Jay Irwin - Page 42

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 bother? This is why what Balagan is pulling off with their current production of "Avenue Q" is all the more spectacular. Not only have they put up one of the new hot shows but they've done it in a way that rivals any tour of the show and created an outstandingly fun time that will leave you grinning all the way home.

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 is so filled with warmth, joy and heart that even a long time cynic toward the show as myself can come away with a great evening and even a little tear in his eye.

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 me and a show that could still use a little tightening, this almost three and a half hour production of "Antony and Cleopatra" from Seattle Shakespeare Company grabbed my attention and wouldn't let go.

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 obvious flaws and guilt of the characters within Tom's memory. But what director Braden Abraham and the cast of the current production at the Rep have done is to keep those flaws but still present real and honest characters which allow the audience to care about their mistakes and well being. And that's what makes this production a complete success.

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 toothbrushes and dental floss. It's definitely the fun size candies and you can take a few of them.

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 magical spirits seducing young unwed mothers. And after seeing the show I can honestly say I STILL have no idea what they have in common.

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 numbers in their world premiere musical about laboratory mice seemed to simply be sung dialog. This ultimately led to a cute show that droned on.

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 glorious and magical evenings I've had in the theater for quite awhile as ACT Theatre presents an exquisite and epic tale that mesmerizes from beginning to end.

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 cavort and the green girl still flies into the rafters. So why was I not as wowed by this production as others? I'm going to have to say (at least in Act One) the energy just wasn't there. They picked it up in Act Two but in Act One there seemed to be a lot of motion going through.

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 combination of opening night nerves, technical gaffs and a muffled sound system, it just wasn't the show I was so eagerly awaiting since I saw the workshop of the piece some years back. But even through its shortcomings the show still managed to shine through with history and heart and had some killer moments.

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, The Lorax, The Grinch and Horton (to name just a few) and have those stories and images burned into our brains. And now Seattle Children's Theatre has come along with their production of this tale of two bored children and a crazy cat with "The Cat in the Hat" and while it may be lacking a bit of spark for this jaded adult, the stunning visuals are all there and the kids ate up the slapsticky staging of it all.

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 current production of Tracy Letts' "Superior Donuts" is just such a production.

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 gifted actors who manage to wade through the accents and come out the other side with an engaging tale.

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 since it left us and how good American musical theater can be.

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 fun and wonderful moments on opening night but they kept being overshadowed by a production that felt it could used a little more ripening.

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 rant for 90 minutes culminating in nothing.

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 Blonde" as you need a hell of a cast including a major triple threat in the lead, a killer band and a very gifted director to keep it all going. Well, check, check and check as SMT's "Legally Blonde" manages all three and provides one fun, frothy and fabulous show.

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 banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." And while clever, showing that quote at the top of the show doesn't excuse the fact that there is little through line or story arc to this production. There's a ton of talent performing throughout the evening but at times they felt like they were in different shows.

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 simple grace.