Jay Irwin News

Dear Readers, you know I find one person shows to be problematic. Often, they get into maudlin territories and end up being someone else’s therapy on stage. So, I was dubious when Seattle Shakespeare Company announced Debra Ann Byrd’s one woman show “Becoming Othello: A Black Girl’s Journey” to start off their 2023. As Byrd stepped onto stage at the Center Theatre, I took it as a good sign that we didn’t get the cliché, “Oh, I didn’t see you there” as if we’d intruded on her private moments. Instead, we got not words but song and movement offering up prayers to her ancestors who got her to where she is today. And then what followed was 90 minutes of a raw, well-paced, well-constructed look into this amazing woman who broke down the barriers erected in front of her by centuries of selfish oppression. Also, what followed was a hell of a way to start off 2023.

Dear Readers, I don’t need to tell you, it’s been a crazy year. Many theaters just coming back to life or ramping up again post pandemic. But even with all the chaos, Seattle still comes up with some amazing shows from theaters large and small. Here’s a list of my personal picks for outstanding shows and performers from the past year, 2022.

The North American Tour of Beetlejuice the Musical kicked off this month in Paducah, KY, before its official launch at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco, CA. Read the reviews for the tour of Beetlejuice here!

More. That, Dear Readers, is the watchword the creators of the stage adaption of the 2001 Baz Luhrmann film, “Moulin Rouge!”, subscribed to. They threw in more sparkle wherever they could in this stage musical, currently playing at the Paramount. Unfortunately, they also threw in more songs, more lights, and certainly more bass in this spectacle that loses the heart and charm of the original in favor of assaulting the audience’s senses.

Dear Readers, we all know that travelling during the holidays can be a nightmare. Delayed flights, family drama, not to mention dealing with others attempting their own travels. But as frustrating as it can be, what’s not frustrating is the delightful cast of characters created by Maggie Lee in her play, “The Flight Before Xmas”. A wonderful and heartfelt diversion from the usual holiday fare currently playing at West of Lenin from Macha Theatre Works.

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 Samantha Silva’s “Mr. Dickens and His Carol”, based on her book of the same name. Taking a supposed look at the creation of this classic tale, this historical fiction is heavy on the fiction and light on the history, cutting a wide swath with its poetic license about the author and turning him into a pompous buffoon in a story and a production in desperate need of an editor.

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 small part of those tales is the fabulous William F. Brown and Charlie Smalls, Tony Award winning musical, “The Wiz” from 1974. And now the 5th Avenue Theatre has brought this green gem to vivid life with their current delightful production.

“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.

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 waned as this “NOT / Our Town” ended up mostly being “Our Town Highlights” mixed with one of my pet peeves, someone else’s therapy on stage.

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 show they know how to drive a story home.

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 takes on the music of Morissette has a book that can’t find who or what it wants to talk about. So instead, it talks about everyone and everything to pretentious effect.

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 wish to incur its curse. And while this production, directed by the incredible John Langs, hits most of the right notes (in more ways than one), there was one major point of the show that just didn’t work for me. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

The new National Tour of Les Miserables launched earlier this month in Cleveland. Read the reviews for Les Miserables here!

The National Tour of Aladdin recently launched at Proctor's in Schenectady, NY. Read the reviews for Aladdin here!

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 today and presents them with humor and heart.

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 want from a Can Can show, one aspect continued to be quite frustrating, at least for me. Clarity.

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 that’s great about the source material and presents it in a way that will make you remember why it’s such an enduring classic and why you were forced to read it.

The National Tour of Tina - the Tina Turner Musical launched in Washington, D.C. Read all of the reviews here!

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 certainly no exception. But while I enjoyed the show, the production, and the premise, the script itself felt like it was having issues finding a satisfying ending.

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 Me”, currently playing at the Seattle Rep, even references it herself. However, Schreck manages to take those seeming tangents and gracefully pull that thread connecting them all and bring them all together creating a wholly impactful and provocative show that will stick with you long after you leave the theater.