This Week in Arts: Weekly Roundup (7/6)
This week, outdoor theatre begins its month-long takeover, and the show that dominated the 2019 Tony Awards swoops into Seattle for a six-day run.
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page here.
Openings & Short Runs
Hadestown (Broadway tour) @ The Paramount
It doesn’t arrive in Seattle ’til after the weekend, but if you want tickets to this big-name winner of eight Tony Awards, now in its first U.S. tour, you’d better get them now.
Hadestown brings the ancient Greek love story/tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice into a New Orleans-style jazz club (above-ground) and a dystopian industrial underground overseen by Hades. Sounds depressing. But look to the music and lyrical storytelling, which combine creator/composer Anaïs Mitchell’s deep folk-music background with the energy of the Big Easy. The result is an unexpected mashup of diverse musical styles into a soundscape with few comparisons. (You can get a taste from the cast recording on Spotify and other places.)
For the touring show, much of the cast has changed from the original Broadway group, but it’s full of heavy-hitters; and the design team is largely the same. This should be a gorgeous and memorable show.
Runs 7/12-17 only. In Downtown Seattle. Tickets ($57+) here.
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18th & Union: Animal Saints and Animal Sinners: Cats! Cats! Cats! (runs 7/7-9 only). In Seattle (Central District).
Strawberry Theatre Workshop – Strawberry Jam Directors Festival: Water by the Spoonful (presented by Young Hot Thespian) and A Fish and a Bear in Purgatory (runs 7/7-9 only); and BeatleConcert (7/10 only). In Seattle (Capitol Hill).
Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts: Circle Mirror Transformation (opens 7/8, closing 7/17). In Marysville.
Tacoma Musical Playhouse: Kinky Boots (opens 7/8, closing 7/31). In Tacoma.
Outdoor Theatre
Just about every theatre company in town opens their parks show this weekend. (Good news: it should be a sunny one!) All shows are free, non-ticketed events, with donations accepted.
This Weekend: Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival
Two days. 10 companies. 15 shows.
Runs 7/9-10 only. In Seattle (Capitol Hill – Volunteer Park).
Whether you’re not familiar with outdoor performances and want a great sampler, or outdoor theatre is the highlight of your season and you can’t wait to dive in … this annual festival has it all. Organized by GreenStage, which specializes in seasonal outdoor theatre, this free festival packs in all of the longer-running summer shows listed below and plenty more.
Participating companies are The 14/48 Projects (Mega Hero Rangers Go Go Go Supreme!!!, see below); GreenStage’s Backyard Bard (one-hour versions of Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing, see below); CSz (Sound & Fury: An Improvised Shakespearience, from the improv company known for ComedySportz); Dacha Theatre (Star Play, a family-friendly “storybook romp through the night sky”); Last Leaf Productions (A Midsummer (of Love) Night’s Dream, see below); GreenStage’s Shakespeare in the Park (Henry V and Pericles, Prince of Tyre, see below); Shakespeare NW (Bardic Mouse Tales, fairy tales with a Shakespearean twist); Sound Theatre Company (Shaming of the True, a deconstruction of Taming of the Shrew through examination of gaslighting); Versatile Arts (Aerial Shenanigans, from a company specializing in circus arts); Seattle Shakespeare’s Wooden O (Cymbeline and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, see below); and Young Shakespeare Workshop (The Taming of the Shrew, by youth performers).
View schedule and show info on the festival page here, or in calendar form on NWT’s Performance Calendar here.
All Month: Shakespeare (and More) in the Park
Wooden O: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Runs 7/7-8/7. On Mercer Island and various parks in the tri-county area.
Eight actors and some puppets combine to create a dreamy fairytale adventure of love and magic. Directed by George Mount.
Wooden O: Cymbeline
Runs 7/7-8/7. On Mercer Island and various parks in the tri-county area.
“A modern, queer-forward folktale of scrappy resolve, identity exploration, and big-hearted forgiveness.” Concept by Meme García and director Makaela Milburn.
GreenStage – Backyard Bard: Macbeth
Runs 7/8-8/6. At various parks throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods.
A stripped-down, one-hour version of “the Scottish play,” in which “Macbeth and his Lady must face down visions, ghosts, and madness in their quest for power.” Performed by the same five-member ensemble as Backyard Bard’s Macbeth; directed by Sarah Stillion.
GreenStage – Backyard Bard: Much Ado About Nothing
Runs 7/8-8/6. At various parks throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods.
A stripped-down, one-hour version of the much-done play, where “loyalties are tested in this comedy of love, betrayal, and redemption.” Performed by the same five-member ensemble as Backyard Bard’s Macbeth; directed by Sarah Stillion.
GreenStage – Shakespeare in the Park: Henry V
Runs 7/8-8/6. At various parks in South Seattle, West Seattle, and outside the city.
In this history play, “the ‘warlike Harry’ sets forth to conquer a nation, reclaim a kingdom, and woo a princess. And this King isn’t one to settle for two out of three.” Directed by Vince Brady.
GreenStage – Shakespeare in the Park: Pericles
Runs 7/8-8/6. At various parks in South Seattle, West Seattle, and outside the city.
This quest brings “a story of fathers and daughters, bravery, shipwrecks, an evil queen, pirates, true love, and a surprisingly happy ending.” Directed by Ken Holmes.
The 14/48 Projects: Mega Hero Rangers Go Go Go Supreme!!!
Runs 7/9-30. At various parks in Seattle.
This new family-friendly play, by Andy Park-Buffelen, introduces a group of friends and superheroes whose adversary stripes their powers away, testing their bonds.
Last Leaf Productions: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Runs 7/10-8/7. At various parks, primarily on the Eastside and north end (Bellevue to Arlington).
The classic comedy, set in the ’60s; love, jealousy, magic, and flowers abound.
Links to each of these companies available from the Seattle Outdoor Theater Festival page, here.
Calendar view, show info and links available on NWT’s Performance Calendar here.
Continuing Runs
Harlequin Productions: Hedwig & the Angry Inch (closing 7/30). In Olympia. Update 7/12/2022: Performances cancelled this week, will resume 7/21; show extended through 8/6. See NWT’s review here.
Village Theatre: Mamma Mia! (closing this weekend in Issaquah, then runs 7/15-8/7 in Everett).
Cafe Nordo: Down the Rabbit Hole (extended through summer, and Sunday brunch shows added — closing 8/13). In Seattle (Pioneer Square).
Can Can Culinary Cabaret: Lola (closing 8/28). In Seattle (Pike Place Market).
The Roundup is a weekly (ish) feature. Want to plan your show schedule further out? See NWT’s 2022 Shows list, which aims to list just about every theatre show in town. For shows by day and ticketing info, see the Performance Calendar.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.