Jay Irwin - Page 37

Before "Rent" put AIDS into the mainstream, before "The Temperamentals" looked at the plight of closeted gay men, there was "The Normal Heart", Larry Kramer's somewhat autobiographical, ground breaking master work which shoved the AIDS crisis and the gay lifestyle front and center at a time when people preferred to think of it as someone else's issue. The current production from Strawberry Theatre Workshop may have a few wrinkles to iron out but the performances from the stellar cast do honor to the iconic work.

I've never particularly been a fan of Shakespeare's histories. To me they amount to a lot of political posturing. But even with all the posturing they usually amount to a story with high stakes for all involved. Unfortunately the pacing and some performances from Seattle Shakespeare Company's current production of "Richard II" are so middle of the road and one note that the show lacked those high stakes and amounted to just so much of that posturing.

Opera has long been considered at the epitome of class and sophistication. Well it's time to give up that idea as 'Jerry Springer: The Opera' has come to town from Balagan Theatre in association with Seattle Theatre Group, and they've taken the highbrow nature of Opera and defecated all over it. And guess what, it's awesome! And before you think this is just some crass parody with a lot of bathroom humor and sex jokes, well it is, but it's also a smart and meaningful show with soaring operatic performers who would (some of whom have) fit right in at Seattle Opera.

The servants are downstairs and the Masters upstairs and the scandals and secrets are flying. It could be another episode of the PBS hit "Downton Abbey" except in this case the scandal is … well, you won't know until the audience shouts it out. As it is with most improv shows at Jet City Improv's "Upside Downton", the audience decides the direction of the story and it's up to the talented folks at Jet City to turn it into a Brit-ish (some of those accents were hilariously off) evening of fun. And while only half of the house seemed to really be clicking the night I saw, it still amounted to a great time.

The discussion on conversion or reparative therapies seems to be growing fast, especially with many states enacting bans on conversion therapy practices on gays. And now the Seattle Rep has commissioned a play on the topic from rising star playwright Samuel D Hunter with his "A Great Wilderness". I got to sit down and discuss the show with Hunter as well as director Braden Abraham to get their in depth look at this upcoming work.

I've never particularly warmed to Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita". Like most of his shows it just feels like a lot of flash and very little substance. So I can't really come at this production from the point of view of a fan of the show but I can point out some truly stirring performances within it.

Holy Crap! That's really the most emphatic sentiment I can use to describe the internal battles I had when trying to pick my top picks for this past year. There were so many amazing performances and achievements that to pick just one was almost an impossibility (and as you'll see, WAS an impossibility for one category). But the battle is over and it's my distinct pleasure to announce my picks for the 2013 Broadway World Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (or Jay's Picks, if you prefer).

Holiday theatrical traditions are alive and well at ACT but the two shows playing couldn't be more different from each other. First off with their 38th annual production, ACT presents the classic “A Christmas Carol” with all the polish and flash that you've come to expect. And then with their 13th installment, Peggy Platt and Lisa Koch (AKA Dos Fallopia) present their irreverent sketch comedy show “Ham for the Holidays: Close Encounters of the Pork Rind”. I managed to see both in one night (it's possible but it's tight) and I went from sobbing to belly laughs that amounted to a lovely evening of holiday treats.

It seems everything is coming up Jinkx lately. What with winning "RuPaul's Drag Race", a sold out run of his "Vaudevillians" show in New York, and his award winning performance of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" here in Seattle (click here for my review of last January's production), Jerick Hoffer (a.k.a. Jinkx Monsoon) has a lot to crow about. And now with three upcoming shows in December (including a remount of the aforementioned "Hedwig"), it seems Jinkx is taking over the Holidays as well. I recently had a conversation with Jerick in between his many rehearsals to see how his whirlwind life has been going since the win.

Take equal parts Dickens and Shakespeare, add in a healthy spoonful of historical tom-foolery, the zest from a bawdy queen and stir it up til you don't know one play from another and you'll have the latest outing from one of the more impressive small theater companies in town, Sound Theatre Company, with their World Premiere of "Holiday of Errors". And while it may get slightly muddled at times and take just a bit to get started, if you sit back and let the ridiculousness of it wash over you, you're bound to have a good time.

Any Charles Dickens' tale basically has the same theme, working through adversity to get to hope. But even with that simplistic theme his characters are extremely nuanced and complex. And any production of a Dickensian play needs those nuances lest the show just turn into melodrama. Unfortunately the current production of "Oliver!" at the 5th Avenue Theatre is lacking in that nuance as well as much spark so that it mostly comes across as going through the motions.

It's the day after Thanksgiving and suddenly I feel myself getting attacked from a Thanksgiving turkey. No, it's not my Sister's cooking but the world premiere offering from Balagan Theatre of "Thankskilling, The Musical". It's still the completely offensive and hilarious show I saw in the summer as part of Balagan's Summer New Works readings but now a little more fleshed out. And while the humor is still there the production felt it needed a little more cooking time. The bird was just a tad underdone.

When casting my reviewers eye to the world premiere musical version of Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach", currently playing at Seattle Children's Theatre, I am forced to look upon the show from two perspectives. From the kid perspective, as this is children's theatre, will this be entertaining and accessible enough for kids? And from the adult musical theater lover perspective, as this is a brand new musical from some up and comers in the musical theater scene Justin Paul, Benj Pasek and Timothy Allen McDonald, is this something that can make a musical theater lover squeal with delight at the thought of it getting a wider audience (like maybe Broadway)? And while from the kid perspective this was a lovely and thoroughly fun time for any age, the musical theater snob in me felt the show just needs a little more work to be truly great. But it's certainly on its way.

I love it when a production manages to actually make me giddy with its technical aspects whether that be the gorgeous set, the intricate staging or the storytelling lights and sound. It appeals to the theater geek in me. So, Dear Readers, you can imagine how much I was in geek heaven at the Seattle Rep's current production of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" which managed all four of those elements. And when coupled with a fresh fun new script and equally fun cast, this new production makes for a chilling romp through the world of Sherlock Holmes.

Someone left the gate open on the asylum again as the not-quite-right-in-the-head boys of The Habit are back with their next round of outside the box sketch comedy with "The Habit 13" at The Bathhouse Theater. And really, what better way can you start off the holiday season than a visit with some crazy people you're not related to before you're stuck with the ones you are?

The year was 1996, it was the second time "Les Miserables" was coming through town and I was finally going to see it live. I sat there in the dark and let that incredible score and story flow through me and was such a weepy mess that my friends questioned if I was going to be alright. That experience cemented "Les Mis" as one of my favorites and although I've seen it several times since, no production has come close to that one. How could it, right? That is until now as the current production playing at Village Theatre stunned me by turning me into that weepy mess from 17 years ago all over again and reminded me just how good this show can be.

OK Broadway Producers, we need to have a chat. I understand your need to turn every mildly successful movie into a big flashy Broadway Musical in hopes that the name recognition will sell tickets. And I understand that "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", currently on tour and playing at the Paramount, was ripe for the picking to be a huge spectacle on stage. But if you're going to take a beloved film with tons of pride and heart then at least do the story justice when you do it instead of the pandering and forced version of the story I saw last night.

It's not the happiest or most easily accessible of shows, which is probably why it's not often done. But those that know it and can allow the score to wash over them know "Floyd Collins" is an absolutely beautiful score with a somewhat hopeful yet heart aching story. And the folks over at STAGEright have once again taken their outside-the-box look at things and taken this piece on; a daunting task to stay the least. And while at times some of the power of the piece and performers was a bit lacking, they still manage some stunning moments in a solid production of an under sung gem.

"You know we're going to talk about sex tonight, right?" Those are some of the first words spoken by Isabella Rossellini (with a devilish twinkle in her eye) after she walked onto stage the other night at the Moore Theatre for her "Green Porno" performance letting the audience know we were in for one hell of a night. But don't think she was trying to scandalize or titillate. She was just informing us on what our education for the night entailed and what an education it was. A hilarious, illuminating and all together wonderful night of naughty education.

There are some aspects of life that most of us don't delve into. Dark aspects that are all too common in the world but we've been fortunate enough to avoid. But it seems as dark and unseemly as these areas of life are, Azeotrope is determined to pull back the rug and take a good look at what skitters out whether it be prostitutes and infidelity or meth and murder, as is evident in their current offerings in repertory over at ACT, "Red Light Winter" and "25 Saints". And while we may not want to look straight into the maw of these seedy underbellies, what results are two stirring and intense bits of theater put on with Azeotrope's usual intelligence and power.