Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 25

BWW Review: ArtsWest's Gripping MILK LIKE SUGAR Needs Some Time to Settle
by Jay Irwin - March 03, 2017

A play like "Milk Like Sugar" about three teenage girls making a pact to all get pregnant while still in school would be a ridiculous premise if it weren't for the fact that it's based in reality. And while the current production at ArtsWest may boast some gripping performances, opening night also ...

BWW Review: Astonishing Vocals in SMT's LITTLE WOMEN
by Jay Irwin - February 27, 2017

Shows like the musical version of "Little Women" require a powerhouse cast in order to survive. The songs are soaring and powerful and without the vocals to back it up, it's just not worth it. Fortunately Seattle Musical Theatre has some outstanding performers in their current offering but unfortu...

BWW Review: A MOVEABLE FEAST's Sumptuous Supper, Song, and Story at Café Nordo
by Jay Irwin - February 27, 2017

Welcome to the world of Ernest Hemingway's Paris in the 1920's. Just like with any of the Cafe Nordo shows, the instant you walk into Nordo's Culinarium you're transported to another time and place but they seem to have outdone themselves with their current collaboration with Book-It Theatre with "...

BWW Review: 20th Anniversary of RENT at the Paramount Solid but No Tears
by Jay Irwin - February 22, 2017

'Rent' is certainly one of those shows where you either love it or you hate it. I'm firmly in the first camp. I was right there in the fervor when it first came out in 1996 and was the 'it' show the same way a current show about a founding father is today. And when that first tour came around I m...

BWW Review: NCTC's BRIGHT HALF LIFE is Sweet but Lacks Engaging Characters
by Jay Irwin - February 20, 2017

The theater is filled with some of the greatest love stories, "Romeo and Juliet", "Mary's Wedding", and "Falsettos" just to name a few of my favorites. But in order to engage an audience in a love story you need to give them a reason to invest in the relationship whether that's through a specific c...

BWW Review: 5th Ave's PAJAMA GAME Delivers the Steam Heat
by Jay Irwin - February 17, 2017

There's this little subsection of musical theater from the 50's and 60's that are big crowd pleasers due to the fact they were just plain fun. Sure, sometimes they dealt with issues as well but for the most part they were toe tapping good times. One of those that falls into this category is defini...

BWW Review: Seattle Rep's WELL Hilariously Deconstructs One-Woman Shows
by Jay Irwin - February 16, 2017

Author Lisa Kron is known for her one-woman shows. I am known for having issues with one-person shows, as they tend to be someone else's therapy on stage. Luckily Kron also understands that issue as she very self referentially mocks those kinds of shows in her play "Well", currently at the Seattle...

BWW Review: STORYVILLE RISING Captivates with Stories but Little Plot
by Jay Irwin - February 13, 2017

It's difficult to see where creator, writer and director of "Storyville Rising", currently playing at Seattle Immersive Theatre, David Crellin was trying to go with his show. I mean, it's certainly a fascinating look, supported by some wonderful performances, into the world of the red light distric...

BWW Review: SHLONG SONG Has Cojones at 18th and Union
by Amelia Reynolds - February 07, 2017

The most common subject in comedy is sex. But Woody Shticks (brainchild of Noah Duffy and star of 18th and Union's 'Shlong Song') is not just a comedian, he's a dynamic storyteller. It's a man talking about his sexual journey. At times, it's heartbreaking. At other times, it's fantastic. Either way,...

BWW Review: RAISINS IN A GLASS OF MILK Examines Racial Issues in Theatre
by Jay Irwin - February 06, 2017

More and more we see controversies arise in the entertainment industry as people of color are overlooked for some roles or pigeonholed in other roles based on their race. Well now a group of Cornish students and alum have assembled at 18th and Union for a remounting of their show illuminating those...

BWW Review: Two Words for Seattle Shake's BRING DOWN THE HOUSE – Bad Ass
by Jay Irwin - February 06, 2017

Here in Seattle we are blessed to have an abundance of bad ass female theater professionals some you might even go so far as to call local theater royalty. Well now Seattle Shakespeare Company in collaboration with Upstart Crow Collective have taken those bad ass women and dropped them in a traditi...

BWW Review: Seagull Project's CHERRY ORCHARD Still Shines Amidst Some Confusion
by Jay Irwin - February 06, 2017

Mounting something as complex as a Chekov play is not an easy undertaking and should only be handled by professionals. Luckily, in Seattle, we have the Seagull Project who has been tackling these works the last few years including the absolutely incredible "Three Sisters" they put up a few years ba...

BWW Review: Seattle Public Theater's THE LIAR: Effervescent and Groovy
by Amelia Reynolds - February 06, 2017

Modern adaptations of traditional texts are common, but mod adaptations of traditional texts are quite rare. Seattle Public Theater's 'The Liar' puts a 60s twist on a 17th-century farce, and it works....

BWW Review: Creepy yet Touching LET THE RIGHT ONE IN Thrills at the Moore
by Jay Irwin - February 03, 2017

Is it possible to put a really good horror story on stage? It has been done to some limited success with things like "Sweeney Todd" or "The Woman in Black" and now we have the truly creepy offering from National Theatre of Scotland with their adaptation of "Let the Right One In"....

BWW Review: Lopsided Tone in Farcical MY MAN GODFREY at Theatre Schmeater
by Amelia Reynolds - February 03, 2017

Something's wrong when a tertiary character with no name upstages your main character. Sometimes it can make a production more memorable, but in Theatre Schmeater's current production of 'My Man Godfrey', the nameless mediator embraced the melodrama of the production and went over the top deliciousl...

BWW Review: Gripping Journey in GUARDS AT THE TAJ at ACT
by Jay Irwin - January 30, 2017

I do love it, Dear Readers, when a show manages to thrill without the aid of elaborate sets or gimmicks. Where you can just immerse yourself in the words and performances. Such is the case with "Guards at the Taj" currently playing at ACT. That's not to say that the minimal set design from Brando...

BWW Review: Theater 9/12's SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION – Strong Performances but a Bit Static
by Jay Irwin - January 30, 2017

There's something to be said for a bunch of actors, putting in the work and leaving it all out on the stage unencumbered by elaborate sets. That's why I love Theater 9/12's shows as it's all about the performances. Plus the shows are always so intimate in their little parish hall space that you re...

BWW Review: 18th and Union's Feminist Sketch Comedy HAPPY HOUR Has Potential
by Amelia Reynolds - February 03, 2017

Who am I to judge how anyone processes the political climate? Well, when it's theatre, technically, it's my job. Nonetheless, I understand why Keira McDonald and Erin Stewart put on their two-woman sketch comedy, 'Happy Hour', now performing at 18th and Union as a part of their 'Oddballs and Misfits...

BWW Review: Absurdist Comedy OROBORO More Unsettling Than Funny at 18th and Union
by Amelia Reynolds - January 30, 2017

Conceptual productions are tricky because you have to find that balance of being cerebral and being entertaining, especially when you market yourself as a comedy. As apart of 18th and Union's 'Oddballs and Misfits' series, Human spark plug K. Brian Neel's 'Oroboro' is a one-man acid nightmare that s...

BWW Review: Paramount's KING AND I Full of Heart, Talent, Et Cetera
by Jay Irwin - January 25, 2017

I've never been a huge fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. It's kind of dated, the songs, while many are classics, don't really move the story along, and plot points often come out of nowhere, plus it's one of those staples from the Golden ...

BWW Review: Strawberry Theatre Workshop's PROOF Need Not Prove Its Integrity
by Amelia Reynolds - January 26, 2017

Behold, a rare gem, a piece of art that combines two vastly different disciplines: theater, and math. Ironically, what makes David Auburn's Pulitzer Prize winning play, 'Proof' so entertaining isn't so much the math, but the chemistry between the characters. Get out your pens and pencils, students, ...

BWW Review: ArtsWest's MOTHERS AND SONS Lives Up to Its Potential
by Jay Irwin - January 23, 2017

I was fortunate enough to see Tyne Daly in Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons" when it was on Broadway. So when I heard that ArtsWest was putting up a production of the show from one of my favorite playwrights, starring Suzy Hunt and Evan Whitfield, already some of my favorite actors in town, and...

BWW Review: Village's THE 39 STEPS Packed with Laughs but Lacks Pace
by Jay Irwin - January 20, 2017

If you've ever seen Patrick Barlow's brilliant stage adaptation of the Hitchcock film "The 39 Steps" you know what a fast paced thrill ride it is. When I saw the Broadway touring production I thought I was going to pass out from laughter. Which is why I was a little let down by the current product...

BWW Review: RSVP 'Yes' to Game-Changing MADAME DRAGON'S 60TH BIRTHDAY BASH at Café Nordo
by Amelia Reynolds - January 16, 2017

It's easy to feel skeptical when young Sara Porkalob steps onto Cafe Nordo's stage and claims to be celebrating her sixtieth birthday. But with her effortless 'still-got-it' physicality and chutzpa, Porkalob became a believably spry sixty-years-young Madame Dragon. In her latest iteration of her one...

BWW Review: WET's EVERY FIVE MINUTES Disturbs with Blistering Performances
by Jay Irwin - January 16, 2017

You know that nightmare you have where nothing makes sense as the plot keeps switching from one horrible situation to the next? You try and try but you just can't make anything good last for more than five minutes. Now try living that and you'll have what the character Mo (Tim Gouran) feels like a...