Pamela Reed News

NOVA?s MAKING NORTH AMERICA, premieres on three consecutive Wednesday nights on November 4, 11, and 18, 2015 at 9PM/8C on PBS (check local listings).

Seattle Theater Writers critics' circle just announced the nomination slate of the fourth annual Gypsy Rose Lee Awards,theater awards devoted to recognizing excellence across the economic spectrum of professional Seattle theaters in the prior calendar year.

Oh my! It's been a hell of a year for the Seattle Theatre scene and I can say we've been quite fortunate to see the incredible shows we have. So many amazing shows in fact that picking just a few stand outs (let alone a "best") is a near impossibility. But I have searched the deep dark recesses of my memory to find the shows and performances that really stood out and stuck with me beyond the evening and throughout the year. And so, without further ado, I'm thrilled to present the BWW 2014 Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (or Jay's Picks). Let the awesomeness flow!

It's your last week to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 26th. Voting closes at the end of the year, in under one week!

Time is ticking on your last chance to vote for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 19th. Voting closes at the end of the year!

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of December 4th.

Voting has now opened for the 2014 BroadwayWorld Seattle Regional Awards! Check out the latest live stats as of November 25th.

Sometimes a fun night is just a dead lock. Such is the case when you take three of Seattle's most gifted and seasoned actors and put them in the off kilter world of a Christopher Durang play as has happed over at ACT with their current production of "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike". I have to admit going in I had very little doubt that I would have a good time with all those elements combined and I was not disappointed. But beyond the sure thing of comedy that resulted what also emerged was a truly thoughtful and resonant look at some ways society has been brought down as it's built up.

ACT Theatre closes out its 2014 Mainstage season with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. The hilarious Broadway blockbuster from three-time Obie Award-winner Christopher Durang begins previews tonight, October 17 and is directed by ACT Theatre artistic director Kurt Beattie.

ACT Theatre closes out its 2014 Mainstage season with Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. The hilarious Broadway blockbuster from three-time Obie Award-winner Christopher Durang begins previews October 17 and is directed by ACT Theatre artistic director Kurt Beattie. An all-star cast of Seattle favorites including Pamela Reed (ACT's Other Desert Cities; Seattle Rep's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf; TV & Film Parks and Recreation, Kindergarten Cop), R. Hamilton Wright (ACT's Middletown, The Pillowman, One Slight Hitch) and Marianne Owen (ACT's Assisted Living, Middletown, Seattle Rep's Hound of the Baskervilles) take on Durang's hilarious Chekhov inspired siblings.

ENCORE will commemorate the life and work of the multifaceted, multi-award-winning entertainment icon, Robin Williams (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb - December 18, 2014 release date), with a film tribute today, August 17th beginning at 3pm ET/PT on encore.

ENCORE will commemorate the life and work of the multifaceted, multi-award-winning entertainment icon, Robin Williams

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation hosted the 5th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic benefiting its Catastrophic Health Fund and Emergency Assistance programs for SAG-AFTRA performers and their families

The Screen Actors Guild Foundation will hold its 5th Annual Los Angeles Golf Classic benefiting its Catastrophic Health Fund and Emergency Assistance programs for SAG-AFTRA performers and their families

As Americans we tend to love to witness a good familial car wreck. That's why dysfunctional family dramas are so popular (not to mention the hoards of people behaving badly on reality TV). But long before the Weston's of Osage County hurled their first insult or popped their first pill, George and Martha of Edward Albee's classic dark comedy “Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, currently playing at the Seattle Rep, were knocking back two or three or 15 stiff ones and letting the secrets and venom fly. And Albee's play feels just as fresh today as it ever has, due in no small part to this pitch perfect production. So I guess bad manners never go out of style.

Holy Crap! That's really the most emphatic sentiment I can use to describe the internal battles I had when trying to pick my top picks for this past year. There were so many amazing performances and achievements that to pick just one was almost an impossibility (and as you'll see, WAS an impossibility for one category). But the battle is over and it's my distinct pleasure to announce my picks for the 2013 Broadway World Seattle Critic's Choice Awards (or Jay's Picks, if you prefer).

It's a fine line between a biting familial dramedy and diving head first into the realm of back biting reality TV. One lends itself to insightful views on the nature of parent/child dynamics and the other has an overweight little girl spewing forth "Oh no she di'in't" like a circus act to make the viewers feel better and superior about themselves. Luckily Jon Robin Baitz searing play "Other Desert Cities", currently playing at ACT, falls into the category of the former. Yes, the family can get pretty vicious at times but you can also see the heart and compassion through the barbs bringing out the power of the piece.

Conservative parents and their Liberal children square off in Jon Robin Baitz's thrilling drama, Other Desert Cities.

Winning a Guthrie Theatre commission, and chosen for development by The Katselas Theatre Company's INKubator program, the West Coast Premiere of SEXSTING is the inaugural production for KTC's 2013 season. OVATION RECOMMENDED, the stellar cast includes Gregory Itzin (Tony, Drama Desk, and Emmy Award nominee), JD Cullum (Stones in His Pockets-Mark Taper Forum, Of Equal Measure-Kirk Douglas Theater), The Cripple of Inishmaan (Geffen Playhouse).