Reviews

Spine: Review of ‘The Full Catastrophe’ at the Contemporary American Theater Festival

Michael Weller’s The Full Catastrophe, based on a novel by David Carkeet, is a comedy, a comedy about marriage and those longing for marriage. It is light-hearted and fun, well acted and directed, and...

‘Dear Evan Hansen’ at Arena Stage

There are a lot of great shows in town this month. There’s the fan-favorite The Book of Mormon, the charming and captivating Once, the grassroots Capital Fringe Festival (which just ended)—even Lady...

‘Twelfth Night’ at 4615 Theater Company

The title of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is often considered a reference to “Epiphany,” or the twelfth night of the Christmas Celebration. Around Shakespeare’s time, this night was celebrated with a...

‘As You Like It’ by Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It is fun for the family. The Meadow, just below the historic Evergreen House, is a lovely place to spend a late afternoon or early summer evening. Spread a blanket on...

‘Sweeney Todd (Prog-Metal Version)’ at Landless Theatre Company

An eclectic mix of disparate stylistic elements that conspire to surprise us at every turn and akin to an all-out jam session of improvisation, nothing in the immediacy of the Landless Theatre...

‘Oliver! The Musical’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

This summer, Adventure Theatre MTC brings Lionel Bart’s Oliver! to Round House Theatre in their first Two Act Musical in 63 years! While Adventure Theatre is celebrated for their award-winning one-act...

‘The Meeting’ at Clifton Town Hall

“Hello – my name is … and I am an alcoholic.” These powerful words reverberated in the Clifton Town Hall as myself (and I am sure each member of the audience) recalled our personal experiences with...

Howard Community College’s Arts Collective Announces its 2015-2016 Season By Susan G. Kramer

Twenty-one years of powerful story-telling… and this is just the beginning! This season, AC celebrates the extraordinary gifts of poets, prose writers and playwrights, from original works to a Tony...

‘Avenue Q: The Musical’ at Other Voices Theatre

It is very rare than you see a musical where every role is ideally cast, and even more unexpected in a show where the majority of the actors are acting as puppeteers. However, the Other Voices Theatre...

‘Bayla Sings Barbra’ at 2015 Summer Cabaret Series at Creative Cauldron

“A musical buffet for the audience” is the way Matt Conner, Creative Cauldron Associate Artist and curator of the Cauldron’s 2015 Summer Cabaret Series described what to expect. Laura Hull, founder...

‘In the Heights’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

The Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA) has launched In the Heights, as part of their ‘Director’s Dream Season.’ Frank D. Shutts II has wanted to put this 2008 ony Award-winning Best Musical for over...

Pick of the Fringe Audience Awards Announced And Extension Shows Announced

Here are the Pick of the Fringe Audience Awards announced tonight at The Triad Theatre at the new Capital Fringe Headquarters: BEST COMEDY: The Wedding Party BEST DANCE + PHYSICAL THEATRE: straight on...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Capital Fringe Honors Announced

Here are the 2015 Capital Fringe Honors Selected by the Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts. Congrats to all our honorees: FAVORITE COMEDY: Ambien Date Night Barenaked Comedy Blind Pug Arts Collective...

‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ at The Alliance Theatre

A heartfelt story of family loyalty and triumph, The Alliance Theatre’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, directed by Elaine Wilson, starts as the tale of a loving father who tries his hardest to make his...

Review: ‘Amazing Grace’ at The Nederlander Theatre in New York City

It’s miraculous that this musical managed to cross the finish line, to land at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. We all know how difficult it is to mount a musical these days, not only because of...

‘The Music Man’ at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre by Valerie S. O’Keeffe

SSMT’s The Music Man Hits All the Right Notes As It Brings Big-Time Talent, Excitement (And More Than A Few Instruments) To Town! Oh ya got talent, my friends! Right here in Winchester City! From the...

‘American Idiot’ at Little Butterfly Theatre Company’s at 1st Stage

Green Day’s American Idiot is getting staged by a group of teens and twenty-somethings in a warehouse near Tysons and it is hot, hot, hot! Go for the punk rock, stay for the vocal harmonies, savor the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘DancEthos with The West Shore Piano Trio’

DancEthos is not your average dance company – filled with identical stick thin dancers sashaying in unison behind a soloist. Company founder and director Tiffany Haughn has a gift for choreographing...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 5: Danny Waldman

In Part 5 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s RENT, meet Danny Waldman. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #53: ‘Neighborhood 3: Part 4: ‘What’s a Nice Mom Like You Doing in a Play Like This?’ By Annette Mooney Wasno

When I was cast in Molotov Theatre Group’s show Neighborhood 3:Requisition of Doom (now through August 2nd at DCAC, in Adams Morgan: www.molototheatre.org), I was pretty excited because, hey, I’m an...

‘American Moor’ at Anacostia Playhouse

As I walked into the cool confines of the Anacostia Playhouse, I was greeted by soft, far-upstage lighting that gently illuminated the sole performer, Keith Hamilton Cobb, idly looking over his lines...

‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Prince George’s Summer Shakespeare Festival

Summer and Shakespeare go hand-in-hand and Prince George’s Summer Shakespeare Festival’s Romeo and Juliet is a departure from “traditional” productions of this iconic William Shakespeare plays....

‘Shrek, the Musical’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio presents Shrek, the Musical , with Music by Jeanine Tesori and Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Artistic Director Susan Alison Keady and Music Director Matthew Heap lead...

‘Silence! the Musical’ at Studio’s 2nd Stage

Silence! The Musical is very easy to digest (pun intended), as presented in the tightly directed current production now playing at the creatively configured 2nd Stage space of The Studio Theatre. A...

‘Legally Blonde the Musical’ at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre

“Omigod You Guys” Legally Blonde the Musical at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre is like a totally fun evening! The musical is full of laughs, lessons and a lot of pink. The songs are so...

‘Roméo et Juliette’ at Maryland Lyric Opera

Boy meets Girl. Girl meets Boy. They fall in love – at first sight – in spite of the enmity between their warring families, the Capulets and the Montagues. This timeless, tragic love story, penned...

‘Romeo and Juliet: Love Knows No Age’ at Unexpected Stage Company

Romeo and Juliet has a special place in our popular culture. BBC’s 60 second Shakespeare has a hilarious front page, “Double Teen Death Horror”; “City’s Top Clans Devastated after Botched Love Pact.”...

‘Anonymous’ at Creative Cauldron’s Summer Cabaret Series

As part of their 2015 Summer Cabaret Series, Creative Cauldron welcomed Rachel Zampelli for two nights in her cabaret Anonymous; a raw, poignant, (and dare I say it, hysterical) show about the harrows...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 4: Cara Bachman

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s RENT, meet Cara Bachman. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

‘Fun Home’ at Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City

This year’s Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home opened in New York when I was in California. I finally caught up with it this weekend at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it has now settled in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘St. Jimmy Celebrates “The Food At Our Feet”’

Sharp and hilarious, somehow Jimmy Grzelak interweaves Copyright law, Christian religious ritual, cooking show culture, pop songs, and poignant questions about the nature of spirituality and how we...

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Synetic Theater

The music is pulsing; the performers are insanely flexible, and everything from set to costumes to lights is drenched in the fantastical for Synetic’s latest Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The...

‘Twelve Angry Men’ at The American Century Theater

In this famous, thrilling court-room drama, 12 jurors deliberate over the fate of an alleged murderer. The case seems clear-cut. They open the play with a vote, to see where everybody stands and the...

Idina Menzel at Jiffy Lube Live

Fighting both the summer heat and a summer cold, Idina Menzel nonetheless stormed the stage at the Jiffy Lube Live arena on Saturday, July 18, 2015, and blew the (figurative) roof off the place. With...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘The Out of Tooners’

As a “90s Kid,” I am part of the generation that frequently prides itself on the Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons it spent growing up watching marathons upon marathons of its favorite cartoons....

A Tribute to Sydney-Chanele Dawkins at Her Memorial Service on July 17, 2015 by Joel Markowitz

This is the eulogy I delivered at the the memorial service for DCMetroTheaterArts columnist and reviewer Sydney-Chanele Dawkins yesterday, July 17, 2015: To Aaron and Sydney-Chanele’s family and...

2015 Capital Fringe ‘The Human Algorithm’

What do lion attacks, football fanatics, muppets, dog pee, and Vladimir Putin have in common? According to CJ in her most recent iteration of The Human Algorithm, they all describe the four basic...

Whoopi Goldberg at The Kennedy Center

Nothing is off limits to the irascible, irreverently funny Whoopi Goldberg. She warned us from the start, however, that she loves the use of language– very colorful language– as she whooped it up with...

‘Into the Woods’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Are you ready to veer from the path and take another tumultuous journey Into the Woods? Go ahead, throw caution to the wind. You’ll find yourself in amusing company at Toby’s—The Dinner Theatre of...

‘Hairspray’ at City of Fairfax Theatre Company

A huge, multi-generational cast tells the story of integrating a 1962 Baltimore TV dance show in a musical directed by Tara Taylor that is all heart—and soul. With book by Mark O’Donnel and Thomas...

‘Whose Wives Are They Anyway’ at Bowie Community Theatre

Need a major pick-me-up after a week locked up with a dictatorial boss and coasting co-workers? An evening at the Bowie Community Theatre, tucked into the woodlands of White Marsh Park in Bowie,...

‘The Altruists’ at The Flying Muskrat Theatre Company

Being a student at UC Berkeley, I am all too familiar with how hypocritical and conceited student-activist culture can be. The Altruists, written by Nicky Silver and first performed off-Broadway in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Sanctuary’

A woman’s perspective on war is a powerful thing. We are often mothers, and because we can give birth, I think some of us find killing especially terrible. “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier”...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ripple of Hope: One Teacher’s Journey to Make an Impact’

Ripple of Hope is Karen Sklaire’s contribution to the teacher as hero genre – which can never have too many entries. This one-woman show is funnier and a lot more honest than some of the move clips...

‘Show for Days’ at Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center

Patty LuPone is a highly original and always welcome star who has built a brilliant career primarily on stage, and we who love live theatre have been its beneficiaries. Season after season she’s...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets’

Imagine a pill that could eliminate boredom, stave off writer’s block, inspire the next great masterpiece. In Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets, David Klinger tells...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Princess & The Pea (or) A Millennial’s Guide to Dating’

When she was alive, I would occasionally discuss love and dating with my grandmother. Her guaranteed formula for finding the love of your life was to “go to the bowling alley–that’s where you’ll find...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘So We Meet Again’

On the television show Grey’s Anatomy, when characters are having a difficult time dealing with pain or another type of struggle, they “dance it out.” This means that the characters will release their...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Purge’

Memories can break you down. They can take away your power, strength and ability to trust. In the Capital Fringe Festival show Purge, the fusiondance company uses contemporary dance and excerpts from...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Act Like a GRRRL’

You had me at grrrl. Act Like a GRRRL is a showcase of work developed and performed by teen girls, in which personal stories are shared as a process of empowerment and an act of defiance against...