Reviews

Review: ‘Omnium Gatherum’ at Silver Spring Stage

In keeping with performing plays from five different decades in celebration of their 50th Anniversary Silver Spring reached back to right after Sept. 11, 2001, to do Omnium Gatherum by Alexandra...

Review: “Inherit the Wind” at Compass Rose Theater

Compass Rose Theater’s production of Inherit the Wind is a powerful work of theater. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee in 1955, it dramatizes the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925, in...

Review: ‘Red Herring’ at Act II Playhouse

Red Herring is a parody of the tough film noir mysteries of the forties and fifties. But playwright Michael Hollinger has more on his mind than mere nostalgia: his play is also a romance, a spy...

Review: ‘Lonely Planet’ at Keen Company

The setting of Lonely Planet is a “map store on the oldest street in an American city.” I assume the playwright, Stephen Dietz, wrote that into the program to let us know that what we are about to...

Review: ‘Red Roses, Green Gold’ at Minetta Lane Theatre

Calling all Dead Heads! The classic songs of your favorite band have been reincarnated for the stage at Minetta Lane Theatre, in a new jukebox musical Red Roses, Green Gold, directed by Rachel Klein...

Review: ‘Pippin’ at Ritz Theatre Company

One of the most imaginative musicals ever to hit the Broadway stage, the Tony Award-winning Pippin, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson, is now dazzling audiences in...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter Trio at The Kennedy Center

The Ron Carter Trio visited The Kennedy Center this Friday night. Consisting of bassist Carter, pianist Donald Vega, and guitarist Russell Malone, the harmonics couldn’t have been sweeter; the...

Review: ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ at Other Voices Theatre

For a fantastic evening of dark comedy with hysterical individual performances that bring quirky characters to life, don’t miss Arsenic and Old Lace at Other Voices Theatre! Nicely directed by Ray...

Review: ‘Doctor Faustus’ at Brave Spirits Theatre

Full disclosure: If your only exposure to the classics was Shakespeare in high school, then be ready to get out there and see what else there is. There’s much to be found from the period that’s...

Review: ‘The Sea Voyage’ at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Ask most theater lovers if they have heard of Jacobean-era playwrights such as John Fletcher and Philip Massinger and you would probably receive a confused “no.” Fletcher and Massinger, who wrote The...

Review: ‘Intimate Apparel’ at Everyman Theatre

In 2015, Everyman Theatre produced an acclaimed run of Playwright Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Ruined. Tazewell Thompson directed and actors Jade Wheeler, Bueka Uwemedimo, and Resident...

Review: ‘Yellowman’ at Arena Players (closing tomorrow!)

This is what my mother/her mother before her believed / they believed had they been born “rich and high yella,” they wouldn’t have suffered. Clear your calendar, call the sitter and postpone your plan...

Review: ‘This One’s for the Girls’ at St. Luke’s Theatre

Sociological research project meets PPT lecture meets jukebox musical in Professor and Playwright Dorothy Marcic’s This One’s for the Girls, produced by William Franzblau at St. Luke’s Theatre. Based...

Review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at The Kennedy Center

Just as Fiddler On The Roof, Cabaret, Porgy and Bess, and Hello Dolly! defined their generations, The Book of Mormon mirrors the zeitgeist of the Millennial Generation. It is often vulgar, smarmy,...

Review: ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at Iron Crow Theatre

“Don’t dream it, be it!” Iron Crow Theatre brings back their annual fundraising production of The Rocky Horror Show with music and lyrics by Richard O’ Brien, directed by Sean Elias, to benefit...

Review: ‘Shakespeare In Love’ at Baltimore Center Stage

Many people are already familiar with Shakespeare In Love from the 1998 Academy Award-winning movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, but in many ways a stage production of the piece is a...

Review: ‘Dracula’ at The Mechanical Theater

Adapted, designed, and directed by Loretta Vasile, The Mechanical Theater’s immersive site-specific production of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, performed at the solemn Neo-Classical Receiving Vault of Laurel...

Review: ‘TouchTones’ at Arden Theatre Company

TouchTones is a new musical by playwright/lyricist Michael Hollinger and composer Robert Maggio. Directed by Emmanuelle Delpech, it delves into the romantic relationship between Christine and Justin,...

Review: ‘Assassins’ at NextStop Theatre Company

NextStop opened their production of Assassins over the weekend and (all the cheesy pun intended) absolutely killed it. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, the musical...

Interview: Jade Wheeler and Bueka Uwemedimo from Everyman Theatre’s production of ‘Intimate Apparel’

Intimate Apparel is the story of a woman named Esther. In 1905, Esther is a 35-year-old woman who lives in a rooming house with other single ladies. She is a skilled seamstress who makes her living...

Review: ‘Wrestling Jerusalem’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

It’s been said that one of the problems with politics these days is that people talk but don’t listen. Opposing political sides state their positions, but too many speak just to their supporters and...

In the Moment: ‘ReDiscovery Series’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

It was a festive, most satisfying evening of high-end arts entertainment and education. And it was totally free. What was it? It was a recent Monday evening at The Lansburgh with the Shakespeare...

Review: ‘Poe…And All the Others’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s special production of Poe…And All the Others is an imaginative and chilling spectacle, with a creative use of space. With just two actors, a chair, and lighting...

Review: ‘On Golden Pond’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond, directed by Sherri L. Edelen. Joyce Dewitt from ABC’s hit comedy Three’s Company and the renowned Joe Inscoe star as...

Review: ‘Safe as Houses’ at Pinky Swear Productions

What do we do when a storm rages? We fold the laundry. We try to understand our daughter. We clean a table that wasn’t dirty to begin with. We don’t think about what’s being washed way in the storm...

Review: Gin Dance Company’s ‘Dance, Champagne and Chocolate with Gin’ at the BalletNova Center for Dance

Gin Dance Company’s Dance, Champagne and Chocolate with Gin program felt a little bit like flicking between emoticons: determined, eyebrows scrunched emoji? Hmm, aloof? What about giggling emoji?...

Review: ‘Thing of Evil: Fantastic Tales of Terror’ at the Painted Bride Art Center

Long-time collaborators Phoebe Schaub and Emily R. Johnson, known to Philadelphia audiences for their haunting and transportive style as former members of Found Theater Company, have teamed up again...

Review: ‘Electra’ at 4615 Theatre Company

Back in ancient times, tragedy was prized for its cathartic experience; fear, rage, pity, the whole range of human emotions would run through you, and on a grand scale, too, with thousands packed into...

Review: ‘Hello, My Name Is…’ at The Welders

Challenging theatrical conventions, Hello, My Name Is… by Deb Sivigny, directed by Randy Baker, and produced by The Welders is like no other theater production I have taken in, in recent memory. The...

Review: ‘Digital Eye: Interactive Event Merging Theater Explores Privacy in the Digital Age’ at Blind Whino SW Arts Club

Big Brother Really, Really Likes You Your online identity does not belong to you. Digital Eye, a transatlantic theater project that was presented Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17, at Blind Whino SW...

Review: ‘Heathers: the Musical’ at Chesapeake Arts Center

The production company known as How Do You Like Me Now Productions and its sister organization Erase Hate Through Art were founded with the specific intention of provoking dialogue and action aimed at...

Review: ‘The Adventures of Peter Pan’ at Synetic Theater

I have to admit something: this was my first Synetic Theater production. I assure you, however, it will not be my last. I had read about Synetic’s wordless Shakespeare shows and heard rapturous...

Review: ‘Emilie’ at Avant Bard

Life is full of unanswered questions. But in Lauren Gunderson’s play, Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, the title character is given a second chance. Avant Bard is currently...

Review: Dizzy Gillespie Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday celebration at The Kennedy Center jazzed the Eisenhower Theatre last night. I’m sure the rooftop is still aglow this morning. Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)...

Review: ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ at The Prince William Little Theatre

The markings on my forearm, imprinted when I entered the theater, remain, labeling me. At the end of the play, when I am leaving through the hall behind the theater, I witness a large pile of worn,...

Review: ‘ 33 Variations’ at Colonial Players of Annapolis

Colonial Players’ production of 33 Variations is a musical and visual delight. Written by Moises Kaufman and directed by Terry Averill, it is a mix of a biographical play about Beethoven, and the 21st...

Review: ‘Lights Out: The Nat “King” Cole Story’ at People’s Light

Known and beloved for his impeccably smooth baritone voice, suave stylings, and debonair elegance, Nat King Cole was a musical icon and TV trailblazer, making his indelible mark on our culture with a...

Review: ‘DEMO’ at Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

No curtain opened on the black and white picture of Jerome Robbins, smiling, in a sweatshirt, a hand on his forehead and another on the chest of one of his two dogs. There was no boundary unrolled, no...

Review: ‘Aida’ at Reston Community Players

Aida bursts onto the Reston Community Players’ stage in an explosion of color and sound. With music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, this show, directed here by Andrew JM Regiec, seems almost too...

In the Moment: Interview with Lighting Designer Andrew F. Griffin

Folger’s production of Antony and Cleopatra directed by Robert Richmond has garnered its rightful share of critical acclaim. Its lighting design is a critical component of the production’s striking...

Review: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by the enigmatic Harper Lee and dramatized by Christopher Sergel, opened at the Laurel Mill Playhouse, directed by Jen Sizer and produced by Maureen Rogers. A great...

Review: ‘God of Carnage’ at George Washington University

The big laughs in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage come from watching grownups behaving badly, and the big joke is that four parents end up acting more like petulant, belligerent children than their own...

Review: ‘Into the Woods, Jr.’ at Kensington Arts Theatre’s 2nd Stage

Kensington Arts Theatre 2nd Stage’s Into the Woods, Jr. is a delightful romp through the forest. Perfect for a fall afternoon or evening with your kids. Into the Woods, Jr. takes the first half of...

Review: ‘Little Women’ at American Univeristy

Louisa May Alcott’s evergreen tale of female fortitude and family virtues beams its inspiring message once again at American University’s lovely new production of Little Women, the musical. A talented...

Dangereuse: ‘Emilie’ by Lauren Gunderson at WSC Avant Bard

Emilie Our Contemporary Emilie du Châtelet, scientist, mathematician, lover of Voltaire, genius, is a perfect example of the power of women in the 18th century and today. Many of the challenges to...

In the Moment: ‘Jazz4Justice’ at Center for the Arts

Hardy, inspiring community engagement is vital for the continuing health of the performing arts. That is a given. With challenging times for arts funding; the changes in the acceptance of the...

Review: ‘Norma’ at The Metropolitan Opera and Live in HD

The new Metropolitan Opera production of Norma, which opened the company’s season, is the most intimate presentation of Vincenzo Bellini’s classic that I’ve ever seen. Norma is an impressive monument...

Review: ‘A Night with Janis Joplin’ at McCarter Theatre Center

Janis Joplin was a true original. But as the musical/tribute concert A Night with Janis Joplin proves, she didn’t just come out of nowhere. Joplin became a top star during the psychedelic rock era of...

Review: ‘Ideation’ at Theatre Exile

Ethics, morality, self-interest, and accountability are the big issues addressed in Theatre Exile’s smashing production of Aaron Loeb’s Ideation, in a sardonic send-up of over-the-top ambition, greed,...

Review: ‘West Side Story’ staged by The Philadelphia Orchestra

West Side Story has never sounded as good as in last weekend’s performances by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra. It even surpassed Leonard Bernstein’s own recording, which sounds...