Music

‘The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater

The scintillating cast of Riverside Center Dinner Theater’s The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber almost blew the roof off when I saw this new production on Saturday, January 17, 2015. The entertaining new...

Watch Out, Washington: Here Comes Beethoven’s Ninth

Everybody knows about Walter Cronkite and his impact on television news. Fewer people remember or know about Cronkite’s great rival on NBC during the 1960s, The Huntley-Brinkley Report. Pairing the...

Standout CDs of Three Rising Classical Artists: Einav Yarden, Yevgeny Kutik, and Danielle Talamantes

Debut recordings by emerging classical performers face enormous challenges. There’s the issue of finding unique material or a unique voice after so much music has been recorded so many times. And just...

‘Caroline, or Change’ at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative

For a change, catch this show before it gets away DO run to catch Caroline, or Change at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative. It’s a must-see show, it is worth several times the ticket price. When most...

Peabo Bryson’s ‘The Colors of Christmas: Bryson, Studdard, Holliday, Dayne’ at Strathmore

Holiday concerts just don’t get any better than Colors of Christmas. In a resplendent performance of Christmas classics and R&B favorites, the Strathmore Music Center’s starry-night Colors of...

‘Pippin’ is Playing at The National Theatre: A Chat with John Rubinstein on Coming into the Broadway Production, Playing Charles, and Playing Pippin in the Original Broadway Production

[Editor’s Note: Press Night for The National Tour of Pippin is tonight at The National Theatre in DC, and John Rubenstein is here to play King Charlemagne direct from The Tony Award-winning Broadway...

‘A Capital Christmas’ at The Choral Arts Society of Washington at The Kennedy Center

According to Artistic Director Scott Tucker, music is what makes it truly feel like Christmas. The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s splendid performance of A Capital Christmas filled The Kennedy...

The Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic at the Church of the Epiphany

The sheer number of mid-rank orchestras in the Washington area guarantees a wide variety of musical approaches to holiday concerts. But the prize for the most boundary-expanding holiday program has to...

‘A Candlelight Christmas’ at The Washington Chorus at The Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center Hall is decked in evergreen, but The Washington Chorus brings the candles as they file into to the solemn song of “Once in Royal David’s City” to begin A Candlelight Christmas. They...

‘Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis’ at the Music Center at Strathmore

Saturday, Mannheim Steamroller performed at Bethesda’s Music Center at Strathmore. The soldout crowd was enraptured at the matinee and Mannheim Steamroller received a standing ovation at the end. For...

‘Holiday Follies’ at Signature Theatre

Many of the greatest things in life just better with time, and Signature Theatre’s annual celebration of the holidays—Holiday Follies—is certainly no exception. Under the direction of Walter Ware III,...

‘An Evening with Natalie Merchant’ at The Lincoln Theatre

Singer-songwriter superstar Natalie Merchant sparkled, performing a career-spanning set in front of a sold-out crowd last Wednesday night at DC’s Lincoln Theatre. The show was originally scheduled for...

‘NPR’s A Jazz Piano Christmas’ at The Kennedy Center

There are many types of applause one hears in a concert hall—polite clapping, raucous applause, the awkward slow clap. Felix Contreras, the host of last night’s cheerful NPR’s A Jazz Piano Christmas,...

NSO Pops: ‘Happy Holidays! Cirque de la Symphonie’ at The Kennedy Center

It seems DC is on the nice list this year. From classics (See: Olney) to new inventions (See: Pointless), there really is something for everyone on local stages this season. Not to be outdone, the...

Ballet West’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at The Kennedy Center

Ballet West blends old & new in holiday classic Remember the way the holiday season used to make you feel? Remember walking around full of expectation, certain that wonderful, impossible, magical...

‘Rockin’ the Holidays’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Rockin’ the Holidays, the current Christmas holiday offering from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW), is a winner on all levels: vocally, technically and artistically. The joyous and...

‘Tchaikovsky is Forever: Operatic Arias and Romances’ at The Embassy of Austria

Say “Tchaikovsky,” and as Christmas creeps ever closer, be it excitingly or inexorably, visions of sugar plums, graceful ballerinas in sparkles and white tulle, and softly falling faux snow begin,...

The Christmas Revels: ‘An Irish Celebration of the Winter Solstice’

The Washington Revels takes to the sea for their 2014 production and explores the music, dance, and stories of Irish immigrants. It is a rollicking good time and a poignant exploration at the...

‘BSO: Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Step Afrika! at Strathmore

“There are two kinds of music, good music and the other kind,” big band leader, composer and D.C. native son Duke Ellington famously said. In 1960 he turned to Russian powerhouse Peter Ilych...

‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ at Virginia Opera Company

Strictly speaking, I really shouldn’t like Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. I like theatre that is dark, shocking, provocative… I’m more comfortable at Capital Fringe than Disney on Ice. So no...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Andrea McArdle at The Kennedy Center

The original star of the Broadway smash hit Annie, Andrea McArdle, has grown into a mature and super-talented singer who can belt with the best of them. At The Kennedy Center’s Barbara Cook’s...

GMCW Presents ‘Rockin’ The Holidays’ Tomorrow Night at 8 PM at The Lincoln Theatre By Craig Cipollini

We’re getting’ ready to take the stage… We’re putting the final touches on our holiday concert and you won’t want to miss it! If you haven’t purchased your tickets already, don’t miss out on our...

‘La-Ti-Do’ Is Looking For A New Home: An Open Letter to the DC Area Arts Community by Don Michael Mendoza

An Open Letter to the DC Area Arts Community: Providing a safe, inclusive and encouraging environment is of the utmost importance when creating and experimenting with any art form. La-Ti-Do served the...

‘Donny & Marie: Christmas at the National’ at the National Theatre

Donny & Marie: Christmas at the National provides our nation’s capital with a sparkling and joyous holiday celebration. Superstar siblings Donny and Marie Osmond are every bit as charming and...

George Winston at the Music Center at Strathmore

‘Tis the season, literally, at the Music Center at Strathmore where George Winston played his “Winter Concert” in a masterful performance of beautiful songs dedicated to fall, winter, snow, and...

NSO Pops: An Evening with Sutton Foster at The Kennedy Center

NSO Pops Electrifies with An Evening With Sutton Foster at The Kennedy Center When two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster takes the stage, anything goes, and she served up a delightful mix of charm,...

Tony Nominated Songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul Held a Master Class with Act Two @ Levine Pre-Professional Students at Strathmore Last Night

Tony nominated for A Christmas Story, The Musical, Pasek and Paul brought years of composing experience to the students of Act Two @ Levine’s pre-professional students. They began working together at...

Chris Smither & The Motivators at The Barns at Wolf Trap

While Wolf Trap is best known for The Filene Center, its 7,000 capacity giant performance venue, it’s true gem is found in The Barns. The Barns is really just one barn, a small, but lofty concert hall...

The Count Basie Orchestra at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club

The Count Basie Orchestra is a perfect paring with The Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club as it rises to its stated goal of being “The Copacabana of the mid-Atlantic.” The packed dinner crowd,...

‘Some Kind of Wonderful: Bayla Whitten Sings Carole King’ at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia

Just this past weekend, a sunny, very talented Bayla Whitten held the audience enthralled making her solo cabaret debut covering singer, song writer Carole King’s many hit tunes. She performed Some...

‘The Laramie Project’ at Indian Creek Upper School

The Indian Creek Upper School production of The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and Members of the Tectonic Theater Project on Saturday evening at the Jack and Nancy Becker Center for the Performing...

The Czech Philharmonic at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Sometimes there’s reason to doubt why a symphony orchestra needs all those violins. Many of the labor disputes that are running around the country’s major professional ensembles, including a recent...

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC Presents ‘Love Stinks!’ at Atlas on November 15th at 5 & 8 PM by Craig Cipollini

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC presents a funny look at the world of love and dating! We’ve all kissed a few frogs in our time – right? Join the Gay Men’s Chorus as select soloists will sing...

The Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig at Washington Performing Arts

You have a right to be skeptical when a symphony orchestra claims to have a unique sound. Down through the centuries most composers of symphonic music have given specific directions about what...

Jim Brickman at Wolf Trap

It was a fun night, full of old favorites and new hits, as Jim Brickman brought his “Platinum Tour” to the Barns at Wolf Trap, on Wednesday, October 29th at 8 pm. This tour, celebrating the 20 years...

National Chamber Ensemble’s ‘Night of Italian Opera’

The National Chamber Ensemble, directed by the charming violinist Leo Sushansky, opened its eight season with a Night of Italian Opera this past Saturday, October 25, 2014, in the intimate Spectrum...

National Chamber Ensemble Presents ‘Night of Italian Opera’ This Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 7:30 PM

FULL OF ROMANCE AND PASSION The National Chamber Ensemble (NCE), Artisphere’s Resident Ensemble, opens its eight exciting season on October 25, 2014. Praised by the Washington Post for being...

‘Carousel’ at Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Carousel was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s favorite musical and Catholic University returns it to its glory days with a full orchestra, a big cast, and talented stars. It’s one of the reasons I love...

‘Next to Normal’ at CENTERSTAGE

CENTERSTAGE soars to new heights with its electrifying production of the multiple Tony Award-winning, contemporary rock musical, Next to Normal, launching the second show of its 2014-15 Season....

‘Elmer Gantry’ at Signature Theatre

“I have principles. I just don’t let them get in the way of what I want.” That’s how Elmer Gantry—a charismatic preacher-salesman-womanizer summarizes himself. But, he falls for Sister Sharon...

Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons at Strathmore

Just too good to be true, we can’t take our eyes off Frankie Vallie and his crew The Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons show at Strathmore last night was sold out and so is tonight’s performance. For...

Henry Rollins on the DC Punk Scene at the Smithsonian

Tuesday night, October 14, 2014, a packed crowd listened to DC’s native son, Henry Rollins (aka Garfield). He shared his insights about the DC punk rock scene in the early 80s, where he played an...

In the Moment: An Interview with Tom Teasley on His Live Score for ‘Nosferatu’ on October 25th at Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA

“I invite you to participate in a merging of sight, sound, drama and fantasy. For fifty minutes I will take your imagination on a fantasy journey and return you safely to your seats!” Now that is how...