Delayed Post- Little Red Studio

There's an alternative theater in Seattle called The Little Red Studio. Don't go there if you are afraid of the occassional naked performer and / or the word fuck. But if you like to be in an informal setting where you never know who in the audience is a performer or what kind of act is up next you will love this place.

The evening's performances included a young, gorgeous, eastern European opera singer who made me rethink opera. The song had something to do with the moon and she sang it all starry eyed with perfect, delicate gestures. She was a faerie-like being, a little too perfect to be human.

She was one of several very polished, professional acts that one could see in any good traditional theater. However, the Little Red Studio experience starts the moment you walk in the door. In the front room a nude man and woman were standing like statues and being painted by a very large woman who was actually a man and looked like a sinister version of the mother in Hairspray. The woman being painted looked like Magenta from Rocky Horror. Are you starting to see why I love this place?

Some of the other acts included A frizzy-haired woman reading bad poems she'd written. An elderly, disabled black man reading a very good poem he'd written, bringing us right into his life experience. An aerialist. A woman named Pei Pei who performed a classical Chinese ballet dance naked. A little too close to where I was sitting on the floor, but never mind.

Almost all of the acts had an unusually strong emotional subtext which is why I may have connected with this place so strongly. My very favorite performace of the night wasn't the opera singer, the arialist, or the interpretive dancers. It was the Pink Floyd song 'Hey You' performed by a woman who remained sitting on the floor with the rest of us, accompanied by just her ukelele. Hey You is one of many angst-ridden songs from The Wall, so I never paid much attention to it. But from the very first acapella note the energy in the room changed and the meaning of the song came to life. Seriously. Right from the first word of the song. It was amazingly good. I have never- seriously, never- heard anyone emote a song the way she did. She was so present that she burst into tears after she finished it. Oh, and she could really sing, which was nice.

The Little Red Studio is an actual artist's studio. The artist seems to hold the events sporadically. He said something about the next night not being until next fall or next year. If you google Little Red Studio it says it's closed. It's a quirky place for sure, but when they open again I'll be back.