Reviews

Spine: Consciousness, Conscience, and ‘The Hard Problem’ at The Studio Theatre

Tom Stoppard’s The Hard Problem isn’t so much about consciousness and the existence of subjectivity, “the hard problem” elucidated by contemporary Australian philosopher David Chalmers, as it is about...

Review: ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ at Reston Community Players

The names might seem familiar, and as you watch the show, some of the references sound like something you may have heard of before. In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, the Tony Award-winning Best...

Review: ‘An Acoustic Evening with Lyle Lovett & John Hiatt’ at Strathmore

There are very few things that could get me to uproot and move to Texas. Actually, there is just one thing, and his name is Lyle Lovett. Luckily, this long tall Texan graced the stage of Maryland’s...

Review: ‘Informed Consent’ at Lantern Theater Company

Jillian, the main character of Deborah Zoe Laufer’s play Informed Consent, is a genetic anthropologist – a scientist who has studied DNA for years and is still amazed at what she learns from it. She...

Review: ‘A Visit From Scarface’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

e’ve all been between the proverbial “rock and a hard place.” That’s exactly where fictional famous Hollywood writer Ben Hecht found himself in, in the comedy A Visit from Scarface, now playing at...

Review: ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre and Children’s Theatre

“It is a glorious thing, to be a Pirate King” …but it is a far more glorious thing to spend a night at the Way off Broadway Dinner Theatre in Frederick, Maryland, seeing the first show of their 2017...

Review: ‘Bo Dacious and Liz Russo’ at AMP Powered by Strathmore

There’s this hot little night club right across from some swanky automobile dealerships in a neighborhood calling itself Pike & Rose. The venue hosts a wide variety of arts and entertainment and makes...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #16: Best Direction, Musical Direction, and Design in Musicals and Plays in Philadelphia, New York, Delaware, and New Jersey

The DCMetroTheaterArts Staff’s Best of 2016 Direction in Productions in Philadelphia, New Jersey, and DE are: BEST DIRECTION Carl Andress for Charles Busch’s The Divine Sister at Bucks County...

Review: ‘Roe’ at Arena Stage

The title of Lisa Loomer’s riveting play Roe refers to both the pivotal Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade and the person known as Jane Roe who was the plaintiff in it. Loomer dramatizes both stories—why...

Review and Article: The Dover Quartet at the Kennedy Center Family Theater

Lord knows there are a lot of young string quartets out there trying to make an impact on both classical music and the cultural scene generally. They even have their own competitions to try to sort...

Review: ‘John’ at Arden Theatre Company

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker is unsurpassed in her modern-day observations on the human condition and how we respond to it: the afflictions that impact us; the troubled relationships...

Review: ‘The Three Penny Opera’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Ever-willing to mount bold musicals with large casts you’d never expect to see in such an intimate, cozy space (remember last year’s gorgeous Evita?), Fuzz Roark at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre...

Review: ‘The City of Conversation’ at The Colonial Players of Annapolis

The Colonial Players of Annapolis’ production of The City of Conversation is a powerful, timely play. Written by Anthony Giardina and directed by Ruben Vellekoop, it is about families and politics,...

Magic Time! ‘The Hard Problem’ at The Studio Theatre

I love when a play starts out as a fascinating head trip—a smart, high-concept exhilaration of ideas—then propels me headlong into an overwhelming flood of emotion. It’s like being transported along a...

Review: ‘The Call of the Wild’ Starring Charlie Bethel at Baltimore Theatre Project

A man with a club is a lawmaker. Charlie Bethel walks casually onto the stage, a metal coffee cup in hand, and gazes into the distance. He strolls past the shiny dog food bowl at center stage to a...

Review: ‘Lizzie’ at 11th Hour Theatre Company

Whacked-out psycho-killer or falsely-accused innocent? We’ll never know the truth about Lizzie Borden, but 11th Hour Theatre Company’s production of the rock musical Lizzie, by Steven Cheslik-Demeyer...

Review: Pianist Lise de la Salle at the Phillips Collection

Picking through bombastic music to extract the musical message and leave a lingering impression of something other than bombast is a skill to be cherished among pianists on the international stage....

Review: ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Part 2’ at Hedgerow Theatre

By combining Isaac Asimov-style science fiction with Monty Python-style silliness, Douglas Adams created a whole new genre. It paid off very handsomely for Adams: His most famous work, The...

Review: ‘Anything Goes’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Cole Porter’s Anything Goes is a show that is equal parts silliness, slapstick, and shenanigans. The Little Theatre of Alexandria opened the old classic this past weekend to a sold-out house. With...

In the Moment: The Studio Theatre’s ‘The Hard Problem’

Studio Theatre’s production of The Hard Problem by Tom Stoppard charmed me with its intellectual and ideological turmoil fueled by verbal fierceness. With a shiny, contemporary veneer and Stoppard’s...

Review: ‘Elf The Musical JR.’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater

We all know a person (or two, or twelve) who still have their Christmas lights up as we head into February. If you’re not quite ready to let go of the Christmas glow, then Aldersgate Church Community...

Review: ‘Exit Pluto’ at Strand Theater Company

Continuing “The 100 Percent Season” – an entire season consisting exclusively of works written by women – Strand Theater Company (“the Strand”) presented the World Premiere of Amy Bernstein’s Exit...

Review: ‘The Tin Woman’ at Prince George’s Little Theatre

The Tin Woman, written by Sean Grennan, is based on a true story, and is Prince George’s Little Theatre’s winter production. The show is directed by Estelle Miller, who also designed the set, and is...

Review: ‘The Hard Problem’ at The Studio Theatre

No shrinking violet when it comes to exploring humanity’s most complex questions, playwright Tom Stoppard takes a deep dive into the frontiers of neuroscience, human nature, and the existence of God...

Review #2: The American Pops Orchestra Presents ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade: 75 Years Of Streisand’ at Lisner Auditorium

8-track tape: It’s the only medium of Barbra Streisand recordings that I do not own. LP, cassette, VHS, CD, DVD, mp3, mp4 … I have purchased some of Streisand’s work in two or three (for some movie...

Spine: ‘Silent Sky’ at Silver Spring Stage

On occasion, a play comes along with a bit of history, a bit of uncovered history, and that history changes the nature of the universe. Silent Sky is that sort of play. Lauren Gunderson’s biography...

Review: ‘Hands on Hard Body’ at Drama Learning Center

Hands on Hard Body opened on January 13th at the Drama Learning Center in Columbia, MD presented by the TYA Professional Training Program. The book was written by Tony and Pulitzer winner Doug Wright...

Review: ‘Blackbird’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

When Una, the 27 year-old British woman at the center of David Harrower’s startling and complex play Blackbird, tells a man named Ray, 15 years her senior, that he made her into a ghost, there is no...

Review: ‘LIZZIE: The Musical’ at Pinky Swear Productions

Fresh off their Capital Fringe Best Overall Show and Best Musical Theatre or Opera wins for 2016’s Over Her Dead Body, Pinky Swear Productions (PSP) rips onto the stage of Anacostia Playhouse with...

Review: ‘I Will Not Go Gently’ at Act II Playhouse

An aging rock star struggles to stay relevant, or perhaps struggles whether or not to care at all whether she is still relevant, in the Act II Playhouse remounting of 1812 Productions’ one-woman...

Review: ‘And Then There Were None’ at Allens Lane Theater

For Allens Lane Theater’s production of And Then There Were None, director Josh Hitchens not only presents the mystery, but also heightens the mood and highlights the message inherent in Agatha...

Here Are This Year’s WATCH AWARD Nominations

Announcement of Nominations 16th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors THE WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced January 15, 2017 – 7:30 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony...

Review: ‘Grey Gardens’ at StillPointe Theatre

Grey Gardens is the latest show in StillPointe Theatre’s 2016 – 2017 season. This musical is based on the eponymous 1975 documentary about the lives of Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (“Big Edie”) and her...

Review: National Symphony Orchestra: Stravinsky’s ‘The Firebird’ and Ravel’s ‘Left Hand’ Concerto

With a program packed with masterpieces from Russian and French composers, Sir Mark Elder conducted the National Symphony Orchestra. Sir Mark Elder opened the night sharing some words on the program...

Review: ‘Pippin’ at Act Two at Levine performing at Arena Stage

I have often heard Pippin described as a frivolous musical with silly little songs and a thin plot, but to me, Pippin has always told a remarkable and universal story: the story of the hero’s journey....

Best of 2016 #15: Best Performances in Plays in Community Theatres in DC/MD/VA

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #15: Best Performances in Plays and Ensembles in Community Theaters in DC/MD/VA Area Area Mark T. Allen as John Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet at Laurel Mill Playhouse....

Review: ‘[gay] Cymbeline’ at Theatre Prometheus

Queering Shakespeare may be gilding the lily. And if so DC these days has seen quite a few such embellished flowers. Like, golden nosegays for days. One of the best and freshest in the bunch is...

Review: ‘Loves and Hours’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Laurel Mill Playhouse offers up an ideal evening of theatre in Loves and Hours by Stephen Metcalfe and directed by Daniel Douek. This intriguing play looks at love and aging through the perspective of...

Review: ‘Legally Blonde The Musical JR’ at Bravo Productions

Legally Blonde The Musical JR, based on the 2001 hit film starring Reese Witherspoon about a sorority girl who goes to Harvard Law in order to get her boyfriend back, and the 2007 Broadway production...

Review #1: ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade: 75 Years of Streisand’ at The American Pops

Streisand came to DC for a quick pre-inauguration visit. Well almost, but not quite. Well, maybe my first sentence is a little bit of a “fake news” headline. I am writing about a blissful, musically...

Review: ‘Recent Tragic Events’ at St. Mark’s Players

The American theater has generated some great plays prompted by the tragic events of 9/11. I remember vividly Neil LaBute’s powerful 2002 drama The Mercy Seat, in a production LaBute directed...

Review: ‘The Dictator’s Wife’ at Washington National Opera

A one-hour World Premiere opera is reason enough for the imagination to run rampant with artistic anticipation. So what a veritable array of riches it was to indulge the senses and challenge the mind...

Review: ‘Silent Sky’ at Silver Spring Stage

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

Review: ‘Saloon’ at the Merriam Theater

Montreal’s Cirque Éloize explodes on stage at the Merriam Theater with a two-day run of its touring production of Saloon, presented collaboratively by the Kimmel Center and the Shubert Organization...

Review: ‘Image China: Confucius’ at The Kennedy Center

It seemed fitting somehow during a full moon, on Friday the thirteenth, to be attending Confucius on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Kong Dexin, a 77th-generation direct descendent of Confucius...

Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ at Hippodrome Theatre

Countering the brisk winter temperatures outside, Tony-nominated Broadway jukebox musical sensation Mamma Mia! unleashed flash bolts of pulsating heat with bold bright lights, zesty dance numbers and...

Review: ‘Bud, Not Buddy’ at The Kennedy Center

Last night, The Kennedy Center presented an inspiring world premiere commission of Bud, Not Buddy. Kirsten Greenidge created the fast-paced and touchingly funny script, based on the book from...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #14: Best Design in Professional and Community Theaters in DC/VA/MD

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2016 #14: Best Design in Professional and Community Theaters in DC/VA/MD Are: John Alexander for his lighting for Blackberry Winter at Forum Theatre. John Alexander for his...

Review: ‘Last of the Red Hot Lovers’ at Walnut Street Theatre’s Independence Studio on 3

There is one man and three different women. He’s in the midst of a midlife crisis, trying to connect with somebody not his wife, and find something “beautiful” in an affair. But it’s not that easy....

‘Charm’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Just opened at Mosaic Theater Company in a thrilling and vibrant production directed by Natsu Onoda Power is a play that puts on stage some of what National Geographic just called the gender...