5 Questions with Magician & Theatre-Maker Maritess Zurbano
NWT talks with the internationally acclaimed magician about decolonizing magic, real-life magic vs. illusion, and her upcoming show at The Rendezvous (March 8-10).
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SEATTLE
Seattle Opera’s ‘Yardbird’ Tells a Story, But a Tired One
What’s billed as the story of a jazz great taking care of unfinished business after his untimely death, winds up a tale of addiction to drugs and White women. It runs through March 7.
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Spare 12 Minutes? A Favorite Short-Form Performance Fest Returns This Weekend.
New curators, new artists, new works. Those are the basic building blocks of the long-running series ’12 Minutes Max’. The latest installment is February 23-24.
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Why Are All the White Administrators Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
‘Admissions’ looks at diversity in the wild world of top prep schools, but provokes tough questions of privilege in arenas far beyond that elite enclave. It runs at Seattle Public Theater through February 23.
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A Darker Play-Within-a-Play Takes Shape in ‘Our Country’s Good’
Strawberry Theatre Workshop’s latest is a dark look at criminology and injustice, set in an early British prison colony in Australia. It runs through February 22 at 12th Avenue Arts.
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In Two ‘80s Theatrical Creations, Strong Women and Big Hair
‘Steel Magnolias’ at Taproot Theatre (thru 2/29) and Tacoma Musical Playhouse’s ‘Beehive’ (thru 2/16) center strong female characters, from an ’80s small-town salon to world-class stages of the ’60s.
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‘Black Bois’ Takes the Big Stage This Week, to Another Sold-Out House
Dani Tirrell’s ‘Black Bois’, which premiered in April 2018 at On the Boards, returns this year on Valentine’s Day at the Moore Theatre. It’s a multi-genre love letter to Black community, healing, and joy.
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Seattle’s Asian Art Museum Opens Up Again This Week. Here’s an Early Look.
The newly imagined Seattle Asian Art Museum, at the center of bustling-but-serene Volunteer Park, reopens after three years of large-scale renovations. Inside is a bounty of art that’s gorgeous in its breadth and contrasts.
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Solo Fest: Dare to Claim the Stage
This weekend, Sharon Nyree Williams brings ‘Dare to Claim the Sky’ to ACT Theatre, alongside work from three other solo performers; and On the Boards features five dancers and seven durational works in its own solo fest later this month.
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Can You F***ing Not?
The Millennial experience gets an opera treatment in ‘#adulting’, from the classically trained singers of the Lowbrow Opera Collective. It runs through February 9 at 18th & Union.
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Sibling Rivalry and Male Ego Converge in ‘True West’
A war between siblings unearths the rotten underbelly of male ego and its generational reverberations in ‘True West’, Sam Shepard’s dark comedy. It runs through February 16 at Seattle Rep.
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‘Drama Tops’ Explores the Switchy Territory of Gendered Experience
The new work by dancer/choreographer Elby Brosch looks at trans experience alongside binary and non-binary identities. It runs through 1/30.
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Jaha Koo Pairs the Deadly Serious with the Whimsical in ‘Cuckoo’
The South Korean artist uses a trio of chatty rice cookers to delve into the dark and desolate sides of his country’s past and present. The U.S. premiere of ‘Cuckoo’ runs at On the Boards through January 26.
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In Tchaikovsky’s Dramatic Composition, an Uninspiring Man Gets a Gorgeous Opera
Seattle Opera’s take on Tchaikovsky’s ‘Eugene Onegin’ is beautiful, in instrument, voice, and design, with a lusciously lyrical delivery makes up for a rather uninspired plot. It runs through January 25.
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Teenage Highs and Lows Make for Outsized Drama in ‘Dance Nation’
Female empowerment and adolescent awkwardness join forces in Washington Ensemble Theatre’s latest, fueled by standout choreography and a star-dusted cast. It runs through February 3.
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From Film to Broadway, ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Gets an Update at The 5th. It’s a Fun Show, with a Big Asterisk.
The stage adaptation of the ’90s movie is having its world premiere in Seattle, before moving straight to Broadway this spring. It’s a huge production with lovely design, and content that includes both fun updates and eye-rolling (and potentially harmful) trope. It runs through January 4.
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Two ‘Social Justice Scrooges’ Stay Up Past Christmas
Two versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ — one new and one classic — seek to highlight the social-justice message at the heart of the original. ‘Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol’ plays at Harlequin in Olympia through 12/31; and ‘A Christmas Carol’ plays at ACT Theatre in Seattle through 12/28.
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Sugar Plum Gary Is Coming to Town. Look Busy.
Once upon a time, Santa Claus came to visit. The only survivor would like to tell you about it.
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Balanchine, Morris, and Byrd: A Delight in Three Nutcrackers
Three interpretations of ‘The Nutcracker’ on Seattle stages demonstrate its adaptability for the tastes — and moods — of new audiences. The invigorated classic epic (at Pacific Northwest Ballet, through 12/28), a sassy spin-off and an elegant workshop (at the Paramount Theatre and On the Boards, both through 12/15) are all delightful, and distinct.
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With Crescendos of Vocals and Horns Blaring, ‘Susan’ Is a Song of Family, and Letting Go
Using humor, rich detail, and ample song, musician-writer-comedian Ahamefule J. Oluo tells stories of his mother, growing up, and searching — from Texas to Seattle to the Niger Delta. ‘Susan’ runs through December 8 at On the Boards.
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(Ovations) Short-Form Dance Fests
Short-form work is an easy way to test out different art forms. It’s experimental. It’s approachable. And there’s usually something for everyone. Happily, Seattle is bustling with festivals of short new work in performance art and dance. Here are a few coming up soon.
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With a Trio of Inventive New Works, PNB’s ‘Locally Sourced’ Is Ballet for We Who Don’t ‘Do the Ballet’
With elegance, precision, and an army of highly trained dancers, the slate of new works up now at Pacific Northwest Ballet will satisfy — and excite — frequent-goers, too. But the appeal of ‘Locally Sourced’ is much broader. It runs through November 17.
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Of ‘Racial Tourism’ and ‘Enlightened Allies’: Two Plays Dig Into Cultural Commodification
Two strong productions, on now from Theatre22 and Seattle Public Theater, dive into hot topics around race, culture, and appropriation. They’re both comedic, thought-provoking, and very well done. ‘White’ runs through 11/9, and ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ closes 11/16.
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In ‘Chalk’, a Barrier of Mere Dust Keeps a Precarious Peace
Mary E. Brown and Jasmine Lomax spar in a futuristic, dystopian one-act that crackles with intensity from a mysterious backstory. It runs through November 3.
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‘This Is Halloween’: Can Can Brings Some Skin and (Lightly) Spooky Sparkle to The Triple Door
The Can Can, an established Seattle cabaret tucked away under the Pike Place Market, brings a fun and festive show just up the street to The Triple Door. The dining service is much less successful than the stagecraft.
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A Changing Belltown Still Has its Ghosts. In ‘Belltown Exposed’, They Come Alive.
This Sunday night, the Rendezvous decks the halls with decades past, with a unique, free, through-the-eras party and variety show called ‘Belltown Exposed’. It celebrates the release of Staci Bernstein’s new art photography book of the same name. NWT talked with Rendezvous owner Jane Kaplan about the show, the book, and the storied neighborhood.
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In ‘The Christians’ and ‘Necessary Sacrifices’, Challenging Doctrine with Mixed Success
From Pony World and Taproot Theatre, two plays with little else in common set out to unpack traditional lore in religious belief and American history. They run through October 26.
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5 Questions with Choreographer & Dancer Sean Dorsey
This weekend, Sean Dorsey — acclaimed choreographer and dancer, and out and proud trans man — brings his new work, ‘Boys in Trouble’, to Velocity Dance Center. NWTheatre talked with him about masculinity in and through his artistic lens, this latest work, and the good and bad in today’s trans representation.
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Dance to Make You Feel N.E.W.
A showcase of modern works this weekend blends and bends genre and theme, evoking a spectrum of exhaustion, energy, freedom, and hope. ‘HATCH’ is the latest in a line of impressive new works from PRICEarts and N.E.W. It runs through 10/12.
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A Night at ‘Bon Appétit!’ Is the Family Story Hour You Always Wanted
The evening of family storytelling and operatic comedic cooking, which runs sporadic nights at The Rendezvous, is an odd one to describe. It’s also a lot of fun.
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