Virginia

‘A Sense of Wonder’ at George Mason University

Kaiulani Lee’s enthralling one woman show was one of the most engrossing hours I have ever experienced. Lee’s piece, A Sense of Wonder, is based on the life and works of Rachel Carson, best known for...

‘Othello’ at WSC Avant Bard

T.S. Eliot’s great poem The Hollow Men is sometimes said to be about the shell-shocked soldiers of the First World War. (“We are the hollow men/We are the stuffed men/ Leaning together /Headpiece...

‘Doubt’ at 1st Stage

No doubt you’ll recall Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, and Amy Adams in the Hollywood 2008 adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt, a Parable — simply titled Doubt and directed...

‘Arlo Guthrie: Alice’s Restaurant 50th Anniversary Tour’ at Hylton Performing Arts Center

Fifty years ago this coming Thanksgiving, Arlo Guthrie and company take a truck load of garbage out of a friend’s house near Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Finding the local dump closed for the holiday,...

Meet the Cast of ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at 2nd Star Productions: Part 4: Malarie Novotny

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of I Hate Hamlet at 2nd Star Productions, meet Malarie Novotny. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you in...

‘Menopause The Musical’ at Hylton Performing Arts Center

Menopause The Musical is still hysterical and fresh after 15 years and multiple thousands of performances. I use the word ‘hysterical’ on purpose: for many women who have gone through the mood swings...

Meet the Cast of the McLean Community Players’ Production of 13: Part Three: Celine Jelinski, Gabrielle Gardner, Jayne Saxon Zirkle, Olivia Kulczycky, Rachael Cranston, and Rebecca Blacksten by Laura Beth Dailey

13 is a hilarious, coming-of-age rock musical with music and lyrics by Tony-Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown and a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn. The story centers around Evan Goldman,...

Review Just Posted. McLean Theatre Company Presents the Musical ‘Big Fish’ on February 16, 19-22nd by Brent Stone

Update: Here is Joel Markowitz’s review of Big Fish. ______ The McLean High School Theatre Company (MTC) premieres the musical Big Fish to the Metro DC area this February. Led by Artistic Director,...

The State Symphony Orchestra of Mexico at the George Mason Center for the Arts

World orchestras are at their most interesting when they bring a blend of their native musical language with the European tradition that defines “classical music.” With the help of two soloists, one...

‘The Comedy of Errors’ at The Arlington Players

Many recent productions of The Comedy of Errors set Shakespeare’s language within a more recent environment, and in this case The Arilngton Players have set their production in Chicago in the 1920s –...

In the Moment: Walnut Street Theatre’s Touring Company Brings ‘A Life in the Theatre’ to GMU’s Center for the Arts on February 6th

America’s oldest theatre, Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, also has a touring company component. The touring company is a regular presence at the George Mason University Center for the Arts,...

Meet the Cast of ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at 2nd Star Productions: Part 3: Carole Long

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of I Hate Hamlet at 2nd Star Productions, meet Carole Long. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you in the...

Interviews with Artists Stephen Blickenstaff, Isaac Bidwell, Todd Gardner, and John Detrich on their Pop up Gallery Show at ‘Shocked & Amazed Presents: Strange For Hire’

This Saturday, January 31st, Shocked & Amazed Presents: Strange For Hire will perform at the Artisphere in Rosslyn. Accompanying the performance art will be a pop up gallery art show featuring artists...

In the Moment: George Mason University Gets STEAMED

What is the arts role as a means to spark creativity for the American workforce in the post-recession world? Much is being said about keeping the competitive edge of the United States through what is...

A Full Moon for el Festival de Teatro para Niños by Christine Stoddard

Season to season, festival to festival, Teatro de la Luna, co-founded by Mario Marcel and Nucky Walder, ping-pongs between the Gunston Arts Center and Rosslyn Spectrum Theatre. One of the metro’s two...

Meet the Cast of ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at 2nd Star Productions: Part 2: Zak Zeeks

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of I Hate Hamlet at 2nd Star Productions, meet Zak Zeeks. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you in the...

‘Bessie’s Blues’ at MetroStage

Drive, ride, or run down to MetroStage for Bessie’s Blues! Bessie’s Blues is one big shiny bauble-filled with song, dance, and more than a few double entendres, smack downs and hilarious patter about...

Laura Benanti at The Barns at Wolf Trap

You know how it feels to reunite with a friend you haven’t seen in a while? I’m talking about a good friend, the kind of friend where you can let time go between meetings but you pick up right where...

‘Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts

Inspired by the 1923 novel, Cane, by Jean Toomer, and the work of other renaissance artists, this multimedia presentation fronted by Jasmine Guy provided a look into the general trends and opposing...

‘The Tempest’ at Aquila Theatre

The touring Aquila Theatre production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest opened winningly. An older man we come to know as Prospero, is sitting alone at the lip of center stage. The curtain is closed behind...

Meet the Cast of ‘I Hate Hamlet’ at 2nd Star Productions: Part 1: Fred Nelson

In Part 1 of a series of interviews with the cast of I Hate Hamlet at 2nd Star Productions, meet Fred Nelson. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you in the...

‘Be My Baby’ at Vienna Theatre Company

Playwright Ken Ludwig is famous for farce, fevered dialogue, and throwing his characters’ worlds off-kilter. Vienna Theatre Company’s endearing take on 2005’s Be My Baby — which Ludwig is alleged to...

The Reel Deal: Watch Kyle Osborne’s Movie Review Video of ‘The Boy Next Door’ and ‘Still Alice’

DC AREA SHOWTIMES. DC AREA SHOWTIMES. LINKS Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Taken 3 and Inherent Vice. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Kill the Messenger. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review...

DC Metro Area Artists Recognized as National YoungArts Finalists

The tropical Miami conditions were a far cry from the cold gripping the DC area in early January. But the temperate climate was not the sole reason a select group of area artists were happy to escape...

In the Moment: An Interview with WSC Avant Bard’s Tom Prewitt on ‘Othello’

On horror’s head horrors accumulate. (Othello Act 3, Scene 3) So why did Othello do what he did? Why did he take the life of Desdemona, the woman he loved? Why did he take his own life? Certainly...

Meet the Cast of the McLean Community Players’ Production of ’13’: Part One: Bailey Drew, Cuinn Casey, Izzy Gaskill, John Ray, and Tori Garcia by Laura Beth Dailey

13 is a hilarious, coming-of-age rock musical with music and lyrics by Tony-Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown and a book by Dan Elish and Robert Horn. The story centers around Evan Goldman,...

‘The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater

The scintillating cast of Riverside Center Dinner Theater’s The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber almost blew the roof off when I saw this new production on Saturday, January 17, 2015. The entertaining new...

‘Shrek The Musical JR’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater

Aldersgate Church Community Theater proudly presents the DC area debut of Shrek The Musical JR, with Music by Jeanine Tesori and Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Director Corey Latta Bales and...

‘Excuse Me’ at Zemfira Stage

Excuse Me is a high-energy, subversive, conspiracy theory-infused, paranoid, mash-up zombie comedy. It is madcap built upon zinger lines such as “don’t make any rational moves.” But, hidden away...

‘In the Moment’: ‘Bessie’s Blues’ Remounted at MetroStage

It’s been a long time coming. But the time is right. The multi-Helen Hayes Award production, Bessie’s Blues is returning twenty years after it first appeared on The Studio Theater stage. It is being...

The 15th Annual 2014 WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced

THE WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced January 18, 2015 – 7:30 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony Sunday, March 8, 2015 – 7:00 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony...

‘The Game’s Afoot’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Before Benedict Cumberbatch starred in the incandescent puzzle palace that is Sherlock, there was William Gillette, the definitive Sherlock Holmes of his time. Tall, lean, with the manner of a...

‘Rehearsal for Murder’ at Reston Community Players

Whodunit? That’s the question asked in Reston Community Players’ latest production Rehearsal for Murder. Producer Jay Stein says he, “can almost guarantee that whatever your theory is, it will be...

‘Smellin’ Up the Den!’ A Co-Production of Red Knight Productions and Port City Playhouse

Red Knight Productions met its goal to design and perform Smellin’ Up the Den! as “a silly show” enabling audiences to “laugh at how ridiculous the world is,” as Director Scott Courlander wrote in his...

‘In the Moment’: Aquila Theatre’s ‘The Tempest’ Visits George Mason University’s Center for the Arts on Friday, January 23rd at 8 PM

Bringing “the greatest works to the greatest number,” the nationally recognized Aquila Theatre, will bring its touring stage production of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest to the George Mason...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Children’s/Family Theatre Productions, Performances, Design, and Direction and 2 Special Awards

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Productions, Performances, Design, and Direction in Children’s/Family Theatre honors go to: CHILDREN’S THEATRE/FAMILY...

Aldersgate Church Community Theatre Opens ‘Shrek The Musical JR.’ Tonight by Shelagh Roberts

ACCT presents the DC-Area Premiere of Shrek, The Musical JR.! Aldersgate Church Community Theatre is thrilled to present Shrek, Jr. to local audiences for the first time in the DC area. Shrek the...

‘In The Moment’: The Surprising Findings in Three New NEA Reports on the Arts

Well, this was an attention grabbing, eye-catching headline; “Surprising Findings in Three New NEA Reports on the Arts.” I found it on the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) home page along with...

An Interview with Jasmine Guy on ‘Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey’ at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts on January 24, 2015

On the evening of January 24, 2015, the renowned star of stage, television, and film, Jasmine Guy will present for one-night only, “Raisin’ Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey,” along with the...

The Reel Deal: Watch Kyle Osborne’s Movie Review Video of ‘Taken 3’ and ‘Inherent Vice’

DC area showtimes. DC Area Showtimes. LINKS Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Kill the Messenger. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of Gone Girl. Kyle Osborne’s Video Movie Review of The Equalizer....

Unusual Suspects: Meet the Cast of Reston Community Players’ Upcoming ‘Rehearsal for Murder’

Reston Community Players heats up the winter with the thrilling whodunit Rehearsal for Murder January 16-31, 2015. Audiences are invited to test their wits as they enter a world of backstage drama...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Ensembles in DC Area Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Ensemble honors go to: A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Castaways Repertory Theatre A Soldier’s Play at 2nd Star Productions...

Whodunit? Reston Community Players Offers a Heady Mix of Backstage Suspects in Thrilling ‘Rehearsal for Murder’ Playing January 16-31, 2015

Reston Community Players opens the thrilling whodunit Rehearsal for Murder This Friday, January 16th. Audiences are invited to test their wits as they enter a world of backstage drama where nothing is...

Meet Director Suzanne Maloney of Vienna Theatre Company’s ‘Be My Baby’-Opening January 23, 2015

I have had the pleasure of working on several Ken Ludwig plays over the years. They are funny and fast and farcical. When I discovered Be My Baby, I expected whooshing pace and mistaken identities and...

‘Cinderella’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio presents a musical version of Cinderella, with book by Vera Morris and music and lyrics by Bill Francoer. Marji Jepperson directs a large cast of young actors in this production,...

Spine: ‘In Love and Warcraft’ and all the Mythologies in Between

In the hit TV sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, Howard, Leonard, and Rajesh regularly play the on-line fantasy role playing game World of Warcraft. They also like to play dress up in the real...

‘In Love and Warcraft’ at No Rules Theatre Company

There is a lot to like about Madhuri Shekar’s In Love and Warcraft even before the opening scene. This newly minted full production of a romantic-comedy brings to the DC area a playwright representing...

‘Crime and Punishment in America’ at The American Century Theater

Billed as Crime and Punishment in America at The American Century Theater, this pairing of one-act plays (Cops and Hello Out There) are must-sees for several reasons. First, they are well-written,...

‘Gutenberg! The Musical!’ at NextStop Theatre Company

You’ll laugh! You’ll cry! There’s even a serious issue (spoiler alert: it’s the Holocaust). Such is the sales pitch that the fictional playwrights Bud Davenport (Ryan Burke) and Doug Simon (John...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2014: Best Design of 2014 in DC Metro Area Theatres

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is pleased to honor the following designers for their work in 2014: CHOREOGRAPHY Michael J. Bobbitt for Carrie the Musical at The Studio Theatre Debbie Clark, Nancy...