Greg McCormick

The life and times of legendary showman George M. Cohan explode into the 21st century in a sensational musical, Yankee Doodle Dandy! For the first time, the complete recording of this remarkable new musical is available on CD, digital and streaming formats. The Seattle Times called the show, 'Irresistible!' It features a book by David Armstrong (Artistic Director Emeritus of The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle) and new songs inspired by unfinished Cohan melodies, including the heartbreaking ballad, Pick Up Your Dreams, by Albert Evans (Nite Club Confidential, Pageant).

Writing team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (Disney's a?oeVampirinaa??) released the world premiere recording of their musical The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes today, Friday, September 13, 2019.  The Fred Ebb Award and Jonathan Larson Grant winners return to their theatrical roots after completing three seasons of music for the hit Disney Junior series a?oeVampirina,a?? which airs in 115 countries to more than 100 million viewers. 

Writing team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (Disney's a?oeVampirinaa??) announced the world premiere recording of their musical The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes will be released on Friday, September 13, 2019. After completing three seasons of music for the hit Disney Junior series a?oeVampirina,a?? which airs in 115 countries to more than 100 million viewers, the Fred Ebb Award and Jonathan Larson Grant winners return to their theatrical roots with this album. To preorder the album, visit KoomanDimond.com/store. 

With The 19th Annual Festival of New Musicals taking place this upcoming weekend, Village Theatre is excited to announce the casting for XY, an uplifting musical about identity and coming to terms with your past; Cold Turkey, a wild and funny satire; Modern, an inspiring tale about a group of Amish teenagers; Eastbound, an poignant story about Chinese brothers in search of a home they've never known; and Cowboy Bob, an adventurous rock musical about a bank-robbing woman. The Festival will take place in Issaquah August 9-11, 2019 and provides an essential platform for writers to develop new works. Past Festival shows include Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning shows such as Next to Normal and Million Dollar Quartet, as well as Broadway and Off-Broadway hits: It Shoulda Been You, Desperate Measures, Lizzie, and many more.

Writing team Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (Disney's a?oeVampirinaa??) announced the world premiere recording of their musical The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes will be released on Friday, September 13, 2019. 

Village Theatre is thrilled to kick off the 2018-2019 Season with the World Premiere of The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes by Michael Kooman and Christopher Dimond (Romantics Annonymous at the Old Globe in London, Disney Channel's Vampirina). This production will be directed by Village Theatre associate artistic director,Brandon Ivie (Lizard Boy, Jasper in Deadland) and choreographer Al Blackstone, who was recently nominated for an Emmy for his work on the popular television show So You Think You Can Dance

With one week left until The 18th Annual Festival of New Musicals, Village Theatre is excited to announce this summer's casting and creative teams! Tony Award-winner Victoria Clark (The Light in the Piazza) will direct Hansel & Gretl & Heidi & Gu?nter, a hilarious family adventure of what happens after Hansel and Gretl escape. Village Theatre's new artistic director Jerry Dixon (If/Then, Once on this Island) will direct the kick-off show Elysium: An American Fable, the moving story of a family dying under the weight of their own secrets; and associate artistic director Brandon Ivie (Jasper in Deadland) will direct The Passage, a coming-of-age mystery about a boy battling a monster holding his father captive. Joining them will be music directors Jason Hart (American Psycho), Rona Siddiqui (Bella: An American Tall Tale), R.J. Tancioco (Here Lies Love), and resident music director Tim Symons (Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion), among others.

Don't let the fact that the title has the word "naked" in it or that the same word is repeated several times in the opening number fool you. This is, indeed, a children's show. Yes, you are still at Seattle Children's Theatre and it's safe to bring the kids in as we're only talking about cute little naked mole rats. Rockin' mole rats to be more precise who will sing their way right into your hearts with Seattle Children's Theatre's world premiere "Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience".

Seattle Children's Theatre is proud to present the world premiere musical Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience, with script and lyrics by the popular children's author Mo Willems, and music by Deborah Wicks La Puma.

The winners of the 2017 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are announced by the Seattle critics circle, Seattle Theater Writers!

Seattle's critics announce the Nominees of Excellence in Seattle theatrical productions. Spanning dozens of theater companies and productions, from large and prominent to small and humble, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor the excellence found in as much professional theater as we reviewers can attend in a year. Named in honor of the famed theater entrepreneur and Seattle native, Gypsy Rose Lee, and in a nod to the vast numbers or theater practitioners forced to travel the country to earn their living, the Gypsys seek to acknowledge the excellence of the Seattle theater community.

Dear Readers, it's been quite a year and, hopefully, we've come through it unscathed. God knows we've needed some shows to help us escape and others to make us think. But through it all we've had several shows that have proven to shine as some of the best of the year. Out of all the shows I was fortunate enough to see this year, I've selected a few that stood out. Here are those stand outs, a few honorable mentions and a few special mentions about which I just couldn't help myself but to mention in their own special way.

I'm usually a sucker for a good sappy romance but I'll admit I missed the bandwagon where The Bridges of Madison County was concerned. I never saw the movie or read the book so any kind of name recognition or nostalgic feelings for a musical of this are lost on me and the show would have to exist solely on, does it tell a good story musically? . The answer to that would be, no. And while the current concert staging of it from Showtunes includes some outstanding voices, it still doesn't fix a flawed show.

There's this little subsection of musical theater from the 50's and 60's that are big crowd pleasers due to the fact they were just plain fun. Sure, sometimes they dealt with issues as well but for the most part they were toe tapping good times. One of those that falls into this category is definitely 'The Pajama Game' currently playing at the 5th Avenue Theatre. And while it may not be the best example of a solid show from that era, it's still a hell of a lot of fun and this production takes that fun and amps it up to 11 due in large part to some fantastic choreography from Bob Richard and a killer cast.

5th Avenue Theatre presents a steaming hot new production of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musical theater hit, The Pajama Game. With direction by 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, this sultry stunner features Bob Fosse-inspired choreography by Bob Richard and music direction by Joel Fram.

5th Avenue Theatre presents a steaming hot new production of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musical theater hit, The Pajama Game. With direction by 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, this sultry stunner features Bob Fosse-inspired choreography by Bob Richard and music direction by Joel Fram.

This winter, The 5th Avenue Theatre will have Seattle adjusting its radiators with a steaming hot new production of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musical theater hit, The Pajama Game. With direction by 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, this sultry stunner features Bob Fosse-inspired choreography by Bob Richard and music direction by Joel Fram.

This winter, The 5th Avenue Theatre will have Seattle adjusting its radiators with a steaming hot new production of the Richard Adler and Jerry Ross musical theater hit, The Pajama Game. With direction by 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bill Berry, this sultry stunner features Bob Fosse-inspired choreography by Bob Richard and music direction by Joel Fram.

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!?