October Theater Openings and some November, too

Bianca Raso in La Tofana's Poison Emporium (Joe Iano)

I start this month’s compilation with regrets that it’s not posting until closer to the middle of the month. Life has changed a great deal for many, and that includes me, and my ability to prioritize theater and supporting it has taken a hit from changing focuses during “covid” when there was no theater to cover. To help make sure that November openings are reported more promptly, I’ve included a few of the early November productions here, as well. Get out yer calendars!
 
My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy!, Kirkland Performance Center, 10/1-23/22
You don’t have to be Jewish or Italian to appreciate this show. All you need to know is what it feels like to leave a family dinner with heartburn and a headache! You’ll meet Uncle Willie, Stuttering Cousin Bob, Demented Cousin Kenny, Steve's new therapist Cousin Sal (and Sal's parole officer) and a myriad of astounding characters we know, love and tolerate from our own families; each one brought to life by Peter J. Fogel. Written by Steve Solomon, this solo comedy is based on Solomon’s life growing up in a wacky family noted for its bi–ethnic diversity. Solomon’s mother is from Palermo, and his father is from Russia. His extended family had an aptitude for dysfunctional behavior and their sole purpose seemed to be to drive him into therapy…and they succeeded!
www.kpcenter.org
 
Misanthropy: A New Dark Werewolf Comedy, Wayward Works, 10/5-15/22 (at Theatre4, Seattle Center) (world premiere)
A new work by playwright Hannah A. Nielsen tells the story of Lyla, a young woman adrift in life until an animal bite spurs a change in her. She lands the job of her dreams, replaces her depression naps with power naps, and improves her diet... Well, perhaps “improves” isn’t precisely the right word. As Lyla scrambles to adapt, her friends and family flounder as they find their own ways of coping with this bloody new reality.
https://www.facebook.com/waywardworksllc
 
The Foreigner, As If Theatre Company, 10/6-23/22
Englishman Charlie Baker wants to escape his boring life and marital strife by disappearing to a fishing lodge in rural Georgia. Painfully shy, he begrudgingly adopts the persona of a foreigner who doesn't understand English. Convinced he’s unable to understand them, the guests begin to speak freely around him. Charlie not only becomes privy to dangerous secrets, he also discovers an adventurous extrovert within himself.
www.asiftheatre.com
 
A White Haunting, MAP Theatre, 10/7-22/22 (at 18^th & Union) (world premiere)
Local playwright Brian Dang introduces Darren, who has invited Tchai over to his home for the first time. They’re flirting, dancing, and discussing the morality of pineapple pizza when things start to go sour: the pizza person acts really weird; the power goes out; Tchai lets his nerves get to him; and last but not least, a masked intruder wielding an axe accidentally gets invited in.
https://www.map-theatre.com/home

September Theater Feels More Like It Used To!

What The Constitution Means To Me with Cassie Beck (Joan Marcus)

As we go back to school somewhat normally, and fall weather starts to get a bit more cloudy and damp, Seattle theater companies are bringing back more and more productions! This month, we get some major plays people have been hoping to see (Choir Boy, in a co-pro of ACT Theatre and 5^th Ave, my favorite tour play by ex-local Heidi Schreck – What the Constitution Means to Me) and world premieres! And we get a gift from stalwart company, Theatre22, as they bid us adieu (maybe just for now).
 
Where We Belong, Seattle Rep, 9/8/22-10/9/22 (tour from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co)
An indigenous theater-maker, Madeline Sayet, journeys to England in 2015 to pursue a PhD in Shakespeare. She finds a country unable to acknowledge its ongoing role in colonialism.  Madeline echoes a journey to England braved by Native ancestors in the 1700s following treatise betrayals – and forces us to consider what it means to belong in an increasingly globalized world.
www.seattlerep.org
 
The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 9/9/22-10/1/22 (world premiere) (opens 9/22)
They’ve been to Wally World, they’ve been to Vegas, and now the Griswolds are going to… Broadway! Yes, the characters you know and love from the hit Warner Bros. Vacation movies are back—and they’re taking their biggest vacation yet. So, get in your family truckster and join Clark, Ellen, Audrey, and Rusty on their big New York City adventure—where of course, everything goes exactly according to plan!
www.5thavenue.org
 
Nonsense and Beauty, Theatre22, 9/9/22-10/2/22, at The Bathhouse (T22’s last show)
The play follows the eminent British novelist E.M. Forster as his romance with Bob Buckingham, a policeman 23 years his junior, falls prey to his fear of discovery. After Bob marries May, a compassionate young woman, Forster remains ensnared in a turbulent and unique love triangle until his death nearly 40 years later. Based on a true story, Nonsense and Beauty captures the wit and wisdom of one of the last century’s great writers.
www.theatre22.org

Sleepy August Theater still has new surprises

 

Talking buildings in People in the Square (photo by Jane Richlovsky)

Theater in the parks is winding down and August is a bit on the quiet side, but there are three shows opening that you can consider. People In The Square is a sweet music-and-narrative new show in a new/old space. There used to be a Skid Road Theatre, and now the folks at Beneath the Streets have opened their location to include stage events, again! So it’s the NEW Skid Road Theatre. At 65 minutes, it is an homage to Pioneer Square and all the various sorts of people who populate it, visit it, and swing through it.
 
Pork-Filled Productions has a swashbuckle show to check out, She Devil of the China Seas, with a female pirate who truly was the most formidable bad-ass ever known, I think. Centerstage is focused on the Pacific Northwest with The Oregon Trail.
 
People In The Square: The Pioneer Square Musical, Creative Hiatus Prods., 8/4-27/22 (at The New Skid Road Theatre, 102 Cherry St.)
People in the Square is a cabaret-style musical revue which invites the audience a glimpse into the many different inhabitants, past and present, of Pioneer Square. A four-member cast and three-piece band bring to life this musical history lesson through time. 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. This musical ranges in time from the original inhabitants of the Duwamish and Suquamish Tribes, early pioneers and gold miners, fast-forwarding to those who frequent Pioneer Square today. Converging on the Square are the wealthy, the poor, occupants, visitors, sports fans and art dealers, most never being truly aware of the other, despite occupying the same three acres together. Join us to experience this incredible journey through time of the ever-evolving melting pot in the heart of Seattle!
https://www.beneath-the-streets.com
 
She Devil of the China Seas, Pork-Filled Prods., 8/11-27/22 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
Pirate queen clashes with immortal sorceress in a mashup of true history, sword/sorcery and Marvel Comics! She Devil is based on the real-life figure, Zhang Tse, history’s most successful pirate. She defeated both Imperial Chinese and European fleets in her spectacular career in the 19th Century and ruled over a fleet of hundreds of thousands of pirates!
 
Tse knew one thing: survival. She clawed her way up, using any means possible to aid her injured sister, Hei. But when China’s pirate king, Zhang Ngoi, offers her a chance for more, the sorceress Moh and her dark forces gather to destroy her before she can even accept…and fulfill a destiny from the gods!
https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/shedevil/
 
The Oregon Trail, Centerstage Theatre, 8/19/22-9/11/22
Funny, provocative, and intelligent, The Oregon Trail follows 90’s kid Jane from Middle School, where she takes solace in her favorite 8-bit video game, to adulthood, where the game seems to follow her with its all-knowing gaze, helping her navigate her growing pains. As she grapples with what it is she truly wants, Jane meets someone entirely unexpected: her own great-great-grandmother, on the Oregon Trail…in 1848.
www.centerstagetheatre.com
 
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July Starts Theater In the Park Time

Titanish picture (Truman Buffett)

 
As most summer-theater-park-goers know, a whole weekend is devoted to “park shows” all in one lovely location to fit them all: Volunteer Park. Known as Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival, a combination of all the Shakespeare shows and some kid-specific entertainments are spread throughout the park and throughout both weekend days. Organized mostly by the folks at Greenstage, you can find the schedule here: https://greenstage.org/sotf/ Yes, they are all free. But yes, you could consider donating to all the hardworking companies getting out in the (hopefully) hot sun to entertain you with merriments!
 
Drum and Colors: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cymbeline, Seattle Shakespeare Company and Wooden O Productions, 7/7/22-8/7/22 (at various parks in the area)
Midsummer Night’s Dream
When two pairs of mixed-up lovers, along with a troupe of amateur players, stumble into the forest of two feuding fairies, it results in an enchanting mix of merriment. After a love potion plan goes awry, the fairy queen’s heart is captured by an unlikely community actor transformed into a donkey. Mischief maker Puck not only creates romantic chaos, but also has to fix things right, again. (Includes puppets.)
Cymbeline
Follow Imogen on a magical journey. With their lover banished and family torn apart, Imogen sets out on an adventure to reclaim their love and reconcile the family. Forbidden love, mistaken identities, banishment, and a magic potion— Shakespeare combines multiple styles in this endlessly inventive fairy tale.
www.seattleshakespeare.org

Mega Hero Rangers Go Go Go Supreme!!!, The 14/48 Projects, 7/9-30/22 (at various parks in the area) We meet the Mega Hero Rangers, a group of friends and superheroes who meet their ultimate adversary and have their powers taken away! Deep-rooted tensions come to a head, splitting up the super friends... Will the Rangers discover how to navigate the world on their own, without their powers?
https://www.the1448projects.org/parks-show
 
Black Coffee, Taproot Theatre Company, 7/13/22-8/13/22
The formula for a secret weapon has been stolen, and that isn’t the only mystery in the Amory house! When Sir Claude discovers the theft, he locks his family in the library. Moments later, there’s a dead body, a room full of suspects, and a Belgian sleuth at the door. Witness Agatha Christie’'s famous Hercule Poirot untangle a jumble of deceptions to discover whodunit.
www.taproottheatre.org

"The Bonesetter’s Daughter" – Beautiful and Moving at Book-It Repertory Theatre

Mara Palma and Desiree Mee Jung in The Bonesetter's Daughter (Anthony Floyd)

The Bonesetter’s Daughter
Book-It Repertory Theatre
Through July 3, 2022
 
If you are a “reader,” and you love how novelists artfully draw you into the world of the book, you might already revere Amy Tan. Tan’s writing is compelling, descriptive, and sketches the personalities she writes about in vivid terms. She is not likely everyone “cup of tea” in terms of being an “easy” read. While her first book became a blockbuster and a movie (The Joy Luck Club), a later book, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, is a more patient read, one that takes time to allow to unfold.
 
The Bonesetter’s Daughter has at least one story-within-a-story. It’s a fairly long book, and Desdemona Chiang and Book-It Repertory Theatre have decided to adapt it into a play using about a third of the entire book. Chiang’s choices, as adapter, seem well-decided and the experience of seeing this book come to life is delightful and intense. The production, at over two and a half hours, immerses you into China a century ago.
 
Ruth (Sunam Ellis) is a modern Chinese-American woman who has a busy life and a mother who is descending into Alzheimer’s. Ruth and her mother, like many relationships in Tan books, have a difficult relationship. Part of that is because the mother, Lu Ling (Desiree Mee Jung) was quite harsh with Ruth, strict and even abusive, as she demanded that Ruth “channel” the spirit of her mother’s “nursemaid” Precious Auntie (Khanh Doan). Precious Auntie was so maimed and disfigured around her mouth that she cannot speak, but Lu Ling understood her.
 
Ruth tries to support her mother, but there are emotional barriers. Then she finds a manuscript that her mother had offered her many times, but she never got around to translating it or reading it. Now, as her mother forgets, Ruth realizes that she must find out what the book says.

“Bruce” – A Musical About Tension With Absolutely No Tension

Jarrod Spector and E. Faye Butler in Bruce (Lindsay Thomas)

Bruce
Seattle Rep
Through June 26, 2022
 
My question before I saw the world premiere musical, Bruce, at Seattle Rep was: What is it? And my question after I saw it was: Why?
 
So, quick rundown: “Bruce” equals JAWS the movie, the shark named by director Steven Spielberg when he was just 26 years old as he began planning it from the script, and The JAWS Log by last-script-doctor Carl Gottlieb as he worked on the film and subsequently published a book.
 
The musical is not a “bad” one… and in fact there are some very, very good parts. So, it’s not that it’s boring, exactly. But the entire musical is about the “making” of the movie we all know was a major blockbuster, the first summer blockbuster ever, and a world-wide phenomenon. But does that mean it should then get turned into a musical? Be worked on by people for several years? Have tens of thousands of dollars spent on it?