Em Skow

Poignant memories of love in Signature’s vibrant ‘Midnight at The Never Get’

In the hidden back room of a 1960s Greenwich Village bar is the stage for a past, hidden love at the center of Midnight at The Never Get now streaming from Signature Theatre. Trevor, a colorful and...

Monumental Theatre Company’s ‘Head Over Heels’ is a toe-tapping celebration of life, love, and self

After receiving a foreboding prophecy of loss and destruction, the King of Arcadia is determined to outwit the gods and save his kingdom’s “beat.” To do so, he takes his queen, two daughters, and...

Washington Performing Arts and Alfred Street Baptist Church present reverent evening of musical performance with ‘I Am a Man’ at The Kennedy Center

A reverently curated evening by the Artistic Director of Washington Performing Arts’ Men and Women of the Gospel Choir, Theodore Thorpe III, I am a Man: Reclaiming Brilliance in the Midst of...

Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Mother Road’ brings powerful journey to Arena Stage

William Joad is a proud Oklahoma farmer with roots to the land as old and deep as the fields his family has tended for generations. But after decades of dedication, dust and sweat poured into the...

A community torn apart in ‘Book of Days’ is built back up by the St. Mark’s Players

In this small Missouri town, everyone knows everyone and everything. The church where people notice when you’re not in your pew, the factory where your high school classmates put in their shift...

‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria is a comedic romp through the lines of succession and love

After a lifetime of believing he was a humble nobody, Montague “Monty” Navarro learns he is a long-lost member of the D’Ysquith family and the 9th in line for the family earldom. Determined to seek...

Arena Stage premiere of Ken Ludwig’s ‘Dear Jack, Dear Louise’ reminds audiences of the incredible power of letter writing and human connection

Separated by thousands of miles and yet connected through hundreds of letters, Dear Jack, Dear Louise by Tony Award-winning playwright Ken Ludwig (Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, Lend Me a...

‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour’ Makes One-Weekend Stop at The National Theatre

A cult favorite TV show created in the ’80s, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3) has left your screens and found its way to the DC stage for one weekend and one weekend only. The weird (I mean that as...

Review: ‘The Winter’s Tale’ by The Wheel Theatre Company

Suddenly and immovably convinced his wife has been unfaithful, a jealous king’s actions result in the death of his queen and son, the abandonment of his infant daughter, and a cheery start to The...

Review: ‘Butterfly’ by the IN Series Presents a Radical Restructuring of the Original Puccini

While considered one of the classics in opera’s storied canon, Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini is simultaneously acknowledged to be one of the most problematic for its depictions of race and...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Intimate Dinner’

Anyone who has been a server in a restaurant will likely sympathize with the plight of the well-intentioned and yet deterioratingly cheerful waitress, Lauren, in Intimate Dinner by Lauren French...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Neverlanding’

Years after Wendy’s tales of lost boys, pirates, and mermaids, Michael Darling is grounded and committed to a hospital when his brother, John, finds him on the roof. In the world premiere of...

Review: ‘Hello, Dolly!’ at The Kennedy Center

A matchmaker, dance instructor, legal counsel, and mandolin teacher (among other occupations), Dolly Gallagher Levi is a woman of countless talents and side-hustles in bustling, turn-of-the-century...

Review: Ben Platt’s ‘Sing to Me Instead’ Tour Lights Up The Anthem

Undampened by the rain outside, the DC stop on the Ben Platt’s Sing to Me Instead tour brought three serious talents to the Anthem stage with thunderous applause. Passionate, creative, and...

Review: ‘Strathmore Annual Spring Gala’ featuring Matthew Morrison and Shoshana Bean

Though it was storming outside, the stars shone brightly inside for Strathmore’s Annual Spring Gala Saturday night. Raising funds for the educational and artistic programs that impact over 30,000...

Review: ‘Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven’ by Rorschach Theatre

There are two things every teenager knows are true: you can’t choose your parents and you can’t choose the jerks you go to school with. Such is life for Annie Jump in small-town Strawberry, Kansas....

Review: ‘The Seagull’ at The Wheel Theatre Company

An aspiring playwright and son loves an aspiring actress and ingenue. A famous actress and mother loves a famous writer and inconstant. Life doesn’t often provide neat parallels between generations...

Review: ‘The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical’ at the Kennedy Center

Life is hard enough when growing up, but when you find out that you’re the son of a god, the stakes get even higher. Armed with friends and a pen, Percy Jackson explores the world of newly discovered...

Review: ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ by the Arlington Players

A quaint house at first glance is anything but when it is discovered that Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha are serving their guests something a little stronger than tea in Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph...

Review: ‘School of Rock: The Musical’ at National Theatre

Kicked out of the band and facing eviction from “his” apartment, Dewey Finn questionably intercepts a substitute teacher assignment at a prestigious local academy to pay the rent. With no teaching...

Review: ‘An Irish Carol’ at Keegan Theatre

With a heart as cold as the blustery winds blowing people in and out the door, An Irish Carol by Matthew J. Keenan finds David, a pub’s miserly owner, confronted by guests of his past and glimpses of...

Review: ‘The Wedding Singer’ at NextStop Theatre Company

A wedding singer spurned by love becomes unlikely friends with the waitress at the local banquet hall and, from dumping to dumpsters, finds that love might be worth another try. Celebrating their 30th...

Review: ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ at the Keegan Theatre

Based on the novel by Robert James Waller, The Bridges of Madison County finds Francesca, a World War Two war bride from Italy, living on a farm in Winterset, Iowa in 1965 with a husband and two...

Review: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at the Little Theatre of Alexandria

Lightning has struck in the form of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA) this past Saturday night. Taking on the epic, and challenging, rock opera, Director Jim Howard...

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘God is Dead and April is Getting Married’

God is Dead and April is Getting Married: A show title that promises a lot and absolutely delivers. Written by A. A. Brenner, this Capital Fringe jewel opens with El (Anna Shafer) and Elliot (Colton...

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cold Rain’

We’ve all heard of the sage advice, “be careful what you wish for.” But it should be doubly heeded when there’s magic involved. In writer and director Craig Houk’s Cold Rain, a spell to summon love...

2018 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Painted Ladies: Bosses of the Wild West’

Who run the world? Painted ladies. And this year’s Fringe production of the same name by Too Much Damn (TMD) Theater rode that point home, in more ways than one. Set in a nameless one-horse town,...

Review: ‘Lea Michele & Darren Criss – the LM/DC Tour’ at the Kennedy Center

Cue the dramatic backdrops because the lights of Broadway were sparkling this past Sunday at the Kennedy Center in DC. Crackling with infectious energy, the newly launched LM/DC Tour with Lea Michele...

Review: ‘Pericles’ by We Happy Few

Let’s be clear, Pericles is pretty much a first draft play that Shakespeare never quite finished. Now to be fair, the work is not wholly attributed to him, but with more than a few murderous plots,...

Review: ‘Florida’ by UrbanArias

In the second production of their 2017-2018 season, UrbanArias brings the world premiere of Florida to the Atlas Performing Arts Center. Based partly on true events, Florida follows the 16-year-old...

Review: ‘In the Heights’ at The Kennedy Center

Celebrating 10 years since taking Broadway by storm with its exploration of New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood, In the Heights, directed by Stephanie Klemons, takes the stage at The...

Review: ‘Harvey’ by the McLean Community Players

Things are getting a little wacky with the McLean Community Players these days, and this time it’s in the form of Harvey by Mary Chase. This challenging and earnest production—directed by Eleanore...

Review: ‘All in the Timing’ at Silver Spring Stage

Ever wonder what would happen if you took theater, literature, linguistics, and film, put them into a blender, and then wrote a collection of witty comedic scenes with the reference puree that...

Review: ‘The Romantic Violin for Two’ by the National Chamber Ensemble

The Romantic Violin for Two by the National Chamber Ensemble was a tour of the different types of love, the sorrows and joys love brings, and most importantly the power it possesses to move the heart....

Review: ‘Unnecessary Farce’ at The Keegan Theatre

With one two-act-long scene, eight loudly slamming doors, and countless head-over-heels tumbles, Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith makes its hilarious D.C. premiere at the Keegan Theatre. Directed...

Review: ‘Madeline’s Christmas’ at Creative Cauldron

The twelve little girls in two straight lines of Ludwig Bemelmans’ beloved children’s series have taken the stage this holiday season in Creative Cauldron’s Madeline’s Christmas. With book and lyrics...

Review: ‘A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order by Daniel Kitson’ at Studio Theatre

Living in the modern world, we are constantly the bystander to, or observer of, the life events of others. Be they consequential and indelible, or fleeting and forgettable, these seemingly...

Review: ‘Shining Brow’ at UrbanArias

Can an artist be true to his art as well as to his promises? Is destruction the price of creation? These are the questions at the heart of Shining Brow—music by Daron Hagen; liberetto by Paul...

Review: ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ at the Little Theatre of Alexandria

It’s rare that a play allows for a more distanced view than that of its cinematic counterpart, but in the case of the Little Theatre of Alexandria’s production of Driving Miss Daisy, Alfred Uhry’s...

Review: The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at Wolf Trap

A high school teacher of mine used to say that there are two universal languages in the world. One is math; the other is music. Simply stated at the time, its message has echoed through my life in...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Medieval Story Man’

In an ambitious undertaking by Red Knight Productions, Medieval Story Man takes you on a quest with elf-boy Todd and his rag-tag group of companions to save Medieval Story Land from the Dark Wizards...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Perfect Liars Club’

If you’ve never been to a storytelling show before, hold on to your hats. Perfect Liars Club—directed loosely and hilariously by Cara Foran & Pierce McManus for the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival—is the...

Review: ‘Ragtime: The Musical’ at Wolf Trap

Easily one of most under-rated musicals to come out of Broadway in the last 20 years, Ragtime: The Musical—with book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens—follows...

Review: ‘Some Enchanted Evening: The Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein and the American Songbook’ with Renée Fleming and Norm Lewis With The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II pioneered a flair that was all their own in the golden age of musical theater. From 1940 to Hammerstein’s death in 1960, this musical duo dominated the musical...

Review: Washington Performing Arts Presents Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax

You can feel the excitement in a room when witnessing the performance of an icon. With over 100 years of combined experience bringing classical music’s greatest pieces to life, Itzhak Perlman on...

Review: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Nestled into a quiet corner of Old Town Alexandria, the production of Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird (adapted for the stage by Christopher Sergel) at The Little Theatre of Alexandria was...

Review: Il Volo at The Kennedy Center

I’ve always known that the mix of pop music and classical singing is one of the most popular music styles in Italy. What I didn’t know until last night’s Il Volo concert was that it is “Fan Girl” (Fan...

Review: Joshua Bell Plays Tchaikovsky at The BSO at Strathmore

Having the privilege to witness Joshua Bell play is an honor, but to see him play in celebration of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s (BSO’s) centennial is a once in a lifetime experience. Growing up...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Folger Theatre

What continually impresses me about the Folger Theatre is that it takes on Shakespeare plays and that nothing is off limits from experimentation or adaptation. They are masters at unlocking new levels...

New Video Highlights Added: ‘Jekyll & Hyde in Concert’ at Young Artists of America at The Clarice

If ever anyone is in doubt of the future of the arts, go and see a production by the Young Artists of America (YAA). Celebrating its 5th anniversary this coming year, YAA took on the chilling tale of...