Staff Picks<\/h2>\n
Theater is a broad (and getting broader) artistic umbrella, it seems, which means that the art form can contain a creatively scrumptious variety of offerings. This month, Seattle stages have everything from a big-budget Broadway musical by Alicia Keys, some classic Shakespeare in the park, a shadow puppet show with a nudity content warning and much more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Birds of Play\u2019<\/h2>\n
This \u201ccheeky circus cabaret\u201d from Joy Rides, the performance alter ego of Tanya Gagn\u00e9, returns to Seattle Public Theater for another summertime engagement. This go-round, Joy is joined by Goldie Hen (a hula-hooping chicken who made a splash on \u201cAmerica’s Got Talent\u201d<\/a>), aerialist Leila Noone, ballerina Bella Schleiker and boylesque star Manny Manstands. Matinees of this one-act show are designed for all ages while evening shows, incorporating burlesque and adult language, are for audiences 18 and older. But every performance \u201cdelivers a joyful celebration of freedom and fearlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n July 9-25<\/em>; Seattle Public Theater, 7312 W. Green Lake Drive N., Seattle; $10-$100; 206-524-1300, seattlepublictheater.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Good-time theater team Mark Siano and Opal Peachey (creators of \u201cBohemia\u201d<\/a>) are bringing back \u201cSeattle Vice,\u201d their musical ode to Seattle\u2019s seedy 1970s underbelly via the true story of our city\u2019s infamous “Stripper King” Frank Colacurcio. Inspired by journalist Rick Anderson\u2019s book of the same name, \u201cSeattle Vice\u201d features original songs and \u201970s hits, along with pole dances, burlesque, comedy, acrobatics and the excellent Ray Tagavilla as Colacurcio, all directed and choreographed with Broadway-style flair by local talent Katy Tabb.\u00a0<\/p>\n July 10-18; Triple Door, 216 Union St, Seattle; $25 general, $35 premium seating; 21 and older; 866-973-9612,\u00a0thetripledoor.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n This year\u2019s GreenStage bill features some of the Bard\u2019s lesser-produced shows, beginning with \u201cThe Winter\u2019s Tale,\u201d a profoundly strange but also magical and romantic story of love, jealousy and family. Also on the main stage is the political tragedy \u201cCoriolanus,\u201d in which a Roman general must be stopped from punishing the Roman people because they don\u2019t love him. (Class warfare, baby!) For those with tighter schedules or early bedtimes, the company\u2019s Backyard Bard program, which presents abridged Shakespeares (this year, \u201cThe Tempest\u201d and \u201cThe Two Noble Kinsmen\u201d), could be just what you need.<\/p>\n July 10-Aug. 15; various locations; free; 206-748-1551; greenstage.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n This \u201ccinematic shadow puppetry show,\u201d as it\u2019s called by its creators, uses lo-fi theater magic to create high-impact art. Shadow Girls Cult employs creative light techniques with old-school overhead projectors, shadow masks and shadow puppets along with live foley art (sound effects) and music to create live, short animated films. \u201cUNRAVELING\u201d blends sci-fi, film noir, classic horror and surrealism, and asks, according to marketing notes: \u201cIs the world (and by extension, are we) destined to always, always come apart at the seams?\u201d Also, consider yourself content warned: This show is for ages 16 and older and contains both puppet nudity and puppet violence.<\/p>\n July 16-18; Theatre Off Jackson, 409 Seventh Ave. S., Seattle; $0-$30; theatreoffjackson.org<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Get ready, Alicia Keys fans, because the soulful, Grammy-winning singer-songwriter\u2019s semi-autobiographical musical \u201cHell\u2019s Kitchen\u201d lands in Seattle this month. The show, which includes both Keys\u2019 classics and new songs written just for the show, tells the story of 17-year-old Ali, an ambitious kid struggling to find herself in the shadow of an overprotective single mother, until a neighbor introduces her to the piano. The Tony-nominated musical opened on Broadway in 2024 and became a New York Times Critic\u2019s Pick, dubbed \u201cthrilling from beginning to end.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\u2018Seattle Vice\u2019<\/h2>\n
Shakespeare in the Park<\/h2>\n
Shadow Girls Cult presents: \u2018UNRAVELING\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Hell\u2019s Kitchen\u2019<\/h2>\n