Washington DC

An Interview with Lori Muhlstein on Directing ‘The Meeting’ Playing This Friday, July 24-August 1, 2015 at The Clifton Town Hall

The Meeting is an original play by local playwright Greg Powell and directed by Lori Muhlstein. It will be performed by The Clifton Arts Council on Friday and Saturday evenings, July 24th, 25th, 31st...

‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Prince George’s Summer Shakespeare Festival

Summer and Shakespeare go hand-in-hand and Prince George’s Summer Shakespeare Festival’s Romeo and Juliet is a departure from “traditional” productions of this iconic William Shakespeare plays....

‘Shrek, the Musical’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio presents Shrek, the Musical , with Music by Jeanine Tesori and Book and Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire. Artistic Director Susan Alison Keady and Music Director Matthew Heap lead...

‘Silence! the Musical’ at Studio’s 2nd Stage

Silence! The Musical is very easy to digest (pun intended), as presented in the tightly directed current production now playing at the creatively configured 2nd Stage space of The Studio Theatre. A...

‘Legally Blonde the Musical’ at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre

“Omigod You Guys” Legally Blonde the Musical at Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre is like a totally fun evening! The musical is full of laughs, lessons and a lot of pink. The songs are so...

‘Roméo et Juliette’ at Maryland Lyric Opera

Boy meets Girl. Girl meets Boy. They fall in love – at first sight – in spite of the enmity between their warring families, the Capulets and the Montagues. This timeless, tragic love story, penned...

Interview with Frank D. Shutts II on Directing ‘In the Heights’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria July 25th-August 15th

I sat down and asked veteran Director Frank Shutts his thoughts, visions, and hopes for LTA’s summer production of the 2008 Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights which opens on July 25th and plays...

‘Anonymous’ at Creative Cauldron’s Summer Cabaret Series

As part of their 2015 Summer Cabaret Series, Creative Cauldron welcomed Rachel Zampelli for two nights in her cabaret Anonymous; a raw, poignant, (and dare I say it, hysterical) show about the harrows...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 4: Cara Bachman

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s RENT, meet Cara Bachman. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘St. Jimmy Celebrates “The Food At Our Feet”’

Sharp and hilarious, somehow Jimmy Grzelak interweaves Copyright law, Christian religious ritual, cooking show culture, pop songs, and poignant questions about the nature of spirituality and how we...

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Synetic Theater

The music is pulsing; the performers are insanely flexible, and everything from set to costumes to lights is drenched in the fantastical for Synetic’s latest Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The...

4615 Theater Company Presents ‘Twelfth Night’ and ”Tis Pity She’s a Whore’ In Rep

It is easy to become lost in the thriving theater scene of the Washington DC area. With all of the major houses producing top-notch works, it is hard to look past the grandeur of their product and...

‘Twelve Angry Men’ at The American Century Theater

In this famous, thrilling court-room drama, 12 jurors deliberate over the fate of an alleged murderer. The case seems clear-cut. They open the play with a vote, to see where everybody stands and the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘The Out of Tooners’

As a “90s Kid,” I am part of the generation that frequently prides itself on the Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons it spent growing up watching marathons upon marathons of its favorite cartoons....

A Tribute to Sydney-Chanele Dawkins at Her Memorial Service on July 17, 2015 by Joel Markowitz

This is the eulogy I delivered at the the memorial service for DCMetroTheaterArts columnist and reviewer Sydney-Chanele Dawkins yesterday, July 17, 2015: To Aaron and Sydney-Chanele’s family and...

2015 Capital Fringe ‘The Human Algorithm’

What do lion attacks, football fanatics, muppets, dog pee, and Vladimir Putin have in common? According to CJ in her most recent iteration of The Human Algorithm, they all describe the four basic...

Whoopi Goldberg at The Kennedy Center

Nothing is off limits to the irascible, irreverently funny Whoopi Goldberg. She warned us from the start, however, that she loves the use of language– very colorful language– as she whooped it up with...

‘Whose Wives Are They Anyway’ at Bowie Community Theatre

Need a major pick-me-up after a week locked up with a dictatorial boss and coasting co-workers? An evening at the Bowie Community Theatre, tucked into the woodlands of White Marsh Park in Bowie,...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Sanctuary’

A woman’s perspective on war is a powerful thing. We are often mothers, and because we can give birth, I think some of us find killing especially terrible. “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier”...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Bortle 8’

Bortle 8, a one-man show written and performed by Chris Davis is part stand-up routine, part science fair project, part sermon. The title refers to John Bortle’s scale for the number of stars visible...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets’

Imagine a pill that could eliminate boredom, stave off writer’s block, inspire the next great masterpiece. In Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets, David Klinger tells...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Princess & The Pea (or) A Millennial’s Guide to Dating’

When she was alive, I would occasionally discuss love and dating with my grandmother. Her guaranteed formula for finding the love of your life was to “go to the bowling alley–that’s where you’ll find...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘So We Meet Again’

On the television show Grey’s Anatomy, when characters are having a difficult time dealing with pain or another type of struggle, they “dance it out.” This means that the characters will release their...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Purge’

Memories can break you down. They can take away your power, strength and ability to trust. In the Capital Fringe Festival show Purge, the fusiondance company uses contemporary dance and excerpts from...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Act Like a GRRRL’

You had me at grrrl. Act Like a GRRRL is a showcase of work developed and performed by teen girls, in which personal stories are shared as a process of empowerment and an act of defiance against...

Here Are the Winners of The 2015 Ruby Griffith Awards and Runners-Up

The British Players Announce The 2015 Ruby Griffith Awards Honorees on Sunday, July 10, 2015: ____ All Round Production Excellence The Colonial Players The Liar ______ Outstanding Achievement in a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mine/Field’

Unbeknownst to you, Glade Dance Collective knows your identity, your likes, and your dislikes. The dancers are hungry for more data whether you want to give it up or not. Intrigued? Paranoid?...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Eddie Lounge Reunion Tour: The Lounge Awakens’

Somebody get Eddie Lounge a cocktail — and maybe a ream of cocktail napkins to wipe his beady, bald head. What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?! The Lord of Loungeology is singing his...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Niche’

Peer into the trials and tribulations of love, cohabitation, and relationships that is Niche. This whimsical journey draws in audiences of all kinds whether your bag is music, visual art, dance, or...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘Half Past What?’

About halfway through Casey Bauer’s surreal Half Past What?, I came to the stark realization that I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on yet was still completely enthralled. The play is wacky and...

Blind Pug Arts Collective Presents: The Theatre of Self-Loathing Presents: ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’ Interview with Eddie and Cassilda

I recently saw the fantastic meta-theatrical event known as Blind Pug Arts Collective Presents: The Theatre of Self-Loathing Presents: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? at the Capital Fringe Festival. I...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #51: ‘Interviews with…’ by Emily Cohen

Siblings of dictators, little white liars, people who Instagram food — these are just a few of the topics explored in the whimsical cabaret, Interviews with… Making its world premiere at Capital...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #52: ‘The Paper Game’ by Julia Holleman

I got the idea for The Paper Game during a series of epic battles with my then health insurance company over who had to pay a $69.50 lab bill. (The answer? They did. But they thought they could beat...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 3: Ben Cherington

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s Rent, meet Ben Cherington. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

Little Butterfly Theatre Company Presents Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ on July 23-26th at 1st Stage

Just off her success for McLean High School with Big Fish, which rose to local and national prominence, Director Amy E. Poe is leading a cast of young adults in American Idiot. The rock musical...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dance of the Cranes’

Once in a while you have to raise a little crane! When I walked to 6th and Massachusetts Avenue from the Gallery Place Metro I saw a packed little park – Milian Park – filled with excited people who...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Une Soirée Au Cabaret’

Une Soirée Au Cabaret is a collection of dance, vocal, and aerial works inspired by early 20th century Paris nightlife. An amalgam of styles and eras, this is a contemporary take on the cabaret style...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘BrouHaHa’

What would you do at the end of the world? Happenstance Theatre’s newest show BrouHaHa answers this and more, as six clowns journey towards the apocalypse. What this means exactly and when it will...

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” is the memorable opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities currently in production at Annapolis Shakespeare Company. This company...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Bloody Banquet’

Hungry? Well, there’s a banquet waiting. In a tiny black box space just south of the river, Brave Spirits Theatre, known for staging intimate updates of early modern and Jacobean drama, presents a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story’

Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story offers audiences a rare glimpse into the big band culture of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s — from a female bandleader’s perspective. Written and performed by...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dancing Ophelia’

A fierce and elegant collection of dance works, Dancing Ophelia is mostly but not exclusively inspired by Shakespeare, framed by the long tradition of storytelling through movement, and radical...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Wrestling with the WIP’

Wrestling with the WIP puts forward the metaphor of quilt making as a strategy for reconfiguring women’s lives that are ripped apart, fragmented by harmful and impossible ideals. These ideals are...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cheeky Monkey Sideshow Presents: CMSS X 3D, OK?’

Get ready for a performance unlike any other you’ve seen – this variety show features an award-winning troupe of professional performers focused on the weird, the quirky, and the downright...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: The Movement: ’50 Years of Love and Struggle’

The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle is a powerful one-man show representing the Civil Rights struggle in America for the past 50 years. Impressively directed by Willette Thompson and featuring...

An Interview with Andrew and Melissa Baughman on ‘Sweeney Todd-Prog Metal Version’ Playing Now at Atlas Through August 2nd

The audacious and groundbreaking Landless Theatre Company at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center in NE Washington, DC, performed an exciting “prog-metal “version of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical...

‘Baby, The Musical’ at Infinity Theatre Company

Infinity Theatre Company continues their summer series with Baby, The Musical. And Baby is just that, an astonishing musical chock-full of jovial lyrics, rich vocals, and clever choreography. With...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #50: In ‘Neighborhood 3,’ the kids – and the parents – are not alright…. by David Dieudonne

Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, by Jennifer Haley is a cautionary tale about a medium surrounded by many questions that are past time to start asking. Awash in physical and emotional carnage,...

‘The Springfield Boys’ at The Seventh Street Playhouse at the Greenbelt Arts Center

If you think you know everything about Lincoln, you may be surprised to find out that there is a great deal of information out there that is not in text books. The Springfield Boys, now playing at The...

New Play Reading: ‘THE LOATHING’: This Monday, July 20th at 7:00 p.m., at Iona Senior Services

On Monday, July 20, at 7:00 p.m., The Playwrights Forum will present a public reading of Robert Michael Oliver‘s new play, The Loathing. Iona Senior Services will host the reading. They are located at...