Can't Miss It: Wednesday
ME AND ORSON WELLES: Early on in the Prodigal Sons, we learn that the director, Kimberly Reed, was once known as Paul, a star quarterback in high school before her sex-change operation. Reed's gender reassignment, however, turns out to be a mere side note in this exploration of her family's past.
While visiting her hometown of Helena, Montana, to attend a high-school reunion, she reconnects with her adopted brother, Marc, whom she hasn't seen in more than a decade. Growing up, Marc lived in the shadow of his overachieving then-brother Paul (now Kimberly). Since suffering a traumatic brain injury at age 21, Marc is prone to mercurial mood swings and violent behavior. But Marc takes center stage after it is revealed that he is the biological grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
The jaw-dropping revelations continue as Kimberly and Marc travel to Croatia to visit Welles' longtime partner Oja Kodar to learn more about Marc's mysterious origins. The raw emotions and sibling resentments uncovered in Prodigal Sons make it one of the strangest first-person documentaries in recent years and one that is sure to ignite many "nature versus nurture" arguments among viewers.
7:30 p.m. // Siff Cinema // Tickets: $10
GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE: The Tenth Annual Breakfast with Champions, a fundraising occasion sponsored by the King County Bar Foundation that benefits several good causes, brings former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle to Seattle as the keynote speaker. He is expected to speak on the current health-care proposals and where they stand. His most recent book is Critical: What to Do About the Health-Care Crisis.
7:30 a.m. // Sheraton Seattle // Tickets: $50
WILLIE NELSON JR.: Promise of the Real features Lukas Nelson on lead guitar and lead vocals, Anthony Logerfo on drums and backing vocals, and Merlyn Kelly on bass, while JP Maramba has since joined the band onstage. Promise of the Real leans towards blues, a little folk and good old rock and roll. “I have no idea how to label it,” says Lukas, “but we come to it with a rock and roll attitude!”
The band’s five-song EP also contains some very personal lyrics from its frontman. “When my girlfriend and I first broke up, I felt really shitty. She’s part of the reason I quit school,” he begins, more of a revelation than an accusation: “I didn’t want to study, I just wanted to play music. I knew music could heal me. After 6 months apart I realized I really loved her and we’re now back together, but Track 4, ‘Want You Around’, is a real strong song for me. I actually couldn’t play it for awhile,” he confesses.
“One night we were having a deep conversation and she didn’t feel as strongly about the particular subject as I did, but I realized just being around her was what mattered. ‘I want you, to want me around’, was what came to mind. She went to take a shower and like in a movie, I looked up and saw her silhouette and the light in her window.” ‘You stood in the window of my soul, and I played for you’ leads to ‘Feel the rhythm, ride the tide, rise above’, warm moments in a poignant song which stresses the importance of loving one’s self, in order to truly love someone else.
7:30 p.m. // The Triple Door // Tickets: $15
