Seattle Repertory Theatre Presents: Humanities Forum Community-based Theatre and the Role of the Outsider |
| Saturday, February 9 at 4:30pm, directly following the 2:00 pm matinee of The Breach |
| Seattle, WA - Seattle Repertory Theatre presents its continuing series of community discussions, Humanities Forum on Saturday, February 9th at 4:30 p.m. in connection with the performance of The Breach. Panelists will discuss community-based theatre and the role of the outsider. Panelists include David Esbjornson, director of The Breach, Todd Jefferson Moore, actor and playwright and Jack Bentz, Artistic Director of Deus X Machina theatre company and will be moderated by Seattle Rep Education Director, Andrea Allen. Admission is free. The phenomenon of a natural calamity like Hurricane Katrina creates chaos, pain and confusion on a mythic scale. In The Breach, playwrights Filloux, McCraney and Sutton weave together three unique and separate stories from those who survived the storm. In its exploration of the impacts of Katrina, this powerful and surreal play taps the conspiracy theories, loss and nascent hope of this devastated American region. Last fall, The Breach was presented as public readings in theatres and FEMA trailers throughout the South, culminating in a full production at the Southern Rep in New Orleans. The performances prompted public debate on the broader issues of poverty, patriotism and the responsibility we have toward one another, a debate we hope will continue within the Seattle community. About Humanities Forum: These hour-long panel discussions feature Seattle Rep staff, artists and scholars examining issues and themes related to the plays. After you've seen the show, come back and deepen your understanding and express your opinions. On the final Saturday of each Bagley Wright Theatre shows, between the matinee and evening performances. |
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Weekly Update - 1/25/2008
KSUB Seattle
**Listen in to hear Nigel Andrews, Rick Skyler and Jack Jarden**
Sunday from 10-Noon
Seattle University
Tickets and Information
Dark Play or Stories for Boys >February 21 - March 2, 2008 (mature audiences only)
Seattle Shakespeare
Tickets and Information
Julius Caesar >January 3-27, 2008
Swansong >January 7-23, 2008
The Miser >March 13 - April 6, 2008
Seattle Children's Theater
Tickets and Information
The Neverending Story >through January 27, 2008
Hamlet >January 25 - February 24, 2008
The Hundred Dresses >February 22 - April 6, 2008
According to Cyote >March 14 - May 11, 2008
Busytown >April 25 - June 15, 2008
Intiman Theater
Tickets and Information
The Diary of Anne Frank >March 26 - May 17, 2008
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Tickets and Information
The Breech >January 10 - February 9, 2008
By the Waters of Babylon >January 31 - March 2, 2008
The Imaginary Invalid >February 21 - March 22, 2008
How? How? Why? Why? Why? >March 13 - April 19, 2008
The Cure at Troy >April 3 - May 3, 2008
Seattle Opera
Tickets and Information
Pagliacci >January 12 - 26, 2008
Tosca >February 23 - March 9, 2008
Il Puritani >May 3 - 17, 2008
The 5th Avenue Theatre
Tickets and Information
Mame >February 9 - March 2, 2008
Cabaret >March 25 - April 13, 2008
Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information
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Thursday, January 24, 2008
Provocative and Daring, Language Rooms by Yussef El Guindi is Selected for ACT’s 2008 New Play Award
Two Staged Readings, March 7-8
2008 New Play Award Reading
Language Rooms by Yussef El Guindi
Directed by Kurt Beattie
March 7-8, 2008 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets
FREE!
No reservations required; seating is first come, first served
ACT Theatre
Ticket Office: (206) 292-7676
700 Union Street, Seattle WA 98101
Seattle, WA – January 23, 2008 – Local playwright Yussef El Guindi has been named ACT’s 2008 New Play Award winner for his new work Language Rooms. ACT will present two staged readings, followed by post-play discussions with the playwright and director, FREE to the public, on March 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. in its Bullitt Cabaret space.
Language Rooms is a play about an Arab-American interrogator at a Guantanamo-like facility whose loyalty comes into question when he is faced with the challenge of interrogating his father.
“A provocative, dark, often funny investigation of the complex inner life of people who must live dangerously for what they think is the greater good, Language Rooms is an exciting and completely unpredictable reflection of the United States’ uneasy relationship with the Middle East,” said ACT’s Artistic Director Kurt Beattie. “The play asks, in a new and utterly fresh way, what it means to be an American citizen, particularly when the questioner is an Arab-American.”
Language Rooms is the third play awarded as a part of the New Play Award program, sponsored by Eulalie M. and Carlo Scandiuzzi. The Scandiuzzi sponsorship provides for an annual national call for submissions playwriting competition, in which the winner receives $2,500 and the opportunity to workshop the play, including the presentation of two public staged readings at ACT. Mitzi’s Abortion by Elizabeth Heffron, produced at ACT as a part of its 2006 mainstage season, was the first New Play Award winner in 2005.
Language Rooms is directed by Kurt Beattie and will feature Khanh Doan (Esther), John Farrage (Nasser), Ray Gonzalez (Ahmed), William Hall, Jr. (Kevin) and a fifth actor to be announced.
Yussef El Guindi’s most recent production was Back of the Throat, winner of the 2004 Northwest Playwright’s Competition held by Theater Schmeater. It won LA Weekly’s Excellence in Playwrighting Award for 2006. It was also nominated for the 2006 American Theater Critics Association’s Steinburg/New Play Award, and was voted Best New Play of 2005 by the Seattle Times. It was first staged by San Francisco’s Thick Description and Golden Thread Productions; then later presented in various theaters around the country including The Flea Theater in New York. Another play of his, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith, staged by Silk Road Theatre Project, won the After Dark Award for Best New Play in Chicago, 2006. His two-related one-acts, Acts of Desire, were staged by the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles. Back of the Throat, and those two related one-acts, now titled, Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda’s and Karima’s City, have been published by Dramatists Play Service. Guindi holds a Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie-Mellon University and was playwright-in-residence at Duke University.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Teenspeak - Seattle Repertory Theatre
Seattle Repertory Theatre
A very warm congratulations to all of the student actors and especially the writers whose works were performed on Tuesday from Woodinville High School. Plays by Alex Honjiyo, Christina Weidner, Rin Romao, Alyssa Powell and Austin Bridges premiered in the Leo K. Theatre with over thirty actors all from Woodinville High. This concludes the Teensspeak program of 2008 after Roosevelt High School's performances last Friday. As always, it's an amazingly fun experience for the audience and a wonderful opportunity for the playwrites and actors. Thank you to Seattle Rep for running this program and all of the student writers and performers for a great night at the theatre.
Nigel Andrews
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Teenspeak Playwriting Project - Seattle Rep
Seattle Repertory Theater
RSVP for tickets to this FREE EVENT!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 7:30pm
If you’re a reader of The Broadway Hour, then you’re probably a fan of theater. If you’re a fan of theater, then you’d probably love to know more about what goes into the writing process of a play. This is one of the best opportunities for anyone in town to find out the nuts and bolts of what it takes to write a play.
Teenspeak Playwriting Project is a program put together by the Seattle Repertory Theater to give young up-and-coming writers a chance to see an original work of theirs put on stage and shown to the public. Nine writers and around one hundred performers come out from
The four playwrites did an amazing job with the topics they were given and created four very fun and entertaining shows. Their actors, under the direction of (in order of listed show) Scott Koh, Michaela Murphy, Amber Wolfe and Christopher A Dewar came to the plate in a big way and made these shows a wonderful evening of fun, refreshing and raw theater.
So, if you’re looking to have a fun time at the theater and unwind from pretentious hoity-toity shows, definitely check the website and try to RSVP a couple seats for this Tuesday, the 22 at 7:30pm for Teanspeak Playwriting Project presented by Woodinville High School and the Seattle Repertory Theater.
Weekly Update - 1/19/2008
KSUB Seattle
**Listen in to hear Nigel Andrews, Rick Skyler and Jack Jarden**
Sunday from 10-Noon
Seattle University
Tickets and Information
Dark Play or Stories for Boys >February 21 - March 2, 2008 (mature audiences only)
Seattle Shakespeare
Tickets and Information
Julius Caesar >January 3-27, 2008
Swansong >January 7-23, 2008
The Miser >March 13 - April 6, 2008
Seattle Children's Theater
Tickets and Information
The Neverending Story >through January 27, 2008
Hamlet >January 25 - February 24, 2008
The Hundred Dresses >February 22 - April 6, 2008
According to Cyote >March 14 - May 11, 2008
Busytown >April 25 - June 15, 2008
Intiman Theater
Tickets and Information
The Diary of Anne Frank >March 26 - May 17, 2008
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Tickets and Information
The Breech >January 10 - February 9, 2008
Teenspeak >January 22, 2008 (FREE EVENT! CALL TO RSVP!)
By the Waters of Babylon >January 31 - March 2, 2008
The Imaginary Invalid >February 21 - March 22, 2008
How? How? Why? Why? Why? >March 13 - April 19, 2008
The Cure at Troy >April 3 - May 3, 2008
Seattle Opera
Tickets and Information
Pagliacci >January 12 - 26, 2008
Tosca >February 23 - March 9, 2008
Il Puritani >May 3 - 17, 2008
The 5th Avenue Theatre
Tickets and Information
Mame >February 9 - March 2, 2008
Cabaret >March 25 - April 13, 2008
Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information
Thursday, January 17, 2008
SHREK
THE MUSICAL
Exclusive World Premiere at Seattle ’s 5th Avenue Theatre
August 14 - September 21, 2008
Opens on Broadway Fall 2008
SEATTLE – ONCE upon a time in a land not so far, far away a new musical began its journey to Broadway.
DreamWorks Theatricals and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. have announced that SHREK THE MUSICAL will play an exclusive world premiere engagement at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle , August 14 – September 21, prior to opening on Broadway in the Fall of 2008. Preview performances will begin in early November at a theater to be announced.
SHREK THE MUSICAL is an entirely new musical based on the story and characters from William Steig’s book Shrek!, as well as the DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, the first chapter of the Shrek movie series.
SHREK THE MUSICAL features a book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize® winner, David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), music by Jeanine Tesori (Olivier Award-winner for Caroline, or Change and three-time Tony Award® nominee), and is directed by Jason Moore, who staged the Tony Award®-winning Best Musical, Avenue Q.
SHREK THE MUSICAL is DreamWorks Animation’s first venture in legitimate theater. The production was initiated by Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation, and Sam Mendes, who has a long-term relationship with DreamWorks. Mendes, a big fan of the first Shrek film, suggested the idea of creating a musical to DreamWorks’ Jeffrey Katzenberg around the time the second film was in production. The musical is being produced by DreamWorks Theatricals (Bill Damaschke , President) and Neal Street Productions, Ltd (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling).
Other members of the SHREK THE MUSICAL creative team include Tony Award®-winning set and costume designer, Tim Hatley (Monty Python’s Spamalot, Private Lives, among others) and three-time Olivier Award-winning lighting designer, Hugh Vanstone, whose Broadway credits include Monty Python’s Spamalot, Bombay Dreams, The Blue Room and Art.
The choreography is by newcomer Josh Prince, and Tim Weil (Rent) is serving as music director.
Casting and additional members of the creative team will be announced shortly.
“Without a doubt this will be the major event of Seattle ’s theatrical season,” said 5th Avenue Theatre Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong, continuing, “What I am most excited about is the first class creative team that has been assembled for this production. These are some of the most talented and exciting artists working in the musical theater today. Once again our audience will have the opportunity to experience the creation of a new Broadway musical.”
“We are delighted that SHREK THE MUSICAL will play in Seattle prior to Broadway,” said Bill Damaschke, President of DreamWorks Theatricals. “ Seattle audiences are well known for their enthusiastic support of new work and their discerning taste. This, in addition to the experience and expertise of The 5th Avenue Theatre team, provides us with a fantastic environment for the creation of our show.”
SHREK THE MUSICAL is based on a popular 1990 book by William Steig. The characters of Shrek, Donkey and Fiona, and the other inhabitants of “Far, Far Away” have been featured in three major animated films and a popular television special to date. The first Shrek feature film hit theaters in the summer of 2001, and went on to win the first-ever Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. The 2004 sequel, Shrek 2, remains the third highest grossing movie of all time and highest grossing animated film of all time. The latest chapter of the Shrek story, Shrek the Third, is the 2nd highest grossing film of 2007. Shrek the Halls, the recent ABC television special, was one of the most watched TV programs of 2007.
5th Avenue Theatre season subscriptions go on sale Monday, February 4 and single tickets for SHREK THE MUSICAL go on sale Friday, June 13. For more information about The 5th Avenue Theatre, visit www.5thavenue.org.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
"The Breach"
January 16-February 9, 2008
Box Office
(206) 443-2210
One who has not experienced the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath cannot fully understand the horror and fear so central to Seattle Repertory Theatre's current play, "The Breach." This is not to say that they will find it unaccessible, for they will most certainly gain further insight into the chaos, loss, and confusion left in the disaster's wake. However, despite the heavy and emotional subject matter, the audience leaves with a surprisingly strong sense of hope, once all is said and done.
With such a deep issue, it is important that "The Breach" has a strong foundation to rest upon; namely, its script (Catherine Filloux, Tarell Alvin McCraney, and Joe Sutton). In terms of writing authentic dialogue, the playwrights capture and respect the Southern dialect while keeping the script comprehensible to a much larger audience. It's not easy to weave multiple, complex themes throughout three different storylines: a handicapped father trying to cope without his son, an Iraq soldier; a naive, Northern reporter who wishes to understand the racial tension underneath the dark waters; and a stranded, fragmented family waiting for help on a rooftop. Rather than having a distinct sense of the three different writers, the play itself feels as if it were written by a single, focused entity.
The lighting throughout the play was delicately and effectively used. Pastel colors were projected onto a screen upstage, setting the mood for different scenes. Focused, white lighting was also used to direct the audience's attention and provided a stark contrast to the projected colors. The set consisted primarily of a pool underneath the front of the stage. It brought both the actors and the audience in direct contact with this mysterious and unpredictable element. In addition, a waterfall, acting as rain, was constructed from the top center of the proscenium and falls into the pool, providing a transparent wall between the actors and audience.
John Aylward (Mac) and Nike Imoru (Water). Photo Credit: Chris Bennion, 2008
The cast is an eclectic group of Seattle veterans and newbies, all providing emotionally jarring performances. John Aylward, William Hall, Jr., and Crystal Fox particularly capture tension, anger, and vulnerable humanity in such a way that would do real survivors proud. Nike Imoru is certianly interesting as she portrays the character of Water, slippery and malicious, and makes the best out of an arguably unnecessary metaphorical character. The child actor (Michelove Rene Bain) gives the weakest performance, but, as a fourth grader, is understandably at a disadvantage from the rest of her experienced cast. She in no way, however, detracts from the high quality of the acting in general.
While frustrated and frightened emotions dominate the play, humor is not forgotten among the dredges of turmoil. Significant tension is eradicated by subtle jabs against the "powers that be," comments which the audience eats up with delight and relief. This reflects the brilliant paradoxes of the work; that within such a devastating disaster, humanity is not entirely seen at its worst, but seen greatly at its best; that a great truth is able to finally appear through the debris of destruction; and that through a disaster that threatens life itself, human community and love can emerge stronger than ever before.
By: Jack Jarden and Natasha Rae
MAME events!
January 18, 7:30pm
The 5th Avenue periodically gives the audience an inside look at their spectacular shows and those who create them. David Armstrong will host an exploration of Jerry Herman and Edward Everett Tanner III - the men who created MAME! Also enjoy musical performances by Billie Wildrick, CArol Swarbrick, Timothy McCuen PIggee and Dee Hoty (Three Time Tony Award-Nominee)! And as always, it's free!!
WESTLAKE VALENTINE'S DAY SPECIAL
Make this Valentine's Day an instant classic by entering to win a Valentine's Package at Westlake center. The winner will receive two tickets to Mame, a $50 dinner certificate to P.F. Chang's China Bistro and a basket of chocolates from Made in Washington for you and your sweetheart.
Simply visit Westlake Center's Fireworks or Made in Washington stores betweeen January 21 - February 3 to win this spectacular prize package!
The winner will be contacted February 4, 2008. See stores for details.
SUPPORT A GREAT CAUSE - MAME STYLE
Featuring more than 275 extravagant costumes (designed by Tony-Award winner Gregg Barnes), Mame is the event for every fashionista. Support a great cause in true Mame style and enter to win tickets to the show at two upcoming American Heart Association fashion-themed events:
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
ACT Sets the Stage for
Amazing Talent, Amazing Opportunities with its
Sixth Annual Young Playwrights Festival
Eight Writers Age 14-18 Receive Staged Readings of Their Plays
ACT’s Sixth Annual Young Playwrights Festival
March 6-8, 2008
Tickets
$5 for students and seniors
$10 for adults
Special tax-deductable Festival Sponsorship tickets are available for $100
ACT Theatre
Ticket Office: (206) 292-7676
700 Union Street, Seattle WA 98101
Seattle, WA – January 15, 2008 – ACT’s annual Young Playwrights Festival returns March 6 through 8 for a sixth year, featuring a wonderful mix of dramatic and comedic new works from talented student writers ages 14 to 18.
ACT will present staged readings of eight new plays developed through ACT’s Young Playwrights Program (YPP) serving upwards of 225 middle and high school students from King, Kitsap, and Pierce counties throughout 14 greater Seattle-area schools. Plays were selected by an artistic panel at ACT from approximately 250 plays by participating students. To prepare for the staged readings, each student playwright is partnered with a professional director, dramaturge, and actors, and participates in nearly 20 hours of rehearsal with his or her creative team. Each program will be performed twice during the three-day festival.
ACT Young Playwrights Festival Schedule:
Program A
Thursday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 8 at 12:00 noon
The Kindness of Strangers
by Hannah Atlas, TOPS, 8th grade
Directed by Shana Bestock
The Tragic Tale of Mrs. Tate, or How I Learned to Enjoy the Taste of Burnt Mint
by Sam Gray, Garfield High School, 12th grade
Directed by Kristina Sutherland
Man and Dog
by Erin Handley, Seattle Academy, 11th grade
Directed by Aimee Bruneau
Death and Jeff
by Nathan Weisman, Bellevue High School, 11th grade
Directed by Andy Jensen
Program B
Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 8 at 4:00 p.m.
The Game Show
by Lesley Grace, Garfield High School, 12th grade
Directed by Beverly Thompson
Moving Martha
by Cara Groden, Lakeside School, 12th grade
directed by Dawson Nichols
A Plastic Affair
by Lena Weber, Bainbridge High School, 12th grade
directed by Anita Montgomery
The Queen of No Man's Land
by Dan Rector, Ballard High School, 12th grade
directed by Anthony Winkler
“The eight young playwrights chosen for our Festival – some of the strongest, most creative voices from the ACT’s YPP – are given an authentic experience of the next phase of the playwriting process; rehearsing and putting a play in front of an audience,” said Literary Manager &
Director of Education Anita Montgomery. “It is enormously exciting to watch these students step into the role of working playwright, and the work that appears on the stage is simply stunning!”
YPP offers greater Seattle-area students a high-quality, exciting language arts curriculum based on the art of playwriting. Professional playwright/teaching artists from ACT teach the rudiments of playwriting in participating area schools in the fall quarter of each school year. Concepts taught include dramatic structure, character creation, dialogue, action, subtext, point of view, understanding and developing dramatic conflict, writing a scene, generating ideas through improvisation, the importance of rewrites, and writing for an audience.
Each student playwright completes a 10- to 20-minute original play by the end of the session. The 10-week classroom portion of the YPP runs from September through December each year.
Started in 2002, YPP is a natural extension of ACT's commitment to new plays and playwrights. Since its inception, ACT's YPP has grown from 72 middle and high school students in six schools and an eight-week curriculum to more than 225 students in 14 schools and a 10-week/20-session curriculum.
For more information or to arrange interviews with student playwrights and the directors, please contact Jacquelyn Rardin at (206) 292-7660 ext. 1327 or jacquelyn.rardin@acttheatre.org.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Kevin Maifeld Named Interim Managing Director of Intiman Theatre;
Greg Kandel of Management Consultant for the Arts to Guide Intiman Board on National Search for Successor to Outgoing Managing Director Laura Penn
SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre announces that Kevin Maifeld, former managing director of Seattle Children’s Theatre and founding director of the Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership program at Seattle University , is joining Intiman as its interim managing director. Maifeld will work with the company during its management transition in the spring of 2008. Laura Penn , managing director for the past 14 seasons, will leave Intiman on March 31 to assume her new position as executive director of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers in New York .
Maifeld will work with Intiman part-time effective February 1, overlapping with Penn and then consulting with artistic director Bartlett Sher and the Intiman Board and staff on Theatre’s management, development and fundraising efforts until a permanent successor is named. The national search is being directed by Greg Kandel, founding partner of Management Consultants for the Arts, who guided the Intiman Board in the search process that culminated in the hire of Bartlett Sher. The Intiman Search Committee is chaired by Trustee Cynthia Huffman and vice chaired by past Trustee Joel Bodansky.
Kevin Maifeld is currently senior consultant in the Seattle office of Arts Consulting Group. In addition to his consulting work, he is the founding director and professor of the Master of Fine Arts in Arts Leadership program at Seattle University . He previously served as managing director of the Seattle Children’s Theatre and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. He has more than 20 years of experience in arts management, financial analysis, development and fundraising, strategic planning, marketing, consulting and teaching.
“Leadership searches are always exciting opportunities, and the Intiman Board is poised to build on its already impressive track record in this area,” says Maifeld. “As a subscriber and an admirer of Intiman, I am pleased to work with them during what promises to be an extremely competitive search.”
“Intiman’s Board and administration have long been admirers of the great work Seattle Children’s Theatre has produced under Linda Hartzell’s artistic leadership and Kevin Maifeld’s management,” states Susan Leavitt, Intiman Board President. “We are planning a very rigorous search process, and it is extremely fortuitous that while Kevin has chosen to go into academia, he is doing some consulting as well and will be working with us during this transition period.”
Intiman received the 2006 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. It produces classics and world premieres, and serves as an advocate and catalyst for civic dialogue and community building in the Puget Sound region and nationally. Recent world premieres include Kent Gash’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son, which premiered as part of Intiman’s American Cycle series of classic stories and community programs; Craig Lucas’s Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest; The Light in the Piazza by Lucas and Adam Guettel , based on the novel by Elizabeth Spencer; and Joan Holden’s adaptation of Nickel and Dimed, based on the nonfiction book by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Intiman gratefully acknowledges the following for their institutional support: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, ArtsFund, The Boeing Company, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Intiman Theatre Foundation, Kreielsheimer Remainder Trust, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation, The Norcliffe Foundation, PONCHO, Safeco, The Shubert Foundation, The Seattle Foundation, WaMu, and Wells Fargo Bank. Additional funding is received from Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of Seattle ; 4Culture; Metropolitan King County Council and Washington State Arts Commission.
Weekly Update - 1/11/2008
KSUB Seattle
**Listen in to hear Nigel Andrews, Rick Skyler and Jack Jarden**
Sunday from 10-Noon
Seattle Shakespeare
Tickets and Information
Julius Caesar >January 3-27, 2008
Swansong >January 7-23, 2008
Seattle Repertory Theatre
Tickets and Information
The Breech >January 10 - February 9, 2008
By the Waters of Babylon >January 31 - March 2, 2008
Seattle Opera
Tickets and Information
Pagliacci >January 12 - 26, 2008
The 5th Avenue Theatre
Tickets and Information
Jersey Boys >December 5, 2007 - January 12, 2008
Mame >February 9 - March 2, 2008
Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Stream Premier of The Littler Mermaid LIVE!
Stream the world premier of The Little Mermaid LIVE!
http://www.playbillradio.com/
By The Waters of Babylon at The Repertory
The Play: The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan has created a passionate, tender and bittersweet love story. Catherine is beautiful and outspoken-a recluse with a dark and mysterious past. Arturo, the gardener, was a poet in his native Cuba and has come to rescue her neglected garden. The hot Texas day turns hotter as these two exiles share a drink and a dance, and try to banish the ghosts that haunt them both.
The Playwright: Robert Schenkkan is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Kentucky Cycle, which had its world premiere in 1991 at Intiman Theatre. It also won both the PEN Centre West and the LA Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, as well as nominations for Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards. His other plays include Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates, Heaven On Earth, Final Passages, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Dream Thief. For television he wrote the miniseries Crazy Horse, Spartacus and The Andromeda Strain He has written films for Sidney Pollack, Oliver Stone, Denzel Washington, Ron Howard, and Kevin Costner among others. He is currently writing a film, The Rules, for Dreamworks, and is a writer/producer for Steven Spielberg/Tom Hanks and HBO's epic miniseries, The Pacific. He is a New Dramatists alumnus and a member of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the National Theatre Conference. He lives in Seattle with his author wife and his two children.
The Director: From 1992-1995, Richard Seyd served as the associate artistic director of the American Conservatory Theater where he directed The Learned Ladies, Dario Fo's The Pope and The Witch, Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Oleanna, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Othello, The Matchmaker, and A Streetcar Named Desire. In the 1980s he served as associate producing director of the Eureka Theater. He has won Backstage West awards for his productions of Cloud 9, Noises Off (which he staged at Seattle Rep, 2004) A Streetcar Named Desire, and Collected Stories. Some favorite productions include Present Laughter and The Presentment for Pasadena Playhouse, The Lion in Winter for La Mirada Theater, Dinner With Friends for Berkeley Repertory, and Feast Of Fools with Geoff Hoyle at La Jolla Playhouse. He directed a highly successful production in London's West End of A Reckoning with Jonathon Pryce. Mr. Seyd directed the award-winning short film Brass Tacks. He founded Seydways Acting Studios in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Swansong
Seattle Shakespeare Company
January 7-23
Tickets: call 206-733-8222 or online
Aside from starring on Broadway as the Grinch, Patrick Page’s creation, Swansong, has made its way onto the stage at Seattle Shakespeare Company, bringing humor, laughter and genius writing into the relationship between William Shakespeare and his friend Ben Johnson. The tension and love that builds between them is only part of the plot, which also focuses on success, pain and what it means to be an artist.
from left: Ian Bell, Tim Gouran, Brandon Whitehead - Photo: John Ulman
The ensemble cast of Ian Bell, Brendan Whitehead, and Tim Gouran, veteran Seattle actors and talented artists, under the direction of Stephanie Shine bring to life this compelling tale and provide the range of emotion and connection the script calls for. Coupling their individual talents with the words of Patrick Page provides portrayals of these characters in a personal light, leaving audience members touched and connected to the show.
Join Seattle Shakespeare Company as they kick off the new year, their 50th production and embark on the revolutionary move of opening their doors seven days a week and implementing a counter-season, which is beginning with Julius Caesar, another show not to be missed (reviewed below). Catch Swansong through January 23rd, and also check this blog for updates on possible cast interviews to be heard on the Broadway Hour, a radio show run by this review team, which can be heard at ksubseattle.org Sundays from 10 AM to noon.
Reviewed by: Natasha Rae & Rick Skyler
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
SEATTLE – Everybody’s favorite Auntie MAME rings in the New Year in The 5th Avenue Theatre’s lavish new production. Producing Artistic Director David Armstrong directs this quintessential Broadway musical, starring three-time Tony nominee Dee Hoty (Footloose, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Will Rogers Follies) in the iconic title role and 5th Avenue favorite Richard White (Kopit and Yeston’s Phantom, The Desert Song, voice of Gaston in the Disney film Beauty and the Beast) as her suitor, Beauregard. They lead a vast ensemble of 39 who “coax the blues right out of the horn” in more than 275 extravagant costumes, designed by 2006 Tony Award-winner Gregg Barnes (Drowsy Chaperone, Legally Blonde, Flower Drum Song). An impossibly tall, sleek staircase curves through the set, which is transformed as the trendsetting Mame revels through a parade of decades, from the art deco glamour of the 1920s to the ultra-modern chic of the 1950s.
MAME tells the hilarious story of an eccentric socialite who finds her madcap Manhattan lifestyle turned upside down when she is appointed guardian of her orphaned nephew. Auntie Mame takes him on one whirlwind adventure after another, proving that “life is a banquet.” With a rogue’s gallery of memorable characters, MAME has touched the hearts and tickled the funnybones of audiences everywhere. The irresistible score by Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly!, La Cage aux Folles) includes the title song, “If He Walked Into My Life” and “We Need A Little Christmas.”
The original source material, Patrick Dennis’ novel Auntie Mame, was the surprise literary sensation of 1955. After being rejected by a dozen publishers, Mame’s madcap adventures as a free-thinking heiress spent 112 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, selling more than two million copies in five languages. Once Mame was introduced to a fascinated public, no one medium was big enough to hold her. She moved triumphantly from page to stage to screen, then – in musical form – back to stage and again to screen. In 1958, Rosalind Russell brought Mame to life on stage and on film in Auntie Mame. The stage musical MAME opened on Broadway in 1966 to great acclaim, giving star Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony for the role) a new career as a Broadway diva. In 1974, Lucille Ball took on the role in a movie musical version of the classic story.
The 5th Avenue Theatre’s cast features another of Broadway’s great leading ladies, Dee Hoty, as Mame Dennis alongside Richard White as her Southern gentleman Beauregard Jackson Pickett Burnside. Carol Swarbrick ( 5th Ave : Sweeney Todd, White Christmas) stars as Mame’s theatrical sidekick, Vera Charles. Twelve-year-old Nick Robinson (Intiman’s To Kill A Mockingbird) has been cast as young Patrick Dennis. Also featured are Kat Ramsburg as Agnes Gooch, Ben Gonio as Ito, Seán G. Griffin as Dwight Babcock, Laura Kenny as Mother Burnside, Michael Winters as Mr. Upson, Taryn Darr as Gloria Upson, Matt Owen as older Patrick Dennis, Timothy McCuen Piggee as Lindsay Woolsey and Karen Skrinde as Sally Cato. The ensemble includes David Alewine, Jeffrey Alewine, Greg McCormick Allen, Nicholas Beach, Gabe Corey, Michael Ericson, Meaghan Foy, Kristin Gaetz, Krista Gibbon, Timothy Gleason, Bryce Henry, Diana Huey, Brittany Jamieson, Anders Ledell, Nikki Long, Lauralyn McClelland, Cheryl Massey-Peters, Trina Mills, Kasey Nusbickel, Lindsay Powers, Heather Roberts, John David Scott, Jenny Singer, Pamela Turpen, Luke Vroman and Thaddeus Wilson.
