November stages have skipped Thanksgiving this year and gone straight to Christmas programming. There are quite a lot of choices for that, along with some interesting counter-programming. It’s a merry time to be back together in person and consider multiple family-friendly options! Get out your calendars.
Compiled by Miryam Gordon from press releases:
The Merry Wives of Windsor, Seattle Shakespeare Company, 11/1-19/23
Our old friend Falstaff has a ploy to make some easy money—woo Mistress Page and Mistress Ford and thus gain access to their husbands’ wealth. It shouldn’t be too challenging; he can be quite a charming and insightful man when it benefits him. He sends the mistresses notes with declarations of love, but in a small town like Windsor, everyone knows everyone else’s business and Mistresses Page and Ford soon realize their notes are exact copies. Rather than take that insult lying down, they make dates with Falstaff, scheming to be discovered in flagrante by their husbands and so to achieve their saucy revenge on the knight.
www.seattleshakespeare.org
Hotdish, Pony World Theatre, 11/3/23-12/2/23 (at 12th Ave Arts) (world premiere)
Local playwright Brendan Healey presents his new play introducing Kayla and her older brother. Toby is unemployed and living with her in her cramped townhouse. But Toby believes he’s found the answer to all his troubles: winning his favorite reality TV cooking show, Champion Chef. As Toby falls deeper into this enticing fantasy, their mother, Evelyn, is hiding the truth about her own financial problems. Kayla is supposed to save them both, but she can barely keep her own life together. Guided by a magical being who just so happens to be the glamorous host of Champion Chef, the family will have to face what fractured their lives in the first place to find out if they can still love each other. Hotdish tells a story about family, food, and fixing the cracks in all our hearts.
www.ponyworld.org
Caligula, Theatre33, 11/4-18/23 (at 13243 20th Street NE, Bellevue, WA 98005)
(Presented in Russian with a summary in English) What do we know about Caesar, the Emperor of Rome? His name became commonly associated with ruthless tyrants. He was very young and ruled for only three and a half years prior to being killed by traitors. He squandered all the funds and was an unpredictable despot. Historically, we know very little about him. However, that is not the focus of Albert Camus’ play; rather, he explores the issues of power, integrity, freedom, corruption to address the existential questions. What is the meaning of life? Does freedom exist? How to live knowing the inevitability of death?
https://www.theatre33wa.org/
Little Women, Seattle Rep, 11/10/23-12/17/23
Jo March isn’t concerned with what’s “ladylike.” She’s not sure she wants to be a lady at all. An aspiring writer, Jo must negotiate with society’s expectations to realize her dreams. Against the backdrop of the Civil War, the beloved March sisters grow together and apart, discovering love, joy, and loss as they learn the importance of family and being true to oneself.
www.seattlerep.org
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Village Theatre, Issaquah: 11/15/23-12/17/23, Everett: 1/6-28/24
Carole King wrote the soundtrack to a generation. Beautiful tells the touching and true story of chart-topping musical legend’s remarkable rise to stardom: beginning as an ordinary girl with extraordinary talent, charting her rock ‘n roll songwriting with husband Gerry Goffin,
exploring her relationship to fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, and forging her path to becoming one of the most successful and enduring solo artists in popular music history. Local favorite Sarah Rose Davis stars as the iconic song-writer! Learn how this groundbreaking female artist forged her own path in the male-dominated music industry, finding her own true voice and moving the earth for us all.
www.villagetheatre.org
A Very Electric Christmas, Seattle Children’s Theatre, 11/16/23-12/31/23
Enjoy a cutting-edge light show with puppetry, technology, and dance! A gust of wind blows a young migratory bird named Max off course, and he finds himself in a wondrous and unfamiliar world at the North Pole. Follow Max’s glow-in-the-dark adventures as he encounters dancing toy soldiers, caroling worms, and performing poinsettias, all while trying to find his way back to his family. A soundtrack of timeless holiday hits accompanies this magical and captivating tale of family, friendship, and hope.
www.sct.org
Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley, Taproot Theatre, 11/22/23-12/30/23
This is the third in a trilogy of plays inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon. Georgiana Darcy is an accomplished pianist but wary of romance. Kitty Bennet is a bright-eyed optimist and a perfect best friend. These two younger sisters are ready for their own adventures in life and love, starting with the arrival of an admirer and secret correspondent. Meddlesome families and outmoded expectations won’t stop these determined friends from forging their own way in a holiday tale filled with music, ambition, sisterhood, and forgiveness.
www.taproottheatre.org
A Very Die Hard Christmas, Marxiano Productions and Seattle Public Theater, 11/22/23-12/28/23
Yippie Ki Yay, it’s a Christmas miracle! Here it comes, again, a musical parody that is sure to blow the roof off the joint. This holiday comedy is perfect for those who like their Christmas entertainment with lots of action, 80s jokes, smooth soft rock jams, and snarky German terrorists.
www.seattlepublictheater.org
A Christmas Carol, ACT Theatre, 11/24/23-12/24/23
Charles Dickens’ enchanting tale of compassion and hope comes to life once again. On a snowy Christmas Eve brimming with memorable characters, ghostly apparitions, and visits to the past, present, and future, miserly Ebenezer Scrooge discovers the joy of charity and redemption. Capture the timeless magic of Dickens’ Yuletide classic, proudly returning for the 48th year.
www.acttheatre.org
A Nice Family Christmas, The Phoenix Theatre, 11/24/23-12/17/23
It’s Christmas Eve and a young newspaper reporter, on the brink of being fired, has been assigned a last chance story about a typical family Christmas – his family. He goes home to his recently widowed mother, his crazy uncle, and eccentric grandmother as well as battling siblings and neurotic spouses with no shortage of material. One by one, we learn of each family member’s secrets, problems and dysfunctions, and when they learn that he’s writing an article with some very personal family information, the fruitcake hits the fan. The question is, will the magic of Christmas bring this family back together?
www.tptedmonds.org
Sleeping Beauty, Centerstage Theatre, 11/25/23-12/20/23
Take a classic fairy tale and stick it in a gift box with pitch-perfect pop music, raucous routines, hysterical humor, and dynamic dances – give it a good shake, and unwrap to reveal a theatre experience unlike anything else out there! Holiday Pantos have become a laughter- and joy-filled tradition for both audiences and artists, alike.
www.centerstagetheatre.com
Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, Edmonds Driftwood Players, 11/24/23-12/17/23
Enigmatic candy manufacturer, Willy Wonka, stages a contest by hiding golden tickets in five of his scrumptious candy bars. Whomever comes up with these tickets will win a free tour of the Wonka factory, as well as a lifetime supply of candy. Four of the five winning children are insufferable brats: the fifth is a likeable young lad named Charlie Bucket, who takes the tour in the company of his equally amiable grandfather. The children must learn to follow Mr. Wonka’s rules in the factory… or suffer the consequences.
www.edmondsdriftwoodplayers.org
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, 5th Avenue Theatre, 11/25/23-12/24/23
Based on the beloved, timeless film, and just in time for the holiday season, the 5th Avenue is bringing back this classic. After World War II, two veterans, Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, begin a successful song and dance act, following two singing sisters to their Christmas gig at a Vermont resort lodge. With classic standards such as “Blue Skies,” “How Deep is the Ocean,” and the titular hit, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is a stirring and delightful musical that stands the test of time.
www.5thavenue.org
Snowed In, ArtsWest, 11/30/23-12/23/23
ArtsWest has sent four incredible artists on a cozy retreat to write the most perfect holiday show the world has ever seen. But when a blizzard hits and tensions rise, the crumpled-up notebook pages start to pile up even faster than the snow. Will they finish the show in time? Or will they have to rely on a sprinkle of holiday magic to pull the whole thing off?
www.artswest.org
A Charlie Brown Christmas, Taproot Theatre, 11/30/23-12/23/23
Charlie Brown is depressed by the never-ending commercialism surrounding the holidays. Thankfully, Linus is there to help him find the true meaning of Christmas in this musical adaptation of the cartoon classic. December 8 at 7 PM is a sensory-friendly performance.
www.taproottheatre.org
What the Dickens, Key City Public Theatre, 11/30/23-12/23/23
Ebenezer Scrooge meets Sherlock Holmes in this hilarious holiday hodgepodge of humbug and hugger-mugger. The story begins at Ghost Central, where Marley and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future are with their union representative to complain about a hostile work environment. It seems the ghosts’ annual haunting to reform a wayward soul has gone awry, a problem that has been getting worse every year. As the ghosts explain, people are getting jaded and fighting back with Ghostbuster-like resistance! With the board of directors already looking to trim the budget, it seems that these Christmas ghosts are headed toward the proverbial chopping block!
www.keycitypublictheatre.org
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About the Author: Miryam Gordon
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