R. Hamilton Wright News

Seattle Theater Writers, a critics' circle of local theater writers and reviewers, today announces the 2012 slate of nominees of the second annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards, theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters.

14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival returns to ACT Theatre's Gregory Falls Theatre (700 Union St, Seattle WA) tonight, January 4-12, performing Todays and Saturdays at 8pm and 10:30pm.

14/48: The World's Quickest Theater Festival returns to ACT Theatre's Gregory Falls Theatre (700 Union St, Seattle WA) January 4-12, performing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and 10:30pm.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre presents its 37th annual production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Gregory A. Falls. This year, A Christmas Carol is directed by John Langs, who was recently named ACT's new Associate Artistic Director. Stage veterans and Seattle favorites R. Hamilton Wright (Recent winner of The Gregory Falls Award, for lifetime achievement; returns for his 4th run as Scrooge) and Jeff Steitzer (has performed Scrooge thrice at ACT; Broadway credits: Inherit The Wind; Mary Poppins; also, Voice of God Multiplayer Announcer for all HALO video games) alternating in the role Ebenezer Scrooge. In 2012, Charles Dickens is celebrated for his 200th year.

New England premiere at Stoneham Theatre owes top billing to designers for creating noir atmosphere, but the acting can't match the vitality of iconic screen figures.

The Old Globe today announced its 2013 Summer Season. Adrian Noble will return for his fourth season as the Artistic Director of the Globe's Shakespeare Festival and direct Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice starring Festival veteran Miles Anderson. Noble will also direct Tom Stoppard's classic farce, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Presented in repertory in the outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, the Festival will also include the perennial favorite A Midsummer Night's Dream. The Summer Season will also feature N. Richard Nash's romantic comedy The Rainmaker and the San Diego Premiere of Double Indemnity, based on the classic novel by James M. Cain and adapted for the stage by David Pichette and R. Hamilton Wright. The Rainmaker will run on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre and Double Indemnity in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Tickets to the Globe's 2013 Summer Season are currently available by subscription only, and prices range from $66 to $422. Subscription packages may be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office.

Theatre Puget Sound (TPS) has announced R. Hamilton Wright as the 2012 recipient of the Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award. The committee of prior recipients has selected Mr. Wright, choosing to honor his dedication to the Seattle theatre community. This award along with 14 others will be presented at the 4th Annual Gregory Awards being held at A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) on Monday, October 29, 2012 at 7:30pm.

If for some reason you weren't indoctrinated with "The Cat in the Hat" or any other Dr. Seuss as a child then you have my sympathies. And I mean the original stories and cartoons and not the recent film knock-offs. But for the other 99% of us, we gleefully remember the gripping tales of The Cat, The Lorax, The Grinch and Horton (to name just a few) and have those stories and images burned into our brains. And now Seattle Children's Theatre has come along with their production of this tale of two bored children and a crazy cat with "The Cat in the Hat" and while it may be lacking a bit of spark for this jaded adult, the stunning visuals are all there and the kids ate up the slapsticky staging of it all.

The Sound of the Baskervilles-the Seattle-based scion society of The Baker Street Irregulars-will hold its "The Anatomy of the World of Sherlock Holmes" conference during the first-ever world-wide Sherlock Holmes Week on Sunday, August 5, 2012. Panel and round-table discussions will take place beginning at 2:00 p.m. at T.S. McHugh's Public House, 21 Mercer Street, Seattle. Members of the SOBs, as well as special guest speakers from Seattle's theatre and martial arts communities, will lead panels and workshops in the life and legacy of the Great Detective.

Lewis Black, best known for his hilarious stand up comedy and in your face editorials on "The Daily Show" has brought his new wedding day farce for it's west coast premiere to ACT. And while there were a few good laughs including the opening moment of the show which nearly brought the house down, the show just loses it's way and goes downhill from there as it gets stuck in a morass of cliche, predictability, underdeveloped characters and stiff performances.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play began previews June 8 and opens tonight, June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's Mainstage switches from the farcical marriage comedy of Lewis Black's One Slight Hitch to the dark and haunting humor of Harold Pinter. The Hansberry Project also brings to the stage Seattle's second Multicultural Playwrights Festival. The Seagull Project presents their first in a series of Russian readings with The Great Soul of Russia, and in The Construction Zone, ACT will feature Steven Dietz and his new play, A Year Without Summer.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright. The play begins previews June 8 and opens June 14, running until July 8.

Comedian and commentator Lewis Black shows off his playwriting prowess with ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's production of the wedding day comedy One Slight Hitch. The play is the West Coast debut of a new work by Black, who is not only a Comedy Central regular and a contributor to the award winning The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, but also a stand-up performer and studied playwright.

I'll have to admit I'm a sucker for those stories where people find new and wondrous things about themselves and succeed against all odds. Yes, I'm a sap, which is why I found myself tearing up a few times during ACT's current production of "The Pitmen Painters". It's not the most glorious script I've seen but it is a wonderful story of overcoming your given station in life and I have to say has one hell of an ensemble performing it.