Theater in Seattle

[jbm2]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 2:49pm

I've always heard Seattle has great theater. I am finally going- mid Oct. I'm familiar with 5th Ave theater. What other theaters (or theater companies) should I check out?

[choitoy]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 4:56pm

The 5th Ave has the tour of "Kinky Boots" in October. And the Paramount (the other big tour house here) has the tour of "Beauty and the Beast". The Seattle Rep has Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales doing their show "The Vaudevillians". There are a lot of small companys doing wonderful smaller theatre (I'll have to go home to check my lists). If you don't mind heading over to Issaquah (about a 20 minute drive from Seattle), it is a great semi-professional theatre and is doing "In the Heights" right now.
If you're in town over the weekend of the 18-19, our local version of City Center's Encores called ShowTunes is doing a concert style presentation of "The Fantastics".

[choitoy]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 4:56pm

The 5th Ave has the tour of "Kinky Boots" in October. And the Paramount (the other big tour house here) has the tour of "Beauty and the Beast". The Seattle Rep has Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales doing their show "The Vaudevillians". There are a lot of small companys doing wonderful smaller theatre (I'll have to go home to check my lists). If you don't mind heading over to Issaquah (about a 20 minute drive from Seattle), it is a great semi-professional theatre and is doing "In the Heights" right now.
If you're in town over the weekend of the 18-19, our local version of City Center's Encores called ShowTunes is doing a concert style presentation of "The Fantastics".

[inception]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 5:03pm

The other main Equity houses are the ACT and Seattle Rep. The Act is currently doing a different play by Disgraced's Ayad Akhtar but only 'til the end of the month, and then next month Vanya & Sonio & Masha & Spike. Hometown boy Jinx Monsoon is doing the show she did in NY, The Vaudvillians next month at the Rep, and later this winter they are doing both All The Way and it's sequel The Great Society, I believe with the cast that premiered these pieces at the Oregon Shakespeare Fest.
The Seattle Opera always does amazing productions - there is a lot of money in Seattle for the arts from people like the McCaw family and Bill & Melinda Gates, and it shows in the quality of productions.
There are also lots of small edgey theatre groups doing short runs of interesting things. The best source of info is the weekly paper The Stranger, which also posts everything online at their site. Be aware that Seattle is by American standards a very politically liberal city, so while The Stranger is the most popular weekly, articles in it will offend those with more conservative views.
There are also a few cool late-night burlesque cabarets (naked girls) and high quality drag shows. Le Faux, Friday and Saturday nights, is one of the best drag shows anywhere - almost Vegas. They also do a Sunday brunch show, but the Sunday brunch show I like is Mama Tits' Mimosas With Mama. Again you better be liberal minded, pot is legal in Washington and the last time I saw Mama Tits she smoked a big fatty right on stage and passed it through the crowd.
If you are gay and cruising, The Eagle and Pony are both recommended, and Seattle Steamworks on the weekend is usually psycho, and makes us Vancouverites look like a bunch of prudes.

[jbm2]

Posted: 9/28/14 at 8:32pm

Would love to hear about some of those smaller companies-

[exedore]

Posted: 9/29/14 at 10:49am

ACT do solid work, generally the best house in town. The Rep won't do anything painful, but is solidly middling if you're used to the level of work you see in SF or on the east coast - ditto the fringe in general.

[inception]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 3:07am

One of the interesting smaller companies: Book-It Repertory Theatre, which just started its 25th season. They present theatrical adaptations of works of literature in which everything in the script comes directly from that work - it takes a bit of getting used to how they do it because often characters end up speaking in third person reciting passages from whatever novel the play is based upon - it is hard to describe. This past spring I went down to see their 5 hour adaptation of Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavelier & Clay, and it was really wonderful and easily one of the best things I have seen all year. Looking at the website, right now they are remounting a show from 1994 titled "I Am of Ireland: A Celebration in Story, Song, and Dance." I will likely try to see their production next year of Charles Portis' The Dog of The South, and Slaughterhouse 5 might be interesting as well. They perform at a theatre in the Armory complex at Seattle Center which I think also houses the children's museum. The opera, ballet, Seattle Rep, & the Cornish Playhouse where the Intiman Fest is held during the summer are all there by the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project and the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The Teatro Zinzanni - a popular circus burlesque themed dinner show is in the area as well.

[inception]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 3:17am

Additionally, two of the late night burlesque shows that the 25 year old straight hipster kid at work recommended in Seattle are The Can Can and The Triple Door, both downtown close to Pike Place Market.

[DayDreamer]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 1:30pm

There is a lot of theatre in my hometown. From regional houses like Village Theatre, 5th Avenue and the Rep, to mid-range houses like Book-It and ArtsWest to a bunch of small fringe companies doing everything from classics to brand new experimental and site-specific works. October is also Arts Crush month, when free events abound (too bad you missed the fringe festival a couple of weeks ago.) So if you want to go beyond the Equity houses, your choices will be plentiful in October.

I would recommend keeping an eye on ArtsCrush.org
Theatre Listings

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 9/30/14 at 3:30pm

One of the theatre companies, Balagan Theatre, recently closed because of financial problems. The company was run for a while by Louis Hobson and was supposed to present one of Drew Gasparini's shows for the first time. They were also supposed to do the regional premiere of Murder Ballad in the Spring.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/artspage/2014/09/21/balagan-theatre-out-of-business/