Reviews

‘Peter Pan’ at Upper Room Theatre Ministry by Keegan Collins

Upper Room Theatre presents Peter Pan, based on J.M. Barrie’s play of the same name. With lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green and music by Morris Charlap and Julie Styne, Peter Pan...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mine/Field’

Unbeknownst to you, Glade Dance Collective knows your identity, your likes, and your dislikes. The dancers are hungry for more data whether you want to give it up or not. Intrigued? Paranoid?...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Eddie Lounge Reunion Tour: The Lounge Awakens’

Somebody get Eddie Lounge a cocktail — and maybe a ream of cocktail napkins to wipe his beady, bald head. What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?! The Lord of Loungeology is singing his...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Niche’

Peer into the trials and tribulations of love, cohabitation, and relationships that is Niche. This whimsical journey draws in audiences of all kinds whether your bag is music, visual art, dance, or...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 3: Ben Cherington

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s Rent, meet Ben Cherington. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dance of the Cranes’

Once in a while you have to raise a little crane! When I walked to 6th and Massachusetts Avenue from the Gallery Place Metro I saw a packed little park – Milian Park – filled with excited people who...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Une Soirée Au Cabaret’

Une Soirée Au Cabaret is a collection of dance, vocal, and aerial works inspired by early 20th century Paris nightlife. An amalgam of styles and eras, this is a contemporary take on the cabaret style...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘BrouHaHa’

What would you do at the end of the world? Happenstance Theatre’s newest show BrouHaHa answers this and more, as six clowns journey towards the apocalypse. What this means exactly and when it will...

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” is the memorable opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities currently in production at Annapolis Shakespeare Company. This company...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story’

Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story offers audiences a rare glimpse into the big band culture of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s — from a female bandleader’s perspective. Written and performed by...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dancing Ophelia’

A fierce and elegant collection of dance works, Dancing Ophelia is mostly but not exclusively inspired by Shakespeare, framed by the long tradition of storytelling through movement, and radical...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cheeky Monkey Sideshow Presents: CMSS X 3D, OK?’

Get ready for a performance unlike any other you’ve seen – this variety show features an award-winning troupe of professional performers focused on the weird, the quirky, and the downright...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: The Movement: ’50 Years of Love and Struggle’

The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle is a powerful one-man show representing the Civil Rights struggle in America for the past 50 years. Impressively directed by Willette Thompson and featuring...

‘Baby, The Musical’ at Infinity Theatre Company

Infinity Theatre Company continues their summer series with Baby, The Musical. And Baby is just that, an astonishing musical chock-full of jovial lyrics, rich vocals, and clever choreography. With...

‘The Springfield Boys’ at The Seventh Street Playhouse at the Greenbelt Arts Center

If you think you know everything about Lincoln, you may be surprised to find out that there is a great deal of information out there that is not in text books. The Springfield Boys, now playing at The...

‘Commander’ at Vagabond Players

It’ll be nice to look back a few years from now and say: “I told you so!” Mario Correa’s Commander, which opened on The Vagabond Players’ stage in Fells Point July 11th, has the vibe of a blockbuster....

‘Altar Boyz’ at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre

I am no stranger to boy bands. In middle school, the New Kids on the Block were all the rage. In college, N*SYNC captured our hearts. Today, fans fill stadiums to see the British lads of One...

‘The Who’s Tommy’ at Prince William Little Theatre

Remember that band that formed in 1964 and sold 100 million records world wide? The Who? Well, now you have the chance to catch a glimpse of the musical based off of their fourth album from 1969,...

‘This Lime Tree Bower’ at Quotidian Theatre Company

The Irish are legendary storytellers, and Conor McPherson’s play, one of his earliest, is a rollicking but thought-provoking tale of adventurous misadventure, told as a rotating round (and refreshed...

‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Castaways Repertory Theatre by Marguerite Crozier

Castaways Repertory Theatre’s presentation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet will leave you believing in the premise of love at first sight, if ever you’ve doubted it. With standout performances by...

‘The Wedding Singer’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater

Riverside Center Dinner Theater presents The Wedding Singer, based on the hit New Line Cinema Film written by Tim Herlithy. With a book and lyrics by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlithy and music by...

‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ at The Barns at Wolf Trap

Wolf Trap Opera presents John Corigliano and William M. Hoffman’s The Ghosts of Versailles, a grand opera buffa in two acts. Directed by Louisa Muller, this production is as silly as it is masterful,...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Poe Whitman’: ‘Embodying Poe’

Embodying Poe is the second offering of Robert Michael Oliver’s 2-part 2015 Capital Fringe ‘Poetry in Performance’ called Poe Whitman (Read Julia Capizzi’s review of Song of Myself: The Walt Whitman...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Wedding Party’

When you hear the phrase “Wedding Party” you tend to think of the stereotypical carbon copy of pretty girls in bright dresses and guys complaining about wearing monkey suits. The Wedding Party at...

‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at McLean Community Players

Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock n’ roll opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, and the McLean Community Players cast and crew, directed by Kevin and Pamela McCormack, rocks...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ten Principles )'(‘

The mission of AWol (A Way of Life) Productions is to “share the values of communities by collaborating, creating, and telling stories of the performing arts.” Its current production fulfills this...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Trueheart: Live’

This stand-up solo performance—featuring Tim Trueheart as himself—starts out as broad comedy. Describing himself as racially mixed—a combination of African-American, Indian, Chinese, and Jewish...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Belle and the Beasties’

Those who imagine Capital Fringe as a festival with a wealth of heart and a dearth of sophistication, especially in the realm of production design, have clearly not seen the breathtaking costumes and...

‘Leto Legend’ at Hub Theatre

Valerie Fenton leads an all-woman cast as a super mom, super employee, and superhero in Leto Legend by Kristen LePine. Depicting the dual character of Charlie/Leto, Fenton, a founding member of the...

‘Ballroom with a Twist’ at Strathmore

Celebrity dancers from Dancing with the Stars, along with finalists from So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, and X Factor shimmied into Bethesda to entertain audiences last night with its...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Burlesque Classique’s Vaudevillian Romp’

The revival of the burlesque is official! There has been a tremendous wave of its return across the country but for those that have been taking part in this cult of personality this is not news....

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Here/Hear’

Richael Faithful, Conjure! Freedom Collective and Ladan Siad, Practice of Creation Studios presents Here/Hear, an interactive experience aimed to explore Black culture within Washington, DC. As the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘315’

THE Theatre Company presents 315, written by JP Sisneros and directed by Sarah Frances Hope Williams. Since the erection of the George Washington Bridge in 1931, no less than 314 people have used the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Eulogy’

The tragicomedy of Theater of the Absurd scrambled together with the zaniness of Vaudevillian physical comedy is an apt description for Michael Burgos’s delightfully wacko The Eulogy. Death is in the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘I Feel Funny: True Misadventures in Stand-Up Comedy’

Ready to have some fun? Well look no further than comedian Adam Ruben’s new one man show I Feel Funny: True Misadventures in Stand-Up Comedy at this year’s Capital Fringe festival. As a seasoned...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘From Seven Layers to a Bikini Top in Less Than Five Hours’

Promising themes abound at this year’s Capital Fringe Festival. Andrea’s Schell’s From Seven Layers to a Bikini Top in Less Than Five Hours is no different, intending to explore the lives of different...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cold as Death’

It’s hard to be in a love triangle where the girl is dead. Cold as Death, Guillotine Theatre’s offering for this year’s Fringe, revolves around this concept. Rather than submit to the lust of the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Lathem Prince’

The well-known tragic Hamlet, has left many performers and audience’s opinions open to interpretation. It was Ashlin Halfnight’s adaptation that led to this specific modern day reconstruction, Lathem...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Second Coming of Joan of Arc’

In theatre generally, and in Washington, D.C. particularly, it is quite common for theatre companies to take a classic story and update it in with a contemporary lens. Admirable as this may be, too...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘District of Cara’

District of Cara is like a huge pajama party where your best friend dishes on boyfriends, past and present. In this one-hour monologue/skit/therapy session, actor/writer/storyteller Cara Foran is...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘When We Grow Up’

Critical Point Theatre’s quirky Fringe show When We Grow Up is difficult to review for several reasons. The piece is highly-interactive and its best moments are improvised, meaning you’ll never see...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘I Thought the Earth Remembered Me’

Just steps away from the Monroe Street Arts Walk in Brookland, music fills the humid summer air, canvas tents offer shelter from the hustle of the city, and a company of seven artists and their...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘MacWHAT?!’

Few things are as “Capital Fringe” as an irreverent take on the Bard, and King’s Players have got themselves a hell of an irreverent take in their outrageous farce MacWHAT?! Fittingly enough for...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Suicide Journals’

“Death is inevitable for a young lost soul…” In its world premiere at the 2015 Capital Fringe Festival, The Suicide Journals by Playwright and Director Veronique LaShell MacRae explores the dark,...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘At Your Service, Mr. President!’

This Butler serves up juicy tidbits in his one-man show It’s got to be tough to do a solo show on a sultry summer night, but cool, calm, and seemingly tireless Alan DeValerio pulled it off without a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘El Sueño or The Delightful Nightmares of the Ladies’

“Expressionism and all other unconventional techniques in drama have only one valid aim, and that is a clear approach to truth.” These words from Tennessee William’s production notes on The Glass...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘No AIDS No Maids: Stories I Can’t F*ckin’ Hear No More’

The image is frightening. A beautiful black woman—larger than life, with a resume to match—dons white gloves and a waistcoat, smears makeup on her face and begins the childish song and dance of a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘POWER! Stokey Carmichael’

Meshaun Labrone takes the stage as 1960s Civil Rights leader Stokely Carmichael. Carmichael is organizing a protest and the diverse audience, just by being in the room, is taking part. “Leave now if...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘#Sexts’

Today’s obsession with modern technology and its effect on relationships is studied in #Sexts, a humorous little play written and directed by Andy De. We meet a group of young friends gathered for a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘God: The One-Man Show’

Comedy (according to Steve Martin) is “a distortion of what’s happening, and there will always be something happening.” No truer summary could exist regarding this show; There is always. Something....