Geoff Korf News

Dear Readers, it has been one crazy year with some amazing theater. You know it's true. We've had dead teens riding a roller coaster, demonic puppets, and an ageless guy with a picture of himself in his attic. And, of course, a hip-hop founding father sweeping through town. But let's not talk about the juggernaut when we have such amazing things right here that blew us all away. At least they blew me away. So, let's talk about what blew me away this past year and what I have chosen to give my BWW 2018 Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (Jay's Picks) to (not to mention all those honorable mentions since often I can't limit myself to just one).

Whether it is a Shakespearean sword fight, a mock boxing duel, or a danced-out gang rumble, combat can be an essential and exciting aspect of live drama. A panel of experts in theatrical combat, led by University of Washington Drama School instructor Geoffrey Alm, will discuss and demonstrate the secrets of choreographing dynamic, suspenseful stage fights - while protecting the actors involved from harm.

This winter, the University of Washington School of Drama will present two works by eminent female dramatists, Rutherford and Son by Githa Sowerby, and In the Heart of America by Naomi Wallace. The productions are master's theses for our graduating MFA directors, Cody Holliday Haefner and Amanda Friou.

The nominees for the 29th Annual LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards, celebrating theatrical excellence and achievement throughout Los Angeles, were announced this week.

Dear Readers, if you were lucky enough to catch Seattle Shakespeare Company and Upstart Crow's all female epic productions of the "Henry VI" Trilogy that they dubbed "Bring Down the House" and showed in two parts a few years back then you know of the power that they brought to the stage with some of the best female actors sinking their teeth into those traditionally male cast characters. And you also may have had the same wish that many others had, including myself, that they'd keep that train going especially once they'd seen the remarkable Sarah Harlett play the young hunchback Richard, Duke of Gloucester, with such malevolent zeal. Who wouldn't then want to see her go on to play him in the sequel, "Richard III"? Because we all love a sequel. Well, wish granted. The hunchback is back and scheming around the boards of the Leo K. Theatre at the Seattle Rep and is just as glorious as before.

A wheeler-dealer charlatan has taken control of the country… and everybody underestimated him. Seattle Shakespeare Company launches its 2018-2019 season with a masterclass in political intrigue, Shakespeare's Richard III. The production is a collaboration with upstart crow collective, and features an all-female acting company. Richard III will be directed by Rosa Joshi, and previews September 12 and 13, opens September 14, and runs through October 7 at the Leo K. Theatre.

A wheeler-dealer charlatan has taken control of the country… and everybody underestimated him. Seattle Shakespeare Company launches its 2018-2019 season with a masterclass in political intrigue, Shakespeare's Richard III. The production is a collaboration with upstart crow collective, and features an all-female acting company. Richard III will be directed by Rosa Joshi, and previews September 12 and 13, opens September 14, and runs through October 7 at the Leo K. Theatre.

A wheeler-dealer charlatan has taken control of the country… and everybody underestimated him. Seattle Shakespeare Company launches its 2018-2019 season with a masterclass in political intrigue, Shakespeare's Richard III. The production is a collaboration with upstart crow collective, and features an all-female acting company. Richard III will be directed by Rosa Joshi, and previews September 12 and 13, opens September 14, and runs through October 7 at the Leo K. Theatre.

Cornerstone Theater Company is pleased to present the premiere of a new play, The Cardinal, a journey through Flushing in Queens NY this summer.

Cornerstone Theater Company is pleased to present the premiere of a new play, The Cardinal, a journey through Flushing in Queens NY this summer.

Cornerstone Theater Company is pleased to present the premiere of a new play, Utopia Parkway (working title) in Queens, New York this summer. Utopia Parkway will be performed at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts: Goldstein Theatre at Queens College on Friday, August 10 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, August 11 at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets are pay-what-you-can with a suggested donation of $10. For more information and to reserve tickets email info@cornerstonetheater.org or call 1-800-578-1335.

The University of Washington School of Drama, under the leadership of outgoing Executive Director Todd London, incoming Executive Director Lynn M. Thomas and incoming Associate Director Geoff Korf, is pleased to announce our 2018 -2019 season.

The University of Washington School of Drama announced last month that Executive Director Todd London, who has served in that role since 2014, will step down in August.

In The Merchant of Venice, a diverse and vibrant city comes alive in Shakespeare's interconnected tales of friendship, love, family, business, inequality, and intolerance. Desdemona Chiang directs the play for Seattle Shakespeare Company which runs March 20 -April 15, 2018 at the Center Theatre at the Seattle Center.

Quiara Alegria Hudes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright who wrote the book for the Broadway musical "In the Heights," which received the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical, a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical and was a 2009 Pulitzer Prize finalist. Her Pulitzer-nominated and winning trilogy of plays known as the "Elliot Trilogy" are now being presented concurrently, giving Los Angeles theatre audiences a rare opportunity to immerse themselves in this exciting playwright's work. ELLIOT, A SOLDIER'S FUGUE, the first in her trilogy of Elliot plays, is being produced by Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre at the same time they are presenting the second play in the trilogy, Hudes' Pulitzer-winning WATER BY THE SPOONFUL at the Mark Taper Forum. The Latino Theater Company will present the final installment of the trilogy with their production of THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST at the Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC) opening later this month.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival will launch its 83nd year with preview performances beginning on February 16. The 2018 season officially kicks off Friday night, February 23, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's Othello (director, Bill Rauch). On Saturday afternoon, Shakespeare's Henry V (director, Rosa Joshi) opens in the Thomas Theatre, and the West Coast premiere of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility (director, Hana S. Sharif) opens that evening in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. On Sunday afternoon, Karen Zacarias's Destiny of Desire (director, Jose Luis Valenzuela) will be staged in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

Center Theatre Group's production of 'Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue' by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes opened last night, February 3. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Performances have begun for Center Theatre Group's production of "Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue" by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will open February 3 and continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Rehearsals have begun for Center Theatre Group's production of Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegr a Hudes. Directed by Shishir Kurup, the production will begin previews January 27, open February 3 and continue through February 25, 2018, at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

After 10 years of producing bold, honest, groundbreaking theater, Seattle's award-winning New Century Theatre Company (NCTC) is closing its doors at the end of 2017.