Reviews

Review: ‘Tunnel Vision’ at Venus Theatre

Tunnel Vision, written by Andrea Lepcio and directed by Deborah Randall, at Venus Theatre is a powerful and a thought-provoking play. Venus Theatre, under the direction of Founder Deborah Randall, has...

TODAY Only: ‘Tribute to Classical Ballet’ at L’Etoile, The Classical Ballet Theatre of Maryland

Dance Preview: L’Etoile Dances a Ballet Gem Pretty, pastel costumes, new ribbons on the toe shoes, tiaras that sparkle bright as a shiny new penny – these are signs of spring recitals where young...

Review: ‘Fear Eats the Soul’ at Scena Theatre

As part of its 30th anniversary season, Scena Theatre has offered a stage adaptation of late German film auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1974 film Fear Eats the Soul, translated and adapted by...

Film Review: ‘Menashe’ Appearing at The Washington Jewish Film Festival

Fuelled by fantastic performances and effective cinematography, Joshua Z. Weinstein’s Menashe brings to light the world of Brooklyn’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community through the story of a widowed...

Review: ‘The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

It seems counter-intuitive that a play about a missing fourteen-year-old boy could be in any way funny or uplifting, but The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey, written and performed by James...

Review: ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar is an impressive beauty of a rock opera. It successfully takes a Biblical phrase such as, “Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in...

Review: the National Chamber Ensemble Mother’s Day Concert ‘Music of Our Time’ at the Spectrum Theatre

For their Mother’s Day theme and as a tribute to the conclusion of their 10th anniversary season at Rosslyn’s Spectrum Theatre, the National Chamber Ensemble (NCE) selected a program inspired by film...

Review: ‘The Lucky One’ at Mint Theater Company

Every now and then it’s refreshing to turn on the time travel clock and return to what we then called “civilization” circa 1920. You know, after the war to end all wars, before the jazz babies really...

Review: Two One-Act Plays at Greenspring Players

This isn’t the first time that Greenspring Players have focused their expertise on one act plays, nor the first time I have reviewed such shows for our website. Each show was about 45 minutes long,...

Eddie’s Travel Picks: ‘By the Docks’ in Middle River, Maryland

What’s the one question a Maryland restaurant is sure to get? Right after “Where are you located?” it’s “How are your crab cakes?” Of course, what’s a restaurant to say: “Oh our crab cakes aren’t so...

Report #2: “The 33rd Annual Helen Hayes Awards” at the Lincoln Theatre

The 33rd Annual Helen Hayes Awards, held at Washington’s Lincoln Theatre, was a fabulous celebration of the D.C. area’s wonderfully talented theater community. Hosts E. Faye Butler and Lawrence...

Akeem Davis, Alex Keiper, and Matteo Scammell: An Interview with the Stars of ‘Buzzer’ at Theatre Exile

Theatre Exile closes its 2016-17 season with Tracey Scott Wilson’s searing drama Buzzer, which examines issues of race, class, and gender through the lens of urban gentrification. Directed by Matt...

Review: ‘Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage’ at the Merriam Theater

Dirty Dancing, a light, low-budget movie, came out of nowhere to become one of the biggest hits of 1987, and it’s still a beloved movie today. Written by Eleanor Bergstein, it showcased the talents of...

Review: ‘Kaleidoscope’ at Creative Cauldron

Creative Cauldron presents Kaleidoscope, a “Bold New Works” ​World Premiere Musical with Music and Lyrics by Matt Conner and Book and Lyrics by Stephen Gregory Smith, who also co-direct the...

Review: ‘Celebrations!’ Columbia Pro Cantare Celebrates 40-Year Anniversary at Jim Rouse Theatre

Columbia Pro Cantare celebrated a few occasions with its final performance of the Season with Celebrations! If you will note, Celebrations! is plural, because it not only marked the 40th Anniversary...

Review: ‘Voices in the Rubble’ and ‘Endgame’ at Rapid Lemon Productions

Max Garner’s Rapid Lemon Productions (“Rapid Lemon”) is pairing two short Absurdist Theater gems to create an evening of darkly-humorous nihilism at the Motor House performance space. And, like me, it...

Review: Mason Bates’ KC Jukebox: ‘Thievery Corporation’ at The Kennedy Center

The ethereal and complex mixture of sounds that Thievery Corporation has produced over a 22-year career has given them lots of material and a dedicated following. Their show last night at The Kennedy...

Review: ‘Little Women: The Musical’ at Third Wall Productions

Mother’s Day afternoon was spent in a Baltimore church basement where we gathered for the musical adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic tale, Little Women. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have wanted to...

Review #2: ‘The Father’ at The Studio Theatre

It’s taken five years for The Father—the highly-acclaimed drama by Florian Zeller that shook Paris in 2012—to arrive in the Washington area. But now that it’s here—following sold-out performances in...

Review: ‘Timon of Athens’ at Folger Theatre

Undone by his own goodness? Ha! That is not what I took away as director Robert Richmond succeeded masterfully with his contemporary, blasting grenade of an interpretation for Shakespeare’s rarely...

Here Are The Recipients of the 2017 Helen Hayes Awards

Here are the 2017 Helen Hayes Recipients in RED. __ Outstanding Choreography, Musical-Hayes Christopher d’Amboise, Evita, Olney Theatre Center Kelly Devine, Come From Away, Ford’s Theatre Parker Esse,...

Review: ‘The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane’ at People’s Light

Imaginative storytelling and captivating performances at People’s Light make Dwayne Hartford’s The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, adapted for the stage from the novel by Kate DiCamillo, a...

Review: ‘The Father’ at The Studio Theatre

Some plays are more difficult to watch than others; some plays activate your imagination and pull you into their stories whole-body: those plays pull you into the psychological realities they portray....

Review: ‘Oklahoma!’ at John W. Engeman Theater

The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport is closing its 10th season with the rousing classic, Oklahoma! With book and lyrics by Rodgers and Hammerstein, this beloved musical has been a family favorite...

Review: ‘The Man Who’ at Spooky Action Theater

Curious questions tease the brain during this peculiarly provocative production. One is: Is this theater? Another is: What are we to make of it? The Man Who, just opened at the estimably idiosyncratic...

Review: ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at Synetic Theater

Haunting is the word that quickly came to mind as I sat, mesmerized, rediscovering a classic of literature I thought I knew from reading print on a page and from the movies. But, oh my, Synetic...

Review #2: ‘An American Daughter’ at Montgomery Playhouse and Arts on the Green

Just when you thought that scandalous political agendas were restricted to CNN’s 24-hour news cycle, along comes An American Daughter, Wendy Wasserstein’s 1997 play about a woman’s nomination as...

Spine: ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ at Synetic Theater

The spectacle of movement has always been Synetic’s star attraction. When those primal, emotional moments fuse with a strong narrative throughline, Synetic’s brilliance shines brightest. Their newest...

The 2017 Helen Hayes Awards Recipients to be Announced Tonight

Nominations for the 2017 Helen Hayes Awards Outstanding Choreography, Musical-Hayes Christopher d’Amboise, “Evita,” Olney Theatre Center Kelly Devine, “Come From Away,” Ford’s Theatre Parker Esse,...

Review: ‘Betrayal’ at Allens Lane Theater

Adultery, the trespass that has fascinated human beings through the ages, offers many emotional highs and lows. There is the desire that overwhelms all reason. There is the joy of stealing about,...

Review: ‘Legally Blonde The Musical’ at Silhouette Stages

OMG! OMG! Silhouette Stages’ Legally Blonde is a blast! The closed curtains on the stage at Slayton House Theater gave no clue as to what dynamic show the highly regarded Silhouette Stage’s would be...

Review: ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Parlor Room Theater

Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie is an American theater classic. At its center a story about a shattered family, the show is timeless in its themes. Parlor Room Theater (PRT) Director Dillon...

Review: ‘Dream: A Phonograph Musical’ at Ritz Theatre Company

Celebrating the 90th anniversary of its historic building, Ritz Theatre Company presents Dream: A Phonograph Musical, an original prequel to the genre of the ‘jukebox musical’ inspired by the hits of...

Review #1: ‘An American Daughter’ at Montgomery Playhouse and Arts on the Green

Humanity can never quite manage to get out of its own way. And that’s a good thing for the entertainment industry. Since “there is nothing new under the sun,” there is constant material for every next...

Review: ‘Crowns: A Gospel Musical’ at Arena Players

Apropos to Mother’s Day, and a magnificent button to the end of its 63rd season, Arena Players’ Crowns: A Gospel Musical is, among many things, a celebration of Christian and African religious...

Review: ‘Buzzer’ at Theatre Exile

Buzzer is a story about real estate, and how moving to a new home can mean more than just leaving a forwarding address. Tracey Scott Wilson’s play addresses several compelling subjects: race,...

Review: ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ at Orbiter 3

I attended Peaceable Kingdom, a new play by Mary Tuomanen, last night at Christ Church Neighborhood House. I am already checking my calendar for a day when I can see this unique and riveting...

Review: ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre

A grand presentation of Agatha Christie’s popular whodunit of 1953, Witness for the Prosecution, closes out Bristol Riverside Theatre’s 30th anniversary season with a bang. Directed by Susan D....

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio closed their most recent production, Shakespeare’s comedy The Tempest, this past weekend. As the self-proclaimed “Theatre for kids, by kids,” Encore works with young local talent...

Review: ‘My Funny Bone’ at Brian Sanders’ JUNK

In My Funny Bone, the latest offering from Brian Sanders’ JUNK, the boundary-breaking choreographer/dancer traces the evolution of his, let’s say, “eccentric” sense of humor from childhood to the...

Review: ‘Protest’ at Alliance for New Music-Theatre

DC site-specific theater of resistance reached a new height last night—also a new low—as Alliance for New Music-Theatre’s arresting staging of Václav Havel’s Protest became the first play performed...

Review #1: ‘Outside Mullingar’ at The Keegan Theatre

Theatre-lovers searching for a sequel to Doubt—John Patrick Shanley’s prize-winning (and frequently revived) play about nuns and priests in an Irish-American enclave of New York—will be surprised to...

Review: ‘Clue On Stage’ at Bucks County Playhouse

Wanna play a game? Clue On Stage is a show that doesn’t ask deep, profound questions of its audience. Instead, it simply asks, whodunit? Who killed Mr. Boddy? Was it Professor Plum in the conservatory...

Review: ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ at the Kellar Theater at the Center for the Arts by Leslie Ann Ross

Delightful and charming. Those are the words I would use to describe Rooftop Production’s current offering You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown which comes to life at the Kellar Theater at the Center for...

Review: ‘Come Together:  A Celebration of John Lennon’ at The Kennedy Center

At a time when we can only imagine a world without walls of division and exclusion, the Annual Kennedy Center’s Spring Gala concert, Come Together: A Celebration of John Lennon, reached for the stars...

Review: ‘Marry Harry’ at The York Theatre Company

With apologies to James Morgan and the York Theatre Company (“York Theatre”) for this very late review of their current offering Marry Harry. I saw this new musical on April 30, but in the last-minute...

Review: ‘The Arabian Nights’ at Constellation Theatre Company

One Thousand and One Nights, the collection of classic Islamic tales upon which Mary Zimmerman built The Arabian Nights, now playing at Constellation Theatre Company, could not have a more violent...

Review: ‘The Secret Garden’ at Memorial Players

If you’re looking for a musical of Broadway quality in the Baltimore area, look no further than some of the work being produced by Memorial Episcopal Church’s drama ministry, Memorial Players, now in...

Review: ‘Barnaby Rudge’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

Of Charles Dickens’s fifteen novels, there are few, if any, that are less well-known than his first historical, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty—and few, with its forty-plus characters and...

Review: ‘Book of Days’ at Rockville Little Theatre

Written in 1998, Book of Days is one of the final writings from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson. The play is set in a fictional rural Missouri town of 4,500 or so residents, and...