SEATTLE THEATER REVIEWS

Are there any taboo subjects for musicals anymore? I mean we've had shows about serial killers and assassins, drug addicts and prisoners, demons and super powered psychotic teens, and even oversexed puppets. So I don't know why anyone should be surprised by the new musical at ACT in conjunction wi...

There are dozens of different ways to tell a story, and budding production team amador/stokes may have used all of them in their vibrant, surreal production "DUELS", currently playing at 12th Avenue Arts....

Do you have an allergy or aversion to laughter? If so, my condolences and this show might not be for you. But if not then you should get yourself down to the Center House Theatre to catch Sound Theatre Company's current production of "One Man, Two Guvnors". Get ready for two and a half hours gut ...

Tennessee Williams' 'The Glass Menagerie' is a tough piece to pull off with all its emotion and meaning in tact but luckily new to town company The Williams Project is more than up to the task. Add into that some down home cookin' from the folks at Cafe Nordo and you've got yourself an evening to s...

Well it may have been hotter than blazes this past weekend but I managed to spend the weekend inside at one of my favorite events of the year, The Village Theatre Village Originals Festival of New Musicals. They presented concert stagings of five musicals still in the works. It's a great opportuni...

Have you ever seen a production where you thought that the actors where too good for the show? That's how it felt watching Studio 18 Production's inaugural show 'Bonnie & Clyde' at 12th Avenue Arts. I am very impressed that this brand new company threw together such a talented cast for this musical,...

Not many conductors have the privilege to be mentored by a living composer. Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot counts himself a part of that echelon...

Dear Readers, I have some really great news for you. The Williams Project, the incredible company that gave us the scintillating 'Orpheus Descending' last year, is back in Seattle and their latest offering, 'Blues for Mister Charlie' by James Baldwin just provides further proof that this is a top n...

'Spring Awakening' is a tough musical to take on: all of the performers need to be exceptional singers and dancers, while also finding that sweet spot of giving their character emotional honesty in its darkly funny narrative. On top of it all, most of the actors have to be (or at least pass as) midd...

I'm seriously starting to believe that Annie Baker thinks she gets paid for her plays based on how long they are. Furthermore she finds the banal conversations of random people fascinating. She must as once again we have a play from Ms. Baker, this time from ReAct Theatre with "The Aliens", with l...

It's tough when you see a play that has some really amazing moments but also sits there and screams, "My God I need an editor!" Such is the case with Stephen Adly Gurgis' "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot" currently performing at the Center Theatre from Sound Theatre Company. Not only could Gurgis ...

Rose-of-the-air Amelia Earhart is a very elusive historical figure. I'm even named after her, and I don't know that much about her. So when I heard that Theater Schmeater was not only putting on their very first musical, but it was a musical about Amelia Earhart, I was very excited to learn more abo...

In our current political climate where candidates regularly hurl insults at each other on things such as penis size it's hard to remember that politics used to be about the candidate's stand on issues as well. So when did that change? When did we go from building up our own candidate in an ad to t...

When you're catching the touring production of a show you saw with it's original cast on Broadway, you hope that the folks on tour will be up to par at least somewhat. Such was my fear catching the touring company of the Tony Award winning Best Musical "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" current...

The world is in a particularly tumultuous time right now, so having a play with a call to action feels especially necessary. Live Girls Theatre!'s production of 'Things You Can Do' did just the opposite, restating how global atrocities are too daunting and too vast to help mend on a local scale, an...

There are some productions where you hear the description and think to yourself, 'this is either going to be amazing, or a complete dumpster fire.' Those were my feelings going to see Pony World Theater's production of 'Suffering, Inc.,' a modern take on Chekhovian realism where every line of dialog...

Back in 2013 Andrew Lippa sent his latest work off to Broadway. "Big Fish", based on the movie of the same name, was sure to be a big hit. But for some reason this sweet little tuner failed to catch fire and closed in just under 4 months. Sadly with such a tepid reception no tour of the show was ...

There's nothing like a well done David Mamet play with its verbal sparring, clever dialog and constant exchange of power. But in order to be great the performances need to be so laser focused and on point you could cut glass with them. And while the current production from Theatre9/12 of "Speed th...

Break out your flip flops and Hawaiian shirts because it's time to head on down to the beach, "Twister Beach", the latest in culinary craziness from Mark Siano and Opal Peachey at Cafe Nordo. This modern day twist on the old Beach Blanket Bingo movies of the 50's and 60's offers up something for ev...

If you happened to be in the vicinity of The Town Hall in Seattle last night, and not fortunate enough to be inside, then you may have noticed that the atmosphere was a little cooler, a little sexier, a little more poignant and basically fabulous. Well that's due to the fact that outrageous star of...

I'll admit unfamiliarity with Lerner and Loewe's "Paint Your Wagon" before recently. Never saw the original, never saw the movie, and had only a passing familiarity with the bigger songs in it. So to educate myself before seeing this production I watched the movie, which was also rewritten from th...

As a woman in the middle ages, there seemed to be only two options: be a mother, or a strumpet. This dilemma is not unfamiliar to any modern woman stressed by societal demands. In Heidi Schreck's 'Creature,' it is 1401, and Margery Kempe has found a third option: sainthood....

Sometimes you go to a show and you see what can only be described as a "Star Turn". That performance that shows just how amazing an actor is. But what do you call it when you see it over and over again? Lately I call it Conner Neddersen as, just like his previous stellar performances, his perform...

In this ever changing world we are getting more and more acceptable variations on love. There are still the traditional ones, man and woman, parent and child, friend to friend. But people are opening up to more with same sex unions and even polyamorous relationships becoming more common. No one c...

One of the reasons we love a good family drama is it appeals to that voyeur in us all. We love to peek inside someone else's world and see how it compares to our own. But as chaotic and messy as those lives may be they still speak more eloquently and at just the right moments than we could, being ...