Reviews

Review: ‘Hedda Gabler’ at Studio Theatre

Hedda Tesman, aka., Hedda Gabler, has it all: beauty, grace, status, ambition, wit, and feminine mystique. And, per usual, it’s the mystique that does her in. Studio Theatre’s Hedda Gabler, in a new...

Review: ‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Ritz Theatre Company

The Great American Trailer Park Musical is a terrific title for a show. When you hear it, you know exactly where it takes place – and you can probably guess what the story and the characters are going...

Review: ‘Bakersfield Mist’ at Olney Theatre Center

Class and culture clash and collide to comedic heights in Stephen Sachs’ two-hander show, Bakersfield Mist, which opened this weekend at Olney Theatre Center. Dexterously directed by DC veteran John...

Review: ‘War of the Worlds’ at Scena Theatre

Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds is infamous for having incited a mini UFO panic due to its vivid and realistic descriptions of a fictitious Martian invasion. The iconic actor...

Review: ‘Some Enchanted Evening: The Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein and the American Songbook’ with Renée Fleming and Norm Lewis With The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II pioneered a flair that was all their own in the golden age of musical theater. From 1940 to Hammerstein’s death in 1960, this musical duo dominated the musical...

Review: ‘Happy Hour’ at Spooky Action Theater

A ticking clock is an amazing motivator. So is competition. Blend them together with a dose of live theatre and some spectacular technology, and you have Happy Hour, created by machina Ex and...

Review: ‘Twelfth Night’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio; theatre by kids, for kids, presents a youthful revision of Twelfth Night. Adapted especially for Encore by Caroline Schreiber and Elizabeth Pringle, this beachy twist is a great...

Review: ‘City of Angels’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Los Angeles may be named after those who pride themselves in virtue and goodness, but NextStop Theatre Company’s production of City of Angels is a reminder that the citizens of Hollywood are anything...

Review: ‘Martin Luther on Trial’ at The Lansburgh Theatre

Martin Luther on Trial, the new play by Chris Cragin-Day and Max McLean that had its world premiere in DC at the Lansburgh Theatre, joins the canon of great theatrical works about major figures in...

Review: Patina Miller at Strathmore’s Annual Spring Gala

Patina Miller’s luminous stage presence added snap, sizzle and pop from the best of American musical theater to Strathmore’s annual spring gala, now in its eleventh year. With “Magic To Do” in support...

Review: ‘Next to Normal’ at Silhouette Stages

A powerful production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Next to Normal, opened Friday night at Silhouette Stages. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal...

Review: ‘Titanic The Musical’ at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts

Theatre Lab’s production of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical Titanic The Musical will easily win you over. Under the direction of Deb Gottesman and musical direction by Joshua Coyne, Theatre...

Review: ‘The View From The Tunnel’ at Divine Revelation and Educational Services

‘The View From The Tunnel’ questions why the good suffer There’s a scene in The View From the Tunnel, directed by Simone Walker, and written by DMV-area playwright Elaine Hutchinson, that reminded me...

Review: ‘Man of La Mancha’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA

Perhaps one of the most popular and perennial favorites from a golden age of American musical theatre, Man of La Mancha (with book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh),...

Review: ‘Miss Witherspoon’ at Silver Spring Stage

Christopher Durang’s outrageous Miss Witherspoon opened last night at Silver Spring Stage. The show is directed by Kevin O’Connell and produced by Devon Seybert. Durang’s black comedy is a perfect...

Review: ‘The Christians’ at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia

“I have a powerful urge to communicate with you, but I find the distance between us insurmountable.” The Christians by Lucas Hnath is a dynamite exploration of religion without the zoomed in bias of...

Review: ‘Voices’ at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

VOICES eschews platitudes for depth There are life-changing events that can hit one’s soul with the ferocity of a hurricane. Mental violence and strife can tear up the psyche to the point where those...

Review: ‘Cirque du Soleil’s OVO’ at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia

Cirque du Soleil has made quite a reputation for themselves. For four decades the company has set out to reinvent circus with bold theatricality and tremendous physical spectacle. Cirque has become...

Review: ‘The Ballad of Trayvon Martin’ at The New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia

A phoenix arises! The New Freedom Theatre is back with a solid professional production. After many seasons of darkness, except for their acclaimed theatre school, the lights are on again with a poetic...

Review #2 ‘An American Daughter’ at The Keegan Theatre Company

Lyssa is sitting in her living room with her father, Senator Alan Hughes. He reads to her a letter from their ancestor, General Ulysses S. Grant, to his own daughter Ellen Wrenshell. In the midst of...

Review #1: ‘An American Daughter’ at The Keegan Theatre

We can thank the fickle fates who determine the fluky destinies of local theater programming for Keegan Theatre’s inspired late addition of Wendy Wasserstein’s An American Daughter to its spring...

Review: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre

You might never guess that the Beauty and the Beast company now at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre has been on the road for well over a year. It is a musical of enchanted transformations, and that...

Review: Washington Performing Arts Presents Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax

You can feel the excitement in a room when witnessing the performance of an icon. With over 100 years of combined experience bringing classical music’s greatest pieces to life, Itzhak Perlman on...

Review: ‘White Guy on the Bus’ at Passage Theatre

Ray is a man living in two worlds. A white, middle-aged financial analyst with a spacious house in an upscale Philadelphia suburb, he spends his free time attending parties, discussing social issues...

Review: ‘Carmina 35’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

It was an extremely innovative and conceptually brilliant idea to celebrate 35 wonderful years of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) in a sophisticated, elegant and somewhat serious mode...

Review: ’12 Angry Jurors’ at St. Mark’s Players

There is probably no clearer distillation of classic American courtroom drama than Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men. The classic tale of a seemingly cut-and-dry murder case turned upside down by a lone...

Review: ‘Caroline, or Change’ at Creative Cauldron

Creative Cauldron presents the Tony Award-winning Caroline, or Change, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and music by Jeanine Tesori. Director Matt Conner leads a dynamic cast for this powerful...

Review: ‘All the Days’ at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ

Ruth Zweigman is not a pleasant person to be around. She’s so negative that when she says “I’m in a bad mood,” her sister responds, “How can you tell?” After making a typically harsh wisecrack about...

Review: The American Pops Orchestra Presents ‘Make Someone Happy: A 60’s Cocktail Party’ at Lisner Auditorium

For 90 minutes last Friday night (May 6, 2016), orchestra founder and Music Director Luke Frazier, Director Nathan Brewer, and Choreographer Kelly d’Amboise transformed Lisner Auditorium into the New...

Review: ‘The Addams Family’ at Alliance Theatre

“They’re creepy and they’re kooky, Mysterious and spooky, They’re all together ooky, The Addams Family.” Director Leslie Anne Ross has once again succeeded in assembling an outstanding cast superbly...

Review: ‘Wyrd Sisters’ at MAD at Goddard Space Flight Center

In 1999, living in Denmark, I happened upon Terry Pratchett’s novel Wyrd Sisters on a friend’s bookshelf. I opened it up and saw “the night was as black as the inside of a cat” – a line that...

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

The Tempest which played at The Silver Spring Black Box Theatre through May 8th was a delightful tour-de-force of sound, fury, fanfare and color. Directed and adapted by David Minton for Lumina Studio...

Review: ‘The Roar of the Greaspaint, The Smell of the Crowd’ at Compass Rose Theater

The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd – A Musical is complex, surreal, and yet a whimsical production currently on stage at Compass Rose Theater in Annapolis. With music, lyrics, and...

Review: ‘Collected Stories’ at Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions

“You can’t censor your creative impulses because of the danger of hurting someone’s feeling. Write don’t speak it.” This early line of dialogue resonates throughout the emotionally rich,...

Review: ‘All About Dvořák’ at National Chamber Ensemble by Ross Heath

Czech out the National Chamber Ensemble The wonderful National Chamber Ensemble closed its ninth season tonight with a Mother’s Day concert spotlighting the music of the renowned Czech composer,...

Review: ‘In the Community Garden of Earthly Delights’ by The Renegade Company in Philadelphia

Director/creator Michael Durkin takes his inspiration for The Renegade Company’s latest site-specific performance, In the Community Garden of Earthly Delights, from the famous painting by...

Review: ‘Moth’ at Azuka Theatre in Philadelphia

School shootings are inexplicable. A high school used to be an open welcoming location. Today they are locked-down prisons, intently suspicious of any unusual activity. Any play that tries to...

Review: ‘Phaeton’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

Phaeton, now on stage at Taffety Punk’s Capital Hill Arts Workshop, is a world premiere. Inspired by the Greek myth, the man-god Phaeton is granted one wish by his Helios father: he demands to ride...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘Twilight of the Gods –The Ring of the Nibelung –Part Three’ at Washington National Opera

Mother Earth is crying in despair and degradation in Director Francesca Zambella’s audaciously brilliant interpretation of the final opera of Wagner’s artistically magnificent Ring Cycle—Twilight of...

Review: ‘Perfect Wedding’ at the Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater

Perfect Wedding at the Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater is a laugh-out-loud riot. Written by Robin Hawdon and directed by Shawn R. Martin, Perfect Wedding is the story...

Review: ‘The Who’s Tommy’ at Kensington Arts Theatre

‘Tommy’ energizes, brings emotion We’ve all felt misunderstood at times. Ostracized. Criticized. Left out of the community of our peers. But then hopefully things change; we find a hidden skill or...

Review: ‘WaistWatchers, The Musical’ at Penn’s Landing Playhouse in Philadelphia

WaistWatchers, The Musical, written by Alan Jacobson, is a musical about aging, friendship, and body acceptance. Directed by Matt Silva, it takes well-known musical theatre songs, such as “I Hope I...

Reviews: The Washington Ballet’s ‘Carmina Burana’ and ‘Bowie/Queen’

Going Out With a Bang: The Washington Ballet’s Carmina Burana and Bowie/Queen The standing ovation came before a single dancer took the stage. It lasted about two minutes to honor the final time The...

Review: ‘The Wedding Singer’ at Fairfax High School’s FX Players

The Wedding Singer is one of the few musical adaptations based on a Hollywood hit that actually works. This is thanks in equal parts to the outstanding original music by Matthew Sklar and Chad...

Review: Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’

We should have known. Beyoncé dropped Formation in February, a song, a music video, and a Super Bowl performance that laid it all out: Yoncé was a black woman, a beautiful, successful, Southern Black...

Review: ‘The Ring Cycle’: ‘Siegfried-The Ring of the Nibelung-Part Two’ at Washington National Opera

The epic tale continues as the Washington National Opera’s production of Siegfried –The Ring of the Nibelung-Part Two played to a very appreciative audience last night at The Kennedy Center Opera...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: Cookbook Corner ~ ‘The Field To Table Cookbook – Gardening, Foraging, Fishing & Hunting’ By Susan L. Ebert

Cookbook Corner ~ The Field To Table Cookbook – Gardening, Foraging, Fishing & Hunting By Susan L. Ebert To pen a collection of recipes using ingredients gleaned from the great outdoors, you ought to...

Review: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ at Second Stage Theatre in NYC

In the rush of incoming Broadway and off/Broadway productions mid-season, I somehow missed the 2nd Stage mounting of this original and quite remarkable new musical by a new trio of writers. Dear Evan...

Review: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at The National Theatre

The National Theatre beamed with bright, bold colors and sheer spectacle last night, capping its season with a new production of The Wizard of Oz in an enthralling adaptation of the all-time popular...

Review: ‘The Body of an American’ at Theater J

A true story that begins with the desecration of a dead body becomes, before our eyes and hearts, a living and breathing buddy story. Dan O’Brien’s The Body of an American is an intimate two-hander...