Seattle Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations Page 6

Review: MR. DICKENS AND HIS CAROL at The Seattle Rep
by Jay Irwin - December 01, 2022

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is an enduring classic. We all know this. It’s never been out of publication since its first publishing in 1843. It has spawned numerous movie, TV, and stage adaptations from the serious to the Muppets. Now the Seattle Rep has come along with a World Premiere of ...

Review: THE WIZ at The 5th Avenue Theatre
by Jay Irwin - November 28, 2022

L. Frank Baum’s classic fantasy “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is the gift that just keeps on giving. From its 1901 origins to the 1939 iconic film to any number of sequels, movies, and even a Broadway musical or two, we always seem to want to hear more and more about the magical land of Oz. And no sm...

Review: THE WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY at Taproot Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - November 26, 2022

Christmas is a most favorite holiday to many, and the Jane Austen fan base has never been stronger. What could be more perfect than to revive some of Austen’s most beloved characters (and some of her most notorious) in a delightful Christmas setting? THE WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY is a holiday...

Review: ELF THE MUSICAL at Edmonds Driftwood Players
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - November 19, 2022

ELF at Driftwood Players is full of humor and heart and a lot of plain old fun. With a set that is one part Jenga and one part Tetris, the Driftwood Theater has tackled this monster of a show with great aplomb. The feel good show of the season leaves everyone smiling with just a tad of delighted sur...

Review: RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S CINDERELLA at Village Theatre
by Jay Irwin - November 19, 2022

“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella” is an enduring classic for a reason. Sure, it’s family friendly and has a worldwide recognizable name, but in addition to it’s wonderful songs, it’s shown to be amazingly adaptable based on the production. ...

Review: JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Reboot Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - November 17, 2022

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR has long been a mainstay in the musical theater world. Yet, despite its popularity, it is rarely produced outside of large production companies or national tours. Reboot Theater took up the challenge and gives us not only a solid production of this popular show, but also a mod...

Review: NOT / OUR TOWN from Pony World Theatre
by Jay Irwin - November 12, 2022

Dear Readers, there’s an interesting an innovative new work based on an old classic playing in Capitol Hill with Pony World Theatre’s “Not / Our Town”. Even as I arrived at the theater, the pre-show activities the audience must partake in were filled with promise. Unfortunately, that promise quickly...

Review: THE AMEN CORNER at The Williams Project And Langston
by Jay Irwin - November 10, 2022

Dear Readers, if you’re at all familiar with The Williams Project, then you know of their hard-hitting shows. Their “Blues for Mister Charlie” from 2016 was just one of their outstanding works. Now they’re back to take on another piece from James Baldwin, his “The Amen Corner”, and once again they s...

Review: JAGGED LITTLE PILL at The Paramount Theatre
by Jay Irwin - November 09, 2022

Dear Readers, I’m going to offer up a few unpopular opinions of mine. First, I’m not a huge fan of Alanis Morissette. Not that I dislike her, but her album of “Jagged Little Pill” was never my jam. And second, the jukebox musical “Jagged Little Pill”, currently playing at the Paramount Theatre, that...

Review: MACBETH from Seattle Shakespeare
by Jay Irwin - October 29, 2022

In this time of year with black cats, ghouls and ghosts, and things that go bump in the night, it stands to reason that Seattle Shakespeare would bring out one of the bloodier and creepier of Shakespeare’s canon, “Macbeth”, or “the Scottish play” as it’s known by superstitious theater folk who don’t...

Review: THE GLASS MENAGERIE at Original Theatre Black Dog
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - October 23, 2022

THE GLASS MENAGERIE invites you to lean in and join the world of the Wingfield Family. Hopes and fears trouble the waters of an uncertain future with equal measure. The ties that bind us can bring us closer, but they can also prevent us from growing. THE GLASS MENAGERIE explores the multitude of emo...

Review: LA TOFANA'S POISON EMPORIUM at Macha Theatre Works
by Jay Irwin - October 16, 2022

A world premiere play, set in the 1650’s, that resonates so much with today? That’s what we currently have from Macha Theatre Works with their production of “La Tofana’s Poison Emporium”. While this piece presents an actual murderess/savior from history, it also, deftly correlates to the woes of tod...

Review: THIS IS HALLOWEEN at The Can Can
by Jay Irwin - October 15, 2022

The Can Can, Seattle’s fabulous burlesque house, celebrates the 15th anniversary of their collaboration with The Triple Door by bringing back their ode to Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with their tantalizing “This Is Halloween”. And while this naughty nightmare has much of what you’d...

Review: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD at The Paramount Theatre
by Jay Irwin - October 12, 2022

Chances are you were forced to read Harper Lee’s classic, “To Kill a Mockingbird” in school. And why not, it’s stunning. But have you seen the recent Broadway adaptation? This adaptation from the amazing Aaron Sorkin, directed by Bartlett Sher, currently playing at the Paramount Theater, takes all t...

Review: THE FOREIGNER at As If Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - October 08, 2022

THE FOREIGNER at As If Theatre provides a farcical romp of entertainment while yet managing to deliver a poignant message on racism and fear of others that remains as relevant today as when Shue wrote it forty years ago. Thoroughly seeded with absurdities and archetypes, the play offers easy laughs....

Review: A WHITE HAUNTING at MAP Theatre
by Jay Irwin - October 08, 2022

If you’ve ever seen a MAP Theatre show, Dear Readers, then you know they tend toward the odd little stories laced with humor, but ultimately fairly dark and twisted. But you also know they tend to do those odd little stories, quite well. Their current production of Brian Dang’s “A White Haunting” is...

Review: WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME at Seattle Rep
by Jay Irwin - October 06, 2022

The problem with a one person show, Dear Readers, or even a mostly one-person show is that often the author can tend to ramble. They get lost in their own exorcising of whatever demons they’re trying to get out and go on tangent after tangent. Heidi Schreck, author of “What the Constitution Means to...

Review: CLOUD TECTONICS from Sound Theatre Company And Earthseed
by Jay Irwin - September 25, 2022

Dear Readers, I am a sucker for both a sweet love story and even more so when we mix in a little magical realism. Movies like “Amelie” or plays like “O Lovely Glowworm, or Scenes of Great Beauty” are some of my favorites. So, something like Jose Rivera’s “Cloud Tectonics”, currently playing at 12th ...

Review: A NIGHT WITH THE RUSSELLS at Taproot Theatre
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - September 25, 2022

The air is electric. The room is filled with smiles, greetings, hugs, and a huge amount of anticipation. From bated breath to roaring cheers, the audience welcomed the Russells onto the stage. The stories and songs shared by Faith Bennet Russell, Be Russell, and Sarah Russell turned the evening from...

Review: THE GRISWOLDS' BROADWAY VACATION at The 5th Avenue Theatre
by Jay Irwin - September 23, 2022

The Griswolds’ have been to Wally World, they’ve visited family for Christmas, and they’ve nearly destroyed Europe on their vacations. And now, they’ve loaded up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and are hitting Broadway in the new musical at the 5th Avenue Theatre, “The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation”...

Review: CHOIR BOY at ACT Theatre
by Jay Irwin - September 22, 2022

Dear Readers, I’m going to set the “Way Back Machine” to 2011 where I was first introduced to the works of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney as the Seattle Rep had produced his stunning “The Brothers Size”, a show that hit me so hard in the gut that I think about it to this day. And while I was still...

Review: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at Village Theatre
by Jay Irwin - September 18, 2022

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s “Little Shop of Horrors” is arguably one of those near perfect musicals. I will argue with you on this from now until the plants take over the earth as it remains my absolute favorite. But it needs to be done right. That’s not to say it needs to be done the same way e...

Review: MOUSETRAP at Driftwood Theater
by Kelly Rogers Flynt - September 17, 2022

A secluded inn full of guests, a massive snow storm, and a murderer on the loose combine into a delicious murder mystery, masterfully written by Agatha Christie, and delightfully produced by the Driftwood Players. Secrets abound and people are not who they appear to be....

Review: WHERE WE BELONG at Seattle Rep
by Jay Irwin - September 15, 2022

The history of colonization of indigenous lands in this country and other countries is a sensitive subject that many shy away from. But then to look at it from the viewpoint of those that have been displaced goes a long way to recognizing the issues and keep them from continuing. Madeline Sayet and ...

Review: NONSENSE AND BEAUTY at Theatre22
by Jay Irwin - September 10, 2022

What did our critic think of NONSENSE AND BEAUTY at Theatre22?...