University Shows

Lessons in creative coping during COVID-19: Bowie State University theater and dance faculty tell how it’s going

With university campuses closed because of COVID-19, how is student education continuing forward? This is a critical question, especially for higher education theater and dance departments—where...

‘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...

The Mason Cabaret is in splendid voice with ‘The Great American Songbook!’ at GMU

With personality galore and voices full of pizzazz and warmth, The Mason Cabaret in Concert delivered a wonderful evening of Celebrating the Great American Songbook! Under the direction of James...

‘Flyin’ West’ Soars to the Clarice UMD’s School of Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies

By Kyle Starling The School of Theatre, Dance, & Performance Studies (TDPS) and The Clarice at the University of Maryland, College Park will be premiering their main stage production of Flyin’ West by...

Review: Audra McDonald Headlines George Mason’s University’s ‘ARTS by George!’

Audra McDonald’s concert Saturday night, September 28, was the culmination of a wonderful evening at George Mason University’s 14th annual ARTS by George! benefit. The concert hall at the Center for...

Review: ‘Machinal’ at George Mason University

Taut and remarkable is the production of Sophie Treadwell’s expressionistic play Machinal (1928), performed by George Mason University School of Theater and Mason Players. A student production,...

A Youthful Fresh Take on ‘Our Class’ at Georgetown University

Long before the recent shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Derek Goldman had planned to direct a production of Our Class with student actors at Georgetown University. It is a play...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Georgetown University

Last night I had the pleasure of visiting a 167-year-old drama society. Georgetown University’s Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society was established in 1852, making them the “oldest continuously running...

In the Moment: Interview with Sound Designer Justin Schmitz

All too often the work of a theater sound designer can go unnoticed. In fact, not long ago the Tony Awards decided not to even provide an award category for sound design (now reinstated). Thankfully,...

Review: ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat’ at the United States Naval Academy

The United States Naval Academy’s Department of Musical Activities’ production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a feast for the eyes and ears. With lyrics by Tim Rice and music by...

Review: ’35mm: A Musical Exhibition’ at George Mason University School of Theatre

35mm: A Musical Exhibition is referred to as a musical by the directors, but it is different from the way many think about the standard musical. The George Mason University School of Theatre and the...

Review: ‘Blood at the Root’ at Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts

Hard to imagine a dramatic work more perfect for undergraduate actors or more pertinent to the racial tensions of our times than Dominique Morisseau’s trenchant Blood at the Root, now playing in a...

2017 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘These Terrible Things’ by the University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents at the Caplan Studio Theater

It’s a zany self-referencing case of art imitating life in These Terrible Things, as the University of the Arts and The Berserker Residents team up for an absolutely hilarious parody of training...

​Review: ‘Into the Woods’ at Summer Dinner Theatre at Montgomery College

Each time I’ve seen Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, now playing at Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre through July 2nd, is the best time I’ve seen Into the Woods and this production,...

Review: ‘Love and Information’ at Temple Theaters

“I did tell you” “You didn’t” “I did I said Wednesday we’re going to dinner with” “But you didn’t” “Yes because I remember because you said” “All right I must have forgotten I’m sorry” “Yes you did”...

Magic Time!: ‘Off the Leash: A Journey Into Reality One Black Life at a Time’ at Woolly Mammoth Rehearsal Hall

After I watched eleven B.F.A. candidates in Howard University’s Class of 2017 perform a program of self-scripted audition pieces—character-rich monodramas, actually—I had one overwhelming urge: I...

Review: Howard University’s Spring Dance Concert: ‘Unjust’

Every time I send a reviewer to Howard University to review a show they always have this reaction: “Oh My God!!” And there were many divine moments when I saw the final perfomance of Howard...

Review: ‘In the Next Room or the vibrator play’ at Georgetown University

I lost count of how many orgasms are in this show. They keep, um, coming and coming. And each one is performed stunningly by a student actor with such precisely differentiated paroxysms and vivid...

Review: ‘King Lear’ at George Washington University

Director Leslie Jacobson has book-ended Shakespeare’s dark tragedy King Lear with lyrical and lovingly-lit tableaux of the mad king’s court as if in a fairy-tale photo op—Lear regal on his throne, his...

Review: ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ at The Catholic University of America

Who would have thought that an evening of love, ambition, betrayal, violence, and death could be so enjoyable? That is precisely what last night’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor at The Catholic...

Review: ‘Spring Awakening’ at Howard County Community College Theatre

The Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening (The Musical), with Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater, and Music by Duncan Sheik, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, and directed by Jenny Male, opened last...

Review: ‘Avenue Q’ at Montgomery College

Well lately it has “sucked to be me” with new health challenges, the political climate ain’t pretty, and you-know-who has moved to DC, so I desperately needed me a dose of Avenue Q to clear the dark...

Review: ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’: The FATS WALLER Musical Show’ at Howard University

Coming out of the Howard University Department of Theatre Arts production of Ain’t Misbehavin’: The FATS WALLER Musical Show, we checked googlemaps to be absolutely sure we hadn’t accidentally...

Review: ‘SISSY Accompanied by Johann Sebastian Bach and a Mouse’ at The Catholic University of America’s Hartke Theatre

If you can imagine a play that captures bits and pieces of The Wizard of Oz and Greek Mytholgy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a Tom and Jerry comic, then you will have some idea of what goes into...

Review: ‘Little Women’ at The Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music’s production of Little Women is nearly three hours of spectacular musical merriment. Directed by faculty member Jay D. Brock and with a book by...

Review: ‘All My Sons’ at The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

Some plays survive the test of time. Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is such a play. And the production mounted by The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance makes that point...

Review: ‘Dracula’ at American University

The famous novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, has been adapted for countless film and stage productions, thrilling audiences since 1897. With a cinematic look and feel, some stand out performances, and...

Review: ‘Eclipsed’ at Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts

Howard University presented the powerful new play, Eclipsed, in their black box theater this past weekend. Eclipsed was written in 2015 by Danai Gurira (well-known for her role as Michonne on AMC’s...

Review: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at the University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at The Clarice

Oscar Wilde’s final show is subtitled “a trivial comedy for serious people,” and when it premiered in 1895, it was comparatively trivial. Two men, each pretending to be a man named Ernest, two women...

Review: “Romeo and Juliet” at The Maryland Shakespeare Players at The Clarice

Set in a post-apocalyptic world, The Maryland Shakespeare Players’ Romeo and Juliet, expertly directed by Vera Belaia, was a fantastic voyage into both Shakespeare’s tale of forbidden love, and a...

Review: ‘Picnic’ at The Catholic University of America

Picnic comes to Catholic. And by the time it’s over, lives are overturned, dreams are rekindled, and who knows what will happen next. William Inge, master playwright of the heartland, captured...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at the Players Club of Swarthmore

The Players Club of Swarthmore’s new production of Mary Poppins may surprise some devoted fans of the movie. This stage adaptation, which had a successful run on Broadway a decade ago, isn’t a slavish...

Review: ‘DanceWorks Fall 2016’ at The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

This past weekend, The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance presented DanceWorks Fall 2016. The program consisted of nine separate dance pieces, each by a different...

Review: ‘The Rape of Lucretia’ by the Maryland Opera Studio at The Clarice

There’s a saying that says, “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia most definitely fulfills that second requirement. Based on the myth...

Review: ‘The Outcasts of Poker Flat’ at The Catholic University of America

The Outcasts of Poker Flat is the story of six uncanny people trapped together as they take shelter during a blizzard. Adapted from Bret Harte’s 1869 story of the same name, the one-act chamber opera...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at The George Mason University School of Theater and The Mason Players

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare has long been among my favorite plays. If it isn’t already yours, the Mason Players production could well change your mind. What kind of comedy do you...

Review: ‘The Waiting Room’ at Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center

Inside Montgomery College (MC) Online advertised The Waiting Room by Lisa Loomer as, “a dark comedy about the timeless quest for beauty–and its cost.” Director Dennis Mulligan masterfully animates...

Review: ‘Marat/Sade’ at Temple University

The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade is perhaps the world’s longest title for a play,...

Review: ‘Wind Me Up, Maria!: A Go-Go Musical’ at Georgetown University

There’s a delectable new musical in town celebrating a distinctive genre of music called Go-Go, and it’s gotta be one of the most go-to fun times to be had in DC right now. The show is in the splendid...

Review: ‘City of Angels’ at The Catholic University of America

The 1989 musical City of Angels opened last night at Catholic University’s Hartke Theatre, offering its appreciative audience a glimpse into the past through its double filtered lens. There’s no doubt...

Review: ‘Proof’ at The University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Department of Theatre

Proof by David Auburn, directed by Nyalls Hartman is playing through Sunday at the Black Box Theatre in the Performing Arts and Humanities Building at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)....

Review: ‘The Three Penny Opera’ at George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Building top-notch musical theater at George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) continues with its current snappy, sharp, nicely nasty production of Bertolt Brecht and...

Review: ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’ at American University

A funny thing happens on the way out of American University’s fabulous new production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. You find yourself humming along to “Comedy Tonight” or tapping...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Gallaudet University’s Theater and Dance Program

Like a gift that keeps on giving, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream keeps on rekindling. Dreamer after dreamer reconceives it as if anew. And last night that classic spark reignited at Gallaudet...

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...

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: ‘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: ‘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: ‘Radio Golf’ at Howard University

August Wilson made it his lifelong project to chronicle the African American experience in every decade of the 20th century with his Pittsburgh Cycle. With its production of Radio Golf, Howard...

Review: ‘The Call’ at University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies at The Clarice

Annie and Peter, a white married couple, haven’t been able to conceive a child of their own so they decide to adopt a child from Africa. Rebecca and Drea, a newly married African American lesbian...