It’s time for the “Strange Awards” for excellence in local theater (and my hopes for 2012…)

This is the best I can do for now...a photo of cheap ribbons. (Psst: If you want a trophy or plaque, then y'all need to buy more ads on the site so I can afford that kind of frivolity.)

Watching the gawdawful “Golden Globe Awards” last night, (gee, what happened to Ricky Gervais? He was about as funny as Jay Leno on an AARP dinner cruise…) made me realize that I still haven’t posted my column honoring the best in Seattle theater for 2011 and it made me feel very guilty and depressed.  I know the Seattle theater community is waiting with baited breath to see who I’m going to honor…for many of these poor souls, it’s the bright spot in their under paid and under appreciated lives.

And, unlike last year, I’ve decided to name my theater awards after myself. It’s my website and my theater beat and I have a huge ego, so why not? Also, it tickles me to give out “The Strange Awards” for theater excellence. I mean, who WOULDN’T want a “Strange Award”?  It sounds WAAAAAAY cooler than a “Golden Globe” which just sounds dirty.

But, before I start bestowing “the Strangies”,  I also need to note that I’m prompted to get off my butt and present my best of Seattle list for 2011 NOW because on Friday, January 20, 2012, the Seattle Theater Writer’s Group will be announcing the first ever “Gypsy Rose Lee Awards” for excellence in Seattle theater. Many Seattle theater writers got together this year after Theater Puget Sound changed how the nominees were decided for THEIR theater awards, The Gregorys and our leader Miryam Gordon (from Seattle Gay News) rallied the troupes to form our own group, (check out our Facebook page and like us; a web site will be coming soon) to present awards decided by people who see a lot of theater and hopefully, have some taste.  So, the eleven of us got together last week to FIGHT over the awards (fun!) and the winners will be announced this Friday…stay tuned!

But, back to MY awesome awards. I don’t give “Best Actor” or “Best Set Design” type awards. Though we don’t have much in common, I do sort of follow Misha Berson’s outline for her “Footlight Awards”. I recognize multiple people/productions and don’t just give out one award per category…I don’t even have categories. Frankly, awards for excellence in the arts shouldn’t be a horse race…in my opinion.

And, I  want to take a moment to reflect on the Seattle Theater Scene in 2011. It was kind of a rough year. Intiman is in a coma; Open Circle out and out died and frankly, it really wasn’t a super strong year for theater. The depressed economy took its toil with many theater companies playing it safe when it comes to their productions, and some of the actual play choices and design elements seemed a bit…skimpy. That’s too bad and I understand the economics of it, but here’s to hoping 2012 is a year full of exciting and risk taking theater. (And, more shows with strong roles for women…2011 didn’t offer enough good, meaty roles for the ladies.)

Now, let’s get to it. (Note that names/titles in BOLD are the “winners” of the Strange Award)

Yaegel T. Welch, Eddie R. Brown III, and Warner Miller in Seattle Rep's production of Tarell McCraney's "The Brothers Size"...the best production in Seattle in 2011. Breathtaking.

I made no bones about it last spring and I make no bones about it now…Seattle Rep’s production of  Tarell McCraney’s “The Brothers Size” was an electric night of theater then, and nearly a year later I’m STILL thinking about this beautiful play and this perfectly crafted production. “The Brothers Size” blended together music, movement and African mythology to create an emotionally charged night of theater. It was powerful, poignant and perfectly directed, designed and performed with three exquisite performances from Warner Miller and Yaegel T. Welch as the brothers, and Eddie R. Brown III as the man who comes between them. Every member of the “Size” team did a brilliant job: Director Juliette Carrillo, Set Designer Mikiko Suzuki MacAdams, Geoff Korf‘s lighting, Matt Starritt‘s sound design, Costanza Romero‘s costumes,  and with the superb work of movement consultant Sonia Dawkins,  and original music  by Kathryn Bostic and vocal consultant Judith Shahn. Tarell McCraney is the bright, shining hope of American drama. I eagerly await his next play and hope the Rep stages all of his work. By far the outstanding production of 2011.

Michael Patten, "Goat" and Brian Claudio Smith in "O Lovely Glowworm" at New Century Theatre Company. Photo: Chris Bennion.

But, there was another production last year I also had much love for…New Century Theatre Company‘s vivid and haunting work on Glen Berger’s “O Lovely Glowworm or Scenes of Great Beauty” a dreamy look at the life of….a stuffed, Irish goat and his encounters with a mermaid, an army deserter and a would be scientist. Beautifully directed and set designed by Roger Benington with outstanding costumes by Harmony Arnold; lighting design by Andrew D. Smith and sound design by Robertson Witmer, the production showcased a wealth of local acting talent with terrific performances from Gretchen Krich, Peter Dylan O’Connor, M.J. Sieber, Brian Claudio Smith and Jennifer Lee Taylor as the mermaid. But, the acting highlight was Michael Patten as the starring goat in question. It’s a brilliant performance, both comedic and melancholy, and technically demanding as Mr. Patten had to physically manipulate a very realistic goat puppet (expert work from puppet designer Brian Kooser). And, it should also be noted that Mr. Patten accomplished this on about two weeks rehearsal after stepping into the role after the shocking death of actor Mark Chamberlin. Regardless of tragedies involved, “O Mighty Glowworm” was a theatrical high light for New Century and for Seattle theater.

Both “The Brother’s Size” and “O Lovely Glowworm” featured brilliant ensemble acting but another acting ensemble standout last year, was from a brand new theater company, Collektor and their superbly directed and performed production of Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind” staged in ACT’s Bullitt Cabaret. Frankly, I thought it was the wrong space for this production; it’s a big play with a big cast and it felt cramped, but Rob West‘s staging overcame the awkwardness of the space and focused on the crackling energy of the performances. “A Lie of the Mind” focuses on a very dysfunctional couple, divinely played by Ray Tagavilla and Aimée Bruneau, but the rest of the ensemble was equally brilliant in this richly, dark and violent piece of American theater…Sally Brady, Tim Gouran, Macall Gordon, Joe Ivy, Eric Riedmann, and Maggie Jane Tatone all gave heart breakingly good performances and worked as a perfect ensemble. I very much want to see more from Collektor…soon!

Devin Bannon, Ashton Hyman, Parker Matthews and Jeremy Behrens in Roger Benington's "The Mormon Bird Play"...and, a photo blatantly stolen from Mr. Benington's FB page.

And, I have more love for director/designer/playwright Roger Benington…I was a big fan of his production of his own new work, “The Mormon Bird Play” staged at Washington Ensemble Theater last fall. I think the play itself, a journey through Mormonism involving a lot of analogies involving birds, children, sexuality, gender and community, isn’t a finished piece but I think the play shows great promise. The work of Mr. Benington as a playwright was also greatly enhanced by his bold directing skills AND the delightful set design. He’s a triple threat as a theater artist and we want to see much more of his work. But, I also need to note the great lighting design by Jessica Trundy; costume design by Kimberly Newton and sound design by Skyler Burger. And, finally the excellent acting ensemble with six young actors playing all the roles, including children and 19th Century Mormon wives: Parker Matthews, Devin Bannon, Barry Cogswell, Ashton Hyman, Noah Luce and Jeremy Behrens. It was the highlight of WET’s 2011 season. If you missed it, you missed something special.

So much more, AFTER the Jump!

ArtsWest had a winner a year ago with their production of “Emilie” by Lauren Gunderson, a look at the real life love story between the 18th Century French scientist and mathematician, Emilie, the Marquise du Châtelet and the notorious writer Voltaire. Ms Gunderson’s smartly written play was well staged by director Susanna Wilson with a lovely set design by Dan Schuy and costumes by Carl Bronson and lighting by Josh Randall and headlined by two powerful performances from Kate Witt and Nick DeSantis. It was intellectually clever theater with a lot of passion.

Also a year ago, Seattle Shakespeare Company had a winning production with director/adaptor Henry Woronicz‘s rebooting of one of Shakespeare’s oddest and messiest plays, Cymbeline. Staging the work as a show within a show helped center the confusing plot, and the set design by  Carol Wolfe Clay, sound design by Brendan Patrick Hogan and costumes by Pete Rush were all big assets. The performances from husband and wife team, Larry Paulsen and Jeanne Paulsen and Bradford Farwell as the villain were also a big plus.

I didn’t love all aspects of Seattle Shakes’ next production, “The Threepenny Opera” but I admire them for tackling Brecht’s brilliant work and this production did have lovely design work with the set design by Michael Mowery, lighting design by Andrew D. Smith and costumes from Doris Black. I thought there was some miscast roles in this “Threepenny” but I very much admired the performances of Russell Hodgkinson and Jayne Muirhead as the villainous Peachums, Gina Marie Russell as Lucy Brown and Jerick Hoffer as the urchin Filch.

And, sadly I wasn’t a fan of the Shakes’ “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” but it did have terrific performances from Terri Weagant as Helena, Todd Jefferson Moore as Bottom and Riley Neldam as Flute…I just wished the rest of the production had lived up to its huge promise.

I dislike Neil Simon and I loathe his play, “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” so ACT’s production last year was a bit of a chore for me, but I have to give credit where credit is due.  Warner Shook did an excellent job of directing an all-star cast that included R. Hamilton Wright’s blisteringly enraged performance as the title character and an ensemble that included Anne Allgood as his put upon wife and John Aylward and Cynthia Lauren Tewes as his siblings. Matthew Smucker and Deb Trout designed beautiful sets and costumes evocative of the early Seventies with exceptional lighting and sound by Rick Paulsen and Brendan Patrick Hogan respectively. Superb work from everyone made the cloying and shrill script tolerable for me, and enhanced the joy for audience members who enjoy two hours of screaming and angst.

I was also disappointed by ACT’s adaptation of James M. Cain’s classic potboiler “Double Indemnity” but it had superb production design with appropriately noir-esque lighting from Rick Paulsen;  delicious costumes by Annie Smart and Thomas Lynch‘s imposing rotating set (which pretty much steals the show.) I also had some mixed emotions about Seattle Rep’s staging of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men” but that show featured gorgeous lighting from Robert Aguilar and powerful performances from Charles Leggett, Troy Fischnaller, and Teagle F. Bougere.

For productions with far smaller budgets than those enjoyed by ACT or Seattle Rep, I have to give kudos to Annex’s astute handling of Scotto Moore’s “Duel of the Linguist Mages”, a sci-fi thriller with superb sound design by Christopher Overstreet and lighting by Tess Malone and the usual interesting puzzle box of a set by Maridee Slater. The play was charming and clever, (though the second act wasn’t as strong as the first) with a terrifically dry and sardonic leading performance from James Weidman.  I was also delighted with Stone Soup’s production of Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned to Drive”. On a tiny budget, director John Vreeke crafted an immaculately professional and moving production with two superb performances from Jaryl Draper as the pedophile Uncle Peck and Kelli Mohrbacher as his preyed upon niece. The performances from Mr. Draper and Ms Mohrbacher surpass work done by bigger name actors on bigger name stages.

She not only stole the show; she embezzled it.. Bobbi Kotula as Hildret Heinz in Village Theater's "Iron Curtain".Photo by John Pai.

Personally, I thought the musical theater scene in Seattle was a bit weak in 2011 but the Village Theater did have a charmer with “Iron Curtain”, a new musical written in the style of the great musicals of the Fifties with a far fetched plot involving American songwriters kidnapped by Soviets bent on creating a hit musical of their own. The book was silly and the songs were cute, but the charm of the characters, the performances of the actors, the design work (Sets by Bill Forrester; Costumes by Karen Ledger; Lighting by Tom Sturge) and the musical team (Musical direction by R J Tancioco; choreography by director Steve Tomkins and Kristin Culp) all added up for a very entertaining show. But, the show was stopped nightly by the performance of Bobbi Kotula as a lusty East German film director bent on finding love. And, I really mean show stopping…after her big number in Act 2, the show actually stopped for several minutes of applause by an audience in deep love for Ms Kotula and her brilliant performance. If I had to give only one award for acting in 2011, I’d easily give it to Bobbi Kotula…she deserved it.

And, I need to wrap this up so lets buzz through some individual love for various work done in a variety of productions.

Theater Schmeater’s “Crooked” was well directed by Russ Banham with terrific work from the three actress cast: Zoey Cane Belyea, Jena Cane and Mariah Caine Ware.

Seattle Public Theater did a nice job with Alan Ayckbourn’s “My Wonderful Day” and I admired Andrea Bryn Bush’s set and Jay Weinland‘s sound design and some strong performances.

I didn’t think much of the actual script for Seattle Rep’s “This” but I did love the performances from Nick Garrison and Cheyenne Casebier.

Washington Ensemble Theater had a brilliant cast with their production of “Love Horse” including stand out work from James Weidman as a drug addicted dentist and Jonah von Spreecken and Kate Kraay as a pair of nutty professors, not to mention some awesome over the top costuming from Kimberley Newton. And, while it wasn’t a huge stretch for Troy Mink, I did love his Grandma in WET’s “Milk Milk Lemonade” and Hannah Victoria Franklin‘s boss from hell in “Babs the Dodo”.

Strawshop’s “Cloud Nine” was a misfire for me, but I loved the performances of Imogen Love and Ian Bell who each play duel roles and captured all four of the roles perfectly.

The Annex’s charming “The Tale of Jemima Canard” had a clever script by Brandon Simmons with his take on Beatrix Potter’s tales; some lovely costumes from Hannah Schnabel and a sexily menacing performance from Truman Buffett.

Regardless of his premature passing, I would have noted the superb acting of the late, great Mark Chamberlin in Taproot’s “The Odyssey”. He was the emotional and powerful heart of that production. He is sorely missed and will be long remembered by everyone who saw him act.

And, two new works of the artier persuasion, Satori Group’s “Fabulous Prizes” and Pony World’s “Suffering, Inc.” were both interesting and odd new works that maybe aren’t completely finished in their creation process but are both interesting works in development and I’m more than willing to see their next incarnations. “Faboulous Prizes” was well directed by Caitlin Sullivan with bravely odd performances from Quinn Franzen and Nathan Sorseth as the oddest of couples. And, the ensemble generated “Suffering, Inc.” which adapts dialogue from the works of Anton Chekhov into a new work about a most dysfunctional office environment, was well guided by Brendan Healy with Gabrielle Schutz and strong cast of actors and collaborators.

I very much admired director Valerie Curtis-Newton‘s re-imagining of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” with a predominately African-American cast (headed by the excellent Chuck Cooper) and a setting in a post World War II Seattle neighborhood. It was a powerful and personal take on a classic American work of theater art and a fitting (and hopefully not final) ending to Intiman’s aborted 2011 season.

With no regret,  I will also freely admit, my favorite musical of the year was the road show touring production of Disney’s “Mary Poppins” at The Paramount. You WILL believe a nanny can fly and a chimney sweep can walk up walls. But, I suppose if you have millions of dollars to spend, you can buy theater goers love with special effects and impressive sets and costumes. Regardless, it was still hella fun.

For really and truly FINALLY,  two special awards this year: one to Mike Daisey and Jean-Michele Gregory for “The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs”, Mr. Daisey’s compelling one man show about Steve Jobs, Apple Computers, technology, and the reality about where our goods come from. It was mesmerizing theater.

And, continued kudos to ACT for their Central Heating Lab program which promotes original, interesting alternative arts programming year round in the many available spaces and venues in ACT’s building. It was a smart move that helps to involve people who might not otherwise attend the theater and some amazing pieces of theater and art are being done through the Lab.

I also have to say I’m sad I didn’t see some shows I know many people had a lot of love for: “Mary Stuart” and “Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World” at ACT; the “you apparently either loved it/hated it” production of “Dog Sees God” at Balagan; “Great Expectations” and “Sense and Sensibility” at Book It; “Humor Abuse” at the Rep; “Jackie and Me” at Seattle Children’s; “Live From the Last Night of My Life” at Theater Schmeater; and the widely acclaimed “Sick” at New City. I’m sick myself I didn’t see all these shows but I did see 80 productions last year. I can’t see EVERYTHING! (Unlike Miryam Gordon at SGN who DOES see almost everything…I think she saw about 150 productions last year…YIKES!)

Here are my wishes for 2012: Risky theater…Smart, edgy theater…more juicy roles for women…better musicals…BRECHT!…..big, fat juicy roles for some actors who didn’t have enough big, fat, juicy roles in 2011: Billie Wildrick (she had BIG roles, just not great roles in great productions), Richard Nguyen Sloniker, Bradford Farwell, Amy Thone, Susie Hunt. Also, I want someone to pair up Imogen Love and Terri Weagant…that would be amazing. And, isn’t there a show where Nick Garrison and Jerick Hoffer could match wits, charisma and flamboyant performance talent? It’s also time for James Weidman and Mike Dooly to move up to bigger roles in bigger productions. And, John Laings needs to direct something in Seattle this year. Hopefully, Satori Group has a full production up their sleeves as well, and Pony World. Oh, and fewer solo shows…I know it’s cost effective but it’s also kind of cheesy. We need some spectacle. And, I’m still waiting for local productions of “Grey Gardens” and “August: Osage County”. (Some Chekhov would be nice, too, but only if you can make it funny.) And, yeah, I hope Intiman reaches their financial goal so they can do a summer festival. It sounds potentially fan-fucking-tastic.

Get crackin’ Seattle Theaters…and break a leg. Contrary to popular belief, theater critics WANT you to do amazing work. Dazzle us.

PS: there are a LOT of names/titles in here. If I effed any of them up, please let me know.

strangeways@seattlegayscene.com

Full Disclosure: I guess I should note periodically, for legal reasons, that theater companies provide complimentary tickets for reviewing purposes. It should also be noted that these “free tickets” do not buy “good” or “positive” reviews. Anyone who’s ever consistently read my theater reviews will know that doesn’t happen. I believe every theater listed in a positive light in the above story, has at some point received a very negative review from me about other productions they have done. And, it should also be noted that any business that purchases an ad on Seattle Gay Scene is not guaranteed positive reviews or coverage of any kind. We don’t work that way. Never will. MS