Stage picks

5th Avenue Theater—With the hire of new artistic director David Armstrong, the 5th Avenue has given a vote of confidence in Seattle's ability to produce first-rate musical theater, while acknowledging the fact that Broadway just don't make the blockbuster touring shows that they used to. Armstrong's won significant praise as an intelligent reinterpreter of classic musical texts, which local audiences will have a chance to judge for themselves when he directs Anything Goes, the Cole Porter shipboard folderol (11/26-12/17). Before that, however, the season opens with a big Parade, the Harold Prince/Alfred Uhry/Jason Robert Brown musical that gave Uhry a Tony last year. Critically lauded, this dark and thoughtful drama is based upon the true story of the lynching of a Jewish Northerner following a murder in Atlanta in 1913 (9/27-10/15). 1326 Fifth, 292-ARTS.

A Contemporary Theater—A particularly schizophrenic year from ACT has included crowd-pleasers (Talley's Folly) along with risk-takers (Via Dolorosa, The Fever) and the split between avant garde and paying the rent continues through December. Currently playing is the world premiere of In the Penal Colony, a new opera based upon the Franz Kafka novella, with music by Phillip Glass and libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer, directed by the acclaimed JoAnne Akalaitis (ends 10/1). Then get ready for some aesthetic whiplash with a revival of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, featuring Seattle favorites John Proccacinio and R. Hamilton Wright (ideally typecast, we have to admit) as the feuding Oscar and Felix (9/29-10/29). Legendary actress Julie Harris returns to town with a revival of her star turn from a quarter-century ago, William Luce's intimate evening with Emily Dickinson The Belle of Amherst (10/13-11/5). The mainstage concludes with the traditional production of Gregory Falls' adaptation of A Christmas Carol, in which a frail old man is terrified mercilessly by a quartet of the undead (11/24-12/24). Meanwhile, the Bullitt Solo season continues with From the Charred Underbelly of the Yule Log, a piece by solo performer and popular NPR commentator Kevin Kling, a collection of personal anecdotes about growing up quirky (10/11-10/29), Dmitry Lipkin's Moscow Nights, a story about an immigrant family's reunion in Brighton Beach that leads to a reexamination of their entire world (11/8-11/19). 700 Union, 292-7676.

A Theater Under the Influence—This small but seasoned fringe company highlights revivals of overlooked or occasionally completely unknown plays and start off their season with Table Work, an evening of one-acts from three theater giants, Strindberg's The Stronger, Brecht's The Informer, and Sam Shepard's Action, along with a fourth play, Rex by Joe Pintauro, who we know nothing about (9/15-10/14). Then as an antidote for season cheer, it's Christmas at the Johnson's, an original adaptation of Vvedensky's classic Russian absurdist work Christmas at the Ivanov's (December 2000, dates TBA). Union Garage, 1418 10th, 720-1942.

Annex Theater—While still facing possible eviction from their downtown venue at any particular time, the long-running fringe group resolutely trundles onward. Jeffrey Jones' caustic look at celebrityhood, Dirty Little Secrets, continues until 9/9, with four short plays by Anne Washburn, Everything Not Forbidden Is Permitted (And Vice Versa) running late nights through 9/8. Then it's a workshop production of a new musical by David Mesler about an introverted pianist and his contact with the spirit world, Blue Nocturne (9/14-9/16). October brings ATF: A Burlesque by Tom Wiseley, a send-up of the three holy cornerstones of American society, Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (10/6-11/4), while sketch comedy troupe The Habit return in the late-night slot (10/13-11/28). Then say "Scrooge You" to the holiday season with The Ebeneezer Cycle, in which a quintet of Annex regulars each take a chapter of the Dickens holiday classic and mess it up good (12/1-12/16). 1916 Fourth, 728-0933.

ArtsWest—Thornton Wilder's Our Town, his classic study of the universal human experience through the day-to-day life of the inhabitants of a small town at the turn of the century, plays at the West Seattle venue, directed by Melanie White (9/29-10/21). Then as a holiday treat it's the remarkable UMO troupe with their exquisitely fantastical Expression of the Spirit, a fairy tale featuring an awkward princess who must go on a lengthy quest to find the cure for her ailing father (11/10-12/17). ArtsWest Playhouse, 4711 California SW, 938-0339.

Book-It Repertory Theater—The literary-minded folks at Book-It start their season with an original adaptation by Marcus Goodwin of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, her witty and perceptive romance about five daughters in need of husbands, and how the willful Elizabeth finds her match in the proud Mr. Darcy (9/8-9/24). Then it's a trotting out of the theater's (admittedly very funny) Owen Meany's Christmas Pageant, adapted from the John Irving novel, in which an impish student makes some "improvements" to his school's Yuletide drama with disastrous results (12/1-12/23). 216-0877.

Cabaret De Paris—The cabaret continues its small-stage, family-friendly musical fare with The Bouffants, charting the rise of a fictional girl group to the dizzying heights of No. 35 on the hit charts (ends 9/30). Then it's The Duke Ellington Songbook, featuring the vocal stylings of Jimi Ray Malary (10/5-11/18). Finally it's Richard Gray's annual poke at Seattle holiday cash cows and other Yule yawns, Forbidden Xmas 2000 (11/24-12/30). Crepe De Paris, 1333 Fifth, 623-4111.