Well, not really! But our monthly variety show did provide the usual enchanting evening of music, theater, and film. Photographed this month by Annex Pep Squad leader Jen Moon!

• See 9 photos

Nationally-known monologist Mike Daisey dropped by from his run of Monopoly to regale us with his unique brand of storytelling. But first, there was the usual astonishing collection of music, dance, theater, and film!

• See 13 photos

Annex staff and friends added their talents to the second weekend of 14/48, the local two-day festival of 10-minute plays. Annex's resident photographer David B. was on the scene.

• See 12 photos

(Note: Annex Bar Czar Scotto Moore and Annex Dramaturg Brendan Healy wrote plays for the festival's first weekend, but are not pictured. Actress Juniper Berolzheimer performed in the first weekend, but is not pictured.)

Annex's upcoming production of Keep the Light On (opening February 8) is the January Spotlight at GreenIsSexy.org, a web site devoted to hip, sustainable living. The spotlight features an interview with the show's creator Max Reichlin, and director Ellie McKay.

Keep the Light On will use 2 human-powered bicycle generators to provide all power for the show. The performance includes plays by three separate authors on themes of family, perseverance, and the source of life's meaning in the face of an uncertain future.

• Read the interview

Annex's recent production of I Feel Fine (photo gallery) made the final cut in Seattle Times theatre reviewer Misha Berson's annual review of the local scene:

• Read the article

Tapped in the category of "Fab Fringe", Annex shares the annual kudos with Seattle Public Theatre's Travesties, and CHAC's Crime And Punishment. Annex also gets a mention for our new space, as part of a "fringe theatre resurgence on Capitol Hill".

And so, we end the year on a high note!

--Chris Comte

Annex's stage was a whirlwind as Spin the Bottle presented more than 40 complete performances less than one minute long!

• See 40 photos

Note: The photo captions are incomplete in some cases, missing names and descriptions. Please feel free to e-mail webmaster(at)annextheatre.org with additions or corrections. Thank you!

For three days over a weekend in November, members of the Annex Company met together at a rural lodge in southern Washington to create a vision for the future. Part business meeting, part bonding experience, the retreat laid the foundation for the upcoming year. (Photos by Chris Comte and David Baum.)

• See 17 photos

Bret previously served as Annex's Artistic Director from 2000-2004. By appointing him A.D. again, Annex is moving forward while maintaining continuity during a time of rapid change.

• Read the press release.

Brendan Kiley, arts reporter for The Stranger, posted congratulations for Annex on our new A.D. in the paper's news blog, the SLOG.

• Read the blog post

Our monthly cabaret inexorably delivers an unrivaled assortment of music, dance, drama, and general mayhem!

• See 13 photos

On Saturday, October 27, Annex Theatre hosted 13 tormented spirits trapped between this world and the next. Each ghost was doomed to act out the story of their grisly death until some merciful visitor gave them the lost talisman that was key to their liberation.

• See 16 photos

It was a surreal party at the end of the world! I Feel Fine, Annex's first mainstage show of the season, closed November 10. Misha Berson, theater critic for the Seattle Times called the show "Festively crazed...Exuberant...A romp about boogying on the edge of the abyss"!

• See 18 photos

Every seat in the house was full for another eclectic and stimulating assemblage of Seattle talent! Sexy devils! Midriffs! Monsters with cake!

• See 14 photos

In honor of Spin the Bottle's ten glorious years of cabaret madness, we held a tin-foil hat-making contest. (Research revealed that tin is the traditional gift for a tenth anniversary.) Much creativity and hilarity was in evidence, both on stage and in the audience!

• See 19 photos

Annie Wagner, theater critic for The Stranger, gave I Feel Fine a generally positive review. She called the show "animated," "entertaining," and "cute," and said that the show's "intensity is relentless."

• Read the review (Scroll down)

Misha Berson, theater critic for the Seattle Times, reviewed I Feel Fine. She called the show "festively crazed," "exuberant," and a "neo-Brechtian...song-and-dance orgy...vibrant and even heartwarming in its messy, festive aliveness"!

• Read the review

The Seattle Times' theater critic, Misha Berson, gave us an affectionate preview notice in Friday's Ticket supplement. Thanks, Misha!

• Read the Times story

Annex's production of the short play Little Lost Pussy has been chosen for was performed at On the Boards' showcase of new experimental work, 12 Minutes Max. Performances are were Sunday, October 7 and Monday, October 8.

Little Lost Pussy tells the story of Frankie, a woman who wakes up one day to discover her vagina is missing, launching her and her fiance, Peter, on the most intimate of quests.

The play was written by Bret Fetzer and Juliet Waller-Pruzan, and is directed by Brendan Healy. The show features Pamala Mijatov, Aaron LaPlante, Daniel Christensen and Teri Lazzara.

Little Lost Pussy was originally written for 14/48, the world's quickest theater festival, in June of 2001. The play was most recently performed at Annex Theatre's monthly cabaret Spin the Bottle on September 7, 2007.

Annex's resident graphic designer, Scott Robertson, created a monster sign for our new space. ScotRob (as he is affectionately known) donated his living-room floor to house the behemoth while it was under construction. Thanks, ScotRob!

• See 4 photos

The Company convened on July 30 to bid adieu to the "old Stellner" and inaugurate the "new Stellner." It was a joyous occasion, though bittersweet.

• See 8 photos

Now that all the stuff is in the new space, it must be sorted!

• See 4 photos

We moved our stuff! (Or most of it.) On Sunday, July 22, a huge contigent of Annex company members and friends moved equipment, furniture, props, costumes, and other assorted theatrical materials from the Stellner Studio to our new space. It was a long day, but a good time was had by all!

• See 24 photos

Over the past few days, multiple and various friends of Annex have collected a large amount of no-longer-useful stuff into The Pile, for imminent disposal. We found one hardy crew at work....

• See 5 photos

Yes, the rumors are true! Annex Theatre is moving into the former Northwest Actors Studio space on Seattle's Capitol Hill, effective immediately. The company is hard at work preparing for major renovations and getting ready to launch the first show of our 2007-08 season in early October.

• Read our press release
• Read John Longenbaugh's column about us in the Seattle Weekly for July 18

Well, actually only 7 plays, representing one week's worth of performances from a year-long, nation-wide presentation of 365 Days/365 Plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. On July 8, 2007, the company descended on Cal Anderson Park in Capitol Hill to regale the sun-worshippers and frisbee-throwers with live theater.

• See a gallery of photographs of the performances

Background: From November 13, 2006 through November 12, 2007, Seattle performing artists, producers, and presenters from a variety of disciplines are collaborating to present the World Premiere of 365 Days/365 Plays at venues throughout Seattle and King County. The Seattle production is a part of a national festival that is also being produced simultaneously in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and other cities throughout the United States in what marks the largest theater collaboration in history.

• For more info, visit 365seattle.com