(OUTview NW) Concert RE-view: Coleman's Farewell SMC Season Sparkles with Home for the Holidays' Greatest Hits!

DIVA: Saving the Best performance for his Final Season!

by MK Scott

The Dennis Coleman 35th Season and Final Seattle Men's Chorus Holiday show premiered this past Saturday and it was a Greatest Hits show of his favorite songs from Holiday concerts past.

By tradition, the first 2 performances featured an appearance by a special guest and this years was no exception with Broadway turned comedy star, Tituss Burgess (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and the running joke of the night was no rain in Seattle and Titus was unhappy with the weather. From the song King of the world to Mr. Grinch to the soulful, A Gift to Be Simple, brought down the house.

(OUTview NW) Theater RE-view: SRT's "Come From Away" is Phenomenal and could be Broadway's Latest Sensation in the Coming Year!

Colella was a Stand-out!       (Bennion)

by MK Scott

It was bound to happen, a "9/11 Musical", but not about the attacks itself, but the inspirational stories that came from it and nothing was as remarkable as the story about the events in Gander, Newfoundland. This story as well as an incredible soundtrack is the basis for "Come From Away", currently at the Seattle Rep.

Making its NW/World Premiere, 'Away' made its official World Premiere this past summer at the La Jolla Playhouse near San Diego, directed by famed Broadway Director, Christopher Ashley (Memphis) and many from the La Jolla cast reprise their roles in the Seattle production. "Come From Away" has Broadway Bound written all over it.

(OUTview NW) Theater RE-view: Seattle Finally has GEEK Theater and the Campy "Shoggoths on the Veldt" fits the Bill!

Only One is the hero!    (Loomis) 

by MK Scott

Geek Theater has come to Seattle and it was only a matter of time, The Rogues Gallery made its debut this past weekend with a super funny but convoluted comedy, called Shoggoths on the Veldt, a original CTHULHU adventure by Cameron McMary (Of Dice and Men).

The concept is like a female Indiana Jones meets Johnny Guitar (Remember the Joan Crawford campy and dykish western) looking for the Veldt, a small statuette familiar to fans of H.P. Lovecraft, that cannot be destroyed, and so spawns a quest to deepest darkest Africa with other homages to Lovecraft including the swashbuckling heroine of  Lady Euphonia (Jennifer Crooks), and the super cute and dingbat explorer, Welton (the Fab, Curtis Eastwood) and the ghost of Phillipa's fiance, Lord Melford (Cody Smith) with Male Servant, Crompit (Cole Hornady).

(OUTview NW) COMEDY Re-view: Coco's New show, A GENTLE REMINDER is a SENSATION!

(MKS)

by MK Scott

Miss Coco Peru returned to Seattle this past weekend to a sold out show at the Unicorn called A Gentle Reminder - Coco’s Guide to a Somewhat Happy Life, it was more than a Campy Comedy show, it was Coco as an inspirational speaker and she was Sensational! Coco received several Standing O's, if you ever get a chance, SEE IT!

(OUTview NW) THEATER RE-view: NCTC's 'Festen' is "PURE 'Family' DRAMA"!

Is Anyone in this Family Truly Happy?  (Photo;  John Ulman)

by MK Scott

Back in 2013, I saw and reviewed the Tracy Letts' Black Comedy, August: Osage County at (the now defunct) Balagan Theater, and the subject matter of a incestuous, dysfunctional family was shocking and took 3 hours to get there. Currently the New Century Theater's production of David Eldridge's Festen, goes there and more and it is another one of those 90 Minute ONE Acts.

Festen was based from an infamous 1998 Danish film with the english title of 'The Celebration" about a family gathering turned nightmare, but I am getting too far ahead. The Play also proves there is dysfunction in all classes from the middle class of  August: OC to the upper crust of Festen,  with fifth and denial it has no barriers.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Artswest's "My Mañana Comes” proves 'Straight' Contemporary Drama Still Exists!

(Brunk)

by MK Scott

And now something completely different! After a month of seeing Rock Musicals, Classics and Homoerotic Productions, I then was asked to review Elizabeth Irwin’s working-stiff drama “My Mañana Comes” currently at Seattle's Artswest Playhouse, and the best I can sum up is a play similar to The FLICK, the NCTC's (and Gregory Award Nominated)  production of 3 workers at an old movie house that we reviewed this past March. The difference in My Mañana  is that this time it depicts 4 men working as bus boys at an upper class Italian restaurant in Manhattan dealing with class, but also dealing with the American Dream.

Fortunately, this play is a 90 min. ONE Act and as with FLICK, the months go by as does the repetitiveness of the duties of the working class.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Seattle Rep's 'Buyer and Cellar' is a One-Man View to All Things Barbra!

(Bennion)

by MK Scott

It has been nearly 20 years since an 'ALL Barbra' film has been released, remember the classic,"The Mirror has two Faces"? So what has she done in 20 years? Music, and a few films (Fockers, Guilt Trip) and her marriage to James Brolin, etc.  Also noteworthy was her 2010 coffee table book called, “My Passion for Design,” and many eyewitnesses confirm that Barbra Streisand has her own “vintage” mall in the vast basement of a decorative barn.

Jonathan Tolins, author of the very entertaining one-man show,  “Buyer & Cellar”, and apparently has never been there but he obviously written this as a fantasy and labor of love.  Everything about Barbra is about Perfect detail. I remember hearing about this Play in 2013 with Michael Urie starring in this One-Man show. So when I heard the Seattle Rep was going to stage this in the Leo K Theater this fall, I was so looking forward it. Also looking forward to it was the mostly gay audience on opening night.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: SWC's Season Begins in the Hallows with Spirits Rising!

The Iconic Coleman in the Historic St. Marks   (Tapado)

by MK Scott

I must confess that this was my first Seattle Women's Chorus Concert in its 13 years of existence, so I went this time, only to pay my respects to my mentor, Dennis Coleman, who is scheduled to put away the baton for good for SWC and most importantly the Men's Chorus after 35 years in June 2016.

Another reason for attending SWC's current show, Spirits Rising is because it is their annual Hallows in the Cathedral  show at Seattle's St. Marks Cathedral. The acoustics sound SO GOOD, and it reminded me when my High School Choir would travel to places like Grace Cathedral in San Francisco just experience the sound.

(OUTscene NW) THEATER RE-view: a STRONG Ensemble saves "Lackluster" MR BURNS, now at Seattle's ACT!

A STRONG Ensemble?             (Bennion)

by MK Scott

Musicals based on cartoon characters are nothing new, think of what Broadway would be without "ANNIE", "Lil' Abner", "Spiderman", "Addams Family" and the grand-daddy, "You're a Good Man Man, Charlie Brown".

So I had high expectations for ACT's Mr. Burns, a Post-electric play. The show is based off an episode of the Simpsons called 'Cape Feare', a parody of the classic film, 'Cape Fear'.  What you get is a post-apocalyptic world of 7 characters surviving without electricity by re-enacting classic Simpsons episodes. Why the Simpsons? Who knows, maybe it will last forever! The best part of Act 1 was the character of Gibson (the FAB, Adam Standley, most recently reviewed in John Baxter) who wants to join the group of survivors. This where you feel like you are really in an episode of that NBC (Now defunct) post-apocalyptic drama, "Revolution". The set was something you would see in a college production and was not entertained. Hey, Don't get me wrong there were some funny moments and singing occurred but in Acapella!

(OUTview NW) Concert RE-view: Madonna Returns to Portland after 30 Years (8 Tours Later) and made History all over again!

(Rettenmund)

by MK Scott

It took me 30 years to attend a Madonna Concert and it took 30 years for her to return to Portland on Tour. Why so long? Well, opportunity and money was my excuse. What was Madonna's? Hard to believe that when Madonna last performed in Portland, it was the Reagan Administration, and the Virgin Tour stopped in Portland, according to Wiki,  for 2 shows on April 15 and 16, 1985, not at the famed Coliseum, but at the Arlene Schnitzer Hall, the Portland Sister to Seattle's Paramount Theater where she performed 3 times from April 10-13, 1985. This was after 'Desperatlely Seeking Susan" but before the Playboy and Penthouse Pictorial and Live Aid. So that means, Portland missed the Who's that Girl, Blond Ambition (The Best), The Girlie Show, Confessions, MDNA and others. We could only watch Ambition and Girlie Show on HBO or visited Seattle, which most Portlanders don't (and still) believe that Seattle even exists.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: You Take The GOOD Acting in SPT's 'BAD Jews'!

It's WAR!                               (Paul Bestock)

by MK Scott

Yes, I have been to New York many times in the past 25 years and you never want to be on the BAD side of a New York Jew, and previously I had went to High School with several Secular Jews so I know culture and pride is a big deal. With a New York Jew you get more than you bargain for with both the Pride and the toughness, so I could relate to Josh Harmon's Play, Bad Jews, currently at the Seattle Public Theater.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: WET's 99 Ways to F**K, is a clever testament of Sexual Deviance!

Higgins' Dave wants more than a feather         WET

by MK Scott

It isn't often that I get to see a play called, 99 Ways to FUCK a Swan (by Kim Rossenstock), just the name alone was enough for some people to attend. From the Synopsis, I knew it started with the Greek Mythology of Leda and the Swan (actually Zeus turns into the swan).

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Seattle Rep's A View from the Bridge is a Triumph!

Torn?            Photo: Alan Alabastro

by MK Scott 

Back in the early 90's during my first visit to New York, I remember taking a walking tour through Brooklyn Heights and I remember seeing this little red Cottage on a street filled with brownstones and was told this is where the playwright, Arthur Miller lived when he was married to Marilyn Monroe, it felt like a piece of Hollywood in this little tiny Burrough of New York.

Knowing of Miller's experience of Brooklyn, I knew his 1955 play, A View of the Bridge, would be be slice of Americana  now on stage at the Seattle Rep.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Live on Stage's "Falsettos" is a Fitting Tribute to Life imitating Art!

Whizzer's Last Falsetto?         Photo:LOS

by MK Scott

I admit I had never heard of Finn and Lapine's 1992 BROADWAY Musical, Falsettos, until 1999 when the Seattle Men's Chorus performed 2 numbers as part of their Broadway themed concert, "Gentleman Prefer Broadway". One number was March of the Falsettos and the other was What more can I say? (In 2000, as a member of the chorus, we performed this at a wedding of 2 other chorus members.)

Just to hear those 2 songs alone was good enough for me to travel down to Portland to see our friends at Live on Stage (Last year was Rocky Horror and then Spring Awakening in 2012). The Icing was this year was a tribute to the late, great Rob Buckmaster. Buckmaster was a staple in the Portland Theater scene in the early 90's and lost his battle to AIDS in 1995. Live on Stage's Director, John Oules is the marketing Director of Our House of Portland and is the chair of the Rob Buckmaster Fund at the Equity Foundation.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: ACT's Bloomsday goes Back in Time for Love!

Old is New Again!           Photo: Pai

by MK Scott

From the Reinvented Classic "Children's Hour" to the Modern "American Idiot", my latest Theatrical adventure was a World Premiere.

An Irish Love story with 4 actors playing 2 characters, How? you ask, I will explain, but first I need to add that his was the last play at ACT under the direction from Kurt Beattie who is retiring after 40 years as its Artistic Director. How quaint that in "Bloomsday" by Steven Dietz,  we travel through time by 35 years.

The Story is reminiscent of a Favorite 80's Classic film, Dream a Little Dream, that starred Jason Robards, who takes control of Corey Feldman's Body and Piper Laurie takes other Merideth Salenger's to get Feldman and Salenger together.

Well, in Bloomsday, Old Robert (Peter Crook, most recently in Cabaret) encounters a young Irish Caithleen (Sydney Andrews, most recently in Vanya and Spike) who is an anxious Irish guide, giving a tour of the Dublin depicted during a single day (now referred to as Bloomsday) in James Joyce’s 1922 modernist master-novel, “Ulysses.”

(OUTview NW) REview Part 2: Artswest's Brilliant Production of 'American Idiot, the Immersive Version is Exhilarating Fun!

We WANT You to Join OUR Tribe!                     Photo: Brunk

by MK Scott

Last week I gave you part ONE of Artswest's HUGE production of Greenday's American Idiot that was so BIG you needed to see it twice to get the full experience. Last week was the traditional version, so this past weekend we did the Immersive Experience, as someone who hasn't acted on the stage since High School, there was the excitement of doing Live theater and being part of the production that is the greatest feeling in the world.

This past weekend as promised, I joined the Millitary Tribe, headed by Super Ab-luscious, Jordan Taylor that included a dozen hunky chorus boys and we got to see Justin (Lizard Boy) Huertas' Tunny as he goes through Basic Training.

(OUTview NW) Re-view: Intiman updates the 'Children's Hour' but Misses an Opportunty to Tackle Race

Can you guess Who is Who?  Photo: Bennion

by MK Scott

Last May, I attended my very first Lesbian-themed play, besides being an American Classic, the Arouet produced show literally was perfect from casting to space.

Jump start four months later, and the Childrens Hour, written by the Controversial and Brilliant, Lillian Hellman that was turned into a Mildly-successful film led by 2 giants (Audrey Hepburn and Shirley Maclaine) in the code breaking 1960's (1961 to be exact) is being performed by the Intiman but there was a catch, so keep reading. 

(OUTview NW) REview Part 1: Artswest's Brilliant Production of 'American Idiot' is so Huge, it needs 2 Reviews!

A Drug-addicted, Johnny becomes St Jimmy

by MK Scott

After the Broadway hits of Rent and Spring Awakening, the daring production of 'American Idiot", the Greenday Musical, inspired by their 2004 album of the same name, American Idiot is an testament of the 2000's with war and confusion. Not since, The Who's Tommy has a concept album inspired a Rock Opera.

After a run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre in 2009, the show moved to the St. James Theatre on Broadway. The show officially opened in April 2010. The show closed in April 2011 after 422 performances. While Green Day did not appear in the production, vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong performed the role of "St. Jimmy" occasionally throughout the run.

The story, expanded from that of the concept album, centers on three disaffected young men, Johnny, Will, and Tunny. Johnny and Tunny flee a stifling suburban lifestyle and parental restrictions, while Will (Michael Coale Grey) stays home to work out his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, Heather (Chelsea LeValley). The former pair looks for meaning in life and tries out the freedom and excitement of the city. Tunny (Justin "Lizard Boy" Huertas) quickly gives up on life in the city, joins the military, and is shipped off to war. Johnny (Frederick Halgreen, fresh from 5th ave's Jasper and playing Freddie Mercury in SMC's Queen Concert) turns to drugs and finds a part of himself that he grows to dislike, has a relationship with Whatshername (Kirsten "Lizard Boy" Helland) and experiences lost love. Johnny becomes Drug dealer, St Jimmy (Trent Moury, fresh from last season's Angry Housewives) and Tunny loses a leg in Iraq and is treated by nurse, Extraordinary girl  (Played by a Male actor for the first time,  Jimmie Herrod). I had to relook at the program to be sure Herrod was male with a  powerful and sounded female with great chemistry with Huertas's Tunny.

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Once a Star, Always a Star; Ms. Pak-man at Rebar is Brilliant!

It's WAR for Ms. Pak-Man & Blinky!

by MK Scott

Back in the day (OK, the 1980's) if you didn't own a Commodore (I did) or an Atari, you would spend hours at the video arcade playing Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Pac-Man, but it was Ms. Pac-man that stayed around for nearly a decade.

So when I heard about a comedy/Drag Show called, Ms Pak-man: Bonus Stage coming to Seattle's Re-bar, I thought it would be a scream and it happening during PAX Weekend was an added Bonus. I,  at first thought, Great, a Dina Martina wannabe with a Yellow Face with a Bowl-shaped costume, but what I saw was the beginning of the next Seattle bred, Drag Super-star (After Robbie Turner,  of course)! 

(OUTview NW) RE-view: Gay Uncle Time is a Monthly event of Out with the OLD and IN with the NEW!

MKS

by MK Scott

After enjoying myself immensely at West Side Glory a few weeks back, I was even more excited to attend for the first time to Gay Uncle-Time with Jeffery Robert and Company. 

What made this month so Delicious at Seattle's Monthly Celebration of Pop, Camp, Gay, Underground and Trash Culture from the 60's & 70's and BEYOND! was the celebration of the one and only Goddess Supreme of John Waters' Dreamlanders - Edith Massey. Actually, I was once a live-in "SLAVE" for someone who resembled her, (Save for the Book and movie version asking for a "Edith Massey Type").

Robert told the Story of  Massey through specially created posters of the Stars of John Waters, but it wasn't all about Divine or Edith Massey it also had Tab Hunter, Mink Stole and many more.

The audience at the Rendezvous was a mixture of young and old but true John Waters/Edie Massey Fans.