Eric Ankrim News

In response to strong ticket sales and critical acclaim, ArtsWest will extend the run of Peter and the Starcatcher through Tuesday, December 27. The additional performances are scheduled for Monday 12/26 and Tuesday 12/27 at 7:30pm. Tickets for the added performances can be purchased immediately at ArtsWest.org.

We get to be children again! Laugh at the fart jokes! Stare with wonder at the choreography! Giggle at the man playing an uptight Nanny! ArtsWest extends its hand, beckoning audience members to use their imagination in their delightful production of 'Peter and the Starcatcher.'

ArtsWest is pleased to announce PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, the Tony Award-winning musical about the early adventures of Peter Pan, opening at the ArtWest Playhouse and Gallery on November 17. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is appropriate for all ages and most fun for ages 10 & up. The performances will run Thursday through Friday until December 23, and BroadwayWorld has the first look at the production!

ArtsWest is pleased to announce PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, the Tony Award-winning musical about the early adventures of Peter Pan, opening at the ArtWest Playhouse and Gallery on November 17. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is appropriate for all ages and most fun for ages 10 & up. The performances will run Thursday through Friday until Decemeber 23.

Broadway's Rufus Bonds, Jr. takes over the role of Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at 5th Avenue Theatre. Bonds was recently seen as Porgy in The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess in London's West End, and was a member of the original Broadway casts of RENT and Parade. This new production is the first of The 5th Avenue Theatre's 2016/17 season and also features Don Darryl Rivera as Sancho and Nova Payton as Aldonza with direction by Allison Narver and choreography by Maria Torres.

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.

Just announced, Norm Lewis will star in the iconic dual roles of Cervantes/Don Quixote in the legendary Broadway musical, Man of La Mancha at The 5th Avenue Theatre.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts opens its 2016-17 season with an exciting new 'revisal' of Lerner & Loewe's Paint Your Wagon, Aug. 9-21. Featuring an all new book by Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Jon Marans, the show opened at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre in June 2016. Twin Cities audiences will be among the first in the world to experience this updated sweeping saga of the mythic West and the pursuit of the American Dream. Tickets for Lerner & Loewe's Paint Your Wagon start at $37 and can be purchased online at www.ordway.org, by phone at 651-224-4222 or in person at the Ordway ticket office.

I'll admit unfamiliarity with Lerner and Loewe's "Paint Your Wagon" before recently. Never saw the original, never saw the movie, and had only a passing familiarity with the bigger songs in it. So to educate myself before seeing this production I watched the movie, which was also rewritten from the original musical version but what I had available to me. Wow, what a train wreck that is! Horrific story, songs that move nothing along and a movie that seems to be there solely for Lee Marvin to mug to the camera. So I was trepidatious to say the least about this rewritten version at the 5th Avenue Theatre and after seeing it I'm of two minds.

The 5th Avenue Theatre presents an exciting new 'revisal' of the sweeping saga Lerner & Loewe's PAINT YOUR WAGON. Featuring an all-new book by Pulitzer Prize nominee John Marans, this show has taken an incredible journey over the last five years from developmental workshops to The 5th Avenue stage this season. And BroadwayWorld is happy to report that the company has just announced the full cast and creative team.

The Lerner and Loewe classic score will be performed with a new book by Pulitzer finalist Jon Marans.

The 5th Avenue Theatre presents an exciting new 'revisal' of the sweeping saga Lerner & Loewe's PAINT YOUR WAGON. Featuring an all-new book by Pulitzer Prize nominee John Marans, this show has taken an incredible journey over the last five years from developmental workshops to The 5th Avenue stage this season. And BroadwayWorld is happy to report that the company has just announced the full cast and creative team.

Monday, March 7th 7:30 p.m.   The first leading gent of our Monday March Cabaret series is none other than the hilarious and multifaceted Matt Owen. 

ArtsWest is pleased to announce the return of After Hours with Mathew Wright, now in its third iteration after this past December's Holiday Edition. Hosted by Artistic Director Mathew Wright, these one-night only events feature five of Seattle's (and Broadway's) brightest stars: Matt Owen (3/7), Frederick Hagreen (3/14), Eric Ankrim (3/21), and Justin Huertas and Kirsten DeLohr Helland (3/28). These performers were at the vanguard of musical theatre in Seattle in 2015, key creative and artistic talent behind smash-hits like Lizard Boy and Come From Away (Seattle Rep), Green Day's American Idiot(ArtsWest), and The Sound of Music (5th Avenue Theatre), just to name a few. Backed by Mathew Wright on piano, these are the performers that are making theatre history, and they are up-close-and-personal in these exclusive and intimate encounters.

Dear Reader (It only seems appropriate to start this review off with that), sometimes a show comes along that feels like a no brainer. A show that's fairly bulletproof and if a theater does it well enough with enough pieces in place then it'll be a crowd pleaser. 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying' is one of those shows. You're bound to walk away from it with something you enjoyed. Which brings me to the current production at the 5th Avenue Theatre. They've managed to take this pleaser of a show so far beyond the bare minimum making this gem shine with so much brilliance that you may need sunglasses.

Broadway-bound new musical, Come From Away, presented by Seattle Repertory Theatre, wins four Gypsys, tying with another new musical, Lizard Boy, also produced by Seattle Repertory Theatreand also with four Gypsys, a company that has been known for years as a powerhouse dramatic straight-play playhouse! 

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

Votes are cast; polls are closed; and results have been tabulated! This was our biggest year yet! After a record number of voters in more than 70 regions worldwide, BroadwayWorld is very excited to announce the 2015 Seattle winners! Thanks to all who voted, and huge congratulations to all the winners!

Dear Readers, I hope you've all fared well over the holidays and had a good time with your families. It's been a tumultuous year with lots of great theater for us to take in. And so I'm pleased to share with you some of the best things I saw this past year and the ones that I felt worthy of getting my Critic's Choice Awards for 2015. So settle in and allow me to expound on all the amazing I saw over the year. The envelope please.