DC

Review: ‘You Have Made A Story on My Skin’ at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

You Have Made a Story on My Skin, created by the Production Team and led by writer/performer Rachel Hynes, uses personal stories to explore lingering memories and physical scars. This collaborative...

Magic Time! ‘The Last Schwartz’ at Theater J

What is it that’s so tried and true about plays about siblings? Must be something universal, because there are so gosh darn many of them. Structurally they obviously make for auspicious cast lists,...

Review: ‘Who’s the Boss’ at The In Series

The In Series’ production of Who’s the Boss? is a fusion of two comic operettas, Giovanni Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial By Jury, re-imagined as companion pieces though...

Review: ‘The Last Schwartz’ at Theater J

There have been so many plays about dysfunctional families—think about August: Osage County, for example, or The Sisters Rosensweig—that it’s hard to believe that anyone would try to produce another...

Review: Amos Lee with Lauren Talese at The Kennedy Center

American music at its best is alive and well as showcased by last night’s Amos Lee concert at The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. The evening was off to a good start with an opening performance by...

Magic Time! ‘Cloud Nine’ at The Studio Theatre

Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, which premiered in London in 1979, is rightly considered a landmark play. It is pivotal for me personally as well, ever since I saw the legendary Tommy Tune production...

Magic Time! ‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre: ‘A show on its way to Broadway that’s so moving and inspiring I would see it again in a heartbeat’

When I saw this new musical on the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, there were no more than ten minutes during it when my eyes were dry. They welled up from the first scene. Sure, I know I tear up...

Review: ‘A Bid to Save the World’ at Rorschach Theatre

Imagine a world in which death no longer exists. Rorschach Theatre’s current production of A Bid to Save the World – a new play by California based playwright Erin Bregman – asks audiences to do just...

Review: ‘Cervantes:The Last Quixote’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre

If you’re like most Americans, you’ve probably never heard of Cervantes. Or you know him only as the creator of Don Quixote, a book you last picked up in high school. But don’t let that deter you from...

Review: ‘I Call My Brothers’ at Forum Theatre

Forum Theatre has a knack for picking trenchant works of theater that buzz with relevance to hot-button topics. Its current offering is a perfect case in point. Given this nation’s rising tide of...

Review: ‘Cloud 9’ at The Studio Theatre

Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9, now playing at Studio Theatre, is a fabulous, funny, smart, and ever more relevant vision of a world in the midst of upheaval. Director Michael Kahn, always the exquisite...

Review: ‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre

Nestled in the northwestern part of the island of Newfoundland, lies the small town of Gander. In 2001, the population of Gander was 9,651. On September 11, 2001, that population increased by over...

‘Take A Bow’ Part 7: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 7 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! _____ Caitlin Carbone as Hamlet in Hamlet at Cohesion Theatre Company. Caitlin...

Page-to-Stage Festival: ‘Wendy: The Girl Who Grew Up’ at Monumental Theatre Company

The Kennedy Center’s 15th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival took place on Labor Day weekend, with over 50 D.C. area theaters participating. Through free readings and open rehearsals, the Festival offers a...

Page-to-Stage New Play Festival: ‘Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Mosaic Theater Company of DC Unveils Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies. Full Production Set for World Premiere in January 2017 One of the most highly anticipated new plays of the 2016-17...

Page-to-Stage New Play Festival: Brave Soul Collective and African-American Collective Theater

Two of DC’s most important independent theater collectives bearing witness as black artists to #BlackLivesMatter are Brave Soul Collective and African-American Collective Theater (ACT). Both...

Review: ‘Urinetown’ at Constellation Theatre Company

In the not too distant future there will be a drought so long and severe that water use will become strictly regulated. So regulated that even your right to pee will be in doubt. How will you handle...

‘Take A Bow’ Part 6: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 6 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! ______ Hasani Allen as J.D. in Heathers at Red Branch Theatre Company. More...

Magic Time! ‘Satchmo at the Waldorf’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

It is the morning after I saw a compelling and telling bioplay about Louis Armstrong just opened at Mosaic Theater Company, Terry Teachout’s Satchmo at the Waldorf. I have my earbuds in; I’m logged...

‘Take A Bow’ Part 5: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 5 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! Paula Arcila in Miss Cuarenta at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Paula Arcila, a...

‘Take A Bow’ Part 4: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 4 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! Kestrel Coffee as Jessie in Rain Follows the Plow at The 2016 Capital Fringe...

‘Take A Bow’ Part 3: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 3 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! _____ Christopher Broughton, DeMoya Watson Brown, DeWitt Fleming, Jr., V. Savoy...

Take A Bow Part 2: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 2 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! ____ Stori Ayers as Alma (and others), in Yellowman at Anacostia Playhouse....

‘Take A Bow’ Part 1: The Staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ Favorite Spring/Summer 2016 Performances

Here’s Part 1 of the staff of DCMetroTheaterArts’ favorite Spring/Summer 2016 performances. To our honorees: TAKE A BOW! Stephanie Atha as Winifred and Sofia Bordner as Jane Banks in Mary Poppins at...

Step Afrika! Announces Free ‘Step Xplosion’ Tour August 24 – September 10, 2016

Step Afrika! will present free performances in all eight wards of DC from August 24 to September 20, 2016. The full schedule of 2016 tour dates is available online. Here is John Stoltenberg’s...

Review: ‘Aliens with Extraordinary Skills’ at the 4615 Theatre Company

The 4615 Theatre Company returns to Woolly Mammoth’s classroom theatre with its DC premiere of Saviana Stanescu’s Aliens with Extraordinary Skills. With its touching story, enthusiastic ensemble, and...

Review: ‘columbinus’ at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts

Columbine: an aquilegia with long-spurred flowers. Despite the elegance of this flower, the name “columbine” has become synonymous with terror, fear and death. On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris, and...

Review: ‘The Last Class: A Jazzercise Play’ at The Klunch

Practice your “Diva Pose” and head down to The Last Class: A Jazzercise Play before it’s too late! The Klunch presents this production by Dodo Theater Collective, and directed by Margot Bordelon. It...

Magic Time! Kathleen Akerley’s ‘Fear’ at Longacre Lea

There’s a good chance that watching FEAR—Kathleen Akerley’s playfully subversive new comedy at Longacre Lea about a troupe of actors in the throes of performing Shakespeare—will change your perception...

Catching Up With Anne Kanengeiser at ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at The Kennedy Center

As the National Tour of The Phantom of the Opera is about to end its run at The Kennedy Center, I had the pleasure of catching up with Anne Kanengeiser, who is starring as Madame Giry, before The...

Review: Barbra Streisand: ‘Barbra: The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic!’

A diva in the best sense of the word, Barbra Streisand has always understood that only an artistic perfectionist could span decades inspiring generations with her God-given vocal instrument —and,...

Meet Amy Staats from ‘The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play’ Tonight Through Sunday at The Klunch at Trinidad Theatre

Amy Staats plays MJ in The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play, playing tonight through Sunday at The Klunch performing at The Capital Fringe’s Trinidad Theatre. Joel: How did you get involved with The Last...

Meet Playwright Megan Hill from ‘The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play’ Tonight Through Sunday at The Klunch at Trinidad Theatre

Megan Hill is not only the playwright of The Last Class: A Jazzercize Play, but she gets a real workout playing the Instructor this weekend at The Klunch performing at The Capital Fringe’s Trinidad...

Film Review: ‘Ben-Hur’

If ever our world needed a story of uplift, peace and redemption as told by a repentant old war general, it’s now. But this time around at the movies, sorry to say, General Lew Wallace’s classic tale...

Review: ‘Carousel’ at The Theatre Lab of the Dramatic Arts

Carousel is a bittersweet tale of romance and redemption set against the backdrop of a town on the Maine coastline at the turn of the 20th century. With music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics and book by...

Dangereuse: The Joyous Art: Free For All-‘The Tempest’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

The Tempest is one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. Ethan McSweeny’s production makes us realize once again how profound it really is. This Tempest retains most of the cast of the original, which was...

2016 ‘Page-to-Stage’ Schedule for September 3-5, 2016 at The Kennedy Center

The 15th Annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival Schedule Saturday, September 3 to Monday, September 5, 2016 PERFORMANCE CALENDAR-UPDATED 8/19/16 SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2016 11 AM–12:20 PM ISRAELI...

Magic Time! ‘The Lonesome West’ at The Keegan Theatre

In real life, when we are spectators to two grown men facing off in dead-serious combat—right in front of us; with words, fists, lethal weapons, whatnot; unmediated by movies and such—our natural...

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ‘Free For All’

All is dark. All is silent. Then, thunder rumbles. Lightning strikes. A boat is caught in the middle of the storm. The sailors frantically run about, making any and all attempts to save themselves,...

A Report on ‘Handsome Hound’ at Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center

Handsome Hound, a local band piloted by twenty-somethings Claire Daviss and Cuchulain Kelly, gives millennials a better name. Self-described as having “roots in folk, rock, pop, Americana, country and...

In the Moment: Theatre Communications Group Reaches Out to Veterans

Reaching out to new or underserved audience for audience development is likely a major, on-going activity for any local theater troupe. Given the large number of military families and veterans in the...

Film Review: ‘Anthropoid’

Operation Anthropoid was the code name for a mission planned by Czech government-in-exile with the British SOE to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich, who was the head of the SS and a primary logistical...

Here are the 2016 Ruby Griffith Award Honorees

One month ago, on July 10, 2016, 2nd Star Productions was honored with the ‘Best Overall Production’ honor at Ruby Griffith Awards ceremony for their production of Guys and Dolls. And congrats to...

Spine: ‘The Lonesome West’ and Other Motherless Places at Keegan Theatre

Not long ago, Washington was the Murder-Capital of the USA. Crack Wars. Drive-Bys. Domestic Violence. Police Brutality. And all on a daily basis. The Murder-Capital of Europe in 1993 was apparently...

GMCW’s New Executive Director Justin Fyala Begins His New Position on Monday, August 15th

“It is with great excitement that we write to tell you that the Board of Directors of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC has unanimously approved the appointment of Justin Fyala as GMCW’s new...

In the Moment: A Chat With Fight Choreographer Casey Kaleba

How often do we theater-goers find ourselves totally in disbelief when we witness stage violence or physicality? Do you, as I do, find yourself in complete awe of the unnerving movements and actions...

Review: ‘The Lonesome West’ at The Keegan Theatre

The Keegan Theatre’s current and provocatively darkly comic production of Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West, written by the brilliant, raffish and audacious Irish playwright (The Beauty Queen of...

Review: ‘Fear’ at Longacre Lea

Let’s say a wealthy patron approaches an ensemble theatre company with a proposition: “Shakespeare? Why so much Shakespeare? Why so revered? Surely, other playwrights deserve having theatre companies...

Review: ‘The Trump Card’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Mike Daisey knew full well why we came out to see The Trump Card. We were out for “red meat.” We wanted to hear Mike Daisey tear Donald Trump to shreds. We wanted to see Mike kick his ass! And he did....

Steps from Broadway: “How To Quit Your Day Job” Makes Its NYC Debut

DC to Broadway! That’s the dream of the cast and creative team behind the new musical How To Quit Your Day Job. And they are well on their way thanks to a packed house and standing ovation at the...