DC

DC Theater Arts Sadly Announces the Passing of Founder and Editor Emeritus Joel Markowitz

The DC Theater Arts family is devastated to announce the loss of our Founder and Editor Emeritus, Joel Markowitz. Joel passed away at 2:40 pm this afternoon from the effects of ALS. A fighter until...

Review: ‘A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order’ at Studio Theatre

Daniel Kitson is an acquired taste. In the premiere of his newest one-actor creation, A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order at Studio’s Metheny Theatre, Kitson’s stage...

Review: ‘Vicuña & The American Epilogue’ at Mosaic Theater Company

It’s roughly a year ago to the day that Vicuña—a political satire of presidential proportions—had its first showing in Los Angeles. At the time, audiences laughed themselves silly over the idea that a...

In the Moment: Interview with Desiree Sanchez, Executive Artistic Director, Aquila Theatre

Shedding new light on Hamlet by William Shakespeare is what Aquila Theatre aims to do with its upcoming production at Fairfax’s Center for the Arts. Hamlet has been recognized for centuries as one of...

Review: ‘A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order by Daniel Kitson’ at Studio Theatre

Living in the modern world, we are constantly the bystander to, or observer of, the life events of others. Be they consequential and indelible, or fleeting and forgettable, these seemingly...

Review: ‘Jacques Brel: Songs From His World’ at Source Theatre

Time has not dimmed the impact or abundant love for the musical works of Jacques Brel; even now, nearly 40 years since his untimely death. That is apparent from the audience response and my own...

Review: ‘Alcina’ at The Washington National Opera

The Washington National Opera is now offering opera lovers the rare treat of a disarming and whimsical baroque opera, Alcina, by Composer George Frideric Handel. An opera, by default, is often a...

Who’s in Town?: Tony Award-Winner Cynthia Erivo to Perform at the Kennedy Center This Saturday, November 4th, 2017

In my mind, Cynthia Erivo’s name is synonymous with strength and confidence. But it’s not just me. “Diva,” “lion,” and “dragon slayer” are just a few of the ways people have described her since she...

In the Moment: Billie Krishawn and ‘Emilie’ at Avant Bard

Avant Bard’s Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight with Sara Barker in the role of the whip-smart 18th century very real Emilie is a clear knock-out for critics and audiences alike....

Review: The Bentzen Ball Comedy Festival: Andrea Gibson and Amber Tamblyn

Amber Tamblyn and Andrea Gibson were heard loudly and clearly at The Kennedy Center this past weekend. Washington, D.C. and the Terrace Theater welcomed the two poets as part of the Comedy at The...

News: DC Performing Arts Organizations Rally to Support Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria

When Hurricane Maria struck the island of Puerto Rico on September 20th, the storm left millions of American citizens with no electricity, drinkable water, cell service, or a roof over their heads. A...

Review: ‘Mystery School’ at The Edge of the Universe Players 2

We are all connected. There are forces at play in the universe that are not seen, but felt. Within the realm of spiritual consciousness, we find Mystery School, a play by Paul Selig currently on view...

Interview: ‘Mean Girls’ Star Kyle Selig Discusses Playing Aaron Samuels in the Broadway-Bound National Theatre Premiere

Broadway veteran Kyle Selig is no stranger to the role of teen heartthrob. “I was Prom King in high school,” he sheepishly admits, “but it is very important to us in Mean Girls that my character be...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter Trio at The Kennedy Center

The Ron Carter Trio visited The Kennedy Center this Friday night. Consisting of bassist Carter, pianist Donald Vega, and guitarist Russell Malone, the harmonics couldn’t have been sweeter; the...

Review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at The Kennedy Center

Just as Fiddler On The Roof, Cabaret, Porgy and Bess, and Hello Dolly! defined their generations, The Book of Mormon mirrors the zeitgeist of the Millennial Generation. It is often vulgar, smarmy,...

In the Moment: ‘ReDiscovery Series’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

It was a festive, most satisfying evening of high-end arts entertainment and education. And it was totally free. What was it? It was a recent Monday evening at The Lansburgh with the Shakespeare...

Review: ‘Safe as Houses’ at Pinky Swear Productions

What do we do when a storm rages? We fold the laundry. We try to understand our daughter. We clean a table that wasn’t dirty to begin with. We don’t think about what’s being washed way in the storm...

Review: ‘Electra’ at 4615 Theatre Company

Back in ancient times, tragedy was prized for its cathartic experience; fear, rage, pity, the whole range of human emotions would run through you, and on a grand scale, too, with thousands packed into...

Review: ‘Hello, My Name Is…’ at The Welders

Challenging theatrical conventions, Hello, My Name Is… by Deb Sivigny, directed by Randy Baker, and produced by The Welders is like no other theater production I have taken in, in recent memory. The...

Review: ‘Digital Eye: Interactive Event Merging Theater Explores Privacy in the Digital Age’ at Blind Whino SW Arts Club

Big Brother Really, Really Likes You Your online identity does not belong to you. Digital Eye, a transatlantic theater project that was presented Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17, at Blind Whino SW...

Review: ‘The Adventures of Peter Pan’ at Synetic Theater

I have to admit something: this was my first Synetic Theater production. I assure you, however, it will not be my last. I had read about Synetic’s wordless Shakespeare shows and heard rapturous...

Review: ‘Emilie’ at Avant Bard

Life is full of unanswered questions. But in Lauren Gunderson’s play, Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, the title character is given a second chance. Avant Bard is currently...

Review: Dizzy Gillespie Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday celebration at The Kennedy Center jazzed the Eisenhower Theatre last night. I’m sure the rooftop is still aglow this morning. Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)...

Review: ‘DEMO’ at Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

No curtain opened on the black and white picture of Jerome Robbins, smiling, in a sweatshirt, a hand on his forehead and another on the chest of one of his two dogs. There was no boundary unrolled, no...

In the Moment: Interview with Lighting Designer Andrew F. Griffin

Folger’s production of Antony and Cleopatra directed by Robert Richmond has garnered its rightful share of critical acclaim. Its lighting design is a critical component of the production’s striking...

Review: ‘God of Carnage’ at George Washington University

The big laughs in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage come from watching grownups behaving badly, and the big joke is that four parents end up acting more like petulant, belligerent children than their own...

Review: ‘Little Women’ at American Univeristy

Louisa May Alcott’s evergreen tale of female fortitude and family virtues beams its inspiring message once again at American University’s lovely new production of Little Women, the musical. A talented...

Dangereuse: ‘Emilie’ by Lauren Gunderson at WSC Avant Bard

Emilie Our Contemporary Emilie du Châtelet, scientist, mathematician, lover of Voltaire, genius, is a perfect example of the power of women in the 18th century and today. Many of the challenges to...

In the Moment: ‘Jazz4Justice’ at Center for the Arts

Hardy, inspiring community engagement is vital for the continuing health of the performing arts. That is a given. With challenging times for arts funding; the changes in the acceptance of the...

Review of the Mariinsky Ballet in ‘La Bayadère’ at The Kennedy Center

If you’ve never seen the Mariinsky Ballet dance a full-length classic (or missed its previous 2008 production of La Bayadère,) rush to buy tickets for this current engagement at The Kennedy Center...

Review: ‘Wilderness’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

The Kennedy Center recently presented En Garde Arts’ touring production of Wilderness, a multimedia show that discusses the real-life accounts of young teens who struggle with mental health. The piece...

Review: ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ at the Folger Theatre

All for Love Noted critic Harold Bloom once said, “We certainly can say that Cleopatra and Antony do not bore each other, and they are bored, erotically and otherwise, by everyone else in their...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz’s Birthday Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Nonagenarian jazz–what is it? It’s Lee Konitz leading a quartet that includes George Schuller on drums, Jeremy Stratton on bass, and Dan Tepfer on piano. And in his Kennedy Center’s Birthday...

Interview: ‘Electra’ Director Stevie Zimmerman

Stevie Zimmerman has a reputation in DC as a “must-see” director. She received her bachelors from Oxford and her masters from the University of Leeds in England. She directed The Pitmen Painters and...

Magic Time!: ‘Sotto Voce’ at Theater J

Among the revelatory dimensions of this lyrical play is one that caught my attention by surprise. I knew going in that Sotto Voce, by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz, would resonate with...

Review: ‘Shining Brow’ at UrbanArias

Can an artist be true to his art as well as to his promises? Is destruction the price of creation? These are the questions at the heart of Shining Brow—music by Daron Hagen; liberetto by Paul...

Review: National Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Juanjo Mena and Pianist Garrick Ohlsson at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Final Performance TODAY, 10-15-17 at 3:00 p.m.)

It’s not unusual for concertgoers to be greeted by the sounds of orchestra members tuning their instruments, so commencing Thursday night’s concert with Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason...

Review: ‘An Act of God’ at Signature Theatre

I was healed. Aches and pains of the day disappeared. Headaches from paying too close attention to Presidential tweets vanished. I might have been saved too. Not sure of that just yet. Will have to...

Magic Time!: ‘An Act of God’ at Signature Theatre

Rarely have I enjoyed such a perfect union of comic writing, acting, and staging with such non-stop hilarity. Just opened in the intimate Ark theater at Signature. An Act of God, had me doubled over...

Review: ‘The Price’ at Arena Stage

Arthur Miller is best known for his two American classics: Death of a Salesman and All My Sons. American high schoolers still know him for his third significant work, The Crucible. Although The Price,...

Review: ‘The Red Shoes’ at Kennedy Center Opera House

Generations of budding ballerinas have lusted after the shiny crimson satin pointe shoes in the classic 1948 film The Red Shoes. Who can resist those shoes, they make the wearer dance, and dance, and...

Review: ‘Sotto Voce’ at Theater J

In Sotto Voce, Theater J’s first production of the 2017-18 season, the characters don’t actually lower their voices. Instead, they speak in whispers, and not always to each other. However, they do...

Review: ‘Jason Moran & Q-Tip’ at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

It started with the basics. Q-Tip took us back to the early days of hip-hop, to 1973 when soldiers were returning from Vietnam and the architects of hip-hop started doing their thing in obscurity....

Spine: Love in the Time of Big Pharma, ‘The Effect’ at Studio Theatre

Big Pharma is not only big, it’s growing bigger by the panic attack, by the back spasm, by the botched terrorist attack. We want that pill that makes us happy because that happy is our latest knight...

Review: ‘Lotus’ at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

Tap dancers are family. As family they gather together, catch up, trade stories, reminisce, honor their forbears and simply, yet profoundly, enjoy each others’ company. Saturday evening’s sold-out...

In the Moment: ‘The Mistress Cycle’ at Creative Cauldron

Illuminating what has been in the shadows, or usually whispered about, Creative Cauldron has provided a delicately rendered musical about the harsh realities women have faced over the centuries when...

Review: ‘The Effect’ at Studio Theatre

When two lovers in life or on stage display an intense interaction of attraction, they are said to have “chemistry.” That elusive feeling may be more than a metaphor, according to Lucy Prebble’s...

Review: VelocityDC Dance Festival

Velocity is speed with purpose: a change in distance over time, crucially defined by direction. The VelocityDC Dance Festival took us in many. In its ninth iteration, the variety-style performance,...

Review: Catholic University of America’s Chamber Orchestra Performs an Evening of Music by Rossini, Bizet and de Falla

The neoclassical room at the Former Spanish Ambassador’s Residence was the perfect backdrop for the sold-out concert of the Catholic University of America’s Chamber Orchestra. On October 5, in...

Review: ‘Assassins’ at Pallas Theatre Collective

This season for whatever reason—and far be it from me to speculate—three theater companies in the nation’s capital are presenting Stephen Sondheim’s tunefully insolent tribute to presidential...