STEVE DUNKELBERGER: WEEKEND THEATER >>>

Swan Lake
Swan Lake is not only a classic on the big ballet stages of the world, but on a host of community and semi-professional stages as well. It is just a show that everyone explores and experiments with time and again as they sharpen their skills and train the next generation of dancers. Such is the case with Dance Theatre Northwest, which will be staging its version of the classic tale this weekend.
[Mount Tahoma High School, Saturday, March 8 2:30 and 7 p.m., Sunday, March 9 4 p.m., $11-$26, 4634 S. 74th, Tacoma, 253.565.5149]

The Audition is Dead...Is Too Drunk to Drive
For something a little different, The Audition is Dead...Is Too Drunk to Drive, a collection of original, comedic one-acts, takes to the Midnight Sun’s stage. This installment is the seventh mini-theatre festival of local talent and features puppetry, music, performance and a slide show. This show is for adults or at least folks old enough to get some blue jokes every now and then.
[Midnight Sun, through March 22, 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, $10, 113 Columbia Street, Olympia, 360.556,3245]

The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville is taking to the Pantages Theater this week as Tacoma Opera kicks into its classic work mode. This opera by Gioacchino Rossini will be sung in Italian with an English translation projected on a screen for those unwashed masses who don't know the story of Figaro, a barber to the well-to-do of the area.
[Pantages Theater, Friday, March 7-Saturday, March 8 8 p.m., Sunday, March 9 2 p.m., $12-$78, Ninth and Broadway, Tacoma, 253.627.7789]