/cities/seattle/Theater/ Judy's Book - Latest reviews - Theater - Seattle, WA en-us help@judysbook.com http://images.judysbook.com/members/judysbook.png /cities/seattle/Theater/ Reviews - Movie Theaters Gale P.
Review of: Unexpected Productions

I'm a long time fan of improv and comedy writing. It's painfully obvious someone from Jet City wrote those negative reviews about Unexpected Productions who is by far the superior company when it comes to actually improvising. Unexpected Productions revolutionized improv in Seattle. They are the reason companies like Jet City Improv exist! Whenever I'm in Seattle (which isn't as often as it used to be) I try to see an improv show. Unexpected Productions Theater Sports show is the one I recommend, hands down! Especially if you're an adult, although I've seen this group handle an audience with kids in it too. The last time I saw it there was a birthday party of kids and a birthday party for a 40 year old along with two bachelorette parties. The Theater Sports cast handled everyone with professionalism and showmanship, being sure to tease everyone as well. They even ripped into an obnoxious heckler in a very entertaining way by shutting him up and getting his friends to laugh at his stupidity! I will always be grateful to Unexpected Productions for the years of great memories they've given me and will hopefully continue to give me in the years to come.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/99702/posts/2008/7/531661/ Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:22:05 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/99702/posts/2008/7/531661/ Reviews - Theater Ticket Agencies cat c.
Review of: Benaroya Hall-Bh Music Center

Looks like it belongs in Los Angeles. But I'll have to admit that it adds a lot to a Third Avenue that prior to the construction of Benaroya Hall was getting very down at the ears. Nice to hear a waft of classical music--although it has become more and more pop-sounding--for those people waiting to catch a bus on Third Avenue. The acoustics are supposedly very good--but I have a "tin ear" but such things. Have been to only three concerts or recitals here since it opened, the first marred by a gentlemen who obviously was not there for the experience of a live classical recital: he thumbed through a magazine, loudly, the whole time, rarely looking up. It was a wonderful idea to build a symphony hall right in the heart of downtown. The Nordstrom Recital Hall is for recitals--chamber music, principally. The Grand Lobby is glitzy-ritzy. Behind Benaroya Hall is a Garden of Remembrance, with its dark granite wall dedicated to war veterans and its discreetly placed, well manicured shrubbery and gently cascading pools of water--all fairly close to an entrance to the Metro Tunnel. And across Second Avenue is the post-modernist Robert Venturi (with its giddy art deco references, etc.) addition to the Seattle Art Museum.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/10/526811/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:50:28 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/10/526811/ Reviews - Theater Ticket Agencies cat c.
Review of: Benaroya Hall-Bh Music Center

Looks like it belongs in Los Angeles. But I'll have to admit that it adds a lot to a Third Avenue that prior to the construction of Benaroya Hall was getting very down at the ears. Nice to hear a waft of classical music--although it has become more and more pop-sounding--for those people waiting to catch a bus on Third Avenue. The acoustics are supposedly very good--but I have a "tin ear" but such things. Have been to only three concerts or recitals here since it opened, the first marred by a gentlemen who obviously was not there for the experience of a live classical recital: he thumbed through a magazine, loudly, the whole time, rarely looking up. It was a wonderful idea to build a symphony hall right in the heart of downtown. The Nordstrom Recital Hall is for recitals--chamber music, principally. The Grand Lobby is glitzy-ritzy. Behind Benaroya Hall is a Garden of Remembrance, with its dark granite wall dedicated to war veterans and its discreetly placed, well manicured shrubbery and gently cascading pools of water--all fairly close to an entrance to the Metro Tunnel. And across Second Avenue is the post-modernist Robert Venturi (with its giddy art deco references, etc.) addition to the Seattle Art Museum.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/10/526811/ Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:50:28 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/10/526811/ Reviews - Theater Miss Jody G.
Review of: ACT Theatre

Seating & View is perfect. For the first time I had a great experience at a downtown Seattle theatre, able to watch the whole show and not leave early because I cant see with the heads in front of me. Each row of seats is raised a level higher like on stairs so that no one can possibly block your view. I wont do sitting on pillows, its not my style to haul a pillow around when I'm all dressed up. Staff... very friendly. Although the ticket person was quite incompetant when I needed to replace my ticket.. it asked me to stand aside while it continued taking money for other peoples ticket and the line was endless. So I went to the info person and was helped immediately with my ticket. So even though the ticketer was incompetant, it did not prevent me from getting more than my moneys worth at the ACT.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/77200/posts/2007/6/521456/ Sat, 02 Jun 2007 17:41:37 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/77200/posts/2007/6/521456/ Reviews - Theater cat c.
Review of: Intiman Theatre-Playhouse Seattle Center

Seattle is very fortunate to have three major theaters that have achieved national prominence (the others being Seattle Rep and ACT). In a world where increasingly everything is "virtual" but not very real, it is indeed refreshing to have the "real thing"--live theater--of this calibre. Intiman was awarded with the Regional Theater Tony Award in June of this year, and it was richly deserved. Many, many fine productions have been staged here, including the world premieres of "The Light in the Piazza" and "The Kentucky Cycle" (which won the Pulitzer Prize 15 years ago; its author Robert Shenkhan now lives in Seattke). Among the fine plays staged here include "Homebody/Kabul" by Tony Kushner (this was not long after 9/11, "Nickel and Dimed," "Dying Gaul," "How I Learned How to Drive," and Ionesco's "The Chairs." The artistic director Barlett Sher is a rising star in the American theater and has already received two nominations for Best Director, for his Broadway stagings of "Light in the Piazza" and the revival last season of the Clifford Odets' classic of "Awake and Sing"--all the while being artistic director of Intiman! He has put together a mixture of classics ("Glass Menagerie," Hellman's "Little Foxes," Shakespeare, commedia dell'arte, Chekhov's "Three Sisters," etc.), recent Broadway imports, as well as new works. Currently the Intiman is devoting much of its programming to "an American Cycle." Most of the plays are staged in a steeply pitched arc leading from a hemispherical proscenium. The main floor and mezzanine have high ceilings and an airy openness that are somewhat atypical (compared to Seattle Rep or ACT, for instance), more Lincoln Center than one would expect. A nice courtyard fronts the theater and in the summer box meals can be ordered in advance. There are usually several special events associated with each the run of each play. For instance, I saw here Adam Guettel, the composer (he graced the front cover of NY Times Magazine during the two-month run of "Piazza"), Speight Jenkins (Seattle Opera), and Victoria Clark (who went on to bring the role to Broadway and won a Tony for Best Actress, as predicted in The Stranger two years before the actual Broadway run) in a round-table discussion. Here's to hoping he'll stay here for a long while. His compatriot Daniel Sullivan, long-time artistic director of Seattle Rep, went on to become a major Broadway director with a Tony for "Proof" and last season's staging of "Three Days of Rain" with Julia Roberts. For those with a serious interest in theater-- literature in general--Intiman has become a wonderful cultural mainstay in Seattle. And for those under $25, the $10 tickets are an outstanding bargain. There are very few movie flicks out there, in my opinion, that warrant paying the same $10 for a comparable experience. But after all, theater is theater, one the oldest forms of the performing arts, deeply embedded in the collective cultural experience of humanity.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/5/520920/ Tue, 22 May 2007 00:59:52 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/Catlover/posts/2007/5/520920/ Reviews - Uncategorized Jonah D.
Review of: Lo-Fi Performance Gallery

I attended a 2-room event for New Year's Eve. At 2 AM, one room was closing so the DJ turned on ear-piercing feedback. He began to give the finger to the audience. I put my fingers in my ears. He then splashed a full glass of beer in my face. (Apparently he was trying to hit other audience members who had given him the finger back). Since this was completely unprovoked, I became angry and demanded to see the manager. There were multiple employees of Lo_Fi who told me no, I could not talk to the manager. Then they changed their story - 2 guys said that they were the manager, within 10 seconds of each other. I told them that he splashed beer in my face but they said it was water. They were all in agreement, 'covering each others back' about this. (There were at least 2 workers of Lo_Fi plus friends of the DJ involved in the dispute now). The argument escalated and the DJ attacked me. He hit me in the nose (bruising the bridge of my nose) and also in the shoulder. He tackled me to the ground and tore my sweatshirt. As soon as he attacked me, I began shouting "non violence" over and over and putting my hands above my head. The security pulled him off of me. My girlfriend, who was next to me, was also punched in the face (accidentally, I think). I did not throw a single punch, nor did I do anything to directly provoke the attack. (I was arguing with security, not even talking directly to the DJ when I was attacked). I said I wanted to call 911 but an employee of Lo_Fi said that the DJ was "crowd surfing" and that I happened to be in the way. In other words, they were covering up for him and would lie to the police, so there was no point in me dialing 911. Since it's my word against theirs, and it was not technically an emergency, I decided not to call 911. The security kicked me out "for starting a fight" but let the DJ stay inside. A minute later, when I was outside, a friend of the DJ and obvious friend of Lo_Fi employees came out and tried to start a fight, telling me I should leave immediately "or else." Security came and dragged him back inside. A few minutes later, when my partner and I were about to leave, the same person drove up in a car and told me to come close to the window. We walked up to the car and he spit in me and my girlfriend's faces.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/60638/posts/2007/1/507025/ Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:35:43 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/60638/posts/2007/1/507025/ Reviews - Theater Thomas A.
Review of: Jet City Improv

Very funny, and touching, and just plain great!
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/38861/posts/2006/12/496228/ Sun, 03 Dec 2006 13:59:48 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/38861/posts/2006/12/496228/ Reviews - Theater Ticket Agencies Alison G.
Review of: Intiman Theatre-Playhouse

Make sure you take in this year's production of 'Black Nativity' at Intiman Theatre. The yearly production of Langston Hughes' gospel musical play is always a blast. You'll be treated to a gospel choir directed by Seattle's famous Rev. Pat Wright, as well as a rousing and creative telling of the nativity story from local actors usually ranging from ages 7-75. It's a great show, and only happens once a year. Make it a tradition.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/49425/posts/2006/11/489837/ Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:38:11 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/49425/posts/2006/11/489837/ Reviews - Theater Ticket Agencies Alison G.
Review of: Intiman Theatre-Playhouse

Make sure you take in this year's production of 'Black Nativity' at Intiman Theatre. The yearly production of Langston Hughes' gospel musical play is always a blast. You'll be treated to a gospel choir directed by Seattle's famous Rev. Pat Wright, as well as a rousing and creative telling of the nativity story from local actors usually ranging from ages 7-75. It's a great show, and only happens once a year. Make it a tradition.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/49425/posts/2006/11/489837/ Sat, 18 Nov 2006 15:38:11 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/49425/posts/2006/11/489837/ Reviews - Theater Seattle Photo C.
Review of: Paramount Theater

I saw Sufjan Stevens at the Paramount last night, and it was my first concert there. What an incredible venue. The interior is gorgeous and I'm not sure there's a bad seat in the house. We were up on the 3rd mezzanine (a.k.a the nosebleeds) and we still had a great view. The sound was great, the perfect place for a musical concert.
]]> http://www.judysbook.com/members/seattlephotochick/posts/2006/10/475477/ Mon, 16 Oct 2006 15:43:21 GMT http://www.judysbook.com/members/seattlephotochick/posts/2006/10/475477/