Matchmaker Dolly Gallagher Levi can answer your relationship questions, solve your financial woes, teach you to dance, and solve all your problems (even the ones you didn’t know about!). We asked patrons to submit their questions for Dolly to answer. Here are our favorite answers: What are your thoughts on change? There’s been lots of it for me recently and I’m looking for some advice.  Change means that you are part of the magic experience of life. My late husband, Ephraim Levi, believed in life—anywhere you could find it—cafes, ballrooms, and yes, even theatres!  Even when time ..read more

Tanesha Ross, MT-BC, NMT, is a music therapist at Seattle Children’s Hospital. She also serves as the Director of Music Therapy Services at NM Entertainment. We sat down with her to discuss her work. Village: How did you enter the field of music therapy? Ross: I did theater for 20 years; I was living in NYC, and things were going really well, but I wasn’t feeling fulfilled in a lot of ways.  When I was five years old, I had wanted to be singing doctor, so I think it was sort of my calling the whole time. I then did an undergrad training in music therapy (they have masters and doctora ..read more

An Interview With Set Designer Parmida Ziaei and Lighting Designer Amiya Brown Parmida Ziaei and Amiya Brown Tell us about building the world of the play. What words and inspirations guided you? Parmida Ziaei (PZ):  I think the key word to set the tone of the play was “anachronism” and how we could create a world that lives both in contemporary and period time, and also feels fun and beautiful. I was really inspired by the beauty and nature of the English countryside, but also a more contemporary and fantastical watercolor and ink style that could visualize the inner artistic worlds o ..read more

Bassist Olivia Hamilton plays in the orchestra pit for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at Village Theatre. We asked her some questions about her experience as a pit musician. Let’s start with some background. What’s your “origin story” for becoming an orchestra pit musician? I was lucky enough to grow up in a musical family. Everyone sang and played instruments. Music is part of how we tell our stories, so the idea of contributing to collective and co-creative storytelling by playing in an orchestra pit just made sense. Academically, my study of theatre and music were always paired as w ..read more

An Interview with Prop Shop Manager Rachel Bennick (they / them) How long have you worked at Village Theatre? I have worked at Village Theatre since 2018. Little Shop of Horrors will be my 23rd (I think) show I have been the prop leader on. Describe a day in the life of the Prop Shop. The best thing about props is that you are always doing something different! Depending on the show and what phase of the build we’re in our days can be pulled in very many directions. So this one sort of hard to answer without first quickly explaining the structure of the Prop Shop. In my role as Prop Sh ..read more

Meet Heather, one of our long-time KIDSTAGE parents. Her two children Aresa (age 18) and Eliot (age 15) have both been a part of the KIDSTAGE program since they were five years old. They participated in many programs both on and off the stage. Read about Heather’s experience with KIDSTAGE below. Heather with her two kids, Eliot (L) and Aresa (R) Q: What do you love about being a KIDSTAGE parent? A: I love the confidence that doing a show nurtured in both my kids. Aresa’s first production was The Little Mermaid, and my husband was the lighting designer. During tech, I stopped in to bring h ..read more

Why does Village Theatre matter to you? Village Theatre brings super high quality theatre to a local community in a way that is really uncommon.   Not only do we enjoy getting out to see some of the classic musicals or shows, but Village Theatre always brings compelling new works to the stage, and as patrons, we get to watch as they develop, starting sometimes with readings at the summer festival, and culminating years later with mainstage productions! This is a super exciting thing to experience, and one that is a really good “bang for your buck” in entertainment dollars! What ..read more

A behind the scenes look from KIDSTAGE Director, Brayden James about their experience Directing Head Over Heels at Village Theatre KIDSTAGE in Everett. What is your name, and your role in the show? My name is Brayden James (they/them), and I was the Director for Village Theatre KIDSTAGE’s production of Head Over Heels in Everett. Why did you apply to be a director with Summer Independent? A big reason I applied to direct was that I wanted more experience. Directing is something that I want to do professionally, and the Summer Independent Program gave me an avenue to get some amazing hands ..read more

Adam Immerwahr of Washington DC’s Theater J named Artistic Director; Laura Lee of Seattle’s ArtsWest named Managing Director. ISSAQUAH, WA (July 8, 2022) – Village Theatre today announces Adam Immerwahr (Washington DC’s Theater J) as its next Artistic Director and Laura Lee (Seattle’s ArtsWest) as its first-ever Managing Director. This news comes after the 2021 announcement of 43-year Executive Producer Robb Hunt’s planned retirement, and a national search led by Village Theatre’s Board of Directors in conjunction with Management Consultants for the Arts. Both leaders begin their work with Vi ..read more

We get an inside look with Charles Murdock Lucas, Scenic Designer for Mamma Mia! , about the journey of making Director Faith Bennett Russell’s vision of Sankofa, come to live on stage. CHARLES MURDOCK LUCAS is a Scenic and Projection Designer based in San Diego, CA. Designs include: Sofia National Opera and Ballet (Bulgaria), Daejeon Arts Center (Korea), The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Skylight Music Theatre. Head of Scene Design and Projection Design at SDSU. Work exhibited: 2019, 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. Program Director for Opera Hack sponsored by S ..read more