Kathy Hsieh Reflects – Zoom Edition

Kathy Hsieh (John Ulman)

Kathy Hsieh is all things arts-related, really. She knows virtually anyone/everyone in the theater community (at minimum) and has headed up her own theater company (SIS Productions), written many plays, directed plays, acted in scores of productions on stage, and been an employee of the City of Seattle in the Office of Arts and Culture for 17 years!

She’s also a delightful and thoughtful conversationalist and a deep-thinker on subject matter. She has presented talks about aspects of arts-and-communities-of-color all over the world.

So, I thought it would be fascinating for me, and hopefully also for my readers, to discuss various aspects of the arts during COVID-time. We’re all going to be making huge changes in how, when, and where we experience the arts. None more particularly than theater, dance, and other live in-person events.

For our first conversation, we took on the explosion of theatrical events that are being presented either on Zoom or the free streaming opportunities from theaters like National Theatre Live, Lincoln Center, BroadwayHD, and local events (many on YouTube channels).

The question: Is it theater?

KH: Theater is its own experience and Zoom is its own. Film scripts (for instance) are very different from stage plays and you can’t take film and plop it on stage or vice versa. A lot of writers, when they’re writing, envision the arena it might be best done and the Zoom platform needs to be thought of as a specific place to write to and a way to take advantage of the unique aspects it provides.

Lots To Stream (Free or low cost)

Macbeth (Carol Pratt)

Theater lovers have a bounty of filmed stage productions from various companies around the globe that are providing free entertainment on their websites or on YouTube. Listed below are mostly Shakespearean productions. 

But here is another website jam-packed with British options: https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/stage-shows-musicals-opera-free-stream-online_51198.html

Here are some specifics and their date ranges:

NOW to 5/27/20

Much Ado About Nothing

This bold interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedic masterpiece features Danielle Brooks (Orange is the New Black, Broadway’s The Color Purple) and Grantham Coleman (Buzzer, The Americans) as the sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick. Filmed in the summer of 2019 at the Delacorte Theatre in New York’s Central Park, this Public Theatre production was directed by Kenny Leon.

PBS - https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/much-ado-about-nothing-full-episode/10194/

NOW - $10/ticket each stream for a one week “rental”

Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2

These two productions feature former Seattle Shakespeare Company actor David Anthony Lewis (Wooden O Henry IV, Measure for Measure, Othello) as King Henry. See the streaming versions of American Shakespeare Center’s staging of this thrilling and poignant coming-of-age story.

https://americanshakespearecenter.com/events/henry-iv-part-1-digital/

https://americanshakespearecenter.com/events/henry-iv-part-2-digital/

American Shakespeare Center.com

NOW – 7/1

Macbeth – Parts 1 & 2

Shakespeare’s chilling Scottish tragedy is realized by Emmy-winning magician Teller (of Penn & Teller) and director Aaron Posner as a startling, supernatural show brimming with magic, mayhem, and madness.

Folger Theatre – FolgerLibrary YouTube

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OU0cuGuPSk&feature=youtu.be

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLc3w-yp3wk&feature=youtu.be

“Jitney” – Theater At The Top Of Its Game

A moment from Jitney (Joan Marcus)

Jitney

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Suspended for the time being

I know. This is a time of uncertainty and now many theaters are announcing temporary closures. This includes the touring production of Jitney by August Wilson, now presenting at Seattle Repertory Theatre. Since it is a tour and all the personnel have traveled here, it’s unknown if the production can be continued in a few weeks or not. Having said that, it is one of the finest productions you’ll see in a long time.

The evening is a master class in directing by Ruben Santiago-Hudson! Each moment has been considered and planned. Each of the many actors performs at the top of his (similar to many Wilson plays, this one only has one woman in it) game. All the subtle humor is teased out and gifted to the audience.

Special One Night Performance of Jason Robert Brown with Roosevelt High!

Jason Robert Brown in concert (Erika Kapin)

Roosevelt High students performing The Trumpet of the Swan (James Bernard)

The Trumpet of the Swan

Roosevelt High School

March 7, 2020

A very exciting event is happening this weekend (3/7, Saturday night, 7:00p.m.) at Roosevelt High School! Their theater department has paired with their orchestra program to present composer/musical writer Jason Robert Brown’s The Trumpet of the Swan. Not only that, but Jason Robert Brown is going to be there! Not only that, but he’s going to perform a special benefit concert after the school’s 70-minute presentation as a benefit!

The benefit is to help pay for subsidized tickets of K-8 students and for buses to bring them to hear the work. Tickets are on sale now at www.rhstheatre.net.

March Brings Fresh Theater – even if it showers

 

Lisa Estridge in Sister Act (Mark Kitaoka)

At least five world premieres are opening this month. That’s an impressive number! Look for puppetry and programming for the youngest audience member to the oldest. Find a company you’ve never been to before and take a chance on their work! Broaden your artistic horizon. Get outcher calendars!

Last Days of the Tsars, Witness, 3/1/20-3/22/20 (at Stimson-Green Mansion) (world premiere)

A fully immersive experience, Last Days of the Tsars will plunge the audience into Imperial Russia circa 1917. Surrounded by figures such as Tsar Nicholas II, Princess Anastasia, and Grigori Rasputin, audience members will be free to roam throughout Stimson-Green Mansion and follow whichever characters they please. Watch the unraveling of the Romanov household from an intimate vantage point, and explore the dark and mystical final days of the Russian Empire.

www.witnessimmersive.com

The Highest Tide, Harlequin Productions, 3/1-21/20

The beach talks to Miles O’Malley. Obsessed with all things aquatic, 13-year-old, stature-challenged Miles loves combing the tidal beaches near his Puget Sound home in the middle of the night. When one of his discoveries lands him unexpectedly in the news, he is launched into involuntary celebrity, shaking his world in a way that is only topped by the Nisqually earthquake.

www.harlequinproductions.org

Ugly (Black Queer Zoo), Washington Ensemble Theatre, 3/5-16/20

GUSH is WET’s series that presents contemporary theatrical works from artists outside of Seattle, curated by the Ensemble. Written, directed, and performed by the internationally recognized choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, this event is part dance theater and part pop culture collage about black queer subjectivity in the mainstream.

www.washingtonensemble.org

Victorian Murder-Fest Takes Over Cafe Nordo

Creepy moment in The Angel in the House (Bruce Clayton Tom)

The Angel in the House

Café Nordo

Through March 15, 2020

You’re invited to the home of Mr. Edmund and Mrs. Amelia Brown (David S. Hogan and Angela DiMarco) for New Year’s Eve, December 31, 1899. They and their close friends Fletcher and Clara James (Ray Tagavilla and Ayo Tushinde) and Dorian and Bertha Williams (Robin Ian HallSmith and Tatiana Pavela) will lead you through a mysterious ceremony during the celebration.

You’ll meet their trusty servant Daisy (Maddie Brantz) as well. But when Amelia’s “cousin,” Henry Smith (Jordi Montes) arrives and is suddenly found dead, the evening turns dark and forbidding.

The story of the evening was written and directed by Sara Porkalob. She chose this Victorian theme of religious righteousness (with overtones of blasphemy) and includes a feminist retribution of pagan origins.

Artistic Dilemma – When No Stories Have Been Told, Who Tells Some?

The cast of XY, Festival of New Musicals 2019 (Sam Freeman)

We’re awash, these days, in commentaries about cultural appropriation and who gets to tell stories about marginalized populations. The book American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins, sparked controversy as it was revealed that Cummins is not of Latinx heritage, though her book “tells the story of a Mexican mother whose husband is murdered by cartels and who flees to America with her son, “says an article in Daily Beast.

The article continues, “Despite the sky-high sales, the book has been dogged by claims of cultural appropriation for its representation of Latinos and the migrant experience. Author Jeanine Cummins is not Latina... Cummins, who is Irish-American, said she did hundreds of hours of research and interviews for the book but critics have said it simplifies and glosses over the reality of immigration.” (https://www.thedailybeast.com/myriam-gurba-author-who-sparked-american-dirt-controversy-placed-on-leave-amid-calif-teacher-abuse-probe)

But what exactly is cultural appropriation? A Huffington Post article states, “Cultural appropriation is defined as ‘the act of taking or using things from a culture that is not your own, especially without showing that you understand or respect this culture.’ While this sounds simple enough, … the lines between something that's obviously offensive (blackface) and something that might be considered as embracing another culture (exotic cuisine) can be blurry.” (https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/10/25/what-exactly-is-cultural-appropriation-heres-what-you-need-to-know_a_23253460)

Solving Nuclear Disaster So “The Children” Don’t Have To?

R. Hamilton Wright, Jeanne Paulsen, Carmen Roman in The Children (Nate Watters)

The Children

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Through March 15, 2020

Lucy Kirkwood’s contemporary play, The Children, includes unusual characters – retired nuclear scientists, and focuses on climate disasters with surprising ideas. Performing now at Seattle Rep, the play is both a kitchen sink drama, literally in the kitchen of a dingy decrepit farmhouse, and an exploration of a world-class dilemma.

It begins slowly and builds slowly. So, one must summon patience. We first see Hazel (Jeanne Paulsen) in this kitchen who is interrupted by Rose (Carmen Roman), an old friend/adversary. Rose has separated herself for years and it takes a fair while for her reasons for returning to fully emerge.

Hazel and her husband, Robin (R. Hamilton Wright), are living outside of an exclusion zone after a huge nuclear disaster. The area of the disaster, this time, is on the coast of some portion of the U.K. Kirkwood developed this play after the Fukushima disaster in Japan. So, their home and farm, inside the area, has become toxically irradiated. Electricity is regulated and scarce, so they can barely use devices like cell phones and computers and therefore are thrown back toward an older, non-technical way of life. But they’re coping.

Not much “Bliss” in new musical

Mario Cantone in Bliss (Mark Kitaoka)

Bliss

The 5^th Avenue Theatre

Through February 23, 2020

The new musical at the 5^th Avenue Theatre, Bliss, wants to turn fairy tales on their heads and to create a more modern and more feminist version. The writers, Emma Lively and Tyler Beattie, wrote about four princesses in one family who are all different and quirky, one from another.

Princess Carmella (Katy Geraghty) is a little rounder, a lot more gregarious than her sisters, and apparently a “good singer.” Princess Piper (Gizel Jimenez) is nerdy and scientific. Princess Faye (Kristolyn Lloyd) is the sword wielder and wants to slay dragons. Princess Holly (Claire Neumann) speaks to animals – even worms – and seems to be asexual or possibly non-binary, though no one ever speaks to her identity that way.