New York

Review: ‘Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812’ at the Imperial Theatre in NYC

A most elaborate and tastefully glamorous musical has arrived in town to brighten the holiday season. That’s Natasha, Pierre and their sisters and their cousins and their aunts plus a few lovers,...

Review: ‘One Singular Sensation – A Celebration of the Music of Marvin Hamlisch’ at Live Arts Maryland

One Singular Sensation, presented by Live Arts Maryland, was a loving tribute to the life and work of Broadway and film composer Marvin Hamlisch. J. Ernest Green led the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra...

Review: ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at Georgetown Day School

If the idea of “sophisticated family entertainment” sounds like a contradiction in terms—an oxymoron if ever there were one—then Peter and the Starcatcher, which just opened for a quick run at...

Review: ‘Guys and Dolls’ at Richard Montgomery High School

Nicknamed “A Musical Fable of Broadway,” Guys and Dolls is a 1950 musical comedy based on the short stories of the legendary Damon Runyon. With music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo...

Review: ‘Almost, Maine’ at Quince Orchard High School

“If needed, use additional sheets.” I remember always being curious how anyone writing a High School exam essay could ever write enough to need additional sheets. Then I had the opportunity to review...

Daisy Eagan: From Her Tony Award-winning Mary Lennox to Playing Martha in ‘The Secret Garden’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

I rarely see a show twice, but I saw the Broadway production of The Secret Garden with Daisy Eagan 12 times. What a thrill it is to chat with her as she prepares to star as Martha in Shakespeare...

Review: ‘Falsettos’ at The Walter Kerr Theatre in NYC

We must thank Andre Bishop and his staff at Lincoln Center Theatre for gifting us with a very early Christmas present called Falsettos, composer William Finn’s musical with a book he co-wrote with...

Who’s in Town?: American Idol Winner Taylor Hicks, Performing at The Hamilton in DC on Friday, November 11th at 8pm

Taylor Hicks became a household name in 2006 when he won the fifth season of American Idol, becoming one of the most beloved winners of that iconic TV program. Over 200 million viewers watched the...

Review: ‘Tick, Tick…Boom’ at The Highwood Theatre

Originally a one-man show written in 1990, Tick, Tick…Boom was reconceived after Jonathan Larson’s untimely death by David Auburn and produced off-Broadway in 2001. Rewritten to include three...

Review: ‘School of Rock’ at Beyond the Page Theatre Company at West Potomac High School

It’s hard not to leave the theater humming Stevie Nicks or exclaiming “Stick it to the man!” after seeing Beyond the Page Theatre Company at West Potomac High School’s rockin’ production of School of...

Review: ‘Les Liasons Dangereuses’ at The Booth Theatre in NYC

Christopher Hampton’s play, Les Liasons Dangereuses, based on the novel by Choderlos de Laclos, a story presented through a series of the characters’ personal letters, was first published in four...

Live Arts Maryland Celebrates Composer Marvin Hamlisch on Saturday, November 12th at 8 PM

Live Arts Maryland Celebrates Composer Marvin Hamlisch on Saturday, November 12th at 8 PM at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis, MD Broadway truly arrives in Annapolis when Live Arts...

Review: ‘Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ at the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

It’s anyone’s guess what the late Oscar Hammerstein would make of it, but we are now getting our first close look at Oscar’s modest Eisenhower-era TV musical Cinderella all buffed up and retooled for...

Review: ‘Promises, Promises’ at the Ritz Theatre Company

Promises, Promises opened on Broadway in 1968, and while the world it depicts seemed relevant back then, today that world has largely vanished. It’s set in the Manhattan skyscraper home of...

Review: ‘The Who’s Tommy’ by Open Circle Theatre

After a five-year hiatus Open Circle Theatre (OCT) makes a triumphant return with an incredible production of The Who’s Tommy at Silver Spring Black Box Theatre. Written by Pete Townshend and Des...

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)....

Report: ‘Leslie Odom, Jr.’ and ‘The Roots’ perform at the 6th Annual ‘An Evening of Unexpected Delights’ Fundraiser at Baltimore Lyric Opera

Generous donors and enthusiastic fans enjoyed a night of bountiful music and goodwill at the 6th Annual “An Evening of Unexpected Delights” Fundraiser to decrease homelessness in Baltimore. The tone...

Review: ‘The Front Page’ at the Broadhurst Theatre in NYC

This three act comedy – The Front Page –by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, currently packing them in at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, is the best revival ever from the day when Broadway was...

Fringe Encore Series Review:‘The Radicalization of Rolfe’ at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

A deserving winner of the FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award for a play, The Radicalization of Rolfe, produced by Glenn Krutoff, is a uniquely witty original take-off on The Sound of Music. Instead of...

Meet the Cast of ‘School of Rock’ at West Potomac High School: Part 1: Josh Turner

In Part 1 of a series of interviews of the cast of West Potomac High School’s School of Rock, meet Josh Turner. Introduce yourself to our readers. Josh: My name is Josh Turner and I have been doing...

Review: ‘Avenue Q’ at Vagabond Players

Vagabond Players’ Avenue Q, expertly directed by Eric C. Stein, is a “Triple Crown”-winning musical (Tony for Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book) with a spectacular cast. The show is another big...

Review: Rosanne Cash at The Merriam Theater

Rosanne Cash admitted on Thursday night that she looks at the world through a “peculiar prism.” In one of the songs she performed that night, “Modern Blue,” she sang of visiting Barcelona and Paris...

‘Dancing for Divas: A Labor of Love’ Benefit at Howard Community College TONIGHT, Saturday, October 22nd at 8pm

The Bald Ballerina stages a dance in the name of Love Her many Howard County supporters would probably be pleased if Maggie Kurdirka, The Bald Ballerina, merely walked on stage and posed in her...

Review: ‘A New Brain’ at Theatre Horizon

I definitely would not “rather be sailing…”, I would rather be at Theatre Horizon’s production of A New Brain! The hilarious and touching show follows Gordon Schwinn, a songwriter for a children’s...

Come to KAT’s ‘Cabaret’: Part 4: Meet Jonathan M. Rizzardi

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of Kensington Arts Theatre’s (KAT) Cabaret, meet Jonathan M. Rizzardi. Joel: Where have local theatergoers seen you perform before on our local...

Leslie Odom, Jr. Discusses ‘Hamilton,’ His Career, and the ‘Evening of Unexpected Delights’

You know him as Aaron Burr, Sir, the damned fool who shot Alexander Hamilton. Now get to know Leslie Odom, Jr., the man behind America’s most notorious villain. I spoke with Odom in advance of the 6th...

United Solo Review: ‘Listen . . . Can You Hear Me Now?’ at Theatre Row in NYC

Growing up as a hearing child of deaf parents, Gloria Rosen faced many challenges, both in interpreting for and communicating with her family, and then struggling to find her own voice in the world....

Review: ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ at The Actors Company Theatre at the Clurman Theatre in NYC

Anglo-Irish Playwright Oliver Goldsmith’s “laughing comedy”- She Stoops to Conquer- was first performed in London in 1773. It’s been a favorite for study in English literature, and theatre classes...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Homo Sapiens Interruptus’ at The Huron Club at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

Following the trajectory of his career from heavy-metal rocker to student, writer, and theater artist, Carlos Dengler not only recounts his own personal development, but considers it within the...

Review: ‘HEISENBERG’ at Manhattan Theatre Club at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in NYC

Let’s get the title out of the way for starters. Simon Stephens, the author of this play, uses it to remind us that the German physicist Werner Heisenberg introduced his Uncertainty Principle in...

Review: “Oh, Hello on Broadway” at the Lyceum Theatre in NYC

I imagine there is a first time for everything. There I was, sixth row on the aisle at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway, at an early performance of an evening called Oh, Hello On Broadway. I did not...

Review: ‘Inner Voices’ at Premieres in NYC

The human condition can be challenging, whatever your age, gender, background, or experience. Inner Voices explores, with insight and humor, some of those debilitating personal difficulties, and the...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Piaf and Brel (The Impossible Concert)’ at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

Though they never met or performed together, Édith Piaf (1915-63) and Jacques Brel (1929-78), nearly fifteen years apart in age, both became legends of the modern “chanson française” and the...

Review: ‘Holiday Inn’ at Studio 54 in New York City

The gifted director Michael Blakemore once said, “When the curtain goes up, the audience is in trouble.” What he meant was that we out front want to know what we’re in for in the 2 hours traffic...

Review: ‘Peter and the Starcatcher’ at St. Mark’s Players

When the cast of St. Mark‘s Players’ new production, Peter and the Starcatcher, charges out from behind deep red curtains for their opening scene, that is your cue. Stop right here and suspend your...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Opera Mouse’ at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

An engaging storyteller, a gifted soprano, and a natural with children, Melanie Gall brings her warmth, talent, and stage presence to the Fringe Encore Series in Opera Mouse, a delightful solo show...

Review: Patti LuPone at Wolf Trap

The Barns at Wolf Trap resonated with the powerful belt of one of Broadway’s reigning divas tonight as Patti LuPone brought her concert “Don’t Monkey with Broadway” down to DC. A whirlwind tour...

Review: ‘The Encounter’ at The Golden Theatre in NYC

Simon McBurney is one of European theatre’s most original and controversial artists working today. For more than 30 years he has led Complicite, the theatre company he co-founded in 1983 and his works...

Seven Days in Italy with Playbill’s ‘Broadway on the High Seas 7’

I took me a busman’s holiday from September 20 to 30, 2016, by joining Playbill on its seventh cruise featuring Broadway stars and Broadway “Ambassadors” who are on board to mix, mingle and entertain...

Review: ‘The Mountaintop’ at People’s Light & Theatre Company

The Mountaintop is a fantasia rooted in one of the most tragic events of the twentieth century. Set on the final night in the life of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Katori Hall’s play takes King into an...

Review: ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ at Fauquier Community Theatre

Oh my God, ohmigod you guys, looks like this show is going to win the prize. Legally Blonde: The Musical, now playing at the Fauquier Community Theatre (FCT) is like a non-stop party, a party with all...

‘Look at Me!’ Meet the Cast of Media Theatre’s ‘The Bridges of Madison County’

The latest offering at the Media Theatre, the popular musical The Bridges of Madison County, based on Robert James Waller’s 1992 novel, with a book by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Jason Robert...

Fringe Encore Series Review: ‘Rent Control’ at The Huron Club at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

This autobiographical one-man show Rent Control, which won the 2016 FringeNYC Award for Overall Excellence in Solo Performance, Evan Zes turns his comic eye and adult humor on two of the greatest...

Review: ‘Jersey Boys’ at The Hippodrome Theatre

In the bright and tuneful world of jukebox musicals there are your basic pizza joints that sell by the slice and the hot-diggity neighborhood kitchens that dish up the whole pie. Jersey Boys belongs...

FringeNYC Encore Series Review: ‘ChipandGus’ at SoHo Playhouse in NYC

Winner of the 2016 FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award for Ensemble, ChipandGus— written, directed, and performed by John Ahlin and Christopher Patrick Mullen, and produced by Fat Knight Theatre, where...

Review: ‘1776’ at The John W. Engeman Theater in Northport, NY

This year marks the 240th anniversary of the formation of our country, and what better way to experience a taste of this magnificent history than with the musical 1776 now playing at The John W....

Review: ‘Babes in Arms’ at The FrederickTowne Players

Babes in Arms, a classic Rodgers & Hart “let’s put on a show” show, blasts onto the stage in the latest FrederickTowne Players production. The youthful energy of the cast fuels this two and a half...

Revolution Shakespeare’s ‘King John’: An Interview with Director Dan Kern

Revolution Shakespeare, aka RevShakes, a Philadelphia-based company, founded by Artistic Director Griffin Stanton-Ameisen in 2013, started out with a number of fascinating programs, including an...

Review: Anaïs Mitchell With John Gallagher, Jr. at The Hamilton

Anaïs Mitchell and John Gallagher, Jr. brought their five-stop East Coast tour to the Hamilton in Washington, DC for a one-night performance on Thursday, September 22, 2016. The two immersive...

Review: ‘Saturday Night Fever’ at Westchester Broadway Theatre

Saturday Night Fever: The Musical, directed by Richard Stafford, is currently playing at Westchester Broadway Theatre. The musical is based on the well-known 1977 Paramount/RSO film starring John...