Reviews

Review: ‘Bernadette Peters’ at Wolf Trap

There’s something special about outdoor summer concerts: the light breeze, the chirping crickets, the enjoyment of good music in summer. But when you have all that and the performer is Broadway legend...

Review: ‘The Jungle Book’ at Encore Stage & Studio by Emma Kiely

Man’s desire to know the ways of the jungle and its creatures has been captured in Encore Stage & Studio’s adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. The story of Mowgli’s (Ryely Rogers)...

Review: ‘Crazy Mary Lincoln’ at Pallas Theatre Collective

Crazy Mary Lincoln, has received an appealing, open-hearted, ardent regional premiere production from Pallas Theatre Collective. The musical focuses new light on the long, woe-filled life of Mary Todd...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at 2nd Star Productions

A show that’s “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” on every level. There has never been a nanny quite so magical – or musical – as Mary Poppins, a character created by author P.L. Travers in eight...

Review: ‘Motown The Musical’ at the Academy of Music

Bringing Detroit’s soulful music to the masses was the goal, and Berry Gordy showed he was ready for the challenge by creating the melodies of Motown. Written for the stage by Gordy (adapted from his...

Dangereuse: ‘King Lear’ at WSC Avant Bard

King Lear has sometimes been called the Everest of classical acting. Every great Shakespearean actor must sooner or later face the physically and emotionally exhausting task of playing the part. Some...

Review: ‘How to Use a Knife’ at InterAct Theatre Company

Set in the hectic kitchen of a restaurant in New York’s Financial District, Will Snider’s How to Use a Knife focuses on a friendship that develops between two men – one a chef, the other a dishwasher...

Report: ‘A Centennial Celebration of John F. Kennedy’ at The Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (The Kennedy Center) paid elegant tribute to the legacy of its namesake in A JFK Centennial Celebration on May 29, 2017, the 100th birthday of our...

Review: ‘(In)Security: Or, Jack and Nikki Do the Cold War Tango’ at The Kennedy Center

Memorial Day this year coincided to the day with the 100th anniversary of the birth of President John F. Kennedy. To commemorate the occasion, The Kennedy Center put on a full weekend of events,...

Review: ‘King Lear’ at Avant Bard

The tempest in my mind / Doth from my senses take all feeling else. King Lear, Act 3, scenes 4–5. Avant Bard’s King Lear is a bracing, piercing production of a family and realm in heightening...

Review: ‘She Kills Monsters’ at Spotlighters

“My party is a leather-clad dominatrix and an Elvin supermodel?” Shimmy into your chainmail and grab a broadsword, there’s an awesome campaign starting at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre...

Review: ‘All Shook Up’ at Act Two at Levine

Seeing All Shook Up at Act Two at Levine last weekend was like an adventure in time travel. The show, which played for one weekend only, offered a glimpse of a long-ago world—1955, when Elvis Presley...

Review: ‘Making History’ at The Irish Heritage Theatre

The Confederate statues have been removed from their pedestals. Some people are disappointed. Their rosy vision of the lost genteel South has been taken away. To them, history has been rewritten...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Hedgerow Theatre

“The course of true love never did run smooth.” And in the case of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it hits every bump in the road! One of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, Midsummer follows the...

Review: ‘Jazz’ at Baltimore Center Stage

In its latest quest to create and present a diverse array of bold, innovative and thought-provoking contemporary theater, Baltimore Center Stage (BCS) unveiled the world premiere production of...

Review: ‘Disney’s The Little Mermaid’ at Steel River Playhouse

Memorial Day Weekend usually means a trip to the shore, but Steel River Playhouse brought the ocean to Pottstown, with its glorious rendition of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. True, the show takes plays...

Review: ‘Hir’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

I recently came back from London, where I saw the National Theatre’s 25th anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s epic, Angels in America. I thought a lot about that play after seeing Woolly Mammoth...

Film Review: ‘A Jew Must Die’ Appearing at the Washington Jewish Film Festival

I have seen many World War II films that focused on either the battles that were fought, or the horrors of the Holocaust. Only a small number of films touch on the level of extremism exhibited during...

Review: ‘Urinetown: The Musical’ at Nextstop Theatre Company

Imagine a musical about a revolution, where a few scrappy rebels fight for the dignity of their fellow man against a tyrannical few. Now add a score that satirizes every musical under the sun, a...

Review: ‘One More River to Cross: A Verbatim Fugue’ at The Latvian Society of Philadelphia

Lynn Nottage wrote One More River to Cross: A Verbatim Fugue a decade ago, yet oddly enough, it has never been produced onstage before. As Nottage’s fame has grown – she just earned a Pulitzer Prize...

Review: ‘See How They Run’ at Vagabond Players

We all need a good laugh these days – not a snicker or a snarky smile. A series of side-splitting belly laughs that leave you exhausted and smiling. See How They Run aptly named for the nursery rhyme...

Review: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ at the Walnut Street Theatre

What do you remember most about the movie Saturday Night Fever? Is it the dynamic direction, the earthy dialogue, or the gritty story about a working-class Brooklyn kid trying to escape a menial job...

Review: ‘A Chorus Line’ at Tantallon Community Players

Packed with pizazz, energy, and downright sizzle, A Chorus Line, as performed by Tantallon Community Players (TCP) and directed by Christopher Gerken, is the MVP of musicals on DC area stages this...

Review: Audra McDonald at Strathmore

Returning to the DC area, Audra McDonald gave a concert at Strathmore on May 26, 2017, full of her signature charm and joy. Her powerhouse soprano that transitions smoothly and easily between Broadway...

Film Review: ‘The Wedding Plan’

Near the beginning of The Wedding Plan, the latest from Israeli-American filmmaker Rama Burshtein, we find ourselves in an uncomfortable place. Michal, whom we first met at a fortune teller’s talking...

Review: ‘Golden Cockerel’ at New Opera NYC

Golden Cockerel (Coq d’Or) is a musical fantasy that was popular in the first half of the twentieth century but rarely seen since. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov composed it in 1907 with splashy orchestral...

Film Review: ‘On the Map’ Appearing at the Washington Jewish Film Festival

Everybody loves an underdog story, especially in the world of sports. Some of these stories are well-known likes The Miracle on Ice. But, sometimes, the best stories can be the ones you’ve never heard...

Review: ‘Gypsy’ at Arden Theatre Company

Since its debut in 1959, Gypsy, which closes out Arden Theatre Company’s 2016-17 season, has retained its popularity as one of the greatest Broadway musicals of all time, filled with such classic hits...

Review: ‘The King of Howard Street’ at Annex Theater

We are human beings, right? We were at one point in our lives. There was an excited energy in the air on opening night of The King of Howard Street. Not only was it the World Premiere of this powerful...

Review: ‘Can You Forgive Her?’ at Vineyard Theatre

“I’ve made bad choices. And I’ve made them . . . knowingly,” says 27-year-old Tanya – a single mom and bar waitress in a South Jersey beach town – in the opening scene of Gina Gionfriddo’s latest dark...

Review: ‘Ulysses on Bottles’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Near the beginning of this transporting play, the actor Sarah Marshall, wearing a man-tailored white suit, unrolls a map of Gaza and lays it on the floor. She then dumps onto it 200 tiny plastic toy...

Spine: ‘Ulysses on Bottles’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC, Part of the 2017 Voice From a Changing Middle East Festival

Last night, Gilad Evron’s Ulysses on Bottles opened the Mosaic Theater Company’s 2017 Voices From a Changing Middle East Festival. Described as an allegory, Evron’s Ulysses challenges contemporary...

Review: ‘Richard III’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of Richard III is a darkly compelling piece of theater. Directed by Donald Hicken, it strips the stage of all but a few props, allowing great acting and...

Review: ‘The Dollar Princess’ at Concert Operetta Theater

Leo Fall’s music is not likely to return to Broadway. It did, however, provide pleasant vocal opportunities for gifted young singers of the Concert Operetta Theater in Philadelphia this weekend, along...

Review: ‘Movie with the BSO: ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ in Concert’ at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) honored the 35th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s classic family adventure E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall with a uniquely immersive...

Film Review: ‘Cloudy Sunday’ Appearing at the Washington Jewish Film Festival

In most wartime films, the plot lines tend to not feature one thing: a romantic story. This is done to keep more emphasis on the action scenes. Director Manousos Manousakis attempts to combine these...

Review: ‘RENT’ at Gateway Playhouse

The Gateway Playhouse opened its 68th Season with the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning musical, RENT. With book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson, this artistic musical is loosely based on Giacomo...

Review: ‘Building the Wall’ at New World Stages

Out of his imaginative mind comes another powerful theatre piece by Robert Shenkkan, author of 15 plays including two dealing with LBJ (All the Way and The Great Society.) This time, he proposes what...

Review: ‘Silent Sky’ Reprised at Silver Spring Stage

Friday marked the reprisal at Silver Spring Stage of a very timely Silent Sky, by Laura Gunderson. Produced by Seth Ghitelman and directed by Bill Hurlbut, it is the fascinating story of Henrietta...

Review: ‘Sioux Falls’ at 10th Muse Productions at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

10th Muse Productions’ The Wedding Party was a huge hit in Capital Fringe 2015 (the DCMetroTheater Arts review called it a “delightful comedic romp”). It was a show that Maegan Dominy co-wrote (with...

Review: ‘Proof’ at Olney Theatre Center

Who wants to go see a play about math? That could be a typical dialogue when people are perusing the paper wondering how to spend their Saturday night. In the case of David Auburn’s Tony Award-winning...

Review: ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at Eagle Theatre

Peter and the Starcatcher creates a backstory for one of literature’s greatest heroes, Peter Pan. But much of the appeal of Rick Elice’s play – and director Ted Wioncek III’s production – lies in the...

Film Review: ‘Fog in August’ Appearing at The Washington Jewish Film Festival

The horrors of the Holocaust have been portrayed many times in film, most notably Schindler’s List and The Pianist. One such horror, however, has never been a focus of film study: the euthanasia...

Review: ‘Side Effects’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

In a simple bold setting, a man in a hurry is running late. He is answering his phone, head skewed at an angle to balance between shoulder and cheek. At the same time, he handles a slim file folder...

Review: The Philadelphia Orchestra Performs Mahler’s Longest — and Greatest — Symphony

Although not frequently performed, the Symphony No. 3 is Gustav Mahler’s most encompassing work, the piece which best exemplifies his life and career. Yannick Nézet-Séguin led a magnificent...

Review: ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ at Act II Playhouse

Are there any award nominators out there? Is so, get down to Act II Playhouse. This superb production of Brighton Beach Memoirs deserves a bundle of them. Much of the production’s success is, of...

Review: ‘Intimate Apparel’ at McCarter Theatre Center

It was as though God kissed my hands when I first pulled the fabric through the sewing machine and held up a finished garment. That’s how the main character of Intimate Apparel describes her work....

Review: ‘Noises Off’ at Everyman Theatre

It is always a good time seeing a production of Noises Off, but Everyman Theatre (Everyman) took it to another level last night. If you are a regular theatregoer, it is quite likely you have seen...

Review: ‘Psycho Beach Party’ at Stillpointe Theatre

If you’re looking for an escape, there’s a thoroughly entertaining performance of Charles Busch’s perennially popular parody of 1960s beach-blanket cinema that’s just what you need. Busch’s script...

Review: ‘Mercy Killers’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

Joe in Michael Milligan’s one-man show Mercy Killers is, indeed, your average Joe: he listens to Rush Limbaugh, he works on cars as a mechanic, he has no college degree, and (yes) he probably would...