Kelly Kitchens News

THE REVOLUTIONISTS at ArtsWest is a revolutionary dream fugue of an implausible meeting of four great women during the French Revolution. They have individual battles and seek to better the world, yet find a way to support each other. Their imagined sisterhood is a fresh take on could happen if people work together and move beyond the stereotypes and labels that box us in. The show's tragi-comedy elicits both a chuckle and a sigh.

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?

Starting off the new year, ArtsWest will stage the THE REVOLUTIONISTS, by Lauren Gunderson- a fearless comedy about a sisterhood of heroes, re-writing their stories amidst the French Revolution. Performances will run January 16, Thursday through Sunday, until February 9.                                                                        

We all know that person, be it friend or co-worker or maybe you ARE that person, who's just a little too PC and a bit too a?oewokea??. They're the first one's to jump on your when you're being culturally insensitive as they see it as their duty to make the world as a?oewokea?? as them. Well now with Larissa Fasthorse's a?oeThe Thanksgiving Playa?? currently being offered from Seattle Public Theater, we can finally laugh in that person's face. Or if you are that person, maybe you can find some moments to laugh at yourself.

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.

For years, Lindy Hume, stage director of Seattle Opera's August production of Rigoletto, has been frustrated by the way opera celebrates misogyny through its “bad boy” characters. In beloved works such as Don Giovanni, Carmen, and Tosca, sopranos must rehearse how to fall, how to be stabbed, brutalized, and thrown across the room, behaviors they would never accept in real life.

Rosalind and Orlando engage in a glorious game of love, lust, and mistaken identities in a magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It. Kelly Kitchens directs the production which begins previews on April 23, opens April 26, and runs through May 19 at the Center Theatre at Seattle Center.

The votes are in and the nominees have been announced! And now, the worthy recipients of the 2018 Gypsy Rose Lee Awards are finally able to get the recognition they richly deserve.

Seattle Public Theater is currently offering a play you've probably never heard of, "Fire Season". And you've never heard of "Fire Season" because it's a World Premiere having been written by author Aurin Squire under the auspices of having won the inaugural Emerald Prize, Seattle Public Theater's new play award. So yes, "Fire Season" is a brand-new play that you've probably never heard of … but you need to.

Seattle's critics' circle announces 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 the myriad of professional theater productions that we reviewers attend in a year.

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).

This fall, the University of Washington School of Drama will present two plays that shifted the American theatre, Arthur Miller's Incident at Vichy, and Maria Irene Fornes' Fefu and Her Friends. The plays kick off a season dedicated to exploring how gender shapes our world.

Seattle Public Theater opens its 2018/19 Season #CONFRONTINGAMERICA with Tanya Saracho's witty, true-to-life comedy FADE. In FADE, Mexican-born television writer Lucia is hired to work for a ruthless Hollywood studio. She soon discovers that the studio's Mexican-American custodian, Abel, has a windfall of plot ideas -- but as their friendship grows, his stories begin to blur with hers, leading to unexpected consequences.

Next week, join Seattle Opera for O+E-a chamber opera retelling of Gluck's classic Orpheus and Eurydice with a twist! Stage Director Kelly Kitchens brings this groundbreaking adaptation to life with Seattle Opera's first ever all-female creative team and cast of principal singers. 

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.

Dear Readers, a few years back on one of my trips to the Mothership, I managed to catch Robert Askins' hilarious play "Hand to God" on Broadway and as soon as I finished wetting myself from laughter I thought, "Someone in Seattle needs to do this so my Dear Readers can wet themselves as well." Well last night I watched the entire house at Seattle Public Theater collectively wetting themselves over this hysterical show and so my wish has come true. My wish for all of you.

Seattle Public Theater announced today the four shows selected for its 2018-19 Mainstage Season: #CONFRONTINGAMERICA. Featuring four productions in the company's intimate 165-seat Bathhouse Theater, the season includes the regional premiere of Tanya Saracho's national sensation FADE; the world premiere of 2017 Emerald Prize winner FIRE SEASON by Aurin Squire; DRY LAND, "a shocking but honest portrayal of teenage crisis" by Ruby Rae Spiegel; and THE CALL by Tanya Barfield, which tackles the complex issues that accompany adoption across cultures.

After the death of his father, meek Jason finds an outlet for his anxiety at the Christian Puppet Ministry, in the devoutly religious, relatively quiet small town of Cypress, Texas. Jason's complicated relationships with the town pastor, the school bully, the girl next door, and-most especially-his mother are thrown into upheaval when Jason's puppet, Tyrone, takes on a shocking and dangerously irreverent personality all its own. A devilishly dark, hysterical romp to hell and back, HAND TO GOD explores the startlingly fragile nature of faith, morality, and the ties that bind us.

Seattle Public Theater tends towards the darker, edgier plays. That's not to say they're adverse to a comedy now and then as is evident with their next offering, 'Hand to God' which I saw on Broadway and laughed my butt off all the way through but still a very dark comedy. But I digress. Typically, they lean toward stories with grit, pathos and anguish. Now I'll admit that their choices don't always hit with me but when they do they hit hard. Past shows like 'On Clover Road' or 'Grounded' still reverberate in my memory as shows that managed to grab me by the heart and soul and shake me around like a little rag doll. Such is the case with their current offering, 'Ironbound' by Martyna Majok.