“Pinocchio” is StoryBook Theater’s musical adaptation about the wooden boy who so wanted to be real.
The adaptation by Lani Brockman with music and lyrics by Susan Bardsley opens Saturday for four shows in Everett at the Snohomish County PUD Auditorium. The shows continue Nov. 30 at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle.
True to the story, this production focuses on Pinocchio, a little wooden puppet who yearns to be real so he can read, run and make friends like other little kids. But his new friends, Cat and Fox, have other plans for this eager-to-please talking puppet. Can Pinocchio manage to outwit his devious friends? Can he tell the truth and learn from his mistakes, or will he forever be plagued with the protruding proboscis? The musical is aimed at children ages 3 to 9 and their families.
StoryBook Theater, produced by the nonprofit Studio East, is dedicated to introducing young people to the performing arts through classes, camps, workshops and live theater productions.
“Fiddler on the Roof”: Traditions are challenged in this classic tale of a family threatened by modern ways.
The Driftwood Players production opens tonight at Wade James Theater in Edmonds and runs through Dec. 21.
With book by Joseph Stein, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Jerry Bock, the story of love and family takes place in a Russian Jewish village in 1905. Poor milkman Tevye’s way of life comes under siege when his daughters wish to marry men not chosen by a matchmaker, shaking the very tradition of the family. In addition to this shuddering stability, the village is threatened by the terrible ethnic violence against the Jews and political revolution in Russia.
“The Wizard of Oz”: Based on the classic motion picture, this production does, indeed, take you over the rainbow.
The show opens tonight at Seattle Children’s Theatre and runs through Jan. 17. It’s recommended for ages 6 and up.
The story follows the book by Frank Baum and, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harbug, the production will remind families young and old about the importance of home as Dorothy enters a world she could only have imagined. Oz is filled with munchkins, witches and even flying monkeys, and is brighter and more exciting than Kansas, but it’s certainly not home. Dorothy and her new friends seek out the all-powerful wizard to help them learn who they really are inside.
Spectrum Dance Theater: American choreographer Donald Byrd will join forces with Middle East artists to shape their version of “A Chekhovian Resolution” to the Middle East conflicts, where there’s heartbreak, bitterness, disillusionment and disappointment but at least everybody’s still alive.
Shows are tonight and Saturday at Moore Theatre in Seattle.
“A Chekhovian Resolution” was inspired by the Middle East conflict. In a prepared statement, writer and philosopher Amos Oz says the conflict can be resolved in one of two ways: “There is the Shakespearean resolution, and there is the Chekhovian one. At the end of a Shakespearean tragedy, the stage is strewn with dead bodies and maybe there’s some justice hovering high above. A Chekhov tragedy, on the other hand, ends with everybody disillusioned, embittered, heartbroken, disappointed, absolutely shattered, but still alive. And I want a Chekhovian resolution and not a Shakespearean one for the Israeli-Palestine tragedy.”
The production is staged for intimate viewing and limited seating is available.
Seattle Comedy Competition: This is the semifinal show of the Seattle Comedy Competition and, for those big-time fans who have been following the competition, you won’t want to miss it because it’s the night the finalists will be announced.
Doors for the show open at 6 p.m. Sunday at Marson’s Restaurant in The Club Casino in Everett.
On the bill are 10 comedians who survived an earlier elimination round. Performers are judged in seven categories: stage presence, material, technique, delivery, audience rapport, audience response and judges’ overall impression.
The winner earns $5,000 and a guaranteed recording contract with Uproar Entertainment of Westlake Village, Calif.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
