Reviews

‘Orphie and the Book of Heroes’ at The Kennedy Center by Joel Markowitz

It’s so rare when I leave a show and just can’t stop smiling, and that happened after I attended the ‘new’ commissioned musical called Orphie and the Book of Heroes at The Kennedy Center’s Family...

‘Souvenir: A Fantasia on the Life of Florence Foster Jenkins’ at 1st Stage by Julia Scherer-Hoock

In the age of Rebecca Black and William Hung, the idea that someone could be famous for their mediocrity is not exactly far-fetched. However, before YouTube and American Idol made catapulting yourself...

Walnut Street Theatre’s ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts by Kari and RJ Rothstein

After recently hearing that Driving Miss Daisy is a play that contains the “presence of love,” that statement caused the mind to begin searching the script for evidence. Who shows love and to whom and...

Victorian Lyric Opera’s Production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’ Opens on Thursday, February 20th by Ed Vilade and Courtney Kalbacker

Love Blooms in Elizabethan England The Tower of London is the setting for one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most successful operettas, The Yeomen of the Guard, which the Victorian Lyric Opera Company will...

Bloody Good News! Sondheim Grants Landless Theatre Company Permission to Develop Prog-Metal Version of ‘Sweeney Todd’ by Andrew L. Baughman

Sweeney Goes Metal: Landless Theatre to develop a new production Last June, Landless Theatre Company realized they had stumbled onto something exciting with their world premiere staging of Richard...

‘The Piano Teacher’ at Rep Stage by Amanda Gunther

To come from the wilderness and savagery of existence and to make the choice to be good; that is what separates the humans from the beasts, the civilized from chaos and disorder. But is it so simple a...

‘Schubert and Champagne’ at National Chamber Ensemble by Jane Coyne

National Chamber Ensemble, the musical gem in residence at Artisphere’s Rosslyn Spectrum Threatre in Arlington, Virginia, showed its stuff on Friday night as it paid tribute to the 217th birthday of...

‘Seussical JR’ at Pumpkin Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Oh the songs you will hear! Oh the sights you will see! They’re so impressive you’ll just flip your lids! When you see Pumpkin Theatre’s Seussical JR A musical for children, performed by kids! As the...

‘The Golden Spike’ at Baltimore Annex Theater by Amanda Gunther

What is a scar but evidence of the triumph over death? And no man setting out to build a continental railroad could escape such grand designs unscarred. Baltimore Annex Theater presents a new...

Oscar Peñas at The Kennedy Center by Teal Ruland

Spanish jazz guitarist and composer Oscar Peñas made his Kennedy Center KC Jazz Club debut last evening, exhibiting his awesome fusion of classical guitar laced with smooth, jazzy, Spanish, and South...

Magic Time! ‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater by John Stoltenberg

It takes a wagonload of courage to take on Brecht these days. His “alienation effect” esthetic challenges every theatrical convention that makes a show a contemporary commercial success. He explicitly...

‘Happy Days’ at CulturalDC at the Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint by Justin Schneider

Nostalgia has sometimes been defined alternately as an exquisite pain or a longing for a past that never really existed. Both of those ideas were at the forefront of my mind during CulturalDC’s...

‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at The Suburban Players by Amanda Gunther

Such a dazzling coat of many colors! And the coat isn’t the only thing that’s colorful this time of year as The Suburban Players hosts their annual musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor...

‘Mother Courage and Her Children’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater by Sophia Howes

Schopenhauer once said,“Talent hits a target that no one else can hit. Genius hits a target that no one else can see.” These words are uniquely apposite to describe the genius of Bertolt Brecht....

‘Les Misérables School Edition’ at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program by Eric Denver

Les Misérables School Edition played at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program in Arlington, VA on January 30, 2014 to a sold-out four-performance run. Under the capable and expert leadership of Producer,...

‘Tracy Lynn Olivera: CD Release Party’ at Signature Theatre’s Winter Cabaret Festival by Douglas Lloyd

If you have the wintertime blues (and who doesn’t by now!), then one surefire way to lift your spirits this week is to head over to Signature Theatre to hear the glorious Tracy Lynn Olivera sing a...

Director José Carrasquillo on ‘La Señorita de Tacna’ (The Young Lady from Tacna) at GALA Hispanic Theatre

La Señorita de Tacna (The Young Lady from Tacna), by the Peruvian Playwright Mario Vargas Llosa, opens tonight at GALA Hispanic Theatre. I asked Director José Carrasquillo about the auditions and...

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater ‘Program A’ at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Alvin Ailey American Dance Celebrates Rich Heritage at the Kennedy Center Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater “came home” to the Kennedy Center last night, dancing a program of familiar works, a true...

‘Stomp’ at The National Theatre by Jessica Vaughan

The Off-Broadway classic Stomp stops once more in DC for an explosive celebration of sound, dance, comedy and every day household objects with a fine cast of veterans and new performers. Stomp won a...

‘War Horse’ at Hippodrome Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Pure awestruck inspiration is often hard to come by these days upon the stage, but a radiant beam of stunning and imaginative heart is blasting its way onto the stages of Baltimore as Broadway Across...

‘Yellow Face’ at Theater J by John Stoltenberg

If there was an open casting call for the role of you, who should get the part and who shouldn’t? Must the actor be descended from a gene pool that arose in the same area on the globe that yours did?...

‘Impossible! A Happenstance Circus’ at Happenstance Theater by Amanda Gunther

Ladies and gentlemen! Step right up! A circus the likes of which you’ve never seen has come to Round House Theatre in Silver Spring compliments of the extremely engaging and enticing Happenstance...

‘Funny Money’ at 2nd Star Productions by Amanda Gunther

What would you do with 1,735,000 pounds? Hopefully do a better job of keeping your story straight than the zany characters in Ray Cooney’s Funny Money. An uproarious farce of epic proportions comes to...

Time for Three at the Kennedy Center by Emily Cao

Time for Three took to the Terrace Theater stage at The Kennedy Center on Monday night as part of the Fortas Chamber Music Concerts series. The internationally acclaimed, self-dubbed...

‘From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy Hook’ Released on DVD and Double-CD Set Tomorrow, iTunes on 2/7, & on Blu-ray on 2/18 by Joel Markowitz

From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert For Sandy Hook DVD And Double-CD set Released Tomorrow, February 4th, as two volumes digitally via iTunes on February 7th, and on Blu-ray on February 18th....

‘Richard III’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Michael Sprouse

Often we struggle to be heard, to be recognized. In this production of Shakespeare’s Richard III, directed by Dr. Lindsey Snyder, Richard is not depicted in the usual interpretation, but rather,...

‘The Best Man’ at The Keegan Theatre by David Friscic

The Keegan Theatre’s current production of Gore Vidal’s political drama The Best Man is solid entertainment in the best sense of the word. Never having read the play or having seen any previous stage...

‘Richard III’ at NextStop Theatre Company by Sophia Howes

After the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park in August 2012, it was concluded that far from being a hunchback, as some have stated, he suffered from scoliosis, an abnormal...

‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ at Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

How to enjoy a night out at the theatre – Step one: Purchase tickets to the first show of the 76th season at Olney Theatre Center. Step two: Make sure the tickets say How to Succeed in Business...

‘Clybourne Park’ at The Arlington Players by Julia Scherer-Hoock

It is tempting to be fooled into believing that we live in a post-racial America. After all, institutionalized racism is long gone, we’ve elected a black president (twice) and black culture is...

‘Richard III’ at Folger Theatre by Sophia Howes

Richard, We Hardly Knew Ye Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays, and with good reason. In his fascinating interview posted on the National Theatre’s website, Sir Ian McKellan notes...

Act Two@Levine’s Pre-Professional Program and ‘Parade’ at The Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage by Jane Coyne

It is always a privilege to support aspiring young artists and the wonderful organizations and professionals who provide them with training and opportunities to explore and experience the performing...

‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast JR.’ at Bravo@KAT by Bev Fleisher

All of us were raised with the enchantment of fairy tales, from Thumbelina (Hans Christian Andersen) and Cinderella (Charles Perrault), to Rapunzel (Brothers Grimm), many of them later popularized by...

‘La Cage aux Folles’ at McLean Community Players by Eric Denver

La Cage aux Folles, with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (Hello, Dolly! and Mame), and book by multiple Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy and Kinky Boots), opened on Broadway in...

Interviews with the 2014 Helen Hayes Nominees: Part 2: Tobias Young (Piragua Man in ‘In the Heights’) by Amanda Gunther

Here’s an interview with Tobias Young who is nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Resident Musical for playing Piragua Man in In the Heights at Toby’s Dinner Theatre. ______ Es calor! The...

The Washington Ballet’s ‘Blues/Jazz Project’ at Sydney Harman Hall by Carolyn Kelemen

DC Ballet shakes up expectations Yes, even classical ballerinas let their hair down once in a while. They relish tossing off those stiff upper body movements and tapping their feet to a syncopated...

Film Review: ‘Gloria’ by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

What is it about the name ‘Gloria’ that inspires songs and films written about tough minded, independent woman making their own way in an imperfect world? One can’t help but think of Laura Brannigan’s...

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at The Kennedy Center by John Stoltenberg

If you’re willing to let your inner child stay up after bedtime and go out and play at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater instead, you’re in for an evening of theatrical wonderment and...

‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at The Kennedy Center by Tiffany Draut

Rick Elise’s Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the book by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, played to a most appreciative crowd last night at The Kennedy Center. The play tells the story of how Peter...

‘Violet’ at Ford’s Theatre by Amanda Gunther

A stunning production is playing on the stage at Ford’s Theatre as the musical Violet carries on their 2013/2014 season. With music by Jeanine Tesori, and book and lyrics by Brian Crawley, this...

A Father and Son, Two Sisters, and Others React to Their WATCH AWARD Nominations

How did thy feel when their names were announced as a WATCH AWARD nominee? A Father and a Son Are Nominated Outstanding Special Effects Chip Gertzog and Jimmy Gertzog Chip Gertzog & Jimmy Gertzog–...

Mariinsky Ballet’s ‘Swan Lake’ at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Swooning over the first “Swan” Like those fabled swallows renowned for returning to Capistrano each spring, swans settle regularly in our area this time of year. Back in the heyday of classical ballet...

Part 1 of ‘Monty Python’s Spamalot at Toby’s: The Series of Interviews That Goes On and On’: Director/Choreographer Mark Minnick by Amanda Gunther

While I may not be Arthur, King of the Britains, I am on a noble quest to discover as many incredible details as I can as I take you behind-the-scenes at Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s newest production of...

31st Annual Choreographers Showcase at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Rick Westerkamp

The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center hosted the 31st Annual Choreographers’ Showcase this past weekend. The program welcomed seven modern dance works, which were all adjudicated by Sidra Bell and...

Pete Seeger Dies at Age 94. Here are Videos of The Weavers and His Career by Joel Markowitz

Pete Seeger, one of my heroes, died yesterday at Age 94. I am a huge Weavers fan and I listen to their LPS, cassettes, and CDs all the time. He was such a gentle man who believed in spreading positive...

Ladysmith Black Mambazo at The Barns of Wolf Trap by Erica Laxson

Ladysmith Black Mambazo performed at The Barns at Wolf Trap last night, just 24 hours after they won their 4th Grammy Award for Live: Singing For Peace Around The World, the 2013 Best World Music...

‘Ragtime’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria by Bev Fleisher

I am a big fan of The Little Theatre of Alexandria because of their consistency in presenting top-notch productions – which always run like clockwork – so I was disappointed that their opening night...

‘Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song’ at MetroStage by Bev Fleisher

The press opening performance of Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song, conceived, directed, and choreographed by Maurice Hines, was a tour de force. I strongly recommend that anyone with an interest in...

Here are the 2014 Helen Hayes Awards Nominations

Here are the 2014 Helen Hayes Nominations. 2014 Helen Hayes Awards Nominees Outstanding Choreography, Resident Musical Karma Camp Hello, Dolly! Ford’s Theatre and Signature Theatre Rachel Leigh Dolan,...

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Alexa Marie Kelly

There might be a solution to bitter January cold. It’s a warm comedy of frivolous characters playing now at Shakespeare Theatre Company. In The Importance of Being Earnest, the meat of the action is...