Ain’t Misbehavin’ – Musical Revue – Seattle Musical Theatre
Category: Theaters, Performance Spaces, and Production Companies
Hamilton – Musical – Paramount Theatre
Type: Musical
Recommendation: Does not live up to the hype but it’s still worth seeing. It’s probably one of the most important artistic works of our time especially in this political climate.
Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4.5 stars
Negatives: Hard to understand what was going on. Also, not a fan of rap or history lessons.
Story, Script, and Lyrics: The life and times of Alexander Hamilton during the birth of the USA. Since a lot of the lyrics were fast rap, it was hard to follow the story. Re-listening to the soundtrack cleared things up and I later realized that a lot of script/lyrics were quite clever.
Cast and Theater Company: Typical high-quality national tour production.
Venue and Set: Elaborate set with a dual rotating stage and clever light show.
Music and Audio: I was happy to discover that they didn’t turn the volume way up like they do most Paramount Theatre performances. Not much of a rap fan but I loved the golden voices and tight harmonies of the girls’ songs especially “Helpless,” “Satisfied”, and “Schuyler Sisters.”
Price: $$$ (High-priced at $300+) – Sold out
Dates: February 6 – March 18, 2018
Seating: Assigned
Link: https://www.stgpresents.org/tickets/eventdetail/3492/-/hamilton
Ibsen in Chicago – Play – Seattle Repertory Theatre
Type: Musical
Recommendation: Worth seeing!
Rating (Out of 5 Stars): 4 stars
Negatives: Not many setting changes. Everything occured in a fictional theatre hall.
Story, Script, and Lyrics: Play-in-a-play where European working-class immigrants with secrets try to make it in America and put on the play Ghosts.
Cast and Theater Company: Typical Seattle Repertory Theatre production. Loved the prima donna character Helga (played by Kirsten Potter).
Venue and Set: Single setting in a run down fictional theatre hall.
Music and Audio: True to Seattle Repertory Theatre, no microphones were used but the performers projected well.
Price: $$ (Medium-priced at $54-$71)
Dates: February 2, 2018 – March 4, 2018
Seating: Assigned
Jane Eyre – Musical – Seattle Pacific Theatre
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
Vanishing Point – Musical – Seattle Public Theater
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.