"Carousel" more dance extravaganza than you thought and spare, muscular production

Brandon O'Neill and Laura Griffith in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel (Mark Kitaoka)

Carousel

The 5^th Avenue Theatre

Through March 1, 2015

The fluid, muscular choreography of Donald Byrd and Spectrum Dance Theater makes this spare, engaging production of Carousel soar to new heights. Director Bill Berry both lightens and darkens the tones, bringing a depth of expression to this sometimes taken-for-granted musical.

The dance tone is set right from the start with the Carousel Waltz, a full on dance sequence introducing the amusement park and its attraction for the townsfolk. With few words, we meet Julie (a stubborn Laura Griffith) and her bestie Carrie (enthusiastic, bubbly Billie Wildrick) and see the attraction of rough-hewn carousel barker Billie Bigelow (powerful Brandon O’Neill). We note that amusement park owner Mrs. Mullin (Cynthia Jones) might be a bit jealous of the fawning girls.

Live Girls! takes on 16th Century rape culture in "Blood/Water/Paint"

a painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

Blood/Water/Paint
Live Girls! Theater
at Theatre Off Jackson
through March 14, 2015

(as posted on StackeDD Magazine)

Live Girls! Theater is debuting Blood/Water/Paint, a play by local playwright, Joy McCullough-Carranza. LG focuses on women writers, and the subject matter of the play is a 16th Century Italian painter, Artemisia Gentileschi. We can assume, correctly, that Artemisia (it seems more appropriate to refer to her by first name) had a tough time being recognized as a painter. But more than that, Artemisia’s story is amazing in part due to a still-surviving trial transcript of a trial where she testified against her rapist, even after being subjected to torture! Her fight to convict her attacker makes her an even more appropriate heroine today.

STACKEDD interviewed playwright McCullough-Carranza about bringing this play to life. Joy described for us her writing process and what drew her to try to put this story on stage:

“Some time in 2001, I was reading a Margaret Atwood novel that made passing reference to a famous Artemisia. I had never heard the name, so out of curiosity I looked it up. It was early days of Internet, so I only found a bit about the Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. But what I found was enough to send me off to the art history section of the library.

I knew very little about art history, but I’d minored in Women’s Studies in college, so I was not surprised to learn that in the Baroque Italian art world, women were not apprenticed, or given access to the career tracks required to become painters. But Artemisia Gentileschi was apprenticed to her father and even as a teenager, the quality of her work was already surpassing his.

Seattle Women's Chorus: Reel Women - Reel great singing, some reel weird song choices

Hooray for Hollywood - Seattle Women's Chorus (Conrado Tapado of eQuality Images)

This past weekend, Seattle Women’s Chorus presented several nights of shows at the Cornish Playhouse with the theme Reel Women. This concert shows that the Chorus continues to grow in depth and execution. It was the best they have sounded, as their cohesion and comfort as a chorus deepens!

The focus was on movies and music from movies. Some terrific song choices were made and a lot of fun clips of movies accompanied many of the choral arrangements. So, Let the River Run by Carly Simon included footage of the movie Working Girl which featured the song. And I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton was shown along with footage of the movie The Bodyguard.

A special partnership was highlighted with Reel Grrls, a non-profit that encourages young girls to participate in movie-making. Two shorts were included that perfectly encapsulated the subject matter and point-of-view of these young filmmakers.

Some of the highest highlights included another beautiful pairing of Maureen Warren and Virginia Daugherty, singing Dome Epais from the opera Lakme, which has been used often in films. They sounded sublime. Their execution would stand up in any operatic evening anywhere in the world, I would think! Just gorgeous.

Seattle Public Theater's "Humble Boy" a well-done production

Jason Marr and Macall Gordon wrestling over funeral ashes (Paul Bestock)

Humble Boy
Seattle Public Theater
Through February 15, 2015

As posted in Seattle Gay News

If you boil Shakespeare's Hamlet down, you might get something like: a young man broods after his father's death, while his mother quickly marries his uncle. If you ignore all the palace stuff, the royalty and inheritance and deaths, you might then focus on the family drama. 

Charlotte Jones' play, Humble Boy, now at Seattle Public Theater, can be summed up similarly: a young man broods after his father's death, while his mother quickly takes up with a family friend. Felix Humble (Jason Marr) is an astrophysicist with a distinct dis-ease about social interactions. He arrives home after hearing about his father's death to find his mother, Flora (Macall Gordon), has gotten rid of all of James' things, including the bees from the family hives. 

Coming Up! Theater in February 2015

Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura), 1638-39
Painted by Artemisia Gentileschi

You had such a good time reading about upcoming shows in January that you clamored for more information for February! Well, we’re happy to oblige and let you know about the scintillating choices around the Sound on area stages. In fact, there is so much locally written material this month, we could dub February Locally Written Theater Month.

First to open is a locally written play, Natural, at Annex Theatre, 2/3-18/15 but on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Writer Marcus Gorman crafts a play about six Seattleites who unravel messy, urban lives of retail hell, online erotica and crises of sexual identity. Art and Theo met in French class and seem to be very happy together. But while Theo sorts through his relationship with a persistent coworker, and his best friend Chloe tries to reconcile her on- and off-line reputations, Art finds himself unexpectedly drawn to worldly bartender Samantha. Alliances shift, friendships are tested, and mistakes are made.

http://www.annextheatre.org/2015-season/off-night/natural/

Carousel is the next musical at The 5th Avenue Theatre, from 2/5/15-3/1/15 (a co-production of the 5th and Spectrum Dance Theater). It’s a classic musical love story about a carnival barker, Billy Bigelow, who loves mill worker Julie Jordan. After his untimely death, Billy makes a deal with an angel and is allowed to return to earth for just one day for a chance to redeem his life and make peace with the wife and daughter he left behind. A terrific cast, headed by Laura Griffith, Brandon O’Neill and Billie Wildrick, promises a strong showing, along with some unique choreography from Spectrum Dance Theater. The musical is not without controversy, though, since Billy Bigelow is a rough-cast fellow who has such difficulty managing his feelings that he hits people, including women.

https://www.5thavenue.org/show/syos/carousel

Three shows well worth checking out ("Mwindo" at Seattle Children’s, "The Secretaries" at Theater Schmeater, "4000 Miles" at ArtsWest)

Tracy Michelle Hughes fronts the cast of Mwindo (photo by Chris Bennion)

Yup, there is a LOT of theater happening right now. 2015 opened up a floodgate after the first of the year and your head might be spinning from trying to figure out what to see. At least, I’m hoping your head is spinning because that means you are a lover of theater, like me.

I, too, have been trying to get to as many shows as I can and indubitably failing to get to everything. But I can encourage you to go to three shows that will vary entirely, one production from another, and represent a huge range of subject matter and style.

Mwindo at Seattle Children’s Theater

Mwindo is a world premiere play from the keyboards of Cheryl West. She understands how to write for older children and is using an African fable/myth to demonstrate some complex ideas about revenge or forgiveness.