Jay Irwin - Page 24

I doubt that many of us these days have such a rigid upbringing that our passion causes us to question our ideals. Sure there are people with strict ideologies but we live in a more inclusive and forgiving world (most of us) and usually our beliefs follow suit with our wants. Which is why Aaron Posner's play "My Name is Asher Lev", currently being performed by New Century Theatre Company, with its juxtaposition of strict religious beliefs against passionate art might come across as a bit foreign to most of us and a potential hard sell. But thanks to the usual talent and commitment from the folks at NCTC even this unfamiliar tale can resonate with power.

I'm perfectly fine when a play chooses to break the fourth wall and become self-referential. The ability for anything to be able to point out its own shortcomings is a sign of self-actualization. But when a play repeatedly does so and then pats itself on the back for its cleverness of doing so as does Aaron Posner's "Stupid F**king Bird", currently playing at ACT, then it becomes wearing almost to the point of insulting. And while Posner's play certainly has its funny moments, those repeated exposes onto itself started to feel like the play was flipping the audience the bird (and I don't mean a Seagull).

Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts, put your tray tables and seat backs in the upright position and hang on as Cafe Nordo presents an evening of fun and food with their 60's spy send up, "To Savor Tomorrow". And as usual with the Cafe Nordo shows, if the laughs weren't enough for you then the delectable food will be.

Romantic comedies for the straight community abound. But as they say in the current production from Gay City Arts and The Bitter Single Guy Productions, "The Hat", gay stories aren't told much unless they involve AIDS or civil rights. This is what makes "The Hat" so refreshing. It's a simple, cute romantic comedy about a newly single guy in his thirties suddenly trying to date in this modern world of hookup apps and he just happens to be gay. And while the story wandered a bit the dialog is crisp and fresh and the characters could not be more likable and relatable.

I'll admit to only a passing familiarity with Janis Joplin before I saw the current show at the 5th Avenue Theatre, “A Night with Janis Joplin”, in that I knew who she was but was hard pressed to come up with any of her songs. Of course, after seeing the show I found I knew more of her stuff than I thought, I just didn't know it was her. And while Kacee Clanton as Janis is quite a sight to see not to mention the other incredible women she has up there with her, the show as a whole doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a biography, a rock concert, a history of blues? Who can say? But what I can say is that the connecting dialog attempting some kind of through line for the show was at best boring and at worst forced and embarrassing.

It's all well and good to want to shine a spotlight on urban violence and inner city gangs through entertainment (theater, film, TV, etc.). It gets the issues out there in the hopes that something might get changed. But as it's been done time and time before, if you're going tell another one of these kinds of stories then have something new to say and tell it well. Unfortunately the current production at the Seattle Rep, "brownsville song (b-side for tray)" fails in both respects with bad writing, bad direction and bad performances amounting to a show that felt it was important but came across as cliche.

As you may know by now, Dear Readers, one of my pet peeves in any performance is the lack of levels. If you don't vary your emotion, intent and delivery for a character then that character might as well just be reading lines from a book. And while there were a few stand outs in the current production of "Lilies or the Revival of a Romantic Drama" from Local Jewell Productions, for the most part the lack of levels made the show monotonously drone on.

MAP Theatre may not be one of the most prolific companies out in Seattle. In fact they tend to do only one or two shows a year. But what we have come to expect from them is certainly more quality than quantity as they invest tremendous amounts of thought and talent into those few shows. Their latest offering, Amy Herzog's "Belleville" currently playing at 12th Ave Arts is no exception. What looks to be a simple relationship drama, when viewed through the lens of the folks at MAP, quickly evolves into a taut psychological thriller.

When people think of George Bernard Shaw plays they inevitably go to "Pygmalion" or "Arms and the Man" or something like that. But there's one of his out there that does not see enough of the light of day, "Mrs. Warren's Profession". Maybe it's due to the subject matter or maybe not enough people know about it. Who knows? But it's long been one of my personal favorites so when I saw that Seattle Shakespeare Company was putting it up; you can imagine how excited I was. But of course the cynic in me quickly turned that excitement to trepidation with the thoughts of "Oh please don't screw up one of the few times this show will be done around here." Well lucky for me and for all you Dear Readers, who should rush out and catch this before it's gone, the Seattle Shakespeare Company does absolute honor to this fantastic work with some tight direction from Victor Pappas and performances to rival any production out there (yes, including the one I saw in New York a few years back).

Working through the grief of the loss of a loved one is never easy. Luckily Eleanor Mae (Kevin Kent) is on hand to help us through the grief. To help us cry, to help us process and yes, to help us laugh in the fantastic new show "Eulogy" at West of Lenin. But this is not your ordinary riff on loss as it's our loved ones Eleanor is keeping us laughing about until our faces hurt.

One of my favorite events each year is the Village Originals Festival of New Musicals. Each year there's at least one new show that you long to get a full staging. Back in 2014 that show was "My Heart is the Drum" with it's touching story and engaging music. It showed so much potential and I was thrilled when I saw it on the season lineup this season. And while it still shows a lot of promise it still needs a lot of work to make it a tighter narrative and paced better.

In any given show you usually have the good guys and the bad guys. The people you identify with as being in the right and those in the wrong. But even when some people are clearly wrong it's possible to see why they react the way they do if the performances are strong enough. Such is the case with Sound Theatre Company's current production of “Parade” as the performances throughout are so clear and so strong that even those doing despicable and abhorrent things can seem reasonable, at least within their own ideologies.

There's no doubt that Jeanine Tesori's music in the musical "Violet", currently playing at ArtsWest, is stirring and powerful but it's the lyrics and book by Brian Crawley that truly pack the punch in the show. But of course they would as the show is rife with hot button topics of that era as well as our own. And while the ensemble manages some of the tightest and most technically proficient performances I've seen I didn't always get from them the importance or danger associated with the stakes of those issues and so didn't always feel the emotional connection to the story.

Only the incredible Stephen Sondheim could make a musical about Presidential assassins and make it work. It's a dark subject that you think wouldn't be sung about. But Sondheim shows off his storytelling prowess by creating a sort of club or group therapy aspect to the group of killers as they attempt to tie all their works together with the act of their most famous member. And while the cast of the current joint production from the 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT certainly has the talent to pull off this demanding show, they don't always feel cohesive or in the same club but hopefully as they settle in that will come.

Rebecca Gilman's play "Luna Gale" currently performing at the Seattle Rep has no good guys in it. But then it also has no bad guys in it. Instead of preaching morality or her own agenda what she's done is to present a raw and honest look at people. You may not agree with them, but are they wrong?

OK I'm back and let's just dive right in for the rest of the amazing shows I saw in New York.

Dear Readers, I'm back from the Mothership (New York of course) to let you all in on some of the wonderful and not so wonderful things I saw with a few brief notes on each. And yes that includes my catching the juggernaut of all shows on Broadway right now, 'Hamilton'. Now there are some shows that I saw that are still in previews so I can't really review them but wanted to let you know about them anyway. So let's start at the top.

A play where only half the cast knows the story and a trio of snarky seagulls who are rife with tragedy. These are just a few of the offerings from the 2016 Seattle Fringe Festival performing all over town this weekend and next. Now I wasn't able to catch everything this weekend and next week I'll be bringing you some fantastic goings on in New York but for now I wanted to let you in on the few shows I did see.

I'll be honest, there were several elements that gave me trepidation before seeing Seattle Immersive Theatre's current production of “Romeo + Juliet” the other night. The immersive nature of it (seems to be the resurging trend and not always done well), the idea of tromping around an abandoned storefront, and the fact that while I love Shakespeare's “Romeo + Juliet” I've never actually seen a production I truly liked just to name a few. But all my fears were soon dashed as I entered a superbly crafted realm housing the best production of the play I have ever seen and culminating in a theatrical experience I'll remember for years to come.

There are certain theatrical experiences out there that are your "vegetables". The shows that make you think about your life, choices, and the world around you. And then there are shows like "9 to 5: The Musical" which are basically dessert. Those fun bits of fluff that aren't going to change your world but make for a yummy, candy coated evening. Sure there's a bit of 1980's women's lib sprinkled on top but it's still just mostly fluff. Luckily the current production from Seattle Musical Theatre is fluff loaded with talent and a hell of a good time.