University Shows

‘SPUNK’ at Howard University

As Alicia Mitchell-Mangual sings and the lights come up, I anticipate another fantastic production by the Howard University Department of Theatre Arts. The six actors and keyboardist Kayla V. Waters...

‘Wuthering Heights’ at Aquila Theatre at George Mason University

Before you can see anything, you can hear IT – the howling of the hostile and ominous wind of the Yorkshire moors. This is how Desiree Sanchez, Artistic Director of Aquila Theatre and adapter of...

Patti LuPone: ‘Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’ at ‘Arts by George’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Last night George Mason University’s annual Arts by George! benefit outdid itself as they had Broadway legend and TV star Patti LuPone headline their gala event. LuPone, whose credits span the...

Aquila Theatre Brings ‘Wuthering Heights’ to George Mason University’s Center for the Arts on October 5th and ‘The Tempest’ to Hylton Performing Arts Center on October 11th

Enduring works of live theater continue to be performed; even in this fast-changing digital age, with disruption to so much long-held, accepted wisdom. Classic works of literature and theater keep on...

‘Broadway’s Next Hit Musical’ at Hylton Performing Arts Center

Cue the bright lights. Quick witted, theatrically smart, and skillful improv artistry took to the stage of the gleaming Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas bringing good cheer to the full-house...

‘NextDANCE’ at The NextNOW Fest at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

The NextNOW Festival at The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center has a wonderful line-up of performances running through this Sunday, September 14th at the gorgeous arts space on the University of...

‘Pol Pot & Associates, LLP’ at Longacre Lea

This is a cunning conundrum of a play. It moves back and forth in time, sudden lighting changes signal shifts from realistic to magical, the characters speak like superliterate savants, one-line...

‘Les Misérables’ at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre

One show more! Another theatre another production of the epic musical Les Misérables. It is the summer of revolution and no theatre wishes to be left behind in this magnificent pursuit of the musical...

‘Die Fledermaus’ at Maryland Opera Studio at Clarice Smith for the Performing Arts

Maryland Opera Studio revels in the ridiculous with Strauss’s oft-performed comic opera Die Fledermaus. Director Nick Olcott exploits its absurdities to the hilt. He also translated the spoken...

Bhangra Blowout XXI at The George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium

Lisner Auditorium was filled with movement, color, dazzle and (ear-splitting) sound during Saturday night’s 21st annual Bhangra Blowout. Eight colleges vied for championship of Bhangra Blowout XXI....

‘Zero Cost House’ at Pig Iron Theatre Company at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

The Pig Iron Theater Company’s production of Zero Cost House by Japanese playwright Toshiki Okada at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center is a performance you have to...

‘Lysistrata’ at Towson University

No sex! No fun! Not ‘til there’s peace for everyone! Not sleeping with our men until they all find peace again! The age old protest of Lysistrata cries out in a new hybrid fashion of modern freestyle...

‘The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin’ at Howard University by Ramona Harper

The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Howard University Department of Theatre Arts’ current musical production, is a champagne toast to keeping it real. Authenticity and self-acceptance are...

‘Rent’ at American University by Bev Fleisher

Jonathan Larson, who wrote the original book, music and lyrics for Rent, summarized the musical in one sentence: ‘Rent is about a community and about celebrating life in the face of death and AIDS at...

‘Godspell’ at The Catholic University of America by Jessica Vaughan

Long before Stephen Schwartz wrote about a wicked witch, he took on the Book of Matthew in the controversial and revolutionary musical Godspell. The musical was updated for a 2012 Broadway revival...

‘Absurdities: An Evening of Ionesco’ at The George Washington University by Yvonne French

A pair of quintessential absurdist plays–The Bald Soprano and The Chairs by Eugene Ionesco–will lift you from the humdrum and deposit you in a place where language takes on a refreshing new meaning ....

Breaking Boundaries with Design at University of Maryland’s ‘Spring Awakening,’ Which Opens February 28th by Emily Schweich

He’s won five Tony Awards for lighting design and worked on acclaimed Broadway productions, including The Book of Mormon and Death of a Salesman. He’s worked with icons like director Mike Nichols and...

‘Etiology’ at The Catholic University of America by Francine Schwartz

The Catholic University of America’s Department of Drama presented a very moving production of Etiology, a new play – an M.F.A. playwriting thesis – written by Teri Gillmor. The passionate production...

Alice Smith in Concert at The Howard Theatre by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

Lovely & Amazing SHE. She is Alice Smith. She is also the title of Alice Smith’s sophomore, March 2013 CD release. This was a project that Smith initiated through crowd funding (and financed half of...

‘Speech & Debate’ at Montgomery College’s Communication and Performing Arts Department by Leslie Weisman

Montgomery College Communications and Performing Arts Department’s production of Stephen Karam’s Speech & Debate, which closed on Sunday is whip-smart, sophisticated, and incisive. First, there’s...

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at The United States Naval Academy’s Masqueraders by Joel Markowitz

I had a wilde-ly good time watching the brilliant cast of the United States Naval Academy’s The Masqueraders perform Oscar Wilde‘s popular The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious...

‘Marat/Sade’ at American University by Alexa Marie Kelly

If you are an American University student and wander into Katzen Arts Center this weekend, you may hear wails of agony. Do not be alarmed. The Department of Performing Arts presents The Persecution...

‘Molière Impromptu’ at The University of Maryland School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies by Jessica Vaughan

The University of Maryland School of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies invokes a mastery of comedy in their new production of Molière Impromptu. Molière was a 17th century satirist and...

‘Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine’ at Howard University by Nathan Alston

To say that I enjoyed Howard University’s production of Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation or, The Re-Education of Undine is an understatement. The moments of both genuine truth and beautiful storytelling took...

‘Hamlet’ at Georgetown University by Eliza Anna Falk

To cheer, or not to cheer? – The question did not even enter my mind at the conclusion of last night’s sold out performance of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet at Georgetown University’s Gonda Theatre.The...

United States Naval Academy’s Masqueraders Presents Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Professor Christy Stanlake

United States Naval Academy Masqueraders Presents Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest When one thinks about military officer training, theatre rarely comes to mind. Yet one of our region’s...

‘David Dorfman Dance: Come, and Back Again’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Carolyn Kelemen

Dorfman mines comic gold in his junkyard dance Anyone who ever yawned through a pretentious ballet or heaved a sign of relief when a particularly ominous modern dance finally ended can breathe a bit...

Directing ‘Twelfth Night’ at The George Washington University Tonight Through Sunday by Bill Largess

After working as an actor and director in the DC area for more than 30 years, and after teaching at both Catholic University and Howard Community College for years, I joined the George Washington...

‘The Kronos Quartet 40th Anniversary’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Bev Fleisher

I never expect less than the finest performances from the the Kronos Quartet. The Quartet presented yet another outstanding demonstration of their virtuosity at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at...

‘Sweet Charity’ at The Catholic University of America by Justin Schneider

The days are getting darker, the weather is getting chillier, and everything seems a bit more miserable than usual right now. But lucky for you, Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music...

‘Broken Spokes’ at Gallaudet University Theatre by Yvonne French

Broken Spokes is a complex production with excellent acting that packs an emotional wallop while lending insights about Deaf culture. Says Writer-Director Willy Conley, “My intention was to write a...

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at American University by Alexa Marie Kelly

As Halloween creeps closer… what better way is there to celebrate than to smear on some glitter, slip on your fishnets, and dance? American University students dive into the spirit of the season,...

‘Dead Man’s Cell Phone’ at The George Washington University by Rick Westerkamp

Let’s say you are sitting in a sparse, quaint café minding your own business. All of a sudden, a patron’s cell phone goes off, breaking whatever mood was there to begin with, and this phone continues...

‘Lucky Stiff’ at Montgomery College by Joel Markowitz

If you are a fan of Ragtime, Anastasia (the film), Seussical, and Once on This Island, you may not know that writing team Lynn Ahrens (Book and Lyrics) and Stephen Flaherty (Music) wrote a 1988...

‘The Matchmaker’ at The School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies at University of Maryland by Tiffany Draut

University of Maryland’s School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies’ production of The Matchmaker at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center has it all: mistaken identity, incessant weeping,...

‘Hurt Village’ at Howard University’s Department of Theatre Arts by Bev Fleisher

The tension rises before the lights in this riveting production of Hurt Village by Katori Hall and powerfully directed by Eric Ruffin. Howard University has always been respected for their dynamite...

‘Twelfth Night’ at Aquila Theatre at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts by Emily Cao

The New York based acclaimed professional Aquila Theatre and its cast of superb British and American performers presents Shakespeare’s charming comedy Twelfth Night with never-before-seen innovation,...

‘Maria Schneider Orchestra’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Lisa Driscoll

In a night filled with everything from big band charts to accordion-led ballads,

‘That Kind of Girl’ and ‘Gretel’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Ramona Harper

That Kind of Girl That Kind of Girl delves deeply below the emotional surface in an innovative stream of creative consciousness that examines gender equality as it flows vignette to vignette in an...

‘Anda Union: The Wind Horse’ at Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Tiffany Draut

A little bit of Mongolia came to College Park on Friday, September 20, 2013, as the group Anda Union performed their concert The Wind Horse at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the...

‘Civil War to Civil Rights: The Well-Being of a Nation’ at The Clarice Center for the Performing Arts by Ramona Harper

Martin, Medgar, Malcolm, Thurgood, Colin, Jesse, Sammy, Trayvon, Barack. Julian. Searing black and white snapshots of America’s past and present were opening images for the University of Maryland’s...

‘The Wiz’ at Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre by Ramona Harper

“This is an amazing production” — words of one of the visibly dazzled theatergoers following opening night’s The Wiz at Montgomery College’s Summer Dinner Theatre 2013. “Toto, we’re not in Kansas...

‘The Pajama Game’ at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre by Jessica Vaughan

For the 36th time, college students from Montgomery College and around the nation gather in Rockville for Summer Dinner Theatre. This year, they mount an energetic, hilarious production of the 1950’s...

‘Signs of Life’ at American University by Jessica Vaughan

American University staged a very special reading of a very special musical Signs of Life about an important part of our history. It was billed as a drama with music, and that is the simple truth of...

‘In Time of Roses’ at University of Maryland by Tiffany Draut

Most people are at least passingly familiar with the villainous Richard of York, and have at least heard of England’s War of the Roses, but Margaret of Anjou? Not nearly as familiar. Yet the...

‘Chess’ at Dundalk Community Theatre by Amanda Gunther

One little move effects so many people’s lives. A statement proven true as the Dundalk Community Theatre presents Chess The Musical. With beautiful and utterly haunting music composed by Bjorn Ulvaeus...

‘Spring Awakening’ at Towson University by Amanda Gunther

Discovery in adolescence; a true coming of age story with the trials of love, sexuality, and death all hovering on the horizons of existence. A stunningly profound musical, winner of 8 Tony Awards,...

‘Shakespeare in Hollywood’ at Catholic University by Colleen Sproull

It is with great pleasure that I write this review. Catholic University’s production of Ken Ludwig‘s Shakespeare in Hollywood is professional, outrageously funny, and brimming with voracious talent....

‘Big Love’ at Montgomery College by Flora Scott

Walking through the auditorium doors at the Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts Center at Montgomery College to see The Department of Theatre’s production of Charles Mee’s Big Love, I was delighted to...

‘La bohème’ at University of Maryland School of Music’s Opera Studio by Jessica Vaughan

Before there was RENT, there was Puccini’s La bohème, perhaps the most popular and certainly one of the most frequently performed operas in history. The University of Maryland School of Music’s Opera...