I grew up and lived in the New York City area from 1941 until early 1975 when I moved my young…read morefamily to the Northwest. My wife and I had attended many Broadway, Off Broadway and Summer Stock shows before arriving in Issaquah in 1978. During the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, we went to music venues in Greenwich Village at the south end of Fifth Avenue, near New York University and Washington Square. Places we heard jazz, folk music and more included Village Gate, Village Vanguard, Fillmore East and Cafe Wha'. More about that later.
The Village Theater started producing shows in 1979. Boy, were we lucky! We attended their shows in an early 20th Century converted movie theater with many mismatched types of seating. We followed them to their state-of-the-art Frances Gaudette Theater in 1994, just up Front Street. More recently, they started to put on their shows in Everett, as well as Issaquah.
Village Theater puts on classic Broadway/West End shows (mainly musicals but not always) and new shows created/produced locally. Over the years, those local shows included Pulitzer Prize winning NEXT TO NORMAL, Tony Award winner MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET and IT SHOULDA BEEN YOU nominated for a Drama Desk Award. The old theater now houses their new musicals (VILLAGE ORIGINALS) and is the venue for their children's education program called KIDSTAGE.
For the last two decades, usually in August, the VT has put on a weekend of new shows open to the public for commentary. It was at one of these previews in 2024 that we first saw WE AIN'T EVER GONNA BREAK UP.
At that presentation, it was Gregg Hammer and Louis Pardo (writers and actors), two chairs and a guitar or two. No sets, no costumes, no orchestra. Last night, we saw the final version of the show on the third day of performances with sets, costumes, props and still no orchestra.
It helped that we grew up and saw performances in the 1960s in New York at Village Gate and Cafe Wha'. It helped that saw live, the folk singers whom Pardo and Hammer emulate in their show. We lived the history as well such as Woodstock and Vietnam.
However, it is not necessary to have lived it to enjoy the show. The guys are great singers, actors and musicians. The soundtrack is wonderful. The set is spectacular. It is a snapshot of a part of US music and history from the early 1960s to the mid1990s. It is fun. It is 100 minutes that flies by (no intermission so plan for that). Folk legend Bob Dylan, record producer Sam Phillips (Sun Records in Memphis) and pop/rock hero Neil Diamond make brief guest appearances.
On a scale of one to five stars (five being the best), this gets 7.5 stars. Go see it in Issaquah or later in Everett.
