All stories by Dusty Somers on BroadwayStars

Friday, March 15, 2024

For ACT Theatre’s ‘Stew,’ an impressive array of Seattle talent by Dusty Somers

Actor, composer and director Claudine Mboligikpelani Nako talks about helming her debut production for a professional union house.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Monday, March 11, 2024

‘Something’s Afoot’ at 5th Ave devoid of drama, wit, worthwhile songs by Dusty Somers

The new mystery that's running at The Fifth Avenue Theatre, "Something's Afoot," features a lovely set design. Little else goes right, our critic argues.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 04:00PM
Thursday, January 11, 2024

How a Seattle actor turned reality TV watching into a solo show by Dusty Somers

Pearl Lam's "XXX Island," which aims to humorously interrogate the exploitation that can come with reality TV, runs Jan. 18-20 at 18th and Union.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, December 5, 2023

ArtsWest’s ‘Snowed In’ provides holiday cheer with a little kick by Dusty Somers

ArtsWest's new holiday variety show is a charming meta backstage musical, in which a group of artists are trying to finish writing a new holiday variety show.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Stellar Seattle Shakespeare cast brings mirth to ‘Merry Wives of Windsor’ by Dusty Somers

This play, commissioned at the behest of Queen Elizabeth I, wasn't one of Shakespeare's finest. But the actors in this Seattle production really make it sing.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 04:00PM
Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Pork Filled Productions’ ‘Bloodletting’ asks: Are monsters or humans scarier? by Dusty Somers

In Boni B. Alvarez’s “Bloodletting,” on stage from Pork Filled Productions starting Oct. 19, a pair of siblings encounter an aswang, a malevolent creature.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Friday, September 29, 2023

Meet the Seattle playwright of ‘Love Letters,’ highlighting autistic nonspeakers by Dusty Somers

Sofia Ghassaei, a 19-year-old Seattle playwright and poet who is an autistic nonspeaker, wrote "Love Letters," streaming on YouTube and screening soon at Seattle Film Institute.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, September 12, 2023

‘Dream Hou$e’ asks: Would you cash in by selling your childhood home? by Dusty Somers

In Eliana Pipes' "Dream Hou$e," now on stage from Washington Ensemble Theatre, two sisters grapple with renovating their childhood home on an HGTV-style reality show.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Broadway legend Patti LuPone comes to Seattle with show tunes and frank talk by Dusty Somers

The multi-Tony Award winner brings her solo show “Don’t Monkey with Broadway" to town in a benefit for Seattle Men's Chorus and Seattle Women's Chorus.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 04:00PM
Thursday, August 24, 2023

Kent’s Theatre Battery is back with live performance and free tickets by Dusty Somers

Kent's Theatre Battery started offering its tickets for free in 2016. It's back now with its first live performance since the pandemic.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Community members take center stage in Seattle Rep’s ‘Tempest’ by Dusty Somers

More than 60 people, mostly community members who are nonprofessional performers, take to the stage Aug. 25-27 in Seattle Rep's Public Works staging of Shakespeare's classic.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, August 3, 2023

Is ‘1776’ at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre revolutionary? by Dusty Somers

The musical boasts a diverse cast of female, transgender and nonbinary actors, but reframing the 1969 show at a deeper level proves difficult.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 07:23PM
Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Best bets for Seattle theater in August 2023 by Dusty Somers

While many theater and performing arts seasons will begin in earnest next month, there's still an intriguing selection of performances around town in August.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Meet Seattle Rep’s new artistic director, Dámaso Rodríguez by Dusty Somers

The city's flagship playhouse named Dámaso Rodríguez, former artistic director at Portland's Artists Repertory Theatre, to the role. He succeeds Braden Abraham.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 03:00PM
Tuesday, July 18, 2023

In Village Theatre’s ‘Hello, Dolly!’ the star razzle dazzles by Dusty Somers

Star Bobbi Kotula has the audience eating out of the palm of her hand in Village Theatre's production, running through July 30 at Everett Performing Arts Center.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, July 5, 2023

Broadway hit ‘Six’ and more must-see Seattle-area theater in summer 2023 by Dusty Somers

Musical lovers, rejoice! Big touring shows and locally produced musicals grace our stages in July and August. Here are six recommendations for tuners and more.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Friday, June 23, 2023

How Seattle’s ArtsWest is bringing ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’ into 2023 by Dusty Somers

Nicholas Japaul Bernard made a splash playing Hedwig at ArtsWest in 2018. Back in the title role in a new production, he talks about staging the show in today's climate.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Book-It takes on grief (and sci-fi?) with ‘Solaris’ by Dusty Somers

David Greig's adaptation of Stanisław Lem's sci-fi novel crafts an elemental portrait of grief and isolation that happens to take place on a space station.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

How Sound Theatre Company is making ‘Cost of Living’ more widely accessible by Dusty Somers

Sound Theatre Company's production of Martyna Majok’s critically acclaimed, Pulitzer Prize-winning play includes a host of accessible performances.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Seattle Rep’s ‘Lydia and the Troll’ has catchy tunes, emotional story by Dusty Somers

Seattle theater artist Justin Huertas' world-premiere musical is at Seattle Rep through June 11.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Review: Village Theatre’s premiere of ‘How to Break’ by Dusty Somers

"How to Break" is onstage in a world-premiere production at Village Theatre, which has shepherded the show’s development for years.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Seattle playwright’s new work examines legacy of CHOP by Dusty Somers

Playwright and UW assistant professor Nikki Yeboah's "11th & Pine," based on interviews with community members, has a public reading scheduled for March 17-19.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Monday, February 20, 2023

Lauren Weedman returns to Seattle with new solo show by Dusty Somers

Before Weedman popped up on TV, she cemented a reputation in Seattle as a fearlessly self-lacerating monologist. She returns to those roots with "Lauren Weedman BLOWS."

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Seattle Rep’s ‘I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter’ captures what it’s like to be a teen by Dusty Somers

Karen Rodriguez gives a fully realized performance as 15-year-old Júlia in Seattle Rep's purposeful staging of this adaptation of a young-adult novel.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Friday, January 20, 2023

Seattle play highlights health care workers’ accounts of pandemic’s early days by Dusty Somers

In "An Endless Shift" at ArtsWest, Gloria Alcalá personifies five health care workers, using their words, verbatim, about working during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Monday, January 2, 2023

Debra Ann Byrd makes space for artists of color in Shakespeare by Dusty Somers

Debra Ann Byrd's solo show "The World’s a Stage: Becoming Othello, A Black Girl’s Journey" opens at Seattle Shakespeare Company Jan. 6.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme return to Seattle with 2022 holiday show by Dusty Somers

Drag superstars Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme talk about their Seattle roots, making difficult topics funny and Monsoon's upcoming Broadway debut.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 02:00PM
Thursday, September 22, 2022

How Seattle shaped Heidi Schreck, playwright of ‘What the Constitution Means to Me’ by Dusty Somers

Before her Broadway star turn and TV writing career, Heidi Schreck cut her teeth on and behind the stages of an adventurous Seattle fringe theater company.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Monday, September 5, 2022

Theater artist Madeline Sayet wrestles with Shakespeare and Native American identity by Dusty Somers

Sayet's show "Where We Belong," opening soon at Seattle Rep, includes an accountability rider with requirements such as a commitment to never employ redface again.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Seattle’s Theatre22 to shut down after next show by Dusty Somers

Just weeks before the Sept. 9 opening of Theatre22's second show of 2022, the company announced that that would be its final production. Here's why.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM
Wednesday, July 27, 2022

‘Come From Away’ remains invigorating and heartening, even in pandemic-weary times by Dusty Somers

Hundreds of performances and a pandemic later, the “Come From Away” national tour is back at the 5th Avenue Theatre, running through Aug. 7.

SOURCE: www.seattletimes.com at 09:00AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards