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The Play's the Thing

Fifth Avenue Theatre

Despite the allure of high tech entertainment choices, 500 cable television options, and the Hollywood movie industry, live theater is still alive in America. And Seattle is one of its hotbeds. Yes, you read that right, Seattle. With more than half a dozen resident professional companies, two large hosts for touring productions, and a myriad of fringe theaters, Seattle has been a mecca for theater artists for more than forty years.

The Intiman theater has generated such critically acclaimed plays as "The Kentucky Cycle" and "Light in the Piazza". And Seattle has attracted such theater talents as the late playwright, August Wilson and Tony-winning musical theater composer Adam Guettel. Seattle's Fifth Avenue theater has collaborated in the creation of two popular Broadway musicals, "Hairspray", and "The Wedding Singer".

But artistic success doesn't necessarily translate into financial solvency. Most of Seattle's big theater companies have been struggling to balance the books. Intiman Theater, recipient of the 2006 Tony Award for Regional Theater, is carrying almost a million dollars in accumulated debt. Two other companies, ACT and the Empty Space Theater, have managed to pull themselves back from bankruptcy, but their financial futures are far from secure.

In the five-part series, The Play's the Thing, KUOW's Special Projects Reporter/Producer Marcie Sillman looks at Seattle's rich theater community and the challenges to its future health.

KUOW News Special Report: 'The Play's the Thing'

Written and produced by Marcie Sillman, with research assistance from Robin Dean and technical help from Derek Wang. The series was edited by Steve Scher.

I. Seattle: A Theater Town

Intiman won a Tony in spring, 2006. Laura Penn (l) and Bart Sher (r).

Seattle's current theater scene can be traced back to 1962. The World's Fair left behind dozens of civic buildings, along with a million dollar surplus. Local leaders, spearheaded by Bagley Wright, decided the time was ripe to create a residential repertory company. Seattle Repertory Theater was born with an artistic influx from New York. Within ten years, Seattle saw the creations of A Contemporary Theater (ACT), The Empty Space Theater, and Intiman Theater. A theater community was born in the Northwest, and the region has attracted hundreds of talented artists.

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II. Money: A Tale of Two Theaters

ACT company members.

While Seattle's theater community has thrived artistically, the financial picture has been far murkier. Nonprofit arts organizations overall have seen cuts in governmental support since the 1980's, and local theaters have felt the impact. In addition, Seattle's dot-com bust, combined with the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, affected both theater attendance and financial contributions. Within a short time span, both ACT and Empty Space theaters found themselves facing the end of their organizational lives. Each found a way to resurrect and reinvent itself, and provide budgetary lessons for Seattle's other theaters.

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III. I Will Survive: Four Seattle Actresses

A life on the stage sounds glamorous, but making a living as a fulltime actress in Seattle is tough. Many local actors patch together a quilt of other jobs to support their passion for theater. What drives somebody to structure a life around acting? Four Seattle actresses share their stories.

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IV. Who's that Man Behind the Curtain?

Seattle Repertory Theater's first season production of King Lear

If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a crew to put on a play. For every successful stage production, you've got people making costumes, painting scenery and running the lights and sound. The technical and design crews are indispensable to great theater. We'll hear more about what goes on behind the curtain.

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International Associate of Theater Stage Employees

V. The Future

Seattle Children's Theatre Drama School students.

Live theater has survived in Seattle thanks to the devotion of artists and audiences. But what will it take to perservere in the 21st century? Money, obviously. But more than that, theater's success will depend on artists with passion for it, and audiences who choose theater over the many other entertainment options. Can theater compete? How?

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