Sky Performing Arts presents the American classic “Spoon River Anthology” by Edgar Lee Masters.
The timeless piece of Americana revisits the lives, loves, hopes and shattered dreams of the star-crossed citizens of a small town in Illinois, Spoon River, at the turn of the 20th century. The spirits of the rich and the poor, the weak and the strong, the lucky and the cursed all gather together one last time to share their final thoughts and emotions with you, the audience: separated from Spoon River by time and distance, but connected to it by the shared experiences of daily existence.
A cast of 10 actors as well as a live American folk music group gather together to bring more than 70 vibrant characters to life in the pageant of American history and culture.
“Evita”: Skagit Valley College Department of Theatre presents the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical masterpiece “Evita.”
Eva Peron, Argentina’s controversial first lady, rises from a dirt-poor existence to the bright lights of Buenos Aires. Driven by ambition and blessed with charisma, she was the saint of the working class, reviled by the aristocracy and mistrusted by the military. Told through a compelling score that fuses haunting chorales with exuberant Latin, pop and jazz influences, “Evita” creates an arresting theatrical portrait as complex as the woman herself.
“The Hundred Dresses”: Seattle Children’s Theatre presents a play based on the Newberry Honor Book by Eleanor Estes. Estes’ tale of bullying, courage and friendship carries a message that is always timely, namely that it is never too late to become a better person.
“Reefer Madness: The Musical”: Everything is hysterical and nothing is sacred in “Reefer Madness: The Musical,” opening tonight in Seattle.
“Reefer Madness: The Musical” is a highly stylized and satirical political commentary. It contains adult humor, religious parody, drug use, as well as suggested violence and sexual explicitness. No one under the age of 14 is permitted.
The play depicts the tale of Jimmy Harper, an exemplary, upstanding lad tragically ravaged and twisted into a hedonistic and murderous weed fiend. The year is 1936: FDR is in the White House, Duke Ellington is playing the jazz clubs. “Gone with the Wind” sits on everyone’s nightstand and Our Gang plays on the goggle box. The unsuspecting nation sleeps easy while a leafy green assassin lurks in the shadows, feeding on America’s seedy underbelly of filth and degradation. Marijuana is that assassin: a violent narcotic, and unspeakable scourge; the real public enemy No. 1!
In 1936, a small church group produced a movie to warn of the “real-life effects” that marijuana had on America’s innocent youth entitled “Tell Your Children.” Two years later, exploitation guru Dwain Esper bought the rights for $297, added scenes and re-edited some of the original footage to be more implicative of drug-induced sexual aggressiveness; he also re-titled the film “Reefer Madness.”
In 2003, Dan Studney and Kevin Murphy put the original script on stage, decked-out with boundary-crossing propaganda and raucous stereotypes, fueled with hatred for exploitative political fear tactics, and all held together by a “big Broadway musical” score.
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