Reviews

‘Lionel Richie with Special Guest: CeeLo Green: ‘All The Hits All Night Long’ at Wolf Trap

At Wolf Trap last night, after the charismatic, and energetic CeeLo Green and his band of amazing musicians warmed up the audience into a frenzy, out came the music legend Lionel Richie. Hit after hit...

‘Gidion’s Knot’ at Forum Theatre

At the core of this inexorable and engrossing drama by Johnna Adams is a disturbing enigma: A fifth-grade boy named Gidion, suspended from school under suspicious circumstances, has shot himself in...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review ‘Mobile Personal Series’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) If you were to walk up to what looks like a hot dog vendor with a surgical mask on, you might ask: “What’s the mask for?” You might then look down and realize that the...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: Capital City Showcase #2: July 20, 2014

One of the most enticing incentives to attend Capital Fringe is for the often rare opportunity to experience new, unusual, and different experiences For most, such Fringe encounters are enlightening...

‘Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Sometimes good things come in small packages. And sometimes they come in big ones, just to the wrong place. In NextStop Theatre Company’s Good Good Trouble on Bad Bad Island, directed by Danny Tipett,...

‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ and ‘I Pagliacci’ at Maryland Lyric Opera

Maryland Lyric Opera presents its debut season at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park with the stunning and beautiful production of Cavalleria...

‘An Evening with Danny Kaye’ at The American Century Theater

Brian Childers IS the exact personification of Danny Kaye in the wonderfully amusing and slightly manic current production at The American Century Theater (TACT), An Evening with Danny Kaye. Childers...

‘Abominable’ at The Hub Theatre

There’s no question: puberty can be a bitch. Or, more to the point, a beast… It is the latter metaphor that is explored extensively in The Hub Theatre’s intriguing new play, Abominable. Playwright and...

‘The Tempest’ at Aldersgate Community Church Theatre

Aldersgate Church Community Theater presents Shakespeare’s The Tempest, directed by Amanda Coffin. For this production, Aldersgate ditches the elaborate sets and costumes in favor of a minimalist...

‘The Tempest’ at Olney Theatre Center

How beauteous mankind is! Particularly the beauty found in those willing to brave the natural tempest of Maryland’s summer weather at Olney Theatre Center this summer season. A fantastical stormy...

‘Dani Girl’ at Unexpected Stage Company

Dani Girl is a gem worthy of placement at the highest point in a royal’s crown. Go see it before it closes its brief run on August 10th! Every member of this musical’s cast and creative team deserves...

‘The Daily Dish’: Now Serving Mykl Wu by Jenny Splitter

The Daily Dish: Now Serving Mykl Wu Today the cast of The Dish welcomes Mykl Wu Wu is an American cook, photographer and writer with a specialty in food, restaurants, travel and social media. Bethesda...

‘A Live Presentation of 2001: A Space Odyssey’ With the National Symphony Orchestra, Emil de Cou, conductor, and Woodley Ensemble, Frank Albinder, Music Director

After a week of cramped and un air conditioned Fringey-ness, it was a pleasure to step into the cavernous Filene Center at Wolf Trap last night. The massive open air space, illuminated by starlight...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Mandarin Orange’

The cute and clever title and a quick read of Kate Robards’one woman show synopsis can’t help but put a smile on your face. Mandarin Orange, directed by Jill Vice, is an earnest, heartwarming...

‘Into the Woods’ at Wildwood Summer Theatre

Wildwood Summer Theatre conquers Sondheim for their 49th annual summer season with Into the Woods. Wildwood is a youth-run summer theatre; everyone from the chair of the board to the set designer is...

Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) Review: ‘Dead and Breathing’

Despite the deus ex machina that ends the show—the miracle that I don’t mind mentioning because playwrights that resort to miracles as conclusions should have their audiences warned in advance—Dead...

‘Pippi Longstocking: The Family Musical’ at City of Fairfax Theatre Company

Looking for something fun to do to beat the summer heat? Pack up your young pirates for the high-flying circus adventure that is Pippi Longstocking: The Family Musical, presented by City of Fairfax...

‘Much Ado About Nothing’ at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Tis indeed summer and that to the world of the Bard means Much Ado About Nothing. And the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory is no exception to that rule as they mount their first in-the-round production...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Self-Portrait of a Sinner’

Self Portrait of a Sinner is a one-woman show performed by Veronique MacRae. The play goes through the seven deadly sins by presenting a character who represents some aspect of the sin in a way you...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Capital Showcase Performance’ – July 18, 2014

(Best of the Capital Fringe) This is a review of the July 18, 2014 performance. DC Institution, The Capital City Showcase will make five stops at Fringe this year, all organized and emceed by the man...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘DATELINE: Macbeth’

The Quattro Gatti Theatre Company is down from Brooklyn for DC Fringe this year. Andy Hopper writes, directs and stars in DATELINE: Macbeth, a fast-paced, funny, genre-defying reimagining of...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Human Algorithm’

The Human Algorithm is a solo performance piece that resembles less of a play and more of a standup comedy routine performed by your drunk aunt at Thanksgiving. While writer and performer CJ claims to...

Christine Pedi at Signature Theatre’s ‘Sizzlin’ Summer Cabaret Series’

Christine Pedi: Great Dame There ain’t nothing like a dame, and there is truly ain’t nothing like a dame that can sing about the best of them. Christine Pedi is one of those gifted singers. Ms. Pedi’s...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review RagnaPOP (or She’s Got the Bomb)

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Your Pal Pete is here to present RagnaPOP (or She’s Got the Bomb), the concert to end all concerts… And all time. He’s here with his band to perform a final review of his...

Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) Review: ‘North of the Boulevard’

North of the Boulevard is not for the faint of heart; neither is it for the prudish or the overly sensitive; nor is it for those who require anything close to political correctness. North of the...

Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) Review: ‘The Ashes Under Gait City’

How does one create a social movement? How does one create a community? How does one create a mecca for a movement and a community? New play The Ashes Under Gait City by Christina Anderson concerns...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review ‘Love Letter Lost’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Love Letter Lost, presented by Tut’Zanni Theatre Company, is everything a Fringe show should be: fast paced, highly entertaining, and a wonderfully comic way to spend an...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Wistaria’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) I must confess, when I was picked up as a reviewer here at DC MetroTheaterArts for this year’s Fringe I got in a little late to the game. Joel and Brett were already well...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Killer Quack’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) James Judd’s Killer Quack is one of those rare moments in the theatre that moves the audience along the spectrum of emotion. For fifty-five minutes, Judd walks an...

Capital Fringe Scene Stealers #1-July 18, 2014

Here are our first list of honorees for DCMetroTheaterArts ‘Best Scene Stealers of the 2014 Capital Fringe Festival’ ______ Devin Gaither, as Joey, in Rock Bottom [A Rock Opus] Reacting to Blood...

‘Marquis de Sade’ at Baltimore Annex Theater

My Lords and Ladies of Baltimore: You are most cordially invited by Director Coulmier, and his wife Lady Coulmier, to attend a fine performance presented at the Asylum of Charenton (The Baltimore...

‘I Do! I Do!’ at Infinity Theatre Company

Marriage is a very good thing, though it is far from easy. Rounding out their fifth season in Annapolis, the Infinity Theatre Company presents a timeless musical classic with a bit of a revamped twist...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Feisty Jew’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) There are story tellers. There are actors. There is a difference between the two. In one we find a desire to live the character. To be a new person on stage so that the...

‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown’ at Liberty Showcase Theatre

It’s suppertime! And the Liberty Showcase Theatre is serving up a scrumptious dish of musical theatre this summer with their production of the original You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Directed by...

Straight No Chaser at Wolf Trap

There’s something magical that happens when you take ten talented male vocalists, put them in matching slim-fitting blazers, and get them to sing out loud in perfect harmony and a synchronous...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Cabaret XXX: Everybody F*cking Dies’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Lets start off with a little history: Pinky Swear productions has had one of the best productions at the Fringe three years running, with their Cabaret XXX series. Their...

The Fray, Barcelona, and Oh Honey at Wolf Trap

Wolf Trap bills them as a “piano-driven pop rock quartet with impassioned smash hits.” Blurt magazine praises them for “the way they seek out views of the world—and not just about their own lives—and...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘You, or Whatever I Can Get’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) On Wednesday, July 16, 2014, the magic of live theatre was alive at the opening night performance of You, or Whatever I Can Get at the Baldacchino Tent Bar at Fort Fringe,...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review ‘Empress of the Moon: The Lives of Aphra Behn’

Without tragedy we would all just be living in a play. The characters existing inside of Empress of the Moon: The Lives of Aphra Behn, a production being mounted by Forearmed Productions (based in...

An Interview with Moses Kamai Director of The Northern Virginia Ukulele Society

Moses Kamai is the Director and Organizer of the Northern Virginia Ukulele Society, for the past 5 and a half years in Reston, Virginia. He organizes, plans, teaches, and performs with members of the...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Contrafact of Freedom’

History Made Interesting: Contrafact of Freedom We’ve all heard “The Star Spangled Banner” sung at sporting events. Most of us know that the national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key? But who...

Capital Fringe Review 2014: ‘Medea’s Got Some Issues’

In this one woman show the character of Medea is ripped right off the classic Greek pages of Euripides’ play and plunked down straight into the warehouse theatre. Make no mistake, Medea is completely...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Relationsh!t’

There is something to be said for idiosyncratic behavior contributing to the spice in any relationship (there is something else, entirely, to he said for the same behavior wrecking any and all...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Martin, Love, Sex & Rhythm’

(Best of the Capital Fringe for the riveting and steamy dancing and for an important message) Martin, Love, Sex & Rhythm puts the positive in HIV-positive! It takes a look at love and sex between men...

Jennifer Nettles From Sugarland and Special Guest Brandy Clark at Wolf Trap

On a Hot Scorching July night, Jennifer Nettles, one half of the Grammy-award winning duo, Sugarland, set the stage on fire! While the night temperature did lower significantly, due to the arrival of...

‘Carrie: The Musical’ at The Studio Theatre

There are horrific and spellbinding moments aplenty to savor in Studio Theatre’s SecondStage current production of the alternately beloved and reviled camp, cult classic musical Carrie. Based on the...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘La Llorona’

La Llorona is a Hispanic folktale about a woman who is spurned by her lover and goes on to murder her children. She then wanders the land as a ghost called the wailing woman and hearing her cries...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Duchess of Malfi’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Setting aside certain things about this performance is difficult. They are greedy, selfish, and cruel. Greedy for deciding they should hoard such a mountain of talent in...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Mutualistic Melody’

In a show who’s concept is so interesting I was surprised to find so many flaws in both script and execution.The script was unwieldy and suffered from many freshman mistakes. For instance, the three...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Big A: Scenes From a Vanishing Landscape’

Grown children often have to care for aging parents. This is hard enough when the parents retain the mental faculties, but can be gut-wrenching when parents can no longer recognize their own children....