Kennedy Center

Updated for the 21st century, ‘Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures: Swan Lake’ soars at The Kennedy Center

As you enter The Kennedy Center Opera House, a muted image of a swan, wings spread, neck extended, warms the curtains. The theater darkens, the performance begins, and the movement of flight merges...

Interview with renowned choreographer Bill T. Jones ahead of world premiere of ‘What Problem?’ at Center for the Arts

Social commentary in a dance performance is not unusual, especially in the modern dance community. But in a week-long residency by The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company at George Mason University,...

Jazzmeia Horn makes her return in the new jazz club at the REACH

Jazz vocalist, Jazzmeia Horn, returned to her home at the Kennedy Center on Saturday evening to deliver the first performance in the REACH’s jazz club, Studio K. Perhaps there is no better artist to...

Pianist Yefim Bronfman dazzles, while NSO disengages under guest conductor Gemma New

Nature, nuance, or its lack thereof, were central themes when the National Symphony Orchestra welcomed conductor Gemma New, pianist Yefim Bronfman, and the young composer Salina Fisher to Washington...

WNO’s American Opera Initiative 2020 is an essential take on opera in America

“It’s a ridiculous thing to sing at the top of your lungs about your vulnerability,” American composer Laura Kaminsky observed to this year’s Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative...

‘NSO Pops: Diana Ross – Music Book 2020’ brings mesmerizing Motown royalty to the Kennedy Center

She’s mesmerizing, astounding, and accomplished beyond reason. I’m writing about world-renowned superstar recording artist Diana Ross. Ross, conductor Emil de Cou of the National Symphony Orchestra,...

‘A Jazz New Year’s Eve’ brought Branford Marsalis’ innovative style to the Kennedy Center

The Grand Foyer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts teemed with patrons sporting gowns swirling against the carpeted floor and tuxedos announcing an auspicious occasion, signifying...

A Powerhouse Performance of Handel’s Messiah by NSO at The Kennedy Center

At the outset, I will confess a bias: I much prefer listening to baroque pieces played in the style, and on the scale, of the time in which they were composed. Handel’s 1741 oratorio Messiah was...

A ‘My Fair Lady’ for today at the Kennedy Center

The character arc that carries Lerner and Loewe’s classic My Fair Lady belongs to Eliza Doolittle, as she rises from flower girl at Covent Garden to the belle of the embassy ball, from feral street...

‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ hits the road to 50

Jesus wears his hair in a man-bun and Mary Magdalene appears a bit like a millennial caught outside her “safe space”—but there’s still plenty of power and glory on display in the new 50th Anniversary...

Choral Arts Society Holiday Concert: sing along and hear expert musicians celebrate the season

If singing along to the Hallelujah Chorus or Hark, the Herald Angels Sing are requisite to bolstering your holiday spirit, then Songs of the Season: Christmas with Choral Arts at the Kennedy Center...

‘A Holiday Pops! with Leslie Odom, Jr.’ brings holiday cheer to the Kennedy Center

The NSO Pops helped to make our spirits bright with its annual Christmas concert featuring Tony and Grammy Award-winning Leslie Odom, Jr. and a parcel of musical gifts from his Simply Christmas album....

‘Come from Away’ emphasizes joy: Canadian musical lights up Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater

Every September 11, America mourns the tragic events that astonished and saddened people around the globe in 2001: the attack on New York’s Twin Towers and Washington, D.C.’s Pentagon. Each year, at...

‘The Day’ at the Kennedy Center captures the moment: an intimate measure beyond expectations

Ropes hang, partitioning off a raised platform that is a ramp. Curiosity rises in dimension with the angle of the ramp, a shiny black surface, and in scale with vertical ropes that provide clear...

‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!’ Pigeon and Driver tell us why!

Oh, that pigeon! Always causing trouble. He never wants to take a bath. He stays up past his bedtime. And now he wants to drive… a bus?! Children’s author Mo Willems continues his tenure as inaugural...

15 Questions in 15 Minutes with Jenna Rubaii, now starring as Mary Magdalene on the ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ 50th anniversary tour

Presently appearing as Mary Magdalene in the 50th anniversary national touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar (a superlative that originated in Andy Warhol’s Factory), Jenna Rubaii, who has...

NSO Pops and ‘Harry Potter’ combine for a unique movie night at the Kennedy Center

Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon. With the entire franchise’s worth surpassing $25 billion, you’d be hard-pressed to meet anyone who hasn’t felt the impact of J.K. Rowling’s influential series....

Rising opera star Soloman Howard brings rich vocals to the Kennedy Center

Soloman Howard, the 2019 Marian Anderson Award winner, brought his unique flair to the Kennedy Center in his first-ever solo concert at the venue. As a graduate of the Washington National Opera’s...

‘Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!’ is delightfully clever family fun at the Kennedy Center

What is your “heart dog?” How do you know it, find it—and deal with the disappointment of maybe not being able to have it? Or even . . . losing it? Heavy questions for the school-age (and even...

Giving back to Tia Shearer Bassett

We were saddened to learn this week that Tia Shearer Bassett, a valued member of the DC theater community and a bright shining light of a human, has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Tia and...

Priyanka Shetty’s one-woman ‘The Elephant in the Room’ comes to The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage

Called by critics “incisive,” “timely,” and “brave,” Priyanka Shetty’s one-woman show The Elephant in the Room performs Saturday, November 23, 2019, at 6 pm on the Millennium Stage at The Kennedy...

Mark Morris Dance Group boldly re-imagines ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ in ‘Pepperland’ at the Kennedy Center

Mark Morris dances are emphatically watchable, easily digestible, eccentric, and smartly witty. He so proficiently pairs music and dance, costume and set – with a cadre of collaborators – that it’s...

‘Aladdin’ lights up the skies over Baltimore

On stage, Aladdin starts out as the perfect musical for nine-year-olds. But by the time its two swooning lovers have hopped aboard a flying carpet for a trip to the moon, all moms and dads in the...

Cantus’s ‘Alone Together’ at the Kennedy Center puts form over function

Attending Cantus’s Alone Together at the Kennedy Center made me realize that meaningful interaction relies as much upon solitude and mystery as it does connection and revelation. The vocal octet’s...

Vocal ensemble Cantus explores human connection in the Digital Age with ‘Alone Together’ at the Kennedy Center

“I realized the thing I missed most in my process was people,” American composer Libby Larsen told me recently. She was speaking about her commissioned work YOU, which the vocal ensemble Cantus will...

Jeremy O. Harris’ ‘Slave Play’ is a raw and ribald examination of race

An antebellum plantation is a hotbed of erotica in the raw, ribald and at times ridiculously funny examination of race in Jeremy O. Harris’s Slave Play. Three interracial couples run wild, in body and...

A seamless ‘Magic Flute’ at Washington National Opera

The opening night performance of Washington National Opera’s production of Wolfgang A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute was perfectly pleasing, even if the show as written is just too long. Tradition holds...

‘The American Soldier’ to illuminate the impact of military service at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Next week, The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage will present a performance keyed to Veteran’s Day–The American Soldier, conceived, written and performed by Douglas Taurel. The November 13 performance...

A tragic ‘Otello’ at Washington National Opera

The crowd cheered. We were on the Kennedy Center jitney to the Foggy Bottom Metro stop. I had just read aloud a text from my husband that said Howie Kendrick had hit a two-run homer to put the Nats up...

Spektral Quartet lets audiences explore the space ‘in-between’

There was a time when I needed the cash, so I substitute taught high school. Turns out I had a knack for helping resistant young minds to focus. The key to getting my students where they needed to go...

Local stars to shine in Mo Willems world premiere at Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the full cast and creative team for Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (The Musical!), a Kennedy Center-commissioned world premiere from...

‘Stirring the Waters Across America’ at The REACH is a powerful musical exploration of resistance to racism

Electrifying. Awakening. These are words to describe the heart-rending workshop presentation of Stirring the Waters Across America performed at Studio K at The REACH. To call it anything less would be...

Hometown hero Dave Chappelle honored with the Mark Twain Prize for American humor

On Sunday night Dave Chappelle experienced the most epic of homecomings as the DC native received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The...

Review: ‘Nat King Cole at 100’ at the Kennedy Center

A panoply of performers graced the stage last night to honor the extraordinary musician, composer, and civil rights activist Nat King Cole, who would have been 100 years old this past March 17....

Crashing the Party: Pink Martini Celebrates 25 Years With a Kennedy Center Blowout

If the invitation would have been to see the genre-bending Portland-based cabaret-style self-described ‘little orchestra,’ Pink Martini, featuring China Forbes with special guest star Meow Meow, that...

Review: ‘Broadway Center Stage: Footloose’ at The Kennedy Center

Footloose, the 1984 movie starring everybody’s friend, Kevin Bacon, was a hit for many reasons, but one stood out over the others: dancing means life, and dancing gives meaning to life. This...

Review: The Mariinsky Ballet’s ‘Paquita’ at the Kennedy Center

Ballet, like opera, has a love-hate relationship with its 19th-century repertoire. Contrived plots, truly embarrassing cultural stereotypes, crowd-pleasing but horribly dated choreography that simply...

Review: ‘Merce Cunningham at 100, Beach Birds and BIPED’ at the Kennedy Center

What a pleasure to celebrate the centenary of modern dance master Merce Cunningham with a pair of works that demonstrates his formidable vision for dance, imbued with clarity of form and generosity of...

A Last-Minute Program Change Helps Showcase NSO’s Evolving Signature Sound

The National Symphony Orchestra’s third season opener signaled a distinctively bright and cohesive sound is developing under Maestro Gianandrea Noseda. Noseda explained to the crowd that his...

Review: ‘Cats’ at The Kennedy Center Opera House

Andrew Lloyd Webber catapulted to unprecedented West End and Broadway success with his musical extravaganza Cats, based on a 1939 collection of light verse by the otherwise modernist poet, T.S. Eliot....

Review: ‘NSO Pops: Maxwell: A Night at the Symphony’ at the Kennedy Center

There’s something way-cool seeing a full classical orchestra accompany a cornrowed, ponytailed R&B crooner in a bow-tied tux on the stage of the hallowed Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center. These...

REACH Report: DC Playwrights Forum

It’s true. The DC area has moved into the forefront of the nation’s theater communities. A recent report from Actors’ Equity Association named DC the “fastest-growing theater city.” It was in the...

REACH Report: Renée Fleming, Angélique Kidjo, and Jason Moran

Two of the world’s biggest voices blended beautifully Thursday night on the Main Stage at the Kennedy Center’s REACH Opening Festival, demonstrating the power of song to unify and inspire disparate...

REACH Report: ‘The Just and the Blind’ Aims to Save Black Sons

“How does a black boy become an American?” asks spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph. “How does he learn his role to play?” For Joseph the question is personal and visceral. In The Just and the...

REACH Report: ‘Storytelling for Seniors with Candace Wolf’

More than 50 seniors crowded into a storytelling circle inside one of the Kennedy Center’s new REACH buildings on Monday, and I, as a card-carrying member of the reduced-fare generation, squeezed in...

REACH Report: ‘The Second City and Kennedy Center’s Jazz Comedy Experiment’ at The REACH at The Kennedy Center

The Opening Festival of the new REACH complex at The Kennedy Center featured a plethora of live performances and films, including the laugh-until-you-break-your-funnybone The Second City and Kennedy...

REACH Report: ‘Spotlight on Jazz’ Events at The REACH at The Kennedy Center

DCMTA joined the teeming crowd at the Kennedy Center’s “unprecedented new expansion,” the REACH, on the second day of a 16-day multi-genre festival to check out the spotlight on jazz. From the morning...

Open To All: The Kennedy Center’s New Addition Encourages Community Engagement

Sensuous and just a bit sly, the smooth white pavilions of the Kennedy Center’s new REACH complex wink at us amidst undulating grassy berms. One rises up from the green lawn, curling like an oncoming...

The 2019 Kennedy Center Page-to-Stage Festival

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts its 18th annual Page-to-Stage New Play Festival from Saturday, August 30, 2019 through Monday, September 2, 2019. The festival is a free...

The REACH Opening Festival at The Kennedy Center: How Not to Be Overwhelmed

The Opening Festival of the new REACH at The Kennedy Center is truly exciting, but it’s a lot. All those buildings, all the goings-on. What’s a newbie to do? There’s no dearth of info about the...