Kennedy Center

Touring Companies of ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Team Up for DC Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Fundraiser

The touring companies of Disney’s Aladdin and Dear Evan Hansen invite guests to The Cast Party: A Fundraising Event on Monday, August 26, 2019, from 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm at Mr. Smith’s of Georgetown...

Review: An Emotionally Gripping ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ at the Kennedy Center

Some musicals are all about the entertainment. You expect to see some awesome dancing, amazing singing, and leave the theater smiling (see my review of Disney’s Aladdin, also currently playing at the...

In ‘Aladdin,’ Iago Is The Perfect Sidekick: And No, He’s Not a Parrot Anymore

LA-based character actor Reggie De Leon brings comedic flair to the beloved Disney character Iago. ‘Aladdin’ is playing at the Kennedy Center through September 7th.

Review: ‘Aladdin’ at The Kennedy Center

Ever since The Lion King took the Broadway world by storm back in 1997, Disney has been recreating its beloved animated films for the stage, with successful runs by The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the...

Review: ‘The Band’s Visit’ at The Kennedy Center

“All alone in the quiet /And my ears are thirsty / For your voice, for your voice / Can you answer me.” Those lyrics from The Band’s Visit’s “Answer Me” burrowed into my heart as I took in The Band’s...

Review: Hannah Gadsby’s ‘Douglas’ at the Kennedy Center

You know that Hannah Gadsby’s new show, Douglas is different from anything you’ve seen before, even before you enter the theatre, when the ushers inform you that your cell phone must be placed inside...

Review:  The Second City’s ‘America; It’s Complicated!’ at the Kennedy Center

There’s not much to laugh at in politics today. Nor is it easy to make fun of diversity, gender, Putin, or Pepsi. But that doesn’t prevent the team of talented comedians at Second City – now in their...

A New Home For Soulful Symphony at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Top-rated Columbia amphitheater Merriweather Post Pavilion has forged a new partnership with Maryland’s Soulful Symphony, a visionary orchestra that celebrates, elevates, and reimagines American music...

Review: ‘Byhalia, Mississippi’ at The Kennedy Center

The pivotal character in this profoundly moving comedy is Laurel, a young woman who has relocated from Jackson to Byhalia, Mississippi, to make a life with the young man she plans to love for the rest...

Review: ‘HERstory: Love Forever, Hip Hop’ at The Kennedy Center

I have to marvel at all the ways the national culture temple named for our 35th president reaches out to an audience that looks like America. There’s no such uniform audience, of course—no performing...

Review: ‘Falsettos’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

The motley crew of neurotic and quasi-neurotic characters in Falsettos, now playing at the Kennedy Center, offers an eye-opening look at all-too-human dilemmas. The rituals of everyday life under...

Review: ‘Hello, Dolly!’ at The Kennedy Center

A matchmaker, dance instructor, legal counsel, and mandolin teacher (among other occupations), Dolly Gallagher Levi is a woman of countless talents and side-hustles in bustling, turn-of-the-century...

A Lively NSO Dazzles, Hinting of Still More Good Things to Come

Now that National Symphony Orchestra music director Gianandrea Noseda has nearly completed two full seasons – and has signed on to stay through 2025 – a clearer picture of the possibilities we can...

The Kennedy Center Previews Its New Addition, The REACH

With construction ongoing but substantially completed, The Kennedy Center recently threw open the doors on May 29, 2019 to its new addition, The REACH. It was a glorious day to take in the swooping...

The Cappies Honor High School Theater Students in the DMV

Many of us started our journey into theater as high school students. There was just something about the stage that beckoned us. And that continues for today’s high school students. For 20 years,...

WNO Gala Demonstrates America’s Solid Standing on Opera’s World Stage

From the nexus of divas, dollars, and diplomats at this year’s Washington National Opera Gala, there arose a thrilling truth: The finely frocked foreigners in attendance might question America’s role...

WNO’s ‘Tosca’ Serves Up Classic Opera Comfort Food Done Right

The Washington National Opera’s (WNO) fine opening night performance of Puccini’s Tosca provided an opportunity for catharsis and reflection, two things our overwrought city needs right now. My...

Review: ‘Rooming House’ by Lucky Plush Productions at the Kennedy Center

Lucky Plush Productions is a dance/theater company currently performing at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater. But this is no conventional company. Compared to dance troupes, they are at the...

Washington Performing Arts Announces Its 2019-2020 Season

Washington Performing Arts has just announced its 53rd season, comprising 45 main stage events across six venues in the Greater D.C. region. The season includes the world premiere of Christopher Tin’s...

Review: Broadway Center Stage: ‘The Who’s Tommy’ at Kennedy Center

Fifty years ago Rolling Stone reported completion of a new album by Pete Townshend and called it “probably the most important milestone in pop since Beatlemania. For the first time, a rock group has...

Interview: Violinist Yevgeny Kutik at the Kennedy Center

Many artists cite their family as one of their main sources of inspiration, but violinist Yevgeny Kutik can make a stronger claim than most. Even some of the repertoire he performs stems directly from...

Review: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Porgy and Bess’ a Crowd-Pleaser

Let’s get the persnickety stuff out of the way first. Then we can get to why the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s second Porgy and Bess in concert at the Strathmore Music Center in three years is...

‘Two Wings’ Celebrates the Music of Black America in Migration

“Pick a chord and I’ll be there,” Alicia Hall Moran told husband Jason Moran from the stage of a packed performance hall at Georgetown University. Moran, accompanying on piano, nodded in agreement....

Amanda Gookin’s Forward Music Project at Kennedy Center’s Direct Current Festival

Amanda Gookin is a cellist, a founding member of the acclaimed music group PUBLIQuartet, and, since 2015, the founder of the Forward Music Project, which commissions new multimedia works for solo...

Review: ‘New York City Ballet: New Works and New Productions’ at the Kennedy Center

It’s been a challenging few years for New York City Ballet, the nation’s preeminent ballet company. What with the misconduct and resignation of its ballet master in chief, subsequent misconduct...

Review: The Kennedy Center’s ‘Celebrating the Human Spirit Awards’ Gala featuring Idina Menzel

The Kennedy Center’s annual party with a purpose on Wednesday night, the Celebrating the Human Spirit Awards Gala, honored Distinguished Philanthropists Patrick G. Ryan and Shirley W. Ryan and Citizen...

George Mason University Center for the Arts Announces its 2019-2020 Season

The Center for the Arts at George Mason University has announced the 2019/2020 season of Great Performances at Mason, its annual series featuring leading national and international artists in the...

Review: ‘Analogy Trilogy’ by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company at the Kennedy Center

It’s too simplistic to call Bill T. Jones a choreographer, although that’s been his stock and trade for more than 40 years. This past week his Analogy unfolded as a trilogy, over three nights at the...

Review: ‘New York City Ballet: Works by Balanchine, Robbins, and Reisen’ at the Kennedy Center

Spring is in the air with not only the blooming cherry blossoms but also the bursting energy of the New York City Ballet’s exciting spring concert at the Kennedy Center. Something old and something...

Review: ‘DEMO: Now’ at the Kennedy Center

As Director and Curator of DEMO: Now, Damian Woetzel brings together artists of different disciplines. The idea is simple: put artists together in a room and see what develops, what is created that is...

The Kennedy Center Announces Its 2019-2020 Theater Season

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced its 2019–2020 theater season, with more than 15 productions from New York, London, and across the globe, plus original Kennedy Center...

Cynthia Erivo Brings ‘Legendary Women’s Voices’ to the Kennedy Center

Cynthia Erivo may as well call the Kennedy Center home. Having previously performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the intimacy between Erivo and the musicians is strong. For her upcoming...

Photo Feature: The Washington Chorus Celebrates St. Patrick’s Day

The Washington Chorus (TWC) celebrated St. Patrick’s Day 2019 with a concert at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, followed by its annual Gala dinner at the Watergate Hotel. The concert featured a...

Review: ‘Faust’ by Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center

It’s been a quarter of a century since Satan came to call on the Kennedy Center, but the Washington National Opera’s production of Faust (with music by Charles Gounod and libretto by Jules Barbier and...

Magic Time!: ‘Limits’ by Cirkus Cirkör at The Kennedy Center

The circus I fell in love with as a kid is gone. It was touted at the time as the greatest show on earth: a three-ring tented extravaganza that smelled of roasted peanuts, sawdust, and manure and...

Review: ‘Eugene Onegin’ at Washington National Opera

Of all the grand tear-jerkers, those epic romances that make you want to tear your heart out and roast it on the barbecue, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin stands out. Packed with beautiful...

Review: ‘The National Symphony Orchestra with Cellist Kian Soltani’ at the Kennedy Center

The National Symphony Orchestra delighted with a superb program on Thursday night at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Acclaimed cellist Kian Soltani performed with panache as he joined forces with...

Preview and Commentary: ‘Eugene Onegin’ at Washington National Opera

Opening night in any form of theater is a big deal, but this Saturday’s opening of Eugene Onegin at Washington National Opera carries extra meaning at several levels. It’s the first appearance in...

Behind the scenes with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Photo Feature)

Ever wish you could go behind the scenes at a classical music event? Here are some images from last week’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performance at the Kennedy Center. This Dutch orchestra (they...

Review: ‘Ouroboros: Dawn of the Cabaret’ by TBD Immersive

Remember the choose-your-own-adventure books from grade school? Well, imagine that but in a live scenario where you are a character in the story, not just an observer guiding the action. This is the...

Review: ‘The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical’ at the Kennedy Center

Life is hard enough when growing up, but when you find out that you’re the son of a god, the stakes get even higher. Armed with friends and a pen, Percy Jackson explores the world of newly discovered...

From Amsterdam to the Kennedy Center: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Performs February 13

In a 2008 poll of the world’s leading music critics by Gramophone Magazine, the Amsterdam-based Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) was selected as the greatest in the world. Luckily, the orchestra is...

Review: ‘NEA Jazz Master Archie Shepp’s All-Star Tribute to John Coltrane’ at the Kennedy Center

Moments in jazz performances punctuate the annals of jazz history. There are some performances that you wished you had attended because they will be talked about for years. “Archie Shepp’s All-Star...

Not Just ‘Dead White Guys’: Kennedy Center Artistic Directors Defend 2019-2020 Season

The Kennedy Center’s artistic directorial staff defended their calculus for choosing their collective 2019-2020 classical-music season during a media briefing and panel discussion earlier this week....

Review: ‘The Music Man’ at the Kennedy Center

We’ve got trouble, right here in the Capital City. That might be true – mind-numbingly true – but it’s not at the Kennedy Center where Jeffrey Finn has produced a charming, energetic production of...

Review: ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Program B)’ at The Kennedy Center

“Who will tell our grandmothers’ stories?” The phenomenal Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater soulfully responds in memory of its iconic founder with dignity, power and enough creative energy to light...

Review: ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Program A)’ at The Kennedy Center

A cough, a gasp, the sound of a heartbeat. A sudden flash in the darkness. These sounds and images begin “Lazarus,” the brand-new work from hip hop master Rennie Harris, which opened a glitzy...

Preview: Piano Legend Leon Fleisher’s 90th Birthday Celebration

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor has long been a feeder line for pilgrimages by aspiring performing artists to Juilliard and other New York institutions. Not everyone realizes, though, that the pilgrimages...

Review: ‘Harlequinade’ by American Ballet Theatre at The Kennedy Center

Marius Petipa must have been smiling from his grave last night when the American Ballet Theatre presented another brilliant Russian choreographer’s staging of Petipa’s Harlequinade. This sweet,...

In The Moment: ‘Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage’ Makes U.S. Premiere at The Kennedy Center

A far-reaching cultural exchange production from China by the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) is making its United States premiere at The Kennedy Center. It is Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage,...