University Shows

Review: The Midtown Men at ‘Arts By George’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

One of Northern Virginia’s bright jewel arts events, ARTS by George! returned to the Center for the Arts, George Mason University Fairfax campus with plenty of sharp, crisp, musical style from the...

Review: ‘Electra’ at Villanova University, in Villanova, PA

The mists of ancient history paint the birth of theater as religious ritual that gradually transmuted into drama.The Ancient Greeks always considered attending a play festival as a religious act and...

Manifesting Premieres Works by Mauceri, Graf, and Reid at NextNOW Festival at The Clarice

On Saturday, September 9, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s NextNow Festival, three playwrights premiered first drafts of new commissioned works. The plays were commissioned by the University of...

In the Moment: An Interview With Rick Davis on ‘Arts By George!’ on Saturday, September 24, 2016 at George Mason University’s Center for The Arts

These are times of increasing emphasis on STEM as the seemingly set future direction for American students; when there is serious discussion that college bound students and their parents be presented...

Review: ‘Fool for Love’ at Princeton Summer Theater in Princeton, NJ

Fool for Love is a pretty short play, and its plot isn’t especially complex: A couple of longtime lovers with a volatile history meet to battle again in a seedy motel room in the Mojave Desert. They...

He’s Back: Alex Stone on Playing The Con Man Again-in Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre’s ‘Catch Me If You Can’

Alex Stone has returned to the stage to play one of his favorite roles: the con man: Frank Abagnale Jr. in Catch Me If You Can at Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre, which ends its run this...

‘Very Well-Connected’: Meet Cast Members of Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre’s ‘Side Show’: Part 3: Da’Von Moody

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre’s production of Side Show, meet Da’Von Moody. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell us what other shows...

Review: ‘God of Carnage’ at Princeton Summer Theater in Princeton, New Jersey

As Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage opens, two couples meet for a civilized discussion. Their sons have just had a violent playground encounter that cost one of the boys a couple teeth, and the two sets...

‘Very Well-Connected’: Meet Cast Members of Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre’s ‘Side Show’: Part 2: Jehan Silva

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre’s production of Side Show, meet Jehan Silva. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell us what other shows...

Review: ‘Mary Poppins’ at the Phoenix Festival Theater at Harford Community College

Everyone has a melody that brings them immediately flashing back to their childhood. For me, it’s the first few notes of “Chim Chim Cher-ee” from the movie Mary Poppins. Those notes bring about the...

Review: ‘Assassins’ at Princeton Summer Theater

Assassins is about people who lived out their dream – but it’s not the dream we ordinarily think of as “The American Dream.” This audacious musical by Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) and John...

Review: ‘The Conference of the Birds’ at Montgomery College

Lots of ‘fowl’ play was displayed at Montgomery College during their stunning intimate production of The Conference of the Birds, passionately directed by KenYatta Rogers, during the weekend of April...

Review: ‘As You Like It’ at Howard County Community College

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” is among Shakespeare’s most famous lines. When it was penned, the Bard probably did not imagine it delivered by a girl dressed like...

Review: ‘The Flying Dutchman’ at Virginia Opera

How should we deal with the storms of life? Should we go through life content and yet oblivious to the suffering of ourselves and others? Or, do we allow ourselves psychic disturbance over the plight...

Review: ‘Pride and Prejudice’ at The Catholic University of America’s Drama Department

On Queen Elizabeth’s birthday, CUADrama opens one of the most iconic English-language stories in the canon, Pride and Prejudice. Darcy and Elizabeth get a brand new Pop Art twist in this refreshing...

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ Continues its Run at Penn State’s Centre Stage

In 1895, modernist critics were unhappy with Oscar Wilde’s less-than politically-challenging plot from, The Importance of Being Earnest. Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw wished to be “moved to...

Review: ‘Translations’ at Villanova University in Villanova, PA

One hundred years ago a group of Irish poets, musicians and classical scholars rebelled against English rule. The “Easter Uprising” was cruelly subdued by the occupying British, but this being...

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: ‘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: ‘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...

“Creating An American Citizen”: An Interview with Pianist Bruce Levingston

On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, Georgetown University will welcome acclaimed pianist Bruce Levingston, one of the country’s leading figures in contemporary classical music, for the Washington, D.C....

Review: ‘A Little Night Music’ at GWU

A Little Night Music might be classified as a gateway drug to Stephen Sondheim. Whether a fan or a skeptic, once you get a whiff of this vigorous (and tuneful!) exposé on humankind’s mating follies,...

The Cultural Arts Center Presents ‘Cirque Zuma Zuma’: An African Cirque-Style Spectacle Sunday, April 10, 2016 @2PM & 6PM & Monday, April 11, 2016 @11AM

The Cultural Arts Center Presents: Cirque Zuma Zuma: An African Cirque-Style Spectacle Sunday, April 10, 2016, 2 PM and 6 PM and Monday, April 11, 2016 at 11 AM Fresh from selling out shows in Europe...

In the Moment: Hylton Performing Arts Center Announces Their 2016-2017 Schedule

Dance, Music, & Theater Comes to Manassas, VA The Hylton Performing Arts Center announces its 2016-2017 season, a fantastic line-up of music, dance, theater and performing arts. Now entering its...

Review #1: ‘No, No, Nanette’ at American University

“I want to be happy / But I won’t be happy / Till I make you happy too.” So sings Uncle Jimmy to the show’s titular character. These are also the last lines, sung by the ensemble, of No, No, Nanette,...

Review: ‘La Serva Padrona’ and ‘Gianni Schicchi’ at Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

The Catholic University of America presents an operatic double bill La Serva Padrona and Gianni Schicchi for their Spring 2016 production. La Serva Padrona composed by Giovanni Pergolesi was...

A Master Class with Renée Fleming at The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presented a master class by Renée Fleming on Sunday, March 13, 2016. Dr. Grayson Wagstaff, Dean of the School of Music, gave...

Review #2: ‘Sarafina!’ at Howard University

“Freedom is coming tomorrow!” exclaims the students of Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts in Sarafina! a musical written by Mbongeni Ngema and directed by Eric Ruffin that explores the...

Review: ‘Sarafina!’ at Howard University

Even if you already know how inspiring and moving this show is, from seeing the film or the musical on stage, you are in for a spirit-lifting, heart-leaping, foot-stomping thrill when you experience...

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

I saw the whole of Baltimore From May until December Of all the things that happened there That’s all that I remember. — Countee Cullen, “The Incident” It’s interesting how one negative incident can...

Review: ‘In the Heights’ at Montgomery College

Montgomery College’s current production is The Tony Award-winning musical In The Heights, with book by Quiara Alegria Hudes and music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Many may be familiar with...

Review: ‘Into the Woods’ at Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Decades before Angelina Jolie played Maleficent or Idina Menzel defied gravity in Wicked, lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim was fracturing a whole slew of fairy tales for his witty and Tony...

Review: ‘Clybourne Park’ at George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

There are good reasons why Bruce Norris’ 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park has been staged no less than five times in the past four years by local companies.First, it is a superbly...

Review: ‘Cyrano’ at Mask and Bauble Dramatic Society at Georgetown University

Long before singles misrepresented themselves in their Tinder profiles or cribbed others’ memes online, there was Cyrano de Bergerac— the man who would be Romeo, if not for that monstrous appendage....

Review: ‘Troilus and Cressida’ at the University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies

Most of Shakespeare’s plays can be classified as comedies or tragedies, where everyone gets married or everybody dies, but Troilus and Cressida toes the line. It has its moments of levity, but it also...

Review: ‘A Wonderful Noise’ at Villanova Theatre

When’s the last time you saw a musical about the competitive world of barbershop quartet singing? I’m not positive, but I think A Wonderful Noise may be the first show of its kind. (Truth to tell, the...

Review: ‘Br’er Cotton’ at The Catholic University’s Department of Drama

It is exciting when new works of theater appear by young and promising playwrights. Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, whose Br’er Cotton premiered last night at The Catholic University of America’s Hartke...

A Report on A New Works Reading of ‘Another Country’ by Maryland Opera Studio

The annual Maryland Opera Studio New Works Reading has a twofold mission – to give young artists the opportunity to collaborate with living composers and to give the composers an opportunity to have...

Review: ‘Legacy Street’ at The Catholic University’s Department of Drama

Legacy Street, a new play by Lauren Jane Redmond, an MFA Playwriting candidate at The Catholic University of America, premiered last night at the Callan Theatre. A gritty look at violence in the...

Review: ‘Big Love’ at American University

The cast of American University’s Big Love, written by Charles L. Mee and directed by Isaiah M. Wooden, was masterful in communicating the big and complex issues raised in the play. Without harangues...

Review: ‘Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet’ at Howard University

Last night I had the great satisfaction of watching Howard University students take on the challenge of a certifiably risk-taking play—Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Marcus; Or the Secret of Sweet—and with...

Review: ‘The 33rd Annual Choreographers’ Showcase’ at The Clarice

The 33rd Annual Choreographers’ Showcase presented by The Clarice and The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) and adjudicated by notable choreographers and teachers Zvi...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #20: University Productions, Performances, and Ensembles

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2015 Best Productions, Performances, and Ensembles honors in University productions go to: UNIVERSITY PRODUCTIONS: A Funny Thing...

‘The Zoo Story’ and ‘Pullman, WA’ at CCBC Academic Theatres

As the fall semester comes to a close, the theater department at CCBC Essex has taken a turn for the absurd. Julie Lewis directs the double feature of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and Young Jean Lee’s...

Reading of ‘Noura’ at Georgetown University’s Myriad Voices: A Cross-Cultural Performance Festival

On my explorations into the local universe of university theater, I’ve sighted some terrific stuff. Most of it I’ve written about for DCMetroTheaterArts (see links to my recent faves below). But if I...

‘The Impresario’ at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Sheaves of music start flying and the upper octaves get higher and louder during an open opera audition. Vanity and rivalry turn into a feline fight-fest when two sopranos vie to get the best part....

‘Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers’ by the Mason Players at GMU’s Center for the Arts

I know we all remember our first trip to Neverland, our first time meeting Peter Pan. And still without fail, every trip back is slightly different from the last. In Michael Lluberes’ adaption of...

‘Big Love’ at The Catholic University of America

The façade of an Italian courtyard stands ominously on the Hartke stage as the audience files in. A single girl is seated at a table, surrounded by a bathtub and a piano. Everything is pristine and...

‘Marisol’ at Montgomery College’s Theatre Department

Marisol keenly follows the traditions of Magical Realism and Theater of the Absurd. It is clear that Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Becket, who are known for this genre, are major influences of the...

‘War With the Newts’ at Georgetown University

When an actor comes on stage and tells you to silence your cell phone, etc., then identifies himself as a newt, you might be a bit perplexed. And when, further, he announces that all the humans you’ll...