THE NATION’S LEADING MUSICAL THEATER APRIL 6 - 29, 2018 April 2018 April 2018 Volume 15, No. 6 Paul Heppner Publisher Susan Peterson Design & Production Director Ana Alvira, Robin Kessler, Stevie VanBronkhorst Production Artists and Graphic Design Mike Hathaway Sales Director Brieanna Bright, Joey Chapman, Ann Manning Seattle Area Account Executives Amelia Heppner, Marilyn Kallins, Terri Reed San Francisco/Bay Area Account Executives Carol Yip Sales Coordinator Leah Baltus Editor-in-Chief Andy Fife APRIL 26 & 28 Publisher Dan Paulus Art Director Gemma Wilson, Jonathan Zwickel Senior Editors Amanda Manitach Visual Arts Editor Ludovic Morlot, conductor Marc-André Hamelin, piano | Kenneth Tarver, tenor | Pauline Cheviller, narrator Cristina Valdés, piano | Jessica Choe, piano | Li-Tan Hsu, piano Dmitry Pokrovsky Ensemble | Anna Marra, dancer Paul Heppner Northwest Boychoir | Seattle Symphony Chorale President Michael Curry, director & designer Mike Hathaway Brandon Woolley, assistant stage director & stage manager Vice President Genay Genereux An all-Stravinsky program on one spectacular night! Michael Curry, known Accounting & Office Manager for his work with Disney, Cirque du Soleil and the Olympics, brings his Shaun Swick exhilarating stage magic to Stravinsky’s most tender work — Persephone. Senior Designer & Digital Lead With star soloists, dancers, puppeteers, three choirs, four grand pianos Barry Johnson and the Seattle Symphony, all led by Ludovic Morlot — this evening is Digital Engagement Specialist sure to be unforgettable. Ciara Caya Support for Stravinsky Perséphone is generously provided by the Judith Fong Customer Service Representative & Music Director’s Fund. Marc-André Hamelin’s performances are generously Administrative Assistant underwritten by Muriel Van Housen and Tom McQuaid. Corporate Office 425 North 85th Street Seattle, WA 98103 p 206.443.0445 f 206.443.1246 [email protected] 800.308.2898 x105 www.encoremediagroup.com SEATTLESYMPHONY.ORG Encore Arts Programs is published monthly by Encore Media Group to serve musical and theatrical events in the Puget Sound and San Francisco Bay Areas. All rights reserved. ©2018 Encore Media Group. Reproduction without written permission is prohibited. 2 THE 5TH AVENUE THEATRE My legacy. My partner. You have dreams. Goals you want to achieve during your lifetime and a legacy you want to leave behind. The Private Bank can help. Our highly specialized and experienced wealth strategists can help you navigate the complexities of estate planning and deliver the customized solutions you need to ensure your wealth is transferred according to your wishes. Take the first step in ensuring the preservation of your wealth for your lifetime and future generations. To learn more, please visit unionbank.com/theprivatebank or contact: Lisa Roberts Managing Director, Private Wealth Management [email protected] 415-705-7159 Wills, trusts, foundations, and wealth planning strategies have legal, tax, accounting, and other implications. Clients should consult a legal or tax advisor. ©2018 MUFG Union Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC. Union Bank is a registered trademark and brand name of MUFG Union Bank, N.A. EAP full-page template.indd 1 12/12/17 9:49 AM BOARD OF DIRECTORS ABOUT Stephen P. Reynolds Chairman Bonnie Towne President THE 5TH Sterling Wilson AVENUE THEATRE Treasurer Margaret C. Inouye • The non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre is one of the country’s leading musical Secretary theater companies. Our mission is to “nurture, advance and preserve all aspects of America’s great original art form: The Musical. We achieve this by creating Wanda J. Herndon extraordinary theatrical experiences that enrich, entertain and inspire current and Immediate Past Chairman future audiences everywhere.” Kenny Alhadeff Ann Ardizzone • The 5th is committed to achieving the highest standards of artistic excellence by Clodagh Ash employing world-class performers and creative artists, utilizing full live orchestras Les Biller and staging exceptional and imaginative productions. The 5th places a special Sharon Gantz Bloome Robert R. Braun, Jr. emphasis on employing our amazing community of Puget Sound-based artists Debbie Brown and technicians. Margaret Clapp Barbara L. Crowe • We are nationally renowned for our production and development of new Larry Estrada musicals. Since 2001, The 5th has premiered 19 new works, nine of which have Cyrus Habib subsequently opened on Broadway. They include Disney’s Aladdin, First Date, A Randy Hodgins Patrick F. Kennedy Christmas Story, Scandalous, Shrek, Catch Me If You Can, The Wedding Singer ® SaSa Kirkpatrick and Best Musical Tony Award -winners, Hairspray and Memphis. Elizabeth Lund Heather Sullivan McKay • We are equally acclaimed for our vibrant new productions of musicals from the Richard Meadows “Golden Age of Broadway” and contemporary classics. These signature revivals John Oppenheimer enthrall fans of these enduring works and introduce these great shows to new Ann Ramsay-Jenkins Anthony Repanich generations of musical theater lovers. Norman B. Rice Emory Thomas, Jr. • Our celebrated educational programs served nearly 75,000 young people last Eric Trott season through a host of projects including our Adventure Musical Theater Marka Waechter Touring Company, The 5th Avenue Awards and the unique Rising Star Project. Tom Walsh Eileen Glasser Wesley For adults, we offer free-to-the-public events such as the popular Spotlight Night Kenneth Willman series and pre-performance Show Talks with Albert Evans. PAST CHAIRMEN • We are the largest arts employer in the Pacific Northwest with more than 800 OF THE BOARD actors, singers, dancers, musicians, creative artists, theatrical technicians and arts Wanda J. Herndon (2013-2015) professionals working for us each season. Barbara L. Crowe (2011-2013) Robert A. Sexton (2009-2011) • As a non-profit theater company supported by the community, we enjoy the Norman B. Rice (2007-2009) patronage of more than 20,000 season subscribers (one of the largest theater Kenny Alhadeff (2004-2007) William W. Krippaehne Jr. (2002-2004) subscriptions in America). Each year, approximately 300,000 audience members Bruce M. Pym (2000-2002) attend our performances. John F. Behnke (1998-2000) Faye Sarkowsky (1996-98) Donald J. Covey (1994-96) OUR HISTORIC THEATER Kenneth L. Hatch (1992-94) John D. Mangels (1990-92) The 5th Avenue Theatre’s breathtaking design was inspired by ancient Imperial China’s Robert F. Buck (1988-90) most stunning architectural achievements, including the magnificent Forbidden City. Stanley M. Little, Jr. (1986-88) Built in 1926 for vaudeville and silent pictures, The 5th Avenue Theatre reigned for R. Milton Trafton (1983-86) W.J. Pennington (1981-83) decades as Seattle’s favorite movie palace. In 1979, 43 companies and community D.E. (Ned) Skinner (1979-81) leaders formed the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association and restored the theater to its original splendor. The 5th Avenue Theatre re-opened in 1980 as Seattle’s premier Founding Managing Director home for musical theater. Marilynn Sheldon The 5th Avenue Theatre gratefully acknowledges our 43 original founders and sponsors. Please visit www.5thavenue.org for specific information on these important companies and individuals. EAP full-page template.indd 1 8/2/16 1:35 PM WELCOME TO THE WELCOME TO 5TH FROM THE DESK OF DAVID ARMSTRONG EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR WHY NOW? One of the most frequent questions I get asked its story and themes through multiple points about the shows we select for a 5th Avenue Theatre of view. In the case of Kiss Me, Kate we see the season is “Why did you choose to produce this story from three very different perspectives: 1) particular musical at this specific time?” There is Shakespeare’s world and culture in Elizabethan seldom an easy answer since the timing of a show England 450 years ago, 2) Bella and Sam Spewak is rarely what it seems. It is crucial that we choose and Cole Porter’s New York theater world of 1948 and schedule our productions at least a year (and and, 3) our own modern viewpoints, including in many cases two or three years) in advance of those of our 2018 cast, crew and creative team. their performance dates so that we can have the Kiss Me, Kate is often mistakenly described necessary time to plan, staff, design, cast and market as a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew them. And since we do not have a crystal ball (we but the central story is actually the tempestuous actually have several in our prop stock but they relationship of Lilli Vanessi and Frederick Graham, don’t work very well) there is no way we can predict characters that were inspired by the great married exactly what might be going on in our world, acting team of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. community or culture when the musical finally Two of the most famous Broadway stars of the ends up on our stage. This is why the quality of the 20th century, the Lunts often appeared in plays writing of a show is so important to us. Musicals together, but because almost all of their work was created by first-class theater artists and crafted to performed on stage rather than film, they are only the highest degrees of excellence will likely have dimly remembered today, although they still have a strong impact and resonance in any season. Broadway theater—The Lunt-Fontanne—named after Still, sometimes a musical ends up on our them. Everyone who saw the original production stage at the perfect moment for maximum of Kiss Me, Kate would have understood who Lilli impact. We experienced that earlier this season and Fred were modeled after. Today we might with our award-winning production of Ragtime think of these characters as the equivalent of Meryl which felt ripped from the headlines even Streep and Hugh Jackman, if they were a married though it had been written 30 years before. couple that frequently co-starred on Broadway. In In a similar way, when we decided to produce the play-within-the-play, Lilli and Fred take on the Kiss Me, Kate nearly two years ago, we had no roles of Kate and Petruchio in The Taming of the idea it would open at a time when issues of Shrew just as the Lunts had done to great acclaim.