Seattle Spotlight: August 2006

Seattle has showcased many a Broadway-bound show in recent years, but this month, the situation is reversed. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the beloved Broadway musical about two con men on the French Riviera, launches its national tour at the Paramount (August 6-12). Norbert Leo Butz reprises his Tony Award-winning role as small-time crook Freddy Benson; he is joined on stage by Broadway veteran Tom Hewitt as the suave and sophisticate Lawrence Jameson and Laura Marie Duncan as ditzy heiress Christine Colgate. Be prepared to laugh out loud!

Many local theaters are on summer vacation, but Seattleites can still check out great shows all over town. Devotees of George Bernard Shaw should head to the Tony Award-winning Intiman Theatre for its production of the master’s Heartbreak House, an affectionate portrait of life before World War I (through August 26).

Playwright Todd Jefferson Moore spent the spring interviewing residents of Seattle’s Southeast Asian community. The resulting Angkor/America blends their stories with hip-hop, theater, and traditional dance (Rainier Valley Cultural Center, through August 5).
Another show based on real life continues at Theatre Off Jackson: The Secret Ruths of Island House (through August 5) is based on interviews with seven elderly residents of the same retirement home, all named Ruth. The show uses masks and movement to dramatize the women’s lives. Catch it before it heads off to the Big Apple for the 10th annual New York International Fringe Festival.

Infinite Noir (East Hall Theater, through August 5) is a silent, sophisticated puppet show that conjures the look and feel of classic film noir. And the nearby Theater Schmeater continues its late-night soap opera parody with Crescendo Falls, Episode 4: Catacomb-Over (August 4-26).

The Last Supper Club stands in for the Breakfast Club as the cast of Rewind 1987 (through September 30) transports its audience back to the 1980s. Up the street at ACT Theatre, the long-running Late Nite Catechism dishes out comedy with a Catholic twist.

For the outdoorsy set, free open-air productions continue throughout the month. Look for Theater Schmeater’s Robin Hood in Volunteer Park (through August 26). Greenstage tours Shakespeare’s Henry VI (through August 27), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (through August 26) to parks around the region.

The Kirkland Performing Arts Center has the loose-limbed Guys & Dolls for one weekend only (August 24-27). Meanwhile, in Issaquah, the whole family can enjoy the Village Theatre KIDSTAGE SummerStock production of Les Misérables School Edition, performed entirely by 44 students ages eight to 18 (August 4-13).