Reviews

‘The Little Dog Laughed’ at Dominion Stage

“Half the people in Hollywood are dying to be discovered – the other half are afraid they will be” – Lionel Barrymore, actor. In Dominion Stage’s funny production of Douglas Carter Beane’s The Little...

‘Incorruptible’ at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre

When times get tough you have to keep stretching the flour, or in this case the miracles. And remember, that miracles make saints and not the other way around. Unless of course you’re The Audrey...

‘Dolley Madison, Presidentress’ at Sandy Spring Theatre Group

Few, if any, “Founding Mothers” had a more profound influence on the early history of the United States than Dolley Madison. It would be an honor for any American to meet this legendary figure, and...

The Washington Ballet: Tour-de-Force: Balanchine!’ at The Kennedy Center

The Washington Ballet: Tour-de-Force: Balanchine is a truly spectacular evening at the ballet, with something for everyone. This program has, in my opinion, a balance of classical and contemporary...

‘Air Heart’ at Baltimore Theatre Project

Once you have tasted flight you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward. For pilots are forever dreaming up dreams and finding ways to be one with the sky. Amelia Earhart; her...

‘How I Learned to Stopped Worrying and Love the Numbers with Kai Ryssdal’ at Strathmore

There was a special treat in Bethesda this week for regular listeners of NPR – to celebrate 25 years of Marketplace from American Public Media, host Kai Ryssdal and the Marketplace team are bringing a...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: ‘Union Market, Bidwell, the Launchology Series, and Sample Nibbles and Sips From Zaytinya’s Upcoming Greek Easter Festival’

In Which We Visit Union Market, Bidwell, the Launchology Series, and Sample Nibbles and Sips From Zaytinya’s Upcoming Greek Easter Festival The Craveable Union Market There are many things to lure the...

‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ at CENTERSTAGE

Quickly becoming a household name when it comes to quirky comedies, Christopher Durang’s latest Tony Award-Winning play hits CENTERSTAGE as they approach the end of their 2013/2014 season. Vanya and...

‘The Foreigner’ at Vagabond Players

How does one acquire personality? Surely it’s not as easy as attending an uproarious comedy at America’s Oldest Continuously Operating Little Theatre? But of course it is! Vagabond Players has just...

‘Top Girls’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Everyone tries to cope with the ordinary drudgeries of their lives, some do better than others when it comes to success with their coping skills. Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls attempts to illustrate...

‘Willy Wonka: The Musical’ at Vienna Theatre Company

Vienna Theatre Company presents Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka: The Musical, with music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley, and adapted for the stage by Leslie Bricusse and Timothy Allen...

‘The Velocity of Autumn’ at The Booth Theatre

As the curtain rises on Eric Coble’s The Velocity of Autumn, directed with much heart by Molly Smith, we find Alexandra, played by the phenomenally spunky Estelle Parsons, under “extraordinary...

National Chamber Ensemble Hosts Mother’s Day Concert: ‘American Classics’ on Saturday, 5/10/14@7:30 PM

Burnett Thompson Saturday , May 10, 2014 | 7:30 PM Featuring Pianist Burnett Thompson If you are looking for a very special way to celebrate Mother’s Day, look no further. National Chamber Ensemble is...

Fiasco Theater’s ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ at Folger Theatre

Girl Crazy Start with Shakespeare. Add some very clever dramaturgy, cut a few characters, and incorporate a gifted group of artists and you have a magical night in the theatre. The D.C. debut of...

Filmfest DC 2014-A Preview

Filmfest DC 2014 might be the last year for the festival, according to Tony Gittens, Filmfest DC Founder and Festival Director. This year marks 28 years of curated great international films in...

‘Underneath the Lintel’ at MetroStage

I know a lot of librarians who would love Underneath the Lintel (and non-librarians too like those in the audience last night who were having a great time). First, it includes variety of media: books,...

‘By The Way, Meet Vera Stark’ at Everyman Theatre

People want their history to be heroic and uplifting, happy and fabulous. They want the heroes and heroines of history to be the same. But it can be exhausting trying to perpetually live the façade of...

‘Jack and the Beanstalk— The Story of Jack and Daisy’ at Pumpkin Theatre

Moo-moo, moo moo moo moo! Moo! As Daisy would say, which for those of you who don’t speak cow, is translated to say “There is a fabulous story happening at The Pumpkin Theatre right now! Come see it!”...

‘john & jen’ at Red Branch Theatre Company

Columbia’s Red Branch Theatre Company is out to test just how spare and lean a musical can get and still hold an audience in a magical spell. The company’s new staging of the off-Broadway 1995 show...

‘Peter Pan’ at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

If you have a child or grandchild you’d like to introduce to ballet, does The Washington Ballet have a show for you. Artistic Director Septime Webre’s Peter Pan is a cherry lollipop of a production...

‘Henry IV Part 2′ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Henry IV Part 2 King for a Day Have you ever lived life without a superego? If so, you may have some notion of what it’s like to be Falstaff. The exhilarating feeling is one reason we are drawn to...

The Second City’s ‘Happily Ever Laughter’ at The Barns at Wolf Trap

A group of smart, funny and nice-seeming comedians from the famous Second City improv group of Chicago entertained about 600 appreciative people at the Barns at Wolf Trap last night. Since its...

Fiasco Theater’s ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ and ‘Cymbeline’ at Folger Theatre-Part 3: Fiasco Theater’s Co-Artistic Director Noah Brody

In Part 3 of Fiasco Theater’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Cymbeline at Folger Theatre: meet Fiasco Theater Company’s Co-Artistic Director and Co-Founder Noah Brody. Joel: When did Folger contact...

Filichia on Friday: ‘Act One: The Musical’ by Peter Filichia

Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This week: Act...

‘Opera on Tap’ Returns to Black Fox Lounge on Wednesday, 4/23 at 6-9 PM by Kristina Riegle

Opera on Tap DC Metro invites you to enjoy “Ladies’ Night” at Black Fox Lounge. Spend your Wednesday evening being serenaded and seduced by the beautiful voices of six of our talented female...

From Arena Stage to The Booth: ‘The Velocity of Autumn’ Interviews: Part 2: Meet Director Molly Smith and Cast Members Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella

This upcoming Monday night-on April 21st-The Velocity of Autumn by Eric Coble opens on Broadway at The Booth Theatre. It’s been an exciting journey so far for the play that entertained enthusiastic...

American Ballet Theatre at The Kennedy Center

A trio of new and old works prove American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is A-ok and it felt like William Shakespeare was smiling in the dark when the American Ballet Theatre presented Frederick Ashton’s The...

‘Henry IV Part 1″ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Henry IV Part One: Honor Among Thieves Falstaff, like Sherlock Holmes, is one of those characters who are so memorable they almost seem alive. He is at the center of Shakespeare Theatre Company’s...

‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre

Four dead fellas, two dead cats, a hairstyle ruined, a broken-hearted sister. And all out of shoe polish. The culmination of which resulted in Martin McDonagh’s funniest, darkest comedy to date; all...

‘Moth’ at The Studio Theatre’s 2ndStage

There’s more than a flickering of interesting technique and stimulating acting in the production (U.S.Premiere) of the play Moth by playwright Declan Greene currently playing at Studio Theatre’s...

‘Cinderella: The Remix’ at Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage presents Cinderella: The Remix, an exciting retelling of the classic written and directed by Psalmayene 24, with hip-hop beats by Nick Hernandez. The final production in Psalmayene...

‘Magic Time!’: ‘Moth’ at The Studio Theatre’s 2ndStage

Up on the fourth floor of The Studio Theatre is a great big black box of a performance space, which isn’t actually black because its walls are cinder block, rather like an institutional enclosure. On...

‘Sleeping Beauty: A Puppet Ballet’ at Pointless Theatre Co. at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

Have you ever thought that the ballet needed more puppets? Or is it just me? For those of us troubled by this glaring oversight, Pointless Theatre Company brings us their technically impressive and...

‘Once On This Island’ at Olney Theatre Center

Test the strength of love against the power of death and you will discover why they tell the story. The ‘they’ of Olney Theatre Center as they present Once On This Island; a brilliant musical tale of...

‘An Evening with Branford Marsalis’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Seeing one of Jazz’ masters like Branford Marsalis perform is one of life’s greatest pleasures. I had the honor of watching jazz great Marsalis at George Mason Performing Arts Center Saturday night....

‘Golda’s Balcony’ at Theater J

There’s not a long list of great actors who, through their indelible bravura depiction of a great historical figure in a solo performance, warrant substituting the word “is” for “as,” in billing like...

Filichia on Friday: ‘Six Shows in Six States’ by Peter Filichia

Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This week: Six...

‘Carmen’ at Virginia Opera at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Things were very fiery this past Friday night at the GMU Center for the Arts as the Virginia Opera brings a new and exciting full-scale production of Bizet’s Carmen, one of the most renowned and...

‘Die Fledermaus’ at Maryland Opera Studio at Clarice Smith for the Performing Arts

Maryland Opera Studio revels in the ridiculous with Strauss’s oft-performed comic opera Die Fledermaus. Director Nick Olcott exploits its absurdities to the hilt. He also translated the spoken...

‘Shrek’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Once upon a time there was a little place called Toby’s Dinner Theatre that was nestled in the wooded highlands of Columbia, Maryland. And during their 35th year they decided to mount a little musical...

Buy One Get One Free Tickets to ‘The Last Five Years’ Today at 3 PM at Red Branch Theatre Company

For the loyal readers of DCMTA, Red Branch Theatre Company is offering buy one, get one free tickets to the remaining performances of The Last Five Years this weekend — Saturday, April 12 at 8 PM,...

‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Rockville Musical Theatre

When a show begins with a “Greek chorus” that is part Sorority girls, part Girl-Band, and a lot of “trailer trash,” you know you are in for a great time. The perfectly mismatched set of Rockville...

‘The All-American Genderfuck Cabaret’ at Glass Mind Theatre

Whether you’re a man or a woman, or something fabulous outside of the restrictive gender binary, chances are that in your day to day life you’ve done something that equates to the opposite of your...

‘Bullets Over Broadway’ at The St. James Theatre

Don’t Speak! Be Silent! Just listen! Bullets Over Broadway is a blast and and you’ll go bananas over the high-kicking and toe-tappin’ choreography of Tony winner Director/Choreographer Susan Stroman,...

‘Snake Oil, Holy Water and Sweet Tea’ at Gallery O

It may have been chilly temperature-wise in the courtyard next to Gallery O on H St., N.E. last Saturday evening but the performers kept the evening hot, hot, hot. Snake Oil, Holy Water and Sweet Tea...

‘Singin’ in the Rain’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre

Good morning, good morning! I’ve seen the whole show through. Good morning, good morning! And it’s a pleasant show to view! Well good morning, good morning! That’s the thing to do— see Singin’ in the...

Nibbles And Sips Around Town: Brunch Before the Matinee: City Tap House, The Partisan, Malmaison, Jaleo Brunch, Peach Brandy at Mount Vernon

City Tap House, The Partisan, Malmaison, Jaleo Brunch, Peach Brandy at Mount Vernon Brunch Before the Matinee On an unseasonably warm Sunday we tried out the new brunch menu at Jaleo. We chose the...

‘Ghost’ The Musical at Hippodrome Theatre

Suspend my disbelief; love really can conquer all, even death itself. In a stunning emotionally charged musical that strikes a chord in the cockles of your heart, love will find a way to survive....

‘The Jungle Book’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

Adventure Theatre MTC presents The Jungle Book, based on the fables collected by Rudyard Kipling and adapted for the stage by Tracey Power. Shirley Serotsky directs this production. Set Designer...

‘Two Trains Running’ at Round House Theatre

“There are always and only two trains running. There is life and there is death.” – August Wilson Change is in the air. It’s 1969, a pivotal year of change and a turning point in American history when...