Dome On Nov. 12 and 13th have been postponed until Feb. 10 and 11, 2019.
Previous:
Despite a duet with certified country man Chris Stapleton and a song actually called “Flannel,” JT’s supposed woodsman makeover proved a bit of a pump fake. But “Man of the Woods,” his first album in five years, was hardly a slam dunk. Lukewarm reception or no, the grown-up prince of pop has two decades of arena-dazzling experience to bank on for this two-night stint in Tacoma.
7:30 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 12-13; Tacoma Dome, 2727 E. D St., Tacoma; $53.50-$479; 253-272-3663, tacomadome.org
Khruangbin
This Houston-based instrumental group is turning heads fusing surfy psych rock, Thai funk and dubby worldbeat into stress-reducing soundscapes that slowly roll like gentle ocean waves on sandy beaches. The intrepid three-piece brings its hammock-and-headphones tunes to the larger Moore Theatre after playing Neumos this spring.
8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16; Moore Theatre, 1932 Second Ave., Seattle; $22.50; 800-982-2787, stgpresents.org
Freakout Festival
The sixth-annual club fest returns to Ballard with another diverse, faintly psych-leaning lineup of beloved locals from Shabazz Palaces to scuzz-punk thrashers Monsterwatch, and out-of-towners like All Them Witches and Suicide Squeeze’s darkly trippy garage rockers Death Valley Girls. Expect reverb aplenty as the two-night blowout, backed by local label Freakout Records, takes over a handful of neighborhood venues.
Nov. 16-17; various times and locations; $35-$60; the-freakout.com
Michael Rietmulder: mrietmulder@seattletimes.com
THEATER
“Fade”
Tanya Saracho’s 2017 play, now at Seattle Public Theater, is a two-character excavation of what it means for Lucia, a Mexican-born writer working for a U.S. TV network, to be “real” — in the eyes of token-minority-hiring bosses, and in the eyes of the janitor who takes out the garbage. The production’s real pleasure comes from watching the two actors dance around Saracho’s seemingly casual, but politically charged, negotiations. Marco Adiak Voli plays the janitor with a bearish, marshmallow charm. He’s the gentle kind of tough guy, totally devoid of menace. As Lucia, actor Ana María Campoy gives us a different animal altogether: at her most vulnerable, Lucia seems like a flailing, hypercerebral fish who’s just been caught, frustrated that she can’t think her way back into the water. But deep down, we can sense the stirring instincts of a shark.
Through Nov. 4; Seattle Public Theater, 7312 W. Green Lake Drive N., Seattle; $17-$34; 206-524-1300; seattlepublictheater.org
“Parliament Square”
Playwright James Fritz bashed out “Parliament Square” — about a young mother on a mission to make a dramatic protest for an undisclosed reason — in a few days, just in time to submit it for a 2015 Bruntwood prize. It won. “Square” messes with time: one moment fills an entire act; years’ worth of history are fragmented into quick blips. Now Pony World takes on the script. The company’s past work has distilled ambitious ideas into powerful little dramas, including “Suffering, Inc.,” which cut up bits from Chekhov plays to build a poignantly dour, contemporary office drama. In Pony World’s hands, “Parliament Square” sounds especially promising. Directed by Sann Hall.
Through Nov. 17; Pony World Theatre at 12th Avenue Arts, 1620 12th Ave., Seattle; $15-$20; 800-838-3006, ponyworld.org
“A People’s History”
If there’s one thing monologuist Mike Daisey knows how to do, it’s this: Take a big theme (the concept of money, or Nikola Tesla, or the Cold War), study it, personalize it, then come back to the stage with a story you keep wanting to continue even after it ends. For “A People’s History,” Daisey has scoured his old high-school history textbook next to Howard Zinn’s 1980 work “A People’s History of the United States,” passed it through the kidneys of his own experience as a citizen of the 21st-century United States, and come back with a series of 18 new history lessons for the rest of us. Every performance in this run is a new show (from Columbus to Columbine, from the Mexican-American War to whatever might happen in the headlines between now and the closing date). Whether or not you agree with his findings, Daisey remains a damn fine storyteller.
Through Nov. 25; Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St., Seattle; $16-$57; 206-443-2222, seattlerep.org
“In the Heights”
Perhaps you’ve heard of Lin-Manuel Miranda? “Hamilton“? No? Then you’re past my ability to help. For the rest of you: “In the Heights” was Miranda’s best-known project (with an assist from playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes) before “Hamilton” hypnotized pop culture. He began writing the musical as a sophomore at Wesleyan University and it became a Tony Award-winning touchstone about the people and the changes in the Dominican-dominated Manhattan neighborhood. Directed by May Adrales (“Vietgone,” many others).
Nov. 23-Dec. 30; Seattle Repertory Theatre, 155 Mercer St., Seattle; $16-$112; 206-443-2222, seattlerep.org
Brendan Kiley: bkiley@seattletimes.com
VISUAL ART
Eirik Johnson: “Pine”
In this case, “Pine” is a pun. Local artist Eirik Johnson spent years studying and photographing the stuff people carve into trees. Unsurprisingly, lots of it is about love and heartbreak, like his haunting prints of hearts, crossed-out hearts, farewells (“GOODBYE E.T.C.”) and a mysterious “HER,” carved in block letters into the white trunk of what may be a birch. Johnson has also built a playlist inspired by the images from artists SassyBlack, Whiting Tennis, Tenderfoot and others.
Through Dec. 1; G. Gibson Gallery, 104 W. Roy St., Seattle; free; 206-587-4033, ggibsongallery.com
“Peacock in the Desert: The Royal Arts of Jodhpur, India”
Seattle Times staffer Madeline McKenzie writes that “Peacock in the Desert” at Seattle Art Museum offers “an immersive look at the artistic and cultural heritage of the court of Jodhpur over five centuries. The exhibit’s 250 objects, many of which have never been seen beyond palace walls, include intricate paintings, decorative arts, elaborate tents, canopies, textiles, jewelry and weapons from the 16th through the mid-20th century.”
Through Jan. 21; Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave., Seattle;$14.95-$24.95 (half price on first Thursdays); 206-654-3210, seattleartmuseum.org
Dylan Neuwirth: “OMNIA”
To some people, neon art just isn’t that interesting: a glowing glass tube is a glowing glass tube is a glowing glass tube. But Georgia-born Dylan Neuwirth’s sculptures have the weight of esoteric significance, like symbols you’d find in a medieval alchemy book: lines, circles, tetrahedrons in eerie blues and reds. Others are glowing white, empty signifiers of our tweet-drunk world (“steal it better,” “feeling some type of way,” “will you molly me?”). What depths is Neuwirth plumbing? What artifacts is he excavating down there? During 2017’s Out of Sight group show, he haunted the dark rooms of his sculptures, looking and talking like a mad scientist/wizard: about early cathode tubes, particle accelerators, the mysterious properties of aluminum, how the first scientists capturing noble gases like argon also had to be their own glassblowers. Wild, man. For “OMNIA,” Neuwirth has infused Bellevue Arts Museum, inside and out, with his digital-electric enigmas.
Through March 24; Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue; $5-$15; 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org
Clyde Petersen: “Merch & Destroy”
Musician, filmmaker and all-around omni-artist Clyde Petersen conjures a show from 20 years on the road with musicians including Kimya Dawson, Laura Veirs, Aesop Rock and his own Your Heart Breaks. Petersen has re-created the iconic habitats for touring bands — the van and the green room — along with cardboard instruments that slyly upend the sex ‘n’ wild-child tropes that have come to define (and haunt) rock ‘n’ roll.
Through April 14; Bellevue Arts Museum, 510 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue; $5-$15; 425-519-0770, bellevuearts.org
Brendan Kiley: bkiley@seattletimes.com