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.

Review: Do you want a musical with your brunch? Mama Tits has it for you!

Mimosas with Mama

(at The Unicorn)

www.mimosaswithmamaseattle.com

Mama Tits is a bossy, bitchy, big bombshell of a drag queen. If that description sets your teeth on edge, you probably won’t want to go to her Mimosas with Mama Sunday Brunch at The Unicorn! However, there are probably some good reasons for her ordering the crowd around and some of them might be mimosas!

If you’re going to have a boozy brunch, you might want to make sure those freely imbibing frequent flyers (it appears that many people like to attend frequently) stay in line and don’t bug the performers overly much, or cause any safety issues. And if you follow the rules, you’re bound to have fun with Mama and her cohort of faux chanteuses.

Interview: Rodney Hicks talks about originating musical roles - "RENT," "Scottsboro Boys," now "Come From Away!"

Rodney Hicks in Come From Away (Kevin Berne)

Rodney Hicks is a talented actor/writer, husband to Portland Center Stage’s artistic director, Chris Coleman, and has originated multiple roles in Broadway musicals to great acclaim! He is ready to open the brand new musical, Come From Away, at Seattle Repertory Theatre, after a lauded run at co-producer La Jolla Playhouse, November 18^th.

Come From Away is a heart-warming story about a little known aspect of fall-out from 9/11. When planes were caught in flight during the no-flight mandate over the United States, planes had to land somewhere. 38 planes were grounded in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada! It is a tiny town unaccustomed to so many visitors. The town springs into action to support all these passengers.

A talented roster of performers, including locals Eric Ankrim, Chad Kimball, and Kendra Kassebaum create this ensemble-driven piece playing multiple roles. Directed by Christopher Ashley, artistic director at La Jolla, the production is still being heavily revised by writers Irene Sankoff and David Hein (My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding). They are certain to be working to bring the production to Broadway, though the exact route there is unknown at this time.

Jeanne Paulsen leads strong cast in "Mother Courage"

Mother Courage (John Ulman)

Mother Courage and Her Children

Seattle Shakespeare Company

Through November 22, 2015

Jeanne Paulsen provides a strong and appropriately stalwart performance of the title character in Mother Courage and Her Children at Seattle Shakespeare Company. This is the most well-known of Bertolt Brecht’s plays, though seldom performed.

The character’s real name is Anna Fierling, but she’d been given the nickname Courage while dashing among fighting soldiers to sell them moldy bread. She’s to small businesses what Trump is to towers: the ultimate example, augmented by PR.

Guaranteed big laughs if you buy tickets to "Buyer and Cellar!"

Scott Drummond in Buyer and Cellar (Chris Bennion)

Buyer and Cellar

Seattle Repertory Theatre

Through November 22, 2015

Are you a Barbra Streisand aficionado? Or do you yawn when you hear her name? Or are you not quite sure what all the fuss is about? The main character, Alex, in the wonderfully funny and sweet solo show at Seattle Repertory, Buyer and Cellar, is kind of the latter. Yes, he’s Gay, but nope he really doesn’t know all that much about Babs.

Until however, he gets a call, in between looking for acting gigs, to work for a rich person living in Malibu… and takes on one of the strangest hourly jobs a person might have: working in Barbra Streisand’s basement!

This is the set up for this charming show full of belly laughs and gently poking into financial inequity and our obsession with celebrity. At the start of the show, Scott Drummond, the New York-based actor getting a work out in this complex piece by Jonathan Tolins, tells us that we need to remember that none of this actually happened. It’s all the imagination of the playwright.