“After Midnight” – Cool, Hot Revue at the 5th

 

Cast of After Midnight (Michael B. Maine)

After Midnight
5^th Avenue Theatre
Through August 24, 2025
 
It don’t mean a thing if you don’t get yourself to this show…
 
After Midnight at the 5^th is everything you want in a revue of jazz standards of the Harlem Renaissance. The entire construction of the production is flawless – from the ten onstage members of the swinging band (Conductor William Knowles, Rebecca Smith, Chris Patin, Lamar Lofton, Brian Burmudez, Jovon Miller, Alex Dugdale, Owour Arunga, Nathan Breedlove, Reserat Tafesse) to the ten swinger/dancers (Iris Beaumier, Nicholas Japaul, Bernard, Brian Davis, Nalica Hennings, Jason Holley, Nehemiah Hooks, Trina Mills, Yuseg Seevers, Porscha Shaw, Madison Willis) to the gorgeous set (Carey Wong), costumes (Ricky German) and lighting (Xavier Pierce), it’s all beautifully pulled together by director Jay Santos.

August has some Hot, Cool Theater

Jettison to Europa at Annex Theatre (courtesy Annex Theatre)

Hey, folks! August has some great theater for you. And a couple of July productions have been so successful that they extended! Including Taproot's Murder on the Links which extended to August 30! Get out your calendars!

Shadows Under the Market, Seattle Public Theater, 8/1-9/25 (world premiere)

Written by five local playwrights, Kelleen Conway Blanchard, Maggie Lee, Darian Lindle, Matt Smith and M. Yichao, local teens perform a teen horror comedy!
www.seattlepublictheater.org
 
After Midnight, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 8/5-24/25
An all-star cast of local talents lead you to the sultry, swingin’ Jazz Age of the Harlem Renaissance, where the Cotton Club is the place to be! Infused with the iconic tunes of Duke Ellington, Dorothy Fields, Harold Arlen, and more, After Midnight weaves ground-breaking jazz standards with rapturous dance and the rhythmic poetry of Langston Hughes in a jubilant production fit to blow the roof off the theater. Timeless songs like “Stormy Weather,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing” will have you singing along to join the fun.
www.5thavenue.org
 
Jettison to Europa, Annex Theatre, 8/7-30/25
Astronaut Carey pioneers the inaugural expedition to Europa, one of Jupiter’s many moons. Confined to her shuttle’s cockpit during this years-long mission, she is drawn in by the small satellite’s allure as it pulls her away from home. The journey puts both Carey and her relationships back on Earth on an arduous trajectory. Will Carey’s obsession with reaching Europa cost her everything?
www.annextheatre.org

Review: The Color Purple at Village Theatre – Magnificent Cast

 

Mariah Lyttle (Celie) and Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako (Shug Avery) (photo Auston James)

The Color Purple – The Musical
Village Theatre
Through July 27, 2025 (in Everett)
 
A beautifully cast and directed and designed production of A Color Purple has another two weekends of performances in Everett. If you have any interest in the story, from the book or the movie, you are well advised to get tickets and see this show!

July 2025 Theater Openings Update

Birds of Play by Tanya Gagné, Elena Brocade & Laura Lippert (photo Angie Ortaliza)

More shows to tell you about this month! Get out yer calendars!
 
Murder on the Links, Taproot Theatre, 7/9/25-8/16/25 (extended)
After receiving an urgent plea from a stranger, Hercule Poirot whisks himself to the French seaside only to arrive a day too late. Paul Renauld has been found dead, and the scene of the crime is a golf course. Poirot sets out to solve the murder, uncovering a web of deception, hidden identities, and old grudges. Adapted by Stephen Dietz from an Agatha Christie novel classic mystery.
www.taproot.org
 
Birds of Play, a Cheeky Circus Caberet, Seattle Public Theater, 7/10-19/25
Joy Rides (Tanya Gagné) and her pet chicken Goldie (hot off their smashing debut on America’s Got Talent!) take you on a wild and whimsical adventure. Exploring and challenging forms of flight, fantasy, fashion, alchemy, mayhem, mastery and mystery delivers a joyful celebration of freedom and fearlessness. Get ready to shake a tail feather! 65 minutes. This show is performed with two variations: matinees for all ages with added magic and circus fun, and 7:30pm for 18 and over with adult language and burlesque.
www.seattlepublictheater.org

June and July 2025 Theater Openings – Free Park Shows soon!

12th Night at ACT Theatre - Pilar O'Connell, Cassie Q. Kohl, Malex Reed (Rosemary Dai Ross)

It’s parks season in the PNW! Free park shows officially have their kick-off at the July 9^th-13^th Seattle Outdoor Theatre Festival at Volunteer Park (Greenstage.org for more details). Lots of comedy this month on our stages. Get out yer calendars!

 
Bye Bye Birdie, 5^th Avenue Theatre, 6/6-29/25
Set in the wholesome town of Sweet Apple, Ohio, songwriter Albert Peterson and his savvy secretary - and sweetheart - Rosie Alvarez, hatch a publicity stunt to send rock ‘n’ roll sensation Conrad Birdie off to the Army with a televised farewell kiss for one lucky fan. But when Conrad arrives, the quiet town erupts into chaos, teenage hysteria, and unexpected romance. Featuring iconic songs like “Put on a Happy Face,” and “A Lot of Livin’ to Do,” this fresh staging brings bold new energy to a beloved classic, celebrating the humor, heat, and hysteria of American pop culture.
www.5thavenue.org
 
Gods of Comedy, Phoenix Theatre, 6/6-29/25
Daphne and Ralph are young classics professors who have just made a discovery that's sure to turn them into academic superstars. But something goes disastrously wrong, and Daphne cries out in a panic, "Save me, gods of ancient Greece!"…and the gods actually appear! The Ivy League will never be the same as a pair of screwball deities encounters the carnal complexity of college coeds, campus capers, and conspicuous consumption.
www.tptedmonds.org
 
Twelfth Night, ACT Theatre and Seattle Shakespeare Company, 6/7-22/25 (at ACT Theatre)
Viola is in love with Duke Orsino, who is in love with Olivia, who is in love with Cesario, who is actually...Viola. Seattle Shakespeare Company makes its debut at ACT Contemporary Theatre with a new joint production of this gender-fluid romp and treasured comedy. Setting the play in a hopeful post-WWII Italy, this gender-fluid romp and treasured comedy explores the diversity of love, reminding us how relevant Shakespeare remains today.
www.acttheatre.org

May Grows Musicals and More

Honolulu Theatre for Youth come to SCT (courtesy HTY)

Musicals and more, this month, as Spring greenery grows entertainment in our fair city. Get out yer calendars!

The Sandwich Ministry, BAT Theatre, through 5/11/25 (at Kennedy High, 140 S 140^th St. Burien)
Following a once-in-a-century storm, three women come back together to make sandwiches for neighbors who have been displaced. Together, despite their differences, they look for purpose in a time of uncertainty and try to support each other and those around them.
www.battheatre.org
 
The SpongeBob Musical, Bainbridge Performing Arts, 5/2-18/25
When Bikini Bottom is threatened by the impending eruption of Mount Humongous, it’s up to SpongeBob and his friends to save the day. What follows is an explosion of color, music, and community as the citizens of the sea learn what really matters when everything's at stake.
https://bainbridgeperformingarts.org