Reviews

Film Review: ‘To the Wonder’ by John Harding

Terrence Malick takes us To the Wonder, and beyond Terrence Malick may be America’s most fuel-efficient filmmaker. Even when one of his movies is average-length it can seem like it will go on forever....

‘Monty Python’s Spamalot’ at The National Theatre by Natalie McCabe

“I’m not dead yet,” is an oft-quoted line from the 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The musical, Monty Python’s Spamalot, has a whole number based on this line and, likewise, is alive and...

‘Coriolanus’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by Anne Tsang

Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is one of his least popular plays—its language lacks the normal Shakespeare smoothness, it’s violent and bloody, it’s long, and there are a lot of scenes that require active...

Andy Offutt Irwin & Cathy Fink in an Evening of Storytelling by Ellouise Schoettler

On April 7th at Dance Exchange, the room was filled Saturday night when Georgia storyteller Andy Offutt Irwin was in Takoma Park for a show sponsored by the Institute of Musical Traditions. Cathy...

American Ballet Theatre Mixed Repertory Program at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelemen

ABT springs into dance Perhaps it was the blossoming cherry blossoms nearby. Or the promise of full spring which always brings a fresh look to art. Or that we’re so hungry for dance that takes us to...

‘Eleemosynary’ at Compass Rose Theater by Amanda Gunther

Eleemosynary – adjective: Of, relating to, or dependent on charity; charitable. And while the notion of such giving is not immediately apparent in Lee Blessing’s play Eleemosynary, the show is a...

‘Following Sarah’ at Venus Theatre by Amanda Gunther

When faced with the pressures of life at what point does it all become too much to handle? A deeply moving and richly emotional tale of struggle and acceptance during the delicate years of high school...

‘James and the Giant Peach’ at Imagination Stage by Julia L. Exline

Imagination Stage presents the beloved classic, James and the Giant Peach, adapted by David Wood and directed by Janet Stanford. You likely know the story of James Trotter – an orphaned boy who...

‘Finally Heard Feminine Heroes of an Uncivil War’ at Maryland Ensemble Theatre by Mike Spain

Finally Heard Feminine Heroes of an Uncivil War has tales of feisty slaves, women who hid their gender to fight, espionage, exiled sympathizers, and independent woman who wanted to aid soldiers. The...

Capital Fringe Show ‘RECOVERY’ Holds Auditions April 20, 2013 from 12 pm – 5 pm by Michael R. Burgtorf

RECOVERY By Mark Jason Williams Directed by Michael R. Burgtorf Presented as part of the 2013 Capital Fringe Festival (Goethe Institut) SHOW DETAILS: Recovery is an authentic, funny, and powerful play...

‘Oxygen’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company by Erica Laxson

Taffety Punk Theatre Company’s Oxygen, written by Ivan Vyrpaev, is a self- proclaimed post apocalyptic mix tape but it’s so much more. Directors Lise Bruneau and Chris Curtis tackled the challenge of...

‘9 to 5: The Musical’ at The Arlington Players by Julia L. Exline

The Arlington Players presents the DC area premiere of 9 to 5: The Musical, based on the popular 1980 20th Century Fox film, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton and Book by Patricia Resnick. John K....

‘The Last Five Years’ at Signature Theatre by Terry Byrne

Timing is everything — in romance and in theater. The last five weeks have no doubt been a busy blur at Signature Theatre since it bumped its planned Crimes of the Heart, starring Holly Twyford. Like...

‘Neville’s Island’ at Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

The age old question of “What would you bring with you to a desert island” always generates a wide range of curious answers, but the last thing anyone ever expects to hear when answering that question...

Supersized Jazz Club: ‘Fats Waller Dance Party’ at The Kennedy Center by Audrey Thornton

Curiosity enticed me out to The Kennedy Center on Friday, April 5, 2013 for the 9:30 p.m. performance of Artistic Advisor for Jazz, Jason Moran’s tribute to the jazz music of Fats Waller, billed as...

‘Dinner With Friends’ at Providence Players of Fairfax by Terry Byrne

Fresh from snaring eight 2012 WATCH awards, mostly for technical excellence, the Providence Players of Fairfax are serving up some refreshingly meaty artistry in Dinner With Friends, a 2000 Pulitzer...

‘Equus’ at Spotlighters Theatre by Amanda Gunther

A stunning theatrical sensation comes to the stage at the Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre, as Director Sherrionne Brown presents Peter Shaffer’s Equus. It’s a deeply moving psychological drama that...

‘The Mountaintop’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater by Mark Dewey

From The Mountaintop into the Promised Land I thought it was really raining behind the motel room on the Kreeger Theater stage. They must have extended the sprinkler system and built a trough to catch...

Frost/Nixon at Silver Spring Stage by Keith Tittlermary

“When the president does it, that means it is not illegal” – Richard Nixon, in his 1977 interview with David Frost. In 1977, British tabloid journalist David Frost set out to become the first person...

‘A Man, His Wife, and His Hat’ at The Hub Theatre by Kim Moeller

Her husband has another love and she is tired of competing. Especially because his other love is a hat. Granted, it’s a good looking hat that serenades the man with expressive clarinet melodies but...

‘Cabaret’ at American University by Alexa Kelly

“Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!” the master of ceremonies begins, with an eerie grin. But you never really feel welcome, or at home. Nor would you want to. In American University’s production of the...

‘Nunsense A-Men!’ at Rockville Musical Theatre at The Gaithersburg Arts Barn by Anne Tsang

Rockville Musical Theatre presents Nunsense A-Men! by Dan Goggin, the musical, directed by Lee Michele Rosenthal and produced by Kelly Johnson is almost exactly the same as the original 1980s...

Predict The Helen Hayes Awards Winners on TrueTheatergoer and Win $100 of TIX Certificates

TrueTheatergoer is offering its readers a chance to pick the winners of this year’s Helen Hayes Awards, and to win $100.00 for selecting the most winners. The person who submits the entry with the...

‘A House, A Home’ at Glass Mind Theatre by Amanda Gunther

A twisted approach to Chekhov can be a tricky thing to handle, but think of it less as a retooling and more as a personalized approach, an experience catered to the audience, with input from the...

‘The Man From Earth’ at The Heritage Players by Amanda Gunther

To be immortal; can one truly imagine what it is like to live forever? Not only live forever but never age? How would you keep your secret? How would you pass the time? Sound like something straight...

‘Miriam’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Jessica Vaughan

You don’t watch Miriam by writer, choreographer, and dancer Nora Chipaumire so much as you experience it. This one-hour performance piece that explores light and dark and black and white, breaks most...

‘Passagio’ at The Mason Players at George Mason University by Keith Tittermary

“Passaggio… used to describe the transition area between a series of notes, usually occurring between registers of the voice” – www.vocalist.org.uk The Mason Players and the Department of Theater at...

‘RENT School Edition’ at McLean High School Theatre Company by Yvonne French

“Awesome.” If there is one word to sum up McLean High School Theatre Company’s production of RENT School Edition it is awesome, according to audience member David Parker, who was Music Director of the...

Al Di Meola and Gonzalo Rubalcaba at The Barns of Wolf Trap by Mike Spain

The Al Di Meola and Gonzalo Rubalcaba concert at the Barns of Wolf Trap could have been billed as an evening of piano and guitar. There was no supporting act, there was no backing band, and even the...

‘Slipping’ at Iron Crow Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

Even the blackest storm clouds can have a silver lining of hope and amid the dark tempestuous drama a gleaming beacon of light pierces this tragic story as Iron Crow Theatre Company presents a...

ArtSpeak! Presents Broadway’s Jennifer Damiano & Adam Chanler-Berat on Monday, April 8th @ 7 at Paint Branch HS

THIS MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2013 AT 7 PM Shugoll Research Presents: ARTSPEAK With: Jennifer Damiano and Adam Chanler-Berat When: THIS Monday, April 8th, 2013, at 7:00 P.M. Where: Paint Branch HS-14121 Old...

‘The Wiz’ Extends To June 2nd at Toby’s The Dinner Theatre of Baltimore

The popular production of the Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz has been extended through June 2nd at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Baltimore. DCMetroTheaterArts’ Amanda Gunther, in her 5 star rave review...

Susan Hadary on ‘Walter P. Carter: Champion for Change’ by Teresa McCormick Ertel

“The Martin Luther King of Maryland” Walter P. Carter was a central figure in ending segregation in Baltimore, Maryland. As chairman of C.O.R.E. (Congress of Racial Equality), he led highly organized...

‘American Utopias’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company by Mark Dewey

A Letter to Mike Daisey Dear Mike, Now that we’ve escaped from the conventions that would keep you on the stage and keep me at the distance of objective criticism; now that I’ve shaken your hand the...

‘Vanitas’ at Happenstance Theater by Amanda Gunther

What is time? We all have a sense of it, and in fact know what time is but when asked to explain it, we somehow lose sight of what time is. The exploration of time as it relates to our own macabre...

Jon Spelman’s ‘Tales of the Tallywhacker: The Prostate Dialogues’ at Creative Alliance by Ellouise Schoettler

Before the launch of Tales of the Tallywhacker: The Prostate Dialogues at Creative Alliance in Baltimore, the Baltimore Sun featured Jon Spelman’s work under this headline: “Monologue combines story...

American Shakespeare Center’s ‘The Custom of the Country’ Strikes a Modern Chord by Mark Dewey

This morning I read an article in The Washington Post that helped me understand why the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton sometimes devotes its prodigious talents to plays that aren’t as hot as...

Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra: ‘The Gospel Truth’ Review by Audrey Thornton

In keeping with its blues-drenched hand-clapping theme, the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra (MJO), delivered another festive evening of big band tunes at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, 2013, at the...

‘Hello, Dolly!’ at Ford’s Theatre by Amanda Gunther

It only takes a moment to fall in love, says Cornelius Hackl of Yonkers, New York. And at the Ford’s Theater and Signature Theatre co-production of Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! you too may find that...

Filichia on Friday: ‘March’s Leftovers and April’s Brainteaser’ 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 DCMTA. This week: March’s Leftovers...

‘The New Adventures of Alice in Wonderland’ at Other Voices Productions at The Weinberg Center by Mike Spain

Other Voices Productions’ presentation of The New Adventures of Alice in Wonderland at the Weinberg Center for the Arts has it all – a large cast, special guests, dancers, spectacular lights, changing...

Nibbles And Sips Around Town: Easter & Passover, Peacock Café, Curious Grape & Garden Cafe by Jordan Wright

Greek Orthodox Easter Festival at Zaytinya Jose Andres’ popular spot, Zaytinya, is planning a five-week festival beginning March 31st and ending on Greek Orthodox Easter, on May 3rd. Head Chef,...

[title of show] at AU Players at American University by Colleen Sproull

How is it that we can dream and then get in our own way of achieving the very same dreams? A relevant question raised by the AU Players in their production of [title of show] at American University....

‘Mary T. & Lizzy K.’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater by Mark Dewey

Arena Stage Explores the Lincoln White House Tazewell Thompson’s new play Mary T. & Lizzy K., now playing at Arena Stage, is based on the unlikely friendship between Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth...

‘Emma’ at The George Washington University by Alexa Kelly

I have never lived in the eighteenth century, but, in my mind’s eye, I see a quiet era of classical music and gentle manners. In many ways, The George Washington University’s production of Jane...

‘New York City Ballet Program B’ at The Kennedy Center by Colleen Sproull

New York City Ballet knocks it out of the park again with an elegant, exciting, contemporary performance for New York City Ballet Program B at The Kennedy Center’s Opera House. The production opens...

‘New York City Ballet Program A’ at The Kennedy Center by Colleen Sproull

A full house at the gorgeous Kennedy Center Opera House anxiously awaited the opening of New York City Ballet Program A tonight. Tchaikovsky’s unbeatable score, played triumphantly by New York City...

Actors’ Equity to be Honored at The Helen Hayes Awards on April 8th

Actors’ Equity Association to Receive Helen Hayes Tribute at the 29th Helen Hayes Awards, Monday April 8 The prestigious Helen Hayes Tribute – presented every year at the Washington’s annual...

‘Duke Ellington School of the Arts presents An Evening with Patti LaBelle’ by Mike Spain

Patti LaBelle performed at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall last night., as part of the Performance Series of Legends to benefit the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. The concert is the school’s...

‘Les Belles Soeurs’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre by Amanda Gunther

They say you shouldn’t count your chickens before they hatch. You also shouldn’t cash in your stamps for prizes before you have them all glued down. And Germaine Lankowski discovers that the hard way...