This Week in Arts: Weekly Roundup (7/14)
Local-meets-global dance, a memoir-in-progress reading, Tony Award-dominating musical theatre, and a totally mysterious cast kick off a very busy weekend. Plus, loads more openings, a bunch of outdoor shows to take in the sunny weather, and more.
Ticketing links for most shows can be found on the Performance Calendar page here.
Openings & Short Runs
DANCE This @ The Moore
A Celebratory Local Showcase of Global Dance Influences
Runs 7/15 only. In Downtown Seattle.
A signature program of Seattle Theatre Group, this year’s DANCE This showcases performances from local dance groups Bailadores de Bronce, Morning Star Korean Cultural Center, Natya UW, Northwest Tap Connection, and Radost Folk Ensemble, followed by a finale that brings all of their unique styles together in one new work.
Through the Artists in Residence program, new this year, choreographers Gary Champi (previously of the Merce Cunningham Trust) and Akoiya Harris (previously of Spectrum Dance Theater) also created new work for the showcase.
Tickets ($26 with fees) here.
Susan Lieu: The Manicurist’s Daughter @ Theatre Off Jackson
A Master Storyteller Makes Writing a Two-Way Street
Runs 7/14-18 only. In Seattle (International District) and online.
After packed houses with iterations of 140 Lbs. at Theatre Off Jackson, ACT Theatre, On the Boards, and more, playwright-performer Susan Lieu is back on stage — and she’s ready to tell you about that time she joined a Korean yoga cult and fell in love with one of its leaders.
In a format reminiscent of David Sedaris’ popular small-audience workshops, Lieu invites audiences in to hear new writing and actively shape where it goes. Through both real-time audience response and feedback received during the exchanges that follow, each night’s reading will impact how her stories take shape in final form in Lieu’s memoir, scheduled for 2023 publication.
Readings run this weekend only, in the intimate Theatre Off Jackson space, with virtual viewing option via Twitch.
Tickets ($18-$60 with fees, sliding scale available to all) here.
Hadestown @ The Paramount
Broadway’s stunning, intimate musical myth takes its first U.S. tour.
Runs through 7/16. In Downtown Seattle.
A top-notch cast distills hope, doubt, freedom, and servitude as timeless and borderless themes, all through two mythological love stories made small and human. Dramatic, intimate staging, wondrous set and lighting design, and a puzzlingly huge and complex sound emanating from the smallest of orchestras all conspire for an incredible work with maximum impact.
Read more about the music of Hadestown in NWT’s preview here.
Tickets ($57+ with fees) are available but extremely limited, here.
Theater Anonymous: Casablanca – The 14/48 Projects @ Cornish Playhouse
The show where no one knows the cast … not even the cast
Performs 7/16 only. At the Seattle Center.
With Casablanca, Theater Anonymous expands its unique dramatics — in which the cast is revealed as the story unfolds — beyond its annual take on the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Director Charlotte Peters and assistant directors Shawn Belyea and Julia Griffin have worked with around 30 local actors, independently and surrounded by secrecy. The first (and only) time the characters will meet is as they’re revealed to the audience during this one-night-only show.
This time around, the Theater Anonymous premiere combines with the festivities of a speakeasy casino, a favorite 14/48 fundraiser. Casino games start at 5:30 in the outside courtyard, followed by an 8pm show.
Tickets ($25+, various packages available) here.
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Taproot Theatre: Black Coffee (in previews, opens tomorrow, closing 8/13). In Seattle (Greenwood).
Ballyhoo Theatre: A Year With Frog and Toad @ The Phoenix Theatre (opens tomorrow, closing 7/17). In Edmonds.
Bremerton Community Theatre (BCTjr): The Jungle Book (opens tomorrow, closing 7/17). In Bremerton.
Cameran Hebb: Planet Woman @ 18th & Union (opens tomorrow, closing 7/17). In Seattle (Central District).
The Habit: Titanish @ Seattle Public Theater (opens tomorrow, closing 8/7). In Seattle (Green Lake).
inD Theatre: Hay Fever @ Rolling Bay Hall (opens tomorrow, closing 7/31). On Bainbridge Island.
ManeStage Theatre: The Sound of Music (opens tomorrow, closing 8/7). In Puyallup.
Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society: The Pirates of Penzance @ Seattle Rep (opens tomorrow, closing 7/31). At the Seattle Center (Mercer St. side).
Village Theatre Kidstage: Sweeney Todd @ First Stage (opens tomorrow, closing 7/24). In Issaquah.
Village Theatre: Mamma Mia! @ Everett Performing Arts Center (opens north-end run tomorrow, closing 8/7). In Everett.
The 5th Avenue Theatre: Come From Away (touring) (previews 7/20-21, opens 7/22, closing 8/7). In Downtown Seattle.
Closing Soon
Cafe Nordo: Down the Rabbit Hole – Sunday brunch edition (last brunch show is 7/17; evening shows run through 8/13). In Seattle (Pioneer Square).
Red Curtain Foundation for the Arts: Circle Mirror Transformation (opens 7/8, closing 7/17). In Marysville.
Continuing Runs – Outdoor Shows
Most outdoor shows are nomadic. View show descriptions in previous weekly roundup here. View individual dates and locations on Performance Calendar (filtered to outdoor shows only) here.
The 14/48 Projects: Mega Hero Rangers Go Go Go Supreme!!! (through 7/30). A family-friendly world-premiere action tale by Andy Park-Buffelen. At various parks in Seattle.
GreenStage Backyard Bard: (a one-hour, ensemble version of) Shakespeare’s Macbeth (through 8/6). At various parks throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods.
GreenStage Backyard Bard: (a one-hour, ensemble version of) Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (through 8/6). At various parks throughout Seattle’s neighborhoods.
GreenStage Shakespeare in the Park: Henry V (through 8/6). At various parks in South Seattle, West Seattle, and outside the city.
GreenStage Shakespeare in the Park: Pericles (through 8/6). At various parks in South Seattle, West Seattle, and outside the city.
Last Leaf Productions: (a 1960s take on) Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (through 8/7). At various parks, primarily on the Eastside and north end (Bellevue to Arlington).
Wooden O: Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (through 8/7). On Mercer Island and various parks in the tri-county area.
Wooden O: (a “modern, queer-forward” take on) Shakespeare’s Cymbeline (through 8/7). On Mercer Island and various parks in the tri-county area.
Continuing Runs – Indoor Shows
View individual dates and locations on Performance Calendar (filtered to indoor shows only) here.
Tacoma Little Theatre: Silent Sky (closing 7/24). In Tacoma.
Tacoma Musical Playhouse: Kinky Boots (closing 7/31). In Tacoma.
Harlequin Productions: Hedwig & the Angry Inch (this week’s shows cancelled; resumes 7/21 and extended through 8/6). In Olympia. See NWT’s review here.
Cafe Nordo: Down the Rabbit Hole (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 summer 2022 shows list, which aims to list just about every theatre show in town this season. For shows by day and ticketing info, see the Performance Calendar.
Chase D. Anderson is Editor & Producer of NWTheatre.org.