Broken Wide Open

17/05/2025

Tonight’s the show. We could sure use some more people in the audience. 9 PM. Come on —you know you wanna hang out somewhere fun tonight.!!

A short snippet from the show will be part of Shana's act at the Seattle Cabaret Festival in her show called "My Triology of Ologies" featuring songs from RENT, songs by Sondheim and more. Tickets available here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6559823

TWO NIGHTS ONLY: May 17th and 22nd.

03/05/2025

A short snippet from the show will be part of Shana's act at the Seattle Cabaret Festival in her show called "My Triology of Ologies" featuring songs from RENT, songs by Sondheim and more. Tickets available here: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6559823

TWO NIGHTS ONLY: May 17th and 22nd.

30/06/2024

Last week, I was honored by the American Heart Association who did a feature article about my health adventure five years ago. I am very grateful to be here every day. Here is a link to that story.
https://www.heart.org/en/news/2024/06/27/her-aorta-tore-while-in-ireland-she-turned-her-drama-into-a-cabaret-act

Open-heart surgery for an aortic dissection was the first in a string of medical crises for Shana Pennington-Baird. She fought back with creativity.

19/04/2024

Sometimes you need a day off. Cycling 🚴🏾 to tulip fields. What a day! The booth can wait…

05/03/2024

Broken Wide Open will open THIS Thursday night at West of Lenin, March 7th. It runs ONE weekend!

In August of 2019, Shana Pennington-Baird had a major medical emergency while traveling solo in Ireland. This tale is the wild story of how she got back home. Plus - enjoy the music of Dréos on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, enjoy The Half Brothers! And there's a great British pub across the street for after the show - George & Dragon Pub Seattle

Review from the premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival: "This brilliant little piece of theatre is a slice of heaven, with a whole lot of soul. I truly hope Shana has the opportunity to share her story in this medium again and again and again. If you see Broken Wide Open playing anywhere near you, I encourage you to run to buy a ticket. This is a show I would have seen twice, if not 3 times had I had the chance.” Review by Olivia Ruggiero, TheatreTravels

Tickets available at brokenwideopen.com

A musical adventure. A Seattle woman's true story of survival. Alone and abroad in Ireland. Coming this summer to Ireland and Edinburgh.

20/02/2024

Let's talk puppets today! Broken Wide Open showcases the puppetry work of Matthew Posner, Seattle WA. While there were no "official" muppets in Shana's adventure. The ambulance ride was full of fun (in real life) and this was a great way to showcase just how unusual the whole story is. Thank you, Matthew, for your exceptional work on the puppets in this show. Broken Wide Open will play for four shows March 7, 8, 9, 10 at West of Lenin in Seattle.

Tickets available now -- and you can totally enjoy a real English pub following the show at George & Dragon Pub Seattle which is right across the street.

Review from the Edinburgh Fringe Fest 23: "It's appropriate to say that BROKEN WIDE OPEN is full of heart, from the joyful storytelling and song on stage to the live band supporting Shauna's tale. I laughed and cried a bunch, and left feeling like I wanted some quality pub time with the group."

15/02/2024

Hah! Love this!!!

14/02/2024

More amazing musicians!! We are happy to celebrate The Half Brothers who will be performing on Sunday, March 10th as the second half of Broken Wide Open. So much great music!!! Please come hear the story of when Shana Pennington-Baird's life was saved by incredible Irish paramedics, surgeons and AirBnB hosts.

And.. here's more about The Half Brothers:

Seattle's premier purveyors of skewed bluegrass and new-fangled old-timey music with gorgeous close harmonies, the Half Brothers have been playing together since 2005. In addition to their original music (which you can find at thehalfbrothers.com), they sometimes like to do bluegrassy covers of catchy tunes from the 80's, and lately they've having fun making bluegrass arrangements of Led Zeppelin songs. The Half Brothers are: John Ackermann on mandolin, Rick Miller on guitar, and David Nixon on banjo.

Tickets at: click4tix.com/broken

13/02/2024

Seattle shows only: Enjoy the music of Dréos for a 40-minute set of celtic music on Thurs, Fri and Sat night!!

More about Dréos! IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE
"... lovely tight playing with the musicians sparring and bouncing off each other to give a very lively and natural sound ... Some of the best music of 2015."

- Irish Music Magazine, Alex Monaghan

IRISH ECHO
“The Clearing is a taut, accomplished work that plays at the crossroads between Irish and Scottish music. Dréos as a group is very tight musically—each of the members has superior skills—but I think it’s the chemistry that Grasso, Vance and Waddell share that makes their music especially interesting."

- The Irish Echo, Daniel Neely

Get tickets now: click4tix.com/Broken Wide Open