In the Moment

In the Moment: The Soundscape of MetroStage’s ‘The Gin Game’ Rocks!

I love being surprised when I go to theater. Recently, I went to a play, MetroStage’s comely The Gin Game, and became totally smitten with the textures of its music design. It was a soundscape that...

In the Moment: ‘Trevor’ at 1st Stage

Under the crafty direction of Alex Levy, 1st Stage’s production of Trevor, penned by Nick Jones, had me in agreement with a recent American Theatre headline calling Jones the “Deadpan Puppet Master of...

In the Moment: Jewish Plays Project at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

We in DC theater community are constantly on the prowl for new voices with diverse mindsets and new plays on emerging issues to be open to the upcoming generation of possible theater-goers. Whether...

In the Moment: ‘As You Like It’ at Folger Theatre

Gaye Taylor Upchurch’s appealing direction gives Folger Theatre’s As You Like It a warm flirtatious essence with buffoonery galore masking over Shakespeare’s initial soulful melancholic core. With...

In the Moment: A Chat With Ethan Van Slyke on His Career and Understudying For ‘Watch On the Rhine’ at Arena Stage

A joy for a theater writer is to bring notice to young up-and-coming actors. In the past year I have the good fortune to see Ethan van Slyke perform with several professional theater companies in the...

In the Moment: The Studio Theatre’s ‘The Hard Problem’

Studio Theatre’s production of The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard charmed me with its intellectual and ideological turmoil fueled by verbal fierceness. With a shiny, contemporary veneer and Stoppard’s...

In the Moment: The Barter Players’ Touring Productions of ‘The Ugly Duckling’ and ‘The Giver at The Alden’

The Barter Theatre, the state theatre of Virginia, might not be as well known in the DC metro area as it once was. The Barter Theatre has had a long and continuing production history that began in...

In the Moment: Signature Theatre’s Epic ‘Titanic’ and its Backstage Unsung Heroes

Epic refined splendor comes to mind after seeing and hearing Signature Theatre’s production of the Tony Award-winning musical Titanic. Director Eric Schaeffer’s vision and implement of such a...

In the Moment: ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at Synetic Theater

Sleeping Beauty, Synetic Theater’s new dialogue-free production, is gorgeous, entertaining, and illuminating. This Sleeping Beauty is more than a fanciful, “white bread, white washed” Disney-like take...

In the Moment: ‘The Christians’ at Theater J

‘Inspired’ is the word that comes to mind for Adam Immerwahr’s selection of The Christians by Lucas Hnath for this, his first full season as Artistic Director for DC’s Theater J. What an exceptional...

In the Moment: A Report on The Edge of the Universe Players 2’s Workshop Production of Young Jean Lee’s ‘Pullman, WA’

The Edge of the Universe Players 2‘s workshop production of Young Jean Lee’s Pullman, WA was an evening that defies easy categorization. It was charming one moment, annoying the next. It was a...

In the Moment: ‘Birdman Live! at George Mason University Center

There has been a wealth of films about Broadway over the decades. Many oft these Broadway-related movies are from a too distant past even if still shown on AMC or Turner Classics. If the older films...

In the Moment: Jane Franklin on ‘The Migration Project’ Opening Tomorrow Night at Theatre on the Run

With an interest in the stories of refugees and other wandering souls, which I presumed is based upon my own family fables of wanderings to and in America, along with my work as Director, US Office of...

In the Moment: Kenny Neal on his Sound Design for NextStop’s ‘Eurydice’

This is another of my columns that delves deeper into the technical design aspects of an area live theater production. In this case, it was the intriguing sound design of NextStop’s Eurydice that led...

In the Moment: Ping Chong & Company Comes to Reston’s CenterStage

A non-traditional, very timely theater experience is arriving at Reston’s CenterStage from the creative risk-taking minds of award-winning Ping Chong + Company. What the Ping Chong + Company will be...

In the Moment: The Arts Council of Fairfax County’s Arts Awards Announced

Celebrating outstanding achievements, leadership, and support to the arts in Fairfax County, the Cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, Virginia, the Arts Council of Fairfax County is presenting its...

In the Moment: Synetic Theater’s ‘Dante’s Inferno’

The roaring wordless “silence” of Synetic’s remount of Dante’s Inferno is potent; it will swiftly suck you into its ferment depicting what sin might look and feel like if you are in Hell. Don’t brush...

In the Moment: NextStop Theatre Company’s ‘Paper-Free Programs’

Seeking out budget efficiencies with the often limited resources of a non-profit is a constant. Many of us known this from our own experiences as non-profit board members or on staff. In these current...

In the Moment: ‘The 100th Meridian Project’ at George Mason University

Climate change is a sharp pointed object in the current 2016 political season. The language strewn about is often hot and more often than not, ad hominem to say the least But climatic issues are not...

In the Moment: ‘Sense and Sensibility’ at Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre’s take on Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility is just gonna charm you with its ingenious high-velocity agility, while depicting the tastefully hide-bound, tart world of gossip and...

In the Moment: An Interview with BalletNova’s Artistic Director Laveen Naidu

Area non-profit arts organizations continually develop fresh ideas to reach children who may not regularly have access to the wonders of the performing arts. One new such effort is by Northern...

In the Moment: Jessica Robinson on Better Said Than Done at ‘Fall for the Book’ on September 5th-30th

What can be more exhilarating and authentic than standing up in front of an audience to tell a true story about yourself? Maybe unnerving at first; to open up to possible ridicule from people who...

In the Moment: ‘Satchmo at the Waldorf’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Satchmo at the Waldorf, at Mosaic Theater Company of DC, is not timid. Nor should it be. With a script by Wall Street Journal arts critic Terry Teachout, the strong hand of Eleanor Holdridge guiding...

In the Moment: An Interview With Rick Davis on ‘Arts By George!’ on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at George Mason University’s Center for The Arts

These are times of increasing emphasis on STEM as the seemingly set future direction for American students; when there is serious discussion that college bound students and their parents be presented...

In the Moment: ‘A Dream Within A Dream: Madness’ Playing 9/7-10/31 at The Torpedo Factory

Many know Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory Arts Center (TFAC) as a re-purposed war-time munitions plant now a prominent and beloved non-profit home for artists to create works in a publicly accessible...

In the Moment: Theatre Communications Group Reaches Out to Veterans

Reaching out to new or underserved audience for audience development is likely a major, on-going activity for any local theater troupe. Given the large number of military families and veterans in the...

In the Moment: ‘Jelly’s Last Jam’ at Signature Theatre

What a way to blast open the new theater season. So take your seat at Signature’s bold, daring, muscular production of a tale about race and music, Jelly’s Last Jam. The 1992 musical is a journey into...

In the Moment: A Chat With Fight Choreographer Casey Kaleba

How often do we theater-goers find ourselves totally in disbelief when we witness stage violence or physicality? Do you, as I do, find yourself in complete awe of the unnerving movements and actions...

In the Moment: ‘Kitchen Sink Fest’ at Dance Place: Part 2: 7 Dancers on Their 1 Minute Pieces

Hungry for inventive choreography? Up for a summer’s night adventure with performance that is unconventional and live? Hungry for inventive dance and movement? Desire a way to escape the summer’s heat...

In the Moment: ‘Kitchen Sink Fest’ at Dance Place Part 1: An Interview with Ben Levine

This summer’s Kitchen Sink Fest at Dance Place is showcasing a curated, meant-to-provoke on-lookers, dance and theater technical design elements collaboration. From Kitchen Sink Fest producer Ben...

In the Moment: Wolf Trap and the NSO Celebrate 100th Anniversary of National Parks Service on Friday, 7/1

American epic grandeur will be visible and heard at Wolf Trap when the National Symphony Orchestra presents America the Beautiful in a grand pre-July 4th event. There will be breath-taking large-scale...

In the Moment: Part 2: An Interview with Workhouse Arts Center’s Ava Spece

Rare words indeed to take in and ponder from the preface to the The Brookings Institution’s Creative Communities, Art Works in Economic Development: “Without good data and analysis—much of it grounded...

In the Moment: Scenic Designer Tony Cisek on his Scenic Design for Folger’s ‘District Merchants’

Over the past nearly two decades, I have always anticipated what multi-Helen Hayes Award Scenic Designer Tony Cisek will bring forth on the Folger Theatre’s intimate stage space with its two iconic,...

In the Moment: An Interview with Workhouse Arts Center’s Ava Spece

The Workhouse Arts Center is a 55-acre cultural arts center located in southern Fairfax County. For the history minded, It was 100 years ago that Suffragettes who had protested the lack of voting...

In the Moment: ‘La Cage aux Folles’ at Signature Theatre: New Meaning in the Midst of the Orlando Massacre and a Spoiled Son

Signature Theatre’s production of La Cage aux Folles under the sure hands of Director/Choreographer Matthew Gardiner is a fabulously fun-rendering. There is simply no way to leave the production...

In the Moment: ‘Technical Theater Boot Camp’ at Hylton Performing Arts Center.

This summer Hylton Performing Art Center is offering a unique opportunity for “hands-on” learning about what happens backstage during a live theater performance. The Hylton is offering a...

In the Moment: Providence Players of Fairfax Honor Their Student Scholarship Awardees: Miryam Mendelson and Blake Phillips

Giving back to the community is an important goal for the Providence Players of Fairfax. The Providence Players (PPF) is known for its work to serve its diverse community, especially with its Theater...

In the Moment: ‘The Who & the What’ at Round House Theatre

So here we are in a world class city with ever changing demographics that represent all the world. Those include refugees, immigrants and people who may practice a different faith. Thanks to Arena...

In the Moment: Synetic Theater’s ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’

Synetic Theater’s The Man in the Iron Mask is a good yarn, well told. With the production Synetic continues to expand beyond its original Shakespeare roots and singular “silent” physical theater...

In the Moment: Better Said Than Done’s 5th Anniversary Celebration and Story-telling Contest

Story telling has been part of human history for–well–forever. In recent days story-telling has had a resurgence with digital media, pod casting and, of course, radio. Think This American Life, The...

In the Moment: PEN/Faulkner’s Tribute to Robert Stone at the Folger Shakespeare Library

He wrote books that fueled many of his generation. He was a literary provocateur with a writing style like few others penning works about the Vietnam War’s aftermath, political intrigue, class and...

In the Moment: ‘William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged)’ at Folger Theatre

The boys from the Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) have been a mainstay in the DC area for decades. They never wear out their welcome whether performing at the Folger, The Kennedy Center or Reston’s...

In the Moment: George Mason’s Center for the Arts Announces its Upcoming 2016-2017 Season

Next season’s Great Performances series at the Center for the Arts was recently announced to hearty applause at a lovely evening event on the George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Virginia....

In the Moment: A Look at ‘The Mystery of Love & Sex’: Jonny I Hardly Know Ye

Revelations are many in the admirable production of Bathsheba Doran’s The Mystery of Love & Sex currently at Signature Theatre. Directed by Stella Powell Jones, The Mystery of Love & Sex has its share...

‘Talking Shop and Taking Stock With Ari Roth’ by John Stoltenberg and David Siegel

There was a buzz of high energy as we walked into Ari Roth’s office at the Atlas Performing Arts Center to meet with the Founding Artistic Director of Mosaic Theater Company of DC. We wanted to talk...

In the Moment: ‘The Nether’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

The seeds of Jennifer Haley’s award-winning The Nether now at DC’s Woolly Mammoth and Philly’s InterAct were planted long, long ago. Twenty years ago in fact, The War of Desire and Technology at the...

In the Moment: American Theatre Critics Association Stops in Philly

In the past 25 years or so the theater scene in nearby Philadelphia, the nation’s 5th largest city, has blossomed into 50-plus stage companies that pay their actors, designers, and creative teams....

In the Moment: Creative Cauldron Awarded Grants for its Technical Theater Training Project

Theater has a great deal to offer well beyond acting before an enthralled audience. Not only is theater a source of inspiration and entertainment, but it can be a wonderful opportunity to learn and...

In the Moment: ‘Falling Out of Time’ at Theatre J

Writing a column about Theater J’s world premiere of Falling Out of Time is difficult. Based upon the book by David Grossman, about a man’s 20 year-old soldier son who was killed during military...

In the Moment: ‘The Flick’ at Signature Theatre

Several years ago I read Annie Baker’s The Flick. For the life of me, I wondered how such a beautifully written, gutsy play about working-class heroes in their own ways could be turned into a living...