David Friscic

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Computer That Loved’

In his enigmatic but slight one-man show, entitled The Computer That Loved, written and performed by Erik Mueller (as part of the exciting Fringe Festival) a real-life story is presented in a...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The DOMA Diaries’

Thrilling progressive history and the trajectory of societal forces colliding with basic human rights is delineated through the prism of three couples who are fighting for their dignity as LGBTQ...

Review: ‘Get Used to It! A Musical Revue!’ at Rainbow Theatre Project

The current production being produced by the theatrically provocative and cutting-edge Rainbow Theatre Project —entitled Get Used To It! A Musical Revue!–may be a bit of a misleading title, for this...

Review: ‘Kinky Boots’ at The Kennedy Center

In The Kennedy Center’s current production of the Tony Award-winning musical Kinky Boots, a cornucopia of vibrant color runs riot through this exuberant and defiant celebration of diversity and...

Review: ‘Carmina 35’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

It was an extremely innovative and conceptually brilliant idea to celebrate 35 wonderful years of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) in a sophisticated, elegant and somewhat serious mode...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘Twilight of the Gods –The Ring of the Nibelung –Part Three’ at Washington National Opera

Mother Earth is crying in despair and degradation in Director Francesca Zambella’s audaciously brilliant interpretation of the final opera of Wagner’s artistically magnificent Ring Cycle—Twilight of...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘Siegfried-The Ring of the Nibelung-Part Two’ at Washington National Opera

The epic tale continues as the Washington National Opera’s production of Siegfried –The Ring of the Nibelung-Part Two played to a very appreciative audience last night at The Kennedy Center Opera...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘The Valkyrie –The Ring of the Nibelung-Part One’ at Washington National Opera

Love in all of its many manifestations runs rampant throughout the Washington National Opera’s most recent offering in the continuing tale of The Ring Cycle—-namely, The Valkyrie –The Ring of the...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘The Rhinegold’ at Washington National Opera

German composer Richard Wagner’s much heralded and talked about (over the past many decades!) Ring Cycle opened at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Saturday evening with the first opera in the cycle,...

Review #2: ‘I Am Anne Hutchinson/I Am Harvey Milk’ at Strathmore

Composer Andrew Lippa’s pulsating music shoots like a jolt of adrenaline throughout the super-charged heightened music of the World Premiere Concept Opera I Am Anne Hutchinson/I Am Harvey Milk....

Review: ‘Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett-A Conversation Where the Audience Asks the Questions’ at Strathmore

Comedienne extraordinaire Carol Burnett brought her distinctive and legendary persona to the Music Center at Strathmore last night and the audience responded with glee and deserved appreciation....

Review: ‘Johnny Mathis –The 60th Anniversary Concert Tour’ at Strathmore

Johnny Mathis, iconic and legendary vocalist of love songs, jazz, tin pan alley, Brazilian music, holiday music and the Great American Songbook, celebrated his 60th Anniversary in Show Business...

Review: ‘The Boys in the Band’ at Dominion Stage

Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking play The Boys in The Band, now being given a superlative production by Dominion Stage at the Gunston Arts Theatre, is perfectly “on-target” as a study of psychological...

Review: Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Frances Ruffelle at The Kennedy Center

Totally “lopping –the –top” off conventional cabaret concert conventions, Broadway star and musical artist Frances Ruffelle presented a radically deconstructed, immersive and jazz-infused “tone poem”...

Review #2: ‘Boots, Class & Sass’ at Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Having reviewed the outstanding Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) many times in the past, it was a delightful diversion to review an evening of country music escapism entitled Boots, Class &...

Review #2: ‘110 in the Shade’ at Ford’s Theatre

As the opening song exclaims, “Gonna Be Another Hot Day”- and like a refreshing breeze, the lilting lyrics and melodious music of the prolific theatre songwriting team of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt...

Review: ‘The Flick’ at Signature Theatre

Like the seismic shift in the theatrical terrain that I experienced when I saw the Steppenwolf Theater’s production of Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead off-Broadway, or the excitement I felt when I saw...

Report on: ‘Suddenly Last Summmer’ and ‘Justice Disordered’ Readings at Rainbow Theatre Project

One of Tennessee Williams’ bleaker, darker plays,– the one-act dramatic cry of despair, Suddenly Last Summer (which was expanded beyond its more compressed scope in the famous Elizabeth Taylor film of...

Review: ‘The Way We Were’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Yesterday, I was privileged to see the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC’s extremely intimate, engaging and musically creative concert of songs entitled The Way We Were. This stimulating and...

Review: ‘Lost in the Stars’ at Washington National Opera

In the scorching, emotional and honest opera of man in search of redemption, the opera–Lost in the Stars, now playing as part of the Washington National Opera series at the Kennedy Center —is a...

Review: ‘The City of Conversation’ at Arena Stage

In the daring new play about Washington politics and the halcyon days of genteel social hostesses, The City of Conversation, (now playing at Arena Stage) the word “conversation “ is most decidedly a...

Review: ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Ford’s Theatre

Possibly the most lyrical and sentimentally poignant of all the plays written by Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie still holds up as one of Williams’ most well-written plays....

Review: ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’ at The Keegan Theatre

Like the popular E.L. Doctorow novel, Ragtime, the Keegan Theatre’s whimsical and bouncy new production of Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile is an intricate, quasi-historical journey as...

‘ReWrapped’ at the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

The annual Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) holiday concert entitled ReWrapped was a lively holiday treat that combined cutting-edge musical arrangements with a light, breezy, and...

‘Billy L’Amour: Gentlemen Prefer Billy: An Evening of Burlesque and Music’ at Rainbow Theatre Project

The whirlwind of an accomplished entertainer who goes by the name of Billy L’Amour is more than just a drag entertainer but, rather, L’Amour is a powerhouse triple-threat talent who can deliver the...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: John Lloyd Young

John Lloyd Young, Tony-Award winner and musical wonder of the Broadway never-ending (and well-deserved to be!) musical hit Jersey Boys, enthralled the crowd at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater...

‘Appomattox’ at Washington National Opera by David Friscic (Review #1)

Oh, the tears, trauma and travail of the issues brought to the fore in the revised World Premiere of the opera Appomattox at the Kennedy Center Opera House Friday night. This challenging World...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Michele Lee: ‘Nobody Does It Like Me, The Music of Cy Coleman’

Broadway, Television, Film and Concert artist Michele Lee beguiled at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater with a disarming and engaging set of songs written by the prolific Broadway composer Cy...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Randy Graff at The Kennedy Center

Tony Award-winning (City of Angels) Broadway, concert, and cabaret artist Randy Graff dazzled the crowd Friday night at the Kennedy Center’s intimate Terrace Theater. Graff is utterly unique and...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Terri White’s Farewell Performance at The Kennedy Center

The ebullient, sassy, brassy and joyously life-affirming Broadway and cabaret star Terri White (resplendent in a stylish, sharply-edged purple pantsuit) launched into her ninety minute show at The...

‘Dogfight’ at The Keegan Theatre

A trip to the Keegan Theatre is a must for they are now presenting the first collaboration of the dynamic songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul—namely, the musical Dogfight (based on the...

‘Emily Skinner: Broadway Her Way’ at AMP

At the Strathmore’s new AMP venue last night, musical theater star and singer extraordinaire Emily Skinner, dazzled the crowd-with her always winning combination of a soaring purity of tone and the...

‘Sweeney Todd (Prog-Metal Version)’ at Landless Theatre Company

An eclectic mix of disparate stylistic elements that conspire to surprise us at every turn and akin to an all-out jam session of improvisation, nothing in the immediacy of the Landless Theatre...

‘Silence! the Musical’ at Studio’s 2nd Stage

Silence! The Musical is very easy to digest (pun intended), as presented in the tightly directed current production now playing at the creatively configured 2nd Stage space of The Studio Theatre. A...

An Interview with Andrew and Melissa Baughman on ‘Sweeney Todd-Prog Metal Version’ Playing Now at Atlas Through August 2nd

The audacious and groundbreaking Landless Theatre Company at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center in NE Washington, DC, performed an exciting “prog-metal “version of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical...

‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at The Keegan Theatre

The “hothouse,” loquacious and “southern-fried” appeal of Tennessee Williams’ classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof is very evident in the scorching, white-hot production now inaugurating the new season of...

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: ‘A Tribute to John Williams’ at The Music Center at Strathmore

At the atmospheric Strathmore complex in North Bethesda on a hot Thursday evening, on May 28, 2015, the musical presentation entitled The Music of John Williams was a modest delight with many...

‘Born This Way’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Like a torrential, cleansing rain washing away intolerance and hate, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) immersed the audience in flowing torrents of song in their current production Born This...

Freda Payne at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club

Freda Payne, singer “extraordinaire” who was especially prolific during the 1970s, delivered a powerhouse performance Thursday night at the Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club. Embodying a style that...

Cassandra Wilson-Coming Forth by Day: A Tribute to Billie Holiday at The Kennedy Center

The legacy of the brilliant and iconic jazz legend, Billie Holiday, coupled with the cool, classic styling of the very contemporary and experimentally-inclined jazz artistry of Cassandra Wilson fused...

‘When You Wish’ at Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

The seeming “spontaneity,” humor, and freshness of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC‘s (GMCW) repertoire and their current concert When You Wish, which is being presented at Washington, DC’s...

‘TORCH: Songs from the Gay Life!’ at The Rainbow Theatre Project

A cascade of frothy, kitschy, verbally intricate, and highly theatrical songs pervaded the intimate atmosphere of the Bier Baron Tavern in Washington, DC as the innovative Rainbow Theatre Project...

‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’ at Washington National Opera

A penetrating and extremely lucid psychological austerity permeates the current production of the Washington National Opera’s (WNO) Dialogues of the Carmelites by composer and librettist Francis...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: LaChanze at The Kennedy Center

The lithe and dynamic Tony Award -winning (The Color Purple) Broadway musical star (Once on This Island, IF/Then), LaChanze, proved herself to be almost a volcanic, spontaneous force of nature as she...

‘Love Rocks!’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington‘s (GMCW) swinging, rhythmic, acapella-oriented Potomac Fever Musical Group and the stellar more traditionally chorale group, the Rock Creek Singers, have offered up...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Will Chase

With a vigorous veneer of Broadway polish and a subtle touch of “down-home” country warm –heartedness, acclaimed singer/actor (Broadway, television’s Smash and Nashville) Will Chase captivated the...

‘Rockin’ the Holidays’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Rockin’ the Holidays, the current Christmas holiday offering from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW), is a winner on all levels: vocally, technically and artistically. The joyous and...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Andrea McArdle at The Kennedy Center

The original star of the Broadway smash hit Annie, Andrea McArdle, has grown into a mature and super-talented singer who can belt with the best of them. At The Kennedy Center’s Barbara Cook’s...

‘WTF Happened To Baby Sister?’ at Rainbow Theatre Project

A hilarious, unique and a “no-holds barred” approach to satire was offered to an appreciative audience in the creative and subversive comedy WTF Happened to Baby Sister?. Presented by the Brave Soul...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Faith Prince: Have a Little Faith at The Kennedy Center

Tony Award winner and Broadway virtuoso and Tony Award winner Faith Prince beguiled and dazzled the audience at her concert entitled Have a Little Faith at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. Ms....