SEATTLE THEATER REVIEWS

If you want to ensure that people come to see your play then make sure you have well advertised nudity and sex in it. This is not a condemnation of "Threesome", the current play over at ACT, but a simple fact of the business of theater. But once you've lured those butts into the seats with the tit...

The old adage “Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans,” would be an ideal tagline for local playwright Kiki Penoyer's TAPHOUSE, an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS....

The true story of murderous teens Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb has seen many iterations over the years, from thinly veiled derivatives like ROPE, COMPULSION or MURDER BY NUMBERS to direct accounts of their actions such as the musical THRILL ME, or the subject of this review, John Logan's NEVER TH...

There may not be a ton of plot going on with Theater Schmeater's current production of "Four Dogs and a Bone". I mean there's no real message or over-arching moral other than "people in Hollywood are awful". But what it does have going for it is some very funny dialog and an ensemble that, while p...

I have to say that when it comes to Kander and Ebb's "Cabaret" I prefer my Kit Kat Club dirty, my Sally Bowles damaged and my Berlin dangerous. And while the current production at Village Theatre has all of those elements, they're all very safe versions of those elements. And while director Brian ...

You might not think that a play from the 1930's would be so resonant today. But in our world where it's so easy to slander someone and spread malicious rumors at the click of a mouse, a play like "The Children's Hour", currently playing from Arouet, feels like an ominous precursor of things to come...

If you're going to tell a story about a journey to hell and back then you need to have a reason. Some kind of moral or message or even just an engaging character that the audience can grab ahold of to root for success. Unfortunately the new musical “Jasper in Deadland”, currently at the 5th Av...

When going to see a show you hope for at least one aspect of the show be something good that you can hold onto. The acting, directing, sets, lights, something to make the night worthwhile. Lucky for all of us the current production of Shakespeare's tragic tale of betrayal and lies "Othello", curre...

Sometimes not even Batman can save you from the atrocities of the world. Such is the case in Book-It Repertory Theatre's current production of Chris Cleave's "Little Bee". With a brutal and visceral tone at times the show manages to show off how the innocent lives of those trod upon in foreign cou...

It's been quite some time since everyone's favorite Mom-laden punk band has graced a Seattle stage, but those "Angry Housewives" are back at ArtsWest. And while appearing to need a little more rehearsal and settling in time and still with a script that feels a bit hackneyed at times, the show with ...

Tennessee Williams' searing southern drama, 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' currently playing at ACT, opens with Brick (Brandon O'Neill) and his wife Maggie (Laura Griffith) in a heated conversation about the disintegrating state of their marriage and is filled with sexual tension. Or at least it should be...

Back in 2011 some friends told me about this amazing production of "Robin Hood" going on over at Seattle Children's Theatre and like a dolt I missed it. (Bad theater reviewer!) Well luckily for me and for all of us that amazing production, complete with the same cast, director and set, is back and...

All too often in musical theater the performers have pretty voices but do the standard "park and bark" and just belt out those tunes with no character or story behind it. Such is not the case with the 12 person ensemble of STAGEright's current production of "Into the Woods" who not only sang the So...

Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" has been a go to for theaters for years. It's big and loud and can be a crowd pleaser. But should it be? Yes, it can be a very funny show if it's done right. But, as is the case with Seattle Musical Theatre's current production, when it...

Character studies of two disparate people thrown together are all well and good. The conflict between the two can amount for high drama and/or comedy gold. And the characters in Seattle Public Theatre's current production of "Slowgirl" are quite different from each other. But for that conflict to...

It's always exciting when the new bit of awesomeness to hit the theater scene comes to Seattle first. Such is the case with the brand new musical "Lizard Boy" written, composed and starring the uber-talented Justin Huertas currently playing at the Seattle Rep. This 90 minute journey of love, accept...

I've never quite understood why Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's "Nine" is so under produced regionally. It's fun, flirty and sexy with some of the most stunningly beautiful songs that unfortunately too few are familiar with. It could be that in order to produce it correctly you need one killer ens...

Let's set the way back machine to September 2011 and we'll visit a time when Theatre Schmeater's production of a new play from Wayne Rawley kind of took Seattle by storm. It sold out houses and won several local awards. Now 3 ½ years later and Theatre22 has tried to recreate the magic by remounti...

It has no huge morally important message to deliver. It won't be stopping wars or fixing societal unrest. But what "Mamma Mia!", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre, does do and has always done is to be fun. A fluffy, bubblegum, rockin' good time and seriously that's enough....

The current production from Pony World Theatre may not be everyone's cup of tea. I mean it's already got a few things that may make people shy away. One of the longest titles in theatrical history to start, “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as So...

How do you decide what is deserving to be considered as art both monetarily and sociologically? Yes, it's all very subjective and depending on the person but for me, especially with theater, it needs to convey some sort of message or at least an engaging story. Unfortunately the current production...

Moliere's "Tartuffe" is already a classic drink from the comedy well from which many have drawn. But what director Makaela Pollock and the folks at Seattle Shakespeare Company have done with their current production is to take that comedy and reinvigorated it with a kind of screwball comedy style m...

A serial killer being hunted by the police sounds like ripe fodder for a musical comedy, right? No? Well then you need to expand your perception and get out to Village Theatre to catch their current production of "No Way to Treat a Lady" which not only manages to amuse while it horrifies but also ...

You know when you're in a store or restaurant or even a movie theater and you overhear the conversations of the workers and take that little peak into their lives? Well now there's a nearly three hour play about that, "The Flick" by Annie Baker currently performing from the folks at New Century The...

Even Musical Theater nerds such as myself might not be familiar with “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well & Living in Paris”, currently performing at ACT in a joint production with ACT and the 5th Avenue Theatre. I, myself, admit only a passing familiarity with the work and mostly from the covers th...