Reviews

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

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in Musicals in Community Theatres go to: Best Actor in a Musical Tyler Everett Adams as Leo Bloom in The...

‘Diner’ at Signature Theatre by David Siegel

Music easily helps us drift back to another time and place, one that is fading away even as we try to keep it alive within us. It takes only the initial notes and musical measures of oldies but...

‘The Great Divorce’ at Lansburgh Theatre

Having successfully adapted C. S. Lewis’ classic The Screwtape Letters into a two-character play, Max McLean and his group Fellowship for Performing Arts have gone for an even bigger challenge:...

Spine: ‘Diner’ at Signature Theatre by Robert Michael Oliver

In 1982, when Barry Levinson’s Diner (the film) opened nationwide to positive reviews, the Reagan Revolution had just begun, the Vietnam Syndrome was about to be dispelled with the invasion of...

DCMetroTheaterArts: Best of 2014: Best Performances in a Musical in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in Musicals in Professional Theatres honors go to: Best Actor in a Musical Danny Bertaux as Agis in Triumph of...

An Irish Carol at The Keegan Theatre

Last night, The Keegan Theatre’s fourth annual production of An Irish Carol met a full house ready to experience the play’s impressive reputation. However this time, the Company has a few different...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Plays in Community Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Plays in Community Theatres honors go to: A Few Good Men at The Colonial Players A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Castaways...

‘The Imperative to Reconcile’: A Conversation with Ari Roth by John Stoltenberg

In the week following Ari Roth’s firing as Artistic Director of Theater J, I talked with him about his vision of theater. It was a topic that mattered to me personally, because I had come to a deep...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Plays in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Plays in Professional Theatres go to: A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas at Olney Theatre Center A Raisin in the...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Musicals in Community Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Musicals at Community Theatres go to: The Addams Family at Kensington Arts Theatre Annie at Port Tobacco Players Bat Boy:...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Musicals in Professional Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Musicals at Professional Theatres honors go to: A Year With Frog and Toad at Red Branch Theatre Company Avenue Q at Olney...

Standout CDs of Three Rising Classical Artists: Einav Yarden, Yevgeny Kutik, and Danielle Talamantes

Debut recordings by emerging classical performers face enormous challenges. There’s the issue of finding unique material or a unique voice after so much music has been recorded so many times. And just...

‘Caroline, or Change’ at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative

For a change, catch this show before it gets away DO run to catch Caroline, or Change at Stillpointe Theatre Initiative. It’s a must-see show, it is worth several times the ticket price. When most...

The Choral Arts Society of Washington Presents:’ A Family Christmas’

The young boy behind me had just celebrated his 10th birthday the day before and Mom and Dad took him to the ultra-entertaining holiday concert: A Family Christmas by The Choral Arts Society at The...

Reaction to Ari Roth’s Dismissal Articles: New articles in Washington Jewish Week; and American Theatre and ‘A Conversation with Ari Roth’ on DCMTA

12/30/14 Update: Why Ari Roth Was Fired by Suzanne Pollak in The Washington Jewish Week. Read it Here. ____ 12/29/14 Update: Read John Stoltenberg’s interview with Ari Roth: The Imperative to...

Peabo Bryson’s ‘The Colors of Christmas: Bryson, Studdard, Holliday, Dayne’ at Strathmore

Holiday concerts just don’t get any better than Colors of Christmas. In a resplendent performance of Christmas classics and R&B favorites, the Strathmore Music Center’s starry-night Colors of...

‘The Little Prince’ at Washington National Opera

If you saw a drawing of a lumpy hat, would you assume it was just that? As an adult, you might. In the Kennedy Center’s Washington National Opera: Holiday Family Opera production of The Little Prince,...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Special Awards

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Special Awards have been awarded to: Since it opened in July 2013, The Anacostia Playhouse has become home for several of our...

‘Pippin’ at The National Theatre

Winner of four 2013 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, Pippin captivatingly combines the jaw-dropping effects and breathtaking acrobatics of Les doigts de la main (7 Fingers) with the...

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at The Kennedy Center

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is both transcendent and transplendent! This fun and funny, family-friendly musical lights up the stage at The Kennedy Center this holiday season, bringing...

‘Mary Poppins’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Have yourself a little “Mary” Christmas this year, courtesy of Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia. Mary Poppins—The Broadway Musical borrows a “little” here, a “little” there, but it all adds up to...

The Moscow Ballet’s ‘Great Russian Nutcracker’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Be prepared to be dazzled. When this reviewer spotted hundreds of young children, mostly girls 3 to 16 in pretty party dresses, swarming through the lobby of George Mason University’s Center for the...

Nibbles and Sips: ‘Christmas Thrills And Chills For Every Theatregoer’

One of the best ways I know of to get excited about the Christmas season is to get thyself (and thy family) to the theatre where you can watch dancers soar in Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker performed...

‘Pippin’ is Playing at The National Theatre: A Chat with John Rubinstein on Coming into the Broadway Production, Playing Charles, and Playing Pippin in the Original Broadway Production

[Editor’s Note: Press Night for The National Tour of Pippin is tonight at The National Theatre in DC, and John Rubenstein is here to play King Charlemagne direct from The Tony Award-winning Broadway...

National Chamber Ensemble’s ‘Annual Holiday Concert’

It’s my favorite holiday concert and again this year I attended National Chamber Ensemble’s Annual Holiday Concert on Sunday, December 14, 2014. It was one heck of a fun sleigh ride filled with works...

‘A Capital Christmas’ at The Choral Arts Society of Washington at The Kennedy Center

According to Artistic Director Scott Tucker, music is what makes it truly feel like Christmas. The Choral Arts Society of Washington’s splendid performance of A Capital Christmas filled The Kennedy...

Young Playwrights’ Theater Presents The 20th Anniversary Festival at Theater J

“Really? A pre-teen wrote this? No way!They did? Wow!” Those were my thoughts as I was drawn into the celebration of “the best of” twenty years of playwriting by elementary and middle school students...

‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ at Providence Players of Fairfax

As a treat for the entire family, or an early Christmas gift, there is none better than C.S. Lewis’ classic tale of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe now playing at Providence Players of Fairfax....

‘Terminus’ at The Studio Theatre

No one should ever accuse The Studio Theatre of bowing to the pressure of getting into the holiday spirit. In this time of Islamic State and relentless “drones,” torture reports and rectal feedings,...

Magic Time! ‘Terminus’ at The Studio Theatre

Graphic language can slam us and disturb us in a way that is unique to live theater. Visceral and muscular diction in performance can burn images into our mind’s eye as no cinema can.The power of...

The Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic at the Church of the Epiphany

The sheer number of mid-rank orchestras in the Washington area guarantees a wide variety of musical approaches to holiday concerts. But the prize for the most boundary-expanding holiday program has to...

‘Winnie the Pooh: A Christmas Tail’ at Other Voices Theatre

Winnie the Pooh: A Christmas Tail is at Other Voices Theatre is a delightful Christmas show for both young and old audiences. An approximately hour-long interactive children’s show, wonderfully...

‘Deathtrap’ at Everyman Theatre

Deathtrap is a departure from the regular Christmas fanfare, currently in production at Everyman Theatre. Every scene is filled with an element of surprise worth gasping over. Written by Ira Levin,...

‘A Candlelight Christmas’ at The Washington Chorus at The Kennedy Center

The Kennedy Center Hall is decked in evergreen, but The Washington Chorus brings the candles as they file into to the solemn song of “Once in Royal David’s City” to begin A Candlelight Christmas. They...

‘Black Nativity’ at Theater Alliance

Theater Alliance’s production of Black Nativity at the Anacostia Playhouse is a gloriously joyful noise indeed. An Afrocentric celebration of the Christmas story rooted in the strength and power of...

‘Megan Hilty’s A Kennedy Center Christmas’

“You know, today is a special day: 12/13/14,” Megan Hilty nonchalantly announces with her contagiously winning smile, reminding everyone that it was the very last sequential day of the century....

‘Mannheim Steamroller Christmas by Chip Davis’ at the Music Center at Strathmore

Saturday, Mannheim Steamroller performed at Bethesda’s Music Center at Strathmore. The soldout crowd was enraptured at the matinee and Mannheim Steamroller received a standing ovation at the end. For...

‘Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge’ at Silver Spring Stage

Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge is an alternative to the usual uplifting Christmas stories playing during the holiday season, and Silver Spring Stage has staged an outrageous production....

‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ at Pumpkin Theatre

During its 47th season, The Pumpkin Theatre presented Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, written by Jimi Kinstle, and with music directed and composed by Mandee Ferrier Roberts. Raine Bode directed this...

‘An Evening with Natalie Merchant’ at The Lincoln Theatre

Singer-songwriter superstar Natalie Merchant sparkled, performing a career-spanning set in front of a sold-out crowd last Wednesday night at DC’s Lincoln Theatre. The show was originally scheduled for...

‘A Year With Frog and Toad’ at Red Branch Theatre Company

You know you’re in for a special evening of theater when half the audience arrives in pajamas. But the comfy-cozy opening night of A Year With Frog and Toad at the Red Branch Theatre Company keeps the...

‘NPR’s A Jazz Piano Christmas’ at The Kennedy Center

There are many types of applause one hears in a concert hall—polite clapping, raucous applause, the awkward slow clap. Felix Contreras, the host of last night’s cheerful NPR’s A Jazz Piano Christmas,...

‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Director Jennifer Lambert has coached two casts of 13 talented youngsters—plus a baby who plays Woodstock–to their natural best and the simplicity of A Charlie Brown Christmas’ lets their true spirits...

Top Scene Stealers of the Week Ending 12/12/14-Part 1

Her are our new list of Scene Stealers honorees for the week ending 12/12/14. Congrats to all our honorees! ______ Noah Bird as George Bailey Shares A First Kiss with Rachel Bailey as Mary Hatch in...

NSO Pops: ‘Happy Holidays! Cirque de la Symphonie’ at The Kennedy Center

It seems DC is on the nice list this year. From classics (See: Olney) to new inventions (See: Pointless), there really is something for everyone on local stages this season. Not to be outdone, the...

‘Famous Puppet Death Scenes’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Ready for some comic puppet anarchy? Ready for some situational, very visual humor within nearly two dozen short puppet-driven skits? Ready to indulge into, of all things, existential takes on death?...

‘A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas’ at Olney Theatre Center

A cold, winter night… a charming theatre housing the town’s lovers of The Arts… and America’s favorite Christmas story – it felt like a storybook evening. It was if Charles Dickens was there-right...

Arts Collective @ HCC’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Interviews Part 3: ‘Leaps in Time With Noah Bird, Rachel Bailey, and Emma McDonnell’

If George and Mary Bailey, the main couple in It’s a Wonderful Life, time traveled from the 1940s to the 2010s, they might have trouble identifying with the young actors cast in three of the pivotal...

‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ at Providence Players of Fairfax Opens Friday, December 12th by Chip Gertzog

Something different on stage for the holidays. The Providence Players open The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe This Friday, December 12th. Great theater – Great entertainment for the whole family and...

‘The Tempest’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

“We work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” ― Henry James, The Middle Years Henry James’...