Natalie McCabe

‘The Three Musketeers’ at Synetic Theater by Natalie McCabe

In his Director’s Notes, Paata Tsikurishvili quotes a line from Hamlet: “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” In its latest show, The Three Musketeers, written by brothers Ben Cunis...

Married to the Stage: ‘Columbia, MO Here We Come!’ by Natalie McCabe

There are many factors that have affected where I have chosen to go to school and why. One major consideration of Johnny and me is monetary. Our various degrees (an MFA and BFA for him, a BA, an MA in...

‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ at The National Theatre by Natalie McCabe

“I’m not dead yet,” is an oft-quoted line from the 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot, has a whole number based on this line and, likewise, is alive and...

Married to the Stage: ‘Valentines Day and Murder at Mount Hope Mansion’ by Natalie McCabe

It was a fantastic weekend in the life of this couple, “Married to the Stage.” I was able to visit my husband for the first time in three weeks, received a huge, adorable teddy bear for Valentine’s...

‘The Tempest’ at Synetic Theater by Natalie McCabe

A squall. A gale. A storm. A tempest. Synetic Theater’s production of The Tempest, the latest installment of their Silent Shakespeare Series, can be described using all of the above words. Indeed, the...

‘9 Circles’ at Forum Theatre by Natalie McCabe

With soldiers still encountering difficult conditions, to say the least, in Afghanistan and more veterans attempting to reconcile acts committed in the intensity of war with the decorum expected at...

‘The Grand Parade (of the 20th Century)’ at Arena Stage by Natalie McCabe

Take key events of the past century. Add some music by a Russian composer. Throw in television, radio, and video game transmissions and broadcasts. Frame it with Marc Chagall’s paintings, focusing on...

Married to the Stage: ‘Some Great News!’ by Natalie McCabe

Well, the wait is over. Or perhaps this is only the beginning. I received my first acceptance into a PhD program last week. Here is the story: I was rushing into a meeting for the show I am...

Married to the Stage: ‘Winter is Coming!’ by Natalie McCabe

“Winter is coming.” Or, well, it is already here. As I type this, my cell phone keeps vibrating with DC text alerts warning of a “winter storm,” anticipating 2 to 4 inches. I have just returned from...

Married to the Stage: ‘Dragon Eye Creations’ Scott and Kathy Griffith’ by Natalie McCabe

Sometimes, being married to the stage takes you to strange places and leaves you with more than just enhanced party skills. Johnny, for example, has always wanted to learn woodworking, creating items...

Married to the Stage: Part 6: ‘Skills We Learned Toiling in Other Time Zones’ by Natalie McCabe

Not long ago, my aunt observed me knitting away and asked where I had learned the skill. “Well, when you work in other centuries, you just pick things up,” I replied. She laughed, but it’s true. When...

Married to the Stage – Part 7: ‘Rowan and the Rose’ by Natalie McCabe

Being “married to the stage” is one thing when one partner is the actor and the other the bookish dramaturg, as is the case with Johnny and myself. It is quite another when both partners are...

‘Married to the Stage Can Be Stressful’ by Natalie McCabe

“Married to the Stage” can be stressful. Contrary to popular opinion, when both partners try to weave their careers around the trials and travesties that occur onstage, having a successful...

‘Hamlet’ at Folger Theatre by Natalie McCabe

At the start of Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Hamlet, the entire cast gathers onstage, with the lights up, playing instruments and singing a variation of “Little Beggar Man.” Later, in Act IV of...

Married to the Stage: ‘My Faire Children’ by Natalie McCabe

My husband may live in an imaginary village, but we both belong to the category of ‘imaginary friends.’ Recently, I sat down to chat with a kindergartner and his almost-three-year-old sister, who...

Married to the Stage: ‘Human Chess Match’ by Natalie McCabe

My husband lives in an imaginary village. A shire, to be exact. He works in another century, too, and has for the past three years. Currently, he is living in the year 1590 in the 35-acre Shire of...

Married to the Stage: ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ by Natalie McCabe

My husband moves better in high heels than I do. I came to this realization about a year before we were married, during our studies in the School of Theatre at Penn State University. My husband...

New Column: ‘Married to the Stage’ begins on DC Theater Arts by Natalie McCabe

“Honey, I don’t think I can go to the next level. I just don’t see myself going higher here.” “It’s okay, my love. I support you.” This was a conversation I had several weeks ago with my husband of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘A is for Artist’ by Natalie McCabe

“Often times, I’ve observed that organizations feel forced to prioritize art, audience, and artist. O Starsf the three, the artists are, more often than not, left to their own devices,” JR Russ,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘BFF’ by Natalie McCabe

Brian Feldman’s one-man “show” BFF takes its single audience member on a two-hour journey- literally- to becoming Feldman’s, well, “BFF.” Feldman’s “friend-building excursion” may take the audience...

‘Idomeneo’ at The In Series by Natalie McCabe

English-language opera, Greek tragedy, Mozart, tragedy, comic moments, and ballet: The In Series at the Atlas Performing Arts Center has it all in Charlotte Stoudt’s translation and adaptation of...

‘Hamlecchino’ at Faction of Fools by Natalie McCabe

Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but energy is high and comedy very much alive in Faction of Fools’ current production, Hamlecchino, which takes Shakespeare’s Hamlet and reinvents it...

‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ at Quotidian Theatre Company by Natalie McCabe

Quotidian Theatre Company’s Mission Statement reads, in part, “By providing realistic situations and dialogue, we want to give the audience the impression that they are witnessing events over a...

‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at Synetic Theater by Natalie McCabe

There is a fine, fine line between loving and loathing, in the “interplay of joy and darkness,” as Director Paata Tsikurishvili, and Founding Artistic Director, and CEO of Synetic Theater so elegantly...

‘The Flu Season’ at Nomadic Theatre at Georgetown University by Natalie McCabe

Playwright Will Eno has been described by The New York Times as “a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation” and it is no surprise. Eno’s play, The Flu Season, produced by Nomadic Theatre, one of...

‘How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found’ at Theater Alliance by Natalie McCabe

“You are who you can prove you are. You are what people think. And that’s the easiest thing in the world to change.” Or is it? In Theater Alliance’s DC-area premiere of the internationally...

‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ at The Warner Theatre by Natalie McCabe

“I’m not dead yet!” is whispered, shouted, and sung throughout Phoenix Entertainment’s very much alive and engaging touring production of the Tony Award-winning 2005 Best Musical, now visiting DC for...