February Theater Openings in Seattle

Room Service at Taproot Theatre (Erik Stuhaug)

February continues 2017’s eclectic offerings on Seattle stages from classic comedy or musical to new work. Take a look at what’s opening next month.

Room Service, Taproot Theatre, 2/1/17-3/4/17

Madcap mishaps and little lies take on lives of their own as a theatrical troupe chases their dream of Broadway. Or Off-Broadway. Make that Off-Off-Broadway. This hit comedy inspired a Marx Brothers classic film!

www.taproottheatre.org

Storyville Rising, Seattle Immersive Theatre, 2/2/17-2/25/17 (21+)

Seattle Immersive Theatre teams up with System D Artists to present Storyville Rising, a fully-immersive theater/cabaret experience which recreates Storyville, the infamous “red-light” district in New Orleans, from 1897-1917. This production is an exploration of sex, race, power and privilege in Reconstruction-era America, told through theater, historical narrative, live music, transgressive burlesque and cabaret. Original text, as well as transcripts and interviews, tell the story of the habitués of Storyville and the forces of “polite society” that sought to shut it down.

www.seattleimmersivetheatre.org

When Love Speaks, Thalias Umbrella, 2/9/17-2/25/17 (at Taproot Theatre)

When Love Speaks is a sizzling hot verse play by David Wright, with an assist from his buddies Will Shakespeare, Mighty Chris Marlowe, "The Benster" Jonson, Queen Elizabeth (the First, of course), and many other wanton wordsmiths. Four people meet at a resort at the edge of the world. They fall in and out of love, woo and argue . . . all while speaking some of the best (and some of the worst!) love poetry ever written.

www.thaliasumbrella.org

The Pajama Game, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 2/9/17-3/5/17 (open 2/16)

Seattle sweetheart Billie Wildrick stars as Katherine "Babe" Williams in this Broadway hit making its 5th Avenue debut. A labor furor over a 7 ½ cent pay raise at a pajama plant complicates the course of true love for Sid Sorokin, the new factory superintendent, and Babe Williams, the feisty firebrand heading the Union Grievance Committee. The show that defined Fosse style with seductive dance numbers like “Steam Heat” and “Hernando’s Hideaway,” this critically acclaimed musical won three Tony Awards including Best Choreography and Best Musical when it opened in 1954.

www.5thavenue.org

Well, Seattle Repertory Theatre, 2/10/17-3/5/17 (open 2/14)

Sarah Rudinoff stars as playwright Lisa Kron in her not-an-autobiography about not-her-mother. Why do some people stay sick while others become well? And where do we find the road to recovery? Kron takes us on a surprising and complicated journey exploring these questions in this acclaimed comedy – which is not about her mom.

www.seattlerep.org

The Last Romance, Phoenix Theatre, 2/10/17-3/5/17

Joe DiPietro’s play about an ordinary day in Ralph’s life when he decides to take a different direction on a walk. Meeting an elegant but distant Carol, Ralph tries to regain happiness he thought he lost when his wife passed away. Heartwarming comedy.

www.phoenixtheatreedmonds.org

Scary Mary and the Nightmares Nine, Annex Theatre, 2/10/17-3/4/17

Playwright Amy Escobar debuts a new work. When a drop of Mary’s blood falls down to the center of the Earth, something Evil and Ancient wakes up in the shadows, and now the Hellish Horrors of the Dark have a taste for her. Mary must go on an epic quest through nine different nightmares to make a potion to put The Slither back to sleep and save her soul from its nasty gnashing teeth. A fairy tale that creeps, crawls, and catapults its way through the bizarre landscape of the imagination as Mary fights for her very life amidst the ever-encroaching darkness.

www.annextheatre.org

Waning, Annex Theatre, 2/14/17-3/1/17 (Tue/Wed)

Kamaria Hallums-Harris also debuts a new work. At 17, Luna is coming to terms with the harsh reality of what it means to be a young, black, queer woman in America. It’s hard to find the words to claim her identity and to claim her right to love and be loved. Dance, discovery, and dark truths show that the words on the pages of history books are nothing compared to weight of reality.

www.annextheatre.org

Bright Half Life, New Century Theatre Company and Hansberry Project, 2/15/17-3/11/17

Time stops when you meet the love of your life. Vicky and Erica are catapulted through a lifetime of love and heartbreak as they navigate an ever-shifting present. Through courtship, children, marriage, conflict, and the whisper of mortality, this kaleidoscopic journey is a depiction of the fortitude and courage it takes to fight for love.

www.wearenctc.org

Little Women, Seattle Musical Theatre, 2/17/17-3/20/17

Louisa May Alcott’s timeless, captivating story is brought to life in this exhilarating musical filled with beautiful music, dancing and heart. Follow the adventures of sisters Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March as they grow up in Civil War America and deftly handle challenges, heartache, everlasting love and fight for their dreams as they deal with issues still relevant today.

www.seattlemusicaltheatre.org

Into the West, Seattle Children’s Theatre, 2/23/17-3/19/17 (ages 9+)

From the coast of  Ireland comes the spellbinding tale of two siblings and a white horse called Tir Na n'Og. Ally and Fin are children of Travelers living with their Pa, when the mysterious, otherworldly horse comes to them from the sea, filling their lives (and tiny flat) with and trouble. Soon police are at the door to take Tir Na n'Og away, but not even the law can keep these children from their magnificent horse. Fearless as cowboys, Ally and Fin escape into the west in this lively, suspenseful drama about love, loss and bravery, where they learn that the greatest journeys in life take us beyond all imagination and into our hearts.

www.sct.org

Defying Expectations - a Showtunes Cabaret, Showtunes! Theatre Company, 2/25, 26, 27/17 (at ACT Theatre)

A talented cast of six singers  interpret songs and stories of people overcoming the lines in society that divide us. In addition, the cast will be challenged to defy their own personal expectations as performers. Hear your favorite show tunes in a fresh way by Seattle's top professional talent. (At press time, cast unknown.)

http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/DefyingExpectations?date=2%2f25%2f2017

Sing Out Louise Theatricals presented "Mack and Mabel"

Mack and Mabel (Michael Brunk)

David-Edward Hughes love musicals and has for many years. 17 years ago, among other theatrical activities, he helped found Showtunes! Theatre Company. Their presentations are a model of concert stagings, with minimal sets and costumes, actors using scripts, and maximal singing talent. The opportunity afforded was also to present musicals that may well never be chosen to be fully staged, but still have an opportunity to experience them.

Hughes has now created a new company in a very similar model: Sing Out Louise Theatricals http://soltheatricals.org/ and produced his inaugural production. With the help of Secondstory Repertory in Redmond, they created a wonderful experience.

He chose Mack and Mabel, a lesser known musical by Jerry Herman of Hello Dolly fame. In his materials for the show, he detailed his years long desire to direct this musical and how unique it is: written in a happy musical style that turns darker in the second act, telling a true story of film producer Mack Sennet and his making a star out of Mabel Normand.

The Award Goes To....the 2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Winners

Sarah Rose Davis and Eric Ankrim in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Mark Kitaoka)

The "large theater" productions of ACT Theatre's The Royale and The 5th Avenue Theatre's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying take top honors, and the "small theater" productions of ArtsWest's Death of a Salesman and Washington Ensemble Theatre's The Things Are Against Us take top honors for most category wins!​

Seattle Theater Writers, Seattle's only critics’ circle, presents the 6th ​a​nnual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters. Our aim in developing the awards is to entice the general public ​to consider seeing excellent theatrical events at myriad venues they may never have entered before.

The 2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award ​Winner​s are (​bolded ​by category, in alpha order by name):

Excellence in Production of a Play:

Math, Genius and Trust on stage at Strawshop

Charles Leggett and Anastasia Higham in Proof (John Ulman)

Proof

Strawberry Theatre Workshop

Through February 18, 2017

David Auburn’s play, Proof, first produced in 2000 and turned into a movie with Gwyneth Paltrow in 2005, is a layered onion-like family drama that delves into mental illness, genius, love and family relations. Its current production at Strawberry Theatre Workshop includes four strong actors and some evocative scene-change effects that ultimately allow you plenty to think about after an enjoyable visit getting to know Robert and his two daughters Catherine and Claire.

The word “proof” is a brilliant choice for a title because the play revolves around mathematical proofs (the formulas that higher math creates to prove a theory is actually real), and there is also a mystery that needs proving true, and also Catherine fears that she will prove to be mentally ill, herself.

The 2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award Nominees Are!

The Royale (Dawn Schaefer)

Seattle Theater Writers, Seattle’s only critics circle, announces the Sixth Annual Nominations of the 2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards!

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year. 

Well known large companies such as Seattle Repertory Theatre with 6 nominations and ACT Theatre with 15 nominations and Seattle Shakespeare Company with 8 nominations contrast favorably with small companies such as Sound Theatre Company with 14 nominations, ArtsWest with 14 nominations and Theatre22 with 13 nominations. Musical theater companies The 5th Avenue Theatre and Village Theatre inevitably share 15 and 12 nominations apiece as the top musical providers in our area. 

The curious play at Ghost Light Theatricals

Beth Pollack and Kevin Lin (Joe Iano)

The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence

Ghost Light Theatricals

Through February 4, 2017

To a large extent, Madeleine George’s Pulitzer finalist play, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, seems to suggest that artificial intelligence could be somewhat seductive as a partner, but it’s not as fulfilling as messy real life. To get around to that conclusion, you might have to mull it over for a few days after you see the production at Ghost Light Theatricals.

Let’s start by saying that Ghost Light’s production is nicely directed by Steven Sterne, who brings out sensitive portrayals by the two playing sensitive characters, Beth Pollack and Kevin Lin, and an appropriately off-putting one by Brent Griffith. This is a well-balanced trio of actors.

January 2017 Theater Openings - an eclectic month

By Heart (coming to On the Boards) (Magda Bizarro)

January 2017 promises something for everyone as this very eclectic month in theater maybe hints at a very unusual year to come. Check it out and plan your month!

The Trojan Women, Civic Rep, 1/6-29/17 (at Slate Theater)  

British playwright and poet Caroline Bird's radical retelling of Euripides' The Trojan Women. Bird transports this famous anti-war tragedy to the modern setting of a prison hospital. Beyond the prison walls, Troy and its people burn. Inside the prison, the city’s captive women await their fate. Their grief at what has been before will soon be drowned out by the horror of what is to come.

www.civicrep.org

Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, Seattle Repertory Theatre, 1/6-29/17

The legendary Woody Guthrie defined an American era of social consciousness and political expression with songs such as "This Land is Your Land" and "The Ballad of Tom Joad." This musical portrait, featuring Woody's stirring ballads and joyous anthems, celebrates the colorful life and rich musical legacy of America's great folk troubadour.

www.seattlerep.org

Best Theater of 2016!

The Royale (Dawn Shaefer)

It’s time for Crazy 2016 to be over…. That means it’s time for the annual attempt to bring to mind the best experiences of the year. As usual, there are so many aspects of good work to cover!

Local Writing:

First up, I want to acknowledge the incredible amount of Local Writing that exploded onto our stages this year! Seriously great work from talented writers! Two favorites of 2016 were Do It For Umma by Seayoung Yim, mounted at Annex and Theatre Off Jackson, and A Hand of Talons by Maggie Lee, mounted by Pork Filled Productions. A favorite adaptation was Laura Ferri’s A Tale for the Time Being at Book-It Repertory Theatre.

Exciting writing also included: Can’t Talk Right Now by Scotto Moore, Chorestia by Beth Raas-Bergquist, Puny Humans by Bret Fetzer and Keiko Green, Bernie’s Apt. by Rose Cano, Terra Incognita by Benjamin Benne, Trump the King by Nick Edwards, The Lost Girls by Courtney Meaker, From Kings to Controllers by Stacy Flood, Nick Stokes’ Duels, and Roz and Ray by Karen Hartman. Sara Porkalob created two new iterations of her solo piece about her amazing grandmother and will bring another one to Café Nordo in January (Madame Dragon’s 60^th Birthday Bash).

Two Companies’ Outstanding Work:

I also want to acknowledge two companies who have done some of the best work of their history in 2016: ArtsWest and Ghost Light Theatricals.

“Vietgone” Should Not Be Forgotten – Try to see it!

Amy Kim Waschke and Jeena Yi in Vietgone (Navid Baraty)

Vietgone

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Through January 1, 2017

“Write what you know.” That’s a lot of what people are told when they embark on writing anything and aren’t sure where to start. Playwright Qui Nguyen, in Vietgone, has done that in this trenchant, funny, hip-hop spouting, immigrant-experience-explaining road trip through the fall of Saigon and the evacuating of some thousands of South Vietnamese in helicopter rides to battleships.

“Vietnam was a huge mistake.” That is what most of us know, if we know anything about that war besides how badly the vets coming back were treated. From a U.S. point of view – and don’t we always take the truth from a U.S. point of view? – U.S. participation in and escalation of the war in Vietnam is looked at as a huge disaster. Partly because the reason for our participation, aka The Domino Effect, was only a theory and because so many of our young men died or were maimed for life. Money spent was thought to be wasted and we reached beyond our shores for bad reasons.

Also, we lost. We pulled out of South Vietnam in 1975 and they fell and it all became one communist country anyway. But there are other points of view.