Solid production of "She Loves Me" at SMT - a perfect musical

Dustyn Moir and Doug Knoop look on as Laura Medford teases Brian Lange in She Loves Me (Jeff Carpenter)

She Loves Me

Seattle Musical Theatre

Through December 20, 2015

The musical She Loves Me, music by Jerry Brock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, book by Joe Masteroff, is one of the most perfect musicals ever, to me. It has a smallish cast, a fun and charismatic storyline, and killer songs. The songs, lyrics especially, are little bits of brilliance. Pretty much all of them!

You know the story if you’ve seen the old movie, The Shop Around the Corner, or the new movie, You’ve Got Mail: two people who work together and seem to hate each other have pen pals they think they love who turn out to be each other. Watching them fall in love with each other is a lot of fun.

The musical is done here every so often and the current production is at Seattle Musical Theatre. Directed by Alan Wilkie, it sports a cast of very good singers, which is great for the somewhat tricky music. A few of them are pretty new to the Seattle musical scene, which is always fun to discover.

Your holiday "Ham" is here!

The Colonel and Shenille (Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt) in Ham for the Holidays (photo by Chris Bennion)

Ham for the Holidays: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Ham?

Tongueinchic Productions

(at ACT Theatre)

Through December 20, 2015

I’m going to put a suggestion in the box for Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt to develop another regularly scheduled show during the year, maybe for Summer Solstice! Because once a year is simply not enough to enjoy their unique minds and amazing comedy. But so far, all we have is the Christmas time offering of Ham for the Holidays.

The current sketch night is subtitled Who’s Afraid of Virginia Ham? I don’t think the title has much to do with any given year’s sketches, but it’s part of the pun.

This year, we get the return of the Colonel and Shenille, as they sing along the Duwamish and point out the sights, such as they are. Be warned that, while the barge is billed as a casino and bar, they’re so new that they’ve yet to procure either the gambling license or the liquor license, but chug along they go! (Platt’s costume here is one of the funniest ever!)

Sprightly "Emma" brings a touch of summer love

Sylvie Davidson as Emma (Adam Smith)

Emma

Book-It Repertory Theatre

Through January 3, 2016

Books by Jane Austen provide excellent material for Book-It Repertory Theatre. And subscribers and audiences seem to eat them up, selling out several performances for adaptations of Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, and Rachel Atkins’ romcom adaptation of Emma. Reprising now, after a production in 2009, the show is reimagined in some lovely ways.

Carol Roscoe, the director, creates a proscenium picture (last time was kind of in the round) of a grass-covered summer-time romp. The sun is shining (courtesy lighting designer Andrew D. Smith) and the topiary rolls and can be sat on (set design courtesy of Andrea Bryn Bush). All is enhanced with the sumptuous costuming by Jocelyn Fowler, who is becoming a favorite of mine. The costuming was deceptively simple, but the embellishments made all the difference.

“Unwrapped” isn’t the present you were waiting for

Jinkx Monsoon in Unwrapped (Nate Watters)

Unwrapped

Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Through December 13, 2015

Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales are a unique duo. They have achieved heady success as a drag team who are talented enough to sing their own songs and compose and write and perform smart material and witty banter. Last year, they performed a critically acclaimed show at the Seattle Repertory Theatre called The Vaudevillians.

The premise of The Vaudevillians was that this couple were frozen in the 1920s and somehow unthawed and brought back to life, all faculties intact. They then go back to their prior business of performing ‘20s style vaudeville music. It was expansive, over-the-top and quite enormous fun!

It was still mostly a “bar act” and probably a bit better with a bunch of booze in you, but it worked surprisingly well in the more staid environment of a major theatrical venue. I guess that was why they were invited back for a “holiday” show, or perhaps more precisely an “anti-holiday” show.

They are now performing Unwrapped. This is a brisk 60-65 minute show that has a more unfortunate premise: Jinkx Monsoon is not a fan of Christmas and has been forced, I suppose by being paid for it, to perform a holiday show at the Rep. Major Scales tries to keep her going and enthusiastic, but Jinkx mostly throws tantrums before getting to the generic audience-interaction moment in the middle of the show.

"Come From Away" will make you want to kiss a cod! Go SEE it!

Cast and musicians of Come From Away (Chris Bennion)

Come From Away

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Through December 13, 2015

Here is the best holiday tip I can give you: Before you read this review, go to the computer or phone and arrange tickets for this musical immediately. The Seattle Repertory Theatre is already reporting that tickets for Come From Away, the feel-good musical phenomenon about a small Canadian town taking care of dozens of strangers forced to land on 9/11, are flying out the door!

Part of the reason is that it’s a short run from opening night. That is very “normal” when a musical is new and in development. Part of the process is to have preview performances where the writers continue to work on refinements up until opening night. In fact, the production opened November 18, and allows for four full weeks of performance. Sometimes, new musicals only have two or three weeks after opening!

But by far the biggest reason tickets are flying out the door is that this is undoubtedly the best musical to hit Seattle in…. a long time. It has a kick-ass major cast (all 12 are Broadway vets or Broadway-ready, some with extensive Canadian credits). That’s good because there is every expectation that the show will get to Broadway and soon! The book, sharp and refined, and music, and lyrics by Canadians Irene Sankoff and David Hein are catchy!

A Loverly “Lady” waltzes into Village Theatre

Allison Standley, Priscilla Hake Lauris, Mark Anders in My Fair Lady (Tracy Martin)

My Fair Lady

Village Theatre

Issaquah: Through January 3, 2016, Everett: 1/8-31/16

Allison Standley has not, until now, been cast as the lead in a local musical, though she won a Gypsy Rose Lee Award for her Supporting Role in Wild Party by Sound Theatre Company in 2013. Now, you can see her triumphantly starring as Eliza Doolittle in Village Theatre’s My Fair Lady. Her foil is Mark Anders, who inhabits Professor Higgins indubitably, and cutely and annoyingly throws tantrums when he’s frustrated, which makes the character a bit more human.

Standley does Eliza justice, most particularly in the spectacular, iconic songs she sings once she arrives at Higgins’ estate. She could use a bit more distinct diction in the more difficult to understand beginning songs, though her acting throughout is lively and alive.

In case you don’t know the basic story, a recap. An upper class British phoneticist bumps into a lower class flower girl and bets a friend that he can turn her into a princess in six months. Through tribulation and struggle, eventually the flower girl goes to a great ball and charms everyone. In the process, do the professor and the flower girl fall in love? Only the slippers know.