Thank Goodness It’s the Season on Seattle Stages

Rebecca Cort in Little Women (Seattle Rep) (photo by Sayed Alamy)

Sarah Rose Davis as Carole King in Beautiful (Village Theatre)

November stages have skipped Thanksgiving this year and gone straight to Christmas programming. There are quite a lot of choices for that, along with some interesting counter-programming. It’s a merry time to be back together in person and consider multiple family-friendly options! Get outcher calendars.
 
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 11/1-19/23
Our old friend Falstaff has a ploy to make some easy money—woo Mistress Page and Mistress Ford and thus gain access to their husbands’ wealth. It shouldn’t be too challenging; he can be quite a charming and insightful man when it benefits him. He sends the mistresses notes with declarations of love, but in a small town like Windsor, everyone knows everyone else’s business and Mistresses Page and Ford soon realize their notes are exact copies. Rather than take that insult lying down, they make dates with Falstaff, scheming to be discovered in flagrante by their husbands and so to achieve their saucy revenge on the knight.
www.seattleshakespeare.org
 
Hotdish, Pony World Theatre, 11/3/23-12/2/23 (at 12^th Ave Arts) (world premiere)
Local playwright Brendan Healey presents his new play introducing Kayla and her older brother. Toby is unemployed and living with her in her cramped townhouse. But Toby believes he’s found the answer to all his troubles: winning his favorite reality TV cooking show, Champion Chef. As Toby falls deeper into this enticing fantasy, their mother, Evelyn, is hiding the truth about her own financial problems. Kayla is supposed to save them both, but she can barely keep her own life together. Guided by a magical being who just so happens to be the glamorous host of Champion Chef, the family will have to face what fractured their lives in the first place to find out if they can still love each other. Hotdish tells a story about family, food, and fixing the cracks in all our hearts.
www.ponyworld.org
 
Caligula, Theatre33, 11/4-18/23 (at 13243 20th Street NE, Bellevue, WA 98005)
(Presented in Russian with a summary in English) What do we know about Caesar, the Emperor of Rome? His name became commonly associated with ruthless tyrants. He was very young and ruled for only three and a half years prior to being killed by traitors. He squandered all the funds and was an unpredictable despot.  Historically, we know very little about him.  However, that is not the focus of Albert Camus’ play; rather, he explores the issues of power, integrity, freedom, corruption to address the existential questions.  What is the meaning of life? Does freedom exist? How to live knowing the inevitability of death?
https://www.theatre33wa.org/

October: Spooky, Funny, Renewed Production Companies, and Lots of New Plays!

 

Goodnight Moon at SCT

October has a fair number of spooks poking their noses onto our stages. Annex Theatre is resurrected. Zinzanni is back. There has to be at least ONE thing you’ll be dazzled by this month! Get outcher calenders!

 
Residency at Lotte Hotel, Teatro ZinZanni, 10/12/23-3/31/24
The legendary theatrical cirque experience, and Lotte Hotel Seattle, the premiere luxury hotel of downtown Seattle announce a new circus residency. This one-of-a-kind holiday run of performances promises an opulent, world-class extravaganza in the breathtaking setting of the hotel's largest venue, the Grand Ballroom in The Sanctuary. The Teatro ZinZanni dinner-and-show experience will bring the talents of Kevin Kent, Elena Gatilova and more to tease and tantalize. (Matinee 12PM, Evening 7PM)
www.zinzanni.com/seattle

 
Goodnight Moon, Seattle Children’s Theatre, 10/12/23-11/5/23
Goodnight Moon has been cherished by generations for over 40 years, and SCT’s lively musical production has been popular all over the country since the world premiere in 2007. Children and families can enjoy the surprise and delight of Bunny’s imaginative detours on the way to dreamland. In this intimate production, everyone will revel with Bunny in the fun of jumping cows, dancing bears, and a room that springs to life! (Ages 3+)
www.sct.org

 
Miss You Like Hell, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, 10/12/23-11/11/23 (at 12^th Ave Arts)
A teenager and her estranged mother—an undocumented Mexican on the verge of deportation—embark on a road trip across the United States to mend their frayed relationship. Combined with the musical talent of Erin McKeown, Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes artfully crafts a story of the barriers and the bonds of family, while also addressing the complexities of immigration in today’s America.
www.strawshop.org

For the History Books – “Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead”

 

Cast members of Autocorrect Thinks I'm Dead (Jason Tang)

Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead
Sound Theatre Company
Through September 24, 2023
 
A long time ago, when I started reviewing theater, someone told me that reviewing was very important because a stage production is a living thing that only exists while the art-makers are making it. A review of it marks it in time as having existed. I, therefore, think it’s even more important when it’s a world premiere work where I am one of the few folks that was privileged to see it.
 
Sound Theatre Company mounted an intricate and somewhat complicated production of Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead by Aimee Chou. Aimee is Deaf, but her work is not siloed into plays for Deaf folk. She’s writing for everybody. And it was a sold-out run! Except that the entire last sold-out weekend had to be cancelled because of illness.
 
This quirky, fun play is described by their blurb thusly: “Three Deaf roommates get more than they bargained for when mysterious messages from Alexander Graham Bell start appearing on a vintage teletypewriter phone (TTY). Told in American Sign Language (ASL), spoken English, and English captioning, (it’s a) twist on horror, a genre known for challenging culture and subverting expectations. It features a majority-Deaf and Hard of Hearing cast and creative team – with a set created by a Deaf scenic designer and lighting designer.”
 
Aimee Chou has also written Humanly Possible, Plumb Crazy Pipe Dream, and the shadow puppetry film Motherclucker! This is her first main stage production.

Huey Thrills (Again!) with Help of Fab Hometown Ensemble!

 

Cassi Q Kohl, Diana Huey, and Shaunyce Omar (Photo: Tracy Martin)

The Little Mermaid
The 5^th Avenue Theatre
Through October 8, 2023
 
As good as any Broadway NYC show, our area is blessed with a wealth of gorgeous performers who get to shine now in The Little Mermaid! We then are double-blessed to have Diana Huey return “home” to let us hear her crisp, clean, soaring voice – every bit as good as the first time she starred as Ariel on the 5^th Ave stage in 2016. Maybe even better!
 
Huey broke the mold in 2016 to star in a national tour as the first Asian American performer to star in the show. Rumors had it that there were some ugly adventures in some parts of the country where people somehow could not fathom how a mermaid could be Asian. It was also her biggest role, at that point, carrying a huge Broadway hit show on her shoulders. Now, seasoned by a move to NYC and dozens of performing opportunities, she is sure-finned and in perfect voice to do it again.

Expansive September List Provides Great Entertainment Options

 

I’m working on expanding this list to include nearby cities and towns and hamlets that are near enough to get to easily. But that means the list for September is pretty massive. It’s exciting because it truly seems “back to normal,” and is wonderful to see. Get outcher calendars!

Deep Purple Wiggle, Theatre Battery, 9/1-10/23 (opened last week) (world premiere)
Milo Cramer writes about Bro and Sibling who are twins in their thirties who, up until now, have self-identified as dudes. When one comes out to the other as non-binary (without either of them fully knowing what it means), a queer Pandora's box is opened. A new comedy (with music) about contemporary masculinity. Theatre Battery practices Radical Hospitality: No-Cost Admission for All!
https://theatrebattery.strangertickets.com
 
Matt & Ben, Artswest, 9/7/23-10/1/23
From the mind of multi-award-winning writer and actress Mindy Kaling, Matt & Ben depicts its Hollywood golden boys – before J-Lo, before Gwyneth, before Project Greenlight, before Oscar… before anyone actually gave a damn. When the screenplay for Good Will Hunting drops mysteriously from the heavens, the boys realize they’re being tested by a Higher Power.  A hilarious satire on the real and imagined difficulties of pursuing a dream.
www.artswest.org
 
Autocorrect Thinks I'm Dead, Sound Theatre Company, 9/7-30/23 (at 12^th Ave Arts) (world premiere)
Local playwright Aimee Chou writes about three deaf friends moving into an old house during the centennial anniversary of Alexander Graham Bell's 1922 death, unaware that things go bump in the night. But when a vintage teletypewriter phone (TTY) becomes a landline to the afterlife, the trio finds themselves in a madcap caper of portals - between the hearing and deaf, and living and dead. Meshing historic and technological realities with the theatrical absurd, this tale is both a homage and a home to horror fans of all generations.
www.soundtheatrecompany.org
 
Dream Hou$e, Washington Ensemble Theatre, 9/8-25/23
Set in a rapidly changing neighborhood, two sisters sign up for a reality tv show to sell their childhood home after the passing of the family matriarch. As Julia and Patricia perform for the camera, they confront their own desires, aspirations, and the sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve them. What is the cultural cost of progress in America? Is cashing in always selling out?
www.washingtonensemble.org

Go See Bethany Seeing the Stars - Copious Love at WOL

Bethany Sees the Stars

Copious Love Productions

Through September 9, 2023

What if you got a letter telling you to apply to go to Mars, and then you get a letter saying you've won a spot, but you will have to leave Earth forever?

That's what happens to 15-year-old Bethany (Jade Guillory-Kaub), who dreams of escaping from her life and heading to the stars. She tells her momentous news to her best friend, Fay (Lauren Megan McCarthy), and eventually to a nerdy loaner, Atlas (Lola Rei Fukushima) who joins them to become the Heroic Trinity.

But how are the teens supposed to cope with their friend leaving them? 

This is the premise of a sweet and thoughtful script, a world premiere by Emily Golden. It's fanciful (constellations come to life and speak to Bethany), and manages to tackle a number of real-life conundrums while helping us explore our own reactions about wanting to escape our own realities.

Well-directed by Kathryn Stewart, the tiniest of quibbles is that it could have a slightly faster pace, but she brings out a great level of emotions from the cast without overwhelming our own, allowing us to feel our own feelings. Set design by Jordan Gerow is spare and quick to change, keeping the pace up. Lighting by Adem Hayyu and sound by Alison Kozar bring the atmospheres needed to life.

The cast is cohesive and engaging. The young people are real and relatable. Daniel Christensen as the father brings a leavening presence that is also very relatable to those of us who are parents. Similarly, Olivia Lee is a warm and funny mother. Lee and McCarthy get to play the constellations Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and become very different characters, and show their range to good effect.

There's only one more weekend to see this moving play. It's well worth your time, if you're a teen or a parent or someone who also has looked to the stars to wonder or escape.