R.J. Tancioco News

ArtsWest starts the 2009-10 season with DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE, a wildly imaginative new work from Sarah Ruhl, the playwright behind The Clean House and Eurydice. When Jean answers the cell phone of the corpse at the next table, she unwittingly embarks on a quirky odyssey that takes her from grief to the black market to the afterlife. With unfailing empathy, she sets the dead man's bizarre life to rights and on the way resurrects her own. ArtsWest favorite Carol Roscoe returns to direct this Seattle Premiere.

Village Theatre is pleased to announce the directors and music directors for next season's highly anticipated theatre line up. Artistic director Steve Tomkins gave his directorial debut at Village Theatre in the 1988. This upcoming season marks his seventeenth season with Village Theatre, after having been nominated for an NAACP Award for his work in a Los Angeles production of the new musical City Kid. Tomkins is set to direct three of next season's musical productions.

For 2009-2010 ArtsWest has created a stimulating, conversation-inducing six-play season featuring 4 Seattle Premieres - including another World Premiere through their partnership with the National New Play Network - and the return of the smash holiday hit Plaid Tidings.

Now in it's sixth incarnation, the New Voices series is a concert showcasing the best of today's most promising young musical theatre composers. An exciting blend of Sondheim and pop/rock, this next generation of composers is turning Broadway on its ear with musicals about grunge bands, electroshock therapy, road trips, and Anna Nicole Smith. Performed by some of Seattle's hottest talent, join us for a break from the holidays for an evening of brand new musical theatre songs. The latest installment will perform December 29 at 8:30pm at the Leo K. Theatre at Seattle Rep.

Village Theatre KIDSTAGE TeenSelect produces Into The Woods, running January 9-18, 2009 at First Stage Theatre. Into the Woods tells a story that combines all of your favorite fairy tale characters and brings them to life in a brand new way. Featuring the talents of local kids between the seventh to twelfth grades, KIDSTAGE will reinvent the story of the Baker and his wife as they learn they've been cursed by the witch next door and are sent on an adventure to gather the special objects to break the spell that will allow them to have a child. Although many wishes are granted, these characters begin to understand that the consequences of their actions and desires may return to haunt them later, with disastrous results. What begins as a lively fantasy becomes a moving lesson about community responsibility and the stories we tell our children.

Contemporary Classics continues its dedication to presenting new and exciting musical theatre to Seattle with an evening of songs by up-and-coming composer (and former Seattle-ite) David A. Austin.