Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 19

BWW Review: Seattle Rep's HERSHEY FELDER AS IRVING BERLIN Spotlights an American Icon
by Jay Irwin - March 01, 2018

Dear Readers, if you're anything like me you grew up with a love for old standards. Those songs from a bygone era that used to dominate the radio waves, many of which came from musicals of the day. And if you love those old standards then you know and love the name Irving Berlin as a hefty number ...

BWW Review: Sound Theatre's YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU a Roller Coaster of Commitment
by Jay Irwin - February 25, 2018

Even before Sound Theatre Company's current production of "You Can't Take It With You" began, it showed promise with a stunning, well-appointed set by Robin Macartney. Then the effervescent Shermona Mitchell walked on stage to begin the show with tons of energy, conviction and intent to her charact...

BWW Review: Can Can's ROMEO + JULIET Sizzles
by Jay Irwin - February 24, 2018

It may be cold outside but it is so very hot inside the Can Can with their dazzling production of "Romeo + Juliet". But this is not your typical R+J with its rockin' vocals, thumpin' beat, and just the highlights of a storyline. Oh, and did I mention the cast seems to have trouble keeping their cl...

BWW Review: Camp, Catharsis and Calisthenics with Woody Shticks' MANIAC at 18th & Union
by Amelia Reynolds - February 19, 2018

There are not a lot of people that I would encourage folks pay to watch lip sync and exercise for an hour. But Woody Shticks is one of those people. Performing this Friday and Saturday only at 18th & Union, Shtick's latest solo production 'Maniac' has little to no plot, a meager set design of some f...

BWW Review: HAMILTON at the Paramount Does Not Throw Away Its Shot
by Jay Irwin - February 15, 2018

Yes, it's true. The undeniable juggernaut that is the multiple Tony Award winner, including for Best Musical, 'Hamilton' has descended upon Seattle. Just like in New York for so long, theatergoers here will now be uttering the same query to each other, 'Have you seen 'Hamilton' yet?' And if you w...

BWW Review: Book-It and Café Nordo's THE MALTESE FALCON Makes a Killer Night
by Jay Irwin - February 11, 2018

It was a cold night in the City of Emeralds. The kind of cold where your words just hung in the air as you spoke. Lucky for me and the other patrons of Cafe Nordo, the doors would soon open. Once inside a sultry dame looked me up and down and uttered the word I'd been waiting all night to hear, "...

BWW Review: 5th Ave's MAMMA MIA Soars on Song but a Bit Light on Storytelling
by Jay Irwin - February 10, 2018

Yes, it's that big frothy ABBA musical "Mamma Mia" back again to get all the Dancing Queens shakin' it in the aisles. It's come through town several times and what fan hasn't seen the movie? But the national tour closed a year ago so how has this show not met its Waterloo? Well this is not a tour...

BWW Review: Seattle Rep's World Premiere IBSEN IN CHICAGO Tickles While It Captivates
by Jay Irwin - February 08, 2018

When a show works, when all the elements come together from cast to crew, from set to script, it's just a joy to behold. But when that script is a brand-new piece and you realize you're seeing the birth of something incredible it becomes even more special. Such is the case with the World Premiere ...

BWW Review: The Rumors Are True: Theatre9/12's YOU ARE RIGHT, IF YOU THINK Is Delightful
by Amelia Reynolds - February 08, 2018

Luigi Pirandello's 1917 "Cosi e (se vi pare)", or "You Are Right, If You Think", playfully toys with subjectivity as one gossipy family tries to get at the truth. Theatre9/12 presents a delightful and streamlined adaptation of "You Are Right, If You Think", now performing at the Trinity Episcopal Ch...

BWW Review: Theater Schmeater's Potent SWALLOW: A Visceral Examination of Loneliness
by Amelia Reynolds - February 06, 2018

Three isolated people deal with loneliness and its companion, despair, in the intensely felt and deeply moving 'Swallow', now performing at Theater Schmeater. This all takes place in an undefined city setting, preventing any familiarity from the start. Sam (played by Jasmine Joshua) is male-presenti...

BWW Review: West of Lenin's AMERICAN HWANGAP Lacks Connection
by Jay Irwin - February 03, 2018

Lloyd Sun's play, "American Hwangap", currently playing at West of Lenin in association with SIS Productions, by its very nature should be about connection and reconnection. Unfortunately, the play itself lacks the depth needed to form those connections and the pacing of the production doesn't help...

BWW Review: Seattle Public's VANISHING POINT Suffers Repetition and Melodic Inconsistency
by Jay Irwin - January 29, 2018

Seattle Public Theater currently has a musical on their boards, "Vanishing Point", highlighting the stories of three remarkable women, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (Heather Hawkins), aviatrix Amelia Earhart (Cristin J. Hubbard), and mystery writer Agatha Christie (Rebecca M. Davis). Each of th...

BWW Review: ArtsWest's PEERLESS is a Well-Executed Tale of Modern Fury
by Amelia Reynolds - January 25, 2018

Would you murder to get into college or could you at least empathize with someone who would? Peerless re-imagines the violent world of Macbeth as a modern struggle fought by anxious over-qualified teens for limited college admission spots. Directed by Sara Porkalob, this adaptation makes collegiat...

BWW Review: Gin and Toxic Masculinity with Village Theatre's Brutal THE GIN GAME
by Amelia Reynolds - January 22, 2018

'The Gin Game' is a two-act, two person play about two septuagenarians playing cards together, bored in their retirement home. Neither Weller Martin nor Fonsia Dorsey have visitors on Visitor's Day, so they find themselves outside together, and kill time by playing gin rummy. They make polite conver...

BWW Review: BOHEMIA Delights All the Senses
by Jay Irwin - January 21, 2018

Whether or not you actually drink the absinthe (and there is plenty of it flowing) the green fairies are out in full force at the latest venture from Opal Peachey and Mark Siano, Bohemia , currently playing at The Triple Door. Should you catch this eye-popping extravaganza (and you should) be prep...

BWW Review: Strawberry Theatre Workshop's Riveting FROST/NIXON a Must See
by Jay Irwin - January 19, 2018

Peter Morgan's brilliant look at the dissection of one of the most powerful men in the country by one whom many considered a joke, 'Frost/Nixon', is enough of an enticement to want to see Strawberry Theatre Workshop's current production. But then when you hear that director Greg Carter has cast the...

BWW Review: Seattle Rep's TWO TRAINS RUNNING Undercut with Quiet Strength
by Jay Irwin - January 18, 2018

The Seattle Rep, fortunately for all of us, has long held a special relationship with the works of August Wilson. They're one of the few theaters in the country to have done his entire Century Cycle sometimes premiering those plays as was the case with 'Two Trains Running' which they produced back ...

BWW Review: WET's STRAIGHT WHITE MEN Examines Privilege but Takes the Long Way Around
by Jay Irwin - January 14, 2018

As you enter the theater for Washington Ensemble Theatre's Straight White Men , currently playing at 12th Ave Arts, you are greeted with Hip Hop music with questionable lyrics amped up to the point that you can feel the bass in your filings. You're told at the outset of the show that the reason f...

BWW Review: Cross Gender TIMON OF ATHENS from Seattle Shakes' Drags with Little Stakes
by Jay Irwin - January 13, 2018

If you're going to put up Shakespeare (or any play really) with a different time or locale or, as is the case with the current Seattle Shakespeare Company production of Timon of Athens , with cross gender casting then have a reason for it. Have the shakeup mean something. With cross gender stuff,...

BWW Review: I Believe! THE BOOK OF MORMON at the Paramount Still Shines
by Jay Irwin - January 04, 2018

God's favorite musical is back! This is, I believe, the fourth time the tour of The Book of Mormon , that juggernaut musical from 2011 (the Hamilton of its day) from the warped minds of Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame and Robert Lopez who co-wrote Avenue Q (as well as that litt...

BWW Review: Seattle Public Theater's Noir CHRISTMASTOWN Successfully Threads Parody Needle
by Amelia Reynolds - December 14, 2017

Can a Christmas noir be both gripping and funny? Can it succeed at all? Well, we know it can, because Christmastown returns to Seattle Public Theater as the second half of their holiday double feature. Not only does director Kelly Kitchens avoid cheesiness (which something like this could so, so e...

BWW Review: DeLouRue's Exuberant Extravaganza HOMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS A Must See at Oddfellows
by Amelia Reynolds - December 12, 2017

It's the most wonderful time to be queer, sings BenDeLaCreme, drag queen of both local and international fame (you may remember her from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 6 and now Drag Race All Stars 3! ). Silly as that parody lyric may be, for many, seeing Homo for the Holidays makes this season trul...

BWW Review: Seattle Public Theater's THE FLIGHT BEFORE XMAS: Lighthearted Holiday Schadenfreude
by Amelia Reynolds - December 09, 2017

As part one of Seattle Public Theatre's featured holiday double-header, The Flight Before Xmas manifests many peoples' worst nightmare: being stuck in an airport terminal when you need or want desperately to get to the final destination. Thankfully, audiences can laugh at other people dealing with...

BWW Review: Wacky, Whimsical, Fun with Nordo's THE VIEW FROM SANTA'S LAP
by Jay Irwin - December 09, 2017

And I thought last year's offering from Caf Nordo and Scot Sgt. Rigsby Auguston was crazy. But Auguston has amped the wacky fun up to 12 now with their latest incarnation The View from Santa's Lap complete with delicious food, shadow puppet mermaids, and (dum dum dum) MURDER!...

BWW Review: Taproot Theatre's A CIVIL WAR CHRISTMAS: A Beautiful House, Divided
by Amelia Reynolds - December 08, 2017

A Civil War Christmas is a nice escape for folks that are getting a bit of a toothache from the glittery, schmaltzy, and sentimental Christmas plays foisted upon us this time of year. Written by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Paula Vogel (for How I Learned to Drive ), A Civil War Christmas i...