Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 9

BWW Review: MONSTERS OF THE AMERICAN CINEMA at ArtsWest
by Jay Irwin - January 29, 2022

For a play to be a truly satisfying journey we need compelling characters, conflict between those characters and some kind of resolution to the conflict where the characters grow or are richer for the experience. And while ArtsWest’s World Premiere of Christian St. Croix’s “Monsters of the American...

BWW Review: ANASTASIA at The Paramount Theatre
by Jay Irwin - January 26, 2022

Dear Readers, some of you may remember the 1997 animated rendition of “Anastasia” that the current musical production at the Paramount is based on … loosely. We still have most of those lovely Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty songs from the animated version and the story is still about a young girl...

BWW Review: OOH LA LA! at The Can Can
by Jay Irwin - January 23, 2022

In life, Dear Readers, there are, if you’re lucky, moments of excitement and unbridled fun. If you’re really lucky, there are moments when you’re at a show at the Can Can with even more excitement and unbridled fun. And then there was last night when the audience was beyond lucky to witness an all...

BWW Review: FANNIE: THE MUSIC AND LIFE OF FANNIE LOU HAMER at Seattle Rep
by Jay Irwin - January 21, 2022

Dear Readers, before I talk about the current Seattle Rep production of Cheryl L. West’s, “Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer” I need to step up on my soapbox for a minute. And if what I’m about to talk about offends, then something tells me you wouldn’t want to see the show anyway, so ...

BWW Review: SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD at Village Theatre
by Jay Irwin - January 15, 2022

If you’re familiar with Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle, “Songs for a New World” then you know it needs a few crucial elements to be a success. You need killer voices, as there’s only four of them, but more importantly you need clear voices as the show is all sung through, and the stories are withi...

BWW Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL at ACT
by Jay Irwin - December 10, 2021

Dear Readers, let’s set the way-back machine to 1976, when a fledgling theater, ACT, put up their inaugural production of “A Christmas Carol”. Now I don’t know if I was at that one, but I very clearly remember being taken to the theater at around 7 or 8 years old to see “A Christmas Carol” at ACT w...

BWW Review: WONDERLAND at The Can Can
by Jay Irwin - December 06, 2021

Seattle’s Can Can brings back it’s holiday festival of magic and pasties with their dazzling “Wonderland”. But they’ve also brought back some blasts from the past with the return of favorite performers, Jordan Taylor and Madison Oliver, making this an evening with both old and new surprises....

BWW Review: A VERY DIE HARD CHRISTMAS at Seattle Public Theater
by Jay Irwin - December 04, 2021

Everyone has their holiday traditions, Dear Readers. Whether it’s trimming the tree or eight nights of presents, or ice skating with the ones you love, these are important events that make our holidays merry and bright. Well, last year, like with so many, our holiday traditions got replaced by sta...

BWW Review: WE'VE BATTLED MONSTERS BEFORE at ArtsWest
by Jay Irwin - December 02, 2021

In Seattle we are blessed with an abundance of theatrical riches and none more welcome and prolific as composer and storyteller Justin Huertas. Ever since he burst on the scene in 2015 with the brilliant “Lizard Boy”, Huertas has continued to thrill audiences with his singular musical theater story...

BWW Review: CHRISTMASTOWN: A HOLIDAY NOIR at Seattle Public Theater
by Jay Irwin - December 01, 2021

With the return of theater, we now see the return of the holiday favorites. Seattle Public Theater has two such offerings, both a departure from the usual holiday fare. We’ll get to the second one, “Die Hard”, when it returns next week. But for now, we focus on the gem that is Wayne Rawley’s “Chr...

BWW Review: BABETTE'S FEAST at Taproot Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - November 19, 2021

BABETTE’S FEAST nourishes the soul and feeds the spirit. It is a sweet story about the beauty of life and finding contentment. Told slowly without the need to rush, we meet the characters and traipse along with them through their lives in the small Norweigan town of Berlevaag. It is a story of insid...

BWW Review: MEAN GIRLS at The Paramount Theatre
by Jay Irwin - November 17, 2021

Back in 2004, Tina Fey brought us the movie “Mean Girls”, a cute little teen comedy that could have been just another blip in a bevy of teen comedies were it not for the stellar writing of Ms. Fey and a killer cast. Because of that, the movie has become a bit of a classic in the genre. A shining e...

BWW Review: MASQUERADE at Can Can
by Jay Irwin - November 07, 2021

Can Can keeps bringing the goods in show after show and their current show, “Masquerade” is no exception. But then why would it be when “Masquerade” features some of the best numbers from previous shows such as “Bon Bon”, “Peacock”, “El Dorado” and more. But even with all these hits from the past,...

BWW Review: WHAT WE WERE at Pony World Theatre
by Jay Irwin - October 20, 2021

Like so many companies, Pony World Theatre was in the middle of rehearsals back in March of 2020 when everything shut down due to the pandemic. Now cut to October of 2021 and things are starting to happen again in the theater community and among them is Pony World’s second shot at the West Coast Pr...

BWW Review: ZOMBIE CHEERLEADERS RETURN at Can Can
by Jay Irwin - October 14, 2021

If you’ve been to the Can Can Culinary Cabaret, Dear Readers, you know pretty much what to expect. Amazing singers and dancers, high energy acrobatics, and loads of tantalizing flesh. You also expect to see Jonathan Betchtel, with his bawdy humor and gravity defying glutes, he’s been a staple ther...

BWW Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Paramount Theater
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - October 06, 2021

After nineteen long months, The Paramount Theater welcomed the cast and crew of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR to its stage, and the Seattle audience welcomed them into their hearts. The mood was heightened and the air electric as patrons entered the theater after showing their vaccination documentation. Al...

BWW Review: AMBER from Washington Ensemble Theatre
by Jay Irwin - September 12, 2021

The 1970’s and early 80’s had a lot to set it apart but nothing more than the three D’s, Disco, Disease, and Denial. Even as the Gay rights movement was starting to put LGBT folks into the spotlight, their very existence was threatened by an insidious plague that seemed to target only them (mostly ...

BWW Review: MARISOL from The Williams Project
by Jay Irwin - August 16, 2021

There’s a pandemic raging across the world, the streets are filled with Nazis, thugs, and the mentally unstable out for blood, and big corporations want to take away your livelihood and cast you out for not being able to pay your bills. No, I’m not talking about the reports from last night’s 11 o’...

BWW Review: GLITTER GALA at The Can Can
by Jay Irwin - August 10, 2021

Dear Readers, I have some amazing news for you. Everyone’s favorite denizen of bawdy jokes, killer moves and more skin than you can shake a tassel at, The Can Can, is back. And now bigger than ever. With their expanded cast, in their new space, and a blinding amount of rhinestones, their show sig...

BWW Review: HOW CAN I LOVE YOU at Ancient Lakes Theatre Festival
by Jay Irwin - July 20, 2021

Dear Readers, as we inch back into the world of live theatrical experiences, the excitement to put out incredible art is palpable. And when you have a stunning outdoor venue such as the Cave B Winery Estates in George, WA, not to mention some of the A-listers of Seattle theater talent involved, tha...

BWW Review: SEATTLE OPERA TOSCA at Home Computer Screens
by Maria Nockin - June 14, 2021

Seattle Opera’s film of Puccini’s Tosca, that can be streamed starting June 25, opened with the escape of political prisoner Cesare Angelotti who was once a friend of Cavaradossi. Angelotti, sung by bass Adam Lau, was exhausted from running, surmounting walls, and crashing through fences. His clothe...

BWW Review: THE CAMPFIRE FESTIVAL from The Williams Project
by Jay Irwin - May 25, 2021

Dear Readers, it’s so good to be able to call you all that again. I’m so pleased to announce that live theatre has returned to the Seattle area. That doesn’t mean we’re completely back to normal, but it is a start, as The Williams Project has put together “The Campfire Festival”. And with its rot...

BWW Review: WAD at ACT
by Jay Irwin - March 25, 2021

The lives of prisoners are a well-known trope for many dramas. The inmate and the Nun in the film “Dead Man Walking”, two unlikely allied prisoners and a figment in “Kiss of the Spider Woman”. The genre is visited time and time again as it’s a world few of us, thankfully, have experience in, openi...

BWW Review: Seattle Opera Streams DON GIOVANNI
by Maria Nockin - March 06, 2021

On March 5, 2021, Seattle Opera presented Mozart’s Don Giovanni to its worldwide online audience. Stage director Brenna Corner notes that the 1964 Hamlet on Broadway directed by Richard Burton inspired her to do this black-and-white film production and use it to communicate the opera’s basic premise...

BWW Review: ArtsWest Streams Some Familiar Holiday Delights with A VERY MERRY KRAKEN TEA PARTY
by Jay Irwin - November 28, 2020

Dear Readers, I’m back! It’s been almost nine months since I’ve had the privilege of sharing with you the theatrical goings on in Seattle thanks to the restrictions of the pandemic. And while I hope everyone is staying safe, and I know there are bigger things out there to concern ourselves, I have...