Grant Chapman News

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.

Actor's Express will produce the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika. Co-directed by Freddie Ashley and Martin Damien Wilkins, Angels in America will run in rep, allowing audiences some opportunities to see both plays in one day. Performances are January 12 through February 17.

Stop reading and find time in your schedule for this ridiculously good play at www.williamsproject.org. This show has a short run, and it's pay what you can, so there's no reason why one should not see this play.

The Williams Project, in partnership with Emerald City Bible Fellowship and Franklin High School, presents James Baldwin's classic American play Blues for Mister Charlie. Baldwin's rarely produced masterpiece explores race and violence in the United States with honesty, music, dark humor, and compassion. Blues for Mister Charlie will run September 6 - 10, 2017 at Emerald City Bible Fellowship and September 13 - 17, 2017 at Franklin High School. Opening night is September 7, 2017. Each performance of Blues for Mister Charlie will be followed by a facilitated discussion, featuring leadership from the community hosting the performance and Williams Project artists. All tickets are Pay-What-You-Can and available for reservation now through the online box office at thewilliamsproject.org/tickets. 

Join us for a celebration of the 100th birthday of Haitian playwright and novelist Marie Chauvet.

Tennessee Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie' is a tough piece to pull off with all its emotion and meaning in tact but luckily new to town company The Williams Project is more than up to the task. Add into that some down home cookin' from the folks at Cafe Nordo and you've got yourself an evening to satisfy all your senses.

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.

Red Bull Theater (Jesse Berger, Artistic Director) today announced that their Twelfth Season will continue with Thomas Middleton's A Trick To Catch The Old One, directed by Craig Baldwin, on Monday January 18th at 7:30 PM, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, between Bleecker and Hudson). Featured in the cast will be Bill Buell, Grant Chapman, William Jackson Harper, Daniel K. Isaac, Jason Kravits, Christina Pumariega, Mirirai Sithole, Stephen Spinella, Andrew Weems, Rasha Zamamiri, and more. Tickets may be purchased online at www.redbulltheater.com or by phone at (212) 352-3101.

When you see as many shows as I do as a theater reviewer there are shows that, on the surface, make you concerned as to what you're about to see. Such a show was "Orpheus Descending" developed and performed by the Williams Project at 12th Avenue Arts as part of the Intiman Theatre Festival. I mean we're talking about a 3 hour Tennessee Williams play put on by a brand new to Seattle theatre company. But it's moments like this that make being a theater reviewer worth all the time spent when that trepidation turns into absolute awe-inspired elation at seeing a beautifully simple, well thought out and brilliantly portrayed production such as this that ranks up there with one of the best things I've seen all year.

Blake Daniel (Spring Awakening) will join the cast of Justin Sayre's Play, The Click of the Lock. Daniel joins the cast already featuring Tony Nominated Downtown Performer Justin Vivian Bond, Zachary Booth (Damages, Keep the Lights On), Rob Maitner (Urinetown, NY Fringe Festival; Bistro Award for Fairy Tales at the WPA Theater), Brian Barefoot, Jax Jackson, Grant Chapman & Chris Tyler. The reading will be held at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan) at 8:00 PM, with a cocktail reception starting at 7pm. The play is the second production in The Players playwright development series. To reserve a seat, please contact clickofthelock@gmail.com

Blake Daniel (Spring Awakening) will join the cast of Justin Sayre's Play, The Click of the Lock. Daniel joins the cast already featuring Tony Nominated Downtown Performer Justin Vivian Bond, Zachary Booth (Damages, Keep the Lights On), Rob Maitner (Urinetown, NY Fringe Festival; Bistro Award for Fairy Tales at the WPA Theater), Brian Barefoot, Jax Jackson, Grant Chapman & Chris Tyler. The reading will be held at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan) at 8:00 PM, with a cocktail reception starting at 7pm. The play is the second production in The Players playwright development series. To reserve a seat, please contact clickofthelock@gmail.com

Justin Sayre's Play, The Click of the Lock, will be presented at The Player's Club as part of a new play reading. The cast will feature Tony Nominated Downtown Performer Justin Vivian Bond, Zachary Booth (Damages, Keep the Lights On), Rob Maitner (Urinetown, NY Fringe Festival; Bistro Award for Fairy Tales at the WPA Theater), Brian Barefoot, Jax Jackson, Grant Chapman & Chris Tyler. The reading will be held at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan) at 8:00 PM, with a cocktail reception starting at 7pm. To reserve a seat, please contact clickofthelock@gmail.com.

Bristol Riverside Theatre celebrates the 200th anniversary of Jane Austin's 19th century romance novel 'Pride & Prejudice' with an interesting, profoundly narrated stage production.

Bristol Riverside Theatre continues its season with Jon Jory's adaptation of Pride & Prejudice in celebration of the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen's beloved novel. Running October 29-November 24, the production, directed by BRT's Artistic Director Keith Baker, features the ensemble cast ofJessica Bedford, Grant Chapman, Rose Fairley, Michael Gamache, Jessica Gruver, Michael Halling, Hannah Kahn, Samantha Kuhl, Mark LeVasseur, Robert Ian Mackenzie, Topher Mikels, Erin Mulgrew, Mary Elizabeth Scallen, and Jo Twiss.

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, directed by Ryan Purcell ('13) presented by Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs. Playing now through May 19 in the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs will present a dramatic reinvention of the Shakespearian classic Romeo and Juliet, directed by Ryan Purcell (Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs '13). Experience this timeless tale of forbidden passion in a new way: a world filled with violence, jealousy, and ultimately loss transformed. Performances are May 7 through May 19 in the Citizens Bank Theater, Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire Street, Providence. General admission is $12, with a $6 admission for seniors and students. Tickets are now on sale at the Trinity Rep box office, by phone (401) 351-4242, and online at trinityrep.com.

The Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Programs presents Sophie Treadwell's groundbreaking expressionistic drama MACHINAL, directed by Aubrey Snowden (Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Programs '13). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.