Coming Up! Mary Ewald to play Hamlet at New City Theater

Mary Ewald as Hamlet (John Kazanjian)

Hamlet

New City Theater

October 22 – November 15, 2014

Did you know that many heralded women have played Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play? That the first recorded woman to play Hamlet was Fanny Furnival in Dublin, 1741? She was followed by many renowned (often middle aged, often Lesbian) actresses over the centuries. It’s no surprise that women have longed to play such meaty roles on stage; but perhaps more of a surprise is to learn just how many women, including Sarah Bernhardt at age 55, and (Dame) Judith Anderson at age 72, have played Hamlet on stage and screen.

Artists have found an internal conflict of the masculine and the feminine within Hamlet, and that conflict has served as an interpretive blueprint and approach to the character for Mary Ewald and John Kazanjian at New City Theater. Their upcoming production stars Mary Ewald as Hamlet.

I spoke to Mary about why she is willing to tackle the role as she prepares to take the stage. Mary says, “I've read a fascinating book on women playing Hamlet. Many of the women playing Hamlet were lesbians looking for a better challenge than most plays gave them. Most interesting is reading about different interpretations, and what a woman may bring out in the role that rings differently than a male actor playing it.

It wouldn't be horrorble if you missed this

Garrett Dill and Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako in The Rocky Horror Show (Jeff Carpenter)

The Rocky Horror Show

Seattle Musical Theatre

Through October 18, 2014

I’d like to be kind. I want Seattle Musical Theatre to have great big hits and lots of people attending. Aspects of The Rocky Horror Show are fun (costuming is good, lights and set are good), but overall, the musical, especially the steamless second act, is pretty much a mess.

The performers all seem invested, and it seems fun for them. So, that’s a good start. The video featuring Peggy Platt as the narrator and Lisa Koch as her butler is a great addition. There are a few performers who stand out, including Joel Domenico as Frank (though his flagging energy in the second act is part of the problem), Hisam Goueli, a surprisingly effective Rocky, and the game-for-anything talented Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako as Janet. But Nako can’t be the whole show.

Excellent acting in "Slip/Shot" overshadowed by technical shortcomings and disappointing script

Treavor Boykin and Faith Russell in Slip/Shot (PaulBestock)

Slip/Shot

Seattle Public Theater

Through October 12, 2014

(As printed in Seattle Gay News)

Seattle Public Theater often combines great technical design (especially for a mid-sized theater) and challenging and well-done productions. Some of the best in town. It’s easy to see why they might choose to do the play Slip/Shot by Jacqueline Goldfinger: A security guard shoots an unarmed African-American teen and claims it is an accident. It sounds like it would be an extremely topical and challenging play.

Though written around 2012, Goldfinger sets the action in 1960s small town southern America. Some dialogue is poetic, some sociologically relevant (women were expected to stay home and take care of their husbands), and the script probably reads well. Unfortunately, it disappoints.

However, the production at SPT is well-cast with excellent actors, with not a false acting note among them.

Introducing Forward Flux – The Salon: a reading series for new plays

Dan Connor, Leslie Windom (obscured), Mollie Corcoran, and Brian Lange read Green Whales (J Reese)

Despite people sometimes opining that there is a lack of play reading opportunities in Seattle, there are more reading series than you might think. And in recent months, a few more have cropped up. One of the opportunities is the new Forward Flux Salon.

Forward Flux Productions started in New York City in 2010 and launched a new play in 2012, FriendAndy.com, written by Wesley Frugé, about a blogger whose work starts to go viral. Another new play in 2013, Robot Songs, is about a robot who would rather write pop songs than destroy the human race. But not all of their work is technology-based. Their mission is to “connect people with art in unexpected ways. We challenge the boundaries of tradition by reimagining the audience experience.”      

The creators, Wesley Frugé, Karesia Batan, and Rafael Landeiro expanded to Seattle in 2014 when Wesley moved here and efforts continue in NYC.

The Salon is the first event in Seattle, with more developments to come. Wesley says, “I moved to Seattle one year ago after living in NYC for eight years. I'm so excited to be a part of this vibrant community, and I really feel that there is an amazing opportunity in this city to invest in new art. We are now operating from both coasts.”

Oh, the Horror! Rocky lands at SMT for only Two Weeks!

Nathan Brockett as Riff Raff and Stephanie L. Graham as Magenta
in The Rocky Horror Show (Steven Fogell)

The Rocky Horror Show

Seattle Musical Theatre

October 9-18, 2014

Seattle Musical Theatre celebrates the 40^th anniversary of the iconic musical, The Rocky Horror Show, starting tomorrow, October 9 through October 18. This production boasts a steampunk/circus atmosphere helmed by Steven Fogell.

Another special feature, though one that is destined to be a surprise, is the inclusion of comedy mavens Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt, also known as Dos Fallopia, and the creators of the annual Ham for the Holidays sketch series, upcoming at ACT Theatre around Thanksgiving. Koch and Platt will not play characters written into the script, but will add to the outrageous atmosphere (some mysterious way)!

Quick Take: "The Mountaintop" at ArtsWest

Reginald André Jackson and brianne a. hill in The Mountaintop (Michael Brunk)

The Mountaintop
ArtsWest
through October 5, 2014

This intriguing two-hander, The Mountaintop, looks at a fictional last night in the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. The script, by Katori Hall, focuses on a tired, fractious, chain-smoking King, who chafes at times at his life of travel and being away from his family, but also likes to flirt with, and probably bed with random attractive women who are willing.

In other words, it's an attempt to stop us from making him a saint and focusing on the price the man took in his journey to bring a dream of equality and economic freedom to "his" people. Since it is fictional, Hall has the luxury of having him say whatever she wants, though I imagine there were boundaries she had to walk not to overstep into some outright bawd or conman or other negative portrayal that is belied by what many people know of the real man.

Mary's Wedding is a dreamlike experience to embrace

Maya Sugarman and Conner Neddersen in Mary's Wedding (Chris Bennion)

Mary’s Wedding

New Century Theatre Company

(at West of Lenin)

Through October 11, 2014

(printed in Seattle Gay News)

Two shy teenagers at the start of World War I fall in love and cope with class, war, first crushes, honor, and duty in New Century Theatre Company’s production of Mary’s Wedding by Stephen Massicotte. This production is a shift for the small company in that the actors, Maya Sugarman and Conner Neddersen, have not been company members. This moves New Century Theatre Company into a producer mode, then.

But the panache with which the production is mounted and presented is well within the NCTC esthetic. The setting is a barn and set/light designer Brian Sidney Bembridge, and the company, found a real old demolished barn and recreated a chunk of it inside West of Lenin. Adding incandescent bulbs to represent stars and lightning and sunlight is a beautiful touch. Director John Langs brings a delicate sensibility to the play including minimal staging that turns hay bales into horses and a few sandbags into an army bunker.

Coming Up: "Kinky Boots!" Spotlight Night whets the appetite at 5th Avenue

Lindsay Nicole Chambers and Steven Booth in Kinky Boots (MatthewMurphy)

Kinky Boots

The 5^th Avenue Theatre 

October 7-26, 2014

The 5^th Avenue Theatre has whet the appetites of thousands of attendees already with their Spotlight Night focused on Kinky Boots. Executive producer and artistic director David Armstrong moderated the evening, giving a taste of what is in store by introducing two of the stars of the show and explaining the musical’s history and development.

But first, Armstrong introduced some performances from developing musicals from the 5^th’s robust New Works program. Their redoubled efforts began in 2012 with the appointment of resident music supervisor Ian Eisendrath being named the Alhadeff Family Director of New Works.

Eisendrath, along with producing artistic director Bill Berry, introduced Beautiful Poison, written by Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn and Duane Poole. It was commissioned by the 5^th and sounds a bit like The Secret Garden for grownups. It’s based on the Nathaniel Hawthorne story "Rappaccini's Daughter."

Meticulous production highlights the huge size of tiny, quiet moments (The Bunner Sisters)

Marty Mukhalian and Annette Toutonghi in The Bunner Sisters (Paul Lippert)

The Bunner Sisters

Athena Theatre Project  

(in a co-production with Theatre Off Jackson)

Through October 5, 2014

Two sisters in turn of the 20^th Century clothing move effortlessly around a tiny storefront/apartment sewing, crimping, serving customers, stopping for tea, in a meager, but comfortable life. They remind of the careful attention to detail, and small moments, that is exemplified in tv’s Downton Abbey. They, too, have little to say to each other, a way of behavior that is so foreign to our “say anything you feel to anyone” age.

These sisters are actors Marty Mukhalian and Annette Toutonghi, in the new adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Bunner Sisters, adapted by and directed by Julie Beckman for her new occasionally-producing theater company, Athena Theatre Project. The meticulous storefront/apartment was designed by Phillip Lienau and the actors look like they could have lived there for years.