New York

Magic Time!: DC Theater’s Whopping Wayfinding Problem

When I, a longtime theater buff, moved to DC nearly a dozen years ago, I discovered something weird: The Metro DC theater scene is utterly confusing to anyone who doesn’t already know their way around...

The Playwright’s Playground – The Playmakers CATF 2015: Part 5: Playwright Michael Weller on ‘The Full Catastrophe’

This Special Edition of The Playwright’s Playground begins ‘The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015.’ In a series of in depth conversations, I speak with the artistic teams associated with the plays at this...

Filichia on Friday: ‘It’s Kristin’s Birthday!’ by Peter Filichia

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: July 24, 2015: It’s Kristin’s Birthday! Purchase...

Meet the Cast of ‘Spamalot’ at the Port Tobacco Players‏: Part 3: Carmel Ferrer

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Port Tobacco Players’ Spamalot, meet Carmel Ferrer. Tell our readers where they may have seen you on local stages. I’ve done shows in the area...

Review: ‘Amazing Grace’ at The Nederlander Theatre in New York City

It’s miraculous that this musical managed to cross the finish line, to land at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. We all know how difficult it is to mount a musical these days, not only because of...

In the Moment: And Now for a Little Baseball, ‘The Nats and the Grays’

The days may have been dark on the home-front during WWII America for Tom Brokow’s The Greatest Generation, but baseball endured. Baseball was the National Pastime; playing ball, along with Big Bands...

‘The Music Man’ at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre by Valerie S. O’Keeffe

SSMT’s The Music Man Hits All the Right Notes As It Brings Big-Time Talent, Excitement (And More Than A Few Instruments) To Town! Oh ya got talent, my friends! Right here in Winchester City! From the...

‘Fun Home’ at Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City

This year’s Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home opened in New York when I was in California. I finally caught up with it this weekend at the Circle in the Square Theatre, where it has now settled in...

Idina Menzel at Jiffy Lube Live

Fighting both the summer heat and a summer cold, Idina Menzel nonetheless stormed the stage at the Jiffy Lube Live arena on Saturday, July 18, 2015, and blew the (figurative) roof off the place. With...

‘Hairspray’ at City of Fairfax Theatre Company

A huge, multi-generational cast tells the story of integrating a 1962 Baltimore TV dance show in a musical directed by Tara Taylor that is all heart—and soul. With book by Mark O’Donnel and Thomas...

‘The Altruists’ at The Flying Muskrat Theatre Company

Being a student at UC Berkeley, I am all too familiar with how hypocritical and conceited student-activist culture can be. The Altruists, written by Nicky Silver and first performed off-Broadway in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ripple of Hope: One Teacher’s Journey to Make an Impact’

Ripple of Hope is Karen Sklaire’s contribution to the teacher as hero genre – which can never have too many entries. This one-woman show is funnier and a lot more honest than some of the move clips...

‘Show for Days’ at Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center

Patty LuPone is a highly original and always welcome star who has built a brilliant career primarily on stage, and we who love live theatre have been its beneficiaries. Season after season she’s...

‘Peter Pan’ at Upper Room Theatre Ministry by Keegan Collins

Upper Room Theatre presents Peter Pan, based on J.M. Barrie’s play of the same name. With lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green and music by Morris Charlap and Julie Styne, Peter Pan...

The Playwright’s Playground – The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015: Part 2: May Andrales on ‘Everything You Touch’

This Special Edition of The Playwright’s Playground begins ‘The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015.’ In a series of in depth conversations, I speak with the artistic teams associated with the plays at this...

‘Commander’ at Vagabond Players

It’ll be nice to look back a few years from now and say: “I told you so!” Mario Correa’s Commander, which opened on The Vagabond Players’ stage in Fells Point July 11th, has the vibe of a blockbuster....

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘How to Quit Your Day Job’

Memo to Star Johnson, mastermind of OpenStage’s How to Quit Your Day Job: Quit your day job. It’ll be OK. Johnson’s merry musical comedy — staged bohemian-style in the Eastern Market home of sculptor...

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at Howard County Summer Theatre

As a child, I spent many hours in my grandparents’ kitchen, as I visited with them, ate meals or finished homework. Occasionally, my grandmother would take a decorative bronze dustpan down from the...

‘The Wiz’ at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre

Ease on down the road to Winchester and join Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre for a fast-paced, campy, fun, and ultimately heart-warming journey down the yellow brick road with The Wiz, now playing...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Baba’

Whether you are looking for an interesting evening of theatre or a high end New York City apartment, Alex Mahgoub will not disappoint. As Mahgoub takes the stage in his solo show Baba, he hands out a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Graceless’

Politics may be all about power, but who is really in control? In Graceless, written by Tom Slot and performed by Original Bindings Productions, it is pretty clear that Aaron Berniger, the Mayor of...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dishwasher’

We all come as audience to any performance with our own personal histories and experiences through which we encounter the work, but rarely does the work come to visit at home- to do our chores. Brian...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘straight on til moUrning’

This is not the Neverland you remember. It’s grown-up, it’s grittier, nothing is certain; and with straight on til moUrning, local physical theatre company relEASE has presented a daring and fresh new...

2015 Capital Fringe Festival Preview #39: ‘Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom’: Part 1: The Curious Incident of the Zombies in the Neighborhood’ by Alex Zavistovich

How does killing zombies in a video game have anything at all to do with this year’s Tony Award winner for Best Play? In The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, on-stage technical wizardry...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #35: ‘How to Be a Good Mom…When You’ve Got a Schizophrenic Mother for a Role Model’ by Pam Meek

Told with humor and gravitas the show is about the twists and turns in life that lead me to the birth of my daughter, Nora, at age 44. Stumbles along the way include blocks to reaching my dream...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #23: “Sanctuary’ by Susanne Sulby

Sanctuary, A new play about the impact of war on women premiering at the Capital Fringe Festival July 17-July 26, 2015 Come and join as we weave through time and place and learn the fate of these...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #20: ‘The Hello Girls’ by Robin Fox

The Hello Girls: Last Season’s Critically Acclaimed One-Woman Show about French-speaking American WWI Women Veterans Returns to the Capital Fringe Good news: The Hello Girls returns to the Capital...

Columbia Festival of the Arts Part 5: ‘The Stoop/Stoop Storytelling Series: Kitchen Confidential’ and Comedian Max Silvestri

Friday, June 26, 2015 was a night of laughter at the Smith Theatre. First, the Columbia Festival of the Arts, presented The Stoop Stoop Storytelling Series: Kitchen Confidential which was followed by...

Filichia on Friday: ‘June’s Leftovers and July’s Brainteaser’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: June’s Leftovers and July’s Brainteaser Purchase...

‘Significant Other’ at Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City

Joshua Harmon’s first play Bad Jews introduced us to him as an imaginative writer with an uncanny ear for authentic dialogue. It also informed us that he could write with rage about matters that...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #16: ‘How to Quit Your Day Job – A New Musical’ by Star J

Hi, I’m Star. 32. Perfect daughter. Perfect student. Two degrees. Just like all of you. I am also the writer, director and producer of a funky new musical How to Quit Your Day Job, premiering at the...

‘Pippin’ at Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

Pippin is one glorious flashback to a time when musicals were happenings, Broadway casts called themselves “tribes,” and playwrights broke through the fourth wall to make profound statements on life,...

Celtic Woman 10th Anniversary World Tour at Wolf Trap

The four women from Ireland who make up Celtic Woman, along with backup singers, dancers, and musicians returned to Wolf Trap for a very special performance, not least because it’s their 10th...

Filichia on Friday: ‘A Classic(s) Saturday’ by Peter Filichia

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: A Classic(s) Saturday Purchase Peter Filichia’s...

‘Hand to God’ at The Booth Theatre in New York City

As summer fare this highly imaginative black comedy by Robert Askins is not what you’d expect. No Butterflies are Free, no Barefoot in the Park romantic romp is this play that features a grieving...

‘West Side Story’ at Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre

Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre is presenting one of American Theater’s timeless classics: West Side Story. With book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim,...

‘Candide’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore

The musical inventiveness and dramatic craziness of one of Leonard Bernstein’s most challenging pieces of all, his 1956 musical Candide, must flow right through Marin Alsop’s veins. The music director...

Filichia on Friday: “Hail to Thee, North Shore Music Theatre!’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: Hail to Thee, North Shore Music Theatre! Editor’s...

The List of the 2015 Tony Award Winners

Here is the list of the 2015 Tony Award Winners: Best Play WINNER: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Disgraced Hand to God Wolf Hall Parts One & Two ______ Best Musical An American in...

Magic Time! Update 6/6/15: ‘Out/Spoken: Intimate Stories of LGBT Pride: Meet the Storytellers of ‘Out/Spoken’-Onstage at 9:30 Club June 5th by Michael Poandl and John Stoltenberg

Update on 6/6/15: A near-capacity crowd gathered in the 9:30 Club Friday night, June 5, 2015—not standing in wait for a band to come on but seated in folding chairs for an evening of storytelling. The...

DCMTA Scene Stealers-Week Ending June 5, 2015-Part 1

Congrats to all our new Scene Stealers honorees! ______ Shayna Blass as Lulu in the Final Scene of Cabaret at Signature Theatre “In Act Two the Emcee sings “If You Could See Her (with my eyes)” to...

‘An Act of God’ at Studio 54 in New York City

Jim Parsons was put together with pieces of PeeWee Herman, Jerry Lewis, and James Stewart and the result is a most appealing actor who’s found himself a character very close to the real Jim Parsons....

Filichia on Friday: ‘Welcome 2015-2016!’ (‘Merman’s Apprentice’ coming to Birdland on June 17th at 7 PM!)

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: Welcome 2015-2016! Editor’s Note: I attended a...

An Interview with Richard Glazier, Host of ‘From Broadway to Hollywood,’ This Weekend on WETA

If you want to call Richard Glazier a throwback, go right ahead. He loves it. For Glazier, there’s nothing better than sitting at a piano telling stories about George and Ira Gershwin and their...

Extra! Extra! An Interview with Ben Cook: He’s Home and He’s in ‘Newsies’ at The National Theatre

Ben Cook is returning home and will be dancing his heart out in Newsies at The National Theatre. I had a chance to catch up with Ben. Joel: Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell them where...

Infinity Theatre’s ‘Dames at Sea’ Sails into The Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway

Annapolis’ Infinity Theatre Company (Anna Roberts Ostroff & Alan Ostroff) and Perry Street Theatricals (Martin Platt & David Elliott) are proud to announce that the first Broadway production of DAMES...

Richard Seff Predicts The Tony Awards: Best Play and Musical and Play and Musical Performances

Many scribes have been offering opinions on who might win the Tony Awards this coming Sunday, June 7th, and for those of you who haven’t yet made up your minds, I offer my own thoughts on this year’s...

Mark Nadler: ‘Runnin’ Wild: Songs and Scandals of the Roaring ’20s’ at Starthmore’s AMP

Raconteur. A word seldom used nowadays. In the era of Twitter and short attention spans, good luck finding “a person who excels in telling anecdotes.” But flip open the Merriam-Webster Dictionary to...

Magic Time! ‘Out/Spoken: Intimate Stories of LGBT Pride: Meet the Storytellers of ‘Out/Spoken’-Onstage at 9:30 Club June 5th by Michael Poandl and John Stoltenberg

Storytelling is at the core of theatre, but it also stands alone as a unique form of entertainment. Not quite monologue, not quite stand-up comedy, what storytellers do best is blend their personal...

Filichia on Friday: ‘May’s Leftovers and June’s Brainteaser’ by Peter Filichia

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: May’s Leftovers and June’s Brainteaser Purchase...