Reviews

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview ‘Impossible to Translate But I’ll Try – True-Life Israeli Stories’ by Noa Baum

Acclaimed Storyteller Noa Baum shares delicious Israeli stories never seen on the news, in her Capital Fringe debut of: Impossible to Translate But I’ll Try – True-Life Israeli Stories. Impossible To...

2013 Capital Fringe Festival Show Preview: ‘The Young Wife’ by K. Brochocka

A rare one-woman opera crosses the Atlantic Not yet twenty years old, a sheltered girl named Gabriela was forced to marry a greedy lieutenant who only valued her for her dowry. She was miserable and...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Tell-Tale’ by Grain of Sand Theatre

How do you put something back together? How do you keep it from falling apart? How do you stand up out of bed if your bed is the wall and you’re already standing? These are some of the questions Grain...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Crime Buster Blast-Off 3000’ by The Bradford Güild

The following poem was written by Musical Director Ian McDermott, in the year 1999. It is the basis for the entire production. He was nine years old* when he wrote it. What will the new Millennium...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Waiting for Orson’ by Ian Leahy

“His name… He said he wants me to call him Orson. He won’t look like an alien. He said he’d try and find a person’s body willing to let him overtake it for a little while…” Waiting for Orson’s...

‘Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration Featuring Warren Haynes’ at Wolf Trap by Mike Spain

Warren Haynes made his first visit to Wolf Trap a memorable one as the featured artist in the National Symphony Orchestra’s Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration. His blazing guitar and soulful voice cut...

‘Counting Crows and The Wallflowers’ at Wolf Trap by Anne Tsang

It was a scorcher last night at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap…and I’m not just referring to the heat. Counting Crows and The Wallflowers put on a hot, hot, hot show! The night started off with a...

“From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert For Sandy Hook” To Air On Select Public Television Stations his July starring 300 Newtown Student Performers & Over 100 Broadway Performers

From Broadway With Love: A Benefit Concert For Sandy Hook To Air On Select Public Television Stations This July STARRING 300 NEWTOWN STUDENT PERFORMERS and OVER 100 BROADWAY PERFORMERS “From Broadway...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘McPherson Madness’ by Kelly Canavan

McPherson Madness is what happens when revolution hits family, friendships, and romance head-on in a freezing tarp-tropolis on K Street, in in Washington, DC In February 2012, activist and playwright...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ’43 and a ½: The Greatest Deaths of Shakespeare’s Tragedies’ by Emily Crockett and Sun King Davis

“Exeunt!” It’s a fancy Shakespearean word that means nothing fancier than “everybody leaves.” Yet it brings to mind flourishing capes, actors strutting dramatically into the wings, and velvet curtains...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview ‘Polaroid Stories’ by Lauren R. Alexander

A fucked up love story for a Fringe Festival premiere. After a wildly successful production of Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories at American University in November 2012, Blind Pug Arts Collective picked...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Young Olympians & the Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever!’ by Vanessa Strickland

Debuting in DC this summer, The Young Olympians & the Most Amazingly Awesome Adventure Ever! (aka “YO“) is an all-ages musical with a story rooted in Greek mythology. Drawing inspiration from pop...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘What’s in the BOX?!’ by Justin Purvis

Pride. Wrath. Lust. Greed. What do these things have in common, other than being on Rock Tender’s ‘things about me that the ladies love’ list? They are sins, and more specifically some of the Seven...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview ‘H Street Housewives’ by Jenny Splitter

Chickens in the backyard. Flame wars on the mommy listserv. Slutty househusbands and a plot to change H Street forever. H Street Housewives is the story of four housewives – the homeschooling...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Burlesque of Broadway’ by Laura Maravilla

Who doesn’t love a good musical? Or making fun of a good musical?! Burlesque Classique presents The Burlesque of Broadway at the Capital Fringe Festival this summer. Nothing is sacred in this sassy,...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: dog & pony dc’s ‘A Killing Game’ by Colin Bills (Director)

dog & pony dc’s A Killing Game (or AKG) casts its audience as citizens in a town that is beset with a mysterious plague. It’s not clear what causes the deaths that terrorize this town. It’s not clear...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘1814! The War of 1812 Rock Opera’ by David Dudley and Dave Israel

Experience the epic rock splendor of the battle that birthed our National Anthem Forget White House Down. This summer’s most thrilling spectacle of executive-mansion destruction is the one about the...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Apples & Oranges’ by Tim Chamberlain

Rex and Dana have a problem – each other. Apples & Oranges by Jessica Willoughby Apples & Oranges is a play about a married couple with issues. Well, actually Rex doesn’t think so and that is one of...

‘Dr. Seuss’s Cat in the Hat’ at Adventure Theatre MTC by Julia L. Exline

Adventure Theatre MTC presents one of the best known works of Dr. Seuss, Cat in the Hat. Adapted for the stage and originally directed by Katie Mitchell, Director Karin Abromaitis throws her own hat...

Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers Featuring Edie Brickell at Wolf Trap by Teal Ruland

Steve Martin, actor, comedian, author, playwright, producer, and musician (take your pick of his many skills), has been strumming, plucking, and picking the banjo for over 45 years.The now 67-year-old...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Chronic Single’s Handbook’ by Randy Ross

The Chronic Single’s Handbook, an original comedy by Randy Ross, is about a never-married hypochondriac who takes a trip around the world looking for the woman of his dreams. It’s a male spin on Eat,...

‘The 49th Annual Music Hall’ at The British Players by Francine Schwartz

On Saturday, June 23, 2013, I enjoyed a rousing good time at The British Players‘ Music Hall, the 49th anniversary of a popular event frequented by expatriates and former inhabitants of the British...

Composer George Fenton on ‘Frozen Planet’ at The NSO at Wolf Trap This Friday at 8:30 PM

This Friday, June 28th at 8:30 PM. Frozen Planet in Concert will turn The Filene Center at Wolf Trap into a wonderland of gorgeous images and sounds of The Arctic Circle. Composer George Fenton will...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Madam Ambassador’ by Duke Ryan

Madam Ambassador is a comedy of serious intent, but a comedy nonetheless. What I really want people to do is enjoy watching the conniving of Valerie Butts, bored senseless in a prairie town and...

‘Social Security’ at Cockpit in Court by Amanda Gunther

The old saying goes, “When Momma ain’t happy – ain’t nobody happy.” And naturally Momma isn’t going to be happy after being dumped in her eldest daughter’s upscale New York City apartment after...

‘An Evening with Bill Payne’ at The Birchmere by Mike Spain

Bill Payne started out his show Sunday night stating he was going to play the show like he was in his “living room.” It fit the crowd perfectly that consisted of long-time fans, friends, and even an...

‘Angel Street’ at Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

A delightfully twisted suspenseful drama lights up the stage at Olney Theatre Center this summer as they present the classic Victorian thriller Angel Street. Directed by John Going, this sharply...

‘Caesar and Dada’ at WSC Avant Bard by Terry Byrne

“Shakespeare does not need your help,” barks Franz, the jaded, tyrannical director character in WSC Avant Bard’s world premiere of Caesar and Dada. The irony is that repackaging the bard’s trunkful of...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Bully’ by Lee J. Kaplan

A hit in theatres and schools since its sold-out New York City premiere last Fall, Bully will appear at the Capital Fringe Festival in July and in the New York International Theatre Festival...

2013 Capital Fringe Festival ‘Rosemary with Ginger’ by Shawna Leonard

Rosemary with Ginger will spice up the stage at Capital Fringe Festival! Edward Allan Baker’s one-act play, Rosemary with Ginger, raises many questions about the nature of family devotion. How much is...

‘Man of La Mancha’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater by Julia L. Exline

Aldersgate Church Community Theater presents Man of La Mancha, a Tony Award-winning musical version of Miguel de Cervantes’ beloved classic Don Quixote. With Book by Dale Wasserman, Lyrics by Joe...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Sanka, Ya Dead Mon’ by Philip Dallmann

Sanka, Ya Dead Mon is the story of Ben. Ben was an artist who never got to the point of struggling. Giving up his passion of music he followed his heart to Albany to one day marry the woman of his...

‘One Night with Janis Joplin’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater by Max Johnson

I came into One Night with Janis Joplin asking one major question: how will a production presented as “more of a full on concert than a play” by Artistic Director Molly Smith translate into an...

The In Series: ‘Pocket Opera: Love & Money’ by Jessica Vaughan

The In Series, DC’s premier company for intimate opera and classical concerts, closes their season with a creative pairing of two very different, moving pieces in Pocket Opera: Love and Money....

AFI DOCS Film Festival – A Year of Exciting Change by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

AFI Docs, presented June 19-23, 2013, celebrates its 11th year and excellence in documentary filmmaking and storytelling on a variety of topics. The rebranded AFI Docs (formerly AFI Silverdocs)...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview ‘Tickets to an Event’ by Graham Pilato

Tickets to an Event — Where Anything Might Happen It’s a little bit of a gimmick. The “tickets” are for you to find us. They are as free as you are. We’re making cool interactive happenings, live, on...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Actual Dance’ by Sam A. Simon

A Rare and Courageous Male Voice Brings to DC Fringe the Unique Perspective of the Love Partner in the Breast Cancer Struggle The Actual Dance is a true story. But did it really happen? You must...

‘Gypsy’ at Cockpit in Court by Amanda Gunther

Hold onto your hats and hallelujah! Momma’s gonna show it to you because everything is coming up Roses this summer season as Cockpit in Court presents Gypsy, with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by...

‘1776’ at The Milburn Stone Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Somebody ought to open up a window! And let the cool, cool considerate breeze of independence waft through! The Milburn Stone Theatre is proud to present a patriotic musical to kick off its summer...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Crayon King, or Learning to Share’ by Jeffrey Higgins

A Silly Musical about a Serious Subject: Crayons Capital Fringe has a surprise visitor during the 2013 Festival and he has more crayons than anyone age 4 (or 5) to 93! The Crayon King, or Learning to...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Arlington National Cemetery: My Forever Home’ by Ellouise Schoettler

When I was a junior at Central High School in Charlotte NC I was cast as Mrs. Soames, the town busybody, in our school production of Our Town. Thornton Wilder’s play captured my imagination. I...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Dementia Melodies: It Ain’t Over ‘til It’s Over’ by Steve Little

Playing in clubs, I never felt irritated until one night when a bunch of drunk strangers called out, “Freebird.” “Play Freebird.” It was near the end of the night at a busy, smoky Capitol Hill bar. I...

Billy Idol at Wolf Trap by Anne Tsang

What’s better than the sound of rock and roll music and catchy familiar lyrics? Rock and roll music with a British accent, of course! Last night at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, Billy Idol proved to...

Bill Payne on Performing at The Birchmere on Sunday, June 23rd

Bill Payne is a founder and piano/keyboard player for the legendary band Little Feat. In his breaks from the band – he has played sessions for musicians like Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, and The...

Film Review: ‘Plimpton’ by John Harding

George Plimpton was called a pioneer of “new journalism” by no less a literary master of the art than Tom Wolfe. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Plimpton traveled in celebrated circles...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Murder on the Bare Stage’ by Stephen Mead

A Program of Masterful Literary-Poetic Suspense For some years in Britain and elsewhere, I (Stephen Mead) have been performing pieces of literature, mostly from the Victorian era, as dramatic...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘Big River (and Other Wayfaring Ballets)’ by Tina Barksdale

MOVEiUS Contemporary Ballet, the 2012 winner of Capital Fringe Audience Award, returns to the Fringe this summer for a deeper, more mysterious examination of an emotional journey. A contrast from last...

2013 Capital Fringe Show Preview: ‘The Snuff Musical’ by Derek T. Pickens

Kinky Boots. Bring It On: The Musical. A Christmas Story: The Musical. What do all these musicals have in common? Well yes, they’re all Tony Award nominated musicals but there’s one other unifying...

Film Review: Much Ado About Nothing’ by Leslie Weisman

No doubt about it: this is not your father’s (not to mention your English teacher’s) Shakespeare. Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing opens with a close-up of a man’s bare feet inserting themselves...

‘CityDance Presents: Conservatory Dancers In Concert 2013’ at The Music Center at Strathmore by Jane Coyne

On Sunday, June 16, 2013, on the main stage at The Music Center at Strathmore, CityDance presented its Conservatory Dancers in their final concert of the 2012-2013 Season. It was a beautiful and...