SEATTLE THEATER REVIEWS

THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN’S WINDOW is a complicated story about complex people dealing with complex issues that reveals some simple truths. Ideals and reality clash with reverberating effects. The play forces you to consider your beliefs, commitments, the value of honesty, and what we bring and ...

Love and longing, mistakes and matches, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY pairs all the ups and down and ins and outs of love and marriage in one show. Village Theatre’s production of this Kate Hamill adaptation also pairs the traditional story with exaggerations of the humor and sarcasm. It is light and dive...

A new work by ACT Theatre and the Hansberry Project, HISTORY OF THEATRE: ABOUT, BY, FOR, and NEAR will take you on a journey through time and space to meet the people who forged the foundations for Blacks in theater. The show dispels myths about minstrelsy, delves into the hows and whys of black fac...

Compelling storytelling is the focus of METAMORPHOSES at Seattle Rep. Every choice is made with intention, and every facet of the show is a work of collaboration. The gods, the humans, and the demigods are all shown to have strengths and weaknesses. With stories that reach back into the eons of the ...

THIS BITTER EARTH is a story of troubles: a troubled time, troubles in a relationship, but mostly trouble in seeing outside of one’s own perspective. In our modern world where issues of social justice dominate the headlines, our actions and reactions are as varied as the individuals that make up o...

A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE is ironically an important work by none other than the esteemed Oscar Wilde. A thinking man’s comedy, Wilde imbues this work with witty banter while challenging society’s norms. The clips along with a steady stream of laughs punctuated by occasions of loud guffaws and ey...

The road to fame is long and hard. AIN’T TOO PROUD guides you through the journey of The Temptations as they reach for the stars. The music is soulful, and the moves are sublime. The journey itself is full of potholes and obstacles, and the show hits a few bumps along the way. The show is a fun ni...

Every so often a show comes along that moves you in such a way that you are changed. There are some characters that you wish were real and could be part of your life. There are stories that are so good that you don’t want them to end. I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER is that show, has those ...

Dear Readers, you know I find one person shows to be problematic. Often, they get into maudlin territories and end up being someone else’s therapy on stage. So, I was dubious when Seattle Shakespeare Company announced Debra Ann Byrd’s one woman show “Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey�...

More. That, Dear Readers, is the watchword the creators of the stage adaption of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film, “Moulin Rouge!”, subscribed to. They threw in more sparkle wherever they could in this stage musical, currently playing at the Paramount. Unfortunately, they also threw in more songs, mor...

Dear Readers, we all know that travelling during the holidays can be a nightmare. Delayed flights, family drama, not to mention dealing with others attempting their own travels. But as frustrating as it can be, what’s not frustrating is the delightful cast of characters created by Maggie Lee in he...

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is an enduring classic. We all know this. It’s never been out of publication since its first publishing in 1843. It has spawned numerous movie, TV, and stage adaptations from the serious to the Muppets. Now the Seattle Rep has come along with a World Prem...

L. Frank Baum’s classic fantasy “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is the gift that just keeps on giving. From its 1901 origins to the 1939 iconic film to any number of sequels, movies, and even a Broadway musical or two, we always seem to want to hear more and more about the magical land of Oz. And...

Christmas is a most favorite holiday to many, and the Jane Austen fan base has never been stronger. What could be more perfect than to revive some of Austen’s most beloved characters (and some of her most notorious) in a delightful Christmas setting? THE WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY is a holid...

ELF at Driftwood Players is full of humor and heart and a lot of plain old fun. With a set that is one part Jenga and one part Tetris, the Driftwood Theater has tackled this monster of a show with great aplomb. The feel good show of the season leaves everyone smiling with just a tad of delighted sur...

“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” is an enduring classic for a reason. Sure, it’s family friendly and has a worldwide recognizable name, but in addition to it’s wonderful songs, it’s shown to be amazingly adaptable based on the production. ...

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR has long been a mainstay in the musical theater world. Yet, despite its popularity, it is rarely produced outside of large production companies or national tours. Reboot Theater took up the challenge and gives us not only a solid production of this popular show, but also a mod...

Dear Readers, there’s an interesting an innovative new work based on an old classic playing in Capitol Hill with Pony World Theatre’s “Not / Our Town”. Even as I arrived at the theater, the pre-show activities the audience must partake in were filled with promise. Unfortunately, that promise...

Dear Readers, if you’re at all familiar with The Williams Project, then you know of their hard-hitting shows. Their “Blues for Mister Charlie” from 2016 was just one of their outstanding works. Now they’re back to take on another piece from James Baldwin, his “The Amen Corner”, and once ...

Dear Readers, I’m going to offer up a few unpopular opinions of mine. First, I’m not a huge fan of Alanis Morissette. Not that I dislike her, but her album of “Jagged Little Pill” was never my jam. And second, the jukebox musical “Jagged Little Pill”, currently playing at the Paramount T...

In this time of year with black cats, ghouls and ghosts, and things that go bump in the night, it stands to reason that Seattle Shakespeare would bring out one of the bloodier and creepier of Shakespeare’s canon, “Macbeth”, or “the Scottish play” as it’s known by superstitious theater fo...

THE GLASS MENAGERIE invites you to lean in and join the world of the Wingfield Family. Hopes and fears trouble the waters of an uncertain future with equal measure. The ties that bind us can bring us closer, but they can also prevent us from growing. THE GLASS MENAGERIE explores the multitude of emo...

A world premiere play, set in the 1650’s, that resonates so much with today? That’s what we currently have from Macha Theatre Works with their production of “La Tofana’s Poison Emporium”. While this piece presents an actual murderess/savior from history, it also, deftly correlates to the w...

The Can Can, Seattle’s fabulous burlesque house, celebrates the 15th anniversary of their collaboration with The Triple Door by bringing back their ode to Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with their tantalizing “This Is Halloween”. And while this naughty nightmare has much o...

Chances are you were forced to read Harper Lee’s classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird” in school. And why not, it’s stunning. But have you seen the recent Broadway adaptation? This adaptation from the amazing Aaron Sorkin, directed by Bartlett Sher, currently playing at the Paramount Theater, tak...