Cayman Ilika News

Some of Seattle's most talented actors will be hard at work in collaboration with writers from around the country in the rehearsal halls of The 5th Avenue Theatre this month as the company's NextFest: A Festival of New Musicals launches its three week intensive development cycle this weekend.

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced the nominees for the 14th annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater.

SHOWTUNES Theatre Company leaps over the rainbow and finds a pot of gold with the second concert of their 16th season. The rarely produced FINIAN'S RAINBOW runs just after St. Patrick's Day, for two performances, today and tomorrow, March 19 at 8pm and March 20 at 2pm in Benaroya Hall's Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. This 70-year-old musical is filled with beautiful songs and powerful themes that resonate today with renewed depth and relevance.

SHOWTUNES Theatre Company leaps over the rainbow and finds a pot of gold with the second concert of their 16th season. The rarely produced FINIAN'S RAINBOW runs just after St. Patrick's Day, for two performances, March 19 at 8pm and March 20 at 2pm in Benaroya Hall's Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall. This 70-year-old musical is filled with beautiful songs and powerful themes that resonate today with renewed depth and relevance.

ArtsWest is pleased to announce the launch of After Hours with Mathew Wright, its new summer cabaret series. Hosted by Artistic Director Mathew Wright, these one-night only events feature five of the fiercest leading ladies in Seattle theater, Sarah Rose Davis (7/20), Laura Griffith (8/10), Cayman Ilika (8/3), Jessica Skerritt (7/27), and Katherine Strohmaier (8/17). Each will dish on their lives and careers through provocative, freewheeling interviews and sing everything from Broadway standards to pop songs, backed by Mathew Wright on piano.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is pleased to announce the nominees for its 13th annual 5th Avenue Awards: Honoring High School Musical Theater.

Even Musical Theater nerds such as myself might not be familiar with “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well & Living in Paris”, currently performing at ACT in a joint production with ACT and the 5th Avenue Theatre. I, myself, admit only a passing familiarity with the work and mostly from the covers that others have done of some of his songs. But now that I've seen it done I can understand the cultish following the show engenders and thankfully it was this production that filled the gap in my Musical Theater knowledge as this incredible ensemble took every angst ridden note and made them soar.

Beginning this month, A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) continues to partner with the 5th Avenue Theatre, co-producing a musical that appears on each organization's season and performed at ACT. Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris opens tonight, March 12, and runs for 10 weeks in the Falls Theatre, directed by David Armstrong.

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.

It felt like they were trying to shove a ten-pound show into an 8-pound bag. Sometimes a show is just too big even for Village's usually ample stage. Such was the case with "Mary Poppins" over at Village Theatre. Yes, the talent was all there to support it but the technical wizardry felt at its worst clunky and at its best under rehearsed which tended to sap the magic from an otherwise magical show.

High school students from across Washington State packed Benaroya Hall tonight for The 12th Annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, a high school version of the Tony Awards, proudly sponsored for the tenth year by Wells Fargo with additional support from Alaska Airlines. The house was packed with 2,000 teenagers, dressed in costume representing their schools' musical theater productions, who cheered for their peers as they performed musical excerpts and accepted awards honoring top student achievements in musical theater. The acclaimed event, directed this year by Mathew Wright, handed out awards in 21 categories ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Lobby Display.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is pleased to announce the nominees for the 12th annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater. This Tony Awards-style ceremony allows for high school students from across Washington State to gather to celebrate and honor their exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2013/14 school year. These awards are designed to shine the spotlight on the often overlooked high school musical theater programs, offering performing arts students the kind of recognition that accomplished athletes have received for decades. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Monday, June 9, at Benaroya Hall.

This winter The 5th Avenue Theatre presents a singing and dancing spectacular not to be missed: Lionel Bart's beloved classic, Oliver!, the holiday treat that will have audiences saying "Please sir, I want some more." The iconic musical returns to the celebrated 5th Avenue stage for the first time in 20 years, and will feature stunning costumes, dazzling sets, and a massive local cast of 66 (including 36 youngsters), singing and dancing their way through the streets and alleys of Victorian London. Based on the classic Charles Dickens novel, Oliver! is filled with memorable tunes including "Who Will Buy?", "I'd Do Anything," and "As Long As He Needs Me." Oliver! features direction by David Armstrong and will starDavid Pichette as Fagin, Grayson Smith as the Artful Dodger, Hans Altwies as Bill Sikes, and Merideth Kaye Clark as Nancy. Oliver Twist will be played by Jack Fleischmann and Mark Jeffrey James Weber at alternating performances.

It's one of my favorite weekends of the year. The weekend I get to spend three days listening to exciting new works as presented by some of the best performers Seattle has to offer. And this year Village Theatre did not disappoint as they invited members, performers, staff and press to partake of their Village Originals 13th Annual Festival of New Musicals. Some good, some maybe not so, some needing a little more work than others but all showing a deep love for the art and presented by some of the best voices in town. Now, I can't review them as they're still works in progress but I can tell you about the shows presented over the weekend and let you know about the one show that while still in development is still running one more weekend and can have tickets purchased to by non-members (that would be you, Dear Readers).

I hope you will indulge me, Dear Reader, as I will not be reviewing the current production of "The Pirates of Penzance" at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Instead let's call this what it is, a thank you letter to the remarkable cast and crew at the 5th Avenue for infusing a musical theater classic with such heart, fun, humor, talent and beauty that even a diehard fan of the show found himself leaving the theater with a huge grin on his face and a renewed love for the piece. (I'm referring to myself, of course.)

High school students from across Washington state packed The 5th Avenue Theatre tonight for The 11th Annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, a high school version of the Tony Awards proudly presented by Wells Fargo. The house was packed with 2,200 teenagers, dressed in costume representing their schools' musical theater productions, who cheered for their peers as they performed musical excerpts and accepted awards honoring top student achievements in musical theater. The acclaimed event, directed this year by Kat Rambsurg, handed out awards in 21 categories ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Lobby Display.

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced the nominees for its eleventh annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater. A version of the Tony Awards for high school theater programs, The 5th Avenue Awards allow musical theater students from across Washington state to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2012/13 school year. These awards are designed to shine the spotlight on high school musical theater programs, offering performing arts students the kind of support and recognition that accomplished high school athletes have received for decades. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Tuesday, June 11, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

High school students from across Washington State packed The 5th Avenue Theatre last night (June 4) for The 10th Annual 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theater, a high school version of the Tony Awards sponsored by Wells Fargo. The house was packed with 2,100 teenagers in costume representing their schools' musical theater productions, who cheered for their peers as they performed musical excerpts and accepted awards honoring top student achievements in musical theater. The acclaimed program brought previous recipients from the last decade back to the stage (many of whom have gone on to successful arts careers locally and nationally) to hand out awards in 21 categories ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Lobby Display. BroadwayWorld hosts the full awards list below.

The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theatre celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing previous recipients back to the stage to present the next generation of musical theater stars with awards and accolades. The acclaimed program, sponsored by Wells Fargo, is a high school version of the Tony Awards, and allows theater students from across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical Theater Productions presented during the 2011-12 school year. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, tonight, June 4, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

The 5th Avenue Awards Honoring High School Musical Theatre will celebrates its tenth anniversary by bringing previous recipients back to the stage to present the next generation of musical theater stars with awards and accolades. The acclaimed program, sponsored by Wells Fargo, is a high school version of the Tony Awards, and allows theater students from across Washington to meet, celebrate, and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2011-12 school year. The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7:00 PM, Monday, June 4, at The 5th Avenue Theatre.