VIDEO: RIDE THE CYCLONE, A Co-Production Between The 5th Avenue Theatre And ACT Opens This Week

Ride the Cylcone, this season's dark and hilarious co-production between The 5th Avenue Theatreand ACT - A Contemporary Theatre, is now in preview performances and has its official opening night this Thursday, March 22 at ACT - A Contemporary Theatre. The award-winning director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell has continued to refine and explore the world of Ride the Cyclone with its writers Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, returning to direct after working on its two previous U.S. productions in Chicago and Off Broadway. This co-production, which is the eighth collaboration between The 5th and ACT, will showcase new developments to the script and score. At least one third of the script has been newly created for this production, which is in addition to countless small but crucial tweaks and refinements. These new developments have continued to define and shape the world that the Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir inhabits onstage.

"One of the things that excites me the most about this collaboration between ACT and The 5th Avenue Theatre is that we are practically back in Victoria, B.C. where Ride the Cyclone began," said director Rachel Rockwell. "There is a strong Northwestern sense of humor in this piece that makes it feel a bit like we are coming home. One critical quality of developing new work is bravery and I find this especially true with Ride the Cyclone - it's such a unique piece. There is a real sense of bravery at both ACT and The 5th that has allowed us to push past some long-standing roadblocks in the storytelling. I think there will be greater clarity in this new version because of that and I'm looking forward to hearing how Seattle audiences respond, especially to the humor."

Now playing through May 20, 2018 (press opening Thursday, March 22, 2018) at ACT - A Contemporary Theatre (700 Union Street), tickets for Ride the Cyclone start at $49 and can be purchased at www.acttheatre.org, by phone at 206-292-7676 or at the ACT Box Office.

At 8:17 PM, the Saint Cassian High School Chamber Choir will board the Cyclone roller coaster. At 8:19, the front axle will break, sending them to their tragic demise. Trapped in fantastical carnival-like purgatory, the recently deceased teens discover a mechanical fortune teller, who invites them to tell their stories of life interrupted, with the promise of a prize like no other. Welcome to Ride the Cyclone, a wildly original new musical. Part comedy, part tragedy and completely unexpected, this wonderfully weird story is at every turn satirical, macabre, creepy, campy and hilarious.