June Theater Openings Aren't Quite Busting, But Nice

Justin Gregory Lopez in Paint Your Wagon at the 5th Avenue Theatre (Mark Kitaoka)

June has a smaller group of theater openings than usual for this city. Maybe that means you can make it to each one of these before the month is out!

9 Circles, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, 6/2-25/16

9 Circles is based on the infamous case of former 101st Airborne Division Pfc Steven Dale Green, convicted in a federal court in 2009 of raping and killing an Iraqi fourteen-year-old girl and murdering her family. Green was discharged from the military in May 2006 after being found to have a personality disorder. He was sentenced to multiple life sentences in civilian court and hung himself in prison. 9 Circles won the 2011 Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award.

http://www.strawshop.org/9-circles.html

Paint Your Wagon, 5th Ave, 6/2-26/16

This may look like a classic musical, but it’s being billed as a “revisal” – a reworking of an old version. The music remains, with classics like They Call the Wind Maria, but the book (script) has been rewritten by Jon Marans. It’s the story of the rise and fall of a remote mining town during the height of the Gold Rush. Men and women from around the world take a leap of faith and journey to California to seize hold of the American dream, only to find themselves swept up in a clash of culture, passion, greed and romance. Filled with local veteran performers and a few imported powerhouses, this is an exciting opportunity.

https://www.5thavenue.org/show/paint-your-wagon

 

Dixie Swim Club, Phoenix Theatre, 6/3-26/16

Five friends who were members of their college swimming team meet every year at a summer cottage in the Outer Banks to laugh and meddle in each other’s lives. The story spans a period of 33 years about friendships which last forever.

http://www.phoenixtheatreedmonds.org/

Sorry, Thalia’s Umbrella, 6/9-26/16 (at 12^th Avenue Arts)

One family deals with politics, personally. It is 5:00a.m. on Election Day, 2012. A family of artists and committed public servants tease each other and tell stories, as they struggle with their own urgent concerns while arguing about the meaning and utility of elections, the national issues illuminate what is happening close to home, and vice versa. As usual, Thalia’s Umbrella fields a strong cast of actors.

http://thaliasumbrella.org

Deathtrap, Secondstory Rep, 6/10/16-7/3/16

The long-running Broadway hit Deathtrap has been slaying audiences for years with its mix of laughs and edge-of-the-seat suspense. It's the story of Sidney Bruhl, a once-successful playwright struggling to overcome a "dry" spell that has resulted in a string of failures and a shortage of funds. He receives a script from a student at one of his college seminars and instantly sees a potential Broadway hit. Once the two start collaborating, suspense mounts steadily as the plot begins to twist and turn.

http://www.secondstoryrep.org/mainstage/season17/deathtrap.html

Suite Surrender. Driftwood Players, 6/10-26/16

It’s 1942, and the luxurious Palm Beach Royale Hotel is under siege as two of Hollywood’s biggest divas vie for the same suite. Mistaken identities, overblown egos, double entendres, and one pampered little lap dog round out this riot of a comedy.

http://edmondsdriftwoodplayers.org/15-16-season/suite-surrender/

We Remain Prepared, Satori Group, 6/16-25/16 (at Georgetown Steam Plant)

The Satori Group moved to Seattle as a group after college. They have remained determined to provide intensively group-worked ensemble pieces and this time have partnered with ARTBARN, a collective of innovative artists from across disciplines and around the country who generate original site-specific work through a residency model. Drawing from the best of both companies’ resources and processes, they invite you to immerse yourselves in a new world inside the historic Georgetown Steam Plant.

Summary: Three workers left behind to keep the plant running pledge to maintain a constant state of readiness for as long as they are needed. Time passes in the outside world, but the workers remain. When the outside has finally faded from memory, each begins building their own world. But what will happen when the old world comes crashing back in? Will their new cities survive the shock? How do we make meaning when our old systems become obsolete?

http://weremainprepared.bpt.me/