The Kennedy Center

Barbara Cook Spotlight Series: ‘Malcolm Gets: Come A Little Closer’ at The Kennedy Center

Malcolm Gets is one of the most underrated stars in musical theater today. Fortunately, he got a well-deserved chance to display his exceptional talents during his solo cabaret show, Come a Little...

Cassandra Wilson-Coming Forth by Day: A Tribute to Billie Holiday at The Kennedy Center

The legacy of the brilliant and iconic jazz legend, Billie Holiday, coupled with the cool, classic styling of the very contemporary and experimentally-inclined jazz artistry of Cassandra Wilson fused...

‘Cinderella’ at American Ballet Theatre at The Kennedy Center

Just as the cherry blossoms come out, pure romance is in the air with Cinderella at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is performing this three-act ballet...

‘Ode Maritima’ at The Iberian Suite Festival at The Kennedy Center

Lovers of poetry! Lovers of the long line! From his deck on The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre, Diogo Infante calls, “Ahoy!” And the spirit of Alvaro de Campos, aka Fernando Pessoa, rises from an...

Mahler’s Ninth with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center

If you choose to let it, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 can scare you to death. Or you can let its vast scope and its ethereal beginning and ending that sandwiches raucous and even sarcastic episodes...

IBERIAN SUITE: Concha Buika with Iván “Melon” Lewis & Continuum Quartet at The Kennedy Center

Last night the audience at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall was blessed with Buika. If being blessed by Buika wasn’t more than enough for a single evening, the audience at the Concert Hall had another...

Fantasy & Fate: Tchaikovsky Masterworks: Lang Lang in Recital at The Kennedy Center

Virtuosity of the highest caliber graced The Kennedy Center Concert Hall this past Saturday afternoon as renowned piano superstar Lang Lang returned to perform at the established Washington venue for...

‘The Mundo Perfeito’ (Perfect World) As part of the Iberian Suite at the Kennedy Center.

The Mundo Perfeito (Perfect World) has arrived in DC’s America. As part of the Iberian Suite. At The Kennedy Center. Presenting a full evening of theatre, Mundo Perfeito offers two productions: Three...

‘The Flying Dutchman’ (‘Der Fliegende Holländer’) at Washington National Opera

The Washington National Opera takes to the seas for Richard Wagner’s first major work, The Flying Dutchman (Der Fliegende Holländer). WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello has staged a series of...

‘Antigone’, ‘Matilda’, ‘Kinky Boots’, ‘A Gentleman’s Guide To Love and Murder’,”Beautiful’, ‘The Bridges of Madison County’, and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Highlight The Kennedy Center’s 2015-2016 Theatre Season

The Kennedy Center Announced its 2015-2016 Theatre Season: ______ Antigone Starring Juliette Binoche, Directed by Ivo van Hove Three World Premiere Plays as part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival...

‘2015-2016 ‘World Stages Series’ Announced by The Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced its programming for the 2015-2016 World Stages series. With a long history of presenting original international theater works, the...

Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma at the Kennedy Center

An icy Sunday evening turned into a lush and warm, and enjoyable evening inside The Kennedy Center with the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma. Many of DC’s dignitaries attended, including TV journalist...

‘Dialogues of the Carmelites’ at Washington National Opera

A penetrating and extremely lucid psychological austerity permeates the current production of the Washington National Opera’s (WNO) Dialogues of the Carmelites by composer and librettist Francis...

‘Sleepy Hollow’ at The Washington Ballet

‘Sleepy Hollow’ ballet premieres at the Kennedy Center: D.C. Ballet shakes up expectations Yes, even classical ballerinas let their hair down once in a while. They relish tossing off those stiff upper...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: LaChanze at The Kennedy Center

The lithe and dynamic Tony Award -winning (The Color Purple) Broadway musical star (Once on This Island, IF/Then), LaChanze, proved herself to be almost a volcanic, spontaneous force of nature as she...

‘Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose’s Last Tape’ at The Kennedy Center

Zero Hour: Tokyo Rose’s Last Tape, a new work written and directed by renowned Japanese visual artist Miwa Yanagi, made a brief Washington D.C. premier this past weekend at The Kennedy Center. The...

In the Moment: Chamber Dance Project Prepares for 2015 Summer Season at The Lansburgh

Who wouldn’t find it fascinating to listen to a performing artist describe a path to creativity to “put myself in a box as a way to take on a task or a new problem. Then to force myself to go and find...

‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’ at The Kennedy Center

Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater returned to The Kennedy Center last evening with a tribute to its famous six-foot tall Texan director. Ailey died 25 years ago and filling his size-12 shoes has...

‘Gigi’ at The Kennedy Center

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe‘s Gigi, the Oscar-winning 1958 film musical that was later adapted for the Broadway stage over 40 years ago, premiered for a pre-Broadway engagement in the...

National Symphony Orchestra with Violinist Arabella Steinbacher at The Kennedy Center

It’s almost a cliché to sit smugly in a 21st century theater or concert hall enjoying a work that some original critic destroyed to his everlasting infamy. And audiences at this week’s National...

Mariinsky Ballet Featuring Hodson’s ‘Le sacre du printemps,’ Fokine’s ‘Le Spectre de la Rose’ and ‘The Swan,’ and Petipa’s ‘Paquita Grand Pas’ at The Kennedy Center

Russians return to the glory days of ballet Ulyana Lopatkina could have wrapped up The Kennedy Center and taken it home with her after her performance in The Swan, a.k.a. The Dying Swan, created by...

‘Dizzy Gillespie™ Afro-Cuban Experience’ at The Kennedy Center

I write about theatre because I know theatre, intimately and over many years. I’m writing about Jazz because I love Jazz, the way a man might love a goddess, fleetingly and in hot pursuit. If you have...

‘Mockingbird’ at The Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center’s World Premiere of Mockingbird Is a Must See Play for All Ages Brilliant: very bright, flashing with light; very impressive or successful; extremely intelligent. Moving: having a...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Will Chase

With a vigorous veneer of Broadway polish and a subtle touch of “down-home” country warm –heartedness, acclaimed singer/actor (Broadway, television’s Smash and Nashville) Will Chase captivated the...