Category: Performance Type

Jane Eyre – Musical – Seattle Pacific Theatre

Watched the musical stage adaptation of Jane Eyre. Very dry, dense, and lukewarm ... like most English literature. Would it kill them to lighten up (and do a tap dance routine lol)? Glad to have Paul with me to explain things and make jokes.
Watched the musical stage adaptation of Jane Eyre. Very dry, dense, and lukewarm … like most English literature. Would it kill them to lighten up (and do a tap dance routine lol)? Glad to have Paul with me to explain things and make jokes.

Type: Musical

Recommendation: See this if there’s nothing else playing in the city or if you like dry, dense, lukewarm theatre.

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 3 stars

Negatives: The script and music was boring. Would it kill them to lighten up … and possibly do a tap dance routine? Ha!

Story, Script, and Lyrics:  Life deals a bad hand to an Englishwoman but she still manages to stay positive and to persevere.

Cast and Theater Company:  University production. Female lead (Jane Eyre) was pretty decent. Unfortunately, it was hard to gauge the performers’ talent because the musical was so dull. Furthermore, cast was critically low on male performers. I suspect it’s because Seattle Pacific University is a Christian (Methodist) university and therefore cannot attract enough gay students to enroll. In the words of The Producers, “Keep it gay, keep it gay, keep it gay” … in theatre.

Venue and Set: Simple. Interesting angular stage.

Music and Audio: Microphones used (thank you!). Unfortunately, piano was the only accompaniment … so it basically sounded like rehearsal. As a piano player myself, props to the pianist for pressing on (no pun intended) throughout the entire score! His or her hands must have been bleeding. It’s a shame the cast didn’t acknowledge the pianist in the ovations.

Price: $ (Low-priced at $15)

Dates: February 1–10, 2018

Seating: Assigned

Link: http://spu.edu/academics/college-of-arts-sciences/theatre/current-season/current-productions/jane-eyre-the-musical

Vanishing Point – Musical – Seattle Public Theater

Watched the musical "Vanishing Point," which explored the disappearances of Agatha Christie, Amelia Earhart, & Aimee Semple McPherson. When will I ever learn to stay away from historical fiction plays/musicals? So very dry.
Watched the musical “Vanishing Point,” which explored the disappearances of Agatha Christie, Amelia Earhart, & Aimee Semple McPherson. When will I ever learn to stay away from historical fiction plays/musicals? So very dry.

Type: Musical

Recommendation: Only see it if you like dry historical theatre.

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 3 stars

Negatives: The script and music was boring. Plus, I’m not a huge history fiction buff. So, I left at intermission.

Story, Script, and Lyrics:  Exploration on the events surrounding the disappearances of Agatha Christie, Amelia Earhart, & Aimee Semple McPherson. So very dry.

Cast and Theater Company:  You could tell these were great actors but unfortunately they had a terrible piece to perform.

Venue and Set: Simple

Music and Audio: No microphones but the space is small enough and the performers project loud enough that you’re able to hear okay. Music consisted of bass (or cello?) and a piano.

Price: $ (Low-priced at $17-34)

Dates: January 25, 2018 – February 25, 2018

Seating: Assigned. Make sure you sit in the middle. The left and right arena seats suck.

Link: https://www.seattlepublictheater.org/vanishing-point/

Peerless – Play – ArtsWest Playhouse and Gallery

Watched the play "Peerless" which was basically Heathers and Macbeth with ambitious Asian twins. Dialogue was a little difficult to follow but the play was good.
Watched the play “Peerless” which was basically Heathers and Macbeth with ambitious Asian twins. Dialogue was a little difficult to follow but the play was good.

Type: Play

Recommendation: See it!

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4 Stars

Negatives: The dialogue was annoyingly vague. Very “millennial-speak.”

Story, Script, and Lyrics: Ambitious Asian twins will do anything to get into the college of their choice. Based on MacBeth with a little Heather’s mixed in.

Cast and Theater Company:  Typical high quality ArtsWest production and cast.

Venue and Set: Simple, yet effective.

Music and Audio: No microphones but the space is small enough and the performers project loud enough that you’re able to hear okay.

Price: $ (Low-priced at $17-38)

Dates: January 18, 2018 – February 11, 2018

Seating: Make sure you sit in the middle. The left and right arena seats suck.

Link: http://www.artswest.org/theatre-plays/peerless/

Wit – Play – SecondStory Repertory

Opening night to the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "WIT." It took great skill to effectively intersect cancer with annoying English lit academia. Surpised how much I enjoyed it. Maybe I'm biased cause I work in oncology. Ending needed a little more maturation.
Opening night to the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “WIT.” It took great skill to effectively intersect cancer with annoying English lit academia. Surprised how much I enjoyed it. Maybe I’m biased cause I work in oncology. Ending needed a little more maturation.

Type: Play

Recommendation: See it!

Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4 Stars

Negatives: The ending was a little choppy and awkward. Needs more maturation.

Story, Script, and Lyrics: An English literature professor gets cancer. True to the play’s name, it is a very “witty” script. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. Surprisingly, my I hate for English literature (there were a billion references) didn’t get in the way of enjoying the play.

Cast and Theater Company:  Superb acting especially by the main character (played by Eleanor Moseley).

Venue and Set: Simple, yet effective. Most of the scenes take place in a hospital.

Music and Audio: No microphones but the space is small enough that you’re able to hear okay.

Price: $ (Low-priced at $30)

Dates: January 19, 2018 – February 3, 2018

Seating: General admission. Come early!

Link: http://secondstoryrep.org/mainstage/season19/wit.html