Kennedy Center

‘Carmen’ at Washington National Opera (Cast #2-9/20/15)

Washington National Opera opens its 60th season with Georges Bizet’s iconic verismo opera, Carmen, directed by E. Loren Meeker. Arguably the most popular work in the operatic repertoire, Carmen is a...

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘The Requiem’ at The Highwood Theatre

Think the promise, even the future of American theater lies in the hands of those imaginative, impassioned, gutsy young Millennials who for the last several years have musically and dramatically set...

‘The Cerulean Time Capsule’ at The United States Botanic Gardens

I had the great pleasure this weekend of exploring the United States Botanic Garden with my three boys, who are 10, 8, and 6. It was a first for all of us and you would think we had gone to the...

‘Seuls’ at The Kennedy Center

To witness Seuls is to witness a gifted artist toss his tools—la vie banale, literary idols, childhood—into the same spot in a stream. Each tool, each influence, creates a new circle on the surface....

‘Carmen’ at Washington National Opera (Cast 1-9/19/15)

The Washington National Opera launches their 60th season with a visually gorgeous and vocally stunning Carmen. Clémentine Margaine takes on the role of the gypsy seductress – a role that every mezzo...

Meet the Cast of The Little Theatre of Alexandria’s ‘Laughing Stock’: Part 9: Brian Selcik

In Part 9 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Little Theatre of Alexandria’s production of Charles Morey’s Laughing Stock, meet Brian Selcik. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you on...

Women’s Voices Theater Festival: Pat Connelly’s ‘Princess Margaret’ Opens September 19, 2015

What happens when a religious institution like the Catholic Church puts the reputation and status of its priests and nuns ahead of the needs of their most vulnerable members, children? In her new...

‘An Easy to Read 2015 Page-to-Stage Festival’ Schedule for Saturday, September 5-Monday, September 7, 2015 at The Kennedy Center

This year’s 14th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival takes place: Saturday, September 5th from 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Sunday, September 6th from 6–7 p.m. Monday, September 7, from 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Venues...

Meet the Director and Cast of ‘Kiss Me Kate’ at NextStop Theatre Company: Part 2: Hasani Allen

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of Kiss Me Kate at NextStop Theatre Company, meet Hasani Allen. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you on the stage? Hasani: Professionally, this...

The Edge of the Universe Players 2 Opens ‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane’ November 21st at The Writer’s Center

The Edge of the Universe Players 2 Announces its Fall 2015 Production Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton Plays November 21 through December 13, 2015 It’s the Swinging Sixties in London’s West End,...

Meet the Cast of McLean Community Players’ ‘Calendar Girl’: Part 1: Diane Sams

Meet the cast of McLean Community Players’ Calendar Girls. In Part 1, meet Diane Sams. Joel: Tell our readers where they may have seen you on local stages. Diane: I have been around the area for a...

‘2015 Page-to-Stage Festival’ Schedule for Saturday, September 5-Monday, September 7, 2015 at The Kennedy Center

This year’s 14th Annual Page-to-Stage Festival takes place: Saturday, September 5th from 10:30 a.m.–11 p.m. Sunday, September 6th from 6–7 p.m. Monday, September 7, from 11 a.m.–10:30 p.m. Venues...

Meet the Cast of ‘Spamalot’ at the Port Tobacco Players‏: Part 2: Ryan Dolan

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Port Tobacco Players’ Spamalot, meet Ryan Dolan. Tell our readers where they may have seen you on local stages. I’ve performed all around the...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #55: ‘Neighborhood 3: Part 5: ‘The Music of Neighborhood 3: Video Game Fever, Driving Me Crazy and Making It Scary’ by Gregory Thomas Martin

How does one create a sonic world on something that is such common place to our homes today? Video games are such a large part of our popular culture, and with their popularity come a lot of baggage....

The Playwright’s Playground – The Playmakers CATF 2015: Part 3: Director Nicole A. Watson on ‘World Builders’

This Special Edition of The Playwright’s Playground begins ‘The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015.’ In a series of in depth conversations, I speak with the artistic teams associated with the plays at this...

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...

‘Once’ at The Kennedy Center

Brilliantly blending theatricality and intimacy, the 2012 Tony Award-winning best musical Once officially opened last night at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, championing the awe-inspiring...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #28: ‘Ripple of Hope: One Teacher’s Journey to Make an Impact’ by Karen Sklaire

Ripple of Hope: One Teacher’s Journey to Make an Impact is my comedic one-woman show that explores public education issues through my personal experiences as a drama teacher in some of the roughest...

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) to Perform in Cuba on July 11-19th

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW) today announced the performance schedule for their first-ever tour of Cuba by a gay chorus, set to take place from July 11-19, 2015....

Polish National Ballet at The Kennedy Center

Grey, almost nondescript costumes, would not seem powerful. A lightly lit modern painting, blue, then back to grey, would not seem striking. Eight dancers, re-entering in lines from upstage to...

New CDs from Washington Area Cellist Amit Peled and Pianist Thomas Pandolfi

It must be time for dessert! Two new recordings by prominent local classical artists coincidentally use the metaphor of desserts-after-a-meal in their concepts. They both provide delightful summertime...

In the Moment: Company Danzante Performs at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Northern Virginia’s Company Danzante will perform at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts on June 26, 2015. Company Danzante will perform repertory by Co-Directors, Katherine...

Comedy at the Kennedy Center: Kathy Griffin at The Kennedy Center

Guinness World Record-setter (with 23 stand-up specials), two-time Emmy and Grammy Award–winning comedian Kathy Griffin officially kicked off her 80-city tour last night at The Kennedy Center’s...

‘The Book of Mormon’ at The Kennedy Center

Two years ago I saw the touring production of The Book of Mormon at The Kennedy Center and was utterly blown away. I wrote a column at the time about the profound content of The Book of Mormon,...

An Evening of Theater Celebration at the 16th-Annual Cappies Gala

My first foray into the world of high school award programs began last year when I attended The National Capital Area Cappies award event. And, leading up to this year’s program, celebrating the...

’The Word and the Wasteland’ at The Source Festival (Review)

A “seemingly guilty mass-murdering white supremacist terrorist” is the phrase dramaturg Alan Katz uses to describe the character at the heart of “The Word and the Wasteland, a full-length play...

The Royal Ballet’s ‘Don Quixote’ at The Kennedy Center

Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote is a Royal treat Sometimes balletomanes can only distinguish between a truly great dance concert and a very fine one by noting how many goose bumps pop up on their arms....

Ardani Artists Presents: Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg: ‘Rodin’ at The Kennedy Center

Boris Eifman is a choreographer critics love to hate and audiences simply love. In fact, in his 2011 opus, Rodin, detailing the loves of the great French sculptor who chiseled the art form into the...

‘If All the Sky Were Paper’ at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

Fitting that If All the Sky Were Paper — a dramatization of war correspondence lovingly presented by archivist Andrew Carroll — would unfold at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, a...

‘Tour-de-Force: Serenade’ at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

The dancers, dusted in long, white tulle, reflect—shells on a dark beach. It is an opening, a closing, a commencement, an ending. Arms raise. Hands flex. Heads turn, diagonally, toward a common...

‘Cinderella’ (‘La Cenerentola’) at Washington National Opera #2 (Tara Erraught)

“The best laid plans of mice and men, often go awry.” In this case, to the great enjoyment of all in the Washington National Opera’s dazzling, fun production of Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella (La...

‘Cinderella’ (‘La Cenerentola’) at Washington National Opera #1 (Isabel Leonard)

Every spring, the Washington National Opera launches a family friendly show in time for their M&M’S® Opera in the Outfield, and this year they tackle Rossini’s wickedly funny Cinderella. I love what...

ALICE (in wonderland) at The Washington Ballet at The Kennedy Center

The Washington Ballet‘s performance of ALICE (in wonderland) is delightful for someone like me who is not a connosseur of ballet. Here, sets and costumes change frequently, the performances are...

National Symphony Orchestra, ‘Mahler Explored’ With Christoph Eschenbach, Conductor and Leonidas Kavakos, Violin

Last night at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall marked a special evening for all – conductor, players, and audience alike. The audience, foremost, was treated to the special talents of violin virtuoso...

Meet the Performers of GMCW of DC’s ‘Born this Way’: Part 1: JJ Vera and Marcus Brown

In a series of interviews with members of The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC who are performing in their upcoming concert Born This Way on May 15 and 16, 2015, meet JJ Vera and Marcus Brown. Joel:...

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality Following The 3 PM Performance of ‘Born This Way’ on Saturday, May 16th

Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC to Host Dialogue on Equality DC Event Takes Place in Conjunction with Born This Way Concerts and Debut of LGBTQA Youth Chorus Demonstrating the power of music to...

2015 Kennedy Center Spring Gala: ‘It Don’t Mean a Thing… A Celebration of Swing’ at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts rolled out the red carpet on Sunday evening with a star-studded salute to the swing era of the 1930s and ‘40s. Under the direction of Grammy-winning...

Pianist Martin Kasik with the Embassy Series at the Czech Embassy

Czech pianist Martin Kasik has an important historic connection with Washington despite relatively infrequent visits here. He was a 1999 winner of the Young Concert Artists series, which launches...

The Washington Ballet’s ‘Swan Lake’ at The Kennedy Center

Under a moonlit, cloudy sky, a young, overwhelmed Prince Siegfried seeks refuge in the forest following an evening of birthday revelry. A weighty anticipation gives a lag to his steps, for tomorrow he...

The Washington Ballet’s ‘Swan Lake’ at The Kennedy Center

Swooning over the first ‘Swan’ Step aside, Baryshnikov. There’s a new kid on the block and he’s taking the dance world by storm. The Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack took his royal place last night...

New York City Ballet: Program B: 21st-Century Choreographers’ at The Kennedy Center

Principal dancer Teresa Reichlen unwraps her leg into a développé, a blade curling a bow, then—suspends—playfully, before hiding it away. Her partner, principal Zachary Catazaro, approaches with a...

Jay Leno at The Kennedy Center

A magnificent stage usually filled with a full orchestra and a hundred-person chorus might feel empty with just a stool, a microphone, and a lone person, but not when Jay Leno is in control. With the...

‘Gigi’ at The Neil Simon Theatre in New York City

The current stage revival on Broadway of Lerner and Loewe’s film Gigi is lovely to look at. It’s filled with principal performers in supporting roles, who have played leads on Broadway, and for those...

New York City Ballet at The Kennedy Center-Program A: 20th Century Classics

There’s no company like the New York City Ballet, performing the old, new, and, especially, Serenade. Last night was one of those magical evenings of ballet and beauty. First it was a smooth ride to...

The Philadelphia Orchestra with Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center

Subtext abounded as the Philadelphia Orchestra arrived at The Kennedy Center Tuesday night. In Washington, rising politicians are “mentioned for president.” In classical music, rising conductors are...

‘Being Leonardo da Vinci (An Impossible Interview)’ at The Kennedy Center

Italian director and actor Massimiliano Finazzer Flory brought his latest project, Being Leonardo da Vinci (An Impossible Interview), to The Kennedy Center on April 2, 2015, for a single engagement....

‘The Nemo Effect and Music for Grand Guignol Theatre: Horror, Horror Everywhere’ by Gregory Thomas Martin

Horror is one of my favorite genres to compose music for. It is always an exciting challenge to compose something that the audience not only has certain expectations for, but also is still something...

‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’ With The National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center

For more than 30 years, the music of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg has uplifted, inspired, and invoked passion in audiences and artists alike. Under the baton of conductor Steven Reineke,...

Barbara Cook Spotlight Series: ‘Malcolm Gets: Come A Little Closer’ at The Kennedy Center

Malcolm Gets is one of the most underrated stars in musical theater today. Fortunately, he got a well-deserved chance to display his exceptional talents during his solo cabaret show, Come a Little...

Cassandra Wilson-Coming Forth by Day: A Tribute to Billie Holiday at The Kennedy Center

The legacy of the brilliant and iconic jazz legend, Billie Holiday, coupled with the cool, classic styling of the very contemporary and experimentally-inclined jazz artistry of Cassandra Wilson fused...