Atlas Performing Arts Center

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Salvation Road’

Every year the Fringe produces a few real standouts among its more serious offerings. D.W. Gregory’s thoughtful and funny Salvation Road is an excellent example. Anchored by a talented young cast and...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Never Never’

Alexandra Petri’s Never Never is absolutely brilliant. It explores a heavy topic – pedophilia – without being overbearingly serious and dark. In fact, it was wildly funny. That said, Petri treated the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Girl With Two Belly Buttons’

The Girl With Two Belly Buttons, written and directed by Jeryl Parade, is a heartwarming story. A woman, Izzy, suffers from a rare muscular disorder which requires that she use a feeding tube. When it...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ambien Date Night’

From the moment I entered Atlas’ Lab II, I was primed to laugh and have a great time. An overly-friendly brunette demanded my attention and directed me toward my friend who was saving our seats. As...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Breaking Character’

From The Breakfast Club and Mean Girls to High School Musical and Glee, high school stereotypes have been the popular subject of numerous writers. But often this exploration is missing a very...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Interconnected’

Written and directed by Brian Schwartz and Karen Snyder, Interconnected tells the twisted and complex story of three intertwined families. It is ripe with dramatic turns worthy of the soap operas but...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tomato Beard’

Raunchy, irreverent, and just plain silly, Tomato Beard is a series of skits much like those early Saturday Night Live spoofs. This Pennydog production, billed as a “rock musical,” is a work in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Paper Game’

Let’s play a game. The Game. It has an extensive set of rules. The point system is arbitrary. One of the rules is that all the rules can be broken. And you really cannot win. Sound like fun? Welcome...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘It’s What We Do: A Play About the Occupation’

As a medium for understanding what has been going on in the Israel-occupied territories, the art of theater can do something that other media cannot. Theater can narrate events and tell stories, of...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Insanity of Mary Girard’

The Insanity of Mary Girard is a play showing Mary Girard’s descent into insanity as she comes to term with her admittance to an insane asylum by her jealous and hateful husband. This version,...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘A Family Reunion’

The words “family reunion” are bound to evoke mixed memories, no matter whose family it is. That said, I’d wager there are few whose mixture is as experientially eclectic—and as psychologically...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Our Lady of the Clouds’

Exile, home, memories – these fundamentals are dreamily explored in an inventive interpretation of Argentinian playwright Aristides Vargas’ play, Our Lady of the Clouds, or Nuestra Senora de las...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Last Burlesque’

The Last Burlesque is a fun, sexy romp with much to delight – from spirited performances, creative dance numbers, eye-catching costumes, to (of course!) good old-fashioned titillating burlesque....

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Up For Debate’

Any show starting with a handsome actor wearing a gold lame vest while singing (in excellent baritone) an anthem to the state of Idaho cannot be accused of taking itself too seriously. Luke Mullan,...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Life of King John’

The Life of King John is a one-of-a-kind interpretation of Shakespeare’s historical play, directed by Alan Duda. The production weaves elements and references from Monty Python’s Spamalot into this...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #44: ‘The Insanity of Mary Girard’ by Liz Imler

2015 Capital Fringe Preview: Lanie Robertson’s ‘The Insanity of Mary Girard’ Last year’s Audience Award winners in Dance and Physical Theatre, The Wandering Theatre Company, return to this year’s...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #7: Interviews with the Writer/Director/Producer and Cast of ‘Girl with Two Belly Buttons’: Part 5: Peter Markey

In Part 5 of a series of interviews with the writer, producer, and director and the cast of Girl with Two Belly Buttons, meet Peter Markey . In Girl with Two Belly Buttons, Izzy, at age 60, is sick...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #7: Interviews with the Writer/Director/Producer and Cast of ‘Girl with Two Belly Buttons’: Part 4: Scott Duvall

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the writer, producer, and director and the cast of Girl with Two Belly Buttons, meet Scott Duvall. In Girl with Two Belly Buttons, Izzy, at age 60, is sick and...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #23: “Sanctuary’ by Susanne Sulby

Sanctuary, A new play about the impact of war on women premiering at the Capital Fringe Festival July 17-July 26, 2015 Come and join as we weave through time and place and learn the fate of these...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #21: ‘It’s What We Do’: A Play about the Occupation by Director/Playwright Pamela Nice

At the end of my play, It’s What We Do, Ilan, an Israeli Defense Forces soldier, says: “I’m standing guard at a post, aiming my weapon at everyone. You know what image comes to mind for a Jewish...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #7: Interviews with the Writer/Director/Producer and Cast of ‘Girl with Two Belly Buttons’: Part 3: Matthew Sutphin

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the writer, producer, and director and the cast of Girl with Two Belly Buttons, meet Matthew Sutphin. In Girl with Two Belly Buttons, Izzy, at age 60, is sick...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #7: Interviews with the Writer/Director/Producer and Cast of ‘Girl with Two Belly Buttons’: Part 2: Kathryn Martin

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the writer, producer, and director and the cast of Girl with Two Belly Buttons, meet Kathryn Martin. In Girl with Two Belly Buttons, Izzy, at age 60, is sick...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #7: Interviews with the Writer/Director/Producer and Cast of ‘Girl with Two Belly Buttons’: Part 1: Jeryl Parade

In Part 1 of a series of interviews with the writer, producer, and director and the cast of Girl with Two Belly Buttons, meet Jeryl Parade. In Girl with Two Belly Buttons, Izzy, at age 60, is sick and...

“What, Mr. Todd, What is that Sound?” Arranging The Prog Metal Version of ‘Sweeney Todd’: Part Two: Andrew Lloyd Baughman

It has been over a year since Stephen Sondheim gave DC’s Landless Theatre Company unprecedented permission to create a Prog Metal orchestration of Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The...

‘In the Moment’ An Interview with Choreographers Erica Rebollar and Helanius J. Wilkins on ‘Everything for the First Time’ at Atlas on 4/11 at 8 PM

The artistry and craft of two masterful choreographers are coming together for a stimulating, one night only performance at the Atlas Performing Arts Center with the tantalizing title, Everything for...

“What, Mr. Todd, What is that Sound?” Arranging The Prog Metal Version of Sweeney Todd, Part One: Andrew Siddle

It has been over a year since Stephen Sondheim gave DC’s Landless Theatre Company unprecedented permission to create a Prog Metal orchestration of Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The...

Moveius Dance in World Premiere ‘Glacier’ Intersections Festival at Atlas Performing Arts Center

My phone told me it was 14 degrees as I made my way to the Atlas Friday evening. A fitting temperature for the world premiere of a work titled Glacier, by Moveius Contemporary Ballet. By day Diana...

In The Moment: An interview with Choreographer Shu-Chen Cuff of the Gin Dance Company on Appearing at Intersections at Atlas

Over the past several years, Shu-Chen Cuff and the Gin Dance Company have been making impressions on the DC area dance scene. Established in Reston, Virginia, the award-winning Gin Dance Company has...

‘The Last Five Years’ at Metropolitan Youth Arts Theatre

It helped- not hindered- Composer/Lyricist Jason Robert Brown’s aim that his two leads, though meant to be in their twenties, are in fact played by actors (Kyra Smith as Cathy Hyatt and Ben Cherington...

Meet the Cast of Metropolitan Youth Arts Theatre’s ‘The Last Five Years’: Part 2: Kyra Smith by Sam Cornbrooks

In Part Two of a series of interviews with the cast of Metropolitan Youth Arts Theatre’s The Last Five Years, meet Kyra Smith. Sam: Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

‘Love Stinks!’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Love and song go together so well they’re a compound noun. Who doesn’t love a love song? But what about love that is disappointing, unreciprocated, wounding—all the loves that dare not speak their...

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC Announces its 2014-2015 Season By Craig Cipollini

We are thrilled to announce the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC’s 2014-2015 concert season, and share with you some new traditions! You won’t have to wait until the holidays to see the Gay Men’s...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Adventures of Tapman’

(The Best of the Capital Fringe) The Tap Dance Kid meets Batman with some fancy footwork Ratta-ta-tap. The masked man moves across the floor. A-shoom, he leaps into the air. His fluid arms and legs...

Capital Fringe 2014 Preview: ‘Contrafact of Freedom’ by Jordan Kaplan

Disillusionment in the capability of the US government to make things happen, our country in a war that few approve of or even understand the reasons for, people honestly questioning whether America...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review ‘Empress of the Moon: The Lives of Aphra Behn’

Without tragedy we would all just be living in a play. The characters existing inside of Empress of the Moon: The Lives of Aphra Behn, a production being mounted by Forearmed Productions (based in...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Contrafact of Freedom’

History Made Interesting: Contrafact of Freedom We’ve all heard “The Star Spangled Banner” sung at sporting events. Most of us know that the national anthem was written by Francis Scott Key? But who...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Big A: Scenes From a Vanishing Landscape’

Grown children often have to care for aging parents. This is hard enough when the parents retain the mental faculties, but can be gut-wrenching when parents can no longer recognize their own children....

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Waiting for Armageddon’

In DC Trash’s Waiting for Armageddon, Ron Litman and Composer Tom Pile string together a series of songs and stand-up comedy, all producing the same message: The end of days is upon us. The question...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Miss Emma’s Matchmaking Agency for Literary Characters’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) A modern incarnation of Emma Woodhouse runs a matchmaking business for literary lonely heats. With a little harmless manipulation and some help from a...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Ben & Lucille’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Classified as a contemporary comedy, this production of Ben & Lucille is hands down the absolute best 45 minutes you will spend at The Capital Fringe Festival in 2014....

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Name Game’

Before the show even begins, four dancers in full-body spandex suits float and twirl across the stage of the Lang Theatre. Vast and sparse, the set (designed by Thomas Carter II) for Mary Stone...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Girl in Space’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Status Report: Not a Robot Theatre Company’s Girl in Space is not your typical “boy meets girl, girl meets asteroid, girl loses asteroid, boy loses girl” story although it...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Inaugural Election for President of Mrs. Jacobson’s Sixth Grade Class’

In this delightful comedy, six 6th graders are running for President of Mrs. Jacobson’s Sixth Grade class. You, the audience, get to participate and choose the winner. In the age of Stephen Colbert...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Intrigue, A Mystery on Marley…’

Within in the first five minutes of draMAStic dance works’ production of Intrigue, a mystery on marley…, the audience hears a blood-curdling scream and sees a man in a chalk outline on the ground. If...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘#albatross’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) MOVEIUS Contemporary Ballet, a DC-based company founded in 2010, presents #albatross in this summer’s Capital Fringe Festival, with a program of three works. The decision...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Blue Moon/Red River’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Jane Franklin Dance is a Virginia based company known for its innovative works and collaborations; Blue Moon/Red River is a prime example of both. Jane Franklin is the...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Lucretia Borgia’

The Small Batch Theater Co. succeeds with modern dance in its unique production of Lucretia Borgia. Back in Renaissance Italy, Lucretia Borgia was always the baddest girl on the block-or so we’ve been...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘A Fire in Water’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Sparse but beautiful, Silver Finch Art Collective’s a fire in water is a modern opera with an ancient theme – the impact of war particularly on loved ones, lost or left...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘The Tournament’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) What do you gather a team of actors who also happen to be some of the best fight choreographers in DC, and pair them with a writer that loves campy, silly jokes and 80’s...

Capital Fringe 2014 Review: ‘Stone Tape Party’

(Best of the Capital Fringe) Even before the show starts, Stone Tape Party, written by Danny Rovin and directed by Angela Pirko, immerses the audience in the vivacity that is the house where the party...