Theatre Puget Sound (TPS) will present the 25th Gregory Awards on Monday, October 27, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall Seattle, celebrating a quarter-century of honoring excellence in the Puget Sound performing arts community. This year’s theme, “One Stage: Many Stars,” reflects the event’s commitment to inclusivity and artistic unity across disciplines.

By Gemma Wilson

“As usual, spring brings with it a very crowded theater calendar, which I consider an excellent problem to have. Among this month’s many highlights are an exciting world premiere, unorthodox takes on both a classic musical and a classic novel, and a live multimedia sendup of James Cameron’s megablockbuster “Titanic.”…”

Read the full article and check out the TPS Member Features on SeattleTimes.com!

“Olympia Family Theater (OFT) will present “The Giver” as its next main stage production from Jan. 24 to Feb. 9 at the Olympia Family Theater in downtown Olympia.  

“The Giver,” which is from Lois Lowry’s award-winning book, will be brought to live adaptation by Eric Coble…

OFT is a member of the Theatre Puget Sound, Theatre for Young Audiences/USA, American Alliance for Theater and Education, Olympia Audition League, and Olympia Downtown Alliance.”

Read the full article on The Journal of Olympia, Lacey, & Tumwater.

By Gemma Wilson

“After more than 100 years of ownership, Cornish College of the Arts has sold its venerable Capitol Hill building, Kerry Hall, to Seattle Theatre Group, according to a statement released Monday.

The 31,900-square-foot building, which is located at 710 E. Roy St. and housed classrooms, studios and a performance venue, sold for $6 million, according to an STG press representative. Proceeds from the sale have not been earmarked for any specific programs at this point, and will likely go toward Cornish’s general operations…”

Read the full story on Seattle Times.

By: Blair Ingenthron

“For a second year in a row, Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA) has been honored by Theatre Puget Sound as the Gregory Awards People’s Choice Organization of the Year for North Puget Sound. In addition to this award, WICA is the first theatre outside of Seattle to be nominated and win in lighting design for David Mackie’s work in the December 2023 production of Falstaff in Love. The arts organization was also in the running for Outstanding Community Engagement, which was won by Seattle Public Theatre…”

Read the full story on BroadwayWorld.com.

“The National Endowment for the Arts recently published an extensive literature scan titled Curtains Up: Critical Factors Influencing Theater Resiliency, which aims to pinpoint challenges faced by theatres across the U.S. and identify ‘key strategies that may prove beneficial in supporting theaters’ survival in the post-COVID era.’…”

Read the full article on Broadwayworld.com.

By Henry Behrens

“Seattle is more than a tech city; it may be hard for artists to survive in Seattle, but we’re making it work anyway. Performance art is thriving in venues all the way from Georgetown to Green Lake and beyond. While you may be familiar with the Fifth Avenue Theater, ACT Theater or even Intiman, I wonder how many of these smaller spaces you’ve visited…”

Read the full list and check out Theatre Puget Sound’s feature on realchangenews.org.

By Gemma Wilson and Margo Vansynghel

“September kicks off a new season in the performing arts, and in normal years we’d be rolling out the red carpet for a new crop of thrilling shows without trepidation. 

But this fall, things don’t feel normal.

There’s been a lot of bad news: Seattle theater companies are launching emergency fundraisers, exploring mergers, furloughing or laying people off, and cutting back on — or even postponing — shows and downsizing casts. Workers are worried about the future of the field. 

But amid this chaos, compounded by massive turnover among local arts leaders, some in the theater industry see huge opportunities: To overhaul an inequitable model built on underpaying people, to really consider audiences’ experiences, to take artistic risks, to streamline operations and share resources so the focus can be on making high-quality work and getting money into artists’ hands…”

Read the full Seattle Times article here.

There are few things more exciting to perform than swordfights. Macbeth, She Kills Monsters,
Three Musketeers and so many other shows call for epic swinging of steel. And even when
swords aren’t called for there’s action in nearly every play. Just a few examples of Seattle area
plays with notable action last season include Sherwood at Village Theatre (swords and staffs),
Luchadora! at Seattle Children’s Theatre (Lucha Libre wrestling), Romeo and Juliet at Seattle
Shakespeare (unarmed, found object, and a gun), The Lady Demands Satisfaction at Phoenix
Theatre (single sword) and Greenstage’s current production of Henry VI (sword and shield).

All those productions needed actors trained in stage combat to pull off exciting fights, but stage
combat training can be expensive, rarely offered, or require a big time commitment. Enter the
Seattle Sockeye Stage Combat Workshop.

This August, Latitude Theatre and Performer’s Forge will host the Pacific Northwest’s leading
stage combat educators in Seattle for a two-day stage combat workshop: The Seattle Sockeye.
On August 24th and 25th the TPS spaces at the Seattle Center will be taken over by participants
swinging longswords, throwing punches, and buckling some swash. It’s an exciting rebirth for a
workshop that last appeared in Seattle in 2005.

Seattle Sockeye participants can choose from four morning tracks:
– Combat Foundations – basics that are great for beginners or those looking to refresh
skills
– Film Fighting – prepping for and working action on camera
– Global Martial – Historical Martial Arts of the African Diaspora and Southeast Asia with a
focus on adapting action for the stage
– Deep Dive – advanced level focus on single sword technique

In the afternoons, participants in the Film Fighting, Global Martial, and Deep Dive tracks can
choose their own classes from a variety of exciting courses taught by local and regional experts.
These courses include Parkour, Japanese Martial Arts, Wrestling, Broadsword, and much more.
Those taking Combat Foundations will have afternoons curated for them to provide two well
rounded days exploring unarmed and weapons work.

The Seattle Sockeye’s two day workshop model offers extensive, high quality training in a
condensed time-frame at an affordable price. (There’s even a Saturday only option!) Come
spend a weekend swinging swords, fighting your friends, and investing in your craft.

Learn more and register here.

By Margo Vansynghel, Gemma Wilson, Moira Macdonald and Michael Rietmulder

“Basic income, affordable housing and free health care for artists. These may sound like pie-in-the-sky ideas, but multiple organizations here and across the country are making it happen. These are among the many solutions and ideas King County-based artists, in our Seattle Times 2024 Affordability for Artists Survey, say could help address the affordability crisis cramping local arts — while noting that those things should be available to everyone. 

Below, we’re highlighting a few promising programs while acknowledging that individual programs can only do so much to remedy a structural issue (which requires structural solutions). These are by no means a panacea, but a Band-Aid can still stem some bleeding…

A recent look at audition postings on Theatre Puget Sound’s website showed smaller theater companies offering stipends to nonunion actors of $1,500 on the higher end and $50-$200 on the lower end (both for approximately two months’ work), with some paying nothing at all…”

Read the full Seattle Times article here.