A SUMMER FULL OF FUN WITH TAPROOT COMEDY IMPROV

Fridays nights after Man of La Mancha

SEATTLE – June 21, 2010 – When the late summer sun goes down, the fun is just ramping up as Late Night at Taproot brings Comedy Improv to the stage. On Friday nights when the curtain closes on Man of La Mancha, Taproot’s most talented comedy improvisers come out and take over the Mainstage with one goal in mind: to make audiences laugh harder than they can remember laughing before. Taproot Comedy Improv hits the stage July 16, 23 and 30 and August 6, at approximately10:30 p.m., or shortly after the performance of Man of La Mancha ends.

Tickets are just $10, or $8 with a ticket to Man of La Mancha. Group pricing is available for parties of 8 or more. Tickets are available at the door only, no advance sales.

About Man of La Mancha:

Experience Don Quixote’s impossible dream like never before with Taproot Theatre’s intimate new staging of Man of La Mancha, running July 9 through August 7 (previews July 7 & 8). Don Quixote is mad… mad enough to dream an impossible dream while tilting after windmills. Featuring fresh, acoustic arrangements, this immortal classic reunites you with a story and songs that will capture your imagination and set you dreaming again. Quixote’s romantic quest is as crazy as he is. But is the impossible dream madness or vision? The trial is about to begin. Man of La Mancha is a musical play by Dale Wasserman with music by Mitch Leigh and lyrics by Joe Darion; the original production was staged by Albert Marre, and it was originally produced by Albert W. Selden and Hal James.

2010 Gala Breaks All Records!

“A Night at The 5th” raises $478,000, honors 30 years of history for Seattle’s premier home of musical theater

SEATTLE – The 5th Avenue Theatre celebrated its 30th Anniversary with A Night At The 5th, the Theatre’s annual Fundraising Gala, on Saturday June 19. During a glamorous evening of food, fun and entertainment, the generous patrons of The 5th gave more than twice as much money as last year’s event, and celebrated the end of a acclaimed season whose highlights included four Tonys for the co-production with La Jolla Playhouse of last season’s Memphis, the world-premiere of Catch Me if You Can and critically-acclaimed productions of Bernstein’s On The Town and Candide.

Throughout an evening that included both a live and silent auction the event raised $478,000, making this year’s Gala the most successful for The 5th ever, a remarkable achievement given the continued depressed state of the local and national economy. Patrons praised the event for its elegance and sheer entertainment value, which included a company of Seattle’s brightest musical theater talent gave a live performance that included a medley of songs drawn from the Theatre’s history, including a stand-out duet by White Christmas child stars Lauren Carlos and Drea Gordon, who performed that show’s duet “Sisters” complete with fans.

The evening also gave the Theatre a chance to pay tribute to the ‘Leading Lady of The 5th,’ Marilynn Sheldon, who served as the Theatre’s founding Managing Director up till her retirement last year, as well as the civic and business leaders behind the Theatre’s transformation from movie palace to Seattle’s magnificent home of live musical theater. Sheldon was lauded by her former colleagues in a moving ceremony that honored her 30 years of commitment to The 5th.

Managing Director Bernadine C. Griffin gave credit for the success of the event to the Gala committee and the board of The 5th, and particularly to board member and event chair Bonnie Towne. “Bonnie, or ‘The General’ as I like to call her, gave a year of her life to this organization, and we’re indebted to her leadership, determination and grace,” she said. She also singled out for praise The 5th’s Producing Partners Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff, who were on hand to triumphantly wave the “Best Musical” Tony they’d recently received in New York for Memphis, and live auction organizers Brad Goode and Sharon Friel. (The Fund-a-Need auction on its own raised more than $148,000, five times what was raised just a year ago.) “I couldn’t be happier that the hard work of these people and the generosity of our supporters paid off in such a spectacular fashion,” Griffin added.

Season subscriptions to The 5th Avenue’s 2010-2011 Season are available by calling 206-625-1900/toll-free 888-5TH-4TIX (584-4849), at our website at www.5thavenue.org, and in person at the box office at 1308 5th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101.

150 Artists, 150 Seats, Get There Early 14/48 Does Theatre Off Jackson

The World’s Quickest Theater Festival Runs July 30 & 31, August 6 & 7, 2010

Seattle, WA – June 21, 2010 – Consistency is the bane of creativity so Seattle ’s unique semi-annual speed theatre festival heads to its new summer venue Theatre Off Jackson at 409 7^th Ave South in the International District. 14/48 will run Fridays & Saturdays, July 30 & 31, August 6 & 7 with two shows a night at 8:00 and 10:30 pm. Fresh off increasingly passionate audiences and Standing Room Only houses of 300+, 14/48 will give its audience a more intimate experience at the 150-seat Theatre Off Jackson. “We’re committed to having at least 25% of the artists in each festival be brand new to the 14/48 process so we thought we’d extend that to a space we’ve never been before, Theatre Off Jackson.” says 14/48 Executive Producer Shawn Belyea. “They’ve hosted some great artists and programs over the years so we feel like we’re in good company. There’s also a really big bar, The Canoe Club, above the space, so that works out really well for us.”

14/48 is 14 plays conceived, written, designed, scored, rehearsed and performed in 48 hours. The brutal combination of short deadlines, extreme talent, incredible speed, frayed nerves and an immediate inspiration serve to strip away creative inhibitions occasionally found in more traditional theater, proving that, contrary to popular opinion –sometimes the first idea is the best. 14/48 involves more than 75 artists per weekend with at least 25% participating for the first time. Artistic participation is by invitation only and is predicated on the most rigorous professional standards.

Here’s how 14/48 works:

Early Thursday Night, Before the Festival Begins: After tapping the ceremonial 14/48 Keg, all the participants choose a theme by completing this sentence: “Theatre would be a lot more interesting if there were seven ten-minute plays about _____.” One answer is chosen at random and that becomes the theme for the following evening.

Thursday Night: Seven caffeine-filled writers have one night to write a 10-minute play based on the theme.

Friday Morning: Seven directors gather and each randomly draw one play. Thirty minutes later, the directors blindly choose actors and actresses’ names on slips of paper to cast the show.

That Day: The band shows up to provide music and sound, designers create all technical aspects of each show as the directors and their casts rehearse all day.

Friday at 8pm: The seven plays have their World Premiere. The audience provides the theme for the next evening’s show via a random drawing and the seven writers go home to start the process all over again to culminate with seven World Premieres for Saturday evening at 8pm.

14/48 runs for two consecutive weekends July 30 – 31 & August 6 & 7, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with a new group of 75 artists each weekend. Tickets are $20 online atwww.brownpapertickets.com or $25 at the door. The 14/48 All-Festival Passes are sold out and no longer available. For more information visit www.1448fest.com, and www.1448fest.blogspot.com.

14/48 Veterans include: Jerry Manning (Artistic Director: Seattle Repertory Theatre), Charles Leggett (Greg Falls Award for Best Actor in Merchant of Venice at SSC & A Trip to Bountiful at ACT) Rita Giomi (Artistic Associate: Seattle Children’s Theatre), Sheila Daniels (former Associate Artistic Director: INTIMAN), Elizabeth Heffron (playwright of Mitzi’s Abortion), Scot Augustson (playwright & creator of Sgt. Rigsby & His Amazing Silhouettes) and Stranger Genius Award Winners Paul Mullin, Amy Thone, and Sarah Rudinoff. Some artists who have worked at Theatre Off Jackson and 14/48 include Stephen Hando (Keefee’s House of Cards & Sgt. Rigsby’s Amazaing Silhouettes), Kiera McDonald (Executive Producer of Solo Performance Festival and Artistic Director of Our American Theatre Company Susannah Burney and all but one of the cast of its current production of Angels Fall.

July & August 2010 at ACT

Art, Uproarious Lunacy, Synergistic Cinema, Conspiracy Theories, New Plays, Wine and Buffoons…What a Line Up!

Seattle, WA – June 16, 2010 - ACT – A Contemporary Theatre splashes into summer with the continuation of its SOIL at ACT window displays, the irreverent satire The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith, then shifts to edge-of-your-seat intrigue with the Seattle premiere of Yankee Tavern by acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz. The Central Heating Lab at ACT delivers fresh hot talent all summer long with the next installment of RAWSTOCK’s experimental synergistic cinema project, a new songwriter showcase by Contemporary Classics, a bevy of Buffoons in UMO Ensemble’s presentation of El Dorado, and a first-of-its-kind event, the Icicle Creek Theatre Festival: An Uncorked Conversation: New Play Festival and Wine Tasting.

SOIL at ACT

A Central Heating Lab Event

July 1 & August 5

Tickets: FREE!

ACT’s First Thursday art collaboration with SOIL Artist-Run Gallery continues, July 1 and August 5. Commissioned by ACT, SOIL has curated and will install two, four-month cycles of new art at ACT in the windows facing 7^th Avenue, between Pike and Union, through August 30, with the second cycle, September 6-December 31. The cycle of window displays are inspired by ACT’s 2010 Mainstage season in what Artistic Director Kurt Beattie describes as “an evolution of consciousness, a journey through the ‘50s to now.” Each window is viewable from the street, and inside of ACT one hour prior to each show. Theatre tours are also available on First Thursdays. RSVP toservice@acttheatre.org the Sunday prior.

The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith

A Mainstage Play – A Seattle Premiere!

June 18- July 18

Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $10/$15 (students/people 25 and under) or included for ACTPass Monthly Members

Directed by Allison Narver and loosely based on a true story, this hilarious satire follows the plucky, obstinate, and opinionated feminist writer Margot Mason on her descent into the tortuous territory of writer's block and the misadventures of a day gone wrong. No feminist doctrine goes unscathed when this sacred monster of the movement is taken hostage by a disillusioned disciple in this viciously funny play about gender politics. Veteran Seattle stage actor Suzy Hunt leads a stellar cast, including Renata Friedman, Morgan Rowe, Paul Morgan Stetler, Tim Hyland, and Mark Chamberlin.

RAWSTOCK Short Film Festival

A Central Heating Lab Event

July 14 & August 18

Tickets: start at $10, or included for ACTPass Monthly Members

Now in its third year of partnership with ACT’s Central Heating Lab, RAWSTOCK Short Film Festival

continues to be Seattle’s destination for cutting-edge animation, politically incorrect comedy, and

relentless grindhouse cinema. This summer, RAWSTOCK debuts two new chapters of its Everyday is a Journey “synergistic cinema” project, where one story is told by six writers/directors via six

individual “chapter” films. See each chapter unfold at each RAWSTOCK event through November 17,

culminating in the final full screening of the film in its entirety in December.

Yankee Tavern by Steven Dietz

A Mainstage Play - A Seattle Premiere!

July 30- August 29

Tickets: start at $37.50 (adults) $10/$15 (students/people 25 and under) or included for ACTPass Monthly Members

From the acclaimed playwright who brought us the world-premiere of Becky’s New Car in 2008 comes an edge-of-your-seat political thriller brimming with intrigue. In aNew York dive bar five years after 9/11, a young couple find themselves face-to-face with a mysterious stranger who turns what seem like harmless conspiracy theories into a continuous stream of surprising and dangerous revelations in this eye-opening look at the events that forever changed our country. The cast includes Charles Leggett,Jennifer Lee Taylor, Shawn Telford and R. Hamilton Wright.

Contemporary Classics: NEW VOICES

A Central Heating Lab Event

August 2

Tickets: start at $20 ($15 for students w/ ID), or included for ACTPass Monthly Members

Now in its 9^th edition, featuring an exciting blend of Sondheim and pop/rock, this songwriter showcase has become a Seattle tradition, providing a first look at the future of musical theatre. This next generation of writers is turning Broadway on its ear with musicals about hysterical pregnancies, grunge bands, redheads and Ritalin. NEW VOICESstars some of Seattle’s hottest performers and the best songwriters in the country; it’s a concert event not to be missed!

UMO Ensemble

A Central Heating Lab Event

August 19 - 29

Tickets: start at $20, or included for ACTPass Monthly Members

UMO Ensemble returns to Seattle with its internationally acclaimed El Dorado. Through dark humor, live music, stylized text and fantastical images, El Dorado reveals the spirit of conquest and domination that characterized the European settling of the Americas. It’s created in the style of European “Buffoon Theatre.” Buffoons –similar to the classic court jester – play at humanity, mocking our follies and obsession with power. El Dorado applies this engaging, acrobatic, and colorful form to a retelling of the Spanish Conquistadors’ quest for the legendary “Kingdom of Gold.”

Icicle Creek Theatre Festival: An Uncorked Conversation: New Play Festival and Wine Tasting

A Central Heating Lab Event

August 23 - 24

Tickets: start at $40 (includes commemorative wine glass), for ACTPass Monthly Members, $20

The fourth annual Icicle Creek Theatre Festival tours from Leavenworth to Seattle bringing along wine from eight different area wineries and plays from two of thiscountry’s most talented contemporary

theatrical voices. Starting at 5:30 p.m., attendees can sample two dozen different wines along with hors d’oevres, followed by staged readings of two new plays: Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World by Yussef El Guindi and And When We Awoke There Was Light and Light by Laura Jacqmin. Post play discussions with the playwrights follow.

Launched in 2008, The Central Heating Lab at ACT serves as an incubator and catalyst for new works. ACT cultivates, produces, and presents artists working in all performance genres and provides an artistic home for a variety of local performance groups and artists. Relationships develop daily with individual actors, performers and playwrights while established partnerships with groups such as the New Century Theatre Company, RAWSTOCK, Seattle Dance Project, and Icicle Creek Theatre Festival deepen. New programs are added throughout the year.

With year-round programming produced by The Central Heating Lab at ACT alongside ACT’s Mainstage season of plays, ACT offers its patrons a unique opportunity to maximize their theatre experience – the ACTPass Monthly Membership: all you can see for only $20 (under age 30) to $25 per month! Members can attend any ACT produced performance throughout any given month, provided tickets are available. It is flexible, affordable, and is the first of its kind in the region. There is no contract, members may cancel at any time, and there is no limit to the number of times a member can attend. For the month of July and August, that means a Member can see all our shows, if they so choose, for only $20 to $25 vs. paying the single ticket price of at least $165 (if buyer would choose to see all offerings).

Memphis Takes the Tonys!

5th Avenue co-production from last season wins prestigious Broadway awards

SEATTLE, WA –Memphis, the high-octane musical about the early days of rock ‘n roll, has added to its critical reputation by receiving four Tonys at this year’s Tony Awards®: Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score, and Best Orchestration. The musical was produced at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in 2009 (in collaboration with theLa Jolla Playhouse) where it was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. Memphis is one of nine new musicals that have been developed and produced by The 5th Avenue over the past nine years, along with the Tony Award-winning Hairspray and Catch Me If You Can, which will open on Broadway next season.

Memphis tells the fictional story of a white DJ who falls in love with a black singer in 1950s Tennessee and helps to usher in the birth of a new popular music. Opening on Broadway to ecstatic reviews (“exhilarating….the very essence of what a Broadway musical should be.” AP; “Memphis is a musical you have to see even if you have to bribe somebody to get tickets," WOR Radio), the show has already won three Drama Desk awards, including Best Musical, and four Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Best Broadway Musical.

In addition to winning the Best Musical Tony, awards went to Joe DiPietro (best known for I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change) for Best Book, to David Bryan(a founding member of Bon Jovi) for Best Score, and Daryl Waters & David Bryan for Best Orchestration. Seattle native (and Tony nominee) Chad Kimball stars in the show as white DJ Huey Calhoun; Kimball grew up in West Seattle and is a graduate of Roosevelt High School. The Broadway production is directed by Christopher Ashley (Xanadu) and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys).

Seattle’s connection also includes the involvement of two long-time 5th Avenue supporters, Kenny and Marleen Alhadeff. Both were introduced to the Memphisproducing team of Sue Frost and Randy Adams early on by Marilynn Sheldon, The 5th’s former Managing Director. “In addition to being great supporters of The 5th (Kenny had been our Board Chairman for four years, and together they serve as our ‘Producing Partners’), we knew that Kenny and Marleen were interested in getting into commercial theatre production as well,” recalls The 5th’s Executive Producer and Artistic Director David Armstrong. “This was, as I suspected, a match made in heaven, and Kenny and Marleen eventually become full partners in Junkyard Dog, the production company that Sue and Randy founded. Most importantly the Alhadeffs fell deeply in love with Memphis.”

“Kenny and Marleen have been at the center of all of that activity and effort, including raising a significant portion of the Broadway capitalization,” continues Armstrong. “Of course they drew many of their investors from the Puget Sound region including other 5th Avenue Board members and donors. Junkyard Dog has now established itself as a new and significant force on Broadway, and I’m certain that Memphis is only the first of many great shows that they will produce.”

We at The 5th congratulate the artists and producers of Memphis, as well as Village Theatre for Million Dollar Quartet, a show that had an early incarnation at their Theatre and won a Tony for actor Levi Kreis’s portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis.