Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Seattle

A Very Carrie New Season Announced
at Starry Balagan Theatre Party

Also see David's review of The Vaudevillians


Alice Ripley
Photo by Jeff Carpenter
Rapidly rising Seattle theatre company Balagan Theatre Company held an SRO season preview party at Seattle's Moore Theatre this week to tout an ambitious, all-musical season loaded with Seattle premieres and a new works series. Perhaps the biggest news for the company, under the guidance of new artistic director Louis Hobson (Broadway's Next to Normal, Bonnie and Clyde and Leap of Faith), is that the second show of their 2013-2014 season will be the Northwest premiere of the revisal version of the musical Carrie at the Moore, which will be headlined by Tony award winner Alice Ripley (Next to Normal, Side Show) as Margaret White with Keaton Whittaker (A Little Night Music as Carrie, and Kendra Kassebaum (Leap of Faith) as Miss Gardner. Carrie, book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore, will run October 11-26, 2013, with the authors in attendance for the opening, tying in with a Seattle Film Festival screening of the classic Brian DePalma film starring Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, and just preceding the wide release of the 2013 film remake starring Chloë Moretz and Julianne Moore.

Balagan kicks off its season with a chamber-sized version of Les Misérables starring Hobson as Jean Valjean, playing at the company's recent home-base, The Erickson Theatre on Capitol Hill September 6-28, 2013. Their holiday offering at the Erickson will be the Obie Award winning musical A Very Merry (Unauthorized) Children's Scientology Pageant by Kyle Jarrow, running November 22 - December 21, 2013. The company kicks off 2014 with the Seattle premiere of Jerry Springer: The Opera by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, at the Moore Theatre January 10-26, 2014. The main-stage season wraps with Nirvanov, David Lee and Nandi Johannes' musical mash-up of Chekov and Kurt Cobain, with Frances Farmer added to the mix. Dates and theatre fore this production are TBA.

Balagan will also host a New Works Summer Series of musicals in progress. It kicks off July 6 with Thankskilling, based on the indie horror film about a homicidal turkey, followed by The Roaring 21st, created by Balagan Executive Director Jake Groshong and others, about a legendary bootlegger (July 15); and Island Song (August 19), about New Yorkers engaged in a "twisted love affair" with the Big Apple.

For further details about Balagan's new mainstage season, new works, and season subscriptions go to www.balagantheatre.org.

- David Edward Hughes