MONDAY 6/15
Disappearance at the Rocky Mountain Leatherdyke Snowpicnic
(THEATER) I’ve been saying it for years: Pride month needs more ski slope murder mysteries. Thankfully, the good people at the Annex Theatre have listened. Writer Monty Rozema and director Adrian Prendergast have teamed up for the perfect lesbian whodunnit in Disappearance at the Rocky Mountain Leatherdyke Snowpicnic. The title is the whole plot. A group of sapphics are going to a snowy kink party when one party member goes missing. Newcomer Lois wants to investigate. Her friends don’t want her to ruin the party. Chaos ensues. What better way to enjoy a beautiful gay summer than seeing a sexy, spooky, screwball lesbian ensemble comedy? (Annex Theatre, 7:30 pm) NATHALIE GRAHAM
TUESDAY 6/16
(FILM) Jennie Livingston’s landmark 1990 documentary shone a light on New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene, creating a rarely seen portrait of fashion “houses,” warlike contests, and valiant house mothers. It should be noted, though, that some participants felt exploited by the film, and feminist scholar bell hooks wondered about its voyeuristic aspects. Amid times of intense homophobia, transphobia, racism, poverty, and HIV/AIDS, there were voguers, drag queens, and trans women who forged community despite near-insurmountable odds—and despite valid criticisms of Paris Is Burning, it does celebrate these pioneering figures. Three Dollar Bill Cinema & the Seattle Film Society will screen the film, followed by a community Q&A with SWACE Health exploring the history, impact, and current state of ballroom culture, and ending with a late-night dance party. (Hidden Hall, 6 pm) LINDSAY COSTELLO
WEDNESDAY 6/17
Eat a Strawberry
(YUM) They are perfectly ripe right now and red like rubies. Bite into one. The juice will trickle down your chin. Eat another. And another. Summer on the tongue. NATHALIE GRAHAM
THURSDAY 6/18
(FILM) I think that the greatest statement about the top movie in the Mad Max series, Mad Max: Fury Road, was provided by the talented and yet hit-and-miss director Steven Soderbergh. His words: “I don’t understand how [George Miller] does that, I really don’t, and it’s my job to understand it. I don’t understand two things: I don’t understand how they’re not still shooting that film, and I don’t understand how hundreds of people aren’t dead.” There you have it. I watched that movie in a Memphis hotel room in 2017 and was equally flabbergasted. How did it get done? How is it not another Apocalypse Now? The other films in the Mad Max universe are not, however, as impressive as Fury Road. But the series is relevant due to climbing gas prices and the US’s endless wars over fossil fuels. We don’t need another hero. (The Beacon, 7:30 pm) CHARLES MUDEDE
FRIDAY 6/19
The Children of Shelly’s Leg: And Her Children Sang
(VISUAL ART) It’s a Hot Rat Summer in Pioneer Square! Trans/queer joy is poised to take over the neighborhood that was once home to Seattle’s first (openly gay) disco, Shelly’s Leg. Honoring this heritage (and in defiance of the 778 anti-trans bills that have been introduced in 43 states), the Children of Shelly’s Leg and Living Dream Lab are organizing visual art and performance activations throughout Occidental Park and Pioneer Square. The program, which runs through July 7, includes film screenings, drag shows, workshops, a rooftop party, and performances by Marco Farroni and Miss Texas 1986. And Her Children Sang, a group art exhibit curated by Molly Jae Vaughan (and featuring a huge new mosaic by the iconic Hot Rat Summer), anchors the program at Actualize Space. Outside the gallery, peep the Hot Rat Summer outdoor arts festival, featuring hundreds of rats from dozens of trans artists. (Actualize AiR, 12–5 pm) AMANDA MANITACH
SATURDAY 6/20
Gia Margaret, Brendan Eder Ensemble
(MUSIC) Gia Margaret is proof that music doesn’t need to be hook-driven or algorithmically created to be a viral success. In 2023, her blissed-out instrumental piano track “Hinoki Wood” became an unlikely internet sensation when it soundtracked a popular meme illustration of a smirking dog called “Chill Guy.” Both the meme and Margaret’s song represented a refreshing reprieve to anxious teens on TikTok yearning to slow down, take a deep breath, and enjoy life’s tiniest pleasures. On her new album, Singing, the Chicago-based artist does exactly as the title says, inching away from her Brian Eno-esque sound collages and toward lyrical indie pop reminiscent of Clairo, Ichiko Aoba, and Feist. She will support the album alongside the chamber-music collective Brendan Eder Ensemble. (Fremont Abbey Arts Center, 8 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN
SUNDAY 6/21
(NAKED PEOPLE ON BIKES) But the annual Fremont Fair is so much more: body painting on naked people on bikes, giant puppets, stilt-walkers, dancers, floats, and musicians all coming together to observe the longest day of the year in our hemisphere. A lot has changed in Seattle over the past 35 years, but the Solstice Parade remains a bastion for quirky, radical self-expression and community-forward, hippie-bacchanal vibes. When the parade concludes, the fair continues with a bevy of food trucks and cocktail and beer gardens, a huge art and craft market, a plant-based block party, live bands, a showcase of Seattle Art Cars, and one great big slide! Keep solstice weird! (Downtown Fremont, times vary, free, all ages) AMANDA MANITACH
