Washington DC

Advance Purchase Opportunity To Purchase Tickets to ‘If/Then’ at The National Theatre With Idina Menzel

DCMetroTheaterArts Readers: This is a Unique Advance Purchase Opportunity To Purchase Tickets to If/Then At The National Theatre World Premiere of a pre-Broadway Musical November 5 – December 8, 2013...

Ranting with Cyle: Chatting with Eric Tipler on His Musical ‘One Night in New York!’ by Cyle Durkee

There are certain shows that hit you with a sledgehammer (Rent) to get their point across. There are others that cut you slowly and nimbly until you realize that your heart is exposed and you’re...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘BenchMARKS’ by Marlene Hall

BenchMARKS produced by Project E/C, written by Melanie Fiona Bevell-Jackson, and directed by Colleen Theresa Brown “is dialogue and flashback vignettes that provide a peek into the lives of two men...

Contemporary American Theater Festival Review: ‘Scott and Hem Imagines Private Lives of Famous Writers’ by Mark Dewey

Mark St. Germain’s new play Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah, which was commissioned by The Contemporary American Theater Festival, is the sort of historical fiction that gets its thrust from our...

Jill Scott at Wolf Trap by Audrey Thornton

Three-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, poet, and actress, Jill Scott appeared at Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on July 15, 2013. Greeted by Washington’s humid 90 degree weather, the hot and steamy...

Ian Anderson at Wolf Trap by Erica Laxson

Wolf Trap is known for hosting some of the best musicians of all time and last night was no exception. Professional wizard of the flute, Ian Anderson, graced the stage with all the trappings of a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Jonah Dove’ by JR Russ

Jonah Dove is a show roughly based on the Biblical Jonah story. Written by Jason Ford, it tells the tale of a man who has run away from his family and his past. But he ends up helping his niece,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘& Afterwards’ by JR Russ

& Afterwards, a solo performance by Kevin Boggs and directed by Amy Couchoud, tells the story of a country boy who makes a new life for himself in Dupont Circle, 1993. But before I go on, a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Impossible to Translate, but I’ll try: True-life Israeli Stories’ by JR Russ

Impossible to Translate, but I’ll try: True-life Israeli Stories, a solo performance by Noa Baum is a storytelling gem. The show is a series of autobiographical stories about the tellers life growing...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tragedy Averted’ by Julia L. Exline

Ad Hoc Players presents Tragedy Averted, an exceptionally creative comedic piece written by Alexandra Petri and directed by Joan Cummins. Smart, pithy dialogue combined with a stunningly talented...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Afflicted’ by Andrew L. Baughman

The Wandering Theatre Company’s movement/dance-infused ensemble piece The Afflicted follows a Writer’s (Joelle Golda) process to compile research about the girls who ignited the Salem Witch trials. As...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘McPherson Madness’ by Maddie Gaw

The moment you walk in the theater, McPherson Madness assails you with its world, trying to become your reality. Cast members ask for change, hand out programs as if they’re flyers for the Occupy D.C....

Capital Fringe Review: ‘iLust for G-Love: An Auto-Ethnography’ by Anne Tsang

There is no doubt that technology is a large part of many of our lives. Have you ever left the house and forgotten your smartphone? I have, and I start having withdrawal symptoms just thinking about...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Detective Pimbley and the Case of the Rich Dead Lady’ by Maddie Gaw

If you like old detective movies and Airplane!-esque parody, then the Impressionable Players’ Detective Pimbley and the Case of the Rich Dead Lady is definitely for you. And it’s pretty fun for the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘My Civil War’ by Max Johnson

Despite My Civil War’s description as a “multidisciplinary exploration of the American Civil War,” this production feels more like a cursory stumbling through a series of tonally incoherent...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Bayou Blues’ by Max Johnson

Bayou Blues is a communicative exploration of a young black girl’s fears moving towards a summative moment of terror amidst Hurricane Katrina. And while this piece is scattered, unfocused, and hard to...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Songs From An Unmade Bed’ by Keith Tittermary

According to the program notes: “In 2005, lyricist Mark Campbell asked 18 different composers to put music to his portrait of a smart, resilient, wry, and ultimately romantic gay man going through the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Outside the Wire’ by Pat Davis

Outside the Wire is a compelling and moving portrait of the toll war takes on soldiers and their families. Written by Jimi Stanton, who plays Sargent Mark Mercer, the lead, the play follows the...

‘Crazy for You’ at Rockville Musical Theatre by Bev Fleisher

What a delight! For me, musical theater is pure escapism: I can be entertained, tap my foot to the music, and sometimes even sing along with the cast (softly, of course). I leave the theater with a...

‘H2O’ at Contemporary American Theater Festival by Mark Dewey

H2O Brings Big Ideas to Life Good plays put people in circumstances that force them to confront essential questions; great plays move people past essential questions to a place where there’s nothing...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Four Women’ by Nicole Cusick

Theatre has the opportunity to influence a person in many ways. Sometimes it moves people to tears of laughter, and sometimes it moves people because the sentiment of the play connects to a person on...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ok Stupid’s Secret Math Lab’ by Andrew L. Baughman

Dating. Yeesh. The very word strikes fear and frustration into the hearts of millions around the world. Ok Stupid’s Secret Math Lab is a parody of Ok Cupid and other online dating programs that match...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Lysistrata 1969’ by Jessica Vaughan

The Sock Puppet Guerilla Theater mounts a truly hilarious production of an ancient satire Lysistrata by setting it in 1969. It doesn’t take much updating. The free love hedonism and protest spirit...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘STATUS – A Social Media Experiment’ by Julia L. Exline

Solo artist Kathryn Elizabeth Kelly takes us into a courageous year-long experiment with STATUS – A Social Media Experiment. After emerging from the wreckage of a 6-year-long relationship, Kelly...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Hello, You Assholes!’ by Terry Byrne

How liberating — while driving home from Hello, You Assholes! — to note how many times I referred to other drivers as assholes. We all do it, but few confess. Look out, here come a dozen boisterous...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Carolyn Kelemen

‘A Romeo to die for’ Be still my heart! On a sultry summer night, just like Juliet (a feisty Raven Bonniwell), this writer fell in love with Romeo (Sean Huddock) in the We Happy Few production of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘H Street Housewives’ by Lauren Katz

Personally I never been a huge fan of reality TV shows, but H Street Housewives left me sitting on the edge of my seat eager to see what hilarious joke or backstabbing move one of the actors would...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Old Time British Music Hall’ by Lauren Katz

Hilarious, energetic, and entertaining, the British Players’ Old Time British Music Hall is a must-see event. Set in a cabaret-style and hosted by the emcee, or Chairman Malcolm Edwards, the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Misconception: The Lost Gospel of Christmas’ by Mariya Danilenko

Misconception: The Lost Gospel of Christmas is a satirical musical by Mark Swanson about the birth of baby Jesus. To give you an idea about this craziness: the opening song is called “Who’s Your Baby...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘I tried to be normal once, it didn’t take’ by Jenna Miller

I tried to be normal once, it didn’t take is a one-woman show starring Stephanie Svec, explaining why she became an actress through her personal stories. Stephanie steps onto the bare stage in the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Body Armor’ by Tobias Franzén

Unstrung Harpist’s production of Body Armor by Evan Crump, the company’s producer, is a play born out of the writer’s need to write a play “that approached war from the average soldier’s perspective.”...

Carnegie Hall presents the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts by Jane Coyne

It was a very proud night for music and for our country when on Saturday night, July 12, 2013, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute presented its newly formed National Youth Orchestra of the United...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Continuing Adventures of John Blade, Super Spy’ by Tobias Franzén

The goal of Live Action Theater (LAT) is to “elevate the art of and practice of theatrical staged violence to the highest performance standards,” and there was plenty of stage violence in their...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘In Search of the Perfect G-String’ by Keith Tittermary

NSO Cellist Yvonne Caruthers has over 30 years of service as a “soldier of music” and used her life and her experience as the basis for a solid and heart warming solo performance, In Search of the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘How to Have It All: The Musical’ by Terry Byrne

Three good reasons to see How to Have It All: The Musical. 1. Freshly baked cookies. A nurturing, maternal figure will even warn you away from the chocolate chip if you have a peanut allergy, offering...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Tragical Mirth of Marriage & Love: Short Scenes by Anton Chekhov’ by Christina Frank

Fans of Chekhov rejoice. Pallas Theatre Collective has come to lift your spirits and make you laugh. Long have people tried to convince me that Chekhov is funny. After falling asleep in more than one...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Kids in Space’ by Amanda Gunther

10…9…8…strap yourselves in for a blast off into space as you travel along with the Global Interplanetary Space Corps. Captain Blappten and First Mate Kate are recruiting new members to join their...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Our Boys’ by Leslie Weisman

The Fringe is rightly known and celebrated for giving people who may not be regular theater goers a chance to take a few bites of the performing-arts apple, with the hope and expectation that, once...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Deadly Seven’ by Amanda Gunther

The Deadly Seven comes to this year’s Capital Fringe Festival through Ten14 Productions. With a great message to send the public, the show needs a serious restructuring in regards to framework and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dance of the Wasp and Spider’ by Eric Denver

As Dance of the Wasp and Spider opens, there is a five-minute monologue by the leading actor Tyler Brody who provides a more in-depth analysis as to the play’s title. As the wasp dominates the spider,...

Capital Fringe Show Review: ‘What It’s Like? One Veteran’s Tale of Addiction, Survival and PTSD’ by Kim Moeller

The story is powerful…one marine’s experience in the Persian Gulf and his challenges with addiction, survival, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in his return to civilian life. Richard D....

Capital Fringe Review: ’43 and 1/2: The Greatest Death of Shakespeare’s Tragedies’ by Nicole Cusick

A theatre production that ends with the actors giving the front row a plastic sheet because they are in the “splash zone” is not your typical Fringe experience, but this production of 43 and a 1/2:...

‘The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife’ at Bowie Community Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Self-discovery penned into a witty and poignant modern comedy is exactly what awaits you at the Bowie Community Theatre this summer as they present their production of The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Last Train to NIBROC’ by Eric Denver

As Arlene Hutton’s Last Train to NIBROC opens, it is December 28, 1940 and you hear the sound of train whistles and May (Lena Winter) is sitting on one of two chairs stage right. The train is bound...

‘Act A Lady’ at The Hub Theatre by Jenna Miller

Watching people put themselves in awkward situations can sometimes provide hours of enjoyment. In The Hub Theatre’s production of Jordan Harrison’s Act A Lady townsmen from a small God-fearing,...

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at The Studio Theatre by David Friscic

An audacious attack on the sexually repressed with an emphasis on in-your-face interaction and over-the top musicality are the hallmarks of the current production of The Rocky Horror Show, now playing...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Encyclopedia Show Series 1, Volume 7 Vice Presidents’ by Eric Denver

Although Encyclopedia has played throughout the DC area, tonight is my first exposure to the Washington’s ABCs of theatrical education. Each show is a vaudevillian extravaganza and focuses on...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Goddess Diaries’ by Kim Moeller

Whether it’s real life narratives or mythological tales, common themes found in women’s stories include self-identity, motherhood, transformation, abuse, aging, and love. The entertaining and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Beheading of Sister Mary Jasmine’ by Maddie Gaw

In The Beheading of Sister Mary Jasmine, the audience forms an intimate bond with a deceased nun. Simply by attending the performance, they become one of the many grieving. In a room that very much...

‘She Loves Me’ at Infinity Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

Appeasing the senses in the summertime has never been simpler than taking a stroll down to the Infinity Theatre Company as they present the charming, witty, deliciously lush 1963 romantic musical...