Washington DC

Review: ‘Omnium Gatherum’ at Silver Spring Stage

In keeping with performing plays from five different decades in celebration of their 50th Anniversary Silver Spring reached back to right after Sept. 11, 2001, to do Omnium Gatherum by Alexandra...

Review: “Inherit the Wind” at Compass Rose Theater

Compass Rose Theater’s production of Inherit the Wind is a powerful work of theater. Written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert Edwin Lee in 1955, it dramatizes the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925, in...

Magic Time!: ‘Hello, My Name Is…’ at The Welders

Having heralded five* Welders productions, I approached Deb Sivigny’s Hello, My Name Is… with both eagerness and wariness. Knowing that Sivigny had chosen as her subject a fact of her own...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter Trio at The Kennedy Center

The Ron Carter Trio visited The Kennedy Center this Friday night. Consisting of bassist Carter, pianist Donald Vega, and guitarist Russell Malone, the harmonics couldn’t have been sweeter; the...

Review: ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ at Other Voices Theatre

For a fantastic evening of dark comedy with hysterical individual performances that bring quirky characters to life, don’t miss Arsenic and Old Lace at Other Voices Theatre! Nicely directed by Ray...

Review: ‘Doctor Faustus’ at Brave Spirits Theatre

Full disclosure: If your only exposure to the classics was Shakespeare in high school, then be ready to get out there and see what else there is. There’s much to be found from the period that’s...

Review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at The Kennedy Center

Just as Fiddler On The Roof, Cabaret, Porgy and Bess, and Hello Dolly! defined their generations, The Book of Mormon mirrors the zeitgeist of the Millennial Generation. It is often vulgar, smarmy,...

Interview: Cole Sitilides Discusses Peace Mountain Theatre Company’s ‘Lost in Yonkers’

Please give us your name, and a brief description of your theatrical background. My name is Cole Sitilides, and I will be playing Jay Kurnitz in the upcoming production of Lost in Yonkers. I started...

Review: ‘Assassins’ at NextStop Theatre Company

NextStop opened their production of Assassins over the weekend and (all the cheesy pun intended) absolutely killed it. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman, the musical...

In the Moment: ‘ReDiscovery Series’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

It was a festive, most satisfying evening of high-end arts entertainment and education. And it was totally free. What was it? It was a recent Monday evening at The Lansburgh with the Shakespeare...

Review: ‘Poe…And All the Others’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s special production of Poe…And All the Others is an imaginative and chilling spectacle, with a creative use of space. With just two actors, a chair, and lighting...

Review: ‘On Golden Pond’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond, directed by Sherri L. Edelen. Joyce Dewitt from ABC’s hit comedy Three’s Company and the renowned Joe Inscoe star as...

Review: ‘Safe as Houses’ at Pinky Swear Productions

What do we do when a storm rages? We fold the laundry. We try to understand our daughter. We clean a table that wasn’t dirty to begin with. We don’t think about what’s being washed way in the storm...

Review: ‘Electra’ at 4615 Theatre Company

Back in ancient times, tragedy was prized for its cathartic experience; fear, rage, pity, the whole range of human emotions would run through you, and on a grand scale, too, with thousands packed into...

Review: ‘Hello, My Name Is…’ at The Welders

Challenging theatrical conventions, Hello, My Name Is… by Deb Sivigny, directed by Randy Baker, and produced by The Welders is like no other theater production I have taken in, in recent memory. The...

Review: ‘Digital Eye: Interactive Event Merging Theater Explores Privacy in the Digital Age’ at Blind Whino SW Arts Club

Big Brother Really, Really Likes You Your online identity does not belong to you. Digital Eye, a transatlantic theater project that was presented Monday and Tuesday, October 16-17, at Blind Whino SW...

Review: ‘The Adventures of Peter Pan’ at Synetic Theater

I have to admit something: this was my first Synetic Theater production. I assure you, however, it will not be my last. I had read about Synetic’s wordless Shakespeare shows and heard rapturous...

Review: ‘Emilie’ at Avant Bard

Life is full of unanswered questions. But in Lauren Gunderson’s play, Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, the title character is given a second chance. Avant Bard is currently...

Review: Dizzy Gillespie Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday celebration at The Kennedy Center jazzed the Eisenhower Theatre last night. I’m sure the rooftop is still aglow this morning. Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)...

Review: ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ at The Prince William Little Theatre

The markings on my forearm, imprinted when I entered the theater, remain, labeling me. At the end of the play, when I am leaving through the hall behind the theater, I witness a large pile of worn,...

Review: ‘ 33 Variations’ at Colonial Players of Annapolis

Colonial Players’ production of 33 Variations is a musical and visual delight. Written by Moises Kaufman and directed by Terry Averill, it is a mix of a biographical play about Beethoven, and the 21st...

Review: ‘DEMO’ at Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

No curtain opened on the black and white picture of Jerome Robbins, smiling, in a sweatshirt, a hand on his forehead and another on the chest of one of his two dogs. There was no boundary unrolled, no...

Review: ‘Aida’ at Reston Community Players

Aida bursts onto the Reston Community Players’ stage in an explosion of color and sound. With music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, this show, directed here by Andrew JM Regiec, seems almost too...

In the Moment: Interview with Lighting Designer Andrew F. Griffin

Folger’s production of Antony and Cleopatra directed by Robert Richmond has garnered its rightful share of critical acclaim. Its lighting design is a critical component of the production’s striking...

Review: ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

To Kill a Mockingbird, written by the enigmatic Harper Lee and dramatized by Christopher Sergel, opened at the Laurel Mill Playhouse, directed by Jen Sizer and produced by Maureen Rogers. A great...

Review: ‘God of Carnage’ at George Washington University

The big laughs in Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage come from watching grownups behaving badly, and the big joke is that four parents end up acting more like petulant, belligerent children than their own...

Review: ‘Into the Woods, Jr.’ at Kensington Arts Theatre’s 2nd Stage

Kensington Arts Theatre 2nd Stage’s Into the Woods, Jr. is a delightful romp through the forest. Perfect for a fall afternoon or evening with your kids. Into the Woods, Jr. takes the first half of...

Dangereuse: ‘Emilie’ by Lauren Gunderson at WSC Avant Bard

Emilie Our Contemporary Emilie du Châtelet, scientist, mathematician, lover of Voltaire, genius, is a perfect example of the power of women in the 18th century and today. Many of the challenges to...

In the Moment: ‘Jazz4Justice’ at Center for the Arts

Hardy, inspiring community engagement is vital for the continuing health of the performing arts. That is a given. With challenging times for arts funding; the changes in the acceptance of the...

Magic Time!: ‘Judge Me Not’ at DC Arts Center

Strong writing, passionate acting, and a meaningful purpose combined to make Judge Me Not a gem of a show. An assemblage of monologues around a common theme, the show came with a message: Do not pass...

Review of the Mariinsky Ballet in ‘La Bayadère’ at The Kennedy Center

If you’ve never seen the Mariinsky Ballet dance a full-length classic (or missed its previous 2008 production of La Bayadère,) rush to buy tickets for this current engagement at The Kennedy Center...

Review: ‘Wilderness’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

The Kennedy Center recently presented En Garde Arts’ touring production of Wilderness, a multimedia show that discusses the real-life accounts of young teens who struggle with mental health. The piece...

Review: ‘Pippin’ at The Arlington Players

The Arlington Players are entering the last weekend of their production of Pippin, a show that promises magic and fantastic feats, with book by Roger Hirson and music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz....

Review: Margaret Cho: ‘Fresh Off the Bloat’ at Warner Theatre

Aptly named this year as one of the “50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time” by Rolling Stone magazine, five-time Grammy and Emmy nominated comedian, actress, and activist Margaret Cho returned to Warner...

Review: ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ at the Folger Theatre

All for Love Noted critic Harold Bloom once said, “We certainly can say that Cleopatra and Antony do not bore each other, and they are bored, erotically and otherwise, by everyone else in their...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz’s Birthday Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Nonagenarian jazz–what is it? It’s Lee Konitz leading a quartet that includes George Schuller on drums, Jeremy Stratton on bass, and Dan Tepfer on piano. And in his Kennedy Center’s Birthday...

Interview: ‘Electra’ Director Stevie Zimmerman

Stevie Zimmerman has a reputation in DC as a “must-see” director. She received her bachelors from Oxford and her masters from the University of Leeds in England. She directed The Pitmen Painters and...

Magic Time!: ‘Sotto Voce’ at Theater J

Among the revelatory dimensions of this lyrical play is one that caught my attention by surprise. I knew going in that Sotto Voce, by Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Nilo Cruz, would resonate with...

Review: ‘Hamlet’ at Port City Playhouse

An actor of illustrious talent shone bright recently on the D.C. area stage of Port City Playhouse. Rebekah Raze, in a performance that progressed from great to astounding, not only enthralled her...

Review: ‘Shining Brow’ at UrbanArias

Can an artist be true to his art as well as to his promises? Is destruction the price of creation? These are the questions at the heart of Shining Brow—music by Daron Hagen; liberetto by Paul...

Review: National Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Juanjo Mena and Pianist Garrick Ohlsson at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Final Performance TODAY, 10-15-17 at 3:00 p.m.)

It’s not unusual for concertgoers to be greeted by the sounds of orchestra members tuning their instruments, so commencing Thursday night’s concert with Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason...

Magic Time!: ‘An Act of God’ at Signature Theatre

Rarely have I enjoyed such a perfect union of comic writing, acting, and staging with such non-stop hilarity. Just opened in the intimate Ark theater at Signature. An Act of God, had me doubled over...

Review: ‘The Price’ at Arena Stage

Arthur Miller is best known for his two American classics: Death of a Salesman and All My Sons. American high schoolers still know him for his third significant work, The Crucible. Although The Price,...

In the Moment: ‘Are you now or have you ever been…’ at MetroStage

As I took in, with a notably racially diverse audience, MetroStage’s top-notch, tense, musically revealing production, Are you now or have you ever been…, so many questions challenged me. The...

Interview: Cristen Stephansky Discusses Peace Mountain Theatre Company’s ‘Lost in Yonkers’

Please tell us about yourself and your theater background. I’m Cristen Stephansky and I’m playing Gertrude, known as “Gert” for short, in Lost in Yonkers. I’ve performed onstage for many years in...

Review: ‘The Red Shoes’ at Kennedy Center Opera House

Generations of budding ballerinas have lusted after the shiny crimson satin pointe shoes in the classic 1948 film The Red Shoes. Who can resist those shoes, they make the wearer dance, and dance, and...

Review: ‘I’ll Get You Back Again’ at Round House Theatre

There’s a lot going on in Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again, now at the Round House Theatre through October 29: A bitter stand-up comedian and her struggles to reconcile and come to terms with...

Review: ‘Sotto Voce’ at Theater J

In Sotto Voce, Theater J’s first production of the 2017-18 season, the characters don’t actually lower their voices. Instead, they speak in whispers, and not always to each other. However, they do...

Review: ‘Jason Moran & Q-Tip’ at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

It started with the basics. Q-Tip took us back to the early days of hip-hop, to 1973 when soldiers were returning from Vietnam and the architects of hip-hop started doing their thing in obscurity....

Spine: Love in the Time of Big Pharma, ‘The Effect’ at Studio Theatre

Big Pharma is not only big, it’s growing bigger by the panic attack, by the back spasm, by the botched terrorist attack. We want that pill that makes us happy because that happy is our latest knight...