A New “Quixote” Enlivens Both The Classic and Border Issues

Sancho Panza and Don Quixote (Nate Watters)

Quixote Nuevo

Seattle Rep
Through February 11, 2024
 
Octavio Solis’ play, Quixote Nuevo, is a treat for both Spanish and English speakers when you can pick out the interplay of puns and alliteration and literary references. In Quixote Nuevo, he mirrors the well-known tale of Don Quixote, who loved Dulcinea and tried to fight the powers-that-be.
 
He chooses a professor, Jose Quijano (played with elegance and verve by Herbert Siguenza), of the author Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote. The professor is accelerating in his decline toward dementia and his family feels he’d be safer in an assisted living facility. Jose becomes a “new” Quixote, escapes his concerned family and townsfolk, and begins a search for Dulcinea. But escaping also presents great danger, as his inability to see where reality ends and fantasy starts could cause him to forget to eat or drink out in the bleak desert on the border of Texas.
 
The tone of the play is often joyful, yet mixed with pain. Large puppets are used to menace and to entrance. Tejano music is used masterfully to demonstrate parts of the story and underscore moments of emotional outbursts.

February Theater – Great Choices

 

The Lady Demands Satisfaction at Phoenix Theatre (Eric Lewis)

This short month has already shot out the gate and is galloping along! Quick, start booking your shows before they’re gone!

 
Born With Teeth, ArtsWest, 2/1-25/24
With an aging authoritarian British ruler, a violent police state, and a restless, polarized people seething with paranoia, it’s a dangerous time for poets. Two of them — the great Christopher Marlowe and the up-and-comer William Shakespeare — meet in the back room of a pub to collaborate on a history play cycle, navigate the perils of art under a totalitarian regime, and flirt like young men with everything to lose. One of them may well be the death of the other in this biting comedy about ambition, ego, and history.
www.artswest.org
 
Living IncogNegro, Key City Public Theatre, 2/1-11/24
Talented solo performer Gin Hammond writes about her personal journey. When your cultural identity is one thing, but your physical identity is another, how do you navigate self-expression? Both a humorous love-letter, and an academic discourse, dedicated to those who find themselves in the middle of a cultural battle they never asked for.
www.keycitypublictheatre.org
 
Once More, Just for You, Seattle Public Theater, 2/2-25/24 (world premiere)
Local playwright Maggie Lee pens a new sci-fi based play. The only foolproof way to truly fix past mistakes is time travel, right? Rae has a time machine and she's gonna try. But just because you already know which path NOT to take doesn’t always guarantee things will end up where you planned. A curious, heartfelt new play about finding connection, unspoken sacrifice, and the infinite metaphysical paradox of loving and letting go.
www.seattlepublictheater.org
 
A Case for the Existence of God, ACT Theatre, 2/2-18/24
“Whale” writer Samuel D. Hunter won the 2022 New York Drama Critics’ award for this play. Inside a small loan brokerage in Idaho, two men struggle to make a place for their family in the American dream, navigating the tensions of parenthood, financial security, desire, and empathy. Intrigue, revelation, and surprises link the lives of two fathers intertwine reflecting on what it means to be human.
www.acttheatre.org
 
The Lady Demands Satisfaction, The Phoenix Theatre, 2/2-25/24
When a young maiden who has never touched a sword learns she must defend her inheritance in a duel, she struggles with a milksop suitor, a servant girl posing as a Prussian fencing master, the actual Prussian fencing master who believes he is there to marry her, a stodgy lord, and her domineering aunt – the finest blade anywhere - to save her house and lands.
www.tptedmonds.org
 
Sunset Boulevard, Showtunes Theatre Company, 2/3-11/24 (at Cornish Playhouse)
We get a local view of the whole musical – going to Broadway in 2024 – chronicling Norma Desmond, a faded star of the silent screen era, living in the past in her decaying mansion on that fabled, famous Los Angeles street. Billy Wildrick, local musical powerhouse star, takes stage as Norma. When young screenwriter Joe Gillis accidentally crosses her path, she sees in him an opportunity to make her return to the big screen, with romance and tragedy to follow. Joining the large cast of favorite musical theater actors will be a 25 person, on-stage orchestra. (Trust me, this is special!)
www.showtunestheatre.org

25 Years of ZinZanni Fun with Kevin Kent

Kevin Kent at Teatro Zinzanni (Photo by Nate Watters)

In recent years, TeatroZinZanni has “put up its tent” in various temporary locations, and for the last several months, they have been resident in the new Hotel Lotte (Low-tay) in downtown Seattle. The building includes the soaring sanctuary inside what used to be the 1908-built United First Methodist Church. ZinZanni figured out a way to insert the bottom part of the tent inside the sanctuary, and then erect metal structures above to be able to “fly” the aerial performers safely. But you can still see the beautiful dome above that.
 
So, if you’ve been to ZinZanni before, the surroundings will be familiar. The deep burgundy of the curtains, the wooden floor, the mirrors, the booths around the perimeter and the doors through which performers enter and food is served.
 
Kevin Kent was a cast member of the original Teatro ZinZanni show in Seattle in 1998 and the subsequent debut show in San Francisco in 2000, and has been with Teatro ever since. A physical and improvisational humorist, Kevin has honed his comedic audience interactions to a fine point. During the performance, he morphs into a female character that might baffle audience members. (During my visit, my companion did not realize until after the show that Kevin was both the male and female interactor.)
 
I had a great time interviewing Kevin about his life and working with ZinZanni. A New Mexico native, he and his husband Joe are living in the homestead his parents built in the mountains.

Jan + Half Feb Theater Openings, Check Out the World Premieres!

 

Montage of Comedy of Errors photos (Giao Nguyen)

Theater is bringing great energy to the new year! I’m partial to world premieres because of the sense of adventure, seeing a show that only has a tempting blurb, and rolling dice hoping that it will be a great experience. Even if it ends up not being your favorite show, you’re still supporting the forward motion of the theater community. Engage your inner adventurer and get outcher calendars!

The Comedy of Errors, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 1/10-28/24

This small ensemble version cleaves right to the heart of this comedy of separated twins. What are the chances there’s a guy walking around town with your face? What are the chances there’s another guy walking around town with your servant’s face? Antipholus and Dromio encounter some trouble when their doppelgangers seem to be on the loose in Ephesus, not realizing that their identical twins with identical names were separated from them in a shipwreck as babies. Performed by a troupe of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) collaborators.

www.seattleshakespeare.org
 
God of Carnage, SecondStory Repertory, 1/12-28/24
A playground altercation between eleven-year-old boys brings together two sets of Brooklyn parents at a home for a meeting to resolve the matter. At first, diplomatic niceties are observed, but as the meeting progresses, and the rum flows, tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than just their liberal principles in tatters.
www.secondstoryrep.org
 
Strong Waters, Global Works 1/13/24-2/3/24 (at 12^th Ave Arts) (world premiere)
“Permission to come aboard?” A retired actor and his recently divorced son share a tranquil life in a floating home community - until an unexpected guest arrives, destined to make waves. The past is awakened, and the present enlivened, as three people discover where their hidden hurts, and their hope for healing, collide.
www.globalworksproductions.com

Christmas and a Jane Austin-style play: Great Combination (Taproot Theatre)

Georgiana and Kitty (Robert Wade)

Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley

Taproot Theatre (for tickets)
Through December 30, 2023
 
Taproot Theatre loves period pieces, and period pieces love to be done at Taproot. And add Jane Austin and you’ve got a powerful combination. This holiday season, they have mounted the third and final play of a trilogy of Pride and Prejudice “spin-offs” written by Lauren Gunderson and Margo Melcon.
 
Pride and Prejudice introduced us to the five Bennet sisters who all needed to be married off, as per the cultural demands of the time. Each of them had distinct personalities and views. Gunderson and Melcon created plays based on these sisters, but not on the book. In science fiction, writers often extend the “world” of the first book by writing “spin-offs” incorporating side plots or prequel or sequel-like stories.
 
Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley and The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley were produced at Taproot in 2018 and 2022. Now, the last of the trilogy focuses on the younger Bennet sisters, Lydia the troublemaker (played again with great zest by Kelly Karcher), Kitty, the stalwart independent who has learned a lot from her sisters’ exploits (played with gusto and loyalty by Ays Garcia), and Fitzwilliam Darcy’s (a stern Brian Picheu) sister, Georgiana (a charming Claire Marx) who loves music and is so reticent that she rarely gets to finish a sentence.

December Theater Has Gone to The Gays!

The Gays have taken over holiday shows! They may have let a few other productions escape, it's true, but if you want your holidays to be Gay, this year is all for YOU! Enjoy yourself and have a wonderful holiday season! (Get outcher calendars!)

Fellow Passengers (John Ulman)

Fellow Passengers, Strawberry Theatre Workshop, 12/1-23/23 (at 12^th Avenue Arts)

Told in the narrative style that Book-It Repertory Theatre made famous in Seattle, Passengers is every page of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol performed by just three actors, who bring over fifty characters to the stage. Amy Thone, Galen Joseph Osier and Shermona Mitchell perform the play with live music by keyboardist Ayako Okano.
https://www.tickettailor.com/events/strawberrytheatreworkshop/994206#

War on Christmas

 
Scott Shoemaker’s War on Christmas, Shoes and Pants Productions, 12/1-23/23 (at Theatre Off Jackson)
The all-star variety spectacular, a Yule Tide tradition, returns! Come spend an evening with Scott and a cast of Seattle luminaries as they try to figure out who’s fighting a war on Christmas and what for? A night of comedy, songs, dance numbers, delightful videos, and partial nudity!
Joining Scott are an amazing group of illustrious superstars Ade, Joel Domenico, Mandy Price.  And Major Scales.
https://www.strangertickets.com/events/143357134/scott-shoemakers-war-on-christmas

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, SecondStory Repertory, 12/1-23/23
A sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set two years after the novel ends, Miss Bennet continues the story, only this time with bookish middle-sister Mary as its unlikely heroine. Mary is growing tired of her role as dutiful middle sister in the face of her siblings’ romantic escapades. When the family gathers for Christmas at Pemberley, an unexpected guest sparks Mary’s hopes for independence, an intellectual match, and possibly even love.
www.secondstoryrep.org

A Treemendous Holiday (courtesty Seattle Choruses)

A Treemendous Holiday, Seattle Men’s Chorus, 12/1-23/23 (at Benaroya Hall)
It’s time to ho ho ho with Seattle Men’s Chorus. Greater Seattle’s most joyful holiday tradition is a fun-filled celebration of seasonal favorites along with the Pacific Northwest’s gayest sing-a-long.
www.seattlechoruses.org