Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 32

BWW Reviews: SCT's ROBIN HOOD Is Back to Thrill Us
by Jay Irwin - April 19, 2015

Back in 2011 some friends told me about this amazing production of "Robin Hood" going on over at Seattle Children's Theatre and like a dolt I missed it. (Bad theater reviewer!) Well luckily for me and for all of us that amazing production, complete with the same cast, director and set, is back and...

BWW Reviews: STAGEright's Minimalist INTO THE WOODS Alive with Character
by Jay Irwin - April 13, 2015

All too often in musical theater the performers have pretty voices but do the standard "park and bark" and just belt out those tunes with no character or story behind it. Such is not the case with the 12 person ensemble of STAGEright's current production of "Into the Woods" who not only sang the So...

BWW Reviews: Sadly A FUNNY THING HAPPENED … On the Way to Being Funny at SMT
by Jay Irwin - April 13, 2015

Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" has been a go to for theaters for years. It's big and loud and can be a crowd pleaser. But should it be? Yes, it can be a very funny show if it's done right. But, as is the case with Seattle Musical Theatre's current production, when it...

BWW Reviews: SPT's SLOWGIRL Examines Consequences; Lacks Growth
by Jay Irwin - April 04, 2015

Character studies of two disparate people thrown together are all well and good. The conflict between the two can amount for high drama and/or comedy gold. And the characters in Seattle Public Theatre's current production of "Slowgirl" are quite different from each other. But for that conflict to...

BWW Reviews: Seattle Rep's LIZARD BOY Has Come to Save Us!
by Jay Irwin - April 02, 2015

It's always exciting when the new bit of awesomeness to hit the theater scene comes to Seattle first. Such is the case with the brand new musical "Lizard Boy" written, composed and starring the uber-talented Justin Huertas currently playing at the Seattle Rep. This 90 minute journey of love, accept...

BWW Reviews: Contini's Ladies Make Showtunes' NINE Sublime
by Jay Irwin - March 30, 2015

I've never quite understood why Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit's "Nine" is so under produced regionally. It's fun, flirty and sexy with some of the most stunningly beautiful songs that unfortunately too few are familiar with. It could be that in order to produce it correctly you need one killer ens...

BWW Reviews: The Return of Hilarity with Theatre22's LIVE! FROM THE LAST NIGHT OF MY LIFE
by Jay Irwin - March 30, 2015

Let's set the way back machine to September 2011 and we'll visit a time when Theatre Schmeater's production of a new play from Wayne Rawley kind of took Seattle by storm. It sold out houses and won several local awards. Now 3 ½ years later and Theatre22 has tried to recreate the magic by remountin...

BWW Reviews: Abba-licious Fun at MAMMA MIA! at the Paramount
by Jay Irwin - March 25, 2015

It has no huge morally important message to deliver. It won't be stopping wars or fixing societal unrest. But what "Mamma Mia!", currently playing at the Paramount Theatre, does do and has always done is to be fun. A fluffy, bubblegum, rockin' good time and seriously that's enough....

BWW Reviews: Hard Hitting WE ARE PROUD … from Pony World Theatre
by Jay Irwin - March 24, 2015

The current production from Pony World Theatre may not be everyone's cup of tea. I mean it's already got a few things that may make people shy away. One of the longest titles in theatrical history to start, “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Sout...

BWW Reviews: Theater Schmeater's THE MOST DESERVING Isn't
by Jay Irwin - March 23, 2015

How do you decide what is deserving to be considered as art both monetarily and sociologically? Yes, it's all very subjective and depending on the person but for me, especially with theater, it needs to convey some sort of message or at least an engaging story. Unfortunately the current production...

BWW Reviews: Giddy Comedy Gold in Seattle Shakes' TARTUFFE
by Jay Irwin - March 23, 2015

Moliere's "Tartuffe" is already a classic drink from the comedy well from which many have drawn. But what director Makaela Pollock and the folks at Seattle Shakespeare Company have done with their current production is to take that comedy and reinvigorated it with a kind of screwball comedy style m...

BWW Reviews: NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY Brings Twisted Macabre Fun to Village
by Jay Irwin - March 23, 2015

A serial killer being hunted by the police sounds like ripe fodder for a musical comedy, right? No? Well then you need to expand your perception and get out to Village Theatre to catch their current production of "No Way to Treat a Lady" which not only manages to amuse while it horrifies but also ...

BWW Reviews: NCTC's THE FLICK Drags Like a Bad RomCom
by Jay Irwin - March 16, 2015

You know when you're in a store or restaurant or even a movie theater and you overhear the conversations of the workers and take that little peak into their lives? Well now there's a nearly three hour play about that, "The Flick" by Annie Baker currently performing from the folks at New Century The...

BWW Reviews: 5th Ave and ACT's JACQUES BREL Delivers Edgy Beauty
by Jay Irwin - March 13, 2015

Even Musical Theater nerds such as myself might not be familiar with “Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well & Living in Paris”, currently performing at ACT in a joint production with ACT and the 5th Avenue Theatre. I, myself, admit only a passing familiarity with the work and mostly from the covers that o...

BWW Reviews: Seattle Rep's THE COMPARABLES Examines Powerful Women
by Jay Irwin - March 12, 2015

What does it take for women to be accepted as equals and succeed in the business world? Do they just need to be as ruthless and cutthroat as men or is there another way? The Seattle Rep's world premiere of Laura Schellhardt's "The Comparables" takes a look at these very questions and while we may ...

BWW Reviews: Cultural Divides in ArtsWest's CHINGLISH
by Jay Irwin - March 07, 2015

The message of a cultural divide, sometimes hilarious and sometimes tragic, is there in ArtsWest's current production of David Henry Hwang's "Chinglish" but it just needs to settle into a more concise telling of the story. I'm sure it will settle in over time but there was just a lack of pacing as ...

BWW Reviews: Arouet Gets Bleak with NINE and THE LONG ROAD
by Jay Irwin - March 01, 2015

Arouet is currently presenting two very dark and bleak one act plays with "Nine" and "The Long Road". Now don't get me wrong. Bleak and dark can work as long as they engage and don't preach. Unfortunately only one of these plays somewhat manages that. But we'll get to that in a minute....

BWW Reviews: ACT's SEVEN WAYS TO GET THERE Feels Anticlimactic
by Jay Irwin - February 27, 2015

There are two main problems with doing a show about therapy, such as ACT's world premiere of "Seven Ways to Get There" currently playing. First, that someone else's therapy on stage can be good for the author but often times deadly for the audience. Luckily Bryan Willis and Dwayne J. Clark's new p...

BWW Reviews: Paramount's Fresh CINDERELLA is a Lovely Night
by Jay Irwin - February 25, 2015

Sometimes a little retooling and freshening up of an old classic isn't such a bad thing. I mean I was a little dubious when I heard they were remounting the classic of "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella" especially when I heard it was getting an all new book. But the tour of this new version st...

BWW Reviews: 5th Avenue's CAROUSEL Lacks Emotion, Needs More Snow
by Jay Irwin - February 23, 2015

If you read my previous review, Dear Readers, of SMT's production of 'Sweet Charity' you'll know that I already had the occasion this weekend of a show where the leading lady just didn't connect for me. Well, that seems to be a trend as the 5th Avenue Theatre's current production of 'Carousel' also...

BWW Reviews: SMT's SWEET CHARITY Fails to Engage With Its Story
by Jay Irwin - February 22, 2015

Cy Coleman, Dorothy Fields and Neil Simon's "Sweet Charity", currently playing at Seattle Musical Theatre, is not a perfect musical. There's plenty that it has going for it but it's loaded with plenty of extraneous things as well. The story is fairly depressing, the book is too wordy and there are...

BWW Reviews: Take a Road Trip to Sweet Hilarity in Book-It's THE DOG OF THE SOUTH
by Jay Irwin - February 16, 2015

Buckle your seat belts as Book-It Repertory Theatre is about to take you to funnytown with the world premiere of their adaptation of Charles Portis's "The Dog of the South". And with its stellar cast and charm and sweetness for days, this is one road trip you don't want to miss....

BWW Reviews: Bro-tastic MATT & BEN from STAGEright
by Jay Irwin - February 16, 2015

Hollywood icons Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have been the butt of many jokes ever since they burst on the scene after winning the Oscar for writing "Good Will Hunting". And one of the high points of that adoring mockery had to be when Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers took it upon themselves to portra...

BWW Reviews: A Quiet Grace in Rep's DEAR ELIZABETH
by Jay Irwin - February 12, 2015

Every now and again it's nice to have an evening with a quiet little play such as the Seattle Rep's current offering of "Dear Elizabeth". A play with no grand reveal, or overarching conflict to resolve. Just a simple story about a relationship. That may sound uninteresting and it could be but in ...

BWW Reviews: A Nostalgic Resonance in Strawshop's OUR TOWN
by Jay Irwin - February 06, 2015

There are some plays that are just kind of done to death. Everyone and their brother, high school and dog have done them. Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" is one of those shows. But there's a reason for that, it's a classic. And when these classics are tackled with style and heart as is the case wit...