Reviews

Review: ‘The Secret Garden’ at The Colonial Players of Annapolis

The children’s timeless classic, The Secret Garden, comes alive on stage at The Colonial Players of Annapolis, in the musical version written by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman. Director Lois Evans and...

Eddie’s Travel Picks: Scottsdale, Arizona

When writing about a destination like Scottsdale, Arizona a writer could easily take up reams of paper. But since I neither have the time or space for that I just might write this feature in two...

Review: ‘A Wedding To Die For’ at Kentland’s Mansion and Arts Barn

Murder at the Mansion Dessert Theater’s A Wedding to Die For featuring the talents of A Taste For Murder Productions was an entertaining and intimate production about a wedding gone terribly wrong. It...

Review: ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ at The Heritage Players

Thoroughly Modern Millie, a tale of a “modern” gal from small-town America who takes on the business and social world of big-city New York, is a popular choice for community theatre seasons. The score...

Review: ‘The Country Girl’ at The Stagecrafters in Philadelphia

Bravo to the Stagecrafters of Chestnut Hill. Their production of Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl captures all the hidden complexity of this powerful and difficult to achieve drama. Odets tells the...

Review: ‘Daddy Long Legs’ at The Davenport Theatre in NYC

Jean Webster’s novel, on which Daddy Long Legs is based, was written in 1911 in a farmhouse in Massachusetts. and much of its New England common sense, dry humor, and old fashioned virtues have been...

Review: ‘Regina’ by The Maryland Opera Studio at The Clarice

Marc Blitzstein’s Regina is a hard show to characterize. Some call it an opera; others might call it a musical. After a paltry 56-show run on Broadway in 1949, the show finally succeeded in a 1953...

Review: ‘Dogfight’ at the Apollo Civic Theatre

The cast of Dogfight at the Apollo Civic Theatre tackles an unusually difficult subject, especially for a musical, with great aplomb, assisted by excellent direction and unique technical effects. With...

Review: ‘Cirque Zuma Zuma’ at The Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center

As scientists continue to seek out new forms of alternative energy I would suggest they check out Cirque Zuma Zuma. From the time the troupe hits the stage they are dancing and don’t stop until their...

Review ‘Nice Work If You Can Get It’ at The Arlington Players

The Arlington Players (TAP) is taking on the feel good musical, Nice Work If You Can Get It. The book is written by Joe DiPietro with music and lyrics by George and Ira Gershwin. The musical is based...

Review: Arts Collective @ HCC’s ‘W.I.G.nition: Actors and Writers Fire It Up’

On Friday, April 8, 2016, the fourth and final performance this season of W.I.G., (“What Improv Group?!”) – the improvisational group that is part of Howard Community College’s Arts Collective –...

‘The Long View’: A Look at Motti Lerner’s ‘After the War’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

It’s a lot like Ibsen’s play, A Doll’s House, when Nora sounded the door-slam heard round the world. A similar shocking noise punctuates the end of Motti Lerner‘s new play, After The War, with the...

Review: ‘Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ at TheatreMcLean

The rumbling of drums, the chiming of bells, and the sweet notes of violins drifting up into the air all create an enchanting tune for a beloved fairytale. Then, the curtain opens, and the audience is...

Review: ‘Snow White’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Adapted from the Brothers Grimm classic, originally published in 1812, NextStop Theatre’s current family-friendly production of Snow White is by no means an untold story. Yet, this version by Kyle...

Review: ‘The Lion in Winter’ at Vagabond Players

The Lion in Winter’ reaches the pinnacle of high entertainment Vagabond Players’ The Lion in Winter, expertly directed by Steve Goldklang is a show any theater lover, nay any lover of art must see....

Review: ‘The Island of Dr. Moreau’ at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts

The Island of Dr. Moreau is kind of like a 19th century Jurassic Park. In fact, it’s more grisly than the latter – Moreau involves the forcible creation of human/animal hybrids – but the message is...

Review: ‘Dial M for Murder’ at Olney Theatre Center

If Frederick Knott had only written the classic thriller, Dial M for Murder, it would have been enough. Knott actually went on to write only two great mystery dramas – Write Me a Murder and Wait until...

Review: ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ at Red Branch Theatre Company

Red Branch Theatre Company has dubbed its new season “Paint It Red” with an eye toward the blood and mayhem in its selected slate of musicals. Up and running now is Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of...

Review: ‘Into the Woods’ at Reisterstown Theatre Project

Back in November of 1987, Into the Woods twinkled onto the Broadway stage for the first time. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and book and direction by James Lapine, it would run for 765...

Review: The Great American Rep: ‘Death of a Salesman’ at Everyman Theatre

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of its founding, Everyman Theatre is closing out its 2015-2016 season by doing something really special. After an already-impressive season of weighty pieces...

Review: ‘Cocktail Hour: The Show’ at Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA

Traditional ballet gets the “shaken, not stirred” treatment in Cocktail Hour: The Show, a unique piece produced and performed by New York company Ballets with a Twist, and presented by Bucks County...

Spine: ‘The Nether’ and its Virtual Revolution at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

In the middle of Jennifer Haley’s beautifully poetic The Nether, now playing at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, the detective quotes Theodore Roethke’s “In a Dark Time:” Dark, dark my light, and...

Magic Time! ‘The Nether’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Playwright Jennifer Haley has seen the future and it’s The Nether, her cerebrally chilling thriller about future tech and future sex. Just opened at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in a fantastical...

Review: ‘Jersey Boys’ at National Theatre

Jersey Boys, the 2005 Broadway smash hit and preeminent “jukebox musical”, is now bringing its signature blend of tough guy brashness and doo-wop dazzle to the National Theatre for a brief run through...

Review: ‘The Nether’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Imagine a place where you could be anything you ever dreamed of and do anything you desired in total anonymity and without fear of reprisal or consequence. Imagine the retreat you crave, that you...

Review: ‘Drift’ at Howard University

Howard University’s annual spring dance concert, held this weekend at the Ira Aldridge Theater, brings forth emerging artists. In collaboration with The Washington Ballet’s Studio Company, the concert...

Review: ‘Hunting and Gathering’ at Rep Stage

Nostalgia for the rigors of big-city apartment hopping is the last thing one expects to find out in the suburbs of Howard County. But Rep Stage offers up that and more with its D.C.-area premiere of...

‘Review: ‘Love, Sex and the I.R.S.’ at Wolf Pack Theatre Company

Love, Sex and the I.R.S. is a live-action 70s sitcom with standout performances Love, Sex and the I.R.S. features many manic rib-tickling moments. Its 70s feel will have you feeling funky vibes...

Review: Pianist Bruce Levingston Presents ‘Creating An American Citizen’ at Georgetown University

Bruce Levingston, Pianist – True Southern Gentleman and Cosmopolitan Musician On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, a captive audience was treated to a performance by acclaimed pianist Bruce Levingston, in...

Review: ‘Always…Patsy Cline’ at Walnut Street Theatre – Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

As one of the most iconic country singers of all time, Patsy Cline was taken away from us too quickly. At age 30, she left us with classics as “Walkin’ After Midnight,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Crazy,” and “I...

Review: ‘Macbeth’ at The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre

When you go to see Macbeth, you probably take a few things for granted. You might expect to be impressed by the splendor and beauty of Shakespeare’s language, and you might expect to be drawn into a...

Review: ‘All the Way’ at Arena Stage

Lyndon Baines Johnson, popularly known as “LBJ,” was one of our best presidents, and also one of our worst. Truly a study in contrasts, he could evince both strength and weakness at the same time. LBJ...

Review: ‘The Crucible’ at The Walter Kerr Theatre in NYC

Arthur Miller’s 1953 play has been resurrected by Producer Scott Rudin and 20 cohorts in a production staged by Ivo Van Hove, who performed similar service to Miller’s A View From The Bridge earlier...

Review: ‘Proof’ at 1st Stage

At one point in David Auburn’s multiple award-winning drama Proof, which is currently being given an exceptionally gripping treatment at 1st Stage in Tysons, Hal Dobbs gushes to Catherine about her...

Review: ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ at Round House Theatre

Southern jazz fills the theatre as the warm lights come up on a bedroom. A mix of yellow and pink shines through the windows at the back of the stage, transporting us to sunset on a hot, summer...

Review: ‘After Life’ | ‘Josephine’ by UrbanArias

Say “operatic double bill” and two duos spring to mind, for aficionados and amateurs alike. From the mid-20th century, Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium and The Telephone; from the late-19th century,...

Review: ‘The Good Person of Setzuan’ at The Towson University Department of Theatre Arts

Bertolt Brecht’s tale of the struggle to be good under the weight of capitalism is brought to the streets of Baltimore in Director Stephen Nunns’ lively and profound production of Bertolt Brecht’s The...

Review: ‘Harry and the Thief’ at Strand Theater Company

It’s admirable when a playwright takes on depicting a public figure when creating a show that questions history. Putting words in the mouth of a real person, such as the heroic Harriet Tubman, can be...

Review: ‘in a word’ at The Hub Theatre

By the time you realize that you’ve been emotionally captured by in a word, the breathtaking drama now playing at The Hub Theatre in Fairfax, it is too late to escape. Not that you would want to....

Review: ‘The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord’ at Washington Stage Guild

In the beginning was the Word–In the beginning was Reason–In the beginning was the Spirit. In the beginning was… Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Leo Tolstoy (he renounced his “Count” status)...

Review: ‘He Who Gets Slapped’ at Philadelphia Artists’ Collective in Philadelphia

The delicate danger of the Big Top mixes with a resonant sadness in Philadelphia Artists’ Collective’s circus-themed production of Leonid Andreyev’s He Who Gets Slapped. In partnership with the...

Review: ‘Doctor Faustus’ at Quintessence Theatre Group in Philadelphia

One thing was abundantly clear as the youthful Quintessence Theatre Group cast took its curtain call to the cheers of a packed house: these players had fun. Fun you ask? Isn’t this The Tragical...

Review: ‘Almost, Maine’ at Providence Players of Fairfax

Almost, Maine is a series of short scenes reflecting love stories of characters in the same small town which never quite got organized enough to become official, so remains “almost.” The actors are an...

Review: ‘The Boys in the Band’ at Dominion Stage

Mart Crowley’s groundbreaking play The Boys in The Band, now being given a superlative production by Dominion Stage at the Gunston Arts Theatre, is perfectly “on-target” as a study of psychological...

Review: ‘Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical’ at City Theater Company in WiImington, DE

Wilmington’s City Theater Company once again affirms its status as the go-to regional venue for youth-driven musicals, with its one-week run of Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Set in New...

Review: ‘Broadway Bios’ at Bethesda Little Theatre

If you’re looking for a fun family evening of singing and dancing, look no further than Bethesda Little Theatre’s entertaining Broadway Bios. Real life characters of Broadway musicals are on the...

Review: ‘The Winter’s Tale’ at Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

Shakespeare presents a language barrier for actors and audience alike. Typically, companies affect British accents (“received pronunciation” – not everyone is a fan), though many companies choose not...

Review: ‘Superman 2050’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences is currently presenting an imaginative theatrical experience, Superman 2050, produced by Theater Unspeakable. Founded in 2010 by Marc Frost, Theater...

Review: ‘Quilters’ at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts on the Green

The musical Quilters is being presented by Rockville Musical Theatre in partnership with the City of Gaithersburg at The Arts Barn. The show’s book is by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek with Music...

Review: ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Laurel Mill Playhouse’s most recent production is Paul Rudnick’s comedic drama, I Hate Hamlet. Having never seen this production, I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into but I was ready and...