6 Things to Brighten Your Life This Week
Here are six hand-picked, worth-your-time, probably-uplifting things to do or see this week.
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THEATRE
Event featuring stage performance in a theatre and/or outdoor setting.
5 Things to Brighten Your Life This Week
Here are five hand-picked, worth-your-time, probably-uplifting things to do or see this week.
Read more
Remembering Terrence McNally
Legendary playwright Terrence McNally died March 24 at age 81, of complications relating to the coronavirus. Seattle-based playwright Jim Moran remembers McNally, working alongside him, and the impact he had on Moran’s own work.
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Why Theatre, and Theatres, Need You Right Now
Theatre-maker and arts administrator Kathy Hsieh on the community of theatre, the devastation the virus has wrought, and why theatres sure could use your help right now.
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(In sickness and in health…) What’s On, What’s Off?
In light of COVID-19, here is what we’ve heard at this time regarding March and April shows. This will be updated frequently.
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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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Old-Timey Rom-Com Heads to Village Theatre in Everett
Village Theatre gives a lovely production to ‘She Loves Me’, a rehashed musical based on the same 1930s story that inspired the ’90s film ‘You’ve Got Mail’. It runs in Everett through March 22.
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As If Wants Your Cakes. Live Girls! Wants Your Cupcakes.
An up-and-coming Kenmore theatre company wants your cake recipes ahead of its upcoming production; and the long-running Cupcake Reading Series wants your new play scripts. Both have deadlines next weekend.
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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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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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The Funniest Thing On Right Now? That’s Easy — It’s ‘Noises Off’
The classic farce goes behind the scenes of what might be the worst show ever. Harlequin’s production of it is slapstick that’s as smart, and funny, as it gets. ‘Noises Off’ runs in Olympia through February 8.
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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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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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Lump of Coal: Burien City Council Gives BAT the Boot for Christmas
Midway through its 40th season, Burien Actors Theatre received an unpleasant surprise: the city was shuttering its building and, in a matter of weeks, its tenants would have to move on. The theatre is asking its fans to step in.
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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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‘Tis the Season: Holiday Shows to Light Up Your Stage
The holiday shows are all opening, and this year there’s a great selection to consider, from comedy from the Herdmans, drag queens, and nuns; to modern family escapades and mayhem; to classics featuring Scrooge, Sherlock, and Ralphie; and several variations on dances with the Rat King.
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Ho Ho Nooo …? Non-Holiday Shows for the Holiday Season
Over the holiday season before it’s started? Just looking for something different? Here are a few shows just for you — from big musicals to performance art — to enjoy in December.
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The Best Packages: Navigating All the Christmas Stuff on Stage
No idea where to start when picking Christmas shows? Here’s some help.
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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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The Kids of ‘Spelling Bee’ Are Their Own Biggest Hangups, But Have No Trouble Spelling a Fun Show
Some of the area’s best musical theatre grown-ups become nerdy, quirky kids and their chaperones in ‘Spelling Bee’, on now at Village Theatre in Everett. It runs through November 17.
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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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