Louis Broome's Texarkana Waltz, a Los Angeles hit, will open its Seattle run Jan. 12 at the Empty Space Theatre. Previews began Jan. 7 for a run through Feb. 13. Allison Narver (resident director for Broadway's The Lion King) directs the Seattle staging.

Set among the trailer trash of Oklahoma, Texarkana Waltz traces the troubled Wickett clan, destroyed when their father Eddie kills his wife Emma in front of his children. His son ends up speechless in a mental hospital, lost in the world of the Wild Wild West; his daughter hides far away from the family with the woman she loves. Part country-western song and part Elizabethan revenge tragedy, Waltz won four L.A. Ovation Awards when it premiered at Circle X Theatre in 1998.

Burton Curtis, of the Los Angeles production of Waltz, will recreate his role of Eddie Wickett with L.A. cast members Paul Morgan Stetler (Houston) and Todd Beadle (Cowboy Bob). Also in the cast are Lauren Weedman (Emma/Morgan), Jena Cane (Dallas), Keri Healey (Momma/Patsy), Edd Key (Deputy Slim/Twitty) and Paul Niebank (Sheriff Truett).

Designing Texarkana Waltz are Adam Stockhausen (sets), Kathleen Doherty (costumes) and Timothy Wratten (lighting).

Tickets are $21-$18 and are available by calling (206) 547-7500. The Empty Space Theatre is located at 3509 Fremont North and on the web at http://www.emptyspace.org. -- By Christine Ehren