Skip to content

Arts

Read More ›

Grunge Musical Coming to Seattle Repertory Theatre

Nirvana's former manager is reportedly involved in the play set in 1990s Seattle.

Soundgarden Roof 87_3 001
Soundgarden Roof 87_3 001

Put on your best flannel and favorite ripped jeans, kids. Grunge is coming to the theater.

According to Variety, the Seattle Repertory Theater has commissioned a musical set in grunge-era Seattle, with an ex-Nirvana manager reportedly involved. It sounds like the project is still very much in the early stages, but the fictional story plans to incorporate songs from 1990s stars like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.

Spearheading the project is Wendy C. Goldberg, the artistic director of the O’Neil Theater Center’s National Playright’s Conference in Connecticut, the most rock ‘n’ roll state in America. Goldberg will direct and co-create with composer and playwright Matt Schatz.

Former Nirvana and Hole manager Janet Billig Rich, who now runs a Los Angeles-based licensing company, is involved, as is BMG executive Elyse Cogan. BMG owns the publishing rights to Soundgarden and Alice in Chains’ music.

According to Cogan, the as-yet-untitled musical is targeted for development workshop late this year and the script and storyline are still in the works.

This certainly isn’t the first time rock ‘n’ roll and the theater have crossed paths in recent years. In 2010, a musical adapted from Green Day’s American Idiot album nabbed a pair of Tony Awards. The following year Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark hit Broadway with music penned by Bono and The Edge. Just this year saw the premiere of a musical inspired by Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, and if Meat Loaf can have his own musical, we suppose grunge can, too?

It’s unclear when this grunge musical might hit the stage. But if this doesn’t get your nostalgic juices flowing, check out the recently unearthed footage of Nirvana rocking an Aberdeen Radio Shack.

 

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Rearview Mirror: Crocodile Guardians, Late-Summer Potato Salad, and a Halloween Costume Hunt

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

COOKING WITH ASTER PANTRY A few leaves turn, my inbox fills with fall festival pitches and cozy brunch menus, and suddenly I want to stay home with a glass of wine and cook. I love this nesting season, though I’m not ready to give up summer produce. Earlier this year, I wrote about Seattle chefs…

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

WALKDONTRUN Returns This Saturday, Turning Downtown Seattle Into a Sprawling Art Show

In its second year, the free festival brings 200-plus artists to a 20-block route September 19, with a secret garden and a former 7-Eleven stocked with art.

Most walks through downtown Seattle involve trying to get somewhere. On September 19, the crosswalk itself might be the reason to stop. Heap Troupe will turn a four-way crossing into a performance, one of dozens of encounters planned for this year’s WALKDONTRUN. The free, all-ages art walk stretches across more than 20 blocks. From 11…

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

At Two Dot Schoolhouse, Ruth Marie Tomlinson Builds an Artistic Community

For nearly 20 years, the Seattle artist and her husband have welcomed artists, writers, and musicians to a historic Montana schoolhouse. Now they’re searching for its next stewards. 

At her solo exhibition last year at The Vestibule, Seattle artist Ruth Marie Tomlinson presented a new series of work inspired by her close readings of British nature writer J.A. Baker’s The Peregrine and Icelandic author Sjón’s The Blue Fox. As if on sheets torn from a sketchbook, her pages included excerpts and outtakes of…

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Rearview Mirror: Seahawks Off the Field, Seattle on the Board, and Smoked Oysters

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

HOOKED ON KNOCKS Admittedly, I am late to this one. The Seahawks’ first season of Hard Knocks, the HBO series that follows NFL teams through training camp, premiered in August, but until last week, I had never heard of it. To be honest, my football knowledge starts with knowing what a touchdown is and doesn’t…