Sylvie Davidson News

To close out their 27th season, Book-It presents a darkly funny, world-premiere adaptation of Welcome to Braggsville, a novel by T. Geronimo Johnson. When good ol' boy D'aron Davenport lets it slip that his hometown in Georgia hosts an annual Civil War reenactment, his new friends at UC Berkeley plan to stage a protest in the form of a "performative intervention." Armed with youthful exuberance and misguided ideas of the South, the intervention has devastating consequences.

Atlanta's Tony Award winning ALLIANCE THEATRE presents the world premiere musical, Troubadour, by playwright Janece Shaffer (The Geller Girls, Broke) with original music by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Kristian Bush.

It's been a crazy year, Dear Readers. Lots of ups, lots of downs, and LOTS of emotions. And I'm not just talking about on stage. But let's not dwell on the bad things that may have happened in the world and focus on some of the amazing things Seattle theater companies gave us this past year, and let me tell you there were quite a few. So many in fact that in some categories I simply had to call out more than the usual Honorable Mentions as some performances just needed to be noted. You'll see what I mean especially when you get to the female categories as the ladies were certainly bringing it this year. But let's get started shall we? Out of the myriad shows I saw this year in Seattle, here are the shows and performances that truly stood out to me.

Atlanta's Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre presents the world premiere musical, Troubadour, by playwright Janece Shaffer (The Geller Girls, Broke) with original music by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Kristian Bush. Set in 1950s Nashville, Troubadour is a romantic comedy about an unlikely group of friends whose unconventional style changes the course of country music. Troubadour is directed by the Alliance's Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Susan V. Booth (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Geller Girl) and runs on the Alliance Stage from January 18 - February 12, 2017. BroadwayWorld has a peek inside the first rehearsal below!

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the complete cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.

Atlanta's Tony Award winning Alliance Theatre has announced the cast and creative team behind its upcoming world premiere musical, Troubadour, by playwright Janece Shaffer (The Geller Girls, Broke) with original music by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Kristian Bush.

Rubicon Theatre Company presents RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the complete cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.

Even if you are familiar with the seldom produced country musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes" you're reaction to it probably isn't a wild one. In fact when I heard it was opening Village Theatre's season I thought, "Well, this will be cute" but my excitement didn't go much further beyond "cute". I'd seen the show once years ago and have had the cast album forever but it's not what you might call one of my "go to" shows. But with this new production out at Village Theatre that may all change. This is not the production from the 80's or really any production you're likely to have seen. With this level of talent and new orchestrations this could revive this old chestnut. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. Click below to go behind the scenes!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Rubicon Theatre Company's 2016-2017 Season was publicly announced today at a special event hosted by Joe Spano(Emmy Award and L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Award-winning veteran of stage and screen) and Peter Van Norden (whose numerous credits include five Broadway shows, regional theatre, film and television). The two actors star as Marley and Scrooge, respectively, in the company's adaptation of A Christmas Carol, which was a Critic's Choice in the L.A. Times and will be reprised this December under the direction of Brian McDonald. The season also features the third play in Arlene Hutton's celebrated Nibroc Trilogy, Gulf View Drive, helmed by London-based director Katharine Farmer; Miche Braden reprising her Off-Broadway performance in The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith written by Angelo Parra and directed by Joe Brancato of Penguin Rep; the return of the most popular comedy in Rubicon history, A.R. Gurney's Sylvia, directed by Stephanie A. Coltrin; direct from Off-Broadway, The Other Mozart written by and starring Silvia Milo and directed by Isaac Byrne, about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's equally remarkable sister Nannerl; Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Frank McGuinness' riveting tale based on a true story about three hostages held in Beirut in1986, directed by Katharine Farmer; and King Lear by William Shakespeare, directed by James O'Neil.

Island Stage Left's 'Romeo and Juliet' plays its Wold Road home through next weekend, August 19th through 21st, closing out a three-week run that follows a short tour. As Stage Left continues the professional quality for which it is known, it is celebrating its eighteenth birthday with some of Shakespeare's most breathtaking and unforgettable characters. Just three days left to see the magic of Shakespeare in this beautiful, timeless story of young love, hot blood and destiny - one of his best-known and most-loved masterpieces.

Rubicon Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that its critically acclaimed American premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton, adapted from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that also inspired the legendary John Ford 1962 film, will extend through Saturday, March 26 at the Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a classic tale of love, honor, ambition and revenge set against the backdrop of the American West.

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced a benefit concert this Sunday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. called SONGS FROM THE WEST AND BEYOND, which will feature Nashville based singer/songwriters SYLVIE DAVIDSON and TREVOR WHEETMAN (currently appearing in the cast of Rubicon's acclaimed American premiere production of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE).

How often do you see an American western onstage? Especially one that was a famous John Ford film in 1952 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Both the film and the stage play are adapted from a short story by Dorothy Johnson about the American west in 1890-1910. The names of the characters in the film are slightly different from those in the play, but the plot is basically the same. What seem to matter more than plot are the historical, cultural, political themes that the story exudes. Now onstage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, in its American premiere, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is helmed by uber skilled director Jenny Sullivan and boasts a stellar cast, but you only have one more week to catch it, through March 20.

Celebrities dressed in Western attire walked the red carpet last Saturday as Rubicon Theatre Company of Ventura presented the American Premiere of the stage play THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton. Attendees included musician Jim Messina of Loggins & Messina, Poco and Buffalo Springfield and his beautiful wife Michaela; Golden Globe nominated actor Ted Neeley with his wife Leeyan and daughter Tessa; and Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Spano with his daughters Liana and Meili. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!