Jay Irwin - Page 53

Contemporary Classics comes out swinging with their first foray into the development of a new work with "The Yellow Wood". A risky venture for any company let alone a fledgling one, "The Yellow Wood" is as promising a new show as I've seen in some time.

Renton's Summer Teen Musical program, which has been providing the teens of the south end an outlet and education in theater for the past 25 years was about to be the latest victim of the economy. And so Renton Civic Theatre in collaboration with the City of Renton, stepped up to make sure that didn't happen.

Settle Stageright, a brand new theater company to Seattle, is presenting their 2nd show, "BJ: A Musical Romp" (yes the show is exactly what you think it's about). And while the show is not the best written piece of theater, the cast are certainly having fun with it and selling it for all they're worth, which translates into tons of fun for the audience.

The Wet Spots in association with the Seattle Erotic Art Festival and Theatre Off Jackson are presenting their brand new musical, "Shine: A Burlesque Musical". And while the show needs a little fine tuning, it's certainly a naughty-licious good time.

Contemporary Classics and RK Productions have collaborated to put up the Seattle Premiere of William Finn's hilarious musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" at the Ballard Underground. And while the show is missing some of the deeper moments, on the surface it's a fun frolicking good time.

The Intiman Theatre scores a hit with their third show of the season, Lynn Nottage's "Ruined". But then with a Pulitzer Prize winning play with many of the original cast returning how could you go wrong?

Greenstage presented Seattle's Outdoor Theater Festival in Capitol Hill's Volunteer Park over the weekend of July 10th and 11th to kick off the many Summer park shows around the Puget Sound area. The festival encompassed 11 shows from eight different companies and while they mostly followed a Shakespearean bent there were also a few decidedly non-Shakespearean shows but all good fun for all ages and it's all FREE.

Renton's Summer Teen Musical program, which has been providing the teens of the south end an outlet and education in theater for the past 25 years was about to be the latest victim of the economy. And so Renton Civic Theatre in collaboration with the City of Renton, stepped up to make sure that didn't happen.

ACT Theatre is currently presenting the Seattle premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith's hilarious new play, "The Female of the Species". And while the show loses its way a bit in its message, it still remains a wonderfully funny farce with a superb ensemble.

Book-It Repertory Theatre finishes off their 20th anniversary season by revisiting one of their earlier works, "The Cider House Rules, Part One: Here in St. Clouds" based on the novel by John Irving. And while only half of the story is represented here, the show is a fully realized and wondrous piece of theater.

Showtunes Theatre Company presented their first concert production in their new home at Seattle's Moore Theatre with the seldom produced, "Follies" from Stephen Sondheim. But then, that's what Showtunes does and does well. Take musical theater gems that for one reason or another don't see as much action as they should, and put on wonderful staged concerts of them. And their outing with "Follies" was no exception.

Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre continues their love and celebration of Leonard Bernstein with his seldom produced "Candide". And while the show suffered from a few opening night pacing problems, it managed to take a very difficult to produce piece and turn it into an absolute gem!

Seattle's Paramount Theatre is currently presenting the tour of the Tony winning classic "Fiddler on the Roof" starring the unstoppable force of nature that is Harvey Fierstein. And while this show has never been one that I could get into, the cast infused it with enough heart and humor that even a non-fan like me had an enjoyable evening.

Seattle's Intiman Theatre presents a truly personal piece in their current production of "The Thin Place". Personal to those that conceived and wrote it and one could argue that maybe they should have kept it to themselves.

Right from the first few notes of "We're in the Money" from the overture or the first glimpses of those dancin' feet under the curtain, you know you should be in for a big flashy Broadway musical. And Village Theatre's final show of their season, "42nd Street" does not let you down. The show is a toe tappin', sequin clad throw back to the old style musicals and a big bright ball of fun!

Unexpected Productions over at the Market Theatre are currently presenting a little different theatrical fare in addition to their usual Theatresports line up in "Nietzsche! The Musical!" And while the show is filled with wonderful moments of cleverness and wit, it really needs some work.

Seattle's ACT is kicking off their 2010-2011 season with Horton Foote's classic tale, "A Trip to Bountiful". And while not the most stunning production I've seen, the show still manages to shine and yank at the heartstrings like no other. But then, it's Horton Foote!

Fledgling theater group New Century Theatre Company is presenting its current show at ACT's Falls Theatre with the world premiere of company member Stephanie Timm's new play, "On the Nature of Dust". And while a tad preachy at times, the show makes me wish that half of the new emerging voices in the theater community (both in Seattle and abroad) were as engaging and fresh as Timm.

Arts West in West Seattle is currently presenting Andrew Lloyd Webber's seldom produced one act, one woman musical "Tell Me On A Sunday". And while the show boasts one of the best singers in town, it ends up coming across as under directed and over produced.

I met up with Hans in between his Matinee and Evening shows of "An Iliad" on Saturday. In the short time since he arrived here in 1993 to go to school at Cornish College of the Arts (where he graduated in 1996) this 39 year old from Detroit, Michigan has become one of the hot tickets in the Seattle theater scene. But beyond that, he's also a really great guy.