Kennedy Center

Review: NSO Pops and Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds at the Kennedy Center

The NSO Pops presented its first-ever collaboration with superstar Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds on Friday night for a two-night run in the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center. Under the musical direction...

Review: ‘Let Freedom Ring!’ MLK Celebration Featuring Vanessa Williams at the Kennedy Center

The 16th Annual Let Freedom Ring! Celebration honors the life, legacy, and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hundreds of people from all walks of life filled the pews of the Kennedy Center’s...

In the Moment: Report on ‘Declassified’ with Ben Folds and Sara Bareilles at The Kennedy Center

Under the masterful, musical code-switching curation of National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Artistic Advisor Ben Folds, the future for new audiences finding their way to the usually buttoned-up, High...

Review: ‘The Humans’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

Lights rise on The Humans and there, center stage, is Erik Blake (Richard Thomas), a fish out of water Pennsylvanian Dad in a New York apartment. What is he doing there? And why is he in an apartment...

Review: ‘On Your Feet!’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

The rhythm is gonna get you! Expect to find yourself dancing in your seat, because the energy from this show is infectious. On Your Feet! at the Kennedy Center is electric, and audience members...

In the Moment: The National Symphony Orchestra at The Hamilton Live This Thursday, January 4th, 2018

Ready to un-compartmentalize your music tastes? Open to thinking differently about what some may call stodgy “High Art” for the well-fixed? Ready to have some new musical experiences that fuse classic...

Review: Comedy at The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with Gary Vider and Sara Armour

Now in its 21st year, the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage is the Center’s gift to everyone in the Washington area, offering live entertainment at no cost every single day. It’s also a great way to...

In the Moment: Interview with Stage Manager Paul D. Michnewicz

One of the questions I often receive from theater-goers surrounds the mystery of what a stage manager does for a live theater production. The stage manager is rarely seen, and doesn’t seem to have a...

Review: ‘An American in Paris’ at the Kennedy Center

Glistening The Kennedy Center’s lush Opera House with feted Hollywood glitz and glamour, the national tour of the 2015 multi-Tony-winning musical, An American in Paris, debuted Tuesday for a...

Review: ‘Twist Your Dickens’ at Second City

If you’re yearning to kick off your holiday season with goodnatured hilarity, get thee to the Kennedy Center and grab a seat at the Theater Lab, where The Second City’s Twist Your Dickens is holding...

Review: ‘Forever Balanchine Farewell Performances’ at The Kennedy Center

It was bittersweet last evening when The Suzanne Farrell Ballet performed the Forever Balanchine Farewell at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House. Sweet because the muse of dance master George Balanchine...

Review: ‘Private Confessions’ at The Kennedy Center

How might one react to finding and reading their mother’s diary after her death? Did she purposely leave the diary so it would be found and read, rather than destroy it? And, how in Heaven’s name,...

Report: Reflections on ‘A Master Class with Denyce Graves’ at the Kennedy Center

Denyce Graves is an absolute force of nature. This is apparent any time she takes the stage, whether it is in a role or as an instructor. She has a strength of presence that radiates when she is...

Review: ‘In Conversation with Samantha Bee…A Moderated Q&A’ at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall

It was a match made in heaven: Rebecca Traister, author and commentator on feminism and politics; and Samantha Bee, Canadian-American writer, comedian, producer, and (according to TIME) one of the top...

Review: ‘ink’ at The Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater

In ink, choreographer/dancer Camille A. Brown’s final installment in her trilogy examining African-American identity, an entire history of a people is written indelibly on the bodies of her six...

Interview: Natalia Magnicaballi of The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Discusses ‘Forever Balanchine: Farewell Performances’

I had the pleasure to sit down with Natalia Magnicaballi, principal dancer with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, to talk about her work with the company and the upcoming concert series: The Suzanne Farrell...

Review: ‘Black Girl: Linguistic Play’ at The Kennedy Center

A lone bass guitar player, Electric Bassist Tracy Wormworth, is highlighted in a stream of light. He is seen at a distance and the sound is like a fluttering thought, familiar but quickly dissolving...

Interview: David Rohde Interviews Mezzo-Soprano Isabel Leonard

When Washington National Opera presents one of opera’s top examples of musical comedy next spring, it’s only fitting that the production will star a singer whose background sounds as ready-made for...

Review: The Kansas City Ballet’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at The Kennedy Center

The Kansas City Ballet’s The Nutcracker, with its classic composition by Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Artistic Director Devon Carney, is a stunning and opulent spin on a classic ballet. This...

Review: ‘Me…Jane: The Dreams & Adventures of Young Jane Goodall’ at the Kennedy Center

The story of Jane Goodall – primatologist, ethologist, anthropologist – has been told numerous times in various media forms. The British born naturalist is said to be the leading expert on...

Review: Christian Sands in Discovery Artist at the KC Jazz Club

Jazz pianist Christian Sands appeared at the KC Jazz Club last Friday evening with drummer Jerome Jennings and bassist Eric Wheeler: together, the pulse and rifts and energy lifted both heart and...

Review: Isley Brothers at The Kennedy Center

The Isley Brothers rocked into The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall this last Sunday night. Though the Hall is still standing, it may never be the same. Since their founding in 1955, the Isley Brothers...

Members of the Theater Community Reflect on What Joel Markowitz Meant to Them

Tributes and expressions of affection and appreciation for Joel have been pouring in. This is a space for us to celebrate and remember our friend, Joel Markowitz. Use the comments to share feelings,...

Review: ‘Alcina’ at The Washington National Opera

The Washington National Opera is now offering opera lovers the rare treat of a disarming and whimsical baroque opera, Alcina, by Composer George Frideric Handel. An opera, by default, is often a...

Who’s in Town?: Tony Award-Winner Cynthia Erivo to Perform at the Kennedy Center This Saturday, November 4th, 2017

In my mind, Cynthia Erivo’s name is synonymous with strength and confidence. But it’s not just me. “Diva,” “lion,” and “dragon slayer” are just a few of the ways people have described her since she...

Review: The Bentzen Ball Comedy Festival: Andrea Gibson and Amber Tamblyn

Amber Tamblyn and Andrea Gibson were heard loudly and clearly at The Kennedy Center this past weekend. Washington, D.C. and the Terrace Theater welcomed the two poets as part of the Comedy at The...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter Trio at The Kennedy Center

The Ron Carter Trio visited The Kennedy Center this Friday night. Consisting of bassist Carter, pianist Donald Vega, and guitarist Russell Malone, the harmonics couldn’t have been sweeter; the...

Review: ‘The Book of Mormon’ at The Kennedy Center

Just as Fiddler On The Roof, Cabaret, Porgy and Bess, and Hello Dolly! defined their generations, The Book of Mormon mirrors the zeitgeist of the Millennial Generation. It is often vulgar, smarmy,...

Review: Dizzy Gillespie Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday celebration at The Kennedy Center jazzed the Eisenhower Theatre last night. I’m sure the rooftop is still aglow this morning. Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)...

Review: ‘DEMO’ at Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

No curtain opened on the black and white picture of Jerome Robbins, smiling, in a sweatshirt, a hand on his forehead and another on the chest of one of his two dogs. There was no boundary unrolled, no...

Review of the Mariinsky Ballet in ‘La Bayadère’ at The Kennedy Center

If you’ve never seen the Mariinsky Ballet dance a full-length classic (or missed its previous 2008 production of La Bayadère,) rush to buy tickets for this current engagement at The Kennedy Center...

Review: ‘Wilderness’ at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater

The Kennedy Center recently presented En Garde Arts’ touring production of Wilderness, a multimedia show that discusses the real-life accounts of young teens who struggle with mental health. The piece...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz’s Birthday Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Nonagenarian jazz–what is it? It’s Lee Konitz leading a quartet that includes George Schuller on drums, Jeremy Stratton on bass, and Dan Tepfer on piano. And in his Kennedy Center’s Birthday...

Review: National Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Juanjo Mena and Pianist Garrick Ohlsson at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall (Final Performance TODAY, 10-15-17 at 3:00 p.m.)

It’s not unusual for concertgoers to be greeted by the sounds of orchestra members tuning their instruments, so commencing Thursday night’s concert with Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Mason...

Review: ‘The Red Shoes’ at Kennedy Center Opera House

Generations of budding ballerinas have lusted after the shiny crimson satin pointe shoes in the classic 1948 film The Red Shoes. Who can resist those shoes, they make the wearer dance, and dance, and...

Review: ‘Jason Moran & Q-Tip’ at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

It started with the basics. Q-Tip took us back to the early days of hip-hop, to 1973 when soldiers were returning from Vietnam and the architects of hip-hop started doing their thing in obscurity....

Review: ‘Lotus’ at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

Tap dancers are family. As family they gather together, catch up, trade stories, reminisce, honor their forbears and simply, yet profoundly, enjoy each others’ company. Saturday evening’s sold-out...

Interview: Dominic North Discusses ‘The Red Shoes’ and Life As a Dancer with Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures Company

Based on the film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Red Shoes comes to The Kennedy Center October 10 – 15, 2017. The Red Shoes received two...

Terrace Theater to Re-Open with Series of Events at the Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will officially re-open the Terrace Theater on Friday, October 6, kicking off a month-long suite of performances that highlight the theater’s unique...

Review: Kennedy Center Local Dance Commissioning Project Performance of ‘EroSpace’ and ‘When Snails Collide’ at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

It’s often difficult to shake off the pre-conceived notions and expectations of what a particular dance concert is going to be like. I am not exactly clear on what I expected with from EroSpace and...

Report: ‘National Symphony Orchestra Season Opening Gala Performance’ Conducted by Maestro Gianandrea Noseda and Featuring Yo-Yo Ma and Cynthia Erivo

Listen up, DC! There is a new Maestro in town. Maestro Gianandrea Noseda, whose impressive resume ranks him as one of the world’s most sought after conductors, opened his inaugural season as music...

Review: ‘Bernstein on Broadway’ at The Kennedy Center

It was a glorious evening for Leonard Bernstein and musical theater fans at The Kennedy Center. It was the exceptional, one-night-only opening to the worldwide celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s...

Review: ‘Aida’ at Washington National Opera

Eternal, romantic love conquers all — even a jealous rival — in Verdi’s ravishingly melodic Aida, now being presented by the Washington National Opera with splendid work from all involved. Verdi’s...

Page-to-Stage New Play Festival: Six Short Plays from Playwrights Collaborative

Some of the most interesting new plays unveiled at this year’s Page-to-Stage Festival–held over the Labor Day weekend at the Kennedy Center–were among those offered by Playwrights Collaborative, a...

Page-to-Stage New Play Festival: ‘Blind Spots’ by Brave Soul Collective

Skipping puddles on my way to The Kennedy Center, I reminisced: “It’s a rainy day. The sky is gray. I think I’ll smile anyway.” My childhood friend, Nancy, taught me that and it has stuck with me for...

Preview: Women Playwrights Set to Take Page-to-Stage by Storm

Want to see some really cool plays with women at the helm of the production? We’ve got great news for you! Women playwrights and women-led theater companies are ready to entertain you at the Kennedy...

Review: Herbie Hancock at The Kennedy Center

Legendary Oscar and multi-Grammy-winning pianist and Kennedy Center Honoree Herbie Hancock solidified his avant-garde artistry on the Concert Hall stage Tuesday night, highlighting “smatterings” of...

Benefit: ‘One Night in Bangkok’ Featuring Members of ‘The King and I’ to Benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS on August 14

Join members of The King and I’s royal court as they step out of character for good fun and a good cause at One Night in Bangkok, a one-night only cabaret benefit for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS...

Interview: David Rohde Interviews Violist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt

Is “star viola player” an oxymoron? Not if the viola player – a “violist” as opposed to a violinist – casts her net as wide as Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt. Milena, who last appeared in Washington in...

Interview: Joan Almedilla Discusses Playing Lady Thiang in ‘The King and I’ at The Kennedy Center

It’s difficult to imagine a more lush or beautiful production to take the stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts than Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. The revival, which...