Danielle Barnum

Oh my! What a year! We've seen bad-ass gospel singers, lost Jewish plays, mythical towns of excretion and even an octopus wrestler or two. No, those aren't allusions to the crazy theater going on in Washington D.C. but the crazy wonderful theater going on right here in the Seattle area. It was tough coming up with just one winner (or even just a few Honorable Mentions) but I managed to do it a?? for the most part. Plus, some shows that more of you should have seen. (Yes, that's me nagging you all, Dear Readers, to check out more of the smaller or obscure theaters around here.) But what it all comes down to is, we're blessed here in the Northwest with an over-abundance of theatrical riches and I'm so fortunate to be able to share some of my favorites of the year with you with the BWW 2019 Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (Jay's Picks). So, let's get started, shall we?

Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel's soaring romantic and tragic musical a?oeLight in the Piazzaa?? is not often tackled a?? thank the theater Gods. I'm not saying it's bad by any stretch of the imagination, it's just that I'd hate to see every small company, without the resources to handle it well, take it on. Fortunately, they've built in a few traps that may dissuade. First off, it's not your typical, rollicking musical with songs you'll be singing after. Second, there's all that Italian that your cast needs to learn and deliver authentically. And finally, it's some tough music. It needs to be done by insanely talented professionals who can handle these beautiful melodies that fly up into the rafters (often in Italian) as well as the heartfelt story. Enter Showtunes Theatre as they begin their 20th season, who routinely gather together the cream of the crop of Seattle artists for just a few weekends, books in hand, and you'll find yourself gifted with the mind-blowingly gorgeous evening that is their current production of a?oeLight in the Piazzaa??.

For the opener of its 20th Anniversary Season, Showtunes is bringing this legendary work home to the theatre where it began. Join them as The Light in the Piazza returns to Seattle in one of the biggest concerts ever, featuring the full, Broadway orchestration.

Showtunes is doing "Legally Blonde"? Don't they do obscure musicals that never get done? Yes, that's them, Dear Readers. Putting up for a few weekends, concert stagings with books in hand shows that usually don't see the spotlight. And now here they come with "Legally Blonde" that mega-hit. So why? Because they focus on rare voices and that could mean titles of shows or that could mean casting someone in a role for which they may never be considered. Enter an off-hand remark made at one of the 5th Avenue Theatre spotlight nights when Alexandria Henderson said she didn't have a dream role, just to be able to be cast without limitation and another actor on-stage shouted that she should be Elle in "Legally Blonde" and the crowd went wild. So, an African American Elle with the titular blonde locks. Why not? And that Dear Readers, is the last time we need focus on the fact that Ms. Henderson isn't your traditional Elle. For the rest of this article we'll only focus on the fact that she killed it!

Seattle Repertory Theatre today announced that Associate Artistic Director Marya Sea Kaminski will leave the organization in June 2018 to take on a new role as the Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Public Theater.

Shows like the musical version of "Little Women" require a powerhouse cast in order to survive. The songs are soaring and powerful and without the vocals to back it up, it's just not worth it. Fortunately Seattle Musical Theatre has some outstanding performers in their current offering but unfortunately the production offers little else to back up those astonishing vocals.

Seattle Musical Theatre, Seattle's longest-running musical theatre company, has begun production for the third show of its 39th season, Little Women: The Musical. The show runs from February 17th through March 12th; Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays at 2pm, and a special Thursday performance on March 9th at 7:30pm. 

Showtunes Theatre Company has announced their highly anticipaeted holiday concert musical LEAP OF FAITH. The talented cast of local musical theatre professionals will 'rise up' gospel-style for two performances at Benaroya Hall on December 3 at 8pm and December 4 at 2pm. Louis Hobson, who performed in the original Broadway cast, will star as Jonas. Matt Giles directs with Nathan Young working as the music director.

Showtunes Theatre Company has announced their highly anticipaeted holiday concert musical LEAP OF FAITH. The talented cast of local musical theatre professionals will 'rise up' gospel-style for two performances at Benaroya Hall on December 3 at 8pm and December 4 at 2pm. Louis Hobson, who performed in the original Broadway cast, will star as Jonas. Matt Giles directs with Nathan Young working as the music director.

A desperate mother will do anything to get her daughter back. In an abandoned motel on a desolate American road, she meets a man with whom she believes is her only hope at reunion... but nothing is as it seems and what happens next will shock voyeurs to their core. ON CLOVER ROAD - a gritty new play by critically acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz - has its Pacific Northwest premiere with Seattle Public Theater beginning on September 23rd through October 16th at the Bathhouse in Green Lake. 

A desperate mother will do anything to get her daughter back. In an abandoned motel on a desolate American road, she meets a man with whom she believes is her only hope at reunion... but nothing is as it seems and what happens next will shock voyeurs to their core. ON CLOVER ROAD - a gritty new play by critically acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz - has its Pacific Northwest premiere with Seattle Public Theater beginning on September 23rd through October 16th at the Bathhouse in Green Lake. 

I've never quite understood why Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's "Nine" is so under produced regionally. It's fun, flirty and sexy with some of the most stunningly beautiful songs that unfortunately too few are familiar with. It could be that in order to produce it correctly you need one killer ensemble of women (and Guido of course) who can handle the piece. Well, as is their way, Showtunes Theatre Company has taken this underdone gem and dusted it off and thankfully found that stellar ensemble to tackle it in their current concert version. Too bad it's only for two performances.

Seattle-based SHOWTUNES Theatre Company wraps their 15th year with a fun, sexy concert version of the Tony award winning musical Nine.

Seattle-based SHOWTUNES Theatre Company wraps their 15th year with a fun, sexy concert version of the Tony award winning musical Nine.

Be at the barricade with Balagan Theatre this September for an intensely intimate and immersive staging of the worldwide musical phenomenon, Les Miserables, featuring Broadway actor Louis Hobson in his debut performance with Balagan as Artistic Director. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below!

I must be honest here; Balagan Theatre putting on a production of Les Mis already has two hurdles to overcome before I even set foot in the door. First that it's Les Mis. It's a monumental undertaking and one of my favorite shows and I'm incredibly picky about it. And two, it's Balagan and with their recent track record I expect great things. So before I even enter the theater I already have some impossibly high standards for the production. And while there were definitely some superb moments on that stage (many in fact) there were also some glaring drawbacks that kept the show from meeting or even exceeding those standards.

Balagan Theatre made three major announcements during a packed Season Preview Party at the Moore Theatre on Monday, June 10: 'Nirvanov' as the fifth show in the 2013-2014 mainstage season, a star-studded trio of leading ladies in Carrie: The Musical, and a newly created New Works Program, whose Summer Series debuts July 6.

It's that time of year again. Time to make your voices heard for your favorite shows and performances from the 2011 Seattle Theater Season. Last year's inaugural Seattle awards were so much fun that we just had to bring them back.

It's that time of year again. Time to make your voices heard for your favorite shows and performances from the 2011 Seattle Theater Season. Last year's inaugural Seattle awards were so much fun that we just had to bring them back.

The second new musical in Village Theatre's 5-show season is the outrageous commie-dy, Iron Curtain, directed by Steve Tomkins, named one of Seattle Magazine's 'Most Influential of 2010.' From the writing team who brought the 2007 production of Once Upon a Time in New Jersey to the Mainstage, the new musical Iron Curtain is chock-full of talent, and some of Seattle's funniest, funny people are set to appear.