Go Spy on ‘Edgar & Annabel’ Before They Escape

 

Zenaida Smith and Dylan Smith in Edgar & Annabel (Ken Holmes)

Edgar and Annabel
Pony World Theatre
At 12^th Avenue Arts
Through November 30, 2024
 
How dark can a play about spies, politics, and karaoke get? Pretty dang dark at times in this engrossing spy play. You know that it’s a spy play because, besides Pony World Theatre saying so, if you come a half hour early you can get some spy training!
 
Pony World has long been a company whose work I know I want to see, in advance. They have a solid theatrical aesthetic and choose shows well. Here, they’ve chosen a play written in 2011 that feels like it could be written (God forbid) about 2025!!
 
We immediately know that Edgar and Annabel are spies. No spoiler, here. The two people who seem to live in the house with the kitchen they are standing in (a one-set moment that works very simply, as Robin Macartney often designs) also don’t seem to know each other. And they suddenly start reading from a script with an eye on a microphone above them.

November Variety on Seattle Area Stages

Chad Goller-Sojourner
Sitting in Circles with Rich White Girls: Memoir of a Bulimic Black Boy 
(courtesy Chad Goller-Sojourner)

As winter begins to wave and run after us, November has plenty to offer area theater-goers! The end of the month is more holiday oriented. Still there’s plenty of intriguing variety to choose from. Get outcher calendars!

Holmes and Watson (Michael Brunk)

Holmes and Watson, SecondStory Repertory, 11/1-17/24
A thrilling intellectual puzzle wrapped in a cloak of mystery, this play picks after the presumed death of Sherlock Holmes at Reichenbach Falls. Dr. Watson finds himself inundated with impostors claiming to be the world's greatest detective. As Watson delves deeper into this perplexing situation, he is drawn into a labyrinth of deceit, where the lines between reality and illusion blur. Is Holmes truly dead? Or has he masterminded an elaborate hoax? Prepare to be challenged, entertained, and utterly captivated by this ingenious reimagining of the classic Sherlock Holmes saga.
www.secondstoryrep.org
 
Merchant of Venice: The Musical, Amaranth Turtle Stages, 11/1-10/24 (at Aspire Repertory Theatre, 11030 8^th Ave NE, Seattle) (staged reading)
A bold reimagining of Shakespeare's controversial play, as a musical. Merchant of Venice: The Musical takes place in 16th-century Venice. Bassanio wishes to woo heiress Portia. Antonio, his friend, wants to help Bassanio impress Portia with a display of wealth. Antonio makes a deal with Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, despite his distrust of the Jewish population. When Antonio is unable to pay back his loan, Shylock decides that it's time to mistreat Antonio in the same way both he and his people have been mistreated for years. Local writers, Daniel Arthur, music, and Anna Tatelman, lyrics and book, collaborate.
https://venice.brownpapertickets.com/
 
The Marriage of Figaro, Theatre33, 11/2-23/24
One of the funniest comedies of all time! A single crazy day in the castle of Count Almaviva, whose household manages to weave a dizzying intrigue with weddings, courts, adoptions, jealousy and reconciliation. Figaro vows to trick the lustful count around, win Suzanne and not lose her dowry. In Russian with English subtitles.
www.theatre33wa.org
 
Triple Fire Sign: Justin Huertas in Concert, Intiman Cabaret, 11/4-5/24 (at Erickson Theatre)
Justin Huertas returns to Seattle with a concert event created exclusively for the Intiman Cabaret. An out and proud Aries Sun/Leo Moon/Leo Rising and therefore doomed to a career creating egocentric performance art, Justin shares a fiery playlist of acoustic bops and bangers to boil the blood—including tunes from his next World Premiere musical! 

www.intiman.org

‘Mrs. Loman Is Leaving’ – Two Plays in Search of Each Other

 

R. Hamilton Wright and Alexandra Tavares (by Rosemary Dai Ross)

Mrs. Loman Is Leaving
ACT Theatre
Through October 27, 2024
 
Humor is very idiosyncratic. There are probably as many funny-bones out there as individual snowflakes. The world premiere play at ACT Theatre, Mrs. Loman Is Leaving, is a comedy lynch-pinned to the drama, Death of a Salesman, played for laughs. It’s a backstage show on opening night of a play that is critical to all of the characters’ lives and they are desperate for good reviews.
 
This play’s title brings to mind the updated treatment of A Doll’s House, with A Doll’s House, Part 2, where playwright Hnath updates a classic play with a sequel. However, that’s not what this play accomplishes.

October Cornucopia on Seattle Area Stages

 

Jenny Hall stars in What The Constitution Means To Me at Harlequin Productions

This month on Seattle area stages, there are some spooks for the holiday, and a rather large amount of brand-new works! For those who mourn Book-It Repertory Theatre, Jane Jones and Kevin McKeon are mounting a new Book-It style play on Vashon! The offerings are so varied that there must be something for everyone! Get out yer calendars!
 
Wild Man Of The Wynoochee, Key City Public Theatre, 10/3-27/24 (world premiere)
In the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, a nature-loving hermit accused of the murder of his nephew fights for his way of life and the safety of his loved ones after finding himself the target of the largest manhunt of its time. Musical written by Jessica Welsh and Linda Dowdell. (Inspired by true events)
www.keycitypublictheatre.org
 
Tartuffe, Born Again, Phoenix Theatre, 10/4-27/24
This modern adaptation of Moliere’s classic play casts Tartuffe as a deposed televangelist who bilks Orgon and his family of their money and property and nearly compromises Orgon's wife. In a religious television studio in Baton Rouge, a southern family in the 1980s begin to recognize a taker in their midst in the form of televangelist, Tartuffe. Mayhem ensues as they recognize the danger, rise up, and remove the culprit.
www.tptedmonds.org

Get Tappy at SecondStory Repertory!

 

A sparkly cast photo by Colin Madison

Come On, Get Tappy!
SecondStory Repertory
With Outrage Onstage
Through September 15, 2024
 
SecondStory Repertory is well worth hiking out to Redmond to see their productions. They create pretty sophisticated productions and have a great track record especially for musicals. Their latest musical is a world premiere, co-produced by Outrage Onstage, and the title, Come On, Get Tappy! gives you a pretty good idea of what it might feel like to attend.
 
I anticipated some kind of take-off of the famous song sung by Judy Garland, Come On, Get Happy. And tap dancing, and probably something fairly silly, and at least a little laughter.
 
It’s all that and a bit more. We’re introduced to the Tappy McCrackin Variety Show, starring 10-year-old Tappy, who is an adorable creature when the camera is rolling and a royal brat when it’s not. It feels “old timey” and the music is also kind of classic ‘50s feeling much of the time.
 
However, Tappy is almost turning 11, and there is some kind of rule that each Tappy only stars on the show for one year. Even though that’s a well-known established fact, these little girls who star for one year have real trouble transitioning from recognizable star back to “real life” at the end of their year.
 
The technical aspects of the show are (as usual) really well done. It’s a tiny theater seating about 75? or so audience members. It’s very intimate, yet they are creative in managing lots of characters on stage and making their sets and effects look clean and “expensive.”

September Theater – Intriguing (Fun) Choices

Damn Yankees (courtesy Reboot Theatre Company)

Classics are here! Regional premieres are here! World premieres are here! Even dance theater is here! September brings on a full slate of performance opportunities. Get out yer calendars!
 
Romeo And Juliet, Theatre Battery, 9/1-22/24 (at Kent Station)
The classic love story, performed with Radical Hospitality: Free Admission for All Audiences.
www.theatrebattery.org
 
The Glass Menagerie, Heart Repertory Theatre, 9/1-15/24 (at Kenmore Community Club, 7304 NE 175^th St., Kenmore)
The classic Williams play, a memory of a fragile woman, a high school crush, a son who has to escape, and a mother who cannot escape her dreams of the past. An English-Spanish production.
www.heartrep.org
 
Damn Yankees, Reboot Theatre Company, 9/6-21/24 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Baseball fanatic Joe Boyd trades his soul to the Devil, also known as Mr. Applegate, to lead his favorite team to victory in the pennant race against the New York Yankees. As young baseball sensation, Joe Hardy, he transforms the hapless Washington Senators into a winning team, only to realize the true worth of the life that he's left behind.
www.reboottheatre.org

Funny, Fierce, Fabulous Production of “Vietgone”

(4 of 5 members of) The Cast of Vietgone (photo by Giao Nguyen)

Vietgone

Pork Filled Productions and SiS Productions
At Theatre Off Jackson
Through August 24, 2024
 
For a relatively small-sized set of companies to take on plays that challenge every part of a production – sets, casting, size of stage, ability to fund it, marketing – and pull it off so that everyone can be happy and proud of the achievement is a big deal. Pork Filled Productions and SiS Productions are two mighty, tiny companies that attempt such work. Their production of Vietgone is this kind of mighty effort and a huge “win” for our community because they have gifted us with the ability to see this play in person, again.
 
Seattle Rep produced this play for us at the end of 2016. Having had the great experience of seeing that script live, I want to make sure everyone knows to try to get tickets for closing weekend! Fill those seats, folks. You won’t be disappointed!

New, Old, and Free – Seattle-Area Theater Provides Summer Enjoyment

Cast of Titanish (Truman Buffett)

It may be the middle of summer, but there is still plenty of energy on stages around the area. Still free shows in parks, reliable summer productions to make you laugh, some brand new work to get you excited about something you’ve never seen before. Shout out to Pork Filled Players  and SiS Productions for producing a regional production of smart, funny, and provocative Vietgone!

 
Greenstage Shakespeare with ASL interpretation, Lynnwood, WA, 8/1 and 8/8/24
For possibly the first time in Puget Sound’s history of hosting summer Shakespeare in the Park, the City of Lynnwood will offer ASL-interpreted performances at Lynndale Amphitheatre, 18927 72nd Ave W.
https://www.lynnwoodwa.gov/Community/Community-Events-Calendar/Shakespeare-in-the-Park%C2%A0
 
King Lear, Island Shakespeare Festival, 8/1/24-9/8/24
This powerful tragedy tells the story of the aging King Lear who decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. His plan goes awry when his daughters' flattery leads to treachery and betrayal. Probing deeply into the complexities of human nature and the consequences of power and betrayal, the play unravels the poignant tale of an aging monarch's descent into madness and the ultimate redemption of his soul, while tackling themes of transformation, disillusionment, consent, and the timeless struggle for identity.
www.islandshakespearefest.org
 
Miss Holmes, Latitude Theatre, 8/2-25/24 (at Seattle Center Armory Theater)
Sherlock Holmes is hot on the trail of a murderer, but there are many obstacles in HER way: her brother Mycroft’s interference, corrupt cops, and a society that doesn’t understand that a woman’s proper place is in­vestigation! Teaming up with her new friend, Dr. Dorothy Watson, Sherlock chases her quarry through the back alleys of London, the halls of Bedlam, and the unexpected confines of the Royal Free Hospital. The game is afoot! It’s her move!
www.latitudetheatre.org

Brothers and Sisters, Time for “Sister Act!”

Anne Allgood and Alexandria J. Henderson (Robert Wade)

Sister Act

Taproot Theatre

Extended through August 17, 2024

Understudies rock! They are the “save the day” wait-ers in the wings, ready to jump into action on a moment’s notice. Often, you the audience don’t even know an understudy has substituted for an actor unless you read the tiny notes added quickly to programs.
 
On the night I saw Sister Act at Taproot Theatre, two understudies went on: Cherisse Martinelli needed to step out of her regular role (Sister Mary Theresa) and go on as Sister Mary Robert; Lauren Engstrom then stepped in as Sister Mary Theresa). Neither of them missed a beat and flawlessly performed every song and choreography!
 
This fun musical came after the movie of 1992. That’s a bit unusual because most often it’s the other way around. It focuses on a would-be-famous singer, Deloris Van Cartier (Alexandria J. Henderson) who has a sad history of picking the wrong man. When she’s hanging out with Curtis (Danny Kam), clearly a gangster, he shoots one of his men as a snitch and she has to run.

Hot Shakespeare and Cool Productions in July

July is theater in the parks! Also musicals and other stuff in cool theaters. Get out yer calendars!

Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival, GreenStage(.org) leads, 7/13-14/24 (at Volunteer Park)
Various park shows now and into August! Including CSZ Seattle (improv Shakespeare), Dacha Theatre, Red Eagle Soaring, Last Leaf Prods., Thistle Theatre, Young Shakespeare Workshop, Shakespeare NW.
 
All month:
Wooden O/Seattle Shakespeare Company presents Two Gentlemen of Verona, www.seattleshakepeare.org, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by Bainbridge Performing Arts www.bainbridgeperformingarts.org, GreenStage presents Henry VI: Part 1, and Henry VI: Part 2, Twelfth Night, AND short stagings of All’s Well That Ends Well, and Julius Caesar, www.greenstage.org, Island Shakespeare Festival presents The Lucky Chance and King Lear starting 7/19/24 www.islandshakespearefest.org, and Fallen Angel is presented by Burien Actors Theatre starting 7/21/24 www.battheatre.org.
 
People in the Square, Creative Hiatus Productions, 7/5-27/24 (Skid Road Theatre)
A cabaret-style musical revue, a glimpse into the many different inhabitants, past and present, of Pioneer Square. Based on historical people and events, the show is a collection of songs and short scenes, celebrating the diversity and fascinating stories of Seattle’s first neighborhood. Ranging in time from the original inhabitants of the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes, early pioneers and gold miners, it fast-forwards to those who frequent Pioneer Square today.
https://www.creativehiatusproductions.com/people-in-the-square-virtual-release/

Spring Awakens at 5th Avenue Theatre

Lauren Drake and Ciara Alyse Harris in Spring Awakening (Mark Kitaoka)

Spring Awakening
5^th Avenue Theatre
Through June 30, 2024
 
This is the third time I have seen Spring Awakening on stage. I saw the initial Broadway touring show in 2007, an iconic and much better (than the touring show) version by Balagan Theatre in 2012 that is remembered for a compelling performance by Jinkx Monsoon (just before she became Jinkx Monsoon) and included cast members Diana Huey and Solea Pfeiffer, and now this one at the 5^th.
 
The best part of this musical is the songs and this cast has killer pipes! The harmonies are sweet and there are some standout performers among a pretty cool cast. Two singers new to me are Ciara Alyse Harris and Lauren Drake, both of whom I would love to see/hear more of.

Back from the Future – I Mean Now… with Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales at Seattle Rep

Jinkx Monsoon at Seattle Rep (Nate Watters)

Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales Together Again, Again!
Seattle Rep
Through 6/23/24
 
Many people love drag shows around here and we have some high profile performers like Dina Martina, Ben de la Crème, and Scott Shoemaker’s Ms. Pak-Man character. They are beloved by their audiences. They are reliably talented performers with plenty of pizzazz. Sometimes, though, shows that are really funny for a while get worn out when stretched past the premise.
 
Such is the case with beloved ex-local, Jinkx Monsoon, and her talented music-composing side-kick, Major Scales. They are both fully capable performers, and if they weren’t they wouldn’t have achieved the notoriety and fame they’ve already achieved. Having enjoyed earlier iterations of their shows together, I was hopeful that their new show, Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales Together Again, Again!, would benefit from the heaps of different show business growth that has helped them hone their talents to a fierce shine.
 
Their new production’s gimmick is that they have been separated from each other for many years, with resentments and beefs galore, but now, in the year 2065, “the sun has exploded, a dystopian nightmare has been realized, and the world has been taken over by authoritarian lizard people,” (says the pr blurb) and maybe it’s time to reunite and bury their hatchets.

June Theater: Shorts Galore and Soon Free Park Shows!

Tracy Michelle Hughes, Reginald André Jackson, Deja Culver, Jacob Alcazar, Joe Moore in Clyde's at ArtsWest

June is packed with shorts festivals and the start of theater (and dance) in the parks! Get out yer calendars!
 
Clyde's, ArtsWest and The Hansberry Project, 6/6-30/24
Lynn Nottage’s latest Broadway triumph introduces the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of Clyde’s, a truck stop cafe. Even as the shop’s mischievous owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the staffers are given purpose and permission to dream.
www.artswest.org
 
Distillery New Works Festival, Seattle Public Theater, already happened
Each play in the festival receives a live reading with a cast of professional actors and a director. The readings conclude with a moderated discussion of the play with the playwright. Funnie by Jessica Moss, Impossible Theories Of Us by John Mabey, Li by Wei He, The Park by Lisa Every and Jenn Ruzumna, Possessed by Gloria Majule, Safe Hands by Alara Magritte and Daniel Rosen, Skin by Anamaria Guerzon.
www.seattlepublictheater.org
 
Spring Awakening, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 6/7-30/24
Spring Awakening is an electrifying journey through the trials and challenges of adolescence, with music by Duncan Sheik. The story explores the mystery of attraction, desire, sex, insecurity, and the highs and lows of navigating the pressures of young adult life. With a score of contemporary rock music that transformed the way Broadway thinks about musicals, Spring Awakening is a poignant and thrilling ride that stings with resonance for today’s youth.
www.5thavenue.org

Fierce Farceurs of Fun at Taproot

Nathan Brockett and Sophia Franzella (photo by Robert Wade)

Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position
Taproot Theatre
Through June 22, 2024 (happily extended)
 
Taproot Theatre has a clear preference for plays by Margaret Raether. They’ve done many of her Jeeves plays in recent years which are quite fun escapes from the doldrums of life, provide a laugh and a bit of mystery to solve. Raether has also written a “Sherlock Holmes” play, but rather than base it on a real Conan Doyle story, she’s crafted her own mystery and a version of Holmes that is far less serious than what you might be used to.
 
Here, her Holmes (played by Calder Jameson Shilling) is more gleeful than glum and more of a trickster than terse. She makes Dr. Watson the narrator (Nathaniel Tenenbaum), though some of the narration gets a bit muddy script-wise. Watson is also much less of a sober sidekick, with more emphasis on “kick” and less on “side.”
 
Shilling and Tenenbaum bring their usual finesse to these, as any, roles. But the real, dizzying work of the play is done by two well-known Seattle clowns, Nathan Brockett and Sophia Franzella. Brockett and Franzella play every other character in the script with costume changes (wonderfully designed by Pete Rush) that are so quick, sometimes, that they seem impossible.

“Unrivaled” Layer Upon Layer of Intrigue (With Fun!)

Alanah Pasqual, Pearl Lam, Adele Lim in "Unrivaled" at Seattle Public Theater 

Unrivaled
SiSProductions and Seattle Public Theater
Through June 2, 2024
 
The opening moments of Unrivaled, in a co-production between SiS Productions and Seattle Public Theater, immediately propel you into every aspect of Rosie Narasaki’s fascinating play about 1000-year-old Japanese writers Lady Murasaki and Lady Sei. Director Mimi Katano brilliantly sets the mood and the music.
 
Precise dance moves; specific use of fans; a gauzy, simple, effective set by Robin Macartney; and elliptical conversations that hint at layers beyond layers of meaning. These elements plus a trio of super actors create a 100-minute production that flies by.
 
Adele Lim starts to narrate the story as Empress Teishi with such cuteness it’s impossible not to laugh, but also demonstrates instantaneous ability to change her demeanor and after setting herself up as a ditz, also asks some of the very smartest questions in the script.
 
Teishi describes her court and the intrigue surrounding royal family secret and not so secret attempts at rising to the top. She shrugs her shoulders at the culture that marries off all the daughters to the rising sons as a way to keep power in the family. She details the most recent spate of deaths and successions. She also introduces how her court includes the smartest lady writers recruited to write and publish for an information-starved populace.

‘The Lehman Trilogy’ Tells A Lot, Shows Little

 

Robert Pescovitz, Bradford Farwell, Brandon J. Simmons
in The Lehman Trilogy (Rosemary Dai Ross)

The Lehman Trilogy
ACT Theatre 

Through May 19, 2024

Does the ACT Theatre production of The Lehman Trilogy stand up to the play? Or does the play stand up to ACT’s version?
 
Of the Broadway production in 2021, Charles Isherwood, critic at Broadway News, said, “But for all its surface stylishness, "The Lehman (Trilogy)" is a stolid and rather monolithic slab of a show: a three hour and twenty minute talking Wikipedia page, so dense with description and narration, and devoid of drama - or even dialogue - that watching it is like watching very expensive paint dry, or maybe, to use a more apt metaphor, listening to cotton growing.”
 
There are a lot of glowing reviews out there that beckon you to come see an amazing story. The story is, indeed, amazing, though 160 years in the making. However, the script by Ben Power (from the first iteration by Stephano Massini), is written in what Seattle might think of as “The Book-It Style” where people refer to themselves in third person (Henry says, “He looked hard at his brother.” While looking hard at his brother.).
 
Book-It Repertory Theatre used that style often to great effect while also working very hard to theatricalize the novel it was based upon. Here, though, it’s a history book. This history tries to conflate decades into three plus hours. Three actors portray three brothers and all the myriad other characters throughout their lives.

May Laughs Abound in Theater

Nathaniel Tanenbaum and Sophia Franzella in Sherlock Holmes and the Precarious Position at Taproot Theatre (Robert Wade)

May seems to have brought out the funny-bone in the Seattle area theater world. If you’re looking for something dark and moody, you probably have to wait a month! Here are world premieres and a bunch of laughs, so get out yer calendars and get some tickets!
 
The Lion Tells His Tale, Intiman Theatre, 5/1-5/24 (at Broadway Performance Hall) (world premiere)
Vida Oliphant Sneed introduces Delbert Richardson’s national award-winning museum, making it come to life on stage for a brand new theatrical experience. Audiences will be transported on a journey of awakening as the brilliance, resistance, and resilience of Black people from Africa to the Americas is brought to life. Music, dance, and spoken word carry our hero through time as we all gather to engage and learn. “Until the lion tells his tale, the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” - African proverb
www.intiman.org
 
The Savannah Sipping Society, Edmonds Driftwood Players, 5/3-19/24
Four unique Southern women, all needing to escape the sameness of their day-to-day routines, are drawn together by Fate—and an impromptu happy hour—and decide it’s high time to reclaim the enthusiasm for life they’ve lost through the years. Together, they discover lasting friendships and a renewed determination to live in the moment.
www.edmondsdriftwoodplayers.org
 
Bee Present, SecondStory Repertory, 5/4-19/24 (world premiere)
A new children’s musical with Book & Lyrics by Kate Swenson and Music by John Allman. Birdie the Bee is so busy micromanaging the hive that she forgot the queen's birthday. Now she's on an impossible quest to find a gift the queen has never received before. And if she fails to surprise and delight her monarch---Birdie is out of the hive forever. With the help of a distractible hummingbird, a merry meadow, some crafty crows, and the infamous Sloth Thought Collective, this overly busy bee might find more than the perfect gift, she just might learn to stop stressing and Bee Present. (Ages 4+, 55 minutes no intermission)
www.secondstoryrep.org
 
Broadway Spectacular, Seattle Women’s Chorus, 5/4/24 (1:00PM and 5:00PM at Cornish Playhouse)
Billie Wildrick guest stars with the Seattle Women’s Chorus as it celebrates all things Broadway! Billie is is one of Seattle’s best-known musical theater performers with a belt that can’t be beat.  This is a concert that will keep your toes tapping and hands clapping.
www.seattlechoruses.org

Hear “English” in a New Way at ArtsWest

 

Almost full cast of English at Artswest (John McLellan)

English
ArtsWest and Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble
Through April 28, 2024
 
In a classroom in Karaj, Iran, in the year 2008, four students are learning English in hopes of passing the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), a test that might open the door to them for many opportunities, including visas to the United States. This quickly moving, non-stop play, directed by Naghmeh Samini, unfolds their stories and their challenges and even their emotional responses to learning the language itself.
 
Omid (Emon Elboudwarej) turns out to already have an American visa, and partly grew up in the U.S. speaking Americanized English. He is close to being able to gain a green card. When the classmates find out, they are both jealous and outraged, feeling like he shouldn’t even be in class with them if he can speak so well. But he has his reasons.
 
Goli (Newsha Farahani) loves learning languages. At 18, she’s not sure how she’ll put English to use, but is sure it will come in handy. Roya (Janet Hayatshahi) has a born-in-America granddaughter and her son is pushing her to speak only English to his child. She feels like she has no choice, but wishes she could let her granddaughter hear the poetry and history of her son’s native tongue.

Spring Blossoms in Seattle Area Theater

Duygu Erdogan Monson and Akul Sood in ReAct Theatre's Animals Out of Paper (David Hsieh)

Highly anticipated regional premiere productions come to stages along with other innovative offerings. Take a look and get out yer calenders!
 
English, ArtsWest and Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, 4/4-28/24
Two words set in motion award-winning playwright Sanaz Toossi’s intricate play: “English Only.” This is the mantra that rules one classroom in Iran, where four adult students are preparing for the TOEFL — the Test of English as a Foreign Language. Chasing fluency through a maze of word games, listening exercises, and show-and-tell sessions, they hope that one day, English will help their futures. But it might be splitting them each in half.
www.artswest.org
 
Gunmetal Blues, Key City Public Theatre, 4/4-28/24
Is this musical a hard-boiled detective tale disguised as a lounge act- or the other way around? Direct from the Red Eye Lounge, Buddy Toupee tickles the ivories in a double-dealing world of rain-slicked streets and demolished dreams.
www.keycitypublictheatre.org
 
Death By Design, The Phoenix Theatre, 4/5-28/24
In a weekend in an English country manor in 1932, Death by Design is a hilarious, delightful and mysterious mash-up of two of the greatest English writers of all time. Edward Bennett, a playwright, and his wife, Sorel Bennett, an actress, flee London and head to Cookham after a disastrous opening night.
www.tptedmonds.org

Smart, Modern "Trick" Plays Out Shakespeare’s "All’s Well That Ends Well"

Rachel Guyer-Mafune, Libby Barnard
and Sophia Franzella in The Bed Trick (Giao Nguyen)

The Bed Trick
Seattle Shakespeare Company
Seattle Center Armory Theatre
Through April 7, 2024
 
Starting from Shakespeare’s troublesome trickery in All’s Well That Ends Well, where two women switch places in the dark to bed a man who doesn’t realize it, playwright Keiko Green fashions a modern dive into what we think of the “trick” now.
 
Sure, folks in Shakespeare’s time might have looked at it very differently. Women had little agency or choices about who they married or how their lives would go. But when a company puts on Shakespeare’s plays now, shouldn’t they take a minute to evaluate what our society values are at this moment?
 
Green has performed on many Seattle area stages and began playwriting here, debuting several works before heading south for an MFA. It’s a privilege to be able to see a playwright’s work over time, and in this case, Green just keeps getting better! The Bed Trick dives deeply into the concept of tricking someone without consent, and also interrogates Shakespeare while blending in some beautiful passages.

Murder in the Mansion – “Something’s Afoot” Cast Is To Die For

Anne Allgood and Sarah Rudinoff in "Something's Afoot" (Mark Kitaoka)

Something’s Afoot
5^th Avenue Theatre
Through March 24, 2024
 
Some of our town’s most iconically funny musical theater performers join together in the 5^th Avenue Theatre’s production of Something’s Afoot. Anne Allgood, who I think can do anything on stage, is a past-master of the totally-serious-hysterical-delivery needed in something as campy and silly as this production.
 
If you are an Agatha Christie reader, you already know what happens in her book, And Then There Were None. It’s one of her most famous murder mysteries and so you may only have read this one – or heard of it. The title hints at what this evening of silliness will become.
 
It’s a weekend in the country (sorry, Sondheim). Guests start arriving at a mansion reached by a small land bridge, virtually all of them expecting only themselves and the mansion owner. Yet, more keep coming until there are ten guests. To their immediate surprise, the mansion owner is found shot before anyone has had the opportunity to greet him, and a storm cuts them all off from the mainland and strands them there.

March Stages Roar To Life

Allen Fitzpatrick in Something's Afoot at the 5th Avenue Theatre (John Curry)

Seattle theater continues to roar back to life, producing as many shows this month as was usual pre-Covid! Seattle theatergoers need to continue to step up and step out to see these great shows! World premieres and early Sondheim musicals, prize-winning scripts, a horrific medical story with a happy ending – take a look and get out yer calendars and get them booked!

Sanctuary City, Seattle Rep, 3/1-31/24 (opens 3/6)
In the winter of 2001, in Newark, NJ, two teens, undocumented DREAMers-pre-DACA. meet up on the fire escape. They grapple with life's challenges, from family to their futures. She promises to him that when she becomes naturalized, she will marry him so he can receive his papers. As time passes and their relationship shifts, both must confront what they are willing to sacrifice to live freely and belong. This searing and captivating new play by Pulitzer Prize-winning Martyna Majok asks what we're willing to risk for those we love.
www.seattlerep.org
 
Something’s Afoot, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 3/1-24/24 (opens 3/8)
A musical to poke fun at Agatha Christie murder mysteries; ten people are stranded in an isolated country estate during a raging thunderstorm. One by one, they are picked off by cleverly fiendish devices. As bodies pile up, the survivors frantically race to solve the mystery! Join in the tomfoolery of this farcical, raucous, and outrageous play, that will appeal to lovers of shows like Arrested Development, The Office, and Schitt’s Creek.
www.5thavenue.org
 
Ada and the Engine, Edmonds Driftwood Players, 3/1-17/24
Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program! In 1830! Playwright Lauren Gunderson envisions a fiery, brilliant woman who sees the boundless creative potential in the “analytic engines” of her friend and soul mate Charles Babbage, inventor of the first mechanical computer. Ada envisions a whole new world where art and information converge—a world she might not live to see. A music-laced story of love, friendship, and the edgiest dreams of the future.
www.edmondsdriftwoodplayers.org

Don’t Forget Tickets to “Memoirs of a Forgotten Man!”

Patrick Harvey, Jon Lutyens, Sunam Ellis in Memoirs of a Forgotten Man (Annabel Clark)

Memoirs Of A Forgotten Man
Thalia’s Umbrella
At 12th Avenue Arts

Through March 9, 2024
 
A fascinating and brilliantly written production, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, is now onstage at 12^th Avenue Arts, by Thalia’s Umbrella. It feels like a decades-past Russian-written critique of their government, but was written by an American, D. W. Gregory, and only in 2018.
 
We meet Dr. Berezina (Sunam Ellis) who is trying to get her doctorate thesis approved for publication and has been called in to meet Comrade Kreplev (Jon Lutyens), but it’s on a Sunday morning – a very odd time to be meeting about this effort. Immediately, we are on edge because she is on edge. A feeling of menace and discomfort infuse every moment. What is she doing there? What is he doing there?
 
Kreplev practically dismisses all of her scientific effort. He demands to know information that is not present in her writings. Her focus is regarding memory and how it works. She has written about a subject of hers whom she both studied and counseled 20 years earlier. But the man has disappeared. Kreplev is most interested in him and where he has disappeared to. She is completely baffled by this.

Time Travel Matters in Seattle Public Theater's "Once More, Just For You"

 

Once More, Just For You (Joe Iano)

Once More, Just For You
SeattlePublic Theater and
Macha Theatre Works
Through February 25, 2024
 
A world premiere from Seattle’s preeminent sci-fi fantasy playwright, Maggie Lee, is now on stage at Seattle Public Theater (co-produced with Macha Theatre Works). The premise of Once More, Just For You is that a woman (scientist) has a time machine in her basement and is intent to do something very specific with it. What she wants and why are the two questions that fill the mystery of the play.
 
Scientist Rae (Ina Chang) has a mission to go back in time and change one very tiny, very unimportant - to the whole universe - event. She doesn’t want to change world history because that’s a step too far. She doesn’t believe that changing this one tiny event will affect much of anything else, though of course she’d never know if it did later.

"Blood Countess" Horrifies (In A Good Way)

Brandon Ryan as Fitzco and Zenaida Rose Smith as Elizabeth Bathory (Truman Buffett)

Blood Countess
MAP Theatre (at 18^th and Union)
Through February 24, 2024
 
Ten years ago (ok, 9 ½), Annex Theatre produced a world premiere by local “goth” playwright Kelleen Conway Blanchard called Blood Countess. The subject is a poetic and evocative telling of a real-life noblewoman, Elizabeth Bathory, whose life spawned many folktales after her life and death in the 1500s, including that she maimed, tortured, and killed hundreds of young women. There were claims of vampirism!
 
Blanchard has a very unique writing voice and often blends macabre humor and sexuality into her work. Laughter is inextricably mixed with dark subjects. Here, Blanchard had a wide-open field to imagine the life of Bathory. And imagine she does. The play begins with Bathory’s childhood, then marriage to a fellow sadist, up to her final captivity and end.

Experienced Talent Brimming in "The Book of Will" at Taproot Theatre

Nolan Palmer and Melanie Godsey in The Book of Will (John Ulman)

The Book of Will
Taproot Theatre
Through February 24, 2024
 
This production of prolific playwright Lauren Gunderson is rambunctiously performed by a mostly-veteran ensemble of wonderful actors. It’s such a joy to see/hear them chew into the script, especially Nolan Palmer, as he skillfully overacts, as Richard Burbage, Shakespeare’s soliloquys while wanting to murder the young, ridiculous thespians who mangle and change Shakespeare’s words – because Shakespeare’s plays have not yet been codified in print.
 
The play surmises that after Shakespeare’s death, no one has thought to collect all of his plays and make sure they are properly saved for future audiences. In 1619, a few years after Shakespeare’s death, dumbed-down versions of his plays are proliferating, with actors guessing at what the script would be! Determined to fix this are the fabled actor Richard Burbage (Nolan Palmer), who played dozens of the great roles, John Heminges (Eric Jensen),the business manager of Shakespeare’s acting company, The King’s Men, Henry Condell (Reginald André Jackson), an actor and co-owner of the Globe. They are aided by wives and daughter (Llysa Holland, Nikki Visel, and Melanie Godsey).
 
Palmer doubles as William Jaggard, a swindler in the publishing game who has often been accused of plagiarism, and somehow has spawned a son, Isaac (Christopher Clark), who swears he will help bring authenticity and trust to publishing the Folio. The rest of the wonderful ensemble include Ben Johnson (Nik Doner), the other great playwright of the era, and Ralph Crane (Andrew Litzky), a meticulous scribe of the “acting” scripts of Shakespeare who wrote down and kept many crucial scripts for himself (thankfully), and William Eames, who plays several small but important roles.

Special Opportunity to Hear Musical “Sunset Boulevard”

Billie Wildrick and Matthew Kacergis in Sunset Boulevard (Chris Bennion)

Sunset Boulevard
Showtunes Theatre Company
(at Cornish Playhouse)
Through February 11, 2024
 
Below, you’ll see that I was intrigued enough about the musical that I did some Wikipedia-ing about both the movie, Sunset Boulevard, and the musical’s history. But I first want to encourage you to hurry and get tickets for the last two performances of this concert before you lose this unique opportunity!
 
Showtunes Theatre Company, if you have not had the immense pleasure of attending their concerts, yet, allows us to see top-level local musical theater performers tackle musicals that may well never have “full” productions in Seattle. They perform “concerts” where there is no set, not much significant costuming or lights, and the performers generally use scripts-in-hand, so the audience has to bring a lot of imagination along.
 
However, in recent years, the concerts have gotten more and more complex, with choreography, a few key costumes, and fewer music stands between the audience and performers. This concert is more technically sophisticated than most concerts I’ve seen! There are absolutely gorgeous costumes for Norma’s glamourous lifestyle (by Chelsea Cook), and some crucial projections (by Jake Burleigh) that provide the old-timey feel of vintage motion pictures.
 
Then there is a 20-person on-stage orchestra led by artistic director Nathan Young! That means that the musician-ship, the lush sound of the score, couldn’t be better at a large theater with a full production! The atmosphere and quality of the production is top-notch!
 
The ensemble of performers is superb! Glorious Billie Wildrick plays Norma Desmond and trembles with silent-screen-star emotions. She nails every big number, expressing (sometimes crazy) feelings with conviction and passion. Matthew Kacergis, as Joe Gillis, has great vocal range and power and whose down-at-heart screenwriter is by turns driven and defeated. Jeff Church, as Max the taciturn butler, has a beautiful bass voice. Karin Terry, as Betty Schaefer, the 22 year old (!) literary assistant determined to write a movie, enchants. The rest of the cast is full of huge talents, as well.

A New “Quixote” Enlivens Both The Classic and Border Issues

Sancho Panza and Don Quixote (Nate Watters)

Quixote Nuevo

Seattle Rep
Through February 11, 2024
 
Octavio Solis’ play, Quixote Nuevo, is a treat for both Spanish and English speakers when you can pick out the interplay of puns and alliteration and literary references. In Quixote Nuevo, he mirrors the well-known tale of Don Quixote, who loved Dulcinea and tried to fight the powers-that-be.
 
He chooses a professor, Jose Quijano (played with elegance and verve by Herbert Siguenza), of the author Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. The professor is accelerating in his decline toward dementia and his family feels he’d be safer in an assisted living facility. Jose becomes a “new” Quixote, escapes his concerned family and townsfolk, and begins a search for Dulcinea. But escaping also presents great danger, as his inability to see where reality ends and fantasy starts could cause him to forget to eat or drink out in the bleak desert on the border of Texas.
 
The tone of the play is often joyful, yet mixed with pain. Large puppets are used to menace and to entrance. Tejano music is used masterfully to demonstrate parts of the story and underscore moments of emotional outbursts.

February Theater – Great Choices

 

The Lady Demands Satisfaction at Phoenix Theatre (Eric Lewis)

This short month has already shot out the gate and is galloping along! Quick, start booking your shows before they’re gone!

 
Born With Teeth, ArtsWest, 2/1-25/24
With an aging authoritarian British ruler, a violent police state, and a restless, polarized people seething with paranoia, it’s a dangerous time for poets. Two of them — the great Christopher Marlowe and the up-and-comer William Shakespeare — meet in the back room of a pub to collaborate on a history play cycle, navigate the perils of art under a totalitarian regime, and flirt like young men with everything to lose. One of them may well be the death of the other in this biting comedy about ambition, ego, and history.
www.artswest.org
 
Living IncogNegro, Key City Public Theatre, 2/1-11/24
Talented solo performer Gin Hammond writes about her personal journey. When your cultural identity is one thing, but your physical identity is another, how do you navigate self-expression? Both a humorous love-letter, and an academic discourse, dedicated to those who find themselves in the middle of a cultural battle they never asked for.
www.keycitypublictheatre.org
 
Once More, Just for You, Seattle Public Theater, 2/2-25/24 (world premiere)
Local playwright Maggie Lee pens a new sci-fi based play. The only foolproof way to truly fix past mistakes is time travel, right? Rae has a time machine and she's gonna try. But just because you already know which path NOT to take doesn’t always guarantee things will end up where you planned. A curious, heartfelt new play about finding connection, unspoken sacrifice, and the infinite metaphysical paradox of loving and letting go.
www.seattlepublictheater.org
 
A Case for the Existence of God, ACT Theatre, 2/2-18/24
“Whale” writer Samuel D. Hunter won the 2022 New York Drama Critics’ award for this play. Inside a small loan brokerage in Idaho, two men struggle to make a place for their family in the American dream, navigating the tensions of parenthood, financial security, desire, and empathy. Intrigue, revelation, and surprises link the lives of two fathers intertwine reflecting on what it means to be human.
www.acttheatre.org
 
The Lady Demands Satisfaction, The Phoenix Theatre, 2/2-25/24
When a young maiden who has never touched a sword learns she must defend her inheritance in a duel, she struggles with a milksop suitor, a servant girl posing as a Prussian fencing master, the actual Prussian fencing master who believes he is there to marry her, a stodgy lord, and her domineering aunt – the finest blade anywhere - to save her house and lands.
www.tptedmonds.org
 
Sunset Boulevard, Showtunes Theatre Company, 2/3-11/24 (at Cornish Playhouse)
We get a local view of the whole musical – going to Broadway in 2024 – chronicling Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on that fabled, famous Los Angeles street. Billy Wildrick, local musical powerhouse star, takes stage as Norma. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen, with romance and tragedy to follow. Joining the large cast of favorite musical theater actors will be a 25 person, on-stage orchestra. (Trust me, this is special!)
www.showtunestheatre.org

25 Years of ZinZanni Fun with Kevin Kent

Kevin Kent at Teatro Zinzanni (Photo by Nate Watters)

In recent years, TeatroZinZanni has “put up its tent” in various temporary locations, and for the last several months, they have been resident in the new Hotel Lotte (Low-tay) in downtown Seattle. The building includes the soaring sanctuary inside what used to be the 1908-built United First Methodist Church. ZinZanni figured out a way to insert the bottom part of the tent inside the sanctuary, and then erect metal structures above to be able to “fly” the aerial performers safely. But you can still see the beautiful dome above that.
 
So, if you’ve been to ZinZanni before, the surroundings will be familiar. The deep burgundy of the curtains, the wooden floor, the mirrors, the booths around the perimeter and the doors through which performers enter and food is served.
 
Kevin Kent was a cast member of the original Teatro ZinZanni show in Seattle in 1998 and the subsequent debut show in San Francisco in 2000, and has been with Teatro ever since. A physical and improvisational humorist, Kevin has honed his comedic audience interactions to a fine point. During the performance, he morphs into a female character that might baffle audience members. (During my visit, my companion did not realize until after the show that Kevin was both the male and female interactor.)
 
I had a great time interviewing Kevin about his life and working with ZinZanni. A New Mexico native, he and his husband Joe are living in the homestead his parents built in the mountains.

Jan + Half Feb Theater Openings, Check Out the World Premieres!

 

Montage of Comedy of Errors photos (Giao Nguyen)

Theater is bringing great energy to the new year! I’m partial to world premieres because of the sense of adventure, seeing a show that only has a tempting blurb, and rolling dice hoping that it will be a great experience. Even if it ends up not being your favorite show, you’re still supporting the forward motion of the theater community. Engage your inner adventurer and get outcher calendars!

The Comedy of Errors, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 1/10-28/24

This small ensemble version cleaves right to the heart of this comedy of separated twins. What are the chances there’s a guy walking around town with your face? What are the chances there’s another guy walking around town with your servant’s face? Antipholus and Dromio encounter some trouble when their doppelgangers seem to be on the loose in Ephesus, not realizing that their identical twins with identical names were separated from them in a shipwreck as babies. Performed by a troupe of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) collaborators.

www.seattleshakespeare.org
 
God of Carnage, SecondStory Repertory, 1/12-28/24
A playground altercation between eleven-year-old boys brings together two sets of Brooklyn parents at a home for a meeting to resolve the matter. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses, and the rum flows, tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters.
www.secondstoryrep.org
 
Strong Waters, Global Works 1/13/24-2/3/24 (at 12^th Ave Arts) (world premiere)
“Permission to come aboard?” A retired actor and his recently divorced son share a tranquil life in a floating home community - until an unexpected guest arrives, destined to make waves. The past is awakened, and the present enlivened, as three people discover where their hidden hurts, and their hope for healing, collide.
www.globalworksproductions.com