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| Leads in Holiday Inn at 5th Avenue Theatre (Mark Kitaoka) |
You can tell it is holiday season when theatrical
productions starting having a lot of holiday content in them. There is lots of
music to be had this month and a couple of very-much anticipated dramas that
hit the local boards. Check these out:
The Inappropriate
Suitor, Ghost Light Theatricals,
11/3-18/17
Ghost Light presents a classic “us against the world” love
story about a wild boarding school girl and a city boy, and the strange and
oppressive world around them. Inspired by German Expressionism, boarding school
gothic, and Medieval super-science, The
Inappropriate Suitor is a show that will appeal to fans of melodrama, old
New York, Tim Burton, doppelgangers, and ice skating.
Teatro Zinzanni,
11/1/17-4/29/17 (official opening 11/9/17) (at Marymoor Park)
It's opening night of the new Teatro ZinZanni, and the staff anxiously awaits the arrival of a world-renowned
restaurant critic. They are trying to
put their best foot forward, without stepping on each other's toes! Getting
swept up in the madness is the magical Maître d', who has staffed his
restaurant with mechanical waitresses, chefs that defy gravity, and an amorous
busboy who has finally met his match. With an aim to impress, the crew
literally bends over backwards to give this critic the experience of a
lifetime.
Disney’s Newsies The
Musical, Village Theatre,
Issaquah: 11/9/17-12/31/17, Everett: 1/5-28/18
"Seize the Day" with the paperboys of New York as
they become the newspaper headlines. The Tony Award-winning and
Grammy-nominated musical is full of classic Disney magic. Based on the true
events of the Newsboys Strike of 1899, this cult Disney movie-musical favorite
takes life on stage as a crew of underdog newsies become unlikely heroes when
they stand up for what’s right in a high-energy explosion of song, dance, and
theatricality. Expect epic choreography.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins,
Seattle Children’s Theatre,
11/9/17-12/31/17 (ages 4+)
Vaudevillian song and dance numbers, imaginative
storytelling, puppetry and charming music tell the story of a troupe of
extraordinary Antarctic penguins who flock into Mr. and Mrs. Popper’s lives and
warm the hearts of their sleepy English town. Families will adore this
toe-tapping adventure, Mr. and Mrs. Popper are an ordinary couple in an
ordinary English town…until some extraordinary Antarctic penguins come to stay!
Steel, Theatre Orbis, 11/10-26/17 (at Erickson
Theatre) (world premiere)
Steel, a new play
by playwright Chris Fisher, explores how a suburban New Jersey family, safe
from the problems of the world, is suddenly thrust—as so many families were--
into the chaos and violence of September 11, 2001. The collapse of the Twin Towers is an event
that wounds so deeply, only profound silence lies in its wake as the family
shields their young son, Walker, from the pain and secrets exposed on that
day. But as he comes of age, Walker’s
questions break the silence that has torn his family, and community, apart.
The Humans, Seattle Repertory Theatre,
11/17/17-12/17/17
This was Broadway’s most-honored play of 2016. The national
tour, directed by Joe Mantello, starts in Seattle before going to The Kennedy
Center and on and will star Richard Thomas as Erik, Pamela Reed as Deirdre, and
Daisy Eagan as Brigid. Breaking with tradition, Erik Blake has brought his Pennsylvania
family to celebrate Thanksgiving at his daughter's apartment in Lower
Manhattan. As darkness falls outside the ramshackle pre-war duplex and eerie
things start to go bump in the night, the Blake clan's deepest fears and
greatest follies are laid bare. Our modern age of anxiety is keenly observed
with humor and compassion in this new American classic.
An Evening With Satan,
David Quicksall and Rachel Glass,
11/16-19/17 (at 18th & Union)
We think we know Satan so well but, actually, his appearance
is never described in the Bible. We view
Satan as the root of all evil and blame him for all the bad things that have
occurred throughout the ages, but much of the harm, pain, and punishment that
occurs in the Bible was perpetrated by God.
Why is Satan so feared, maligned, and misunderstood? David
Quicksall goes on a humorous,
historical, outrageous, sometimes irreverent and soul-searching journey to find
the Devil! Live music, multiple
characters, movie trivia, chills, thrills, laughs, and flying beards.
The Twilight Zone: Live!,
Theater Schmeater, 11/17/17-12/16/17
Traveling through dimensions of sight and sound, The Twilight Zone: Live! combines the
nostalgic comforts of cold war paranoia with a deep understanding of the human
spirit. We offer four episodes of the CBS classic TV series by creator Rod
Serling.
It Will Be Now, Wyrd Sisters Productions, 11/22-26/17 (at
18th & Union)
A pair of evocative and powerful solo plays written and
performed by Seattle-based theatre artists Meghan Dolbey and Meme García, featuring
Unsex Me Here by Dolbey, which
explores the journey of power and the sacrifices women have to make in order to
achieve it and House of Sueños by
García, a story of the construction and deconstruction of a house of dreams.
Both pieces are inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare and grapple with
his text in a modern context.
Irving Berlin’s Holiday
Inn, The 5th Avenue Theatre,
11/24/17-12/31/17
The exciting addition of Lorna Luft to the talented local
cast of this movie favorite makes this a must-see show. Don’t bother to see the
movie, just relax and enjoy the stage treat. Jim leaves the bright lights of
show business to settle down on a farm in Connecticut—but he finds the simple
life is not as simple as he thought. Jim meets Linda, a spirited school teacher
with talent to spare. Together, they turn the farmhouse into a fabulous inn
with dazzling performances to celebrate each holiday. This magical holiday
treat will feature show-stopping dance numbers, lavish sets and costumes from
the recent Broadway production and 20 Irving Berlin songs including “White
Christmas” and “Easter Parade.”
Howl’s Moving Castle,
Book-It Repertory Theatre,
11/29/17-12/30/17 (world premiere)
Book-It Repertory Theatre has never done a full-out musical
before, so this is a special event. When Sophie (Sara Porkalob) unwittingly
attracts the ire of the Witch of the Waste, she finds herself turned into an
old woman. To break the enchantment, she must strike a bargain with a fire
demon and seek the help of the frightening sorcerer Howl. The award-winning
1986 novel inspires each of us to trust in our own powers of transformation.
Building the Wall,
Azeotrope, 11/29/17-12/23/17 (at 12th
Avenue Arts)
Set in the not-so-distant future, Building the Wall, by Robert Schenkkan, lays out in a harrowing
drama the consequences of Trump’s anti-immigration campaign rhetoric turned
into federal policy. Events unravel, in this dystopian future, that test every
American’s strength of character: systemically racist executive actions, a
declaration of martial law, and a round-up of millions of illegal aliens, with
their incarceration overflowing into private prisons and camps reminiscent of
another century. Rick is a former warden awaiting sentencing for a catastrophic
event that has happened at a prison facility under his command. Gloria, a Black
female historian, has come to seek the truth behind what has happened, and over
the course of her interview with him, Rick gradually reveals how the
unthinkable became the inevitable, and how the only thing necessary for the
triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (All seating Pay-What-You-Will)
Ham for the Holidays:
The Hamchurian Candidate, Tongueinchic
Productions and ACT Theatre,
11/30/17-12/17/17
Seattle comedians Lisa
Koch and Peggy Platt (aka Dos Fallopia)
return to ACT with their wonky, gender-bending holiday sketch revelry. The long-running cult might always be
described as naughty, nutty, and nervy—nothing is sacred in this mishmash of
social satire, musical parody, and campy characters. Platt and Koch deliver a devilishly loony
holiday romp.
• Feisty nonagenarians The Matrons of Blues teach elders how
to Resist;
• Ballard’s own Polka Dots sing polka faves about waste
management;
• What the Heck’s a
Puget? A game show pits audience members against Seattle celebrities;
• The tiny Sequim Gay Men's Chorus sing with glee;
• Country duo The Spudds present their musical
political-thriller, The Music Manchurian
Candidate
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| From The Inappropriate Suitor at Ghost Light Theatricals (Julia Nardin) |
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