Critical Condition

Critical Condition

Critical Condition: Only Make Believe?

Critical Condition: Only Make Believe?

At first glance, Singin’ in the Rain at Village Theatre and King Charles III at Seattle Rep might seem to have next to nothing in common. One is a screen to stage transfer of a most beloved 1952 MGM musical satire of Hollywood ushering in talking pictures, while the other is an audacious, Masterpiece Theatre sort of drama, imagining the turnover at the top when Queen Elizabeth finally breathes her last.

Critical Condition: A Tale of Two Time Warps

Critical Condition: A Tale of Two Time Warps

With the abundance of theatre in Seattle this season, I was late catching two really special shows that both close this weekend. Smaller companies tend to have a harder time building audiences, even in spaces with smaller seating capacity. But if you like intimate musicals, the Reboot Theatre and Second Story Rep have some dandy fare on stage right now!

The Carole King Musical is truly Beautiful

The Carole King Musical is truly Beautiful

Beautiful–The Carole King Musical may have won only 2 of the 7 Tony award nominations it garnered in 2014 but it provides everyone from confirmed theatre subscribers to sometimes jaded critics with a show to root for and embrace, because, well, it is beautiful.

Don Darryl Rivera Steals 5th Ave’s Impressive Man of La Mancha

Don Darryl Rivera Steals 5th Ave’s Impressive Man of La Mancha

Oh what a few years on Broadway in the smash hit Disney musical can do. Don Darryl Rivera is an impish, butterball of a comic actor/singer, popular in the Puget Sound for much of the last decade returns to Seattle after 2.5 years (with no end in sight) of playing Iago in the smash Aladdin, to steal every minute he is onstage in the 5th Avenue’s impressive Man of La Mancha.

Seattle Rep’s Raisin Not Quite Ripe

Seattle Rep’s Raisin Not Quite Ripe

A venerable and important play, an acclaimed playwright, a proven director, a capable cast, and more leads one to expect Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun to be a must-see of the current season.

Critical Condition: Bonnie and Clyde Raise A Little Hell

Critical Condition: Bonnie and Clyde Raise A Little Hell

That Bonnie and Clyde, the debut production of Studio 18 at 12th Avenue Arts, works at all well has less to do with the show itself than the very respectable production this new company has given it. The big question at hand is why they chose to do this flawed, short running Broadway musical at all?