Kyle Scatliffe News

Tony Nominee Diane Paulus (Porgy and Bess, Pippin) is directing the workshop of Witness Uganda. Witness Uganda is the winner of the 2012 Richard Rodgers Award for Staged Readings, administered by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

It's been a helluva year for theater in the Seattle area. From the triumphant return of the Intiman with their summer festival to the hugely popular run of "Spring Awakening" from Balagan Theatre Seattle audiences were treated with some amazing shows and performances this past year. And so, allow me to shine the spotlight on some of my favorite outstanding moments from the past year with my 2012 BWW Seattle Critic's Choice Awards.

The current production of RAGTIME, produced by Zach Theatre in its new Topfer Theatre, shows precisely why RAGTIME is such a respected and important piece of theater. This dazzling and flawless production of the show is nothing short of spectacular and yet another triumph for Zach.

The Zach Scott Theatre has shown Austin for 79 years that it knows how to put on a show. On Saturday, September 27th with their Deep in the Heart of ZACH celebration of the new Topfer Theater, Zach proved they know how to throw a party as well.

ZACH welcomes a new era with the opening of the Topfer Theatre, and no production is better suited to showcase the deep and inspired talents of ZACH's full company and new performance space than the uplifting Tony Award-winning musical RAGTIME. More than 50 of Austin's finest actors, supported by a glorious orchestra, tell the story of how we forged a nation that all people could call home. Bold anthems, Harlem ragtime, and delicate waltzes lift our aspirations for all that we can and will be. RAGTIME will set a new standard for musicals in Austin, so intimate and immediate, that discerning patrons will rejoice at the power of the experience.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival will complete its 2011-12 season with the Tony Award-winning hit musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, August 10 through September 2.

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival will complete its 2011-12 season with the Tony Award-winning hit musical comedy, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, August 10 through September 2.

The Town Hall 's Broadway By The Year's 12th season concluded with The Broadway Musicals of 1987 last night, June 11th. It was a year that brought us shows including Les Miserables, Starlight Express, Into the Woods, Stepping Out and Stardust. Produced By The Town Hall, The Broadway Musicals of 1987 was created, hosted and written for The Town Hall by Scott Siegel. BroadwayWorld was on hand and brings you photo coverage below!

The Town Hall's critically acclaimed Broadway by the Year's® 12th Season continued this week with The Broadway Musicals of 1975 on Monday, May 14th. 1975 was a year that brought us famous shows by musical theater icons including Marvin Hamlisch, (A Chorus Line), John Kander and Fred Ebb (Chicago), and Richard O'Brien (The Rocky Horror Show), among others. Produced by The Town Hall, The Broadway Musicals of 1975 was created, written and hosted by Scott Siegel. Casting for The Broadway Musicals of 1975 included Ashley Brown, Lari White, Bob Stillman, Maya Days, Scott Coulter, Carole J. Bufford, Patrick Page and more.

What do you do with a dated overdone musical that every High School on earth has done in order to make it fresh for a professional run? Well, you could pair up with a local dance theater to punch up those outrageous dance sequences to give the audience something new. That's exactly what the 5th Avenue Theatre did when they teamed up with Spectrum Dance Theater in order to try and polish up their production of "Oklahoma". The problem is that it punched up a bit too much and made it feel a bit too new. Luckily the leads of the show still knew how to tell the story and that's what made the show enjoyable.

The 5th Avenue Theatre brings the wide open plains to Seattle with a reimagining of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

The 5th Avenue Theatre will host panel discussions and a Town Hall meeting to engage audiences about the portrayal of race in its current production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! Called "provocative" by the Seattle Times, this new production features an African American actor as the antagonist, sparking vigorous discussion among audiences about racism both in 1907 (when the musical is set), and in society and the arts today.

What do you do with a dated overdone musical that every High School on earth has done in order to make it fresh for a professional run? Well, you could pair up with a local dance theater to punch up those outrageous dance sequences to give the audience something new. That's exactly what the 5th Avenue Theatre did when they teamed up with Spectrum Dance Theater in order to try and polish up their production of "Oklahoma". The problem is that it punched up a bit too much and made it feel a bit too new. Luckily the leads of the show still knew how to tell the story and that's what made the show enjoyable.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is bringing the wide open plains to Seattle this February with a reimagining of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

The 5th Avenue Theatre is bringing the wide open plains to Seattle this February with a reimagining of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!

The cast for the third smash week of Scott Siegel's BROADWAY HOOTENANNY included Tony Award Winner Alice Ripley (NEXT TO NORMAL), Joan Almedilla (MISS SAIGON), Drama Desk Nominee Christina Bianco (Forbidden Broadway, Newsical: The Musical), and more.

The BSO presents A Christmas Carol in Concert, a new twist on Dickens' classic tale performed as a concert with a full symphony orchestra on Friday, December 16th at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 17th at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

The BSO presents A Christmas Carol in Concert, a new twist on Dickens' classic tale performed as a concert with a full symphony orchestra on Friday, December 16th at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 17th at 7:30 p.m. at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

As I wrote five years ago, regarding the first edition of Town Hall's Annual Broadway's Rising Stars concert, the traditional middle evening of their Summer Broadway Festival, this is an event where I have absolutely no intention of writing anything the least bit negative about any of the young performers who were hand-picked by Scott and Barbara Siegel to sing an evening of showtunes.  I have no desire to be the critic who drives some 22-year-old to tears with a bit of constructive criticism, inspiring him or her to angrily vow to the heavens, 'Someday I'll show that Michael Dale!'