Hey, it's going to be super beautiful out this weekend. Who wants to sit in a dark room for a few hours? Meeeeeee.

The Black Lizard at Imago—I'm seeing this tonight because it is billed as a "thrilling erotic grotesque mystery" and I like ALL of those things. It's also the English language premiere of this script, by noted Japanese writer Yukio Mishima.

Hard Times at CoHo Productions—An adapation of Dickens. I hope there are chimney sweeps!

The Brother/Sister Plays at Portland Playhouse—Everybody loves the three shows currently running in repertory at Portland Playhouse. We raved about 'em. Portland Monthly just extruded a list calling Portland Playhouse the best company in town, which is certainly an opinion. (They've had a strong couple of seasons, but "best"? Give 'em another year or two.) The comments on this Willamette Week review are FUNNY.

Black Pearl Sings at PCS—A show about a white "song collector" who wants to learn the folk songs of an imprisoned black woman.

Oedipus del Ray at the Miracle—The story of Oedipus, set in East LA. (Hey, I just realized I'm seeing this on Mother's Day! That's... funny?)

Gracie at Triangle Theatre—Amusical about Northwest native Gracie Hansen, who apparently hosted a topless cabaret at the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, before running for governor of Oregon in 1970. (This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair, and everyone should read Truth Like the Sun, Jim Lynch's great new novel about the fair, and about how li'l Seattle pulled up its britches to become a big-kid city.)

The Loman Family Picnic at The Jewish Theatre Collaborative—A wacky riff on Death of a Salesman.

Next to Normal at Artists Rep—The other night I got a text from a friend saying that this musical—about a dysfunctional family struggling with mental illness—made her cry. So that's good! I thought it was goofy, but it won a Pulitzer so what do I know.