Jay Irwin - Page 35

Terrence McNally is by far one of my favorite playwrights. I mean his current Broadway offering had me in tears as does most of his work. But even your favorites are bound to have one or two pieces that just don't work for you. Such is the case with 'The Lisbon Traviata' currently being produced by Theatre22 as part of their inaugural season as well as their Summer Pride Festival. Yes, there are some good performances in the production and the set is gorgeous but ultimately it just felt like not enough of a story being offered in Act Two that couldn't redeem the lack of story in Act One not to mention the highly specific audience needed to enjoy it.

OK, so we'll start off with the fact that it's an Arthur Miller piece. One of the greatest storytellers of our time and ACT's current production of "The Price" is a shining example of that. But add into the genius of Miller a killer set, sizzlingly intense pacing and a stunner of a cast and ACT has an absolute winner of a show that deserves to be seen and savored.

Maybe it was the fact that the theater was a hot box. Maybe it was the incessant nervous twitch that one audience member had that apparently everyone could hear but him. Or maybe it was that the show just isn't my style. But Sounds Theatre Company's production of "A Small Fire", while having some stellar performances, just didn't quite do it for me.

I must apologize, Dear Readers, for getting this one to you so late. But alas when the Mothership beckons I must go. Unfortunately it meant me coming late to the party that is Arouet's production of David Ives' 'Don Juan in Chicago' which leaves you only two more chances to see this hilarious production, which I urge you to do. Some beautiful direction and a killer ensemble make this bit of Ives' deliciousness even more fun.

We all know the annoying trend of turning every well-regarded or sellable movie into a Broadway Musical. Do we really need a stage version of the popular film especially when that film is pretty much a musical already such as with the indie sleeper hit "Once"? Well, I don't know if we need it but in this case I'm actually glad we have it as they have taken this lovely romance and just simply let it be told through it's gorgeous music and some very simple staging and the result is a great big sigh (and maybe even a few tears) at the end of a truly entertaining evening.

Because I couldn't be limited to just five, here are the top SIX theatrical endeavors happening this summer in Seattle that have me a little giddy.

Well this is it, Dear Readers. The trip has come to an end (sigh) and even as I type this I am winging back to the Emerald City and leaving the Mothership behind. It's been an exciting trip with tons of thrilling theater. But before we wrap up, we still need to talk about one more show, "If/Then'.

It's day four Dear Readers, it's almost all over (sigh), and it's all slowing down. Only one show last night and only one more remaining. But let's not focus on the sadness of having to leave the Mothership soon, let's focus on killing the mean, popular kids.

Day three was yet another roller coaster of emotions as we went from the tragic yet beautiful to the hilarious. I guess I planned this schedule pretty well. Let's start with the beyond words amazing Audra and then we'll move on from there.

Day two, my three show day, is behind me Dear Readers and it was an absolutely exhilarating one filled with laughs, tears, and culminating in a stunner of a show. But we'll get to Neil in a minute.

Greetings Dear Readers. The lure of the Mothership was finally too great and I have returned to her to see what kind of wisdom she wants to impart. Yes, I have returned to New York to avail myself of the fabulous new shows the city has to offer.

OK let me start off by saying, Babs she ain't and thank God for that. OK, now before you all form the lynch mob, I love Babs. But if anyone is going to even attempt to put on "Funny Girl" the worst thing they could do it try to pass off an imitation of an icon. And Sarah Rose Davis in Village's current production manages to pull off carrying the show with aplomb while still putting her own stamp on the role.

William Finn's shows are not easy to produce. Maybe that's why (with the exception of Spelling Bee) they're not done as often as they deserve. And his largely autobiographical "A New Brain" is no exception with its emotional storyline and rich score not to mention some odd staging elements it requires. So if you're going to produce it you'd better have all your ducks in a row. Well all of the ducks are there for the current production from STAGEright now performing at the Cornish Playhouse Black Box but some of them didn't quite stay in that row.

The main characters in the new musical version of "A Room with a View" spend their time trying to figure out who they want to become. Unfortunately the show itself also has an identity crisis, as it could never figure out what kind of show it wanted to be. And that, combined with songs that rarely got off the ground and never moved the story along, left the show a muddled mess being sung by some powerhouse talents who deserve better.

A Shakespearean classic directed by Sheila Daniels. Sounds like a dead lock winner right? Unfortunately Seattle Shakespeare Company's current production of "King Lear", while having some moments of power, ultimately left me wanting. Wanting for what? That's tough to say. There were so many little things needling me about the production that didn't quite work that they almost overshadowed what did. But ultimately it amounted to an inconsistency of pacing and performance that left me, like Lear, out in the cold facing the storm (such as it is but we'll get to that later).

As Americans we tend to love to witness a good familial car wreck. That's why dysfunctional family dramas are so popular (not to mention the hoards of people behaving badly on reality TV). But long before the Weston's of Osage County hurled their first insult or popped their first pill, George and Martha of Edward Albee's classic dark comedy “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, currently playing at the Seattle Rep, were knocking back two or three or 15 stiff ones and letting the secrets and venom fly. And Albee's play feels just as fresh today as it ever has, due in no small part to this pitch perfect production. So I guess bad manners never go out of style.

It's not based on a book or a movie or (God forbid) a TV show. It isn't the dusted off classics from some forgotten pop icon. What Balagan Theatre has brought us with the world premiere of "Ernest Shackleton Loves Me" is a quirky, fresh and completely original new musical and one of the most exciting things I've seen in musical theater in years. It's the whole package!

There's a plot device that has annoyed me since I was a kid. Sitcoms use it a lot. It's where the main character keeps lying and/or making obviously poor decisions which keeps digging them deeper and deeper into a hole until you just want to scream at them, "Just tell the truth and do the right thing already!" In sitcoms it all gets resolved in a fun way in 22 minutes and everyone learns a valuable lesson. But when this plot device is combined with the nation's current economic woes as is the case with Laura Marks' play "Bethany", currently playing at ACT, that frustration with the characters never seems to end leading to a bleak evening which left me asking, "why?" Is this a journey we need to take or is it simply frustration for frustration's sake and shining a spotlight on the plight of some to make others without the plight feel better about their lives?

A world premiere play from one of Seattle's best, Stephanie Timm, directed by one of Seattle's best, Darragh Kennan and from one of Seattle's best theatre groups, New Century Theatre Company. Seems like a dead lock winner right? But while I still found "Tails of Wasps" currently playing at ACT thoroughly engaging and interesting I wasn't so blown away by it as I have been by others from this group. And yes, I may be holding them up to a higher standard, but that's what you get for consistently being on the top.

Balagan Theatre is bringing one of the oddest topics for a musical to the Seattle Rep with the world premiere of "Ernest Shackleton Loves Me". From anyone else this might seem like a stretch but from the minds of Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn, who brought us the likes of Striking 12 and Sleeping Beauty Wakes, along with book writer Joe DiPietro, a story about a single mother/musician who begins a Skype conversation with Ernest Shackleton as he journeys across the Antarctic is just a jumping off point for something magical. I recently sat down with co-author and one of the leads of the show Valerie Vigoda along with fellow cast mate Wade McCollum to discuss this odd pairing.