Reviews

Review: ‘Witch’ at Convergence Theatre at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

Whatever your choice in Hallowe’en fare, Witch—an adaptation of a Jacobean melodrama now having its world premiere at The Mead Theatre Lab—has it all. There’s murder, mayhem, and blood on the...

Review: The Second City’s ‘Unelectable You’ at The Kennedy Center

Billed as “The Second City’s Completely Unbiased Political Revue,” Unelectable You—now in the middle of a four month pre-election national tour—paused in Washington, DC last weekend for a stop at The...

Review: ‘The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat’ at UrbanArias

Oliver Sacks’ non-fiction book, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat, consists of a series of neurological case studies. Each study examines one of Sacks’ patients, each of whom is suffering from...

Review: ‘Bloody Poetry’ at The Catholic University of America

So far as I can tell, The Catholic University of America’s Drama Department turns out a lot of local talent. I keep seeing mentions of it in program bios around town. Must be something good going on...

United Solo Review: ‘Listen . . . Can You Hear Me Now?’ at Theatre Row in NYC

Growing up as a hearing child of deaf parents, Gloria Rosen faced many challenges, both in interpreting for and communicating with her family, and then struggling to find her own voice in the world....

Review: ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ at The Actors Company Theatre at the Clurman Theatre in NYC

Anglo-Irish Playwright Oliver Goldsmith’s “laughing comedy”- She Stoops to Conquer- was first performed in London in 1773. It’s been a favorite for study in English literature, and theatre classes...

Review: ‘Disgraced’ at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ

It is sometimes difficult to imagine what theater might be able to further contribute to an already contentious national conversation about tolerance and devisiveness in America. An unconventional...

Review: ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure’ at the Old Opera House Theatre Company

One of the opening lines to last evening’s performance of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, uttered by the world’s most famous detective, was “You see, but you do not observe.” Audiences who...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Homo Sapiens Interruptus’ at The Huron Club at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

Following the trajectory of his career from heavy-metal rocker to student, writer, and theater artist, Carlos Dengler not only recounts his own personal development, but considers it within the...

Review: ‘Wild Lines: Jane Ira Bloom Plays Emily Dickinson’ at the KC Jazz Club

There is nothing quite like “a vast morsel.” When Jane Ira Bloom plays her soprano saxophone, her wiry body jutting and jagging to the notes popping out of her horn, vastness of her petite frame...

Review: ‘HEISENBERG’ at Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in NYC

Let’s get the title out of the way for starters. Simon Stephens, the author of this play, uses it to remind us that the German physicist Werner Heisenberg introduced his Uncertainty Principle in...

Review: ‘Kiss’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

I go to see live theatre for a lot of reasons. I go to laugh and to be moved, to feel excitement or empathy, to be entertained in a way that just isn’t possible with podcasts or Netflix. I also go...

Magic Time! ‘Kiss’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Kiss is a work to be reckoned with. Its power and importance, its comedic wit and caustic intelligence, make it a major theatrical event of the season. For anyone who prefers shows to have substance...

Review: ‘The Summit: The Manhattan Transfer Meets Take 6’ at The Music Center at Strathmore

The Summit: The Manhattan Tranfer Meets Take 6 was an explosion, in gale wind proportions, of musical enjoyment, creative genius, vocal excellence and a boatload of fun as these two renowned, Grammy...

Review: ‘The Wizard of Oz: Young Performers’ Edition’ at Kensington Arts Theatre-2nd Stage

Kensington Arts Theatre-2nd Stage’s production of The Wizard of Oz Young Performers’ Edition is up and running at the Kentlands Arts Barn. A great way to while away a few hours with your kids on an...

Review: ‘The Bluest Eye’ at Towson University Department of Theatre Arts

‘The Bluest Eye’ is a moving tale about race, dysfunction, and poverty Director Tavia La Follette, a Towson University professor, in choosing The Bluest Eye to direct, chose to examine how children...

Review: ‘Twelfth Night’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s visually and musically stunning production of Twelfth Night is a creative resetting of Shakespeare’s play. Set in 1929 Hollywood, it is a loving tribute to the romantic...

Review: ‘Young Frankenstein’ at Silhouette Stages

Silhouette Stages has a remarkable production of Young Frankenstein that is so dynamic, audience members kept checking the program to make sure they weren’t teleported back to 2008 when the original...

Review: ‘POTUS Among Us’ at Washington Improv Theater

A quick but firm handshake, a genuine embrace, a passing glance to own the room and most of all a nudge, wink and leaning in to make me feel welcome; I have met my first candidate and I haven’t even...

Review: The Arden Cabaret Series: Michael Ogborn at The Arden Theatre Company, in Philadelphia

The Studio Theatre of the Arden Theatre Company’s Hamilton Family Arts Center was transformed into a nightclub/cabaret for Michael Ogborn’s Night at the Blue Parrot. Small round tables, covered with...

Review: ‘The Plough and the Stars’ from the Abbey Theatre at Annenberg Center in Philadelphia, PA.

An adventurous new take on Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars brings a fragile yet startling version of the Irish classic to the Annenberg Center stage courtesy of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin....

Review: ‘Cirque Spooktacular’ at The Kennedy Center

Like The Nutcracker at Christmastime, Cirque Spooktacular, the NSO Pops’ Cirque de la Symphonie Halloween Extravaganza, is bound to become a seasonal tradition at The John F. Kennedy Center for the...

Review: ‘Wonder of the World’ at Howard Community College Theatre Program

Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire, directed by Bill Gillett and presented by Howard Community College Theatre Program, opened last night. The thundering Niagara Falls serves as a perfect...

Review: ‘The Year of Magical Thinking’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater

Kathleen Turner is back at Arena Stage, and that is always good news for Washington theater-goers. Having starred in Mother Courage and her Children, and Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly...

Review: ‘Speech and Debate’ at George Washington University Department of Theatre and Dance

“Why can’t we talk about anything real in school?” The question is posed by Solomon, a nerdy high school student and wannabe journalist, whose teacher has forbidden him to report on the topic he wants...

Review: ‘¡Viva Cesar, Viva Kennedy!’ Featuring Eugenia León and La Santa Cecilia at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater

It is Hispanic Heritage Month at The Kennedy Center; as soon as you enter you can feel there is something different in the air. As soon as you enter you are greeted with some powerful artwork...

WAPAVA Presents Its List of 2015-16 Season Archives 50 Productions from Washington, DC Area Theaters Preserved

Do you love DC-area theater, but missed seeing one of this season’s performances? Are you a theater professional and need to review the blocking or set design of a particular show? Or perhaps you are...

Review: “Oh, Hello on Broadway” at the Lyceum Theatre in NYC

I imagine there is a first time for everything. There I was, sixth row on the aisle at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, at an early performance of an evening called Oh, Hello On Broadway. I did not...

Review: ‘Inner Voices’ at Premieres in NYC

The human condition can be challenging, whatever your age, gender, background, or experience. Inner Voices explores, with insight and humor, some of those debilitating personal difficulties, and the...

Review: ‘DEMO by Damian Woetzel: Heroes’ at The Kennedy Center

The New York City Ballet’s “main man” for 25 years, Damian Woetzel is a hero to many, certainly one of my favorite dancers. Dressed in stylish jeans and midnight blue t-shirt, his dark curly hair...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Piaf and Brel (The Impossible Concert)’ at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

Though they never met or performed together, Édith Piaf (1915-63) and Jacques Brel (1929-78), nearly fifteen years apart in age, both became legends of the modern “chanson française” and the...

Review #2: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time’

Now and then there comes a production of a play that is so spectacularly original it confounds one’s every expectation of what can be achieved in theater. The story—a marvel in itself—could not be...

Review: Joey Alexander at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

To say that 13-year-old jazz pianist Joey Alexander is a child prodigy is an understatement. He is the future of jazz. According to his bio on his website, he has appeared in performance with Wayne...

A Report on ‘The Bohemian Girl’ Semi-Staged Concert at The Victorian Lyric Opera Company

The Victorian Lyric Opera Company (VLOC) presented a semi-staged concert version of the 1843 opera, The Bohemian Girl. The opera has music by Michael William Balfe and a libretto by Alfred Bunn....

Review: ‘Holiday Inn’ at Studio 54 in New York City

The gifted director Michael Blakemore once said, “When the curtain goes up, the audience is in trouble.” What he meant was that we out front want to know what we’re in for in the 2 hours traffic...

Review: ‘Net Worth’ at The Strand Theater

The Strand Theater (“The Strand”) opens its Ninth Season with the regional premiere of Net Worth, a funny and touching one-person show by Bari Hochwald. It was The Strand’s first show in its new home...

Review: Fringe POP (Performance over Projection) Private Track at the Logan Fringe Arts Space by PJ McMahon

FringePOP has started its run at Capital Fringe in Washington, DC. POP stands for Performance over Projection. The evening blends theatre and film, with 4 short plays and 4 short films that play...

Review: ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at St. Mark’s Players

When the cast of St. Mark‘s Players’ new production, Peter and the Starcatcher, charges out from behind deep red curtains for their opening scene, that is your cue. Stop right here and suspend your...

Review: ‘An Iliad’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

Surprisingly little greets the audience as they enter the intimate black box space at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop where Taffety Punk Theatre Company makes their home. Set, Costume, and Prop...

Review: Fringe POP (Performance over Projection) Private Track at the Logan Fringe Arts Space by Jane Franklin

The Logan Fringe Arts Space, now offering year-round programming, has launched a new annual series. Julianne Brienza, CEO/Founder of Capital Fringe, has a vision for experiment and the courage to make...

Review: ‘Ruthless! The Musical’ at Creative Cauldron

Ruthless! The Musical, Creative Cauldron’s season opener, offers a night of supersized camp and comedy. Ruthless! debuted Off-Broadway in 1992 with music by Marvin Laird and book and lyrics by Joel...

Review: ‘The Birds’ at Curio Theatre Company, in Philadelphia

When you think of The Birds, you probably think of Tippi Hedren running for her life through the streets of a California town – a town inexplicably under attack by every winged creature within miles....

Review: ‘The Emperor Jones’ at South Camden Theatre Company in Camden, New Jersey

Imagine the shock of the Provincetown Players of 1920 when they received the script for The Emperor Jones. The play contains a monumental role for a “negro” actor, and hundreds of roles for others...

Review: ‘The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane’ at Imagination Stage By Julia Exline

Imagination Stage presents The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, a stage adaptation Kate DiCamillio’s award-winning novel. The story follows a china toy rabbit through the era of America’s Great...

Review: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ at The Kennedy Center

The national tour of the critically-acclaimed, five-time Tony Award-winning production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time made its sojourn to The Kennedy Center’s Opera House this...

Review: “Volcanes: Cuentos de El Salvador (Volcanoes: Tales of El Salvador)” at GALA Hispanic Theatre

Cornelia Cody’s Volcanes: Cuentos de El Salvador is the latest offering of GALA Hispanic Theatre’s GALita children’s theater. Volcanes centers on a Salvadoran family split between the US and El...

Review: ‘Bat Boy: The Musical’ at Montgomery College

Director Matt Bassett, a faculty member of Montgomery College, in choosing Bat Boy: The Musical to direct, chose to examine, “how someone who doesn’t fit the social norm must struggle for recognition...

Review: The Gary Bartz Quartet at The Kennedy Center Jazz Club

The KC Jazz Club opened its 14th season last Friday with a soul-tossing river of jazz. Gary Bartz starts the evening with a prayer: “Sadness must leave this room,” as Paul Bollenback’s guitar, James...

Review: ‘Comic Potential’ at McLean Community Players

Playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn is well known in England, but less so here in the states. A prolific playwright with over seventy plays to his name, his work includes dramas, comedies, and many...

Review: ‘Zombie Prom’ at Unexpected Stage

With Halloween drifting in the cool, autumn air, Zombie Prom, as directed by Unexpected Stage Company Co-Producing Director Christopher Goodrich, and with Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey, is a zany...