Reviews

Review #2: Chocolate City Burlesque’s Third Annual ‘Black Friday’

There ain’t nothin’ wrong with a little bump and grind and Chocolate City’s Burlesque & Cabaret (CCBC) had a whole lotta shakin’ going on. G strings and pasties and a skin show with feathers galore...

Review #1: Chocolate City Burlesque’s Third Annual ‘Black Friday’

Chocolate City Burlesque and Cabaret (CCBC) is a troupe that excels at putting on the most sensational burlesque shows it can on D.C. stages. The troupe did just that in their third annual Black...

Review: ‘Once’ at National Theatre

From the moment one enters the National Theatre, it becomes clear that Once is not your typical Broadway fare. Rather than seeing closed drapes and hearing piped-in pre-show music, the first view of...

Review: The NSO Pops: ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’: Film with Live Music at The Kennedy Center

The most significant difference between entering your neighborhood cinema to catch the latest PG film offering and traversing the Hall of Nations to enter the Grand Foyer at The Kennedy Center in...

Review: ‘Moby Dick’: A Co-Production with the Alliance Theatre and Southcoast Repertory at Arena Stage

A complex rigging of interlocking cables, ropes and steel clamps is harnessed by a skeletal steel structure. The structure is at once minimal and abstract, intricate and unambiguous, to suggest the...

Review: ‘Sleeping Beauty: A Musical Panto’ at People’s Light

The latest world-premiere offering at People’s Light, in its annual homage to the British holiday tradition of family-friendly musical-comedy entertainment, is a side-splitting reimagining of Sleeping...

Anya Rothman on Playing Mary Lennox in ‘The Secret Garden’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Anya Rothman is playing the spunky Mary Lennox in Shakespeare Theatre Company’s The Secret Garden. She takes is on her journey. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell us how old you are and tell our...

Review: ‘An American in Paris’ at the Academy of Music

If you “love a Gershwin tune” (and who doesn’t?), An American in Paris, presented by Broadway Philadelphia for a limited run this Thanksgiving week at the Academy of Music, is the show for you! Based...

Review: ‘The Game’s Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays)’ at Spotlighters Theatre

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending an opening weekend performance of The Game’s Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays), by Ken Ludwig at Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre (“Spotlighters”)....

Review: ‘Sly & The Family Stone’ Celebrate Their 50th Anniversary

Legendary soul group Sly & The Family Stone grooved and moved the audience with unfiltered funky beats and unparalleled energy at Montgomery College’s Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center in a...

Review: ‘DanceWorks Fall 2016’ at The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

This past weekend, The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance presented DanceWorks Fall 2016. The program consisted of nine separate dance pieces, each by a different...

Review #2: ‘The Secret Garden’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company by PJ McMahon

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a story that has fascinated and moved people for the last hundred years, from the original novel, to the various film adaptations, and a Broadway...

Review #2: ‘A View From the Bridge’ at The Kennedy Center

The stripped-down, minimalist and auteur-driven interpretation of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge delivers a tragic, elemental, and mythic dimension to this stirring play that delineates the...

Review #1: ‘A View From the Bridge’ at The Kennedy Center

Act fast: Director Ivo van Hove’s visionary production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge, which won plaudits on both Broadway and the West End since it opened in 2014, is only playing at The...

In the Moment: ‘A View From the Bridge’ at The Kennedy Center

Even having inklings of what to expect, there was no protecting myself from the shattering production of Arthur Miller’s A View From the Bridge at the Kennedy Center. I don’t think even wearing a...

Magic Time!: ‘The Christians’ at Theater J

A debate about the existence of hell is combusting in the nation’s preeminent Jewish theater. And that particular drama in that particular venue could not be more anomalous. There is in Judaism no...

Review #1: ‘The Secret Garden’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

While most are familiar with The Secret Garden either from reading the book or watching the movie, the latest musical production by the Shakespeare Theatre Company raises the bar with a wonderful cast...

Review: ‘A Christmas Story, The Musical’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents A Christmas Story, The Musical, with Book by Joseph Robinette and Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Based on the 1983 Warner Bros....

Review: ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ by the Maryland Opera Studio at The Clarice

There’s a saying that says, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia most definitely fulfills that second requirement. Based on the myth...

Review: ‘A Name for a Ghost to Mutter’ at Urban Stages

In the summer of 2008 a group of artists, business people and supporters gathered to talk theatre, which led to the formation of Theatre East and an inaugural benefit in July 2009. Its core belief was...

Review: ‘The Christians’ at Theater J

Yes, the rumors are true. The Christians—now making its DC debut at Theater J—is amazing. It’s amazing for its sheer audacity—first, in turning the nation’s leading Jewish theater into a...

Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Theatre Three: Broadway on Main Street

Theatre Three: Broadway on Main Street opened its 33rd annual production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Written in 1843, A Christmas Carol is a story which has endured throughout the years. It...

Review: The Choral Arts Society of Washington Presents ‘Berlioz: Requiem, Op. 5’ at The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall

It was a chilly night, fitting for a change of pace, when the Choral Arts Society of Washington performed Hector Berlioz: Requiem, Op. 5 Grande Messe des Morts to a buoyant crowd at The Kennedy Center...

In the Moment: ‘The Christians’ at Theater J

‘Inspired’ is the word that comes to mind for Adam Immerwahr’s selection of The Christians by Lucas Hnath for this, his first full season as Artistic Director for DC’s Theater J. What an exceptional...

‘Mary Poppins’ at The John W. Engeman Theater at Northport

Everyone’s favorite high-flying nanny has landed at the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport! Mary Poppins will be playing until the wind changes on December 31, 2016. The script, based on both the...

Review: ‘The Divine Sister’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Just in time to ring in the holiday cheer and chuckle with a blaze this bustling season, Fells Point Corner Theatre (FPCT) presents the Baltimore premiere of actor/novelist/playwright/drag legend...

Review: ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ at The Catholic University of America

The Outcasts of Poker Flat is the story of six uncanny people trapped together as they take shelter during a blizzard. Adapted from Bret Harte’s 1869 story of the same name, the one-act chamber opera...

Review: ‘Son of a Dog’ at Walnut Street Theatre

“Tawakalt ala Allah” is Arabic, and in English it means, “I rely on God”. This is the phrase that Gameel Al-Batouti uttered repeatedly as Egypt Air flight 990 went down on October 31, 1999. Everyone...

Review: ‘Andrea Marcovicci: A Gershwin Valentine’ at The RRazz Room

The miraculous Andrea Marcovicci briefly returned to Philadelphia. One of the grandest divas of cabaret, Ms. Marcovicci seemed to own the fabled Oak Room in the Algonquin Hotel for over 25 years. That...

Review: ‘Seussical The Musical’ at Children’s Theatre of Annapolis

This production of Seussical, at the Children’s Theatre of Annapolis, brings the fun, whimsical world of Dr. Seuss to life. With music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, who both wrote the...

Review: ‘Schoolgirl Figure’ at Cohesion Theatre

Puberty is the worst thing that ever happened to me. I looked fabulous at age ten. This weekend, Schoolgirl Figure, a play written by Wendy MacLeod, opened at Cohesion Theatre Company (“Cohesion”)....

Review: ‘A Tuna Christmas’ at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater

Expertly directed by Scott Ruble to evoke every last bit of comedy, A Tuna Christmas, written by Jason Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, features the charming and often chaotic holiday events...

Review: ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast’ at Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage serves up a charming and delightful holiday treat with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. This timeless 1994 Broadway musical was adapted for the stage from the Academy Award-winning...

‘Found’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

They say people don’t write letters anymore, but I don’t think that’s true. So says the leading character in the opening moments of Found, an offbeat comic musical that puts as much emphasis on the...

Review: ‘Aquarium’ at Imagination Stage

For the newest generation of theatergoers, Imagination Stage’s Early Childhood production of Aquarium is a treasure. Wide-eyed and brimming with excitement, the young audience members are lost in the...

Review: ‘A Christmas Story: The Musical’ at The Media Theatre

A Christmas Story: The Musical was a breath of fresh air when it debuted on Broadway four seasons ago. Based on the 1983 movie that’s become a television perennial, it retained a great deal of the...

In Context: ‘Six Degrees of Separation’ at The Keegan Theatre

John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation was widely admired as an ingenious, penetrating look at contemporary society when it premiered in New York back in 1990. Based on a true story, it concerns a...

Review: ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at Faction of Fools

Audiences can usually expect something distinct, and full of chutzpah, from the folk at DC’s scrappy Faction of Fools theater troupe with its Comedia dell’Arte mission. The recipient of the 2012 Helen...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The George Mason University School of Theater and The Mason Players

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare has long been among my favorite plays. If it isn’t already yours, the Mason Players production could well change your mind. What kind of comedy do you...

Review: ‘Metropolis’ at Constellation Theatre Company

Percussion and film enthusiasts, listen up! For five nights only, Constellation Theatre Company presents a unique combination of the silent-film Metropolis set to a new score by renowned percussionist...

Review: ‘Love Jones: The Musical’ at The National Theatre

Nearly 20 years after the cult classic, romantic comedy Love Jones made its big screen release, a celebratory musical reinterpretation takes stage at the National Theatre, showcasing award-winning...

Review: ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’ at Walnut Street Theatre

From the moment I entered the Independence Studio on 3 (3rd floor of the Walnut Street Theatre), the holiday spirit was evident. Hot cider was available for the audience to savor, and once inside the...

Spine: The Second City’s ‘Black Side of the Moon’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

“We are not a monolith! We are not a monolith! We are not a monolith!” chanted the six-member cast at the start of Woolly Mammoth’s Second City’s Black Side of the Moon. And, indeed, that large...

Magic Time! ‘Straight White Men’ at The Studio Theatre

Playwright Young Jean Lee’s audacious title refers to the particular—the white widowed father (Ed) and his three grown sons (Drew, Jake, and Matt) who are on stage for most of this naturalistic...

Review: ‘Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812’ at the Imperial Theatre in NYC

A most elaborate and tastefully glamorous musical has arrived in town to brighten the holiday season. That’s Natasha, Pierre and their sisters and their cousins and their aunts plus a few lovers,...

Review: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at Walnut Street Theatre

A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others. ~ The Wizard of Oz to The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz There’s no place like Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre...

Review: ‘Doc Severinsen and Friends – The Art of the Big Band’ at Strathmore

Five BRASS Stars! Doc Severinsen may have not appeared on your screen since Johnny Carson turned the keys to The Tonight Show over to Jay Leno in 1992, but he hasn’t slowed down. Hired as a musician...

Review: The Second City’s ‘Black Side of the Moon’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

The Second City’s Black Side of the Moon— the Chicago-based comedy troupe’s first foray into post-Obama politics—launched the holiday season this week with an African-American cast and a show that is...

Review: ‘An Iliad’ at Lantern Theater Company

A man sticks his head in through the door in the back wall. Broken down, dirty, dressed in old but modern clothes, he is delighted to see us, and sing his song. “It’s a good story,” and he’s been...

Review: ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast’ at Charm City Players

Baltimore’s Charm City Players are back with their latest child-friendly production: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. With music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and book by Linda...