Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 18

BWW Review: SMT's LEGALLY BLONDE Could Be 'So Much Better'
by Jay Irwin - October 15, 2018

Recently (and I do mean recently) another company in town did a concert staging of "Legally Blonde" utilizing actors of color in roles that they might not normally be cast including an African American "Elle". So, I questioned the logic when I heard that Seattle Musical Theater was doing the same t...

BWW Review: COME FROM AWAY Nat'l Tour at 5th Ave Still One of the Best Shows I've Seen ... Ever!
by Jay Irwin - October 15, 2018

Dear Readers, as many of you know, back in November of 2015 Seattle was blessed with being one of the first cities to see 'Come From Away' before it ventured on to be the hit it still is on Broadway. And if you recall my review you'll remember how I implored you to drop everything you were doing, i...

BWW Review: Seattle Rep's A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS Shimmers with Tragic Beauty
by Jay Irwin - October 11, 2018

Dear Readers, in the past you may have heard me refer to what I call "theatrical alchemy". It's where all the right elements seem to magically come together in just the right ways to form pure theatrical gold. Well, the Seattle Rep currently has a bunch of alchemists working with them with their j...

BWW Review: Fantastic.Z's SEVEN HOMELESS MAMMOTHS WANDER NEW ENGLAND Wanders a Bit Too Much
by Jay Irwin - September 29, 2018

When any playwright sits down to their notepad/typewriter/computer I would hope they have pinned to their workspace a note which, in very large, bold letters reads, "Is this germane to the story I'm trying to tell or is it only interesting/funny to me?" Without that question we get plays like "Seve...

BWW Review: Café Nordo's Spell Goes a Bit Awry in THE WITCHING HOUR
by Jay Irwin - September 28, 2018

I'm certainly a fan of the creepy and the crawly and the things that go bump in the night which is one reason Halloween is my favorite holiday. So, a spooky Cafe Nordo show entitled "The Witching Hour" should be right up my alley. And while it is and there's still all the delicious food and fabulo...

BWW Review: Forward Flux and Pratidhwani's A SMALL HISTORY OF AMAL, AGE 7 Sweet but Doesn't Connect
by Jay Irwin - September 25, 2018

Dear Readers, I know you've heard me talk before about taking the air out of a scene or earning your pauses or pauses you could drive a truck through. Well the latest offering from Forward Flux and Pratidhwani, Lindsay Joelle's "A Small History of Amal, Age 7", while being a sweet and sometimes tou...

BWW Review: Showtunes Gives Us the LEGALLY BLONDE We Didn't Know We Needed
by Jay Irwin - September 23, 2018

Showtunes is doing "Legally Blonde"? Don't they do obscure musicals that never get done? Yes, that's them, Dear Readers. Putting up for a few weekends, concert stagings with books in hand shows that usually don't see the spotlight. And now here they come with "Legally Blonde" that mega-hit. So ...

BWW Review: SKELETON CREW at Arts West
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - September 23, 2018

Skeleton Crew at ArtsWest Theatre is a double punch of grit and heart. The recession is wreaking havoc on the auto industry in Detroit, and the plant workers are caught in the crossfire. When you can't control the forces at work around you, your reactions to the circumstances are all you have left. ...

BWW Review: WET's EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH a Raw Blistering Look at Body Image
by Jay Irwin - September 22, 2018

Over the years I've been to several plays that have cautionary signs in the lobby. Usually they mention cigarette use or strobe lights but more than a few I've seen talk about trigger warnings in the piece. I'd never really understood the trigger warning until last night at Washington Ensemble The...

BWW Review: Village's THE NOTEWORTHY LIFE OF HOWARD BARNES Is Super Fun ... For Nerds
by Jay Irwin - September 21, 2018

A few years back, on one of my trips back to the Mothership (New York), I was going to see one of the many incarnations of "Forbidden Broadway", a series I've loved for years. I asked my travelling companion if he wanted to join me. And while he enjoys theater he's not what you would call a theate...

BWW Review: Book-It's JANE EYRE Has Fire but Lacks Passion
by Jay Irwin - September 16, 2018

Well, Dear Readers, this is a first for me. It seems the first Mrs. Rochester got a little over excited and jumped the gun as we had a fire alarm about 20 minutes into opening night of Book-It's "Jane Eyre" and we all were treated to an early intermission and a breath of fresh air. Luckily it quic...

BWW Review: Seattle Shakes and Upstart Crow Bring Down the House Again with RICHARD III
by Jay Irwin - September 15, 2018

Dear Readers, if you were lucky enough to catch Seattle Shakespeare Company and Upstart Crow's all female epic productions of the "Henry VI" Trilogy that they dubbed "Bring Down the House" and showed in two parts a few years back then you know of the power that they brought to the stage with some of...

BWW Review: ACT's SKYLIGHT Provokes, Ends, and then Ends Again
by Jay Irwin - September 14, 2018

David Hare's "Skylight", currently playing at ACT, is a play teaming with recriminations over infidelities and the struggles of class at the heart of the demise of two people's relationship. It's packed with wonderful moments for both actors to make equally compelling arguments over who's at fault....

BWW Review: WAITRESS at Paramount is Charming, Heartfelt, and Funny all Mixed up and Baked in a Beautiful Pie
by Jay Irwin - September 12, 2018

Known for her soulful sound in the pop music world, Sara Bareilles burst onto the musical theater scene out of the blue with her smash hit 'Waitress'. I'll admit some cynicism with this with the attitude of 'oh good, another pop star who thinks they can write Broadway.' The problem is, she can, an...

BWW Review: Strawshop's PRELUDE TO A KISS a Last-Minute Triumph
by Jay Irwin - September 09, 2018

Any theater company has that fear of, after weeks of rehearsing one play, having to switch it out for another with little rehearsal time left before opening. Maybe the rights to the play get pulled or some other act of the theater Gods which is out of their control forces their hand. But what if a...

BWW Review: Good Fences Make Bad Neighbors in Intiman's NATIVE GARDENS
by Jay Irwin - September 08, 2018

For as long as there have been living spaces people have had points of contention with their neighbors, whether it's the people upstairs, next door, or on the other side of the fence. Maybe they're too noisy, or they shoot off fireworks right outside your bedroom window on the fourth of July, or th...

BWW Review: ACTLab and Pratidhwani's QUEEN Examines the Ethics of Bee Science
by Jay Irwin - August 10, 2018

I've never been a fan of bees, in fact they terrify me. So, I found it a little ironic that the day I'm supposed to go see a play about bees, Madhuri Shekar's 'Queen' from ACTLab and Pratidhwani, that one of the little bastards decides to up and sting me for no reason. Sure, they're important for ...

BWW Review: THE RULES OF CHARITY at Sound Theatre Company
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - August 07, 2018

Rules of Charity by Sound Theater Company is a production that is long overdue. Representation matters. We hear that phrase a lot and the effects of that sentiment are slowly making their way into theater. The disabled community seems to be the last group invited to join the party. Sound Theatre Com...

BWW Review: BLOOD WEDDING at The Williams Project
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - August 03, 2018

The Williams Project latest collaboration with Equinox Studios is the very ambitious production of Blood Wedding. The story by Frederico Garcia Lorca is a twist on doomed lovers who are prevented from marrying by their families. The English version is a translation by Langston Hughes and retains bot...

BWW Review: Theater Schmeater's Inconsistent and Chaotic SHE KILLS MONSTERS
by Jay Irwin - July 29, 2018

Greetings adventurer, you and your party are approaching a multiheaded beast to which you must convey a story filled with drama, high stakes and dire consequences. You know in order to survive you need to present yourself in a certain way, so do you judiciously put forth just what you need in order...

BWW Review: ACT's LAUREN WEEDMAN DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE Cavorts with Little Point
by Jay Irwin - July 27, 2018

Dear Readers, if you know me you know of my disdain for shows that end up as someone else's therapy on stage. So, you'll understand how I was filled with hope when ACT's current offering of Lauren Weedman's one woman show "Lauren Weedman Doesn't Live Here Anymore" began with Weedman commenting on h...

BWW Review: Fairy Tale Princesses Get Real in DISENCHANTED from Mamches
by Jay Irwin - July 21, 2018

A few years back, Dear Readers, I stumbled on an article about a new little show called 'Disenchanted', about Fairy Tale Princesses in a musical revue telling about how life ain't so happily ever after and since I always love a good dose of snark I instantly became obsessed. I followed its journey,...

BWW Review: SWEET LAND at Taproot Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - July 15, 2018

Sweet Land at Taproot Theatre is a sweet treat of a show. Full of humor, wit, challenges, and struggles, the story of Inge Altenberg and Olaf Torvik becomes an everyman's story. The path to the American dream is paved with suspicion and hardship for immigrants both past and present. Their trials and...

BWW Review: Political Machinations from Theatre9/12's THE LEAGUE OF YOUTH
by Jay Irwin - July 14, 2018

A young idealist comes to town with an aim to take down the rich fat cats who have rigged the government to only work in their favor only to be swayed by the trappings of their wealth and power. Sounds like something from our government today but no, I'm referring to Henrik Ibsen's play, as adapted...

BWW Review: THE COLOR PURPLE Revival at Paramount Fixes the Mediocre Original
by Jay Irwin - June 28, 2018

Back in 2005 Broadway was abuzz with the arrival of a musical version of the much beloved book and movie "The Color Purple". The problem was, when it arrived it landed with a thud and not a splash. It had a decent showing running for three years and touring but never really catching fire (at least...