Seattle stages Halloween arts slate

Audiences in Seattle face a dense schedule of dark-themed performances over the coming weeks. The season peaks with a Halloween presentation of Salome by Seattle Opera on October 31. Tickets for the event remain available. The production features a set designed by Bruno Ravella for the Irish National Opera in 2024. This staging confines the characters to a stark chamber that resembles a submarine. Brenda Rae performs the title role, accompanied by the Seattle Symphony.

The opera carries a content advisory rating of PG-13. The warnings list blood, gore, and a severed head. It also cites themes of suicide, incest, pedophilia, nymphomania, and necrophilia. The work is based on Oscar Wilde’s 1892 play, which drew from the biblical gospels of Mark and Matthew. Richard Strauss composed the score in 1905. The piece faced early resistance. Dresden saw a premiere that sparked controversy over the severed head and the Dance of the Seven Veils. Vienna subsequently banned the opera. The Metropolitan Opera in New York closed its 1907 production after a single performance.

At The Royal Room, Wayne Horvitz performs a live score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. The 1920 German expressionist film is known for its set design. The screening takes place at 5 p.m. on October 31. The venue suggests arriving near 4 p.m. to secure seating. In music, Orquesta Northwest performs a concert of Mexican music and mariachis to celebrate Dia de Muertos. This free event occurs at 7 p.m. on October 30 at St. James Cathedral. The Stranger presents See You at the Crossroads: Death & Hip Hop on October 29 at 7:30 p.m. at Black & Tan Hall. Journalist Charles Mudede discusses the genre with Dr. Daudi Abe, with DJ Vitamin D providing accompaniment.

Theater options include Nanay, a contemporary tale based on Filipino demon mythology. It runs through November 14 at Theatre Off Jackson. The Bootlegger’s Ball combines Seattle Prohibition-era history with a cabaret. It plays through October 31 at the Reverie Ballroom. Emerald City Trapeze presents Carnevilar XIV: Ascension from October 28 to 31. The show features aerial feats and a storyline about a hiker in the Northwest woods. Alana O. Rogers Dance Company performs Fractured from October 30 to November 7 at Base Camp Studios. The piece explores the isolating effects of smartphones.

Dance Theatre of Harlem presents Firebird at The Paramount from October 30 to 31. John Taras choreographed the company’s version of Stravinsky’s 1910 ballet in 1982. The production sets the Russian folktale in a Caribbean locale. Pacific Northwest Ballet will stage Ghost Stories from November 6 to 15. This mixed bill features moody dances. The WSDOT project Revive I-5 closes all northbound lanes of I-5 from I-90 to Northeast 45th Street this weekend. This closure marks the end of bridge repair work. The construction crew performed a dance as a bonus feature.

Roq La Rue Gallery hosts the third annual Fantasmagoria through October 31. The group exhibit references Victorian spook shows. It includes ominous swans, vampire bites, and sentient fungi. Gallery 110 opens Spectacle of Being by Sarah Barnett from November 5 to 28. The show features paintings of medical operating theaters and the experience of anesthesia. Actor Tom Skerritt died last week at age 93. He lived in Seattle for several decades. Tributes cite his roles in Alien, Top Gun, and A River Runs Through It. He appeared in Cameron Crowe’s Singles in 1992. In that film, he played a mayor who delivers a brief, dismissive line. He also starred in S.J. Chiro’s East of the Mountains in 2021, filmed when he was 88.