Reviews

‘Once Upon a Mattress’ at Prince George’s Little Theatre

Prince George’s Little Theatre’s production of Once Upon a Mattress is a playful, musical comedy for all generations. With music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer, and book by Jay Thompson,...

The Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival: A Gem in UVA Country

Summer music festivals in both the pop and classical music worlds can come with a lot of flash and dash. But not to be overlooked in our region is a more modest gem tacked onto the end of festival...

‘Yerma’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre

New Adaptation Puts a Contemporary Spin on an 80-year-old Classic Can a septuagenarian and a teenager both enjoy an 80-year-old play? That’s what we set out to learn at Saturday’s night’s world...

‘Truth and Beauty Bombs: A Softer World’ at Rorschach Theatre

Poetic language, a magical set, and a steampunk aesthetic set the mood for the introspective Truth and Beauty Bombs: A Softer World at Rorschach Theatre. This evening of interwoven vignettes, inspired...

‘The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) at Damascus Theatre Company in Partnership with The City of Gaithersburg

“You walk into a show and hope you don’t fall asleep watching the plot. You walk into a show and find you’re watching the same plot a lot. So many points of view, though. Couldn’t they write a new...

‘Chimerica’ at The Studio Theatre

Lucy Kirkwood did not think up the word Chimerica—it was coined by a historian and an economist to name the combustably combined economies of China and the U.S. But wowza did she think up a whiz-bang...

‘One Man Two Guvnors’ at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Splendidly directed by Tad Janes and cleverly written by Richard Bean with songs by Grant Olding, One Man Two Guvnors is a laugh-out-loud riot with hysterical performances from a versatile cast with...

‘An Inspector Calls’ at Everyman Theatre

Everyman Theatre officially opened its 2015/16 season by reviving J.B. Priestley’s multi-Tony Award-winning play, An Inspector Calls,a classic English drawing-room mystery à la Agatha Christie – part...

‘The Hero of Everything’ at InterAct Story Theatre

In Former British Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen’s June 2014 Guardian article on arts education, he provides a checklist for teaching artists to keep in mind. The list has ten ideas that revolve...

Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Laurel Mill Playhouse is a non-profit community theater group, originally known as the Burtonsville Players Inc., which has been putting on shows for local audiences for over the past 35 years. They...

‘Underground Rooftop Coffee House: Voices from the Edge’ at Arts Collective at Howard Community College

Opening their 2015-2016 season, Howard Community College’s Arts Collective presented an evening of improvisations by their own improv group called What Improv Group?!?! or W.I.G?!?! This troupe is...

‘The Addams Family’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre and Children’s Theatre

Imaginatively directed by Justin M. Kiska and excellently musically directed by Jordan B. Stocksdale, The Addams Family at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre and Children’s Theatre is definitely a...

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Women Laughing Alone With Salad’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Women Laughing Alone With Salad is a completely mesmerizing, multi-media show. Like a gourmet salad bar, this one has all the good stuff, plus a lot of dressings – and undressings. It earns five stars...

‘The Gypsy Baron’ at Victorian Lyric Opera Company

One might not be surprised to hear Johann Strauss Jr’s The Gypsy Baron described as delightful and charming, as that is what a late 19th century Viennese operetta aspires to be, but fresh and...

‘According to Goldman’ at Act II Playhouse in Philadelphia

While one often finds the journey to a Philly suburb arduous, According to Goldman makes the trip out to Ambler worth it. As a patron walks into the theater, people are socializing, cackling, and...

2015 Philadelphia Fringe Festival: ‘The Captive’ at Philadelphia Artists’ Collective

Once upon a time, The Captive was hot stuff. Édouard Bourdet’s play caused a sensation in Paris in 1926, and again later that year on Broadway. But the Broadway run was cut short when authorities...

A Second Look at Wolf Pack Theatre Company’s ‘Masquerade’ by Andy Sampson and Jesus Chavez

Editor’s Note: Last night the powerful show on the effects suicide has on a family, called Masquerade, was presented as a benefit for Community Crisis Services and PFLAG Metro DC for their suicide...

‘Step Afrika! Step Explosion’

I just discovered a phenomenal performing arts group that rocked and moved me as much as any experience in theater I can recall. The name of the group is Step Afrika!, an organization renowned around...

A Report from Page-to-Stage: Theater J’s ‘Falling Out of Time’ and ‘Love Godfrey/Love George’

Theater J offered a first look at its adaptation of Falling Out of Time, David Grossman’s powerful saga of parental loss, at this year’s Page-to-Stage Festival held at The Kennedy Center last weekend....

2015 Philadelphia Fringe Festival: ‘Underground Railroad Game’

Underground Railroad Game is a show that doesn’t care who it shocks. It’s filled with racial and sexual stereotypes, raunchy language, and offensive images, not to mention full frontal nudity. There’s...

‘Detroit’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

The facade of a blue house dominates the stage at Fells Point Corner Theatre. Sliding glass doors and a kitchen window look out onto a concrete patio, where a grill, fire pit, and a small table with...

Max Major’s ‘THINK AGAIN’ at the Theatre Project

Every once in a while you encounter a person that exudes such a charismatic, captivating confidence, he commands your attention at every turn – Max Major, a Washington, D.C.–based mentalist magician...

2015 Philadelphia Fringe Festival: ‘The Shoplifters’ at 1812 Productions

Mary Martello is a master thief. Anyone who’s seen her play supporting roles in shows as diverse as Memphis, 9 to 5, and Candide knows that this five-time Barrymore winner is an expert at stealing a...

‘Sherlock’s Last Case’ at The Colonial Players

The Colonial Players of Annapolis have opened their 67th season with Sherlock’s Last Case, a darkly-funny send-up of the famous sleuth, written by Charles Marowitz and directed by Beth Terranova....

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘The Oregon Trail’ at Flying V Theatre

Hitch up your wagon, take one last visit to Matt’s General Store, and say hello to your teenage years once again. Flying V is serving up a healthy dose of nostalgia with their current production of...

‘Hay Fever’ at Olney Theatre Center

Noël Coward himself described his breakout hit, Hay Fever as having “no plot at all, and remarkably little action…” The Olney Theatre Center’s production of this part-farce, part-comedy of manners,...

‘Laughing Stock’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Even if you aren’t acquainted with any of the actors in the play, or if you have ever been involved with a theatrical production anywhere, you’ll recognize some old friends when you go see Little...

Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Night Falls on the Blue Planet’ at Theater Alliance

Kathleen Akerley’s Night Falls on the Blue Planet is a rapturously funny and brainy comedy about a woman named Renee who is losing her mind and finding her body. (Or something like that. It’s...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: September 2015: Peru! at Occopa, China Chilcano, Et Voila!, Mom & Pops, & Blackwall Hitch

Falling in Love with Peru All Over Again: Seven Signs the Culinary Trend is Here to Stay with Ocopa, the Peruvian Brothers and China Chilcano – Et Voila! Hides in Plain Sight – Elizabeth’s Gone Raw:...

‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ at the Old Opera House

Family comedies are often hit or miss, but Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Old Opera House is a poignant comedy strengthened by quirky and heartfelt individual performances. Excellently...

‘Greater Tuna’ at The Vagabond Players

First things first: Happy Big One Oh Oh! to The Vagabond Players. The show was not only a Five Star treat, but the opening night audience was also treated to birthday cake in honor of the troupe’s...

‘An Easy to Read 2015 Page-to-Stage Festival’ Schedule for Saturday, September 5-Monday, September 7, 2015 at The Kennedy Center

This year’s 14th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival takes place: Saturday, September 5th from 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Sunday, September 6th from 6–7 p.m. Monday, September 7, from 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Venues...

‘The Shape of Things’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

The Shape of Things, written by Neil LaBute and exceptionally directed by Steve Custer, is a brutally honest look at our modern roles in relationships and asks the question, “Where should society draw...

Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club ‘Adios Tour’ at Wolf Trap

Everyone at Wolf Trap tonight must have oiled their hips tonight as just about the whole audience was dancing in the aisles by the end of the evening to the Latin beats coming from the stage. The...

‘The Journey of Thing Three’ at Boom Theatre Company

What makes productions by Boom Theatre Company so valuable is that they bring to audiences, specifically those in Harford County, theatre that is truly cutting edge. The Journey of Thing Three, an...

‘The Baltimore Waltz’ at Rep Stage

Something is undeniably right about a play that keeps you chuckling all evening then sends you off with a lump in your throat. That, in a nutshell, is Paula Vogel’s The Baltimore Waltz, now opening...

‘Chocolate Covered Rocky Horror Show’ at EarlOrrin Productions

I was a fifteen-year old girl in 1975, when The Rocky Horror Picture Show, came out. I remember me and my friends going to the Friday midnight shows as a teenager. The audience interacted with the...

‘Love and Money’ at Signature Theatre in NYC

Master Playwright A.R.Gurney has used his own life as background material for some 50 plays, 4 musicals, plus 3 novels. Born in 1930 in Buffalo, New York, he decided early on to “write what he knew”,...

‘Dogfight’ at The Keegan Theatre

A trip to the Keegan Theatre is a must for they are now presenting the first collaboration of the dynamic songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul—namely, the musical Dogfight (based on the...

DinoRock Productions Inc.’s ‘Dinosaur Desperados’ at The Puppet Co.

DinoRock Productions Inc. celebrates their 15th guest appearance at The Puppet Company with Dinosaur Desperados, a fun-filled show where the old west meets the old world. “Dino wranglers” Michele...

‘A Conversation With the Man Who Killed My Son’ at Dynamic Wellness

Twice a week in this land of the free, a white police officer kills a black person—this according to under-reported stats from the FBI. From the official law-enforcement point of view, these are...

The Beach Boys at Wolf Trap

Nostalgic Fun for all Generations: The Beach Boys at Wolf Trap Great music and good weather brought audiences out in droves to Wolf Trap for an unforgettable afternoon with the iconic band, The Beach...

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Witches Vanish’ at Venus Theatre Company

Underlying Witches Vanish, the new play by Venus Theatre Company (and third entry in the DC area-wide Women’s Voices Theater Festival), is a cold bedrock of fact: A tremendous amount of women are...

‘Kiss Me Kate’ at NextStop Theatre Company

When Cole Porter’s classic musical Kiss Me Kate first premiered on Broadway, it featured a cast of 40 singers and dancers. This makes sense, as there are many roles in this show and enthusiastic,...

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Scena Theatre

Scena Theatre has brought back its hit 2011 production of The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of errors, and DC’s summer just got wittier and sweeter. In Scena’s delectable...

Gladys Knight and the O’Jays at Wolf Trap

“Tonight is all about love!” proclaimed the Empress of Soul, Gladys Knight herself, as she and the O’Jays gave the crowd an amazing night out at Wolf Trap on Saturday, August 22, 2015. And indeed it...

‘2015 One-Act Festival’: Weekend 1 at Silver Spring Stage

A night of One-Act Plays is always interesting. It gives new or little-known playwrights a chance to shine. It gives new directors a shot at showing their talent. Actors who may never have had a...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Summer 2015 Scene Stealers Part 2

Here is Part 2 of DCMetroTheaterArts’ staff’s Summer 2015 Scene Stealers. Congrats to our honorees. ______ Erin Adams as Kate Monster Singing “There’s a A Fine, Fine Line” in Avenue Q at Stillpointe...

‘The Fix’ at Signature Theatre by David Siegel

“Public office is a minefield” so you better just “Grit your teeth, sell the lies” though “maybe I’m just too blunt to survive” are lyrics that provide some of the central posits in The Fix now...

‘The Fix’ at Signature Theatre by Katie Bogdan

“If I can’t be the wife of the president, you bet your ass I’ll be the mother.” These words, sung by Violet Chandler (Christine Sherrill), set the roller coaster of a ride that is The Fix in motion....