Kendall Mostafavi

Review: ‘Godspell JR’ at Bravo Productions

BRAVO Productions Theatre for Young Artists strives to nurture young, local talent and offers the opportunity for those budding entertainers to perform both mainstream and classic shows on the stage....

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio closed their most recent production, Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest, this past weekend. As the self-proclaimed “Theatre for kids, by kids,” Encore works with young local talent...

Review: ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore’ at Brave Spirits Theatre

Brave Spirits Theatre (BST) has recently opened two productions, performing in tandem, to present what they refer to in their press release as “Theatre for the Game of Thrones fan.” Calling this combo...

Review #2: ‘Parade’ at The Keegan Theatre

Arguments have been made that the theater is supposed to be a “safe place” where patrons can go to be entertained, away from the harshness of the world. Yet there is a large(r) number of people who...

Review: ‘The Trojan Women’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

The feminist movement has been on the rise for decades, but with our current political and social climate, saturated with patriarchal overreach into women’s lives (and even their bodies), years of...

Review: ‘Eclipsed’ at Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts

Howard University presented the powerful new play, Eclipsed, in their black box theater this past weekend. Eclipsed was written in 2015 by Danai Gurira (well-known for her role as Michonne on AMC’s...

Review: ‘The Lion in Winter’ at The Arlington Players

This past weekend, The Arlington Players opened a solid production of the dark comedy, The Lion In Winter, by Playwright James Goldman. For those unfamiliar with the play, it is a work of fiction but...

Review: ‘Anything Goes’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Cole Porter’s Anything Goes is a show that is equal parts silliness, slapstick, and shenanigans. The Little Theatre of Alexandria opened the old classic this past weekend to a sold-out house. With...

Review: ‘Bud, Not Buddy’ at The Kennedy Center

Last night, The Kennedy Center presented an inspiring world premiere commission of Bud, Not Buddy. Kirsten Greenidge created the fast-paced and touchingly funny script, based on the book from...

Review: ‘An Irish Carol’ at The Keegan Theatre

For the 6th year in a row, The Keegan Theatre is paying tribute to the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, with their production of An Irish Carol. Reimagined by Keegan company member, Matthew Keenan,...

Review: ‘A Christmas Carol Memory’ at Creative Cauldron

Right in time for the Holiday Season, Creative Cauldron has presented another installation from their Bold New Works project with the World Premiere of A Christmas Carol Memory. Adapted from Charles...

Review: ‘Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka’ at NextStop Theatre

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka opened at NextStop Theatre in Herndon to a sold-out house this past weekend. The cast included professional actors, alongside local students, which made for a very personal...

Review: ‘DanceWorks Fall 2016’ at The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

This past weekend, The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance presented DanceWorks Fall 2016. The program consisted of nine separate dance pieces, each by a different...

Review: ‘Disney’s The Little Mermaid’ at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre opened their production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid this weekend, and I had the pleasure of seeing their show with my three young boys. The musical is...

Review: ‘Where Words Once Were’ at The Kennedy Center

This past weekend, The Kennedy Center opened a newly commissioned show for young audiences from Playwright, Finegan Kruckemeyer. The piece titled, Where Words Once Were, touches on the often...

Review: ‘Balloonacy’ at NextStopTheatre Company

NextStop Theatre Company has been producing theatre for young audiences for almost 30 years. Their most recent show is a sweet and enjoyable story called Balloonacy from Playwright Barry Kornhauser....

Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘Wendy: The Girl Who Grew Up’ at Monumental Theatre Company

The Kennedy Center’s 15th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival took place on Labor Day weekend, with over 50 D.C. area theaters participating. Through free readings and open rehearsals, the Festival offers a...

The 9:30 PM ‘Summer Hummer V: Champions’ at Signature Theatre

Last night, Signature Theatre presented their fifth annual Summer Hummer benefit, Summer Hummer V. Champions. Stronger. Harder. Longer. And was it ever. The event’s proceeds go to Taking Care of Our...

Review: ‘Snow White’ at The Heritage Players

The Heritage Players of Catonsville, MD have created a wonderful production of Snow White, the classic fairytale with a young beauty, an evil Queen, a Magic Mirror, seven dwarves, and a handsome...

Review: ‘Urinetown’ at Monumental Theatre Company

Urinetown is not what you would call a “feel good” musical. Monumental Theatre Company has mounted this funny and politically-punching show about a town which, due to a catastrophic water shortage,...

Review: ‘Cabaret’ at Prince William Little Theatre

The musical Cabaret is one of those shows that checks all of the standard musical theater boxes, of dancing girls, show-stopping songs, and love stories, but also carries with it such a beautiful and...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Am I There Yet?’

Glade Dance Collective presented a beautiful and moving production, Am There I Yet?, at the Elstad Auditorium at Gallaudet University. The piece is described as “an exploration of #adulting in the...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘As It Were and/or What(ever) Doesn’t Matter’

I went on a strange journey in the upstairs theater of the Logan Fringe Arts Space, where As It Were and/or What(ever) Doesn’t Matter, written and directed by Stephen Notes, was being presented. As I...

Review: ‘Jumanji’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

Adventure Theatre MTC (ATMTC) finishes out its 2015-2016 Season with their fourth world premiere production, Jumanji. The adaptation was co-written by Sandra Eskin and ATMTC’s Artistic Director,...

Review: ‘Make ’em Laugh’ at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre finishes out their 2015-2016 cabaret series with the uproarious and uplifting Make ‘em Laugh Cabaret, featuring Happy McPartlin and Tracy Lynn Olivera. The duo brings new meaning to...

Review: ‘Stupid F#@*ing Bird’ at Port City Playhouse

Port City Playhouse has undertaken the hilarious dark comedy Stupid F#@*ing Bird, by Playwright Aaron Posner. The show is adapted from Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, but with a very modern makeover and...

Review: ‘Cul de Sac’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio is currently showing their world premiere production of Cul de Sac. The play, written by Amy Thompson, is an adaptation of the popular comic strip of the same name by Richard...

Review: Ireland 100: ‘The Girl Who Forgot To Sing Badly’ at The Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center is currently presenting IRELAND 100: Celebrating a Century of Irish Arts & Culture, through June 5, 2016. The festival includes a wide range of events focused on Irish Culture, as a...

A Report on ‘Life: A Comic Opera in Three Short Acts’ at Monumental Theatre Company

Monumental Theatre Company presented an abridged reading of a brand new musical on Sunday, May 15th at Catholic University in Washington, DC. Life: A Comic Opera in Three Short Acts, is an original...

Review: ‘The Emperor’s Nightingale’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

Adventure Theatre MTC’s latest project is based on Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, The Emperor’s Nightingale. Playwright Damon Chua has created a new adaptation, set in China in the eighteenth...

Review: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at The Puppet Co.

The fairytale of Sleeping Beauty is a beloved classic, and what better way to tell the ancient story then through the timeless art of puppetry? The Puppet Co. Playhouse in Glen Echo Park is well-known...

Review: ‘Looking for Roberto Clemente’ at Imagination Stage

Searching for something fun, informative, and meaningful to do with the family this spring? Imagination Stage’s current production of Looking for Roberto Clemente is a touching show centered on a...

‘New Voices Old Muses’ at The Kennedy Center’s KC Jukebox

This year, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts began an innovative concert series called KC Jukebox, curated by The Kennedy Center’s first proclaimed Composer-in-Residence, Mason Bates....

Review: ‘Snow White’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Adapted from the Brothers Grimm classic, originally published in 1812, NextStop Theatre’s current family-friendly production of Snow White is by no means an untold story. Yet, this version by Kyle...

Review: ‘Superman 2050’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences is currently presenting an imaginative theatrical experience, Superman 2050, produced by Theater Unspeakable. Founded in 2010 by Marc Frost, Theater...

Review: ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Laurel Mill Playhouse’s most recent production is Paul Rudnick’s comedic drama, I Hate Hamlet. Having never seen this production, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into but I was ready and...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at National Players

National Players is presently in their 67th season, and they are currently performing Julius Ceasar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and A Tale of Two Cities, as they travel around the country. The Players...

Review: Fortas Chamber Music Concerts: eighth blackbird at The Kennedy Center

eighth blackbird‘s performance on Monday night at The Kennedy Center was introduced with the theme of murder and mayhem, which explained the state of the set. Rickety looking ladders, dead clocks,...

Review: ‘Ladybug Girl & Bumblebee Boy: The Musical’ at Hylton Performing Arts Center

Hylton Performing Arts Center’s Hylton Family Series presented a one-day showing of Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, the Musical. The musical, produced by Bay Area Children’s Theatre, was a high-energy...

Review: ‘Treasure Island’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio first began in 1967 as The Children’s Theatre of Arlington and has produced over 175 shows. Their most recent production is a clever and fun adaption, by Playwright and Composer...

Review: ‘In the Heights’ at Montgomery College

Montgomery College’s current production is The Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights, with book by Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Many may be familiar with...

Review: ‘James and the Giant Peach’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

The world of Roald Dahl is a fantastical place that stretches the boundaries of imagination. One of his best known works, next to Charlie and Chocolate Factory, is James and the Giant Peach. Adventure...

Review: ‘OLIVÉRio: A Brazilian Twist’ at The Kennedy Center’s Theater for Young Audiences

The Kennedy Center has produced yet another world premiere production for this season’s Theater for Young Audiences. This time, they have taken Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist and brought the story to...

Review: ‘JACK and Phil, Slayers of Giants, INC’ at Imagination Stage

There’s no doubt that you have heard the tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, but have you ever heard of JACK and Phil, Slayers of Giants, INC? Imagination Stage has produced Playwright Charles Way’s take...

Review: ‘Monsters of the Villa Diodati’ at Creative Cauldron

In the second installment of Creative Cauldron’s initiative, “Bold New Works for Intimate Stages”, the ingenious duo of Matt Conner and Stephen Gregory Smith has turned out a mesmerizing new musical,...

Review: ‘Peter Pan JR’ at Bravo Productions at The Randolph Road Theatre

I had the pleasure of seeing Bravo Production’s Peter Pan JR with my three boys on Saturday, January 16, 2016. The show was performed by 41 aspiring artists, in grades 2-8, and was one of the two...

Review: ‘Master Class’ at Reston Community Players

Maria Callas is an opera icon. If you have never heard of her, think of the ultimate diva and that will give you a bare bones idea of the incredible talent, intense personality, and enduring influence...

Review: ‘Better Gods’ at The Washington National Opera

Friday night, the Washington National Opera (‘WNO’) premiered a brand new opera, based on the life of the last sovereign in Hawaii, Queen Liliʻuokalani. Better Gods, directed by Ethan McSweeny, was...

Moscow Ballet’s ‘Great Russian Nutcracker’ at Strathmore

The anticipation before the start of a show is always palpable to friends, family, and performers alike. I sat in the Music Center at the Strathmore, waiting for Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian...

‘A Year with Frog and Toad’ at Imagination Stage

Arnold Lobel’s lovable characters from his classic children’s books, Frog and Toad, come to life at Imagination Stage in a Tony Award-nominated musical, A Year with Frog and Toad, with books and...