Stage
Openings & Events
As You Like It This update drops Rosalind and Celia into a ’90s music festival. Presented by Seattle Public Theater’s Youth Program. Bathhouse Theater on Green Lake, 7312 W. Green Lake Dr. N., 524-1300, seattlepublictheater.org. Donation. Opens Aug. 15. 7 p.m. Fri.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 2 p.m. Sat., Aug. 23. Ends Aug. 23.
A Book Is Not a Ladder Choreographer KT Niehoff directs Acrobatic Conundrum in this Borges-inspired circus show. School of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts, 674 S. Orcas St., sancaseattle.org. $15–$20. 8 p.m. Fri., Aug. 15; 8 & 10:30 p.m. Sat., Aug. 16; 6 p.m. Sun., Aug. 17.
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A Chorus Line Spotlight Night SEE THE PICKLIST, PAGE 18.
I Gelosi STAGEright Theatre presents David Bridel’s play about commedia dell’arte intrigue. Ballard Underground, 2220 N.W. Market St., seattlestageright.org. $15–$20. Opens Aug. 15. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. & Mon. Ends Aug. 30.
Icicle Creek New Play Festival
The Change Room
Questions of the Heart Ben Abbott based his play, subtitled “Gay Mormons and the Search for Identity,” on real-life interviews. Tyee Yacht Club, 3229 Fairview Ave. E., theatre22.org. $11–$22. 7:30 p.m. Mon., Aug. 18–Tues., Aug. 19.
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry LHPAI teens present a musical based on Mildred D. Taylor’s Depression-set tale. Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute, 104 17th Ave. S., 684-4758. $7–$12. 7 p.m. Fri., Aug. 15, 2 & 7 p.m. Sat., Aug. 16–Sun., Aug. 17.
A SHORT-TERM SOLUTION TO A LONG-TERM PROBLEM David Schmader’s solo show takes on “marriage, Mormons, and [a] dramatic life upheaval.” Part of Intiman’s summer theater festival. Velocity Dance Center, 1621 12th Ave., intiman.org. $10–$20. 7 p.m. Tues., Aug. 19.
Whedonesque Burlesque Self-explanatory, isn’t it? Saucy performers inspired by Buffy, Firefly, etc.Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., jojostiletto.com. $25–$150. Opens Aug. 15. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Aug. 23.
CURRENT RUNS
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ACT One-Acts A confident cast, savvy direction by R. Hamilton Wright, and superior staging and effects boost this comely production. In Steve Martin’s Patter for the Floating Lady, a loquacious magician (David Foubert) attempts to charm his glamorous assistant (Jessica Skerritt) into loving him again, until her id (Hana Lass) sets him straight. Woody Allen’s Riverside Drive raises the stakes when a charismatic street person (a fantastic Eric Ray Anderson) who self-characterizes as “an original, like Stravinsky, or ketchup,” corners a neurotic writer—Chris Ensweiler, uncannily channeling you-know-who—rehearsing to break up with his mistress. In The Unseen Hand by Sam Shepard, we find Blue Morphan (a jovial Anderson) awaiting the return of his two brothers from at least one other time period. MARGARET FRIEDMAN ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676. $44 and up ($20 every Tues.) Runs Tues.–Sun.; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Aug. 17.
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Angels in America Tony Kushner won a Pulitzer and two Tony awards (among others) for his two-part Broadway extravaganza in 1993–94, subtitled “A Gay Fantasia on National Themes.” Part 1, Millennium Approaches, set in 1985, tells of the gay right-wing homophobe Roy Cohn (Charles Leggett) dying of AIDS; a Greenwich Village couple (Adam Standley and Quinn Franzen) whose relationship will founder because of the disease; and pill-popping Mormon housewife Harper Pitt (Anne Allgood), married to a closeted Republican husband (Ty Boice). Overseeing it all is Kushner’s omniscient angel (Marya Sea Kaminski). Andrew Russell directs the whole daunting enterprise. BRIAN MILLER Cornish Playhouse, Seattle Center, 441-7178. $25 and up. Millennium Approaches opens Fri., Aug. 15 and runs through Sept. 21; Part 2, Perestroika, runs Sept. 3–21. See intiman.org for complete schedule.
Attack of the Killer Murder of . . . Death “Agatha Christie meets Roger Corman” in this mystery sendup, set on a movie set in 1958. Theater Schmeater, 2125 Third Ave., 800-838-3006, schmeater.org. $18–$25. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Aug. 16.
Balconies With its huge cast and lofty ambitions to lampoon not only the gaming industry, but also celebrity, politics, and religious cults, Scotto Moore’s new comedy almost bites off more than it can chew. On a pair of adjoining condo balconies are two competing bashes: one a costume party to celebrate a new video game, the other a fundraising cocktail event for a senator supported by a shady, controlling, unnamed church. The satire is slow to get underway, yet playwright/director Moore has a gift for setting up a great joke, then riffing on it. By the end the farce finally delivers on its promise. KEVIN PHINNEY Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., 728-0933, annextheatre.org. $5–$20. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Sat. Ends Aug. 30.
Caught One-Handed Noah Duffy’s solo comedy about growing up gay, fundamentalist, and horny. Annex Theatre, 1100 E. Pike St., annextheatre.org. $5–$10. 8 p.m. Tues.–Wed. Ends Aug. 27.
14/48: Outdoors Fourteen plays, that is, created from scratch in 48 hours, al fresco. Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Center. Various prices; see the1448projects.org. 8 & 10:30 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends Aug. 16.
Greenstage
Othello, Love’s Labours Lost, All’s Well That Ends Well, and The Comedy of Errors in area parks through Aug. 16, all free. See greenstage.org for schedule.
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Groucho Returns Back by popular demand, Frank Ferrante channels the slyly leering Marx Brother in this acclaimed show. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., 292-7676. $25–$35. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Sat. plus weekend matinees; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Aug. 24.
Hello, Dolly! That meddling matchmaker is at it again. WSHS Theater, 3000 California Ave. S.W., 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com, twelfthnightproductions.org. $15–$20. 7:30 p.m.Thurs.–Sat., 3 p.m. Sun. Ends Aug. 17.
Into the Woods Fractured fairy tales, with a dark Sondheim twist, via Aurora Theatre Company. Shoreline City Hall, Outdoor Amphitheatre, 17500 Midvale Ave. N., Shoreline, 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com. Free. 8 p.m. Fri.–Sat. Ends Aug. 23.
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Jane Eyre—The Musical Paul Gordon and John Caird’s show, based on Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel, focuses on Jane’s middle period, after she’s hired as a governess by apparent bachelor Edward Rochester. Too often Jessica Spencer’s Jane seems bewildered and lost in her moral and spiritual upheaval; it’s difficult to see the spark that draws Rochester. Even so, in the song “Painting Her Portrait,” she gives a jaw-dropping performance. MARK BAUMGARTEN Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., 781-9707, taproottheatre.org. $15–$40. 7:30 p.m. Wed.–Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat. Ends Aug. 16.
Little Shop of Horrors The campy Ashman/Menken musical. Islander Middle School Auditorium, 8225 S.E. 72nd St., Mercer Island, youththeatre.org. $13–$17. 7 p.m. Thurs.–Sat, 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Aug. 24.
The School for Lies David Ives’ update of Molière’s The Misanthrope. Center Theatre, Seattle Center Armory, 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com, soundtheatre company.org. $15–$25. 7:30 p.m. Thurs.–Sat., 2 p.m. Sun., plus 7:30 p.m. Mon., Aug. 18. Ends Aug. 24.
Teatro ZinZanni: When Sparks Fly Maestro Voronin headlines this mad-scientist-themed show. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., 802-0015. $99 and up. Runs Thurs.–Sun. plus some Wed.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Sept. 21.
Urinetown SEE REVIEW, PAGE 19.
Wise Guys Jet City Improv salutes mob movies. Historic University Theater, 5510 University Way N.E., jetcity improv.com. $12–$15. 8 p.m. Thurs.–Fri. Ends Aug. 22.
Dance
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All Rise A site-specific dance series at the location of the future Seattle City Light electrical substation, in conjunction with Karl Burkheimer’s sculptural installation In Situ, Saturdays through Aug. 23. This week, Portland’s Tahni Holt. 1250 Denny Way, allriseseattle.org. Free. 7 p.m.
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Ballroom With a Twist SEE THE PICK LIST, PAGE 18.
Classical, Etc.
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Olympic Music Festival Chamber-music favorites in a repurposed barn, 2 p.m. each Sat. & Sun. through Sept. 7. This weekend, three string trios by Beethoven. Quilcene, Wash., 360-732-4800, olympicmusicfestival.org. $18–$33.
Russian Chamber Music Foundation Glinka, Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, and more. Luther Burbank Park, Mercer Island, russianchambermusic.org. Donation. 6 p.m. Sat., Aug. 16.
Eastgate Chamber Music Festival Concerts by Musicworks Northwest faculty and guests. Northwest University, 5520 108th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, 425-644-0988. See musicworksnw.org for repertory. $10–$20. 7:30 p.m. Tues., Thurs., Fri. Ends Aug. 22.
