Reviews

‘Seussical The Musical’ at Damascus Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

The show you must see, and I just tell you, you must! Is a musical featuring a small speck of dust! Well not the dust you see, but the planet that’s Who! That is trapped on this dust speck and knows...

An Interview with Musician Scott Kurt by Marlene Hall

Scott Kurt is a local musician – make that a hard working local musician – who is on his way up to the big leagues. He has opened for Huey Lewis and the News at Wolf Trap this summer to earning four...

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at The United States Naval Academy’s Masqueraders by Joel Markowitz

I had a wilde-ly good time watching the brilliant cast of the United States Naval Academy’s The Masqueraders perform Oscar Wilde‘s popular The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious...

‘These Shining Lives’ at Howard Community College’s Theatre Department & Arts Collective by Amanda Gunther

The stars; a glimmer of hope in the eye of a bright young woman, the luminescence radiating from the clock face in the middle of the night, the sparkling water of a Great Lake reflected back in the...

‘See How They Run’ at Greenbelt Arts Center by Amanda Gunther

The British are coming! The British are coming! Or maybe I should say the British are running! They’re running circles all around and through the vicarage of Merton-cum-Middlewick or at the very least...

‘Annie’ at Colonial Players by Amanda Gunther

Leapin’ lizards! Little orphan Annie has made her way to the stage just in time for Christmas at Colonial Players! The holiday classic brings a New Deal for Christmas to the stage and really brings...

‘World Blues’ featuring The Taj Mahal Trio, Vusi Mahlasela, and Deva Mahal with Fredericks Brown at George Mason University by Audrey Thornton

Marvelous—such a musical treat! Three fantastic acts, all for the price of one admission. Blues with a world perspective greeted patrons on Friday evening, November 15, 2013 at George Mason...

‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ at Adventure Theatre MTC by Julia Exline

Adventure Theatre MTC presents a world premiere comedy based on the classic holiday song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, written by Renee Calarco and directed by Michael Dove. When a “plucky” young...

‘The King and I’ at Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

A magical and enchanting production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I makes its way to the stage at Olney Theatre Center as the final production in their 75th Anniversary Season. The classic...

Russian Chamber Art Society Ensemble: Russian Bel Canto at the Embassy of Austria by Jane Coyne

On Friday evening, the Russian Chamber Art Society, led by Artistic Director Vera Danchenko-Stern, presented Russian Bel Canto, a lovely concert of Russian vocal masterpieces composed by Glinka,...

‘Shiloh Rules’ at Port City Playhouse by Jenna Miller

PortCity Playhouse presents Shiloh Rules by Doris Baizly and produced by Mary Beth Smith-Toomey. Smart writing tells the story of a Civil War re-enactment by a group of women. They’re in a National...

‘In the Heights’ at Act Two @ Levine by Bev Fleisher

Those voices! That dancing! The acting! I was among the audience members who leapt to their feet for a hearty standing ovation to the cast and all of the behind-the scene-workers who obviously had put...

‘carried away on the crest of a wave’ at The Hub Theatre by Sophia Howes

carried away on the crest of a wave by David Yee, as directed by Helen Pafumi at The Hub Theatre, is a profoundly haunting meditation on the connectedness of all living things. Based on one of the...

‘The Lieutenant of Inishmore’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse by Andrew L. Baughman

Comedian W.C. Fields was said to have hated working with children and animals, presumably because of their knack for stealing a scene away from hard working actors. That is most definitely the case in...

‘A Dream Play’ at The Catholic University by Flora Scott

A Dream Play, by August Strindberg, directed by Colin Hovde at The Catholic University of America, is an examination of the human condition initiated by a goddess named Agnes (Teresa Catherine) sent...

‘The Complete History of America (abridged)’ at St. George’s Players’ by Ramona Harper

Get ready for a wacky wild ride through our nation’s timeline with the St. George’s Players ‘wonderfully zany presentation of The Complete History of America (abridged) currently playing at St....

‘Marat/Sade’ at American University by Alexa Marie Kelly

If you are an American University student and wander into Katzen Arts Center this weekend, you may hear wails of agony. Do not be alarmed. The Department of Performing Arts presents The Persecution...

DanceWorks Fall 2013 at The George Washington University by Rick Westerkamp

The structure of the George Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance’s DanceWorks Fall 2013 concert is absolutely wonderful. The audience is welcomed into the concert with a faculty...

‘My Princess Bride’ Starring Joe Brack Returns to Fort Fringe December 5-22nd

Joe Brack presents: My Princess Bride One man’s take on the “classic tale of true love & high adventure.” A smash hit! This one man stage show, inspired by a fictitious abridgment! THE DC RETURN OF MY...

20 Questions with The Cast of WSC Avant Bard’s ‘King John’: Part 1: Kim Curtis (Essex) by Christopher Henley

Kim Curtis is, other than me, the King John actor with the longest history with WSC Avant Bard. In King John, he plays the murderous monk Essex. His first show with us was Edward II at Church Street...

Matthew Bourne’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Bourne takes a big bite out of ballet tradition in his Gothic Fairy Tale ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ There are many descriptive words to describe Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty at The Kennedy Center through...

‘731 DeGraw Street’ at Venus Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

Highly evocative, emotionally gripping, stunning new work with much artistic integrity behind it comes to the stage to close out the 13th season at Venus Theatre Company on C Street in Laurel. With...

‘Molière Impromptu’ at The University of Maryland School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies by Jessica Vaughan

The University of Maryland School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies invokes a mastery of comedy in their new production of Molière Impromptu. Molière was a 17th century satirist and...

‘Mies Julie’ at The Shakespeare Theater Company by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

Flames blaze in the name of truth, liberty, and land! Where there is repentance, there is hope. Without it, there is only despair. The renowned Miss Julie (Fröken Julie) by August Strindberg has...

‘Legacy and Life: A Musical and Visual Reflection’ at The Choral Arts Society of Washington at The Kennedy Center by Leslie Weisman

A sizable crowd at Legacy and Life: A Musical and Visual Reflection greeted the Choral Arts Society of Washington’s performance of the Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi and Take Him, Earth by composer Steven...

‘Avenue Q School Edition’ at West Potomac High School by Margaret O’Meara

Avenue Q School Edition, with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, and book by Jeff Whitty, is currently playing on the stage at West Potomac High School. West Potomac’s Beyond the Page...

‘Appropriate’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

Death does strange things to people. And in familiar circumstances, people struggling with a death in the family will turn on each other in a heartbeat; siblings and relations will treat each other...

‘Jewish Musical Treasures’ at National Chamber Ensemble by Jane Coyne

The National Chamber Ensemble opened its 2013-2014 season with a concert called Jewish Musical Treasures, honoring the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht. With a horrid and tragic event of this...

‘The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe’ at Encore Stage and Studio By Julia Exline

Encore Stage & Studio presents C.S. Lewis’ famed tale The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, dramatized by Joseph Robinette and directed by Amy Thompson. This allegorical tale of faith and courage has...

‘She, After’ at UrbanArias at Artisphere by Justin Schneider

I’m not generally an opera person. I find them too big, too grandiose, and without enough substance. So it’s with great pleasure that I say that UrbanArias has created the antidote for the traditional...

‘White Rabbit, Red Rabbit’ at Theater Alliance by Jessica Vaughan

Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour breaks every expectation an audience might have for his innovative play White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. One actor comes onstage and is handed the script, which he has...

Melissa Errico at The Barns at Wolf Trap by Tiffany Draut

Melissa Errico, star of stage and screen, brought her fantastic cabaret act Melissa Errico: A Passion for Broadway to the Barns at Wolf Trap Saturday night, November 9, 2013 to the delight of the...

Mavis Staples at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Ramona Harper

The legacy of the Civil Rights Movement and its protest for peace and freedom are being kept alive by the legendary Mavis Staples. In concert at the Kay Theatre of the University of Maryland’s Clarice...

‘God’s Favorite’ at Montgomery Playhouse by Joel Markowitz

Neil Simon wrote God’s Favorite as a way of reacting and dealing with his wife’s untimely death from cancer, so he turned to The Book of Job as inspiration. God’s Favorite opened on Broadway in...

Washington Performing Arts Society Presents: ‘The Sphinx Virtuosi’ at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by Jane Coyne

Washington Performing Arts Society kicked off their Virtuoso Series on Thursday evening with a delightful performance by the Sphinx Virtuosi, whose eighteen highly polished string musicians simply...

‘Red’ at Everyman Theatre by Amanda Gunther

The blood of angry men, the color of desire, a sunset; so many things that a simple color can represent. It pulsates and lives when being viewed, but is that life still within the art when it is alone...

Act Two @ Levine Presents ‘In the Heights’ Friday-Sunday November 15-17th

Act Two @ Levine is proud to present In the Heights In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood – a place where the coffee from the...

‘The House of Yes’ at The Mobtown Players by Amanda Gunther

Define normal. It’s all relative until someone goes and sleeps with their twin sibling and then tries to marry outside of the loony family, right? Putting the fun, or maybe the frightening, in...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Lucie Arnaz at The Kennedy Center by David Friscic

I came away from Lucie Arnaz‘s concert at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre with a blissed-out feeling of elation. An invigorating combination of sheer professionalism and pure show-biz panache...

‘Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine’ at Howard University by Nathan Alston

To say that I enjoyed Howard University’s production of Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine is an understatement. The moments of both genuine truth and beautiful storytelling took...

Hope Operas Video Roundup-Final Week #4 by Ally Jenkins and Lucrezia Blozia

Watch hosts Ally Jenkins and Lucrezia Blozia (aka Chris Griffin) as they bring us a video recap of the fourth and final week – Monday, October 28, 2013 – of Hope Operas. Each week the audience votes...

‘The Game’s Afoot’ at The Salem Players by Amanda Gunther

Tally ho! The spirit of Sherlock has arrived! The Game’s Afoot has settled down at The Salem Players just in time to be appropriately referred to as ‘Holmes for the Holidays.’ A romping good murder...

‘Bondage’ by Pinky Swear Productions at Anacostia Playhouse by Yvonne French

Is it possible to engage in S&M and appear heartwarming at the same time? The answer is ‘yes’ if you are in the cast of Bondage by Pinky Swear Productions. What an excellent contrivance! People might...

‘Hamlet’ at Georgetown University by Eliza Anna Falk

To cheer, or not to cheer? – The question did not even enter my mind at the conclusion of last night’s sold out performance of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Georgetown University’s Gonda Theatre.The...

‘The Woman in Black’ at The Keegan Theatre by David Friscic

It’s good that the Keegan Theatre has not modernized its home on Church Street yet for the musty, slightly decrepit, and highly atmospheric surroundings of this venerable old building make a perfect...

‘Little Women’ at St. Gabriel Miracle Players by Amanda Gunther

Christopher Columbus! Little Women, the musical, has landed at the St. Gabriel Miracle Players just in time for the holidays! Directed by Kevin James Logan with Musical Direction by Matthew Frieswyk,...

‘Disney’s High School Musical’ Opens November 15th at Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre

Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre kicks off its 2013-14 season by bringing Disney Channel’s smash hit movie musical High School Musical to the stage November 15-24th. The lively cast showcases...

Who is Drama Queen? A Conversation With the Area’s Newest Queen

Need Theatre Posters, Programs, & Logos Designed for Your Show? Meet Jim Gallagher of Drama Queen Graphics I have had many of our readers ask me who designed our classy and colorful new logo, and the...

‘Tappin’ Thru Time with a Legend: An Interview with Maurice Hines’ by Joel Markowitz

When you sit down with Maurice Hines you are schmoozing with the ‘Master of Tap.’ I have interviewed Maurice several times and every time I meet him I feel like I am reminiscing with my best friend....

Suzanne Farrell Ballet at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Farrell gets good times rolling at The Kennedy Center Hold onto your hat and step lively. The ballet season at The Kennedy Center finally gets into the gusty days of fall with a whirlwind of activity....