Reviews

‘Rehearsal for Murder’ at Reston Community Players

Whodunit? That’s the question asked in Reston Community Players’ latest production Rehearsal for Murder. Producer Jay Stein says he, “can almost guarantee that whatever your theory is, it will be...

‘Smellin’ Up the Den!’ A Co-Production of Red Knight Productions and Port City Playhouse

Red Knight Productions met its goal to design and perform Smellin’ Up the Den! as “a silly show” enabling audiences to “laugh at how ridiculous the world is,” as Director Scott Courlander wrote in his...

‘The Last Five Years’ at Metropolitan Youth Arts Theatre

It helped- not hindered- Composer/Lyricist Jason Robert Brown’s aim that his two leads, though meant to be in their twenties, are in fact played by actors (Kyra Smith as Cathy Hyatt and Ben Cherington...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Children’s/Family Theatre Productions, Performances, Design, and Direction and 2 Special Awards

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Productions, Performances, Design, and Direction in Children’s/Family Theatre honors go to: CHILDREN’S THEATRE/FAMILY...

The Reel Deal: Watch Kyle Osborne’s Movie Review Video of ‘Taken 3’ and ‘Inherent Vice’

DC area showtimes. DC Area Showtimes. LINKS Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Kill the Messenger. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Gone Girl. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of The Equalizer....

‘The Good Doctor’ at Upcounty Theatre

The Good Doctor is a play written by famed playwright Neil Simon. First produced on Broadway in November of 1973, this show is not widely produced by Community Theatre. Undaunted, Upcounty Theatre and...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Ensembles in DC Area Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Ensemble honors go to: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Castaways Repertory Theatre A Soldier’s Play at 2nd Star Productions...

Bellini’s ‘La Sonnambula’ (The Sleepwalker) at The In Series

It’s eleven o’clock. Do you know where your children are? A question we’ve become accustomed to, it’s meant to both prod us and reassure us that the “village” is looking out for us, and for our kids....

‘Spring Awakening’ at Act Two @ Levine

On Saturday afternoon, I saw the eight-time Tony Award-winning rock musical Spring Awakening by Act Two at Levine‘s Pre-Professional Program in Arena Stage’s Kogod Cradle. The enthusiastic audience...

‘Cinderella’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio presents a musical version of Cinderella, with book by Vera Morris and music and lyrics by Bill Francoer. Marji Jepperson directs a large cast of young actors in this production,...

‘The 39 Steps’ at Sandy Spring Theatre Group

In partnership with Sandy Spring Theatre Group, Arts on the Green presents Patrick Barlow’s hilarious award-winning homage to the famous Alfred Hitchcock’s film The 39 Steps [and some of his other...

‘Choir Boy’ at The Studio Theatre

At the heart of Tarel Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy, the new play at Studio Theatre, is the question of what it means to be a man. Actually, it’s less of a question than a command. Set in the fictional...

Spine: ‘In Love and Warcraft’ and all the Mythologies in Between

In the hit TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, Howard, Leonard, and Rajesh regularly play the on-line fantasy role playing game World of Warcraft. They also like to play dress up in the real...

‘In Love and Warcraft’ at No Rules Theatre Company

There is a lot to like about Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft even before the opening scene. This newly minted full production of a romantic-comedy brings to the DC area a playwright representing...

‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis

Based on the children’s books by L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz tells the story of young Dorothy Gale and her dog, Toto, who are swept out of Kansas by a cyclone and transported to the magical land...

‘A Shot in the Dark’ at Prince George’s Little Theatre

Prince George’s Little Theatre’s A Shot in the Dark, adapted by Harry Kurnitz from the French play L’ldiote by Marcel Achard is a French farce that is dialogue-driven and reliant on comedic timing....

‘Crime and Punishment in America’ at The American Century Theater

Billed as Crime and Punishment in America at The American Century Theater, this pairing of one-act plays (Cops and Hello Out There) are must-sees for several reasons. First, they are well-written,...

‘And Then There Were None’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre

And Then There Were None is considered to be Agatha Christie’s murder mystery masterpiece. Ten strangers all arrive, for various reasons, on a remote island where their host, Mr. Owen, is unusually...

‘An Evening with Jerry Lewis’ at The Lincoln Theatre

To say that Jerry Lewis had the audience eating out of his hand Friday night January 9, 2015 at the Lincoln Theatre might sound like a typical show business cliché, but he certainly wowed the near...

‘Gutenberg! The Musical!’ at NextStop Theatre Company

You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! There’s even a serious issue (spoiler alert: it’s the Holocaust). Such is the sales pitch that the fictional playwrights Bud Davenport (Ryan Burke) and Doug Simon (John...

‘Jekyll & Hyde’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Frank Wildhorn and Leslie Bercusse’s Jekyll & Hyde on stage at Spotlighters Theatre in Baltimore is a close-up look at one man’s self-destruction. Despite a book that lacks depth and, sometimes, a...

‘Ascendance’ at CityDance

This weekend in the CityDance Studio Theatre at Strathmore, CityDance Onstage Ignite presents Robert J. Priore‘s Ascendance. CityDance Onstage Ignite is a program geared toward showcasing the work of...

‘Julius Caesar’ at The Rude Mechanicals

Julius Caesar seems to be always with us. High school Latin still features Caesar’s Commentaries. Once there was a Russian Tsar. Now there is an Ebola czar. Caesar appears on Pinterest, Tumblr, and...

‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Dominion Stage

There are times when I savor getting all dressed up, going to an opening night gala at Arena Stage or The Kennedy Center, and mingling with the 0.1% who fund Washington theatre. But sometimes you just...

‘Interlock’ at Vagabond Players

Purple lights illuminated Charm City on the eve of the Ravens playoff game. Downtown in the cobblestone village of Fells Point, folks were celebrating in the streets as well inside the Vagabond...

‘References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot’ at Single Carrot Theatre

The great Chinese poet-philosopher Zhūangzi (370-287 BC) wrote: “Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man.” In José...

‘Orson’s Shadow’ at Silver Spring Stage

I would say that Austin Pendleton’s Orson’s Shadow is the best show I’ve seen all year, even though the year is only about a week old. So, I will state it is the best show I have seen since I saw...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Will Chase

With a vigorous veneer of Broadway polish and a subtle touch of “down-home” country warm –heartedness, acclaimed singer/actor (Broadway, television’s Smash and Nashville) Will Chase captivated the...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Design of 2014 in DC Metro Area Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is pleased to honor the following designers for their work in 2014: CHOREOGRAPHY Michael J. Bobbitt for Carrie the Musical at The Studio Theatre Debbie Clark, Nancy...

‘The Illusionists-Witness the Impossible’ at The Kennedy Center

The Illusionists – Witness the Impossible, now playing at The Kennedy Center’s Opera House, is not your typical abracadabra magic show, and when you leave after the show is over…you will most likely...

‘Fortune’s Child’ at Baltimore Theatre Project

For the world premiere of Mark Scharf’s play, Fortune’s Child, the weather outside Baltimore’s Theatre Project was, indeed, “frightful,” yet inside the historic 1887 building, the atmosphere,...

‘Boxes’ at RoseProse Productions at Bowie Center for the Performing Arts

Boxes, produced by RoseProse Productions with direction and script by Ebony Custis, is a series of vignettes that represent the compartments – aka – the boxes of our lives. Custis’ concept is...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: High School and Training Programs

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in High School and Training Programs go to: HIGH SCHOOLS PRODUCTIONS: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: University Productions and Performances

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Productions and Performances honors in University productions go to: UNIVERSITY PRODUCTIONS: Absurdities: An Evening of...

‘Beauty and the Beast’ at The Warner Theatre

It is truly a favorite “tale as old as time” on display at the Warner Theatre this week as NETworks presents Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, from now through January 11th. The favorite Disney musical...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: A Year in Dance 2014 by Lisa Traiger

My year 2014 in dance opened in January with a return of the now annually visiting Mariinsky Ballet to The Kennedy Center Opera House. Though the company brought “Swan Lake,” the company’s signature...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Directors of a Play in Community Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Directors in a Play in Community Theatres go to: Adam R. Adkins for God of Carnage at Silver Spring Stage Howard Berkowitz...

Magic Time!: ‘The T Party’ at Forum Theatre

Natsu Onoda Power’s delightfully devised theater piece The T Party could not have a more perfect home than Michael Dove’s quintessentially inclusive Forum Theatre. At Forum every walk-up ticket is Pay...

‘The T Party’ at Forum Theatre

Just so we’re clear: Natsu Onoda Power’s new devised performance piece is neither an homage to Ted Cruz nor a biography of Michelle Bachmann. In fact, as mentioned in one of several deliciously self...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Performances in a Play in Community Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in a Play in Community Theatres go to: Best Actor in a Play Harris Allgeier as Albert Einstein in Picasso at...

An Interview with Studio Theatre’s ‘Terminus’ Cast and Director: Part Three: Nanna Ingvarsson, Dylan Morrison Myers, Katie Ryan, and Tom Story

This is Part Three of Three of a discussion with the cast of Terminus at The Studio Theatre: Nanna Ingvarsson, Katie Ryan, and Dylan Morrison Myers, and their director Tom Story. Michael: In the...

Beethoven’s Ninth with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore

For sheer drama in classical music this year, it will be hard to top the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s knife’s-edge performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 on Saturday night at the...

‘In Praise of Love’ at Washington Stage Guild

You may not have heard of Terence Rattigan, British playwright whose heyday soared in the late 1940s and early 1950s; but whose more conventional fare was then swamped by the British bad boys of John...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Director/Musical Directors of Musicals at Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Directors and Musical Directors of Musicals in Professional Theatres honors go to: Patrick A’Hearn for Gypsy at Riverside...

‘Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’ at Little Butterfly Theatre Company

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson is a definitive hit in the spirited rock musical genre. First performed in 2009, with Music and Lyrics by Michael Friedman and book by Alex Timbers, Bloody Bloody Andrew...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Directors/Musical Directors in a Musical in Community Theatres

Hans Bachmann for La Cage aux Folles at McLean Community Players Musical Director: John Edward Niles ______ Homero Bayarena for Les Misérables at Glyndon Area Players Musical Director: Matt Hartman...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #18: Best Directors of a Play in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2015 Best Directors of Plays in Professional Theatres go to: Chris Abraham for Winners and Losers at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company....

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Directors of a Play in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ honorees for Best Director of a Play in Professional Theatres go to” Cristina Alicea for Gidion’s Knot at Forum Theatre/NextStop Theatre Company co-production Izumi...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Performances in a Play in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their Best of 2014: Best Performances in Plays in Professional Theatres go to: BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY Josh Adams as Billy Craven in The...

“Moving On’: An Interview with Theater J’s Managing Director Rebecca Ende and Acting Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky

Managing Director Rebecca Ende and Acting Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky and their team are ‘moving on’ and preparing for an exciting 2015 season at Theater J. Joel: How do you see your new roles...