Reviews

‘The Price’ at Olney Theatre Center

Arthur Miller’s The Price, now playing at Olney Theatre Center, is brilliantly directed by Michael Bloom. The play, which opened in 1968 on Broadway, takes place in the late 1940s. Like Arthur...

‘Born This Way’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Like a torrential, cleansing rain washing away intolerance and hate, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) immersed the audience in flowing torrents of song in their current production Born This...

‘Godspell’ at Silhouette Stages

Silhouette Stage’s Godspell, directed by Stephen M. Deininger, opened last night at Slayton House in Columbia. With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak, it’s based...

‘Marley’ at Centerstage

Director/Book writer Kwame Kwei-Armah showcases the three most productive years of Bob Marley’s career (1975-78) in a jukebox musical experience nearly as electric as the legend and his Wailers...

‘Major Barbara’ at Pallas Theatre Collective

It’s not always easy to figure out what view of life George Bernard Shaw is trying to express in Major Barbara. Though he was a freethinker, he gives us a witty, tolerant, idealistic heroine, Barbara,...

‘Tour-de-Force: Serenade’ at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

The dancers, dusted in long, white tulle, reflect—shells on a dark beach. It is an opening, a closing, a commencement, an ending. Arms raise. Hands flex. Heads turn, diagonally, toward a common...

‘Avenue Q’ at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative

Avenue Q Gets an “A”! As a child, I was obsessed with Sesame Street. I often wax nostalgic, thinking about how the delightful and whimsical Muppets taught me my ABC’s and about the importance of...

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at St. Mark’s Players

St. Mark’s Players production of Fiddler on the Roof is a must-see. Those in the theater industry (and even those who’ve been around for the past 40 years), have heard of this Tony Award-winning show...

Aretha Franklin at The Music Center at Strathmore

Diamond-studded diva dazzles at The Strathmore The house was packed Wednesday night at Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, MD. It was crammed with a diverse, ready to rock audience of seniors, Boomers...

‘My Way – A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater

Riverside Center Dinner Theater presents My Way; A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olson, who also provides the book for this production. Director/Choreographer...

‘Cinderella’ at The Puppet Co.

The Puppet Co. presents Cinderella, arguably the world’s most beloved fairy tale, with over thirteen hundred different versions of this story spread over countries and cultures. One thing about The...

‘Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage’ at The Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

If you absolutely adored the movie Dirty Dancing and wouldn’t change a thing about it, Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre has just the show for you. Dirty Dancing — The Classic Story on Stage is easily...

‘P is for Perfect’ and ‘Man of the House’ at The Greenspring Players

This Double Feature Production of two One-Act Plays is presented by The Greenspring Players for their Washington DC community Spring offering. Although P is for Perfect may be considered a hyped-up...

‘Cinderella’ (‘La Cenerentola’) at Washington National Opera #2 (Tara Erraught)

“The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.” In this case, to the great enjoyment of all in the Washington National Opera’s dazzling, fun production of Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella (La...

‘The Call’ at Theater J

Tanya Barfield’s play The Call seeks to give dramatic expression to the stark chasm between first world problems and third world problems. In so doing it tackles a topic with vast global consequence...

Nibble and Sips Around Town: ‘A Visit to The Virginia Gold Cup’ and 2 Recipes

Whisk and Quill was delighted to accept an invitation to attend the 90th running of the Virginia Gold Cup last weekend in The Plains, Virginia, as a judge for their prestigious tailgate competition –...

‘Once on This Island’ at Creative Cauldron

Creative Cauldron’s production of Once on this Island (book and lyrics by Lynn Aherns and music by Stephen Flaherty) starts off with a bang. Well, to be more precise, a thunderclap. What follows is...

‘Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea’ at Theater Alliance

A bright 18-year-old named Dontrell has had a dream. He saw a man with the face of his father who is captive on a slave ship crossing the Atlantic. In the dark hold of the vessel he saw that man and a...

‘An Evening with Shirley MacLaine’ at the Music Center at Strathmore

“This is the nicest reception I’ve had in 600,000 years!” And with that telling introduction, Shirley MacLaine charmed a crowded house of adoring fans on a personal journey filled with funny stories...

‘Chess’ at Kensington Arts Theatre

Rock musicals have engaged audiences in the US and abroad for over 50 years. Coming to prominence in the late 60’s the genre hit its stride in the 70’s and 80’s with classics like the Rocky Horror...

‘Cinderella’ (‘La Cenerentola’) at Washington National Opera #1 (Isabel Leonard)

Every spring, the Washington National Opera launches a family friendly show in time for their M&M’S® Opera in the Outfield, and this year they tackle Rossini’s wickedly funny Cinderella. I love what...

In the Moment: ‘Anne & Emmett’ at MetroStage

Created and handsomely rendered with boundless love, heart and soul, the short-run Metro Stage/Race and Reconciliation in America (RARIA) production of Anne & Emmett was a production of grace and...

‘The No Rules Sketch Show’ at No Rules Theatre Company

In The No Rules Sketch Show, written by Ashley Nicole Black, Rick Foucheux, Michael Malarkey, Joe Mallon, Brian Sutow, and Gray West, there really are no rules. Everyone and everything is fair game to...

‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ at Sandy Spring Theatre Group and The Arts Barn

Consider, if you will, a 15-year-old boy growing up in Brooklyn, New York who longs to be a baseball star with the Yankees, but would give up that dream if he could see a naked woman for two and a...

‘The Great Lieutenant Sprinkle Didn’t Save Me’ at Field Trip Theatre

“Every ghost story is kind of like a history lesson,” says the young woman identified as A History Major in The Great Lieutenant Sprinkle Didn’t Save Me, an intriguing new play by Jack Novak now...

‘Tramp’s New World’ at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

In 1949, Pulitzer Prize winning author and film critic James Agee wrote a screenplay treatment for Charlie Chaplin, that has since been titled Tramp’s New World. Four years following the horrific mass...

ALICE (in wonderland) at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

The Washington Ballet‘s performance of ALICE (in wonderland) is delightful for someone like me who is not a connosseur of ballet. Here, sets and costumes change frequently, the performances are...

‘The Blood Quilt’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater

America used to be defined by its communities. Communities of ethnic and national identity, of urban migration, of rural affiliation, of blood and toil. Today, America is defined by its latest pop...

‘Neverwhere’ at Robinson Secondary School

Greeted by industrial steel pipes, cinder block archways and concrete tunnels, the London Underground welcomes the unsuspecting audience down into its dimly lit corridors. Newspapers litter the stage,...

‘Bachelorette’ at Dominion Stage

It’s the night before Becky’s wedding and everything must be perfect. She has the perfect hotel room on the top floor of an NYC skyscraper, a bathtub full of champagne, and the perfect dress....

National Symphony Orchestra, ‘Mahler Explored’ With Christoph Eschenbach, Conductor and Leonidas Kavakos, Violin

Last night at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall marked a special evening for all – conductor, players, and audience alike. The audience, foremost, was treated to the special talents of violin virtuoso...

Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ by Alliance for New Music-Theatre at Trinidad Theatre (Capital Fringe)

Lovers of 20th century literature know Kafka and his darkly dangerous worlds of angst and hopelessness. And they know Metamorphosis, it’s tale of the demise of the man-turned-bug frequently acts as a...

‘The Human Capacity’ at University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

“Everyone is born with the capacity for cruelty and for mercy.” It’s what we do with that capacity that defines our fate. The University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’...

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality Following The 3 PM Performance of ‘Born This Way’ on Saturday, May 16th

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality DC Event Takes Place in Conjunction with Born This Way Concerts and Debut of LGBTQA Youth Chorus Demonstrating the power of music to...

‘Hamlet’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

If Hamlet as a character is historically—and enduringly—shrouded in fog, the scene that greets us as we enter Lumina Studio Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s eponymous play is more than a match...

‘Suite Surrender’ at Prince George’s Little Theatre

Prince George’s Little Theatre‘s Suite Surrender is full of sweet surprises. Written by Michael McKeever, directed by John Degnan, and produced by Malia Murray, it is a laugh-fest from beginning to...

Guitarist Orlando Roman on The National Chamber Ensemble’s ‘Musical Gems of Mexico’ on Sat May 9th at 7:30 PM

This Saturday, May 9th at 7:30 PM The National Chamber Ensemble will be hosting Guitarist Orlando Roman talks about the concert. What is your relationship with Mexican classical music? Mexican music...

Eddie Money at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club

Approximately 37 years after launching his career in the late 70’s and becoming an early MTV luminary in the 80’s, iconic rock star Eddie Money rolled back the clock for an hour at the Bethesda Blues...

‘Barefoot in the Park’ at McLean Community Players

The McLean Community Players are performing an enjoyable production of Barefoot in the Park, Neil Simon’s play about a mismatched couple, directed by Jerry Bonnes. One of the longest-running...

2015 Kennedy Center Spring Gala: ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing… A Celebration of Swing’ at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts rolled out the red carpet on Sunday evening with a star-studded salute to the swing era of the 1930s and ‘40s. Under the direction of Grammy-winning...

MOMIX’s ‘Alchemia’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Both Roger Catlin, in his April 24, 2015 article in The Washington Post, and GMU Dance Professor Dan Joyce, during his pre-performance discussion, describe MOMIX as “dancer-illusionists.” They also...

‘Stickfly’ at Port City Playhouse

Port City Playhouse is a scrappy little theater company brave enough to tackle important plays. Their literature states that they specialize in top-quality, thought-provoking plays, within a diverse...

‘The Great American Songbook’ by Columbia Pro Cantare at the Jim Rouse Theater

On Saturday May 2, 2015 the Columbia Pro Cantare choral group, lead by Conductor Frances Motyca Dawson, ended their 38th Season with The Great American Songbook performed at the Jim Rouse Theater of...

‘Hamlet, The First Quarto’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

Taffety Punk has given us a passionate Hamlet, whose loneliness, wit, and audacity make him utterly unsuited to the corrupt and deceptive society in which he lives. Go if you like Shakespeare. Go if...

‘Sunset Baby’ at Rep Stage

Dominique Morisseau’s Sunset Baby is social realism with snap. It knows how to “unlock all that attitude,” as one of the play’s three characters puts it, and audiences attending the regional premiere...

‘On Approval’ at Washington Stage Guild

The Broadway and West End audiences that made Frederick Lonsdale’s On Approval a hit in the 1920s could not possibly have guessed how this light comedy would play in 2015. Bet they would be surprised....

‘Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. And, for the month of May, he’s alive and well at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, too. Jacques Brel is “a musical revue of romanticism and...

‘Incorruptible’ at Rooftop Productions by Caroline Simpson

“Their ideals are high, it’s just their overheads are higher!” They are an ordinary group of monks residing in the Abbey of Priseaux in Priseaux, France. It is the Year of Our Lord 1250. And they are...

‘Servant of Two Masters’ at Montgomery College

I had a blast at Montgomery College’s manic and hysterical production of Servant of Two Masters. Filled with humor, manic pacing, gorgeous costumes by Peter Zakutansky, a clever set by Elizabeth...

‘Memphis’ at The Warner Theatre

Hockadoo! After a few toe-tapping hours at The Warner Theatre with the cast of Memphis and their inspired singing and dancing, I still have no idea what “Hockadoo” means, but I know—without a...