January 2020

Past

Sound Theatre Stages World Premiere of Reparations

/

The Sound Theatre Company is collectively smiling from ear to ear as they are nearing the end of their successful world premiere staging of Darren Canady’s Reparations. The show has been playing to near sellout crowds night after night; their talented cast is rightfully receiving standing ovations and garnering rave reviews. The successful run winds up on February 2, so you have one more weekend to see what all the fuss is about at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute.

Past

Beehive-A Hive of Music, History and Joy

/

Jack Kennedy is going to do for sex what Eisenhower did for Golf.

Beehive, a musical revue dedicated to telling both the historical changes the US went through during the 1960’s and a tribute to the female soloists and singing groups of that era, was a smash hit at the Tacoma Musical Playhouse this weekend.
The 40 songs were well chosen representatives of the best female hits of both the early 60’s and the later 60’s, from the hormonal beehive era to the heavy rock and blues of Woodstock. It had a great live band, great costumes, great singer/dancers, warm human connection with the audience and everything necessary for a thoroughly enjoyable evening and was definitely worth the drive to Tacoma.

Past

Shepard’s Brothers Take Over the Seattle Rep in True West

/

By the mid 1970’s, Sam Shepard had begun to focus his play-writing skills more on story telling, character and family dynamics. Yet he never thoroughly abandoned his sense of the absurd and his formidable ability to fill his narratives with poetic leaps; for he was now able to grace his more grounded tales with his uniquely personal vision. True West first appeared in 1980 and is considered the last of his “Family Trilogy.” The New York Post called the play “Shepard’s masterwork.” The Seattle Rep and director Braden Abraham have staged a knockout production of the show to ring in the New Year for Seattle.

Past

Liquid Hot-Hilarious and Profound

/

Comic Stripper Delivers the Goods

The first Woody Shticks show I saw also took place on a dismal rainy day in January, when I was feeling more than depressed. (and had now idea what the show was about) I struggled to get to 18th and Union, but by the end of the evening, I had spent so much time laughing and feeling connected to the comic genius entertaining us, and indeed to the whole audience, that I exited in great spirits, as did everyone else.
I called my 21 year old daughter, who said “This doesn’t sound like a show you would like.” She was sooo wrong!!!

Past

The Revolutionists Make Their Stand at ArtsWest

/

The play begins in darkness; suddenly the sound of a swishing guillotine shatters the theater’s silence. A miffed actress protests, “That’s no way to start a comedy!” And we’re off into the wonderful world of a Lauren Gunderson play. It is not surprising that Gunderson is currently the most produced playwright in America. With works like “The Book of Will” and “I and You” she has pushed the boundaries of conventional theater, exploring big and little ideas with a charming, imaginative wit that seems to continually ask “What if?” In “The Revolutionists”, published in 2018, Gunderson imagines a series of surrealistic encounters among four key women figures that played roles in and were finally victims of the bloody French Reign of Terror in the early 1790’s.

Scroll to Top