Interviews and Features

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Is ‘Beetlejuice’ a ‘Perfect’ Musical?

Beetlejuice opens at the National Theatre this month, featuring the work of a tightknit team of American theater professionals – and one Australian that none of them had ever heard of. The show’s...

Local Lute Player Ronn McFarlane Brings Medieval Instrument to Modern Audiences

When asked to picture a lute, the average 21st-century music fan might envision an illustration from a medieval illuminated manuscript, depicting someone in tights, maybe some sort of tunic and floppy...

Rick Foucheux Returns to Quotidian: Retired Acting Legend Presents Backstage Comedy at Fundraiser

When Rick Foucheux, the award-winning actor whose work has dazzled DC audiences for 35 years, decided to retire last year, it wasn’t because he was tired of the stage. He just wanted to focus on other...

‘Perhaps He’s a Prodigy.’ How Walter ‘Bobby’ McCoy Went from High School to the Heights of DC Theater

Many students use their high school musical to dip their toes into the theater world. Walter “Bobby” McCoy, used it to launch himself into the deep end. When McCoy was a freshman, the new theater...

Interview: Composer and Lyricist Michael Dansicker on ‘The Comedy of Errors’

With the addition of original music from composer/lyricist Michael Dansicker, Shakespeare Theatre Company’s (STC) The Comedy of Errors is abandonment into farce. Whatever may be outside the walls of...

Baltimore Concert Opera Delivers Glamour, Grandeur and Stunning Performances at Unique Historic Venue

From the time you enter the historic Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, also known as the Engineers Club, you feel as though you have taken a step back in time. Chandeliers, English Oak, Tiffany glass windows,...

Kelsey Hunt Dresses the Stars in Ford’s Frothy Revival of ‘Born Yesterday’

“Born Yesterday is a winner.” Those are the words of my colleague, David Siegel, whose review of the gloriously effervescent comedy that just opened at Ford’s Theatre is full of superlatives....

Interview: Circus Artists Hannah Robinson and Sarah Kathleen Hluchan on TSNY-DC’s All-Aerial Student Showcase

What makes a circus act great is it looks humanly impossible. Yet, Trapeze School New York (TSNY) Washington DC regularly trains students to do the impossible on a daily basis. Their next student...

Who Was Sir William Davenant and What Did He Do to ‘Macbeth’?

If you want to get yourself in the mood for the Folger Theatre’s current hit production of Macbeth – a famous adaptation from the 1660’s of William Shakespeare’s original tragedy, by his godson...

Timothy Douglas: The Voice Behind ‘Small Mouth Sounds’ at Round House Theatre

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a disembodied voice floating above the seats at the Round House Theatre this month. The voice belongs to Timothy Douglas, an award-winning director whose work has...

They Are Bach! Washington Bach Consort Announces Their New Artistic Director and Kicks Off 41st Season

After a dramatic auditioning process that lasted the entirety of their 40th season, Washington Bach Consort has selected their new Artistic Director. The premiere Baroque chorus and orchestra that...

A New Dynasty Commands the Stage in the Folger Theatre’s ‘Macbeth’

“The moon is down; I have not heard the clock.” Those words—spoken by 10-year-old Owen Peakes in the Folger Theatre’s startling new production of Macbeth—send a faint tremor through the packed house....

Natalie Graves Tucker: Theatre Week Kickoff Emcee and All Around Superwoman (Interview)

Natalie Graves Tucker is so many things to so many people that we might need to add “superwoman” to her resume: actor, mom, marketing professional, voice over artist, video producer, writer, former...

Hip-Hop and Hamilton: The Same Revolution

Born into a society coming off a bloody, soul-crushing war nobody asked for. The folks who govern are taxing their people into oblivion; the common man looked at as a lesser caste, an undeserving...

The Top Eleven Ticket Deals During Theater Week

The final days of summer are here. And you know what that means? It’s time to score some awesome deals during Theatre Week. For the third year, we’re bringing you exclusive prices to some of the...

Surrealism on Stage: Behind the Doors at Sarah Ruhl’s ‘Melancholy Play’ at Constellation Theatre

Imagine a cluster of windows without walls, set against a backdrop of doors. And imagine a stage with a floor whose texture resembles sand. Those are just a few of the images—improbable as they...

Interview: Creative Cauldron Producing Director Laura Connors Hull

Creative Cauldron is celebrating its 10th season performing at its ArtSpace venue in Falls Church. Creative Cauldron is one of the area’s small theater gems, with a consistently high quality along...

Dangereuse: The “Wow” Effect: Free-for-All ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

First-rate Shakespeare for free is one of the most valuable gifts the Shakespeare Theatre offers the DC community. The two-week run of Romeo and Juliet is a reprise of director Alan Paul’s acclaimed...

In the Moment: ‘Passion’ at Signature Theatre

Leaving Stephen Sondheim’s Passion, directed by Matthew Gardiner, I found one word to describe my reaction: Believable. Yes, believable. This Signature Theatre production of Passion took me inside its...

Interview: The Hub Theatre’s New Artistic Director Matt Bassett Looks Ahead to 2018-19 Season

In a recent telephone interview, Matt Bassett, Hub Theatre’s new artistic director, discussed the company’s upcoming season. In shaping the season, his first as Hub artistic director, Bassett said...

Interview: MetroStage’s Carolyn Griffin and Actor Doug Brown Discuss ‘The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek’ by Athol Fugard

Over its 30 seasons, MetroStage has had several homes, including 17 years in a cozy venue in Alexandria’s North End. Redevelopment of the area will lead MetroStage to another location in Alexandria in...

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

Iowa can seem such a mythical place. That crossed my mind as I took in the Keegan Theatre’s top-notch production of the bittersweet, mystical romance of The Bridges of Madison County. Sure, Bridges is...

How ‘Hamilton’ Is Remaking American History

By Renee C. Romano and Claire Bond Potter America has gone Hamilton crazy. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical about Alexander Hamilton, “the forgotten founding father,” has become a turning point in...

Eric Schaeffer Discusses Signature Theatre’s Upcoming ‘Passion’

Starting August 14, Stephen Sondheim’s musical Passion will play at Arlington, Virginia’s Signature Theatre, starring Natascia Diaz (West Side Story) as Fosca and directed by Associate Artistic...

Interview With Tom Sweitzer About ‘Coming of Age’ Cabaret

Entertainment and enlightenment are only two of the expectations for the upcoming performance of Coming of Age at the Creative Cauldron as a group of talented teens perform a cabaret with compelling...

5 Questions with Joshua Conyers, Summer 2018 Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera

Baritone Joshua Conyers is becoming a mainstay in the Washington area. Conyers is a Summer 2018 Filene Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, where he has sung Count Capulet in Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette,...

Three Truths I Took Away From Second City’s ‘Generation Gap’

Are we brave enough to laugh at ourselves? That’s a question The Second City explores in it’s latest comedy show Generation Gap, playing now through August 12th at the Kennedy Center. The show blends...

‘Hamilton’ is Encouragement for True Inclusion in Theater

Hamilton: An American Musical is whatever kind of success you want to call it for its time. Artists, audiences, and critics observed it as groundbreaking in its music composition, choreography, and...

Past is Prologue at 4615 Theatre Company

Artistic Director Jordan Friend had a clear vision when 4615 Theatre Company began producing full seasons last year. Each 4615 season would kick off with a pair of shows – one classic, one...

Holly Bass Celebrates Black Sisterhood in ‘The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company’

District-based solo performer Holly Bass creates in so many media and art forms I can’t keep up with her—and I’ve been covering her for nearly a decade. Her latest devised work, a dance-theater piece,...

In The Moment: Building New Homes for the Arts in Fairfax County

Throughout my years covering the arts in the DC area, I have often heard that Fairfax County is a wasteland, a desert, no place for the creative theater artist. A locale with few outlets for...

Magic Time!: Mike Daisey Takes Aim at ‘The Story of the Gun’ in America

Masterful monologuist Mike Daisey returns to DC to skewer with humor another burning issue of the day. This time it’s America’s thing about guns. What’s that all about, anyway? How did guns get to be...

Musical Theater and Improv Join Forces at Washington Improv Theater

“Quick! We need a word. Any word,” says Travis Charles Ploeger, director and accompanist for iMusical, an improv ensemble out of Washington Improv Theater. He’s standing in a black box theater,...

With Community Theatre Project, GALA Theatre Brings Immigrant Voices ‘Out of the Shadows’

They are likely the unseen in our midst; that is until a particular, probably short-term job needs the informal employment market as the source of a worker. They have their own personal stories to...

Who Were the Schuyler Sisters? Fact and Fiction in ‘Hamilton’

One of the myriad things Lin-Manuel Miranda does so beautifully in Hamilton: An American Musical is his portrayal of the profound symbiosis among the Schuyler Sisters: Angelica, Eliza, AND Peggy. The...

Monumental Theatre Company Styles ‘Pippin’ for a New Generation

Fresh off its 2018 Helen Hayes Award win for Outstanding Emerging Theater Company, Monumental Theatre Company will close out its season with Pippin (July 13-30). Monumental describes itself as a...

Can a Community Theater Go Professional?

With NextStop Theatre Company celebrating its 30th anniversary, I chatted with Evan Hoffmann, NextStop’s producing artistic director, to learn about the company’s journey. Founded in 1988 as the...

Prepare for the Unexpected: An Interview with Christopher Bell, Artistic Director and Conductor of The Washington Chorus

Even in Washington, DC, a town unofficially known as the choral capital of the United States, Christopher Bell stands out as a milestone hire for The Washington Chorus (TWC). Bell, who just finished...

With ‘A New Nation,’ Convergence Theatre’s Elena Velasco Aims To Make Theater Visceral

Art and activism are long-time partners. What better place than the DC area to meld the two in an effort to stimulate social justice and discover humanity from a progressive perspective. Or should I...

Love and Friendship IRL: A Q&A With Brandon McCoy and Brianna Letourneau About ‘Other Life Forms’ at Keegan Theatre

I went to see Other Life Forms, the new comedy at Keegan Theatre, not expecting to write about it. But the play changed my mind. I wasn’t even home yet when on an impulse I tweeted that Other Life...

Synetic’s New Voice Series production of ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’

With the announcement of its New Voice Series, Synetic Theater is taking its own unique approach to the development of the richly talented pool of emerging theater-makers and budding theater...

Perfecting the ‘Burn’: Props Master Jay Duckworth on Styling the Iconic ‘Hamilton’ Song

As a Props Master, you try and read through a script and see where the big “what ifs” are, but there is always a human factor that you just can’t predict. In Hamilton, one big “what if” was the song...

‘Hamlet Project: A Rock ‘N’ Roll Mixtape’ by We Happy Few

In 2012, Hannah Todd and Raven Bonniwell founded a small theater company, We Happy Few, with the desire to revive classic texts and find new ways to interpret and present the material. While We Happy...

Is DC Theater Getting Addicted to Trump?

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Theater Arts writers. In this one, Senior Writers and Columnists John Stoltenberg (Magic Time!) and David Siegel (In the Moment)...

Tony-Nominee Eva Noblezada in Her Own Words

On Sunday, June 24, Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, best known for her portrayal of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon in London’s West End, then in the 2016 Broadway Revival, will present her final...

Interview: Playwright Patrick Flynn Shines New Light on ‘Tinker Bell’ at Adventure Theatre

Tinker Bell has been a part of children’s lives since J. M. Barrie first introduced her to the literary canon in his 1904 play and 1911 novel. The Tinker Bell character has been ever present in the...

Exclusive: ‘Hamilton’ Through the Eyes of Original Broadway Cast Member Betsy Struxness

In part one of our “Summer of Hamilton” series, original cast member Betsy Struxness recalls the show’s earliest days. Hamilton. What’s to be said that hasn’t been said? Phenomenon. Game Changer....

People Respect and Appreciate Authenticity: A Q&A with Storyteller Anne B. Thomas

While hitchhiking across Europe by herself at 18, Anne B. Thomas fell asleep in the back of a car, and when she woke she was lying by the side of the road. She tried to stand up but found she couldn’t...

“The Queerest Role I’ve Played”: A Q&A with Jon Hudson Odom About ‘Botticelli in the Fire’ at Woolly Mammoth

Jon Hudson Odom’s performance in Jordan Tannahill’s new play Botticelli in the Fire just blew me away. And it wasn’t the first time that had happened. I’ve been following his work for several years,...