Gemma Wilson

1 day ago | seattletimes.com | Gemma Wilson

Have you ever thought about how, once upon a time, someone somewhere wrote down the very first, single, solitary, newborn-baby note of what would become “Carousel” or “Cabaret”? How about “The Wiz,” “The Sound of Music” or “The Phantom of the Opera”? Whatever your favorite musical is, that show had its own beginning moment of creative singularity. But what happens after that?

1 week ago | seattletimes.com | Gemma Wilson

For 60 years, ACT Contemporary Theatre has been a mainstay of Seattle’s performing arts scene. So, what could it mean that, as the company hits this milestone, ACT as we know it is officially disappearing? On July 1, ACT and Seattle Shakespeare Company will officially merge into one theater company, but many details of the merger — including what this new company will be called publicly — remain unclear.

2 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Gemma Wilson

Almost everything dani tirrell had planned for the dance piece “Elysium: Leviticus or Love and to walk amongst HUMANS! (Book II)” fell apart after the 2024 presidential election. Enraged after former Vice President Kamala Harris’ election loss, which seemed to illustrate the unbreakable ceiling obstructing the achievements of women of color, tirrell changed course.

2 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Gemma Wilson

Live in the Northwest long enough and you’ll likely develop, to at least some degree, our local allergy to going indoors while the sun is shining. Luckily, summertime promises sunny days and late sunsets, which means we don’t always have to choose between fresh air and refreshing art. Here are just a few of the exciting theater events coming to our outdoors, great and small, this summer.

3 weeks ago | seattletimes.com | Gemma Wilson

Transforming pain into art requires a special kind of alchemy. Dancer-choreographer Zoe Scofield is an alchemist. In the brand-new hybrid-dance work “tell the truth and shame the devil,” a tumultuous time in Scofield’s life becomes an unnerving performance. During a recent rehearsal, sometimes the dancers bore the weight of a life-size puppet’s lumpy, flaccid body. Sometimes they left the puppets behind entirely.