Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 38

BWW Reviews: Seattle Rep's THE SERVANT OF TWO MASTERS … Too … Much … Laughing … Can't Breathe!
by Jay Irwin - October 03, 2013

(Sputter, gasp wheeze) There, I can breathe again. So you know when you go to a show and there's that one actor on stage who is so good, so funny, that the show and the other actors just kind of revolve around them like some theatrical sun warming all in its orbit? OK, now imagine an entire stage ...

BWW Reviews: HELLO DARLIN'S at Langston Hughes Remembers a Comedy Pioneer
by Jay Irwin - September 28, 2013

Imagine you go to see a comedienne. She talks about sex and drugs and racial issues and being a lesbian and any number of taboo subjects. Pretty fun night, right? Now imagine she's in her 50's, 60's or even 70's. Even more fun. Now imagine it's the 1970's or even earlier. And there we have th...

BWW Reviews: A Bit Disjointed but SECONDHAND LIONS at 5th Ave Full of Fantasy and Heart
by Jay Irwin - September 27, 2013

OK, so we're all sick of the trend of movies turned into musicals but, Dear Readers, just as movies have to keep remaking themselves, Broadway will keep culling from film vaults for new musicals. Let's face it, it ain't going anywhere. But if they're going to do it, such as with the current produc...

BWW Reviews: MAP Theatre's SOFT CLICK OF A SWITCH Brims With a Likable Creepiness
by Jay Irwin - September 14, 2013

We've all had those fleeting thoughts in our heads every now and again of doing something completely outrageous like blowing something up or offing someone just because we don't like their face. We have right? No? Just me? Uh oh. Well anyway, MAP Theatre's latest offering of Carter W. Lewis' "S...

BWW Reviews: XANADU at Village Sparkles With 80's Kitsch
by Jay Irwin - September 13, 2013

Sometimes goofy is all you really need. Sure, it's nice to have a deeply heartfelt and affecting show but sometimes you just want candy. Well look no further as Village has taken the candy coated no brainer that is "Xanadu" and amped the joy and humor up to 11. And while yes, the performances are...

BWW Reviews: Balagan's LES MISERABLES Has Laudable Moments But Lacked Some Power
by Jay Irwin - September 07, 2013

I must be honest here; Balagan Theatre putting on a production of Les Mis already has two hurdles to overcome before I even set foot in the door. First that it's Les Mis. It's a monumental undertaking and one of my favorite shows and I'm incredibly picky about it. And two, it's Balagan and with t...

BWW Reviews: Thoughtful and Touching MIDDLETOWN at ACT
by Jay Irwin - September 06, 2013

We don't live in Grover's Corners anymore and a lot has changed in the century since that time. So it stands to reason that a slice of life play like 'Middletown', currently playing at ACT would be a darker and grittier ride than its 'Our Town' predecessor. And while at times it seems like just a ...

BWW Reviews: SISTER ACT at the Paramount Starts Weak But Finishes Strong
by Jay Irwin - August 21, 2013

There's an old show business adage that if you give the audience a strong ending, they'll forgive most anything that came before. And it's a good thing that still holds true for "Sister Act" currently playing at the Paramount Theatre as the top of the show was filled with painfully forced dialog an...

BWW Reviews: STC Throws One WILD PARTY That Shouldn't Be Missed!
by Jay Irwin - August 16, 2013

It's a really good thing the air conditioning is working in the Seattle Center Armory because something has to cool the audience down after Sound Theatre Company's current production of "The Wild Party". Not only is it a sultry good time but the fear, love, lust, anger and danger coming off the cas...

BWW Reviews: DAS BARBECU Concert Rocky But Still Golden
by Jay Irwin - August 13, 2013

Wagner's 'Ring' is back in town at Seattle Opera. Some say for the last time (at least as it is now) as Speight Jenkins is stepping down from the organization. So it's only fitting that the abridged twangy retelling the cycle, 'Das Barbecu' make it's way back again. But unlike the productions in ...

BWW Reviews: Intiman's WE WON'T PAY Goes Over the Top and Stays There
by Jay Irwin - August 01, 2013

I like absurdist farce, raucous hijinks and Italian commedia as much as the next guy and Dario Fo is certainly a master of all three. However when a production of one of his plays such as the Intiman's current production of "We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay" starts off going 100 miles an hour and stays t...

BWW Reviews: THE CLOCKWORK PROFESSOR at TOJ Offers Fun Steampunk Melodrama
by Jay Irwin - July 26, 2013

When melodrama is done right, it can be a ton of fun. Maniacal cackling villains, stalwart heroes, and everyone gets what they deserve. And while the current steampunk production from Pork Filled Productions, "The Clockwork Professor", playing at Theatre Off Jackson has much of that melodramatic ...

BWW Reviews: Intiman's LYSISTRATA Puts Interesting Twist on Classic Tale of War
by Jay Irwin - July 25, 2013

This is not your Grandfather's "Lysistrata". It's not even your Great great great great (you get the idea) Grandfather's version. The Intiman has taken this classic Anti-War story and amped it up to 11 making it resonate with modern sensibilities and given it a hard hitting ending that you won't s...

BWW Reviews: Thoughtful Performances from Azeotrope's GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES
by Jay Irwin - July 22, 2013

It's a tough thing to follow up such a widely acclaimed show as Azeotrope's offering of "Jesus Hopped the A Train" last season. Especially when you only put up one show a season. And while their current production of "Gruesome Playground Injuries" may not be as engaging of a script, the cast and c...

BWW Reviews: Deconstructed Feminism in ACT's RAPTURE, BLISTER, BURN
by Jay Irwin - July 22, 2013

Even from childhood we've always wanted what the other kid has. You never wanted to play with a toy so much as when someone else is playing with it. Such is the way sometimes with relationships, specifically the ones in "Rapture, Blister, Burn" currently playing at ACT. But even the relationship ...

BWW Reviews: GAME SHOW at Theater Schmeater Brings Interactive Laughs
by Jay Irwin - July 20, 2013

You know how you've always said, "I could've gotten that one" when watching those games shows on TV? Well, now's your time to put up or shut up as Theater Schmeater gives you a chance to immerse yourself into the inner workings of a TV quiz show complete with all the drama, backstabbing and, yes, p...

BWW Reviews: 5th Ave's PIRATES OF PENZANCE Does Honor to a Classic
by Jay Irwin - July 19, 2013

I hope you will indulge me, Dear Reader, as I will not be reviewing the current production of "The Pirates of Penzance" at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Instead let's call this what it is, a thank you letter to the remarkable cast and crew at the 5th Avenue for infusing a musical theater classic with suc...

BWW Reviews: Intiman's TROUBLE IN MIND Brims With Racial Inequality and Integrity
by Jay Irwin - July 18, 2013

Art and integrity or money and success? Which do you strive for or can you have both? That's the underlying issue at hand in Intiman's current production of Alice Childress' "Trouble In Mind". And what begins as a wry little comedy eventually becomes a seething indictment of racial inequality in ...

BWW Reviews: Gripping DOUBT from Theatre 9/12
by Jay Irwin - July 14, 2013

John Patrick Shanley's Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play "Doubt" is and intense and stunning piece of work to be sure but it's far from bullet proof. In order to fully realize the power of the play you need four amazing actors willing to dive into the conviction and vulnerabilities of the charac...

BWW Reviews: ReAct's PICNIC - Too Much Style, Not Enough Passion
by Jay Irwin - July 07, 2013

It's a very easy trap to fall into when dealing with a small town period piece, taking that wholesome and naive mentality and over infusing it into the show. Such is the issue with ReAct's current production of William Inge's 50's era tale of forbidden love, 'Picnic'. And with that over-stylizatio...

BWW Reviews: 5th Avenue's HAIRSPRAY: IN CONCERT Has the Beat but Could Use More Camp
by Jay Irwin - June 21, 2013

Let me start out, Dear Readers, by saying there is no way for me to not be biased about this show. I have loved it since I saw the original preview at the 5th way back when (twice) and all productions since then have never failed to make me happy. Hell, I've even done the show before (hence the bi...

BWW Reviews: Clever Confusion in DOGG'S HAMLET AND CAHOOT'S MACBETH from Sound Theatre Company
by Jay Irwin - June 18, 2013

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, you practically have to take a masters class in whatever Tom Stoppard is writing about in order to fully get his plays. Whether is be Shakespeare, Czech History or Mathematics it helps to have some kind of advance knowledge before you sit down. H...

BWW Reviews: STAGEright's ALL IN THE TIMING Filled with Quirky Laughs
by Jay Irwin - June 16, 2013

The great thing about a show with a series of short plays is that if the current short play just isn't working for you, wait ten minutes and you'll be on to the next one. The greater thing about David Ives' "All in the Timing" is that most of his short plays included are gems. And the greaterer th...

BWW Reviews: Clever and Funny Dialog in Book-It's FINANCIAL LIVES OF THE POETS
by Jay Irwin - June 13, 2013

Displaying an all too familiar circumstance Book-It Repertory Theatre is currently presenting their production of Jess Walter's book, 'The Financial Lives of the Poets', in which our hero must survive the pressures of our crumbling economy any way he can. And while the base story may not be the fre...

BWW Reviews: Vicious Beauty in ACT's OTHER DESERT CITIES
by Jay Irwin - June 07, 2013

It's a fine line between a biting familial dramedy and diving head first into the realm of back biting reality TV. One lends itself to insightful views on the nature of parent/child dynamics and the other has an overweight little girl spewing forth "Oh no she di'in't" like a circus act to make the ...