Washington DC

Review: ‘Paper Dreams’ at Imagination Stage

One of the wonders of children is their capacity to take the simplest object and create a whole new world filled with curiosity and excitement. Paper Dreams, a new children’s dance theatre production...

Review: ‘Dogfight’ at Rockville Musical Theatre and Arts on the Green

War, friendship, and love are serious elements in a man or woman’s life. Rockville Musical Theatre’s production of Dog Fight explores those elements through the music and lyrics of Benj Pasek and...

In the Moment: Q&A with Minister Becky May Jenkins, Leader of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir Performing ‘The Gospel of Colonus’ at Avant Bard

An ensemble is very key to the success of a theatrical production. Whenever I go to a theater performance, I make sure to take in those who, while not in the spotlight, still pack a visual and aural...

Review: ‘Rock of Ages’ at Reston Community Players

Here’s something I bet you never wanted to think about again: the ‘80s and your hairstyle. Good. Now that I’ve unlocked a horror all too unimaginable, let’s revisit a sexier time in our history. A...

Review: ‘Marx in Soho’ at Nu Sass Productions

Nu Sass’ latest Small Batch production is Howard Zinn’s one-actor Marx in Soho. It is another highly successfully, nervy production by Nu Sass with it mantra, “strong women, great theatre.” It is...

Review: ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Last night, I had the pleasure to see the the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as performed by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC....

Review: ‘From the Mouths of Monsters’ at The Kennedy Center

From the Mouths of Monsters, a world premiere Kennedy Center commission by award-winning playwright Idris Goodwin, directed by Dougie Irvine, is a gripping, intense glimpse into the mind of...

Review: ‘Booty Candy’ at Montgomery College

In a particularly lapel-grabbing scene in Montgomery College’s Booty Candy, a preacher tells his congregation that he’s tired of hiding from the “what they heard” crowd and shows them who he really...

Review: Discovery Artist in The Kennedy Center Jazz Club: Elena and Samora Pinderhughes

Siblings Elena and Samora Pinderhughes are young, both in their early 20s. Samora is a composer and pianist and sister Elena is a vocalist and flutist. Despite their youth, the pair has been creating...

Magic Time! ‘Intelligence’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater

Lately I’ve been thinking that there are two key questions that must be asked of every season-programming choice by every theater’s artistic director: 1) Why now? 2) So what? There is no single right...

Review: ‘Intelligence’ at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater

Intelligence, the new play at Arena Stage about the Valerie Plame CIA scandal, comes at a very timely moment in politics. As Donald Trump appears increasingly clownish, the presidency of George W....

Review: ‘Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing’ at Signature Theatre

With gentleness and clear affection for an unexpected heroine, Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner James Lapine has written and directed with a disarming touch an endearing new play “with music”;...

Review: ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ at Ovations Theatre

How often are you torn between the demands of a profession and finding a satisfactory work/life balance? James Lapine’s book about George Seurat examines the difficulty of finding a solution to this...

Meet the Cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’: Part Three: Rachel Pino-Elliott and John Carter

In part two of a series of interviews with the cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, meet Rachel Pino-Elliott as Schwartzy and John Carter as Leaf Coneybear....

Review: ‘Bigoudi’ at Atlas Performing Arts Center

Is it just me or do the French have a way of taking the most mundane, everyday objects and making poetry out of them? Consider the humble plastic hair-curler, those tiny, porous tubes that feature...

In the Moment: Q&A With Bob Telson, Composer of ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ – Now Playing at Avant Bard

Avant Bard’s The Gospel of Colonus is a gorgeous, rapturous musical. Taking a phrase from the Bible, specifically Psalm 100, I found The Gospel of Colonus a “joyful noise” to witness and highly...

Review: ‘The Giver’ at NextStop Theatre Company

I loved the book and hated the movie, so I was really curious to see how The Giver, Lois Lowry’s Newbery award-winning story about a dystopian society where everything has gone to “sameness”, would...

Review: ‘Fickle: A Fancy French Farce’ at Olney Theatre Center

Modernizing Comic Antiquity, Or What Would a Classic French Farce Look Today: Fickle Brings the Laughs at Olney Theatre Center In an age where it seems like all the classics are getting reboots of...

Meet the Cast of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC’s ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ Part Two: Shawn Morris

In Part Two of a series of interviews with the cast of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, meet Shawn Morris. Please introduce yourself and tell our...

Review: ‘Champion’ at Washington National Opera

In the fascinating contemporary opera Champion, the external world of the often-violent sport of boxing and the inner turmoil of the self-loathing and self-denial of the lead character collide to...

Review: Beethoven’s ‘Leonore’ at Washington Concert Opera

Washington Concert Opera (WCO) concluded its 30th anniversary season with a rare performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leonore on stage at the George Washington University Lisner Auditorium...

Review: ‘Cave of the Heart’ By the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

“Archaic/Modern” is not only the title of the estimable exhibit of Japanese American sculptor Isamu Noguchi mid-20th-century works at the Smithsonian’s American Art Museum. Archaic/modern describes...

Here Are This Year’s WATCH Award Winners

Announcement Of Awards 17th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors THE WATCH AWARDS Nominations Announced January 15, 2017 – 7:30 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA Award Ceremony Sunday,...

Review: ‘Avenue Q’ at Montgomery College

Well lately it has “sucked to be me” with new health challenges, the political climate ain’t pretty, and you-know-who has moved to DC, so I desperately needed me a dose of Avenue Q to clear the dark...

Review: ‘La Périchole’ at Victorian Lyric Opera Company

The Victorian Lyric Opera Company’s (VLOC) staging of the operetta La Périchole was a testament to the idea that opera can be a light affair. Composed by 19th Century, Paris-based composer Jacques...

WATCH Award Winners To Be Announced Tonight Beginning at 7 PM. Here Are This Year’s WATCH AWARD Nominations

HERE ARE THE 16TH ANNUAL WATCH AWARD 2017 NOMINATIONS Nominations for outstanding technical achievements. ____ Outstanding Set Design in a Musical (5) Jared Davis – Man of La Mancha – Arlington...

Review: ‘Evil Dead: The Musical’ at Dominion Stage

I don’t even know how to describe what took place at Theatre on the Run last night. All I know is that it was one of the most fun nights I had in the theatre in a very long time. Evil Dead: The...

Review: The Escher String Quartet Chamber Music at The Barns at Wolf Trap

While quartets abound, that quality of coming together and making four musicians truly come together through music is still a difficult task to achieve. This is where The Escher String Quartet stands...

Review: Dionne Warwick: The 4th Anniversary Celebration of the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

One of the natural vocal wonders of the world, the legendary entertainer and vocal artist Dionne Warwick beguiled the audience at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club. The occasion to celebrate was...

Review: ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

For the past year, Greenbelt Arts Center (GAC) has been on a fantastic streak as a venue for top-notch shows. GAC’s current show is an addition to that streak. With music and lyrics by William Finn, a...

Monumental Theatre Company’s ‘SEX SWAP’ TONIGHT AT 8 PM, AT COBALT

Monumental Theatre Company’s annual Gender Bender Cabaret, Sex Swap, is back for a third time! This year, we are making the one-night event bigger and better than ever. Monumental Theatre Company is a...

Meet the Cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’: Part Two: Pamela Northrup and Jim Adams

In part two of a series of interviews with the cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, meet Pamela Northrup as Rona Lisa Peretti and Jim Adams as Vice Principal...

Magic Time!: ‘The Select (The Sun Also Rises)’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

F. Scott Fitzgerald was among the first to take an editorial whack at Ernest Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises (then called Fiesta). Among other things cut out by Fitzgerald was the entire...

Review: ‘The Select (The Sun Also Rises)’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

The Elevator Repair Service’s production of The Select (The Sun also Rises) opened at the Lansburgh Theatre Monday, and I’m certain that Earnest Hemingway’s 1926 debut novel, known for its spare,...

Review: ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’: The FATS WALLER Musical Show’ at Howard University

Coming out of the Howard University Department of Theatre Arts production of Ain’t Misbehavin’: The FATS WALLER Musical Show, we checked googlemaps to be absolutely sure we hadn’t accidentally...

In The Moment: Elevator Repair Service’s ‘The Select (The Sun Also Rises’) at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Come April 7th, it will be a full century since the United Stated entered World War I or The Great War as it was known until WW II came along. The Air and Space Museum here in DC is having an...

Review: ‘The Gospel at Colonus’ at Avant Bard

In 1983, experimental theatre director Lee Breuer wrote and directed a musical that became a worldwide sensation. Blending Black church gospel music and Motown with a story of Greek tragedy, Breuer’s...

Meet the Cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’: Part One: Director Jeff Lesniak

In part one of a series of interviews with the cast of Greenbelt Arts Center’s The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, meet Director Jeffery Lesniak. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our...

Review: ‘Dead Man Walking’ at Washington National Opera

It is certainly a “Dark Night of the Soul” (St. John of the Cross) for Sister Helen Prejean in the contemporary opera Dead Man Walking. A meditative, spiritually resonant study of our common humanity...

Interview: Dionne Warwick on Performing Tomorrow, 2/28 and Wednesday, 3/1 at 8 PM at Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club’s 4th Anniversary Show

I recently had the privilege to interview the music legend, Dionne Warwick. The occasion for the interview is to celebrate Ms. Warwick’s illustrious career, ask some related questions, and to...

Review: “Key for Two” at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

When I hear the words “British” and “Farce” together, I usually think of the stereotypical over-the-top show involving: a. slamming doors, b. cheating spouses, and c. people running around a couch....

Review: ‘Anton in Show Business’ at Silver Spring Stage

Anton in Show Business by Jane Martin opened last night at Silver Spring Stage. The show is produced by Jim Robertson and directed by Erin Bone Steele. The plot is a strange one that satirizes the...

Review: NSO Pops: An Evening with Ledisi at The Kennedy Center

“Peaches” was in the house. Inspired by the spirit of Nina Simone, acclaimed American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter and actress, Ledisi performed an eclectic program of blues, jazz and R&B...

Review: ‘Famous Contemporaries: Music by Gliere, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tcherepnin’ at the Russian Chamber Art Society

As a novice opera aficionado, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Masterpieces of Russian Vocal Music: Famous Contemporaries, the Russian Chamber Art Society’s most recent offering at La Maison...

The Subplot Quickens: A Q&A with Michelle Beck About Her Remarkable Role in ‘King Charles III’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

I greatly admired both the writing and the acting in Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III, but to be honest it was the character of Jessica and Michelle Beck’s...

Review: ‘SISSY Accompanied by Johann Sebastian Bach and a Mouse’ at The Catholic University of America’s Hartke Theatre

If you can imagine a play that captures bits and pieces of The Wizard of Oz and Greek Mytholgy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a Tom and Jerry comic, then you will have some idea of what goes into...

Meet the Cast of Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Sweeney Todd’: Part Three: Frank Viveros (Pirelli)

In Part Three of a series of interviews with the cast of Sweeney Todd at Olney Theatre Center, meet Frank Viveros. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you on the...

Magic Time!: ‘The How and the Why’ at Theater J

The very title poses a puzzle. How what? Why what? Yet the definite articles assert certitude. The what. The how. Turns out in this brainy play about two smart women, perplexity and uncertainty...

Review: ‘The How and the Why’ at Theater J

The How and the Why – Sarah Treem’s celebrated play about science, feminism and generational rivalry – has just made its long-awaited DC debut at Theater J. The two-handed play is billed as a “fitting...

Review: ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at Synetic Theater

Synetic’s The Taming of the Shrew is disarming, decadent, and a great visual rush. It is also great, dialogue-free storytelling with its own edge and outlook. The Synetic production simply cast a...