Teri Lazzara

It has everything you want in a show: Laughter, tears, bizarre stories, memorable characters, and even a dog on the loose. Don't miss it!

After over a year, Natalie is excited to see her play finally having its global debut at American Stage. The St. Petersburg-based playwright developed the play in collaboration with American Stage leadership and artists, selected from 2019's 21st Century Voices: New Play Festival to be a part of the 2019-2020 American Dreamscape season.

Opening on March 13 and running through April 5 at American Stage, the world premiere of The People Downstairs tells the story of Mabel, a lonely, middle-aged shut-in, a visually-impaired woman who lives with her funeral home custodian father, Miles in Buffalo, NY. When a court-appointed guardian threatens to put them in a nursing home, Miles sets out to find true love for his daughter.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is a vibrant hive of musical theater activity as the projects of NextFest: A Festival of New Musicals have started rehearsals this week. A three-week musical theater intensive development cycle, NextFest has played a role in the creation of musicals ranging from Persuasion by Harold Taw and Chris Jeffries (Taproot Theatre, 2017) to  Come From Away by Irene Carl Sankoff and David Hein (Broadway). Nationally recognized for its contribution to the contemporary musical theater cannon, The 5th Avenue Theatre is a celebrated incubator for new musicals. Each year, the nationally renowned theater company connects writers at all stages of development with some of the region's most brilliant performers, giving life to the words on the page and allowing book writers, composers and lyricists to see their work in action. This year's various works are brought to life by Alexandria Henderson, Justin Huertas, Matthew Kacergis, Shaunyce Omar, Brandon O'Neill, Timothy Piggee, Hannah Schuerman, Billie Wildrick and many more.

Something's wrong when a tertiary character with no name upstages your main character. Sometimes it can make a production more memorable, but in Theatre Schmeater's current production of 'My Man Godfrey', the nameless mediator embraced the melodrama of the production and went over the top deliciously. This person, Danny Herter, set the bar very high for the level of pomp and circumstance that some of the flighty aristocrats just did not match. Granted, the bulk of the cast did a good job making the characters into caricatures--Sarah Karnes' whiney Irene Bullock; Lantz Wagner as the mooching eccentric, Carlo; and Teri Lazzara's ditzy Angelica Bullock, to name a few (more on that later)--but I wish director Doug Staley pointed to Danny Herter, with his Martin Short as the Mad Hatter voice, and encouraged the less flamboyant members of the cast to peacock a bit more in this tale of scatterbrained socialites.

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

The 'large theater' productions of ACT Theatre's The Royale and The 5th Avenue Theatre's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying take top honors and the 'small theater' productions of ArtsWest's Death of a Salesman and Washington Ensemble Theatre's The Things Are Against Us take top honors - for most category wins!?

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

Theater Schmeater is pleased to announce the West Coast Premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis' early play, In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings. The winner of the 2015 Tony (for Between Riverside and Crazy), Guirgis weaves a desperate tale of people caught in the gears of progress fueled by faceless movers and shakers. Echoing William Saroyan, Guirgis characters' lives intersect in a run-down bar fated for demolition.  

Joshua Carter, currently working the national musical tour of Once, wins Performance in a Musical as a Lead Actor (Male) for his work in Little Shop of Horrors, along with his co-lead, Jessica Skerritt. Bill Berry wins as well as director of the co-production of ACT Theatre and The 5th Avenue Theater (housed at ACT).

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle just announced the nomination slate of the fourth annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards,theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters in the prior calendar year.

Maybe it was the fact that the theater was a hot box. Maybe it was the incessant nervous twitch that one audience member had that apparently everyone could hear but him. Or maybe it was that the show just isn't my style. But Sounds Theatre Company's production of "A Small Fire", while having some stellar performances, just didn't quite do it for me.

Sound Theatre Company launches its eighth year of production with the Seattle premiere of A Small Fire by Adam Bock, directed by Julie Beckman. Scroll down for a sneak peek at the cast in action!

A Small Fire opens tonight, May 30 for a limited run at New City Theatre, located at 1404 18th Avenue in Seattle, with a preview performance on May 29. Tickets are $25, $15 for students, and pay-what-you-can performances on May 29, June 9, and June 16. Due to the small, intimate performance venue, seating for A Small Fire is extremely limited.

A Small Fire opens on May 30 for a limited run at New City Theatre, located at 1404 18th Avenue in Seattle, with a preview performance on May 29. Tickets are $25, $15 for students, and pay-what-you-can performances on May 29, June 9, and June 16. Due to the small, intimate performance venue, seating for A Small Fire is extremely limited.

Holy Crap! That's really the most emphatic sentiment I can use to describe the internal battles I had when trying to pick my top picks for this past year. There were so many amazing performances and achievements that to pick just one was almost an impossibility (and as you'll see, WAS an impossibility for one category). But the battle is over and it's my distinct pleasure to announce my picks for the 2013 Broadway World Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (or Jay's Picks, if you prefer).

If you've seen it you know you love it. "August: Osage County" has got to be one of the most powerful stories to grace the stage in quite some time. And soon everyone will love it as it's about to be turned into a movie due out next November with a powerhouse cast. But until that time you can still visit with the Westons right here in Seattle with the regional premiere of this stunning work brilliantly put up by Balagan Theatre.

After 15 years of presenting 14 plays in 48 hours for four weekends every year, the producers of 14/48 present two new styles of the popular speed theatre festival.

After 15 years of presenting 14 plays in 48 hours for four weekends every year, the producers of 14/48 present two new styles of the popular speed theatre festival.