Barboza in Capitol Hill is a long, rectangular underground bar. Seventies ballads are playing while pink and blue lines of light beam down from industrial rafters to the dance floor below. People sit tucked away at cozy circular booths lit by flickering red candles while others gather near the stage. In the crowd, I see the opening band milling about and chatting with audience members. This is the band waltzerr, and they are about to perform their opening set before a performance from Kellan, followed by the night’s headliner, Ayo Dot & the Uppercuts. 

Past the coffee cup, a thriving coffee shop is filled with satisfied customers having the ability to sit at a table, lounge leisurely, and possibly work on a laptop with free wifi. Seattle shops routinely deliver these modest customer requests.

Here are four coffee shops around the Seattle area that can be ideal for finding your next open seat—and of course local art.   

Staged in Capitol Hill’s Annex Theatre, Marcus Gorman’s Gold: A True-ish Jewish Story is one part coming-of-age road trip and one part psychedelic music video. Directed by Jasmine Joshua and starring Rebekah Nachman and Megan Huynh, Gold follows two friends as they take a trip across America and time to uncover the raunchiest details of the Gold family’s patriarch’s secret love life. Learning about a deceased grandparent’s adulterous past might not be the fun vacation college students Frankie and Mona believe it to be.

The Beacon is located at the very edge of Columbia City, nestled in a wall of ivy and wedged between nail salons and a neon-illuminated funeral home. The single-screen cinema opened its doors in 2019, boasting an eclectic mix of curated films. Amidst the popularity of Robert Eggers’ new film, it’s only logical for a place like The Beacon to showcase one of its predecessors: Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu: The Vampyre. 

It began like many myths do: in darkness. Thin beams of light panned over the space from the back of the house, curious and searching. Nishimura and Kohl descended upon the stage with headlamps strapped to their brows, exploring the space with a playful curiosity. Once they arrived, lighting by Jessica Trundy illuminated the set and established the world of the performance. Transparent projection screens stretched across three points of the set, two of which concealed platforms the performers utilized throughout the performance.

All Hallows may have come and gone, but some ghosts still come haunting. It is a tradition of the holiday season after all—spirits haunting the arrogant wealthy. And as Charles Dickens said in A Christmas Carol, “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” 

This year marks the second annual performance of what director Valerie Curtis-Newton calls “a re-imagined version” of the show, which was interrupted in 2020 when COVID caused what was to be the almost two-year mandated closure of all theatres and live performances. Curtis-Newton’s mission is to “bring community back to our lives” and find hope in the face of the devastating effects of the pandemic, which, according to the CDC, continue to include mental and emotional health as well as compromised abilities for how we interact socially with each other.

So obviously, when I saw that Daft Punk was re-releasing their 2003 animated film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem and that it would be playing at Seattle’s SIFF Uptown theater, I got a ticket. The animated film sets the 2001 album Discovery to a story about an extraterrestrial band who’s kidnapped and brought to Earth by a power-hungry music executive who makes them massively popular and exploits their talent.

It’s often said that there is the technical and the creative and ne’er the twain shall meet. But local author Lauren Appelbaum aims to show otherwise with the release of her debut novel Rachel Weiss’s Group Chat.

After seeingScott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas!, I can say confidently that this is a show you absolutely cannot miss. With a wicked sense of humor, fantastic musical parodies, and costumes that are equal parts stunning and hilarious, War on Christmas! has it all. Even this writer, a known Christmas naysayer, found the holiday spirit while watching this spectacular production, and it will no-doubt melt even the Grinchiest of hearts. This annual Christmas show, brought to us by Shoes and Pants Productions and Theatre Off Jackson, makes a wonderful introduction to the holiday season and will fill you with Xmas joy.

Since its publication in 1897, the story of Dracula has not only suffered under the weight of these cinematic clichés, but the vampire itself has mutated into variations ranging from the comedic (Love At First Bite, for example) to the down-right insipid (the Twilight series). I don’t want camp…I don’t want teenage romance…I want the MONSTER…feral and pure.

Teatro ZinZanni’s “Sizzle” is not just a show, but an entire experience. With a dress code of “fancy-shmancy” cocktail attire required, I went to SANCA & Emerald CIty Trapeze in SODO, already in a good mood because my outfit worked out exactly as I’d planned in my head (a big win). 

Seattle’s International District buzzed with energy on November 27, 2024, as the community honored the 83rd birthday of the late action star Bruce Lee. With newly unveiled murals, the celebration not only paid homage to Lee’s legacy but also reinforced the neighborhood's commitment to cultural preservation and artistic vitality.

There are many ways to appreciate the land we are on and honor those who were here before colonization, and recently, I decided to spend time amongst the talented artisans of the Duwamish people and give back to their community at their annual Duwamish Native Art Market. As the original caretakers of the land we now call Seattle, the Duwamish people are an important and integral part of this city’s history and future. You can learn more about them and their culture, past and present, on their site.

Seattle’s Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble (STANCE) was back again for Trans Day of Remembrance (November 20, 2024), offering a touching choir experience and space to remember those in the trans and nonbinary community who have been lost. In “The Power of Me,” STANCE honored the trans community with gorgeous choral arrangements, touching stories, and powerful words of resistance, healing, and power. 

Co-hosted by the dancers Auto and Orb, these monthly battles are created by HeadSpin Productions and DJ’d by DJ Fever One. The battles are open to all styles, meaning contestants might be paired up against someone who does a totally different street style than them, though they will have the same song. The contestants compete 1v1 for a cash prize. Whoever wins in each battle progresses until there are two contestants left. 

I discovered The Pomegranate Tree by a fleeting chance. I was discussing the potential of immersive theater in large scale productions when one of my cohorts told me I must see a Dacha show if I hadn’t already. I followed Dacha on Instagram and admittedly forgot about the suggestion shortly after—until a post of theirs crossed my feed.

Hosts Morgue Anne and Evan J. Peterson discuss that night’s feature presentation, providing insights from behind the scenes as well as more nuanced critiques of the subject matter. If you’re active in Seattle’s horror scene, those names may seem familiar to you. Morgue Anne is literal goth royalty, elected Ms./Mx. Gothic Seattle 2020 and dubbed “The Plague Queen.” She is a burlesque performer, DJ, panelist, and more. Evan J. Peterson is a horror/game writer whose work has appeared in Weird Tales, Nightmare Magazine, and PseudoPod, to name a few.

Walking through the convention doors, the themes of safety and inclusion were immediately present. Having gone virtual in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID, this was the third GeekGirlCon to return to an in-person format. But the specter of the pandemic still looms over gatherings of this sort—masks were required for all attendees—the medical sort, cosplay masks notwithstanding.

The atmosphere of inclusivity cannot be missed; throughout the event, everything from the decor to the exhibits to the dedicated nursing area conspire to make it clear that you are welcome, whether you’re team Star Wars or Star Trek, you’re a kid or raising one, and no matter how you identify.

In the last century, theater has met its greatest adversary yet: film. Much can be accomplished through the eye of a camera which cannot be easily done in a live space, like  forced viewpoints, CGI, and extravagant settings to name just a few. But there is one limitation to film which it may never truly conquer: It exists predominantly behind the fourth wall.