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Seattle, Washington

Seattle: Theater

Seattle’s local professional theaters, including the Seattle Repertory Theater and A Contemporary Theater (ACT), offer outstanding local talent complemented with impressive visiting performers. In the University District, Wing-It Productions offers improvisational comedy events. The 5th Avenue Theater, renowned for its opulent Asian interior, is a favorite for big-name musicals. Don’t forget community theater as well: the Edmonds Driftwood Players are worth the 20-minute drive north of town.

For those seeking an educational dinner theater experience, there is Tillicum Village on Blake Island State Park. A 50-minute cruise to the island offers rich views of Mount Rainier and the Sound. While on Blake Island, visitors enjoy an all-you-can-eat traditional Native salmon bake and an entertaining storytelling performance by local Northwest tribes. Before returning, visitors watch a traditional carving demonstration.

For those seeking modern theater, Teatro ZinZanni is a three-hour showcase of quality drama, circus arts, comedy and cabaret accompanied with a five-course feast created by a celebrated Northwest chef. Each course is intertwined with the show plot. Presented in the round, the entertainment unfolds above and alongside the audience as they dine on a gourmet meal. (Sarah Wyatt)

Seattle Theater: Theater Around Seattle

Below are our Seattle Theater recommendations, with information on location, admission, transportation/parking, theater history and other points of interest in Seattle Art.
 

5th Avenue Theatre

Built on the foundation of a glorious vaudeville house turned movie palace, the 5th Avenue Theatre avoided a 1970s wrecking ball to become one of the most gorgeous venues for musical theatre in the country. Outfitted in magnificent Chinese reds and oriental moldings, this Seattle landmark is worth a visit for its architecture alone.

But the real cause for celebration is 5th Avenue’s increasing presence as a major player on the …more…

A Contemporary Theatre (ACT)

People sometimes complain that the parking can be a bit confusing and that the seating is a tad too cozy, but you don’t hear many complaints about the quality of work at A Contemporary Theatre. Each weighty season includes new plays, a premiere, one or two classics, and maybe a lesser-known gem. The Hansberry Project, ACT’s own in-house professional black theater company, produces a mainstage show each season, in addition …more…

Intiman Theatre

Note: On April 18, 2011, the theater announced that, after the run of its first scheduled production, its financial situation had forced it to cancel the four productions scheduled for the rest of the 2011 season. The theater has stated that it intends to use the hiatus to develop a new strategic plan, and return with a 2012 season.

Originally founded as a company devoted to …more…

Seattle Children’s Theatre

Founded in 1975, SCT is the currently the second largest professional children’s theatre in the United States. Since its inception, Seattle Children’s Theatre has merged regional theatre ideals with classic storytelling, along the way reinventing the national spectrum for theatre for young audiences. With a $6 million dollar annual budget overseeing a seven show season, a full education academy …more…

Seattle Repertory Theatre

If one company were to be singled out as the embodiment of ‘regional theatre,’ it might just be Seattle Rep. Since 1963, SRT has developed world debut productions by some of the country’s leading playwrights and actors, with a list including such theatrical luminaries as Neil Simon, August Wilson, Wendy Wasserstein, Meryl Streep, Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Tandy. A …more…

Seattle Shakespeare Company

Founded in 1991, Seattle Shakespeare Company presents classical theater year round. In its indoor venue at the Center House Theatre in the Seattle Center, the company annually offers a full season of plays by Shakespeare and other classics. During the summer months, its free, outdoor “Wooden O” productions tour to parks in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. In addition, the company presents 90-minute condensed versions of Shakespeare’s works in schools …more…

Village Theatre

With theatrical homes in both the Seattle suburbs of Issaquah and Everett, the Village Theatre began life in 1979, and in the thirty years since has become one of the Northwest’s leading homes for musical theatre. The company’s agenda is divided between four programs: A five show Mainstage offering handsome stagings of new and classic Broadway, KIDSTAGE and Pied Piper, …more…