Thursday, May 28, 2009

Hansbury Project and Orchestra Seattle / Seattle Chamber Singers

Slavic Melodies and World Premiere, American Folksongs, Make for a Playful Summer Concert

Sunday, June 7, 20093:00 pm

First Free Methodist Church; 3200 3rd Ave. W. Seattle (Queen Anne)


George Shangrow and Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers take you back to the “old country” with Slavic Melodies and pay tribute to a bygone era with a world premiere piece by local composer Robert Kechley, American Folk Songs for chorus and orchestra. These beloved American Folk songs include: The Erie Canal, Poor Wayfarin’ Stranger, Deep River, Casey Jones, and The Water is Wide.   

Perfectly timed to usher in summer, Antonin Dvorak's delightfully tuneful Czech Suite for orchestra, invites your mind to wander outdoors on asunny afternoon; while Kechley's imaginative, playful, and romantic arrangements for chorus and orchestra conjure memories of summer camp fun and friends, with all the soulful longings of youth. The virtuoso artistry of incomparable local keyboard master, Mark Salman, summons the soaring melodic winds of Sergei Rachmaninov's  Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, one of the most beautiful and best-loved of all concertos (and the source of the popular song, Full Moon and Empty Arms that Frank Sinatra made famous in 1945).  

 

Tickets are $25 for adults; $20 for seniors; $10 for students and Youth age 7-17 receive one free ticket with each paid ticket. They are available through Brown Paper Tickets by phone at 1-800-838-3006, online at www.brownpapertickets.com and www.osscs.org, or at any Silver Platters location. For more information please call 206-682-5208, or visit our website at www.osscs.org.

 

Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) is made up of a 60-member semi-professional orchestra and a 55-voice chorus. Membership is by audition and includes professional musicians, music teachers, and highly skilled amateurs who choose to work together under the direction of George Shangrow. During its forty-year history OSSCS has made an extensive tour of the orchestral and choral literature and has sought to promote area musicians, world-recognized soloists and new music by Northwest composers. They have attained special recognition for their interpretations of the music of Handel and Bach and have introduced rarely heard choral masterpieces to Seattle audiences such as Handel's Israel in Egypt, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, and Haydn’s The Seasons. Praised by critics for their vibrant sound and spirited, disciplined singing, the Seattle Chamber Singers also delight in performing classics such as Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Brahms’ German Requiem.

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Marc Bamuthi Joseph. Photo by Bethanie Hines 2009.


Seattle, WA – May 27, 2009 – The Hansberry Project at ACT is thrilled to present the break/s: a mixtape for stage by Broadway veteran and GOLDIE Award-winner Marc Bamuthi Joseph, June 17 through July 12, 2009 in the Falls Theatre at ACT. 

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, one of America’s Top Young Innovators in the arts and sciences according to Smithsonian Magazine, brings his Hip-Hop art to ACT in the break/s, an 80-minute multimedia excursion, complete with movement, music, percussion, and spoken word.  the break/s dramatically realizes the living history of the Hip-Hop generation through the performed personal narrative of poet Joseph, who is also the artistic director of the seven-part HBO documentary Russell Simmons presents Brave New Voices.

 the break/s is a deeply honest investigation into the conflicts between Joseph’s public identity as successful spoken word artist, and his private identity as young man coming of age in our globalized, multi-everything era.  A life-long performer, he leaves it all on stage—simultaneously devouring the space with everything from shamrocks to attitude turns and eloquently spitting rhymes spoken from the heart.

“My goal is to embody theater’s connection from Shakespeare’s quill to Kool Herc’s turntables; from Martha Graham’s cupped hand to Nelson Mandela’s clenched fist: a new voice for a new politic,” said Joseph.

In selecting the break/s for The Hansberry Project 2009 mainstage production, both Artistic Director Valerie Curtis-Newton and Managing Director Vivian Phillips knew it to be the perfect choice.

“As soon as Bamuthi began, it was clear that this was something Seattle had to see. He was beautiful, and funny, painfully honest and insightful. The energy of his work is infectious. He literally throws himself into the storytelling, bringing all the elements not just of Hip-Hop culture but of the performing arts together in a way I have rarely seen, said Curtis-Newton.

Phillips added, “It is imperative that we play a part in bridging the gaps between this organic art form and traditional theatre and open this space for artists like Marc to continue his exploration, while inviting audiences to take part in the journey.”

Joseph drew inspiration for the break/s from Jef Chang’s 2005 American Book Award winning publication, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop, which definitively captures the birth of Hip-Hop as a local movement inspired by a generation’s longing to make culture that impacts the world.

In the break/s, the medium is also the message. In this “mixtape for stage,” Joseph performs in a call-and-response format with turntablist DJ Excess and beatboxer and percussionist Tommy Shepherd (aka Soulati). The multiple layers of meaning in their exchange are intensified by video projections, created by filmmaker Eli Jacobs Fantauzzi, composed of interviews and documentary footage of Hip-Hop culture throughout the world. A remarkable team of artists and creative advisors contributed to the break/s, led by director Michael John Garcés, and including dramaturg Brian Freeman, choreographer Stacy Printz, video and set designer David Szlaza, lighting designer James Clotfelter, and composer Ajayi Lumumba.

Season subscriptions and single tickets are on sale now for the break/s. 

Performance Schedule:

Wed., June 17, 7:30 p.m. – Preview (Behind the Scenes)

Thursday, June 18 - Sunday, July 12.


 

ACT Special Events (open to the public):

Behind the Scenes, June 17, 6:00 p.m.

Before the Tuesday night preview of a Mainstage production, Artistic Director Kurt Beattie and members of ACT's artistic team give you the heads-up and the lowdown on what it takes to make that night's magic. Seeing the show another night? Don't let that stop you; we still welcome you to come for the Behind-the-Scenes chat! Brought to you by KING FM with delicious bites provided by Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes Catering.

 

Tastings, June 19, 6:30 p.m.

ACT unveils a delicious new tradition: beers, wines, and beverages from around the world, paired with local artisan foods—all matched to fit the theme of our mainstage productions! Keith Johnson, host of last year's Beer Tastings, will search his vast collection of spirits, as well as the bountiful variety of local markets, to procure the perfect show-themed treats for you. Please join us for this new and exciting FREE event!

 

About Marc Bamuthi Joseph

Marc Bamuthi Joseph, originally from NYC, is an artist and activist currently living in Oakland, California.

He is a National Poetry Slam champion, Broadway veteran, GOLDIE award winner, featured artist on the past two seasons of Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry on HBO and inaugural recipient of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship.

He entered the world of literary performance after crossing the sands of “traditional” theater, most notably on Broadway in the Tony Award winning The Tap Dance Kid and Stand-Up Tragedy. His evening-length work Word Becomes Flesh was lauded by the New York Times as “remarkable,” prompted the Seattle Times to name him their “Cutting Edge Performer of the Year” in 2003 and named the Best Solo Show of 2006 by he Chicago Tribune. His group work, Scourge, has been presented nationally as well as internationally and

continues to tour throughout 2007.  In recent years his work has been seen in Tokyo at the irst

International Spoken Word Festival, and in Santiago de Cuba, where he joined the legendary Katherine

Dunham as a part of the CubaNola Collective.

Since beginning a career in performance poetry, Joseph has been San Francisco’s Poetry Grand Slam winner three times, won the 1999 National Poetry Slam with Team San Francisco, and founded Second Sundays, the nation’s first monthly spoken word gathering to generate audiences of over 500 people. His local work recently earned him a GOLDIE award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, one of only seven awards given per year by the staff of the Bay Area’s largest independent weekly. He also received the 2005 Emerging Artist Award from the San Francisco Arts Festival. 

Joseph has been a featured lecturer and performance artist at more than one hundred colleges and universities including UC Berkeley, New York University, Brown University, the University of Michigan, Bates College, Stanford University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He recently served as an IDA resident artist in Stanford University’s Drama Department, teaching Spoken Word and Community Action. 

Most recently, Joseph was in residence at the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he curated and ran a lecture series featuring leading members of the hip-hop community. Joseph’s critical writing is currently featured in Jeff Chang’s Total Chaos: The Art & Aesthetics of Hip-Hop. His first non-fiction book, Line Breaks: A Source Guide to Hip Hop Theater, will be published by the University of Wisconsin Press in 2008. 

His proudest work has been with Youth Speaks where he mentors 13-19 year old writers and curates the Living Word Festival for Literary Arts.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Weekly Update - 5/28/2009

KSUB SEATTLE
The Broadway Hour Radio Show w/ Gwynn Garland and Lia Morgan
Sunday Mornings from 10:00am-12:00noon

Seattle University
RAGNAROK: The Twenty-Minute Musical >May 29-31, 2009 (Tickets at the Door Only - shows starting as early as 6:00pm - stay tuned for more details)

Seattle Public Theatre
a wedding story >May 15 - June 7, 2009
TRYST >October 1 - 25, 2009
The Santaland Diaries >December 1 - 24, 2009
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever >December 10 - 24, 2009
The Violet Hour >January 28 - February 21, 2010
Dying City >March 18 - April 11, 2010
The 13th of Paris >May 20 - June 13, 2010

Seattle Musical Theatre
The Producers >September 18 - October 4, 2009
HONK! >November 13 - 29, 2009
Company >February 12 - 28, 2010
110 in the Shade >May 7 - 23, 2009

Greenstage
**NEW SEASON ANNOUNCED**
King John and Comedy of Errors >July 10 - August 15, 2009
Volunteer Park Outdoor Theatre Festival >July 11 and 12, 2009
Titus Andronicus >Halloween Special!

Seattle Shakespeare
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
The Tempest>June 4 - 28, 2009

Taproot Theater Company
SEASON AND SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Around the World in 80 Days>March 20 - June 20, 2009
Smoke on the Mountain Homecoming>July 18 - August 15, 2009
Enchanted April>September 25 - October 24, 2009

New Century Theatre Company
Orange Flower Water >June 23 - July 20, 2009

Seattle Children's Theater
SEASON AND SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Goodnight Moon>April 10 - June 14, 2009
I Was a Rat!>May 1 - June 14, 2009

Intiman Theater
ALL ON SALE NOW
A Thousand Clowns>May 15 - June 17, 2009
Othello>July 2 - August 2, 2009
The Year of Magical Thinking>August 21 - September 20, 2009
Abe Lincoln in Illinois>October 2 - November 15, 2009

Seattle Repertory Theatre
2009-2010 SEASON ANNOUNCED
Hay Fever>October 2 - 25, 2009
August: Osage County>October 27 - November 1, 2009
Opus>October 30 - December 6, 2009
Equivocation>November 18 - December 13, 2009
Speech and Debate>January 15 - February 21, 2010
Glengarry Glen Ross>February 5 - 28, 2010
Fences>March 26 - April 18, 2010
An Illiad>April 9 - May 16, 2010

ACT Theater
Information Available
Below the Belt >May 22 - June 21, 2009
The Break/s >June 17 - July 12, 2009
Das Barbecii>July 31 - September 6, 2009
Runt of the Litter>September 18 - October 11, 2009
Rock N Roll>October 9 - November 8, 2009

Seattle Opera
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Wagner's Ring Cycle >August 9 - 30, 2009
2009/2010 SEASON ANNOUNCED
La Traviata>October 17 - 31, 2009
Il Trovatore>January 16 - 30, 2010
Falstaff>February 27 - 13, 2010
Amelia>May 8 - 22, 2010

Paramount
TICKETS AVAILABLE
RENT>June 16 - 21, 2009
Wicked>September 2 - October 4, 2009
August: Osage County>October 27 - November 1, 2009
Fiddler on the Roof>November 27 - December 5, 2009

The 5th Avenue Theatre
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
Grease >May 12 - 30, 2009
NEW SEASON ANNOUNCED!!!
Catch Me If You Can>July 23 - August 14, 2009
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat>October 13 - November 1, 2009
Irving Berlin's White Christmas>December 1 - 20, 2009
South Pacific>January 29 - February 18, 2010
Legally Blonde>February 23 - March 14, 2010
On The Town>April 13 - May 2, 2010
Candide>May 25 - June 13, 2010

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Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information

Want Salon Quality Hair Services for a Fraction of the Cost?
Gary Manuel Aveda Institute

Looking for a Great Read?
Brett Dean McGibbon's Different Fish Bookstore

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A Spot of News

Judd Hirsch, John Procaccino and Matthew Boston to participate in “A Celebration of Herb Gardner” at Intiman TheatreMonday, June 1 at 7 pm

 

Tickets are $10 and are on sale now from www.intiman.org or 206.269.1900

 

SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Bartlett Sher and Managing Director Brian Colburn, will present a special conversation between actors Judd Hirsch, John Procaccino and Matthew Boston about the work of playwright Herb Gardner on Monday, June 1 at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 and are available now fromwww.intiman.org or 206.269.1900.

 

The event will celebrate the life and work of Herb Gardner, who Judd Hirsch has called “one of the great humorists and social consciences of our time.” Gardner made his playwriting debut with the comedy A Thousand Clowns, now on stage at Intiman through June 17, with Matthew Boston as Murray Burns.

 

Judd Hirsch is considered the preeminent interpreter of Gardner ’s work. He starred in the original Broadway productions of his plays I’m Not Rappaport and Conversations with My Father, winning Tony Awards for both performances. He also appeared in the premiere of Conversations at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1991. Among his other Gardner credits, he starred as Murray Burns in a 1996 Broadway revival of A Thousand Clowns and in the 1984 film The Goodbye People.

 

John Procaccino has appeared on Broadway in Gardner ’s A Thousand Clowns and Conversations with My Father, both times appearing with Hirsch. The two actors are currently in Seattle starring at ACT in Richard Dresser’s comedy Below the Belt, running now through June 21.

 

Intiman’s “Celebration of Herb Gardner” will take place on the set of A Thousand Clowns. The three actors will be interviewed, and have the chance to ask questions of each other about performing his work. 

 

For tickets or more information, visit www.intiman.org or call 206.269.1900. Seating will be general admission.

 

Seasonal support for Intiman Theatre is provided by ArtsFund; Intiman Theatre Foundation; Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation; The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and Washington State Arts Commission.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Around the World in Eighty Days - TAPROOT THEATRE COMPANY

Around the World in Eighty Days
Taproot Theatre Company
May 20 - June 20, 2009

Ryan Childers, Andrew Litzky, Alyson Scadron Branner, Bill Johns and Nolan Palmer. Photo by Erik Stuhaug

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne was the instant classic of 1873. It was so widely popular that it was almost immediately turned into a stage play for audiences of the era--and even today, the story is one of the most exciting adventures our culture has to offer. A man travels around the entire planet in eighty days on a wager as a matter of principle, honor and dignity. A man of his word, Phileas Fogg will not be detained - unless it is a matter of duty - and even then he'll make his train by gum!

The production that Taproot Theatre Company has brought to us this season uses a script by Mark Brown that premiered at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in 2001, was work-shopped at the Orlando Shakespeare Festival in 2002 and premiered off-Broadway in July 2008. The script stays almost entirely true to the story, even adding periodic lines of dialogue directly from the narrative, adding a wonderfully book-it style feeling to the experience. The first act (about an hour) begins the journey and takes us from London to China with most of the adventures being somewhat average. The second act (less than an hour), however, becomes a fantastically ridiculous saga of wild-west shoot-outs, arrests, escapes and certain doom thwarted by perseverance and the international date line.

The story of Phileas Fogg (Ryan Childers) is surrounded with thirty-three additional characters played entirely by four other actors (Bill Johns, Nolan Palmer, Alyson Scadron Branner and Andrew Litzky). Wildly standing out is Andrew Litzky playing seventeen characters as well as the narrator of the story, each character being even more unique and outlandish than the last. However, his real precision is demonstrated in the individuality of similar characters like the several boat captains and train conductors he plays. Similarly hilarious is Ryan Childers' physical work. His ability to combine perfect stillness and sudden extreme movement creates a fantastic portrait of the wildness of this story.

All-in-all, Around the World in Eighty Days is a fabulous experience. The set (Mark Lund) is fabulously useful and beautiful and the costumes (Sarah Burch Gordon) are as luscious as the many cultures Phileas Fogg and his companions visit. Though the sound mixing was somewhat awkward throughout, the show is a great one for the whole family and will, hopefully, inspire those who have not read the works of the great Jules Verne as of yet to visit their local library and do so!

Review by Andrew J. Perez

Friday, May 22, 2009

News for the Day


ACT Announces 2009 New Play Award: Sweet Maladies by

Zakiyyah Alexander

 

Two Staged Readings, June 6-7, Presented by The Hansberry Project at ACT

Seattle, WA – May 20, 2009 – Playwright Zakiyyah Alexander has been named ACT’s 2009 New Play Award winner for her play Sweet Maladies. Two FREE staged readings will be presented by The Hansberry Project in ACT’s Falls Theatre on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. and June 7 at 2:00 p.m. Each reading will be followed immediately by post-play discussions with the playwright and the director, Valerie Curtis-Newton. A special reception will be held following the June 7 presentation.

Sweet Maladies is a riveting new play about four girls (three black and one white) who must come to terms with their new circumstances in the Reconstruction-era South. Set two years after slavery has been abolished, the girls learn to assert themselves in the world that they have inherited and the society they must rebuild. Sharply written and surprisingly funny, Sweet Maladies is a timely investigation into what happens to identity when old shackles are broken and anything seems possible – a question as relevant today as it was during Reconstruction.

Now in its fourth year, the ACT New Play Award is sponsored by Gian-Carlo and Eulalie Scandiuzzi. Their generous support provides for a national call for submissions and a highly-competitive review process. The winner receives $2,500 and the opportunity to workshop their play at ACT.

This year represents the first time The Hansberry Project at ACT, a professional Black theatre company dedicated to producing new and classic works by African American artists, supervised the New Play Award at ACT selection process, marking another milestone for The Hansberry Project/ACT collaboration.

 “Since The Hansberry Project’s inception in 2004, Vivian Phillips and I set out to make a home for artists interested in bringing to life the American stories told by Black playwrights,” said Curtis-Newton. “It is not incidental that more than 80% of our work – mainstage productions, readings, and workshops – has been new plays. We have always been committed to new and emerging voices. Curating the ACT New Play Award provided a wonderful chance to take our deep commitment to the next level.”

Past ACT New Play Award recipients include Yussef El Guindi’s Language Rooms in 2008 which has plans for an East Coast world premiere in 2010 at the Wilma Theater, and has been also been featured in the Ojai Playwrights Conference and selected for inclusion in the Playwright Foundation’s In The Rough new play development series; The K of D in 2006 by Laura Schellhardt which moved on to the Woolly Mammoth, Balagan, and Magic Theatres; and Mitzi’s Abortion in 2005 by Elizabeth Heffron which was later produced as part of ACT’s own 2006 mainstage season.

The Sweet Maladies workshop will be directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton and will feature Lisa Strum, Felicia Loud, Adilia Scott , and Jane May.

FREE Special Events (open to the public; reservations encouraged through the Ticket Office):

June 6 & June 7: Post-play discussions immediately following each performance.

 

June 7: Champagne toast for New Play Award sponsors Gian-Carlo and Eulalie Scandiuzzi! Join playwright Zakiyyah Alexander, director Valerie Curtis-Newton, and the cast of Sweet Maladies following the June 7, 2:00 p.m. performance as ACT honors Gian-Carlo and Lalie Scandiuzzi.

 

June 7: Following the champagne toast, the festivities continue with a special reception honoring playwright Zakiyyah Alexander. Learn more about the process of writingSweet Maladies with a special presentation by the playwright.

 

About the Playwright

Zakiyyah Alexander is a writer and actor. She is the author of Sick (Summer Play Festival), The Etymology of Bird (Hip Hop Theater Festival/Providence Black Repertory Theatre), Blurring Shine (Market Theater of Johannesburg), something new and (900).  A production of her new play 10 Things To Do Before I Die opens in May 2009 at NY’s Second Stage Theatre. Her work has been seen and/or developed at: Bristol Riverside Theater, The Humana Festival, Penumbra Theater, The Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Rattlestick Theater, Hartford Stage, 24/7 Theater Company, Vineyard Theater, the Women's Project, and La Mama Theatre.

Alexander is an award-winning playwright who has been the recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Prize, Stellar Network Award, Theodore Ward Prize, and Jackson Phelan Award. Her work is included in the current edition of New Monologues for Women by Women, featured in the book of essays, Girls who like Boys who like Boys, and Game on: The Humana Festival ’08 Anthology. A resident member of New Dramatists; past residencies and fellowships include: EST's Youngblood, the Women's Project Writer's Lab, the Women's Work Project, and the Drama League. She has received commissions from: The Philadelphia Theater Company and the Children’s Theater of Minneapolis.  Alexander is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama (MFA in playwriting); currently on faculty at Bard College where she teaches undergraduate playwriting.  She is a native New Yorker and was raised in Queens and Brooklyn.

 

About The Hansberry Project at ACT

The Hansberry Project makes a rich contribution to theatrical legacy by producing classic and new works developed by African American artists. Now in its fourth season at ACT, The Hansberry Project continues to develop and present programs that draw together diverse artists and audiences through community conversations, staged readings, new play development, and mainstage productions.

 

About ACT – A Contemporary Theatre

For the past 44 seasons, ACT’s mission has been to inspire our diverse community through theatre that advances our understanding of human life. To dare, excite and enrich artists and audiences. To steward our many resources. Through The Central Heating Lab, ACT seeks to heat things up and create a conversation with its season that reaches for a deeper impact.

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And the nominees are…

Excitement builds for the Seventh Annual 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, sponsored by Wells Fargo

 

SEATTLE – The 5th Avenue Theatre is pleased to announce the nominees for its seventh annual 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, the acclaimed program sponsored by Wells Fargo and involving scores of schools throughout Washington State. A high school version of the Tony Awards, this program allows drama students from across Washington to meet, celebrate and honor the exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2008-2009 school year. These awards are designed to shine the spotlight on High School musical theater programs and offer drama students the same recognition that accomplished high school athletes have received for decades.

 

Since its inception the program has grown in size and scope, from 31 productions and 3,100 students in 2003 to 82 productions and 8,200 students participating this year. 159 nominations were given to 54 schools in various categories and 87 students will receive honorable mentions. Schools from as far as Spokane, Lynden, Sequim and Lacey are reporting back to The 5th Avenue that their involvement in this awards program has significantly helped their individual efforts to secure funding, improve curriculum and increase student participation.

 

During the past school year, The 5th Avenue sent a team of theater professionals to evaluate each school's production. Nominations are made in 21 categories, from overall musical production to lobby display.

 

The 5th Avenue Awards will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 8, at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Nominated students and schools will perform numbers from their shows and get a taste of what it's like to perform in front of a packed house. Dozens of high-profile elected officials and arts and media personalities will present awards and show their support for school arts programs. An estimated 2,200 high school students are expected to attend, along with their families and friends. Tickets are available by contacting the drama departments of the nominated schools. The 5th Avenue sincerely thanks Wells Fargo for its sponsorship of this important event for the fifth year in a row.

 

For a full list of our nominees, visit our 2009 High School Musical Theatre Awards Nominees page at http://www.5thavenue.org/education/highschoolawards-2009.aspx.

 

Tickets for the Awards Ceremony are $27.50 for adults, $16.50 for students, and are available through participating schools.

 

The 5th Avenue Theatre is Seattle’s premier musical theater. In 1980, the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre began producing and presenting top-quality live musical theater for the cultural enrichment of the Northwest community. The 5th Avenue Theatre maintains a subscription audience of over 25,000 and an annual attendance of more than 287,000. It ranks among the nation’s largest and most respected musical theater companies. The Theatre is committed to encouraging the next generation of theatergoers through its Educational Outreach Program which includes: The Adventure Musical Theatre Touring Company, The 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, and the Student Matinee Program and Spotlight Nights. Unique in its Chinese-inspired design, the exquisite theater opened in 1926 as a venue for vaudeville and film. Today, under the leadership of Managing Director Marilynn Sheldon and Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong, The 5th Avenue Theatre continues to achieve the highest standards in all aspects of artistic endeavors and facility operations, while preserving its artistic, architectural and historic legacy. Visit www.5thavenue.org.

In Washington, Wells Fargo has more than 4,800 team members and 240 banking, mortgage and financial stores. Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,400 stores, over 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally. 

Please contact John Longenbaugh, Public Relations Manager at (206) 625-1418 with questions or to schedule individual interviews. Photos available upon request.

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Seattle Repertory Theatre Giant Costume and Prop Sale 
Hundreds of items on sale—June 6 only

Seattle, WA –Stock up for Halloween, find a unique wedding dress, or just add to your closet something you’ll never find in a store. Seattle Repertory Theatre is offering one chance to own—and wear—a piece of theatre magic at their Costume and Prop Sale, Saturday June 6, from 10 a.m.-4p.m. on the Bagley Wright stage.

 

This is only the second time in Seattle Rep history that the theatre company has opened its costumes and props collection to the public for sale. The last time was in 1974. 


More than 300 costumes, accessories and props from the past 36 seasons will be on sale—everything from Oberon's cape from 
A Midsummer Night's Dream to Queen Elizabeth's gown fromThe Beard of Avon to dresses, suits, wigs and hats. Prices range from $10-$1000, and there are many sizes available. 

In addition to the sale, a dozen of the most elaborate and intricate show pieces will be part of a silent auction. Bidding will take place between 
10 a.m.-3p.m.

Cash, check or credit cards accepted. All proceeds benefit Seattle Rep.

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Bartlett Sher Extends as Artistic Director of Intiman Theatre 
through the End of the 2010 Production Season

 

Acclaimed Theatre for a New Audience production of Othello replaces Sher’s staging of the play this summer as Sher focuses on succession planning; details about Intiman’s multi-year artistic leadership transition will be announced in June

 

SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre Board President Kim A. Anderson announces that Bartlett Sher has extended as Artistic Director through the end of the 2010 production season. Sher was appointed to the position in November 1999 and currently serves as both Intiman’s Artistic Director and Resident Director at Lincoln Center Theater in New York . Sher will focus on helping to execute a multi-year succession plan for Intiman’s artistic leadership, including working with his successor over the next eighteen months. Full details will be announced in June 2009 

 

Sher currently has two LCT productions running simultaneously on Broadway: August Wilson’s Joe’s Turner’s Come and Gone, for which he has received a 2009 Tony Award nomination, and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific, for which he won the 2008 Tony Award.

 

“The entire Intiman Board celebrates Bart’s Tony nomination, as well as all his success directing theatre and opera in New York and internationally,” said Anderson. “For more than a year, Bart has been in conversation with our Board leadership about his ongoing role in supporting Intiman’s stability and continued growth. We have developed a multi-year plan for an artistic leadership transition and are looking forward to announcing full details about this next month. Although these are challenging times for everyone, we are excited to move into the future with a team that will include Bart and his eventual successor, as well as Managing Director Brian Colburn and Associate Director Sheila Daniels .”

 

In order for Sher to focus on Intiman’s future — including the succession plan, a new long-range plan and fundraising — Intiman will bring in the Theatre for a New Audience production of Othello, directed by Arin Arbus, to run on the same dates as Sher’s previously announced staging of the play. Othello will begin previews on Thursday, July 2and have its press opening on Wednesday, July 8 at 7:30 pm.

 

“Not directing Othello was a difficult decision for me to make,” said Sher. “Ultimately, however, the Board and I decided that it will serve Intiman most effectively for me to focus on our succession plan while giving our audiences the chance to see this production, which is one of the best-received stagings of a Shakespeare play in the last decade. Intiman has a long history of supporting younger directors and exciting new talent like Arin Arbus, and I am glad to give her this opportunity to go ever more deeply in her investigation into the play, much as we did by bringing Crime and Punishment, directed by my associate Sheila Daniels, from the Seattle fringe to Intiman earlier this season.”

 

“Additionally,” Sher continued, “I have a long and valued relationship with Jeffrey Horowitz, Theatre for a New Audience’s Artistic Director. Jeffrey invited me to stage my production of Cymbeline for Theatre for a New Audience at the Royal Shakespeare Company and then in New York . This is a great opportunity for Intiman to collaborate with the company and create a model for other partnerships we might wish to pursue in the future — something that is particularly important in this economic environment.”

                       

Additional information about Othello will be announced soon.

 

Full details about Intiman’s artistic transition will be announced in June 2009.

 

For more information or to request interviews, please contact Stephanie Coen, Director of Communications, at 206.204.3320 [new direct line] or stephanie@intiman.org.

 

Seasonal support for Intiman Theatre is provided by ArtsFund; Intiman Theatre Foundation; Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation; The Leading National Theatres Program, a joint initiative of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and Washington State Arts Commission.

 

Intiman Theatre gratefully acknowledges the following major donors for their institutional support: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Ameriprise Financial, ArtsFund, The Boeing Company, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, John Graham Foundation, Hafer Family Foundation, Intiman Theatre Foundation, Kreielsheimer Remainder Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, PONCHO, Safeco Insurance, The Shubert Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, U.S. Bancorp Foundation, and WaMu. Additional funding is received from Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle; 4Culture; Metropolitan King County Council; National Endowment for the Arts and Washington State Arts Commission.

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Saturday, June 20 at 10:30PM - Center House Theatre

An Acoustic Evening

with Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher

from the nationally-acclaimed band Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter

 

SEATTLE - National recording artists Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher from the band Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter will perform a one-night-only acoustic set on Saturday, June 20 following the evening performance of Seattle Shakespeare Company's production of The Tempest.  Sykes and Wandscher composed original music for The Tempest and will perform pieces from production as well as selected songs from their discs with Jesse Sykes and The Sweet Hereafter.

 

Jesse Sykes acclaimed albums (Reckless Burning [2003], Oh, My Girl [2004], and Like, Love, Lust & The Open Halls of the Soul [2007]), were all recorded with her band The Sweet Hereafter and musical partner Phil Wandscher, co-founder of alt-country stalwart Whiskeytown. Fragile, sometimes desolate landscapes smoldering with American folk idiom, Spin magazine called her work "riveting porch noir."

 

Characterized by a compelling mixture of longing, darkness, and hope, Jesse and Phil's music resonates, against genrefication, in the parallel worlds of the avant-garde and the timeless. Her voice, saturated with a weathered wisdom, marries with the bands atmospheric beauty in what the New York Timesdescribed as "spellbound music, rapt in fatalism and sorrow."

Tickets to An Acoustic Evening with Jesse Sykes and Phil Wandscher on Saturday, June 20th are now on sale for $20 general admission.  For ticket reservations, call the Seattle Shakespeare Company box office (206) 733-8222 or go online at www.seattleshakespeare.org.   Regular box office hours are Tuesday through Friday 1:00-6:00 PM.  During performance weeks, in addition to regular hours, the box office opens Saturdays 1:00-6:00 PM and Sundays 12noon to 4:00 PM. Seattle Shakespeare Company performs at the Center House Theatre at Seattle Center.