Reviews

Broadway phenom Norm Lewis delivers at the Kennedy Center

Norm Lewis is an icon. This is an indisputable fact. There are few others who have made such an impact on the way we view certain roles. His impressive bio includes such credits as the first African...

Washington National Opera stages a vocally stirring, visually arresting ‘Samson and Delilah’ at The Kennedy Center

Tales of wars, slaughters, betrayals, competing tribes and religions, and a few dominant women make the Book of Judges one of the more colorful segments of the Hebrew Bible. Camille Saint-Saëns and...

Washington Performing Arts and Alfred Street Baptist Church present reverent evening of musical performance with ‘I Am a Man’ at The Kennedy Center

A reverently curated evening by the Artistic Director of Washington Performing Arts’ Men and Women of the Gospel Choir, Theodore Thorpe III, I am a Man: Reclaiming Brilliance in the Midst of...

‘Boys Don’t Cry’ at Dance Place rejoices in macho detox

Boys Don’t Cry made this boy cry. It happened near the end. I had been watching a performance by the French dance company Cie Hervé KOUBI. Seven shirtless male dancers, all from different countries,...

Theater Alliance’s heartrending ‘This Bitter Earth’ portrays two gay men in loving color

A poetic and politically charged same-gender-loving love story, This Bitter Earth by Harrison David Rivers—now playing in a powerfully moving production at Theater Alliance—strips bare the hearts,...

Annapolis Symphony Orchestra explores connections between past and present

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra’s continuing Masterworks Series, as part of this season’s celebration of Beethoven’s two hundred fiftieth birthday, takes the theme, “Beethoven Discovers America,” in...

All under one roof in Signature Theatre’s ‘Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes’

Marian’s cheery Florida home – an over-decorated retirement nest she shares with second hubby Richard – has become a tropical haven for two adolescents in crisis. Richard’s pregnant niece Kitty, whose...

Opera Lafayette debuts sophisticated recreation of Beethoven’s ‘Leonore (1805)’

Thanks in part to the bold addition of a missing tenor aria, Opera Lafayette’s elegant production of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leonore (1805), last night at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater,...

Taffety Punk’s ‘suicide.chat.room’: A unique, haunting, and compelling dance play

Highly recommended. An unsettling dance play. The phrase “sorry you’re here” takes on new meaning. It is not typical for me to write “highly recommended” at the top of an article. However, Taffety...

‘Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth’ returns to Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage brings back its Helen Hayes nominated show, Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth, written by Psalmayene 24. With the title character, Zomo, inspired by a Nigerian folktale, the...

Shakespeare Theatre stages a stunning ‘Timon of Athens’ for modern audiences

Among Shakespeare’s plays are a special few whose relevance waxes and wanes with the times. They disappear from the stage for years, only to re-emerge when they are ready to speak to our issues, our...

A formidable production of ‘The Wanderers’ at Theater J

“Isn’t it OK to sometimes be selfish?” asks a character in Anna Ziegler’s cunningly devised The Wanderers. With Amber McGinnis’ discerning, sympathetic direction, Theater J’s production provides...

Pianist Aaron Diehl cross-cuts jazz styles with a dive into their baroque and classical roots

The easiest thing for many highly qualified, especially classically trained, musicians to try to do is to cross genres in an effort to be relevant to the cultural world of 2020. Demonstrably harder to...

‘Ordinary Days’ at NextStop Theatre: Ah, to be young and tuneful in New York City

Adam Gwon’s 2009 show Ordinary Days could serve as the prototypical Off-Broadway chamber musical: four young characters navigate the Big City in search of their lives, in 19 songs over 80 minutes. The...

Caught between worlds in ‘Kill Move Paradise’

Don’t let those off-putting promos for Kill Move Paradise at Rep Stage stop you from turning out for its solid regional premiere at Howard Community College. This 2016 piece of theater is less a...

Nu Sass’s world premiere of ‘Weep’ is an arresting, unflinching peek into complicated lives

Trigger warning. Nu Sass’s world premiere of Weep is an arresting, unflinching peek into complicated lives with emotionally charged scenes and character collisions. It is a slowly building...

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s gorgeous ‘Swan Lake’ pays tribute to artistic directors

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s production of Swan Lake is a gorgeous combination of dancing, costumes, and lighting. With choreography by Artistic Director Dianna Cuatto, it is a wonderful staging of...

Victorian Lyric Opera’s ‘Pirates of Penzance’ elicits laughter, delight

There’s no doubt that The Pirates of Penzance is one of the most beloved of Gilbert and Sullivan’s works. Like most Gilbert and Sullivan tales, it takes clever jabs at the politics of its time while...

NSO: Noseda’s homecoming mints the ‘NSO sound’ in spectacular Mahler’s Fifth Symphony

Even though being a classical music reviewer often feels like a gig too good to be true, I don’t recall ever forgetting my purpose for attending a performance. There’s a first for everything, however,...

Creative Cauldron successfully “finishes the hat” in ‘Crowns’

“Hats reveal and they conceal,” Crowns playwright Regina Taylor states in an interview. Crowns is derived from a book of photographs and stories of African American women, compiled by journalist Craig...

James Baldwin’s ‘Amen Corner’ bears witness to the Beloved Community

Corners can be safe spaces for hiding. There’s comfort in corners because they’re out of sight and out of danger. In The Amen Corner, James Baldwin’s dilemma is whether to embrace the inner life of...

The room where it happens: ‘Henry IV, Part 2’ at Brave Spirits Theatre

The HBO hit Succession centers around a wealthy media family reportedly based on the Rupert Murdoch dynasty. Its central dilemma: who will succeed the ruthless Logan Roy as the head of his...

Despite killer performances, ‘Shipwreck’s’ political message falters

Shipwreck: A History Play About 2017, the new play by Anne Washburn in its US premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, summons the dread and dysphoria of primarily white liberals following the 2016...

Natsu Onoda Power’s adaptation of ‘Thumbelina’ captivates audiences of all ages at Imagination Stage

By Kelly Hanson Hans Christian Andersen’s Thumbelina, a beloved fairy tale about a tiny girl searching for a place to belong, has been captivating children for hundreds of years. Though this story has...

‘The 39 Steps’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company is a delightful evening of laughter

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of The 39 Steps is a hilarious send-up of Alfred Hitchcock movies. Adapted by Patrick Barlow in 2005 and based on John Buchan’s 1915 adventure novel and...

‘Cinderella’ (La Cenerentola): Well-sung Rossini at Virginia Opera

Spoiler alert: Cinderella and the Prince live happily ever after. Of course, since Virginia Opera, like all opera companies of any size, prints a detailed synopsis in the program each patron receives,...

In ‘Boy’ at Keegan Theatre, the anguish of a gender experiment gone wrong

“Oh, god. Maybe it didn’t work,” the mother exclaims in alarm. It’s the moment in this hold-your-breath drama when she realizes the gender experiment done on her child, one of two identical twins born...

‘Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally’ reveals the quotidian miseries of family at Baltimore’s Center Stage

Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally, playing at Baltimore’s Center Stage through March 1, feels oddly familiar in several ways, and in others, 100 percent fresh. Playwright Noah Diaz delicately dances on...

Megan Hilty and Cheyenne Jackson in NSO Pops: Broadway and Beyond at the Kennedy Center

If your ideal Valentine’s date is cheerful, charming, and looks fantastic in formal wear, then get thee to the Kennedy Center to spend an evening with Megan Hilty and Cheyenne Jackson. The Broadway,...

Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s ‘Mother Road’ brings powerful journey to Arena Stage

William Joad is a proud Oklahoma farmer with roots to the land as old and deep as the fields his family has tended for generations. But after decades of dedication, dust and sweat poured into the...

‘The Boy Detective Fails’ is a charming success at American University

“I’m good at finding out the truth,” says Billy Argo (Spencer Coben), the boy-prodigy detective, near the beginning of this clever, quirky, and quite touching musical. So observant of clues is Billy...

A fascinating rendering of ‘The King’s Speech’ at the National Theatre

Given that so many plays and films these days are based on, drawn from or inspired by each other, it is worth examining the differences between these media and the treatments they require. The King’s...

Beethoven in its bones: Faust-Queyras-Melnikov Trio at UVA’s Tuesday Evening Concert Series

When an elite chamber music trio has Beethoven in its bones, the ensemble apparently doesn’t need to spend most of their time together or even come up with a coherent name for the group. All the more...

‘Heroine’ at The Kennedy Center tells the searing true story of a woman’s rape in the U.S. Army

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Theater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their exchange in...

The power of romantic love endures in American Ballet Theatre’s ‘Giselle’

After almost two centuries of gracing the ballet world, American Ballet Theatre’s Giselle, sometimes called the Hamlet of ballet, still has the redemptive power to transform a story of deception and...

‘The 39 Steps’ at Constellation: a walk on the hilarious side

For an evening of dry wit and sophisticated, subtle humor, make your way…Oh forget it. Just come to Constellation Theatre’s The 39 Steps for a couple hours of cheesy lines, old situations, new...

Synetic Theater delivers visually stunning, ballet-driven adaptation of ‘Phantom of the Opera’

As Synetic Theater races through its rowdy teenage years (not quite 20, yet), they have earned a reputation for finely-honed narrative dance, brilliant original music, and spectacular visual effects....

Women wow in all-female production of ‘A Doll House’ at the University of Maryland

Director Kathryn Chase Bryer’s bold staging of A Doll House—beginning with the alternative translation of the traditional title of this classic by Henrik Ibsen—transforms a 19th-century firebrand of a...

‘Exquisita Agonía’ at GALA examines two families connected by one heart

Playwright Nilo Cruz labels his latest work, Exquisita Agonía, a “family drama.” Actually, the show that is currently playing at GALA Theatre is two family dramas that converge. The first family...

Pianist Ahmad Jamal celebrates seven decades of playing ‘American Classical Music’ in Kennedy Center performance

Nothing speaks louder about a musician’s accomplishments than receiving a standing ovation and cheers from the audience before he plays a single note. NEA Jazz Master and recipient of the Officer de...

A holy night: Folger Consort performs ‘Palestrina’s Perfect Art’ at the National Cathedral

What would it have felt like, I’ve sometimes wondered, to listen, in sublime surroundings, to sounds conveying the deepest devotions of Christian belief, long before the “melancholy, long, withdrawing...

Who is Black? Signature Theatre’s ‘Gun & Powder’ hits a national nerve

It may surprise you (as it did me) that the title of this melodic world-premiere musical does not refer to gunpowder. The word gun means there’s a pistol (which gets dramatically deployed). But the...

Cliff Cardinal’s solo ‘Huff’ at Kennedy Center offers a theatrical high

At the start of this brave performance, we see on a dark stage a young man who is making a suicide attempt. He is wearing cargo pants, a tee, and sneaks and has a food-storage bag over his head. The...

Signature Theatre’s commanding ‘Gun & Powder’ pulls no punches

Raw one moment, richly comic the next. Subtle in one scene, directly challenging the audience the next. The world premiere musical Gun & Powder at Signature Theatre is strikingly effective...

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicks off a week long run at the Kennedy Center

Looking for a respite from the political chaos that surrounds us? Care to leave your troubles behind? How about an escape to the world of energizing, uplifting dance? Catch America’s favorite dance...

Rorschach’s ‘The Toxic Avenger’ is the campy musical you didn’t know you needed in your life

Poor Melvin Ferd the Third just can’t catch a break. The ladies shun him, the jocks harass him, and the pretty blind librarian he has a crush on? Well, she thinks he’s a scrawny dweeb. But don’t fret...

‘The Royale’ at 1st Stage bares a Black brother’s big heart

This play about a boxer packs so many emotional punches into its compact six rounds, you might not know what hit you. As fists fly, bells clang, terse words burst, and the cast claps out each...

Brave Spirits Theatre’s ‘Henry the Fourth, Part 1’ is a triumph of excellent characterization

If you like your Shakespeare characters to behave and react like flesh and blood people, and not esoteric abstractions, Brave Spirits Theatre’s Henry the Fourth, Part 1 is a play you’ll love. Director...

Visionary Bill T. Jones creates a community in ‘What Problem?’ at George Mason University

Known internationally as a visionary man of the theater, Bill T. Jones has built a reputation over the past 38 years for his ability to visualize the human condition through choreography and dance....

The political becomes personal in Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Miss You Like Hell’

At Friendship Park, on the US-Mexico border just south of San Diego, from 10 am to 2 pm Saturdays and Sundays, 10 people at a time on the US side can see, and talk through a fence, with friends or...