Julie Briskman News

Shipwrecked romantics get washed ashore in Seattle Shakespeare Company's sparkling comedy Twelfth Night directed by Jon Kretzu at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center. Performances are today, October 21-November 16, 2014 (Previews October 21-23, Opening Night Friday October 24). Performance times: Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM with selected Saturdays at 2PM and selected Sundays at 2PM and 7:30PM

The new performance/rehearsal/training space in town launched last night with their inaugural performance by hosting an evening of the works of local musical theater composer Richard Gray with "Here's to the Ladies". Gray and some of the most talented women in town got together to explore Gray's work and send off this new space with a bang. And all those in attendance knew they were watching something extra special.

Shipwrecked romantics get washed ashore in Seattle Shakespeare Company's sparkling comedy Twelfth Night directed by Jon Kretzu at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center.? Performances are October 21-November 16, 2014 (Previews October 21-23, Opening Night Friday October 24). Performance times: Wednesday-Saturday at 7:30 PM with selected Saturdays at 2PM and selected Sundays at 2PM and 7:30PM

Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced the ten actors who will participate in the 2014 Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program, a widely acclaimed national program to serve the future of American theatre. July 13-20, the Lunt-Fontanne Fellows will join Master Teacher David Hyde Pierce for an intensive, weeklong master class and immersion experience at Ten Chimneys, the National Historic Landmark estate of theatre legends Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Genesee Depot, Wisconsin.

Tony-nominated composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, Andy Jones (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella), Heidi Blickenstaff (The Little Mermaid), Ashley Brown (the original Mary Poppins), Merle Dandridge (Tarzan, Aida), Josh Strickland (the original Tarzan), Andrew Keenan-Bolger (Newsies), and Alton Fitzgerald White (The Lion King), will join 4,500 students and teachers representing 93 groups from 26 states and the District of Columbia at the 2014 Junior Theater Festival, it was announced today by Timothy Allen McDonald, founding Chairman of iTheatrics and the Junior Theater Group. The Junior Theater Festival is being held January 17, 18 and 19 at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta.

Seattle Children's Theatre presents the world-premiere musical, James and the Giant Peach. Just in time for the holidays, Timothy Allen McDonald's wonderful adaptation from Roald Dahl's best seller will include original music by Tony-Award nominated lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. James and the Giant Peach runs at SCT's Charlotte Martin Theatre through January 12, 2014. SCT Artistic Director Linda Hartzell directs. BroadwayWorld has a behind-the-scenes look at the show below!

Seattle Children's Theatre features Tony nominees Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's musical version of James and the Giant Peach as a part of its 2013-2014 Mainstage Season. The musical features a book by Timothy Allen McDonald, and is based on the book by Roald Dahl. James and the Giant Peach runs at the Charlotte Martin Theatre, now through January 12, 2014. Check out a first look below!

Seattle Children's Theatre features Tony nominees Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's musical version of James and the Giant Peach as a part of its 2013-2014 Mainstage Season. The musical features a book by Timothy AllenMcDonald, and is based on the book by Roald Dahl. Check out a sneak peek below!

When casting my reviewers eye to the world premiere musical version of Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach", currently playing at Seattle Children's Theatre, I am forced to look upon the show from two perspectives. From the kid perspective, as this is children's theatre, will this be entertaining and accessible enough for kids? And from the adult musical theater lover perspective, as this is a brand new musical from some up and comers in the musical theater scene Justin Paul, Benj Pasek and Timothy Allen McDonald, is this something that can make a musical theater lover squeal with delight at the thought of it getting a wider audience (like maybe Broadway)? And while from the kid perspective this was a lovely and thoroughly fun time for any age, the musical theater snob in me felt the show just needs a little more work to be truly great. But it's certainly on its way.

(Sputter, gasp wheeze) There, I can breathe again. So you know when you go to a show and there's that one actor on stage who is so good, so funny, that the show and the other actors just kind of revolve around them like some theatrical sun warming all in its orbit? OK, now imagine an entire stage filled with that actor and you'll have the Seattle Rep's current production of "The Servant of Two Masters" which kicks off their 51st season not with a bang but with a hearty belly laugh that lasts for two and a half hours.

Seattle Children's Theatre will soon feature Tony nominees Justin Paul and Benj Pasek's musical version of James and the Giant Peach as a part of its 2013-2014 Mainstage Season. The musical features a book by Timothy Allen McDonald, and is based on the book by Roald Dahl.

A few days ago I posted a review for another comedy in town where I commented on the fact that they just don't write farces like they used to. And last night the current production at ACT, "Assisted Living" only served to support that statement. That's assuming this World Premiere play from local playwright Katie Forgette was even trying to be a farce. The show, aside from containing a very thin plot and some highly cliche jokes, suffers from an identity crisis as it's not sure what kind of show it wants to be; farce, political commentary, nostalgia piece, etc. But the show does manage some decent moments largely due to the superb cast not to mention borrowing scenes from good plays.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre single tickets go on sale to the public for all 2013 Mainstage shows February 12, 2013. ACT is offering 50 percent off of adult price tickets for all Mainstage preview shows throughout the season for one-day only February 12. ACT also shares a glimpse of the casting for the first half of the upcoming Mainstage season.

ACT has announced some of the casting for the first half of the upcoming Mainstage season. ACT's own Artistic Director Kurt Beattie gets back on the boards alongside Jeff Steitzer, Marianne Owen, Julie Briskman, and Laura Kenny in Assisted Living. In Other Desert Cities the critically acclaimed Marya Sea Kaminski makes her ACT debut going head to head with television actress Pamela Reed (Parks and Recreation, Kindergarten Cop) who is a UW Drama alumni and Washington resident. Many other notable local actors will be returning to ACT or making their debut including Jessica Skerritt, Matt Owen, Lori Larsen, Suzy Hunt, Aaron Blakely, and Kirsten Potter to name a few. See the current listing of committed artistic and production talent below.

It's tough taking on an icon, especially an iconic movie and trying to translate that onto stage. But that's exactly what Seattle Children's Theatre is attempting with their current stage production of the iconic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 book. And while the technical artistry of the show is top notch and completely conveyed the magic of the film, a few of the performances left me wanting.

No tricks, no flash, no exploding video walls or gaudy production numbers. Just an ensemble of some of Seattle's most gifted actors brilliantly savoring the meaty dialogue of Harold Pinter. That's how ACT started off their Pinter Festival last night with their productions of "The Dumb Waiter" and "Celebration". Just outstanding storytelling and plain great theater.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre presents a full-scale theatrical celebration of the works of modern master and Nobel Prize Laureate Harold Pinter. Famous for his biting humor and a favorite of professionals, scholars, and people who like their humor on the darker side, ACT looks to introduce the city of Seattle to many of Pinter's lesser known and rarely produced works in its Pinter Festival, running today, July 20 - August 26, 2012.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre announces a full-scale theatrical celebration of the works of modern master and Nobel Prize Laureate Harold Pinter. Famous for his biting humor and a favorite of professionals, scholars, and people who like their humor on the darker side, ACT looks to introduce the city of Seattle to many of Pinter's lesser known and rarely produced works in its Pinter Festival, running July 20 - August 26, 2012.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's Mainstage switches from the farcical marriage comedy of Lewis Black's One Slight Hitch to the dark and haunting humor of Harold Pinter. The Hansberry Project also brings to the stage Seattle's second Multicultural Playwrights Festival. The Seagull Project presents their first in a series of Russian readings with The Great Soul of Russia, and in The Construction Zone, ACT will feature Steven Dietz and his new play, A Year Without Summer.