"The Market Musical"
The award-winning team of Donna Rae Davidson and Rob Jones, who brought you Claudia Kelly's 500 Hats and Women With Balls, have joined with Unexpected Productions, the resident theater company at the Market Theater, to produce The North Arcade, opening July 19, 2007, and running all summer. This light-hearted revue is a musical history of the craft community, who have colorfully contributed to the survival of Pike Place Market for the past forty years. Just as the market is cited as the "Soul of Seattle," this celebratory musical reminds us that it is the people and their stories that are the real heart of Pike Place Market.
Some Quotes from Newspaper Reviewers:
"All of the actors have the chance to play many different characters; whether they're poking fun at annoying tourists or re-creating a rainstorm, everyone involved is plainly having a ball.... Jones' infectious songs are played by a pit band, equipped with a large arsenal of instruments from a trombone to a ukulele, who are reminiscent of the street performers who line the Market daily.... Over the past century, the Market has secured a reputation as a friendly place, welcome to all. Everyone in Arcade shares this idea and presents it with, as one of Jones' songs says, "a charm you can't deny." DYLAN SLADKY, Seattle Weekly.
"NORTH ARCADE CHARMS AS NEW MUSICAL SALUTES PIKE PLACE MARKET
The North Arcade, the new musical saluting the vendors of the Pike Place Market, is full of charm and show-stopping musical numbers in the best Broadway tradition - a series of non-stop smash songs." by Milton W. Hamlin - SGN A&E Writer
"The North Arcade" by playwright/lyricist Donna Rae Davidson and composer Rob Jones is an exuberant shout-out to this resilient institution and to that colorful group of people known as day stallers. "The North Arcade" is a funny, tuneful, heart-felt tribute to a vibrant place that is reborn each day." By Richard Wallace Special to The Seattle Times
"The score by composer Rob Jones energizes... In particular, the showstopper "The Tourist's Lament," which gently lampoons clueless out-of-towners, and the pulsing work shanty of the homeless, "Real Change," grab attention... and you'll be humming the gospel-style "It's Gotta Be Handmade" out the aisle.
"The North Arcade" makes a pleasing light cabaret from the daily song and dance of Seattle's soul." By GIANNI TRUZZI SPECIAL TO THE P-I
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