COMING SOON for the SW Wash. Spring 2013 Theater Season

Here's a list of shows you might want to catch this season. Can't decide? Read our upcoming opening night reviews.

HARVEY, opens April 5 at Love Street Playhouse (Woodland), directed by Christopher Cleveland.

Elwood P. Dowd is an affable man who claims to have an unseen (and presumably imaginary) friend Harvey — whom Elwood describes as a six-foot, three-and-one-half-inch tall pooka resembling an anthropomorphic rabbit. Elwood introduces Harvey to everyone he meets. His social-climbing sister, Veta, increasingly finds his eccentric behavior embarrassing. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her and her daughter Myrtle Mae from future embarrassment. When they arrive at the sanitarium, a comedy of errors ensues.

CAMELOT, opens April 12, presented by Rising Star Productions (Longview) at their theater in Three Rivers Mall (Kelso).

This beloved musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe, which played on Broadway for over 800 performances. It is the story of King Arthur, his lovely wife, Guenevere, and his best friend, Lancelot. King Arthur is determined to create a kingdom where might is used for right and the knights are a force for good. This musical includes songs such as: If Ever I Would Leave You, What Would the Simple Folk Do, The Lusty Month of May, How to Handle a Woman and many more.

THE SECRET GARDEN, April 12 presented by Stageworks Northwest (Longview). 

Winner of three Tony® Awards, this enchanting classic of children's literature is reimagined in brilliant musical style by composer Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "'Night Mother." Orphaned in India, 11 year-old Mary Lennox returns to Yorkshire to live with her embittered, reclusive uncle Archibald and his invalid son Colin. The estate's many wonders include a magic garden which beckons the children with haunting melodies and the "Dreamers", spirits from Mary's past who guide her through her new life. "The Secret Garden" is a compelling tale of forgiveness and renewal.

SHADOWLANDS, opens April 19 at Magenta Theater (Vancouver).

This West End and Broadway hit is the love story of C.S. Lewis - Oxford don and author of The Chronicles of Narnia - and American poet Joy Davidman. Lewis is smug in his convictions about God and His plan for the world until Joy and her young son enter his life. This is a deep, meaty and dramatic play that will touch you.

ONCE UPON A MATTRESS, opens April 25 presented by Prairie-Ground Drama (Battle Ground).

"Once Upon a Mattress" features music by Mary Rodgers along with lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson and Dean Fuller. The musical original started life off-Broadway, before coming to the mainstream theater in 1959. The musical-comedy script is based on the classic fairy tale "The Princess and the Pea" and features a number of catchy songs. 

REASONS TO BE PRETTY, opens May 3 at the Clark Community College Decker Theater (Vancouver). Directed by Pat Rohrbach.

In "Reasons to Be Pretty," Greg’s tight-knit social circle is thrown into turmoil when his offhand remarks about a female coworker’s pretty face and his own girlfriend Steph’s lack thereof get back to Steph. But that’s just the beginning. Greg’s best buddy, Kent, and Kent’s wife, Carly, also enter into the picture, and the emotional equation becomes exponentially more complicated. As their relationships crumble, the four friends are forced to confront a sea of deceit, infidelity, and betrayed trust in their journey to answer that oh-so-American question: How much is pretty worth?

A MAGICAL MELODRAMA, opens May 3 at Love Street Playhouse (Woodland), presented by Golden Garter Family Theater. Written and directed by magician, ventriloquist and comedian Steve Taylor.

A comedy-spoof-magical adventure, fracturing for fun the conventions of the classic melodrama! The perfect family theater outing, “A Magical Melodrama” was a big hit in all of it’s previous presentations and now you can create a family-friendly event that will give you “memories that will last a lifetime!” Clean enough for kids, clever enough for adults, bring everyone to this hilarious spoof and “laugh ‘til your cheeks hurt!”

CLOUD 9, opens May 22 at the Rose Center for the Performing Arts, presented by Lower Columbia College (Longview). 

A time shifting British-African comedy by Caryl Churchill. Both parody and spoof of the 1880s Victorian Empire and its rigid attitudes towards sex. The play shifts twenty-five* years later to London in 1980 where all the characters' repressed sexual longings have evaporated along with the British Empire. (*Editor's Note: I know, I know, it's not a typo, it's a plot device.)

FUDDY MEERS, by David Lindsey-Abaire, opens May 31 at Serendipity Playhouse (Vancouver).

A woman with a rare form of amnesia wakes up every morning a blank slate. Her husband explains the situation, gives her breakfast and a book of essential information before taking his morning shower. As soon as he’s gone, a man claiming to be her brother arrives, telling her he’s there to rescue her. Like Alice through the looking glass, it’s there that her adventure truly begins.

Watch for our Reviews the day after opening night! If your play is not listed here and you would like it reviewed and advertised on our blog, contact us at swwastar@aol.com.