Jay Irwin - Page 7

Don’t get me wrong, Dear Readers, I love a good sitcom. But it has to be a GOOD sitcom. And while the current offering from Village Theatre, “The Book Club Play” by Karen Zacarías, is basically a sitcom, it’s not necessarily a good one. It’s not a bad one either, for that matter, just kind of mediocre which made for a mediocre evening.

Dear Readers, after last week’s less than stellar “Hamlet” from Seattle Shakespeare Company’s “Drum and Colours” series, I was trepidatious to say the least, for this week’s premiere of “Shakespeare: Drum & Colours – As You Like It”. And while there were still some issues I had with the show, thank the Theatre Gods it was far better, and managed to engage and entertain throughout.

Who? What? Where? Why? These are the questions I wish the current production of “Hamlet” from Seattle Shakespeare Company had been able to answer but sadly did not. As part of their “Drum & Colours” series, which muddied things even more, this “Hamlet” lacked pacing, intent, interesting or effective staging, and coherence, making this one of the worst productions I’ve ever seen.

Take the genius that is Lin-Manuel Miranda, add in some delicious improv and shake well and you get the absolute joy that is “Freestyle Love Supreme” currently playing at the Seattle Rep. Think of it like “Hamilton” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” had a baby. From the creative minds of Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Anthony Veneziale comes this 90-minute, made up on the spot, bullet train that will leave you wanting more and more and more.

Like so many others, Macha Theater Works was in their final rehearsals back in March of 2020 when the pandemic shut everything down. Now, almost two years later they are back at West of Lenin and ready to give us this intense look into a “me too” incident with their World Premiere play “The Fifth Wave” by Jenn Ruzumna and Lisa Every. A topic that is, unfortunately, still all too relevant.

There’s certainly a lot than can be said for Intiman Theatre’s current production of Charles Ludlam’s “The Mystery of Irma Vep”. It’s a classic bit of camp from a bygone era starring two very funny performers (Jesse Calixto and Helen Roundhill), and directed by Jasmine Joshua, a fantastic performer in their own right and the producer who brought us that fantastic gender bent production of “Little Shop of Horrors” a few years back. So much going for it that it even made my “Top 10 Seattle Productions to Look Forward To in 2022” list. Unfortunately, as much as it had going for it, it also had plenty going against it. A script definitely from a bygone era and a company that kept getting mired in their own jokes, making this a fun show but not the gut buster I was hoping for.

Seattle has been honored with a number of new works from Seattle based author and ACT Core Company member Yussef El Guindi. Each one examining cultural differences that face immigrants especially Arab-Americans and Muslim Americans. And while his current World Premiere at ACT, “Hotter Than Egypt”, certainly deals with those cultural divides, it also wonderfully shows the cultural similarities between the races and does it with tons of humor.

There are two words that explain why “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” worked so well as the stunning animated film it is and why it was able to be transferred so well to the stage, Howard Ashman.

A one-woman show is not easy. A show chronicling the loss of a loved one is even harder. To put the two together is a herculean task. But Melinda Lopez’s “Mala”, currently playing at Seattle Public Theater, attempts just that. And while at times it comes off as a little overly profound, Lopez and performer Pilar O’Connell manage to engage the audience beyond a simple tale of woe.

For a play to be a truly satisfying journey we need compelling characters, conflict between those characters and some kind of resolution to the conflict where the characters grow or are richer for the experience. And while ArtsWest’s World Premiere of Christian St. Croix’s “Monsters of the American Cinema” certainly has the first two elements it lacks the third making for an unsatisfying evening.

Dear Readers, some of you may remember the 1997 animated rendition of “Anastasia” that the current musical production at the Paramount is based on … loosely. We still have most of those lovely Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty songs from the animated version and the story is still about a young girl discovering that she is the lost Romanov daughter and trying to make her way to Paris to reunite with her grandmother. But don’t expect to see the magical immortal Rasputin as the villain or a wise cracking bat for comic relief. However, if you really wanted that animated version on stage, you may be in luck as many of the performances last night were inexplicably cartoonish in a show with a few memorable songs but a convoluted story that made little sense if you pay attention to it.

In life, Dear Readers, there are, if you’re lucky, moments of excitement and unbridled fun. If you’re really lucky, there are moments when you’re at a show at the Can Can with even more excitement and unbridled fun. And then there was last night when the audience was beyond lucky to witness an all-new production from the Can Can, “Ooh La La!”, that pushed that excitement and unbridled fun beyond the limits.

Dear Readers, before I talk about the current Seattle Rep production of Cheryl L. West’s, “Fannie: The Music and Life of Fannie Lou Hamer” I need to step up on my soapbox for a minute. And if what I’m about to talk about offends, then something tells me you wouldn’t want to see the show anyway, so you can just move on. But I need to address the lack of advance knowledge I had about Fannie Lou Hamer and the struggle for black people to get to vote in this country. A struggle that sadly still exists today, making this show quite timely. But the fact that this stain on our history, among others, are not readily taught in our schools is appalling and why the inclusion of Critical Race Theory needs to be included in our curriculum. We’re more than happy to talk about the atrocities of other countries but when it comes to our own, we look the other way. And I doubt I was the only one last night who wasn’t familiar with the works of Hamer and the horrors she endured. Something we all should think about. OK, off the soapbox, let’s talk about Fannie.

If you’re familiar with Jason Robert Brown’s song cycle, “Songs for a New World” then you know it needs a few crucial elements to be a success. You need killer voices, as there’s only four of them, but more importantly you need clear voices as the show is all sung through, and the stories are within the lyrics. Without that it could just be a muddled mess. Luckily the folks at Village were quite aware of this and cast four powerhouses who could carry the load. There were a few minor issues that we’ll get to but for the most part, four soaring voices. But beyond the talent, director Devanand Janki managed to tell these tales in such a way as to put a very relevant spin on them, making the evening all the more evocative.

It’s happening Dear Readers, it’s really happening! Theaters are starting to open back up. Well, they started last fall but now, with the new year, they’re really coming back strong. And so I thought we’d take a look at the Top 10 shows I’m looking forward to this year.

Dear Readers, let’s set the way-back machine to 1976, when a fledgling theater, ACT, put up their inaugural production of “A Christmas Carol”. Now I don’t know if I was at that one, but I very clearly remember being taken to the theater at around 7 or 8 years old to see “A Christmas Carol” at ACT when they were still down in Queen Anne. I remember being awe struck by the wizardry they could create on stage. Leaning over to my mom and asking, “How did that ghost just walk through the wall?” and my mom, being a good theater Mom saying, “Shhh, I’ll tell you after.” And thus began my love for theater. Now, several decades and one hiatus due to the pandemic later and ACT is back with that staple of holiday fare. And it’s just as magical as it ever was with a few updates to keep it up to the times.

Seattle’s Can Can brings back it’s holiday festival of magic and pasties with their dazzling “Wonderland”. But they’ve also brought back some blasts from the past with the return of favorite performers, Jordan Taylor and Madison Oliver, making this an evening with both old and new surprises.

Everyone has their holiday traditions, Dear Readers. Whether it’s trimming the tree or eight nights of presents, or ice skating with the ones you love, these are important events that make our holidays merry and bright. Well, last year, like with so many, our holiday traditions got replaced by staying away from everyone and many events being shut down due to … well, you know. But I’m overjoyed to say that one of my favorite holiday traditions is back this year and just as insane as ever, the annual production of “A Very Die Hard Christmas” from Jeff Schell and the folks from The Habit. Now for some bad news, the show is already completely sold out. But all is not lost as I have it on good authority from Mark Siano, the producer, writer, director, composer, and narrator of the piece, that they have a waitlist of no show tickets each night. But we’ll get into the details of that in a bit, first, to the show.

In Seattle we are blessed with an abundance of theatrical riches and none more welcome and prolific as composer and storyteller Justin Huertas. Ever since he burst on the scene in 2015 with the brilliant “Lizard Boy”, Huertas has continued to thrill audiences with his singular musical theater storytelling with shows such as “Howl’s Moving Castle”, “The Lamplighter” and “The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion”. Now he’s back at ArtsWest with his latest, “We’ve Battled Monsters Before” and, while it takes a bit of time to take off, it comes together nicely leaving the audience itching for more.

With the return of theater, we now see the return of the holiday favorites. Seattle Public Theater has two such offerings, both a departure from the usual holiday fare. We’ll get to the second one, “Die Hard”, when it returns next week. But for now, we focus on the gem that is Wayne Rawley’s “Christmastown: A Holiday Noir”. With three new cast members, the show is just as fun and thrilling as before.