Weekly Update - 6/30/2008

Greenstage Summer Season
TICKETING AND INFORMATION
Hamlet >July 12 - August 16, 2008
Twelfth Night >July 11 - August 16, 2008

Greenstage Presents: Seattle Outdoor Theatre Festival
INFORMATION
July 13 and 14, 2008

Seattle Shakespeare
TICKETING AND INFORMATION
Romeo and Juliet >July 10 - August 3, 2008
A Midsummer Night's Dream >July 12 - August 3, 2008

Intiman Theater
ON SALE NOW
A Streetcar Named Desire >July 9 - August 2, 2008
The Little Dog Laughed >August 20 - September 13, 2008
All the King's Men >October 3 - November 8, 2008

ACT Theater
ON SALE NOW
A Marvelous Party: The Noel Coward Review >June 13 - July 13, 2008
Intimate Exchanges >August 15 - September 14, 2008
Eurydice >September 5 - October 5, 2008
Becky's New Car >October 17 - November 16, 2008

Seattle Opera
ON SALE NOW
Aida >August 2 - 23, 2008
Elektra >October 18 - November 1, 2008
Pearl Fishers >January 10 - 24, 2009
Bluebeard's Castle & Erwartung >February 21 - March 7, 2009
Marriage of Figaro >May 2 - 16, 2009

Paramount
ON SALE NOW
A Chorus Line >August 5 - 10, 2008
The Phantom of the Opera >September 10 - October 4, 2008
Spring Awakening >October 14 - 19, 2008
The Color Purple >December 16 - 28, 2008

The 5th Avenue Theatre
ON SALE NOW!
Shrek The Musical >August 14 - September 21, 2008 - ON SALE JUNE 13, 2008
The Drowsy Chaperone >October 28 - November 16, 2008
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers >December 3 - 28, 2008
Memphis >January 27 - February 15, 2008, 2009
Hello, Dolly! >March 8 - 29, 2009
Sunday in the Park With George >April 21 - May 10, 2009
Grease >May 12 - 30, 2009

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Seattle Repertory Theatre
UPCOMING INFORMATION

Seattle Children's Theater
UPCOMING INFORMATION

Dimitrou's Jazz Alley
Tickets and Information

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

INTIMAN THEATRE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR BARTLETT SHER WINS TONY AWARD

SEATTLE— Intiman Theatre Artistic Director Bartlett Sher was honored last night with the 2008 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for the current Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific at Lincoln Center Theater.

“Everyone at Intiman is thrilled for Bart and all his colleagues on this magnificent production,” said Intiman Theatre Board President Susan J. Leavitt. “We are his Seattle home, and we take great pride in the work he and his collaborators produce at his New York home, Lincoln Center Theater.”

Earlier this year, Sher extended his contract at Intiman through the end of the next year’s production season. That will be his 10^th season with Intiman, which received the 2006 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre under his leadership. He is currently planning Intiman’s 2009 season and developing projects for future seasons. Sher is also working closely with the Intiman Board to set a course for the future that encompasses both the best opportunities for him and Intiman’s continued growth and stability.

In 2008 and 2009, he will direct two plays by Craig Lucas, both of which premiered at Intiman, in New York : Prayer for My Enemy at Playwrights Horizons and The Singing Forest at The Public Theater.

South Pacific received seven Tony Awards, more than any other production this season, including Revival of a Musical, Actor in a Musical (Paulo Szot), Scenic Design of a Musical (Michael Yeargan), Costume Design of a Musical (Catherine Zuber), Lighting Design of a Musical (Donald Holder) and Sound Design of a Musical (Scott Lehrer).

Intiman is close to completing a national search to identify a successor to former Managing Director Laura Penn , who is now Executive Director of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers in New York . Kevin Maifeld, senior consultant of Arts Consulting Group, 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 working with Intiman as its Interim Managing Director until a permanent successor is named.

The 5th Avenue Award Goes To…

Local High School Musical Theater Honored in Tony Award-Style Event

Sponsored by Wells Fargo

SEATTLE – Tonight, 2,200 high school students, teachers and parents from across Washington state packed Benaroya Hall for the sixth annual 5th Avenue High School Musical Theatre Awards, sponsored by Wells Fargo. The students screamed at the top of their lungs, jumped and cheered as the award recipients were announced in 21 different categories, ranging from Outstanding Overall Musical Production to Outstanding Program Design.

The high school theater nominees were dressed to kill and filled with anticipation for the Tony Award-style celebration of exceptional musical theater productions presented during the 2007-2008 school year. Nominees in select categories presented numbers from their shows and performed song medleys. Teachers and students alike were thrilled to receive recognition for their hard work and dedication, just as accomplished high school athletes have received for decades.

TVW will broadcast The 5th Avenue High School Awards ceremony, in its entirety, on Wednesday, June 11 at 8 p.m. and again Sunday, June 15 at 1 p.m. After June 11, the event may be viewed as streaming video at www.tvw.org.

All's Well That Ends Well - Seattle Shakespeare

Seattle Shakespeare Company
All's Well That Ends Well
Tickets and Information
June 5 - 29, 2008

Seattle Shakespeare Company’s shows are always a joy, but what about when the subject matter, shall we say, sets most common sensibilities a bit on edge? What happens is that we see how skillfully Stephanie Shine directs her shows and how beautifully the actors with Seattle Shakes can pull off an incredibly difficult and problematic show.

All’s Well That Ends Well is a show about a young woman madly in love with a man above her rank who has no interest in her but is forced into a marriage with her. The rest of the show is Helena’s (Sarah Harlett) trials and tribulations attempting to win over Bertram (Connor Toms) and convince him to love not loath her. The problems arise in his betrayals and her never-ending and unconditional love for him. She never questions the reality of the situation long enough to see his very blatant colors. Similarly, he never takes one second to see anyone but himself. His selfishness is his downfall and, the rest you’ll have to see for yourselves.

Connor Toms and Sarah Harlett in All's Well That Ends Well. Photo by Chris Bennion 2008.

With this incredibly sticky plot, Director Stephanie Shine plows ahead as fearless as Helena herself. The timing and substance of each character and motion on stage is beautifully choreographed and conceived. Sarah Harlett as Helena does, as always, an incredible job with her role. Similarly, Connor Toms carries the chauvinistic Bertram with grace and power. Standing out in this show, however, is Paul Morgan Stetler as Parolles, the braggart fop who couldn’t show you the right end of a sword if it were in his side. His performance and transformation from idiot fop to idiot by trade is brilliant to say the least. Similarly, Trista Duval as Countess of Rossillion and Michael Patten as the King of France charge ahead in their work as champions and dominate their roles with true eloquence.

As with most Seattle Shakespeare shows and especially with Shine’s shows, music plays an integral role and reaches new heights in this show with Sean Patrick Taylor’s direction and performance on every instrument that the cast could fit on stage right. Though at times a bit awkward, the music mostly fit very well and flowed very nicely as background and transitions.

As a final note, Kurt Wall’s scenic design goes way beyond expectations. Not to say that the sets at Shakes are not usually good, but this show in particular excels in beauty and practicality.

Overall, it is a problematic script that is handled very tactfully and skillfully by all involved.

Review by Nigel Andrews

All

Namaste Man - Intiman Theatre

Namaste Man
Intiman Theatre
Tickets and Information
May 30 – June 22, 2008

The Tony-award winning Intiman Theater, under the Artistic Directorship of Barlett Sher, has produced several classics in the past few years, both American and European. This theater, however, is also a haven for new works and premieres. The most recent of these is Namaste Man, also directed by Bartlett Sher, and written and performed by Andrew Weems.

Andrew Weems in Namaste Man. Photo by Chris Bennion 2008.

Intiman audiences may be familiar with Weems from recent productions of Three Sisters and Arms and the Man; but in this show, Weems moves away from the classics and into his own childhood. Weems' father, an employee of the US government, took his family all over the world: Weems was born in Korea, and lived in Nepal for several years before highschool. In this piece the focus is on that time in Nepal, both the actual years spent there and the memories and effect it had on him in later years. Weems tells of family and friends and experiences he had in brief stories that intersect with each other. His great talents in these anecdotes are his humor and his specific use of character - he creates different evocative voices for his mother, father, schoolgirl crush, household servant and a myriad of others - all precise and all very entertaining. His tale of his theatrical debut with an amateur acting group in Nepal is made particularly enjoyable and real with his depiction of Peter Cross, the Anglo-Indian director with artistic style galore.

Throughout the ninety minutes, Weems tells stories from Nepal and New York, about being lost and found, about family and leaning his place in the world. Yet although themes sometimes resonate through several anecdotes, there is less of an overarching story, and it is here that Namaste Man falls short of what it could be. Weems storytelling is undeniably entertaining, often humorous and sometimes emotionally affecting; but it is never clear why, exactly, Weems is telling us all of this now, what his overall purpose is, or what our reaction or role - besides being an entertained listener - might be.

Certainly, though, this does not detract from the spectacle that Namaste Man is. Elizabeth Caitlin Ward’s scenic (and costume, but specifically scenic) design is undeniably impressive. The towering tin roof slats, the candles in numbers to make the fire marshal cry himself to sleep creating an ambience little known to Seattle theater audients and the ever-utilitarian boxes, oranges and figurines make the world our own. Similarly, Greg Sullivan’s lighting design sets the world alight and brings it to life.

While it is confusing in retrospect why the show has happened, the stories and the path alone are well-worth the journey.

Review by Lia Morgan and Nigel Andrews