Bumbershoot
Comedy is key to this year's drama offerings

By Misha Berson
Seattle Times theater critic

Annex Theatre's "Verbatim," a documentary play developed from interviews with Puget Sound area residents, will be performed from 3-4 p.m. tomorrow.

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But if you tire of grazing, and yearn to take a load off for a while and get a few yucks in, there's a small oasis waiting for you in the Center House Theatre (on the first level of the Center House).

Tomorrow through Monday, this cozy venue will house an array of Northwest theatrics and stage humor, courtesy of Theatre Puget Sound. (Admission is free with Bumbershoot entry.)

Here's the talent lineup:

Saturday

3-4 p.m.: "Verbatim." Annex Theatre's documentary play was developed from interviews with Puget Sound area residents, and it focuses on the wide world of work. The six-member cast portrays 20 reality-based characters, including doughnut bakers, a cab driver, dot-com workers, a church musician and a professional (ahem) escort.

Bumbershoot theater previews Theatre Puget Sound Stage, tomorrow-Monday, Seattle Center (206-281-7788 or www.bumbershoot.org).

5-6:30 p.m.: "Go There." The brazenly talented actor-singer Sarah Rudinoff stars in a reprise of her autobiographical "musical extravaganza," seen earlier at Re-bar. The one-gal show retraces her path from Hawaii through Hollywood (where she hangs with Dustin Hoffman and his daughter), and north to Seattle. Rudinoff (a hearty singer-comedienne in the Kaye Ballard tradition) will be accompanied by Chris Jeffries on piano and bassist Rick Miller.

7-8 p.m.: "How to Be Cool." Here's that rare chance to learn the basics of cool, circa 1962. In Ursa Major's production of this satirical John Longenbaugh one-act play, the impressionable teens at Oakvale High School get a lesson in musical and behavioral hipness from a guest teacher.

	Sarah Rudinoff will perform her autobiographical solo show "Go There" from 5-6:30 p.m. tomorrow and 4:30-6 p.m. Sunday.

Sunday

2:30-3:45 p.m.: "The Case of the Vanishing Crown Jewel: A Ziplock Holmes Mystery." Forget Sherlock, and welcome spoofer-sleuth Ziplock. Duels, dastardly deeds and acts of derring-do are promised in this comedic mystery by the fringe theater troupe The Baggy Pants.

4:30-6 p.m.: "Go There" with Sarah Rudinoff. (See above).

6:45-7:45: "Carlotta's Bumbershoot Wing Ding." Late night entertainer Carlotta Sue Philpott (aka actor-comedian Troy Mink) holds her own Bumbershoot bash. The Southern-fried charmer with the big hair, big lipstick and big glasses expounds on her own checkered past, and also offers the audience poems, musical numbers, guest interviews and the occasional cooking demonstration — all for laughs.

Monday

	Cha Davis will perform "The Rube Goldberg Variations," her 10-chapter solo show about the adventures of a trailer park "changeling," from 4:45-5:30 p.m. Monday.

3-4 p.m.: "Red, Pork & Blue." Politically slanted sketch comedy by the Pork Filled Players, an Asian-American troupe that aims satirical darts at federal deficits, presidential elections, Kim Jong Il and other targets.

4:45-5:30 p.m. "The Rube Goldberg Variations." Performance artist Cha Davis journeyed through previous decades as a member of The Cockettes, Hoi Polloi, The Tree Climbers (formed by Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman) and Swan Vestas. At Bumbershoot she's performing her 10-chapter solo show (seen earlier at On the Boards) about the adventures of a trailer park "changeling" who gets involved with the '70s "gay guerrilla group," Ze Whiz Kidz.

6-7 p.m.: "Carlotta's Bumbershoot Wing Ding," with Troy Mink. (See above.)

Misha Berson: mberson@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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