Can't Miss It: Wednesday

Gingerbread Wonderland: Now entering its 19th year, the Gingerbread Village is an annual event put on by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund and the Seattle Sheraton Hotel as a benefit for the JDRF. Every year, local architectural firms collaborate with the Sheraton's culinary staff to design a new gingerbread house; these are put on display, and the public is invited to vote for their favorite design (it costs $5 to vote; 100% of the funds raised go to the JDRF to further the research into juvenile diabetes). Each of these houses are a marvel to look at, and this year's entrants present a competitive field.

Open all day // Seattle Sheraton Downtown, 1400 Sixth Avenue // Free ($5 donation to vote)

Pretty Big Pumpkin: While kids (particularly girls with princess aspirations) are flocking to the 5th Avenue Theatre's current production of Cinderella, it's the adults that are singing its praises. The reasons for this are simple: Great production design, exquisite attention to detail, a game and giving cast; also, this is the Rodgers and Hammerstein version of Cinderella (most recently seen as an ABC TV-movie in 1997), and thereby loses a lot of the cutesy antics that grown ups associate with the Disney version. Plus, there's no arguing with Rodgers and Hammerstein's ability with songcraft. This production comes highly recommended by parents.

Tonight at 7:30p.m. // 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Avenue // $39 - $129

Psychedelic Surf on Display: The music of Seattle band Prom Queen aims, and achieves, to be a cross between the soundtracks to a David Lynch movie and one from Quentin Tarantino. Slow waves of surf guitar glide along a relaxed landscape as the vocals from Leeni haunt and intoxicate. Tonight, Prom Queen takes the stage at the Can Can in the Pike Place Market, and there, for a while at least, you will find yourself in a stupor, wondering whether it's all right to be beguiled so and then deciding not to worry about it any longer.

Tonight at 10:00p.m. // Can Can, 94 Pike Street // $5