Reviews

‘Clybourne Park’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

Clybourne Park, written by Bruce Norris in 2010 as sequel to Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 A Raisin in the Sun, is a riveting play that focuses on race relations, America’s covenant-based housing bias,...

David London’s ‘Magic Outside the Box’ at Baltimore Theater Project

Magic, Laughter and Wonder (Bread) Without an announcement of any kind, from stage left a shrouded figure appeared. The figure glided towards the audience bearing a puppet with the likeness of the...

‘Mary Stuart’ at The Folger Theatre

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row.” This nursery rhyme is often said to be about Mary Stuart. The pretty maids...

‘The Comedy of Errors’ at The Arlington Players

Many recent productions of The Comedy of Errors set Shakespeare’s language within a more recent environment, and in this case The Arilngton Players have set their production in Chicago in the 1920s –...

‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ at The Warner Theatre

Set during the Roaring Twenties in the heyday of prohibition, the Tony-winning musical Nice Work If You Can Get It is a celebration of the best of the iconic music of George and Ira Gershwin. A...

‘Half Life (a zombie letter for no one)’ at Mead Theatre Lab

“I’m not dead, I’m just hurt real bad,” says Regina, a young woman whose life is a painful wreck, a sorry mess. She’s homeless, rejected and shut out, even by her mother. She is an outsider so alien...

‘Gigi’ at The Kennedy Center

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe‘s Gigi, the Oscar-winning 1958 film musical that was later adapted for the Broadway stage over 40 years ago, premiered for a pre-Broadway engagement in the...

Motion City Soundtrack at The Fillmore Silver Spring

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, an artist comes along who changes your life in an immeasurable way: their art shapes you, comforts you, inspires and excites you…for me, these artists are the members of...

National Symphony Orchestra with Violinist Arabella Steinbacher at The Kennedy Center

It’s almost a cliché to sit smugly in a 21st century theater or concert hall enjoying a work that some original critic destroyed to his everlasting infamy. And audiences at this week’s National...

‘The Widow Lincoln’ at Ford’s Theatre

In the world premiere production of The Widow Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre, playwright James Still and Director Stephen Rayne create a mélange of fact and fiction, mystery and history, in a stunning...

‘Out of Silence: Abortion Stories from the 1 in 3 Campaign’

No girl grows up dreaming of terminating a pregnancy. There are plenty of aspirational fantasies out there—some good for her, some not—but to be in a situation where she decides to have an abortion is...

Mariinsky Ballet Featuring Hodson’s ‘Le sacre du printemps,’ Fokine’s ‘Le Spectre de la Rose’ and ‘The Swan,’ and Petipa’s ‘Paquita Grand Pas’ at The Kennedy Center

Russians return to the glory days of ballet Ulyana Lopatkina could have wrapped up The Kennedy Center and taken it home with her after her performance in The Swan, a.k.a. The Dying Swan, created by...

‘Our Mutual Friend’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

“Part mystery, part romantic comedy, part moral fable, Our Mutual Friend justly earns its place among Dickens’s most brilliant novels.” With these words, Directors Kelly Newman O’Connor and John...

A Full Moon for el Festival de Teatro para Niños by Christine Stoddard

Season to season, festival to festival, Teatro de la Luna, co-founded by Mario Marcel and Nucky Walder, ping-pongs between the Gunston Arts Center and Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre. One of the metro’s two...

Here are the 2015 Helen Hayes Awards Nominations

This is the first time that the new Awards Process will be effect, producing the 47 categories of nominations. Outstanding Performer, Visiting Production Caroline Bowman Evita The Kennedy Center...

‘Bessie’s Blues’ at MetroStage

Drive, ride, or run down to MetroStage for Bessie’s Blues! Bessie’s Blues is one big shiny bauble-filled with song, dance, and more than a few double entendres, smack downs and hilarious patter about...

Watch The Announcement of 47 Categories as The Helen Hayes Award Nominations are Announced Tonight at 7:30 PM-A Look Back at Last Year’s Awards

UPDATE: Here is the list of 2015 Helen Hayes Award Nominees. Live tonight from The National Theatre at 7:30 PM you can watch a live webcast as theatreWashington unveils 47 categories of nominations...

‘Into the Woods JR’ at ATMTC Academy at Adventure Theatre MTC

On January 23 and 24, 2014 students from the ATMTC Academy at Adventire Theatre MTC performed Into the Woods JR, a child-friendly adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine classic musical,...

Laura Benanti at The Barns at Wolf Trap

You know how it feels to reunite with a friend you haven’t seen in a while? I’m talking about a good friend, the kind of friend where you can let time go between meetings but you pick up right where...

‘Circus!’ at The Puppet Company

Juggling bears, flying trapezes, and tightropes! The Puppet Co. presents Circus!, a spectacle of tricks and feats led by a band of marionettes, beautifully crafted by the talented Len and Pat Piper,...

‘Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Inspired by the 1923 novel, Cane, by Jean Toomer, and the work of other renaissance artists, this multimedia presentation fronted by Jasmine Guy provided a look into the general trends and opposing...

‘The Tempest’ at Aquila Theatre

The touring Aquila Theatre production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest opened winningly. An older man we come to know as Prospero, is sitting alone at the lip of center stage. The curtain is closed behind...

The 32nd Annual Choreographer’s Showcase at The Clarice

The 32nd Annual Choreographer’s Showcase at The Clarice offered up an evening of dance ranging from the outwardly exuberant, to the internally nuanced, and emotions in between. The evening’s...

‘Be My Baby’ at Vienna Theatre Company

Playwright Ken Ludwig is famous for farce, fevered dialogue, and throwing his characters’ worlds off-kilter. Vienna Theatre Company’s endearing take on 2005’s Be My Baby — which Ludwig is alleged to...

‘The Abduction’ at Apollo Civic Theatre

The Abduction, opening this weekend at the Apollo Civic Theatre, is an adrenaline-filled thriller with crisp staging and impressive performances from a talented ensemble cast. Fantastically directed...

‘Dizzy Gillespie™ Afro-Cuban Experience’ at The Kennedy Center

I write about theatre because I know theatre, intimately and over many years. I’m writing about Jazz because I love Jazz, the way a man might love a goddess, fleetingly and in hot pursuit. If you have...

The Canellakis-Brown Duo at The Barns at Wolf Trap

Chamber Music at The Barns at Wolf Trap is a special treat for those of us who remember what music appreciation used to imply before enormous venues and well-dressed audiences prevailed. An intimate...

‘One Night in Miami…’ at CENTERSTAGE

Playwright Kemp Powers takes a haphazard historical happening, a meeting between civil-rights leader Malcolm X, Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown, singer-songwriter Sam Cooke and newly-crowned...

The Reel Deal: Watch Kyle Osborne’s Movie Review Video of ‘The Boy Next Door’ and ‘Still Alice’

DC AREA SHOWTIMES. DC AREA SHOWTIMES. LINKS Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Taken 3 and Inherent Vice. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Kill the Messenger. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review...

‘Penny’ at Washington National Opera

The world premier for the Washington National Opera’s newest American Opera Initiative takes a new look at the power of music in the touching, engrossing drama Penny, which follows an autistic young...

‘Baskerville’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater

A small, merry band of actors is taking audiences on a lively, cheery, clever lark of an evening’s entertainment. What is it? It is a sharply produced production of local playwright and multi-Tony...

‘An Evening with Jason Alexander’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore

Jason Alexander famously known for his role as George Costanza in Seinfeld, is also a seasoned, Tony Award-winning (for Jerome Robbins’ Broadway) Broadway performer. Last night with the BSO at...

‘Annie’ at Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

Forget about “Tomorrow.” In Baltimore the sun came out the minute the latest road tour of Annie unpacked its bags. From its elaborate sets by Beowulf Boritt, Suzy Benzinger’s costumes, and Ken...

‘The Comedy of Errors’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

First performed in 1594, William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors is one of his earliest and most farcical of his comedic works. With adaptations on stage, film and television, its story is classic....

‘Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous)’ at Theater J

An intriguing question runs through Life Sucks (Or the Present Ridiculous), which is whether in fact life sucks or not. Is life inherently such a bummer that there’s no point going on? Or is life...

‘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...

‘Other Desert Cities’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Other Desert Cities, a two act play by Jon Robin Baitz, is a drama with a premise that sounds like a dysfunctional family sitcom.Now at Fells Point through Feb. 8th, it is a play about a family riven...

‘Shrek The Musical JR’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater

Aldersgate Church Community Theater proudly presents the DC area debut of Shrek The Musical JR, with Music by Jeanine Tesori and Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Director Corey Latta Bales and...

‘Excuse Me’ at Zemfira Stage

Excuse Me is a high-energy, subversive, conspiracy theory-infused, paranoid, mash-up zombie comedy. It is madcap built upon zinger lines such as “don’t make any rational moves.” But, hidden away...

‘La-Ti-Do’ Looking for Vocalists, Musicians, and Poets to Reinterpret Oscar Nominated ‘Best Songs’ for Their February 23rd Show

We are pleased to announce that the February 23. 2015 show will have a section devoted to Oscar nominated songs. We are soliciting vocalists, musicians, and possibly poets to reinterpret one of the...

‘Go Back for Murder’ at Rockville Little Theatre

What is more exciting to watch than a story based on Murder? Intrigue? Romance? Seduction? Well look no further than Rockville Little Theatre’s production of Agatha Christie’s Go Back for Murder to...

The 15th Annual 2014 WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced

THE WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced January 18, 2015 – 7:30 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony Sunday, March 8, 2015 – 7:00 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony...

‘Red High Heels’ at Anacostia Playhouse

Making theatre is hard. Making any kind of art is hard, but the challenges that accompany mounting a live production – logistical, administrative, financial – are far more complicated than making a...

‘The Game’s Afoot’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Before Benedict Cumberbatch starred in the incandescent puzzle palace that is Sherlock, there was William Gillette, the definitive Sherlock Holmes of his time. Tall, lean, with the manner of a...

‘The Liar’ at The Colonial Players

The Liar is the (tall) tale of an outrageous liar who manages to charm his way into your heart. Originally written by Pierre Corneille in 1643 and adapted by David Ives in 2010. This adaptation is...

‘Carrie: The Musical’ at the Teen Professionals Troupe at the Drama Learning Center

A jammed parking lot at the normally quiet Drama Learning Center says all you need to know about the new production going on inside. The TYA Teen Professionals troupe has a genuine hit on its hands...

‘The Whale’ at Rep Stage

A man who refuses to budge often makes for fine drama. Does the same go for a man who cannot budge because he weighs 600 pounds? That’s the first question posed by Samuel D. Hunter’s The Whale at Rep...

Jane Fonda at the Weinberg Center for the Arts

Two-time Academy Award-winning actress, author, activist, feminist, former fashion model, and fitness expert, Jane Fonda is a frequent speaker on a wide variety of topics, including motivation, health...

‘Greater Tuna’ at the Washington County Playhouse

Greater Tuna, the opening show of the 2015 season at the Washington County Playhouse, now under the new ownership of Shawn and Laura Martin, does not disappoint in a fast-paced, witty spoof of...

‘Mockingbird’ at The Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center’s World Premiere of Mockingbird Is a Must See Play for All Ages Brilliant: very bright, flashing with light; very impressive or successful; extremely intelligent. Moving: having a...