Jay Irwin - Page 44

What starts off as a seeming battle of wills and words between two writers soon devolves and reveals itself to be more of a geo-political statement in John Patrick Shanley's "A Dirty Story" which opens the Intiman's Summer Theatre Festival. At times a bit clunky and forced the show ultimately amounts to a crazy ride with some outstanding performances that will give you plenty to discuss afterward.

What makes a "good" person? When is a horrific crime such as murder justified? Where does redemption come from and for whom? These questions and more are posed in the riveting second offering from fledgling theater company Azeotrope with their production of "Jesus Hopped the A Train" currently running at ACT. A heavy play to be sure but deftly delivered from a company that is quickly becoming one to watch.

Lewis Black, best known for his hilarious stand up comedy and in your face editorials on "The Daily Show" has brought his new wedding day farce for it's west coast premiere to ACT. And while there were a few good laughs including the opening moment of the show which nearly brought the house down, the show just loses it's way and goes downhill from there as it gets stuck in a morass of cliche, predictability, underdeveloped characters and stiff performances.

Rarely am I this surprised by a show, especially one I've already heard. But last night I had to completely change my tune over Green Day's "American Idiot", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. Filled with stunning performances, inventive staging and poetic songs the show went from one I was mildly curious about to breathtaking evening.

Take the broadest physical humor and bad puns you can find, mix together with a half baked murder mystery and throw in enough current (and not so current) pop culture and local city references to choke the Mariner Moose and what do you have? You have "Shear Madness" currently playing at the Moore Theatre or as I call it one of the worst touring shows I've seen in the area since the 3 Redneck Tenors inflicted their 15 minutes of fame on Tacoma.

I have to say I love it when a playwright takes a genre and turns it on its head. Even more so when they have an amazing gift for words and storytelling as is very evident in Stephanie Timm's "Sweet Nothing, a (grim) fairytale" currently having its Northwest premiere at Annex Theatre from Macha Monkey Productions. With the sweetness of a fairly tale combined with the stark coldness of reality, Timm manages a haunting sensuality wrapped up in a thoroughly engaging story of lost innocence.

There are some Shakespeare shows that are not quite as bulletproof as others. If the pacing isn't there or the casting or both then they can run into an uphill battle. Such was the case with Seattle Shakespeare Company's current production of "As You Like It". While having some lovely moments and definitely picking itself up in Act Two, it suffered from some uneven casting and pacing that left the show just so so.

As always, summers in the Seattle area are a crapshoot. Will we or won't we have nice weather? If the weather lately is any indication I think we're in for some lovely days and plenty of chances to play outside. But whether the weather forces us outdoors or indoors there's always plenty of theater going on around town to take in. Here are our top 5 picks for summer theater goings on around town this year.

I had a very confusing night last night. I went to go catch the latest tour offering from musical theater parodists Team StarKid with their "Apocalyptour" at the Neptune Theatre. My first moment of confusion was when I arrived an hour before the show and the line was already down the block and around the corner. I didn't realize how much of a cult following they have especially with the younger crowd as the majority of the crowd was still in their teens. But the place was packed! Then, once the show started, came the rest of my confusion as apparently seeing a Team StarKid show requires loads of advanced knowledge as there's no way you could hear any lyrics over the band not to mention the screaming fans who sounded as though they were witnessing the second coming of The Beatles.

Flying House Productions is currently presenting two shows over at the Erickson Theatre that's bound to appeal to all kinds of musical theater lovers. The problem is that elements of both shows combined form a kick ass show but separately they seem only half-baked.

England in the 1960's may not have been able to get away with overt displays as we can today but that doesn't mean they were any less randy. And that's half the fun with Joe Orton's play, "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" currently playing at Theater Schmeater. They can't come right out and say what they all want from Mr. Sloane but the double and sometime triple entendres and skirting of the real issue makes for a naughtily fun evening.

When will they learn that simply putting the music of some notable singers on stage without a decent script to back it up does not a good musical make? It's didn't work for "Good Vibrations" it didn't work for "Lennon" and it doesn't work for "Million Dollar Quartet" currently playing at the Paramount Theatre. The only things saving this show are the fact that the incredible performers are playing their own instruments and that there's enough nostalgia on stage to choke a horse. But is that enough?

Sometimes we just don't need those big flashy musicals. Sometimes it's just nice to have a simple little show that you can sit back and let wash over you. Such is the case with the current show out at Seattle Musical Theatre, "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change". The perfect little date night show and a production that just oozes with charm.

It's difficult when you have an iconic show to work with such as "The Producers" currently playing at Village Theatre. The Mel Brooks classic movie turned Mel Brooks mega hit stage musical turned Mel Brooks movie musical is definitely a big piece of musical theater history. Add in huge stars like Gene Wilder, Zero Mostel, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane to that history and the result of subsequent productions can vary from bland imitation to just plain not in the same league to the other end of the spectrum with spot on awesome, but you'll always kind of compare with the original. Well, luckily the Village production is on that latter end of the spectrum. With their couldn't-be-better-if-they-tried cast they manage an amazing show and even a few departures along the way that only made it stronger.

From "Steel Pier", "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" and "Wicked" to "Four Christmases", "Glee", "Pushing Daisies" and her new hit series "GCB" (just to name a few) Kristin Chenoweth has proven herself to be a superstar. And now that super stardom is solidified in stone as she embarks on her nationwide concert tour that rocked Seattle's Paramount Theater with its premiere.

A show about two nobodies writing a musical about themselves writing the musical they are in. Sounds a bit self-serving and pandering. They even note that in the course of the play and that's the impression I've always had of it from the cast recording. And while I still have that impression to an extent, the current production of "title of show" from Curly Stache Productions and Balagan Theatre showed me a new side of it. A side that's funny and sweet and for the most part keeps itself from being mired in an endless series of in-jokes.

The thing I love about catching shows from the only three year old STAGEright is that you can see the amount of heart and love they pour into their productions. From the casting to the sets to the material itself you can tell that these folks have a definite love for what they are presenting rather than just putting something up for the hell of it. Their current production, "The Book of Liz" is no exception with its absurd yet hilarious send up of small town life and finding where you fit in.

Let me just start by saying I have never read or seen any works by Federico Garcia Lorca, so I could not be called a fan of his work. And I'm wondering if that's what you would need to really get into Arouet's production of Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba" adapted into English by Emily Mann. While there were some decent performances I just found it difficult to invest in any of the characters or situations.

As technology is fast approaching the time when we'll all have our own flying cars and robot servants (even though I thought we were supposed to be there by now) new and interesting tech also avails itself to theatrical productions. Sometimes it goes a little overboard and interferes with telling the story, but fortunately this is not the case with Wing-It's latest production, "Gauntlet". With their new interactive video game comedy, they have incorporated some new and exciting tech with their already brilliant improv skills to create one of the coolest shows I've seen.

New Seattle Indie web series CHOP SOCKY BOOM premieres today online.