Joshua Carter News

Back in 1997 a somewhat younger Broadway Geek became obsessed with the musical Ragtime . I even travelled to other cities to see it as many times as I could and basically became obsessed. I tell you this so you'll understand, Dear Readers, my deep love for this show which is firmly one of my top ten desert island shows and how amazingly picky I am with any production of it. With that in mind you'll understand, after reading this review, why you MUST go and get tickets to the current production at the 5th Avenue Theatre. A production that brought up almost all the feels from my initial viewing of this sublime show and even a few new ones.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is creating a rich and evocative new production of Ragtime, a tale of family, heart and perseverance at the turn of the 20th century that is a timely story about the immigrants who helped make the United States the diverse and thriving nation it is today.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is presenting an evocative new production of Ragtime, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The 5th Avenue Theatre is presenting an evocative new production of Ragtime, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced full casting for its evocative new production of Ragtime, which begins rehearsals today. A tale of family, heart and perseverance at the turn of the 20th century, Ragtime is a vital story about the headstrong and determined individuals and their families who helped make the United States a diverse and thriving nation.

The 5th Avenue Theatre is creating a rich and evocative new production of Ragtime, a tale of family, heart and perseverance at the turn of the 20th century that is a timely story about the immigrants who helped make the United States the diverse and thriving nation it is today.

The 5th Avenue Theatre presents an evocative new production of Ragtime, which recently began rehearsals. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at a read/sing rehearsal for the show in the video below!

The 5th Avenue Theatre has announced full casting for its evocative new production of Ragtime, which begins rehearsals today. A tale of family, heart and perseverance at the turn of the 20th century, Ragtime is a vital story about the headstrong and determined individuals and their families who helped make the United States a diverse and thriving nation.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Today's big news: Michael Moore's THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER officially opens tonight on Broadway!

The 5th Avenue Theatre is creating a rich and evocative new production of Ragtime, a tale of family, heart and perseverance at the turn of the 20th century that is a timely story about the immigrants who helped make the United States the diverse and thriving nation it is today.

Writing Kevin Taylor takes the stage as the second production in Village Theatre's brand new program, The Beta Series, which began this year as an unprecedented expansion to the theatre's renowned Village Originals program which supports the development of new works.

Writing Kevin Taylor takes the stage as the second production in Village Theatre's brand new program, The Beta Series, which began this year as an unprecedented expansion to the theatre's renowned Village Originals program which supports the development of new works.

It's been a crazy year, Dear Readers. Lots of ups, lots of downs, and LOTS of emotions. And I'm not just talking about on stage. But let's not dwell on the bad things that may have happened in the world and focus on some of the amazing things Seattle theater companies gave us this past year, and let me tell you there were quite a few. So many in fact that in some categories I simply had to call out more than the usual Honorable Mentions as some performances just needed to be noted. You'll see what I mean especially when you get to the female categories as the ladies were certainly bringing it this year. But let's get started shall we? Out of the myriad shows I saw this year in Seattle, here are the shows and performances that truly stood out to me.

Even if you are familiar with the seldom produced country musical "Pump Boys and Dinettes" you're reaction to it probably isn't a wild one. In fact when I heard it was opening Village Theatre's season I thought, "Well, this will be cute" but my excitement didn't go much further beyond "cute". I'd seen the show once years ago and have had the cast album forever but it's not what you might call one of my "go to" shows. But with this new production out at Village Theatre that may all change. This is not the production from the 80's or really any production you're likely to have seen. With this level of talent and new orchestrations this could revive this old chestnut. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. BroadwayWorld brings you a first look at the cast in action below!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina. Click below to go behind the scenes!

Village Theatre kicks off its 2016-2017 Season with Pump Boys and Dinettes, a light-hearted concert-style musical celebration of life's simple pleasures, set on Highway 57 in North Carolina.

Well it may have been hotter than blazes this past weekend but I managed to spend the weekend inside at one of my favorite events of the year, The Village Theatre Village Originals Festival of New Musicals. They presented concert stagings of five musicals still in the works. It's a great opportunity for the authors to get to see their shows in front of an audience and for us to get a sneak peak at amazing musical theater to come. Now as they are still being workshopped I can't really review any of them but I can tell you what I saw.