SEATTLE THEATER REVIEWS

I'll admit I was one of the first to roll their eyes in disdain when I heard they made a musical of the Will Ferrell movie "Elf", back in 2010. "Oh Good," I thought, "another overly sweet yet bland movie adaptation designed to get families in the theater and sell merchandise (in this case, elf hats...

It's always a risk when a professional company such as the Rep dusts off an old chestnut such as "Inspecting Carol". I mean, it's kind of become a go to Christmas show for hundreds of regional theaters and might be a little dated. But I can understand why since it was created at the Rep back in 19...

When I think of the truly great sketch comedy out there I immediately look to those Monty Python boys or The Carol Burnett Show. Those were true masters of taking ordinary situations and turning them on their head to make them absolutely hilarious. Well, I think we can add The Habit to that list. ...

It's tough taking on an icon, especially an iconic movie and trying to translate that onto stage. But that's exactly what Seattle Children's Theatre is attempting with their current stage production of the iconic 1939 film "The Wizard of Oz" based on L. Frank Baum's 1900 book. And while the techni...

Manners and tawdry secrets collide at Theater Schmeater with their current production of Noel Coward's "Fallen Angels". And Coward's signature send-up of the upper crust combined with some stunning characterizations and timing from the cast add up to one delightfully funny and slightly naughty even...

There's a certain amount of pressure when a theater company becomes the first in the area to produce a big name show locally. Yes, it's a coup to be the first to get the rights (and Balagan seems to be cornering the market on that this season) but they also need to do the show justice or else, why ...

When your first introduction to a show is a bad one it can color your perception of the show for years to come if not forever. Such was the case of my experience with "Fiddler on the Roof" which I have always looked upon as just being long. Luckily Village Theatre currently has a production that i...

A Shakespearean tale of one of the most famous couples in all of history performed by some of the best actors in town and directed by one of Seattle's best directors. You'd think it'd be a slam dunk success wouldn't you? Well, you'd be right. And even with a few moments that missed the mark for m...

The problem I've always faced in the past with productions of Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" is no matter how engaging the story is I just don't find myself invested in the characters. The show is a memory play and with that most productions fall into the trap of over accentuating the ob...

It's Halloween time and so the 5th Avenue Theatre has chosen to fill up our candy bags with a spooky little treat with "The Addams Family". And while this may not be the equivalent of the house on the block that's giving out the full size chocolate bars, it's far from the house that's handing out t...

Do you know what a paraplegic, a wolf, a fairy, two pregnant teens and a dancing hooker have in common? Neither do I! But that's what the current show "The Skriker" at the Erickson Theatre offered up in director Janice Findley's imagining of Caryl Churchill's creepy look at a world filled with mag...

In "The Music Man" Professor Hill teaches the school board how to sing by explaining to them that singing is just sustained talking. Unfortunately the creators of Annex Theatre's current production "A Mouse Who Knows Me" need to be explained that the same does not go for songwriting as many of the ...

On the chance that you only read the first few sentences of my review of "Ramayana", currently playing at ACT, let me just say this right at the start. Go see this show! Hire the babysitter, arrive early (to catch the awesome Indian bazaar in the lobby), and prepare yourself for one of the most gl...

Is it possible I've seen "Wicked", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre, too many times? It's not like I'm even into the double digits here having only seen it three times. But even with those three, has it lost its luster or have I become jaded. The dragon still roars, the monkeys still ca...

I understand that opening night isn't always the glorious shining gem that it ought to be. Sometimes, no matter how good a show it may be, it's just not quite there yet. Such was the case with the Seattle Rep's opening night of Cheryl L. West's new play with music "Pullman Porter Blues". With a c...

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, T...

Every once in awhile a production comes along that completely surprises you. A production that manages to transcend the ordinary and create something special. A production that concocts the perfect alchemist recipe of script, cast and crew to create theatrical gold. Seattle Public Theater's curre...

First off let me say that the language in this is difficult at best to get through. And no, I don't mean coarse language (although there's plenty of that too) but the Irish accents and regional terms. Fortunately Sound Theatre Company's current production of "Disco Pigs" is being performed by two ...

Back in 2008 Seattle audiences were treated to the pre-Broadway tryout of what would become the 2010 Tony award winner for best musical, "Memphis" by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan. And as amazing as the show was back then, the current production at the 5th Avenue Theatre shows how much better it got...

There were just a few too many things stacked up against ArtsWest's production of "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" for me to completely get into it. With issues ranging from the technical to the presentation, I found it difficult to become immersed in this highly stylized tale. Yes, there were many ...

The problem with so many one-man, autobiographical shows is that they are so often just someone exorcising their own demons. And that's fine when it has someplace to go. But as is the case with ACT's World Premiere of Trieu Tran and Robert Egan's "Uncle Ho To Uncle Sam" it just feels like a big ra...

The movie should not have been very good but Reese Witherspoon sold it. The musical is very good and the original Elle Woods, Laura Bell Bundy took an insanely difficult part and nailed it. This is why I was tentative when I heard Seattle Musical Theatre was starting off their season with "Legally...

Mark Twain's play "Is He Dead?", adapted by David Ives, is an uproarious hysterical romp. Or it can be. Unfortunately the current production from Theater Schmeater, while still funny, lacks a cohesiveness that could take it to the realm of "seriously funny". ...

At the top of the show for Village Theatre's production of "Big River, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" we are greeted with a quote from Mark Twain and the original book. "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be b...

OK, at times it was a little long winded; too many songs and a little over reaching in getting its message across. But beyond that Strawberry Theatre Workshop's production of "This Land - Woody Guthrie" manages to transcend the music and the message and land itself into a realm of charming and simp...