Reviews

‘A Moon For The Misbegotten’ at Greenbelt Arts Center by Amanda Gunther

Eugene O’Neill’s classic drama A Moon For The Misbegotten comes to Greenbelt Arts Center to close out the 2012/2013 season. An emotionally charged drama that explores the lives of three very different...

‘Pickle My Monkey’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre by Mike Spain

Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s World Premiere of Pickle My Monkey is daring, wacky, funny, and entertaining. Written by Maryland Ensemble Theatre’s company members Lisa Burl, Kevin Cole, and Matt Lee,...

‘Swing’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre by Amanda Gunther

It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing! And Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre proves that they’ve got it as they kick off their 47th season with their production of Swing! Two thirds rhythm...

Film Review: ‘What Maisie Knew’ by Leslie Weisman

When Henry James wrote What Maisie Knew at the turn of the twentieth century, little did he dream that more than a century later it would form the basis for a screenplay that would speak with equally...

NSO Pops with Trey Anastasio at The Kennedy Center by Max Johnson

To the uninitiated, like me, the phanaticism of Phish phans can be puzzling. While it might be easy to write this band off as overly simplistic, true devotees know Phish for their epic improvisations,...

‘If You Can Get To Buffalo: An Exploration of a Rape in Cyberspace’ at Acme Corporation by Amanda Gunther

A lucid illusion of presence; the concept of existence in cyberspace where there is no reality except for the one created by the users online. This is not such a foreign concept in the modern society...

‘Homeward Bound Heroes’ at The Music Center at Strathmore by Lauren Katz

The Wounded in Action Family Foundation (WIAFF) has made it their mission to help wounded war veterans integrate back into their home lives. Last night, they held Homeward Bound Heroes, a fundraiser...

Part Two: “Richard Campbell’s Frankenstein: Landless Making a Monster Rock Opera”: Meet Andrew Baughman

This is part two in a series of interviews with the cast and creative team behind Landless’ upcoming prog-metal rock opera Richard Campbell’s Frankenstein. Today, meet Andrew Baughman. Andrew Baughman...

Film Review: ‘Stories We Tell’ by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

Desperately Seeking Stories . . . Every family has a story. When you are in the midst of an account, it isn’t really a story at all. Only afterwards, does it become a story when you are telling it to...

‘The Full Monty’ at Silhouette Stages by Amanda Gunther

Buffalo men go all the way! First they gave us the Buffalo wing and now they’re giving us the whole thing over at Silhouette Stages with their spring production of The Full Monty, written by Terrence...

‘Next To Normal’ at Act Two @ Levine by Max Johnson

When approaching an issue as sensitive and pervasive as mental illness, even the most seasoned performers can underplay the massive implications of a disorder or dramatize it to the point where it...

‘Underground Railroad: An Evening with Kathleen Battle’ at Strathmore by Lauren Katz

Last night, soprano Kathleen Battle performed a concert of spirituals that rang throughout the rafters at The Music Center at Strathmore with the help of pianist Cyrus Chestnut, the Heritage Signature...

‘Shakespeare with a Twist – Revisited’ at The Greenspring Players by Eric Denver

Shakespeare’s famous quote – “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves” certainly rings true to the Greenspring Players. Within the Greenspring Retirement Community the twice-a-year...

‘DC Shorts Laughs’ by Erica Laxson

Last night and for just two more shows tonight, the hilarious DC Shorts Laughs is being held in the stunning US Navy Memorial Heritage Center. This short film comedy extravaganza features a side...

Film Review: ‘The Iceman’ by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

Devoted husband, loving father, and cold-blooded contract killer. Told in flashback, The Iceman is bookend with a prison confessional, as a convicted killer speaks of his reputation, regrets (there...

‘Club de Caballeros (Rotas de Amor)’ at Teatro de la Luna by Andrew L. Baughman

“There is nothing more ridiculous than a man in love.” That is the basic premise of Argentine playwright Rafael Bruza’s alternately absurd and poignant Club de Caballeros (Rotas de Amor) at Teatro de...

‘Rigoletto’ at The Lyric Opera by Amanda Gunther

The tragic beauty of one of Giuseppe Verdi’s finest opera takes the stage to conclude the 2012/2013 opera season at The Lyric Opera Baltimore. Celebrating Verdi’s bicentennial birthday it seems most...

‘August: Osage County’ at The Theatre Lab of the Dramatic Arts by Max Johnson

The topic of familial disintegration at the hands of a neurosis and death is a staple of American drama. Along with its Pulitzer Prize, August: Osage County clearly has joined the ranks of Miller and...

‘The Little Dog Laughed’ at Silver Spring Stage by David Friscic

The Little Dog Laughed will make you smile with recognition at the hypocrisy and contradictions inherent in this game of day-to-day survival we call life. This acid-like portrait of the compromises...

18th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at The Kennedy Center by Francine Schwartz

Dee Dee Bridgewater, the host of NPR’s award winning weekly syndicated show, JazzSet, was the celebrant of the 18th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center Terrace...

‘Hair’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse by Amanda Gunther

Beads! Flowers! Freedom! Happiness! Get in line to burn your draft card at the “be-in” so you can make love not war! It’s an all out love festival as the Laurel Mill Playhouse presents the iconic...

‘NSO Pops: ‘The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz’ at The Kennedy Center by Tiffany Draut

Thursday, May 16, 2013 was the opening performance of the NSO’s concert The Wizard and I: The Musical Journey of Stephen Schwartz, with four of Broadway’s best singers performing some of Schwartz’s...

‘Beneatha’s Place’ at CENTERSTAGE by Amanda Gunther

As it turns out you still can’t live in a principle. The parallels are drawn here between Bruce Norris’ Pulitzer Prize-Winning play Clybourne Park and CENTERSTAGE’S Artistic Director Kwame...

‘Inside the Music’: An Interview with National Chamber Ensemble Artistic Director Leo Sushansky by Jane Coyne

One of the things I love the most about living in the Washington, D.C. area is that the music never ends, nor does the opportunity to meet the wonderful musical artists who perform here. Among them is...

‘The Winter’s Tale’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Jessica Vaughan

Shakespeare Theatre Company returns with the Bard to finish the season in a lovely, polished, and powerful production of The Winter’s Tale. This play is filed with his comedies, but some have called...

Free Simulcast of WNO’s ‘SHOWBOAT” at Nationals Park This Saturday at 7 PM

Join Washington National Opera for M&M’S® Opera in the Outfield at Nationals Park! Celebrate the fifth year of free live opera broadcasts at the ballpark with Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II’s...

‘Bobby McFerrin: spirityouall’ at The Kennedy Center by Audrey Thornton

Anyone fortunate enough to be within range of Bobby McFerrin’s rich voice in his final U.S. performance before embarking on a full summer international tour, in The Kennedy Center for the Performing...

‘Legally Blonde The Musical’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater by Julia L. Exline

Riverside Center Dinner Theater presents Legally Blonde The Musical, an infectiously peppy show with Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, and Book by Heather Hach. Brian J. Swasey...

Compass Rose Theater’s New Play Festival May 17-19th

Compass Rose Theater’s New Play Festival May 17th-19th, 2013 Schedule of Events Friday, May 17th, 2013 at 7:00pm – The Bully Play by Compass Rose Theater Student Playwright Hannah Geib Staged Reading...

‘The Submission’ at Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

Find better words. As writers it is something that we are constantly challenging ourselves to do; find another way to say something, finding a different phrase or an alternate way to get our message...

‘Requiem’ at Young Artists of America by Miriam Urquhart

Young Artists of America has done it again. This evening’s concert, REQUIEM, was nothing short of angelic. The beautiful concert featured pieces from a wide variety of requiems by multiple composers,...

‘WPAS & The Choral Arts Society of DC’s ‘Broadway’s Show-Stoppers with Brian Stokes Mitchell’ by Jessica Vaughan

Broadway legend and Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell and the Choral Arts Society of Washington wowed a Mother’s Day crowd with a feel-good repertoire of Broadway and instant classics at The...

‘Chaplin’s Masterpiece: Modern Times’ at The Baltimore Symphony at Strathmore by Keith Tittermary

In 1936, Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed, and starred in his final silent movie, Modern Times. His trademark character, The Little Tramp, with his toothbrush mustache and bowler hat would make his...

‘Murdercastle’ at Baltimore Rock Opera Society by Amanda Gunther

Murder. Mayhem. America’s first serial killer. The Chicago World’s Fair. Imagine all of these concepts brutally twisted together into a full length rock opera and you’ll have a glimpse of what the...

‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre by Amanda Gunther

The dilemma of capitalism as seen from the underbelly of the real estate world is coming to you directly from the brilliant mind of David Mamet, Fells Point Corner Theatre presents the Pulitzer...

‘Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse’ at Pumpkin Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Are you ready for a really great adventure with Lilly, Queen of the World? Well, if so, grab your sunglasses and don’t forget your purse as you head out to Pumpkin Theatre to see Lilly’s Purple...

An Interview With Ramin Karimloo on ‘Broadway to Bluegrass’ at The Birchmere this Thursday 5/16 by Flora Scott

If you’re not yet familiar with Ramin Karimloo, best known for his portrayal of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables and the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End, his touring show, Broadway...

Adam Pascal at The Barbara Cook Spotlight Series at The Kennedy Center by David Friscic

Adam Pascal, Broadway singing and acting sensation of such past hits as Rent, Aida, and Cabaret, walked out on to the stage of The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and held the audience in the palm of...

‘Cabaret’ at St. Mark’s Players at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church by Justin Schneider

“It’s so tawdry and terrible and everyone’s having such a great time.” It must be a cliché at this point to use Clifford Bradshaw’s summary of 1930s Berlin as a summary of Cabaret, but it’s just about...

YOUNG ARTISTS OF AMERICA’S ‘REQUIEM’ TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM AND TOMORROW AT 4 PM

Young Artists of America is thrilled toannounce that tickets are now on sale for our final concert of the season: REQUIEM TONIGHT SATURDAY MAY 11TH AT 7:30 PM and TOMORROW MAY 12TH AT 4 PM The...

‘Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises’ at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Whisk mom to the Washington Ballet for a heady trip of Hemingway Forget flowers. Candy is passé. What most mothers want on their special day is to be taken someplace special. This weekend you couldn’t...

‘In the Heights’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia by Amanda Gunther

Lights up on Washington Heights! Es Calor! Calor! Calor! Things are certainly heating up at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia as they present the regional premier of the 4-time Tony Award-Winning...

Theater Alliance Offers Monday Night Reading Series ‘Hothouse on the Hill’

Theater Alliance is offering a Monday night reading series called Hothouse on the Hill. The free reading series are on begins on Monday, May 13th, 20th, June 3rd, and June 10, 2013. It features works...

‘The Three Musketeers’ at Synetic Theater by Natalie McCabe

In his Director’s Notes, Paata Tsikurishvili quotes a line from Hamlet: “Suit the action to the word, the word to the action.” In its latest show, The Three Musketeers, written by brothers Ben Cunis...

Film Review: ‘The Great Gatsby’ by John Harding

It’s touch-and-go at times for the latest big-screen adaptation of The Great Gatsby. But in a hotly contested three-way wrestling match between Baz Luhrman, 3D technology, and novelist F. Scott...

‘Monica Bill Barnes and Company’ at The Kennedy Center by Mike Spain

Monica Bill Barnes and company know how to make the audience laugh. Sometimes the comedy is at the dancers’ expense. Other times it is through an array of tricks. They pull material from vaudeville,...

‘Twelfth Night’ at Folger Theatre by Mark Dewey

Folger’s Twelfth Night is Beautifully Conceived It’s a disk, or a lens, or giant kaleidoscope, thirty feet high and thirty feet wide. Or a big round stained-glass window, maybe, slanted like the...

Special Discount for Brian Stokes Mitchell This Sunday @5 at Kennedy Center

A SPECIAL OFFER FOR DCMTA READERS: Buy your tickets now! AND WAIVE THE TICKETING FEES WITH CODE: Broadway Tickets are available through WPAS Ticket Services at (202) 785-WPAS (9727) and online at...

‘The Full Monty’ at The Keegan Theatre by Derek Mong

Leave your inhibitions at the door as you step foot into The Keegan Theatre for its scintillating run of The Full Monty, written by Terrence McNally with music and lyrics by David Yazbek. Set in a...

‘American Idiot’ at the Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center by Amanda Gunther

This is the dawning of the rest of our lives! The sensational smash-hit two time Tony Award-Winning Broadway Musical American Idiot arrives at Hippodrome Theatre as a part of the Baltimore Broadway...