Columns

Stage Dad: “What I Wish I Had Known…” by Glenn Cook

Occasionally, I get questions from others whose children are interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts. Usually, they want to know how to pursue an agent or manager, and what they should...

Erin Weaver on Playing Kira in ‘Xanadu’ at Signature Theatre by Joel Markowitz

I heard a two women at intermission at Xanadu last Saturday night at intermission blurt out, “Is that really Erin Weaver?” What audiences and critics are finding out is that Erin Weaver is a...

‘The Wailers’ at Charles Town Races by Mike Spain

The Wailers performed Friday night at The H Lounge located in the middle of Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races. Local reggae band Jah Works had the honor to open up for the legendary group. The...

Nibbles And Sips Around Town: ‘Summer Cookbooks, Celebs, and A Sri Lankan Pop-Up Dinner’ by Jordan Wright

Apron Anxiety Giveaway – Alyssa Shelasky’s hot new tell-all cookbook will be given away to a one of our readers, so click here and Go to CONTEST to register and enter to win your own copy. See my...

A Look at No Rules Theatre Company’s ‘Suicide, Incorporated’ – Week 3 by Joshua Morgan

As we finish up our fourth week in the rehearsal room and head into tech, I’m feeling cool, calm, and collected. I’m so eager to share this play with Washington, DC and NRTC audiences. As Brian Sutow...

Evan Casey & Jason Lott on Running Around Like Crazy at Olney Theatre Center’s ‘The 39 Steps’ By Joel Markowitz

I saw The 39 Steps last week and laughed so hard my jaw was hurting. Most of these guffaws came from watching Jason Lott and Evan Casey wear so many ‘hats’ and watching them running around the stage,...

Stage Dad: ‘A Lesson From Dance’ by Glenn Cook

Like many parents with school-age children, a standing feature on many of our Saturdays is toting the kids to various lessons. For all of our kids, those precious weekend hours have revolved around...

Interview with ‘Musicians of Mercy’ Founder Robin Fay Massie by Teresa McCormick Ertel

Musicians of Mercy is a Baltimore area ensemble that coordinates benefits and performs for the sole purpose of helping those in need. Its founder, Robin Fay Massie, shares with us the ordeal that led...

‘The Secret Garden’ at St. Mark’s Players by Joel Markowitz

St. Mark’s Players deserves the highest praise for their beautifully directed and performed production of The Secret Garden, which has a lush score by Lucy Simon and lyrics and book by Marsha Norman....

Madeline Botteri on playing Monica P. Miller in ‘Rooms: A Rock Romance’ at KAT

Madeline Botteri is a bundle of energy as Monica P. Miller in Kensington Arts Theatre’s production of Rooms: A Rock Romance. With her powerful voice Madeline sings the heck out of Paul Scott Goodman’s...

Judyisms: ‘Unmentionable Moment – One Day This Will Be Funny’ by Judy Stadt

The very serious play was Equus, about a boy who mutilated horses by blinding them with an ice pick … horrible to say the very least. I had a small part in this wonderful production. The actors that...

A Look at No Rules Theatre Company’s ‘Suicide, Incorporated’ – Week 2 by Brian Sutow

This is Part 2 of Co-Artistic Director Brian Sutow taking us behind the scenes of No Rules Theatre Company’s production of Suicide, Incorporated: We are now almost half way through the rehearsal...

Stage Dad: ‘A Triathlon in Chunks’ by Glenn Cook

Being the parent of a professional child actor has a lot in common with triathlons. Sometimes you run, sometimes you spin around in circles, and sometimes you work heroically just to keep your head...

Capital Sound: Adalia Jimenez Knocks the National Anthem Out of the Ballpark by Mike Spain

The Washington Nationals are a baseball team full of young talent like the 19 year-old sensation Bryce Harper and pitching ace Stephen Strasburg. However, when you go to a baseball game not all of the...

Eric Jones on Playing Ian in ‘Rooms: A Rock Romance’ at Kensington Arts Theatre by Joel Markowitz

I am so happy that several productions of Rooms: A Rock Romance are popping up all over the DC Metro area, and last night I attended Kensington Arts Theatre’s production of Paul Scott Goodman and...

Stage Dad: ‘Three Simple Rules’ by Glenn Cook

Everyone has heard horrible stories about stage parents. Reality shows paint the worst pictures in vivid, cable-ready HD. Tabloids are littered with tales of the Lindsays, the Brittanys, the Mileys,...

A Look at No Rules Theatre Company’s ‘Suicide, Incorporated’ – Week 1 by Brian Sutow

For the next three weeks, Co-Artistic Directors Brian Sutow and Joshua Morgan will be taking us behind the scenes of their new production of Suicide, Incorporated. Here is this week’s article by Brian...

Priscilla Cuellar on Appearing in ‘Working – A Musical’ at The Keegan Theatre by Joel Markowitz

She has one of the most thrilling voices I have ever heard on the stage and now audiences who come to see The Keegan Theatre’s production of Working are being treated to Priscilla Cuellar’s gorgeous...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: ‘Destination Pig’ by Jordan Wright

I’m hooked on Green Pig Bistro and already dreaming about a return engagement. Who could resist dishes so scrumptiously succulently delicious they should be illegal? At the hot new porcine-centric...

Judyisms: ‘The Audition’ by Judy Stadt

I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work in a small theatre outside of the big apple and I performed in many different roles in a repertory environment in many different genres but, at the...

My New Column ‘Stage Dad’ by Glenn Cook

“I saw my sis go pitter pat. Said I can do that. I can do that.” Five and a half years ago, my little boy Ben was dancing in the basement of a woman’s house in Maryland, showing off his gymnastics...

Jane Seymour on her May 4th & 5th Wentworth Gallery Exhibitions in Bethesda & Tysons Corner by Joel Markowitz

Wentworth Gallery is presenting an exhibition of art and photography with multi-award-winning actress Jane Seymour and her son Sean M. Flynn at two special in-gallery appearances at the Wentworth...

Tonys Honor DC Theater: Regional Award to Shakespeare Theatre Company & 8 Noms to ‘Follies’ by Joel Markowitz

It was a great day for DC theater as The Tony Award nominations were announced this morning in NYC. Shakespeare Theatre Company will be receiving The Regional Theatre Award. What a coup for the DC...

Actress/Artist Jane Seymour & Son Sean M. Flynn Exhibitions May 4th and 5th in Bethesda & Tyson’s Corner

It’s A Family Affair: Jane Seymour and Son Partner for First Duo Art Exhibit Wentworth Gallery is presenting an exhibition of art and photography with multi-Award winning actress Jane Seymour and her...

Arts Collective @Howard Community College’s Director and Cast Members on ‘URINETOWN’ by Michael Avolio and Susan G. Kramer

NOT JUST TAKING THE PISS It’s one of my favorite musicals, and a group of young and talented actors are about to take the plunge(r) into Arts Collective @HCC’s production of Urinetown: The Musical....

JUDYISMS: ‘My Memory of an Onstage Trauma That the Audience Never Saw or Even Heard or Cared About’ by Judy Stadt

I never had stage fright. Of course, I had the adrenaline rushes before the shows, but not fear of the stage … In fact for me it was just the opposite. I was in heaven upon a stage, to me it was that...

Capital Sound: ‘We have Bluegrass Right Here’ by Mike Spain

On April 17th, the area was treated with a true bluegrass treat when Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and the Travelin’ McCourys shared the stage to celebrate Bill Monroe at The Music Center at Strathmore. Tony...

Helen Hayes Awards Recipients Announced by Joel Markowitz

Here are the 2012 Helen Hayes Awards recipients, announced at The Warner Theatre on April 23. 2012: Outstanding Resident Musical: Hairspray, at Signature Theatre. Outstanding Resident Play: Ruined, at...

HHA Nominees Michael Bobbitt, Rena Cherry Brown, Jobari Parker-Namdar & Christopher Youstra By Joel Markowitz

Nominees Michael J. Bobbitt, Rena Cherry Brown, Jobari Parker-Namdar, and Christopher Youstra. Joel: Where were you when you found out that you had been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and what was...

Judyisms: ‘What a Trouper!’ by Judy Stadt

Having performed in more than eighty plays to date – I’ve been so happy to have had many, many curtain calls and some of them have been more memorable than others … like this one. The play was a sweet...

The Helen Hayes Awards Nominees: Vishal Vaidya, Dan Van Why, Alan Wiggins and Rachel Zampelli by Joel Markowitz

Nominees Vishal Vaidya, Dan Van Why, Alan Wiggins, and Rachel Zampelli. Joel: Where were you when you found out that you had been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and what was your first reaction?...

‘Nibbles and Sips Around Town Does Brunch’ by Jordan Wright

I’m often asked, “Where shall we go for brunch?” “It depends,” I evasively respond, clueless as to your expectations. Prefer outdoors, indoors or lavish buffet? Quick and cheap or farmer’s market...

Karma and Brianne Camp on Their ‘Hairspray’ Helen Hayes Awards Nomination by Joel Markowitz

Joel: Where were you when you found out that you had been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and what was your first reaction? Brianne: I was with my mother sailing into New York Harbor on The Disney...

‘The Music of Bill Monroe with Rowan, Rice, McCourys’ at The Music Center at Strathmore by Mike Spain

Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, and The Travelin’ McCourys, who are some of the biggest names in Bluegrass came together to honor Bill Monroe at The Music Center at Strathmore in a program called The Music of...

The Playwrights: Helen Hayes Awards Nominees Deb Margolin, Jason Lott, and Helen Pafumi by Joel Markowitz

The Playwrights: Deb Margolin, Jason Lott, and Helen Pafumi _____ Joel: Where were you when you found out that you had been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award and what was your first reaction? Deb: I...

Schmoozing with Helen Hayes Awards Nominees Ben Cook and Chris Dinolfo by Joel Markowitz

Nominees Ben Cook and Chris Dinolfo talk about their performances in Billy Elliot and King Lear. Their performances were full of passion and energy and were a joy to watch. Joel: Where were you when...

Schmoozing With the 2012 Helen Hayes Awards Nominees: Flye, Hébert, Mendenhall, Riegler and Russotto by Joel Markowitz

I am so happy to begin a series of short interviews with this year’s Helen Hayes Award nominees with five of my favorite local actors – Catherine Flye, Mitchell Hébert, Jennifer Mendenhall, Kirstin...

Introducing ‘Capital Sound’ on DC Theater Arts by Mike Spain

Welcome to Capital Sound! My new column will focus on covering the music scene in the local area around Washington,, DC. Any night one can hear the rhythms and beats seeping out of the countless...

An Interview with CityDance’s Lorraine Spiegler by Jane Coyne

I recently had the opportunity to visit with Lorraine Spiegler – Director of Studio Education of and Conservatory at CityDance. CityDance is a wonderful arts organization, and they have very exciting...

Kathryn Kelley on Playing Emily Dickinson in ‘The Belle of Amherst’ at Bay Theatre Company by Joel Markowitz

Kathryn Kelley is portraying the poet Emily Dickinson in Bay Theatre Company’s production of The Belle of Amherst, and is receiving raves from local critics and audiences. I asked Kathryn to talk...

NIBBLES AND SIPS AROUND TOWN: Hop On In! by Jordan Wright

Seems like the holidays stacked up on us this year. It’s times like these we wish we were still in school or had paid federal holidays. But noooo – we’re still hopping around finding the best places...

Judyisms: ‘The Seagull’ by Judy Stadt

Having acted in more than eighty plays, there are so many funny “happenings” that can take place during the run of a show that become the future tales one remembers when they are old and grey … like...

An Interview with Playwright and Novelist Jessica McHugh by Teresa McCormick Ertel

Teresa: You and I met just before the opening of your first play, Fools Call It Fate, which is a psychological drama about destiny and choices. How did seeing your work live on stage impact you...

Kyle Carter: From Woodbridge, VA to Washington Heights in ‘In the Heights’ by Joel Markowitz

I was talking to my friend Kenny a few weeks ago and he told me about a co-worker named Grace whose son Kyle Carter was in the tour of In the Heights. Since In the Heights is one of my all-time...

Erik Liberman on Playing The Baker in Centerstage’s ‘Into the Woods’ by Joel Markowitz

Erik Liberman has had a very busy year on and off the stage. When I heard he was going to play The Baker in Centerstage’s production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, I jumped on the opportunity...

Introducing ‘Judyisms’ by Judy Stadt on DC Theater Arts

Hello Darlings! My name is Judy Stadt and I am a professional actor, vocalist, playwright, illustrator, jewelry designer … so let’s just call me an artist. So, what am I doing now? Well, I’m the...

Stage Write: ‘A Chat With Actor Johnny Alonso’ by Teresa McCormick Ertel

Actor and area native Johnny Alonso discusses with wit and candor how determination and a love for performing took him from fronting a local alt band as a teenager to an industrious career in film and...

Young Artists of America Presents ‘The Phantom of The Opera’ Tonight and Tomorrow Night at Churchill High School by Joel Markowitz

Tonight and Tomorrow night -March 16 and 17 at 7:30 PM – Young Artists of America is presenting Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera at The Auditorium at Winston Churchill High School, in...

An Interview with Baltimore Theatre Project’s Anne Cantler Fulwiler by Teresa McCormick Ertel

This weekend, Baltimore Theatre Project (‘BTP’) presents Myth and Infrastructure and Dreaming of Lucid Living by Miwa Matreyek, a live performance with projected animation. This innovative form of...

Stage Write: ‘An Interview with Director Kathy McCrory’ by Teresa McCormick Ertel

Reisterstown Theatre Project is presenting its spring selection, Narnia – the Musical, with a cast of all ages. The magical production is directed by local teacher Kathy McCrory. The adventure opens...