Jay Irwin News

The Griswolds' Broadway Vacation celebrated opening night at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre on September 22, 2022, and is now on stage through October 2, 2022. The production stars Hunter Foster as Clark Griswold and Megan Reinking as Ellen Griswold.

Dear Readers, I am a sucker for both a sweet love story and even more so when we mix in a little magical realism. Movies like “Amelie” or plays like “O Lovely Glowworm, or Scenes of Great Beauty” are some of my favorites. So, something like Jose Rivera’s “Cloud Tectonics”, currently playing at 12th Avenue Arts from Sound Theatre Company and Earthseed, should be right up my alley. And while I find it a sweet little love story, I have to emphasize the “little”. There’s not a whole lot to it. But then, that works well since it's only an intermissionless 90 minutes.

The Griswolds’ have been to Wally World, they’ve visited family for Christmas, and they’ve nearly destroyed Europe on their vacations. And now, they’ve loaded up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and are hitting Broadway in the new musical at the 5th Avenue Theatre, “The Griswolds’ Broadway Vacation”. Are the Griswolds ready for Broadway? No. And by the Griswolds’ I mean the characters as well as this show. But just like the Griswolds the show does grow and with a little bit of work (or a lot of work) they and it just might make it on the Great White Way.

Dear Readers, I’m going to set the “Way Back Machine” to 2011 where I was first introduced to the works of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney as the Seattle Rep had produced his stunning “The Brothers Size”, a show that hit me so hard in the gut that I think about it to this day. And while I was still reeling from it in 2012, he presented his astounding “Choir Boy” at the Royal Court Theatre in London. Eventually it made its way to Broadway in 2019 to a huge outpouring of critical acclaim. Sadly, I missed that run but then ACT announced they would be bringing it to Seattle … in 2020. Yup, you guessed it. It didn’t happen then thanks to the pandemic. But now, thanks to the theatre gods, ACT, in conjunction with the 5th Avenue Theatre, have made good on their promise of presenting this amazing work and let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

The National Tour of Jagged Little Pill is now underway! The tour opened in Las Vegas on September 6. Read all of the reviews for Jagged Little Pill on tour.

Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s “Little Shop of Horrors” is arguably one of those near perfect musicals. I will argue with you on this from now until the plants take over the earth as it remains my absolute favorite. But it needs to be done right. That’s not to say it needs to be done the same way every time. One of the best productions I saw was a modern retelling set in a real skid row. But this B-movie sci-fi adaptation needs to have that humor, that crispness, and that bite to make it work. And while the current production from Village Theatre has some wonderful performances and voices, it suffers from a lack of pace and that crispness and bite to take it from a fun show to a killer one.

The history of colonization of indigenous lands in this country and other countries is a sensitive subject that many shy away from. But then to look at it from the viewpoint of those that have been displaced goes a long way to recognizing the issues and keep them from continuing. Madeline Sayet and her amazing play “Where We Belong”, currently playing at the Seattle Rep gives a wonderful insight into this topic and specifically her viewpoint and how it affected her and her Mohegan culture.

What did our critic think of NONSENSE AND BEAUTY at Theatre22?

The Can Can is back, Dear Readers, with their ode to all things that go bump and grind in the night, “The Hitchcock Hotel”. And just like past offerings, they continue to up their game with this new spooky, sexy show.

The juggernaut, the glory, the hot ticket in town has returned. Yes, “Hamilton”, that multiple Tony Award winning phenomenon that’s still a big seller on Broadway has made its way back to Seattle and, good news, you have a bit over a month to catch it. Even better news, they’re doing the lottery for $10 tickets again. And possibly the best news, this production and its cast are fantastic!

Dear Readers, if you feel you don’t want/need to see the musical “Come From Away”, currently playing at the 5th Avenue Theatre, I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong.

The North American tour of Six, the musical by Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, launched a return engagement of the show in Chicago and is currently playing at the National Theatre in Washington, DC. Read all the reviews for Six here!

The Habit has done it again! First, they wowed us with their hilarious sketch comedy, then branched out into sidesplitting playwrighting with the recurring “A Very Die Hard Christmas”, not to mention their “Indiana Jones” send up. But now The Habit in conjunction with Seattle Public Theater have set their sights on that 90’s epic love story that just couldn’t be sunk, “Titanic”, with their hysterical “Titanish”. And their new show proves they know good comedy.

Dear Readers, every now and again something comes through town that takes musical theater to a whole new level. The Tony Award winner for Best Musical “Hadestown”, currently playing at the Paramount Theatre is one of those shows. And sadly, even with its Tony win, too few people know about it. Let’s try and correct that shall we?

Dear Readers, if you’re not familiar with the rock musical “Lizzie” with music by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer and Alan Stevens Hewitt and Lyrics by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer and Tim Maner then I pity you. This kick ass, girl power show has one of the most infectious scores that I’ve come across in years. But I can also offer you some good news, as theater company Just Us Girls & Co. have brought this rocking tale to Seattle and just in time it seems. Now some bad news, it’s only running for two weekends, so I implore you to get your tickets now!

Bruce, the new musical based on Carl Gottlieb's The Jaws Log, a novel about the making of the iconic film, officially opened on June 8 at Seattle Rep. Read all of the reviews for Bruce here!

Metaphor in storytelling is fine. If you need/want to disguise your main themes in a fable, great, but make that fable something interesting. Instead, Julia Izumi’s “miku, and the gods” currently playing at ArtsWest disguises a journey through grief, illness, and loss with an allegory that meanders at best, and mostly goes in circles until its ham-fisted reveal to what it’s really about.

Dear Readers, I need to ask you a question. Have you seen the movie “Jaws”? The original and first big summer blockbuster from 1975. Read our review. 

I am aware, Dear Readers, that for some the ABBA jukebox musical “Mamma Mia” is not for them. Maybe they aren’t fans of ABBA or maybe they just don’t like fun but whatever the case, I can unabashedly state that I am NOT one of them.  

Dear Readers, we’ve discussed this before. Not every movie needs to be made into a musical.