Chuck Leonard

Sutton Foster Glows at The Barns at Wolf Trap

The audience for Sutton Foster at The Barns at Wolf Trap was packed on opening night and clearly delighted to have a chance to hear Foster in such a warm and intimate venue. A phenomenal actress,...

From these ‘Rags,’ riches at George Mason University

Congratulations DC-area theatergoers! A new version of a major musical is being performed at George Mason University this weekend. It has legs and there are still tickets available. Rags is the...

Fixing World Crises: The Women of ‘SEVEN’ are Succeeding and Inspiring

SEVEN is a powerful documentary piece of theatre that brings the writing talents of seven award-winning playwrights to bear on the personal interviews of seven world-changing women from around the...

Review: Audra McDonald Headlines George Mason’s University’s ‘ARTS by George!’

Audra McDonald’s concert Saturday night, September 28, was the culmination of a wonderful evening at George Mason University’s 14th annual ARTS by George! benefit. The concert hall at the Center for...

Review: ‘The Giver’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater

In The Giver, Eric Coble’s adaptation of the Newberry Award-winning novel by Lois Lowry, Aldersgate Church Community Theater offers a family-friendly production about a future society that has gained...

Review: ‘A Few Good Men’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

OORAH and HOOYAH! Integrity and a code of honor is at the heart of the play A Few Good Men, showing now at The Little Theatre of Alexandria. Many Marines and a few Naval officers share the focus of...

Review: ‘A Fox on the Fairway’ by The Little Theatre of Alexandria

The Quail Valley Country Club is the setting for Ken Ludwig’s A Fox on the Fairway, and the annual golf tournament against their rivals, Crouching Squirrel Country Club, is at hand. Quail Valley’s...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ by Aquila Theatre at George Mason University

Last night, Aquila Theatre performed a wonderful version of the classic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at George Mason University’s Center for Visual and Performing Arts. All of the actors (of whom...

Review: ‘The Explorers Club’ at Workhouse Arts Center

If you have not yet visited the intimate Workhouse Theatre in Lorton, Virginia, Frank Shutts is currently directing a screwball comedy full of inappropriate giggles. Attitudes are purposefully dated...

Review: ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ at the Little Theatre of Alexandria

When one thinks about a classic romantic comedy, exploding with moments of farcical mayhem, You Can’t Take It With You is as classic as it gets. Written in 1936 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the...

Review: ‘The Wolves’ at NextStop Theatre

Sarah DeLappe’s first play, The Wolves, was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for drama, and has subsequently been produced all over the country. The production at NextStop Theatre Company is,...

Review: ‘The Brothers Size’ at 1st Stage

Offering timely explorations of important topics, 1st Stage continuously produces memorable plays. They are always solid, but The Brothers Size will knock you out. In it, a young man newly released...

Review: ‘Superior Donuts’ by Reston Community Players

In Superior Donuts, which opened at the Reston Community Players last night, the new Starbucks across the street is taking business from a 60-year-old family-owned shop. It is a familiar story in...

Review: Paula Vogel’s ‘A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration’ at 1st Stage

A Civil War Christmas at 1st Stage is a strong addition to plays that connect with the holiday season. Playwright Paula Vogel embraces and examines provocative themes in this piece, looking at all of...

Review: ‘Beautiful – The Carole King Musical’ at the National Theatre

Beautiful – The Carole King Musical is a delightful, heavenly-sounding, Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about Carole King, who “wrote the soundtrack to a generation.” With a hit parade of King’s...

Review: ‘Anastasia’ at The Kennedy Center

Will you be swept up into the legend of Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia? When her family was executed during the Russian Revolution, the rumor spread that...

Review: ‘Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ at George Mason University

Big River is the musical adapted from the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. With music and lyrics by Roger Miller and a book by William Hauptman, the 1985 production on...

Review: ‘Émilie, La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight’ by Vienna Theatre Company

Editing from the playwright’s own words, “Émilie is a play about legacy,” and “is a dilated moment in time just before Emilie’s death. It is a game of wit, a defiance of mortality, a beautiful battle...

Review: ‘Hero’s Welcome’ at 1st Stage Theatre

Hero’s Welcome at 1st Stage is the area premiere of British playwright Alan Ayckbourn’s 79th play. While Ayckbourn might be best known for his uproarious comedies, the humor here is darker than...

Review: ‘Swimming With Whales’ at 1st Stage

In its world premiere first professional performance, Swimming With Whales at 1st Stage has already built an impressive record in its preparation. It was part of the Sigworks Readings at Signature...

Review: ‘Waitress’ at The National Theatre

Waitress at the National Theatre is sweet as “Sugar.” The word resonates during scene shifts, as an immensely talented piemaker, Jenna (Desi Oakley), lists the ingredients for the new pie she is...

A View From ‘The Mountaintop’: Actors Gilbert Glenn Brown and Karen Malina White on Martin Luther King’s Life, Death, and Legacy (Interview)

50 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot on the balcony outside of his room at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis. His death at age 39 still reverberates throughout the country, which still battles...

Review: ‘The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail’ at George Mason University

Despite period costumes, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail feels current, primarily because it is so topical. Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee wrote the play in 1969, but George Mason’s production,...

Review: ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ at Prince William Little Theatre

As the play starts, Morrie Schwartz is dying from ALS. That such a heart-warming, honest, and funny play would begin with such a premise is startling. In Tuesdays with Morrie, produced by the Prince...

Review: ‘The Imaginary Invalid’ by the Mason Players at George Mason University School of Theater

Satire is a comic form I have always loved. Among the greatest geniuses of the genre is Molière, whose comedies from 3.5 centuries ago still evoke howls of laughter when done well. Directed by...

Review: ‘Speech and Debate’ at Peter’s Alley

Peter’s Alley is offering a very funny production of Speech and Debate by Stephen Karam at Theatre on the Run. Karam, whose play, The Humans, won the 2016 Tony award for Best Play, has twice been a...

Review: ’35mm: A Musical Exhibition’ at George Mason University School of Theatre

35mm: A Musical Exhibition is referred to as a musical by the directors, but it is different from the way many think about the standard musical. The George Mason University School of Theatre and the...

Review: ‘Anne of Green Gables’ at Little Theatre of Alexandria

In the first decade of the 20th century, on a farm in the tiny village of Avonlea, in Canada’s smallest province, Prince Edward Island, a brother and sister realize they need help to sustain their...

Review: ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ by Reston Community Players

Based on the 2005 book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatcher is a Tony Award-winning play by Rick Elice, with music by Wayne Barker. A lively production opened Friday, January...

Review: ‘On Your Feet!’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

The rhythm is gonna get you! Expect to find yourself dancing in your seat, because the energy from this show is infectious. On Your Feet! at the Kennedy Center is electric, and audience members...

Review: ‘My Name is Asher Lev’ at 1st Stage

From the beginning of the 1st Stage production of My Name is Asher Lev, we are told that the young Asher is an amazingly gifted artist. Asher, who is played by Lucas Beck, narrates the play, and every...

Review: ‘The Pillowman’ at George Mason University

Last night, the Mason Players opened another excellent student-directed play at George Mason University. Following strong performances of Deadman’s Cell Phone and 1984 earlier this semester, The...

Review: ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ at The Prince William Little Theatre

The markings on my forearm, imprinted when I entered the theater, remain, labeling me. At the end of the play, when I am leaving through the hall behind the theater, I witness a large pile of worn,...

Review: ‘Moon Over Buffalo’ at Providence Players

The play is set in 1953, and the Hays’ once-proud stage careers are fading due to the increasing popularity of television and cinema, and actors who haven’t been paid in a few weeks are quitting the...

Review: ‘Sense and Sensibility’ at Aquila Theatre at the George Mason University Center for the Arts

Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is the story of the two older Dashwood sisters. In a delightful Aquila Theatre production at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, the two sisters –...

Report: Kelli O’Hara Performs at the ARTS by George Benefit at George Mason University

Kelli O’Hara’s concert last night was the culmination of a wonderful evening at George Mason University’s “ARTS by George” benefit. The concert hall at the Center for the Arts was full of an...

Review: ‘Gilligan’s Fire Island’ at Dominion Stage

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a cheeky flip, begun with fun by castaways, who do everything but strip. Gilligan’s Fire Island is a parody, bringing back nostalgic memories of...

Review: ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Neil Simon writes terrific comedy. Tonight, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, directed by Theater J’s Artistic Director Adam Immerwahr, performed by Walnut Street Theatre at George Mason University’s Center...

Review: ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ at Reston Community Players

The names might seem familiar, and as you watch the show, some of the references sound like something you may have heard of before. In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the Tony Award-winning Best...

Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

A Christmas Carol at Little Theatre of Alexandria is a great way to get in the holiday spirit and reflect on Charles Dickens’ timeless themes of repentance and generosity. There is good reason that A...

Review: ‘Once’ at National Theatre

From the moment one enters the National Theatre, it becomes clear that Once is not your typical Broadway fare. Rather than seeing closed drapes and hearing piped-in pre-show music, the first view of...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The George Mason University School of Theater and The Mason Players

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare has long been among my favorite plays. If it isn’t already yours, the Mason Players production could well change your mind. What kind of comedy do you...

Review: ‘The Complete History of America (abridged) Special Election Edition! by The Reduced Shakespeare Company at Hylton Performing Arts Center

Paul Revere may or may not have ridden through the countryside yelling, “The Redcoats are coming,” but given a quick horse and a heavily padded saddle, this reviewer is writing to announce, “The...

Review: ‘A Party To Murder’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

A Party to Murder, which opened last night at Little Theatre of Alexandria, is in the style of many Agatha Christie mysteries. Early on in the first act, one of the characters in the play even makes a...

Review: ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at Castaways Repertory Theatre

Power struggles come in many forms. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, by Tennessee Williams can be used as a case study in a book titled, How to Win Arguments, and Influence People. Maggie uses sensuality and...

Review: ‘Almost, Maine’ at Providence Players of Fairfax

Almost, Maine is a series of short scenes reflecting love stories of characters in the same small town which never quite got organized enough to become official, so remains “almost.” The actors are an...

Review: An Evening with Art Garfunkel at The Hylton Performing Arts Center

In his 70s, Art Garfunkel still has control of a gorgeous, light counter-tenor, and an ability to tell the story of a song while connecting with his audience. The Hylton Center for the Arts at George...

Review: Aquila Theatre’s ‘The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes’ at GMU’s Center for the Arts

Audiences can’t get enough of Sherlock Holmes. Television has two productions currently, the movie industry adds another version every year or two, and stage versions abound. I know of 4 versions...

Review: ‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

It is funny! Building from a witty start to a raucous, hilarious ending, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at The Little Theatre of Alexandria offers a joyful send-up of all the...

Review: ‘Talley’s Folly’ at Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions

Talley’s Folly is a beautifully written two-person play by Lanford Wilson, reinventing the timeless love story of a couple who, despite their many differences are trying to find a way to make their...