Studio Theatre

Review: ‘Cloud Nine’ at Gallaudet University Theatre and Dance Program

Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, which premiered in London in 1979, is rightly considered a landmark play. It’s pivotal for me personally as well, ever since I saw the legendary Tommy Tune production...

Review: ‘The Good Person of Setzuan’ at The Towson University Department of Theatre Arts

Bertolt Brecht’s tale of the struggle to be good under the weight of capitalism is brought to the streets of Baltimore in Director Stephen Nunns’ lively and profound production of Bertolt Brecht’s The...

Review: ‘Moment’ at The Studio Theatre

Family dramas are not rare; in fact, they are abundant; in fact, they dominate the theatrical landscape. Quality family dramas are rare, however: those that resound beyond their domesticity to signify...

Magic Time! “Moment’ at The Studio Theatre

“All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” as Leo Tolstoy famously said. Had Tolstoy seen Studio Theatre’s penetrating production of Deirdre Kinahan’s lacerating...

Review #2: ‘House.’ at Arts Collective @HCC

For the last 21 years, the Arts Collective at Columbia’s Howard Community College has been an incubator for developing talent and nurturing new and interesting stage productions. With House., an...

Review #1: ‘House.’ at Arts Collective@HCC

House., an original comedy written and directed by Daniel Johnston, opened last night at Howard Community College’s Arts Collective at the Horowitz Center in the Studio Theatre. This is Johnston’s...

Behind the Scenes of Arts Collective @HCC’s Workshop Production of ‘House’: Part 5: Cast Members Colin Riley, Iris Shih, and Sierra Young

In Part 5 of 5 interviews with the Playwright/Director and cast members of House at Arts Collective @ HCC, meet cast members Colin Riley, Iris Shih, and Sierra Young Joel: Please introduce yourself...

Behind the Scenes of Arts Collective @HCC’s Workshop Production of ‘House’: Part 4: Cast Members Tom Matera, Christian Preziosi, and Taylor Purnell, and Crew Member Chania Hudson

In Part 4 of 5 interviews with the Playwright/Director and cast members of House at Arts Collective @ HCC, meet cast members Tom Matera, Christian Preziosi, and Taylor Purnell, and crew member Chania...

Behind the Scenes of Arts Collective @HCC’s Workshop Production of ‘House’: Part 3: Cast Members Brandon Furr, Chaseedaw Giles, Warren Harris, and Wesley LeRoux

In Part 3 of 5 interviews with the Playwright/Director and cast members of House at Arts Collective @ HCC, meet Brandon Furr, Chaseedaw Giles, Warren Harris, and Wesley LeRoux. Joel: Please introduce...

Behind the Scenes of Arts Collective @HCC’s Workshop Production of ‘House’: Part 2: Cast Members Gabrielle Amaro, Alex Becker, Courtney Branch, and Jordan Colea

In Part 2 of 4 interviews with the Playwright/Director and cast members of House at Arts Collective @ HCC, meet Gabrielle Amaro, Alex Becker, Courtney Branch, and Jordan Colea Please introduce...

Review: ‘Leave it to Psmith!’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

Clomping into the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre, shivering from Snowzilla’s persistent chill and shaking caked snow and ice from our boots, we are greeted by the pleasant, ear-warming sounds of...

Review: ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ at The Studio Theatre

Such a bubbling, darkly comic world in which to our abundant enlightenment, all that is solid melts into thin air. This is the Studio Theatre production of the vinegary urban domain devised by Stephen...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #22: High School and Training Programs

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in High School and Training Programs go to: HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS: The Addams Family at West Potomac High...

Jeff Coon at The Arden Cabaret Series

Jeff Coon, a familiar and dependable face on Philadelphia stages for two decades, returned this weekend to the Arden Theatre, a company where he’s played everyone from John Wilkes Booth (in Assassins)...

A Report on ‘It’s A Wonderful W.I.G.’ at Arts Collective@HCC

Howard Community College’s Arts Collective continued its spirited 21st season line-up with its second of four shows, a one-night-only holiday improv show called It’s a Wonderful W.I.G., featuring its...

Scene Stealers/Showstoppers of the Week-December 10, 2015

Congrats to our new Scene Stealer/Showstoppers honorees. ______ Sandy Bainum, as Mame, Singing “If He Walked Into My Life’ in Mame at Riverside Center Dinner Theater “The cast here is stellar, with...

‘As You Like It’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

What’s in a name? Taking the title of Shakespeare’s character-rich, eminently quotable pastoral comedy literally, is rare—and has rarely been done with the gender-bending, genre-mashing, gleefully...

Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” (W.I.G.) Presents ‘It’s a Wonderful W.I.G.!’ This Friday, 12/11@7:30 PM

HCC’s Arts Collective Improv Group presents Holiday Improv Fun for Everyone THIS Friday, December 11, 2015 at 7:30 PM Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” (W.I.G.) presents It’s a Wonderful...

‘Bad Jews’ at The Studio Theatre

When I first saw Joshua Harmon’s brilliant play Bad Jews at The Studio Theatre about this time last year, I could not contain my enthusiasm. I praised it to the skies: Bad Jews is so over-the-top...

‘The Zoo Story’ and ‘Pullman, WA’ at CCBC Academic Theatres

As the fall semester comes to a close, the theater department at CCBC Essex has taken a turn for the absurd. Julie Lewis directs the double feature of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story and Young Jean Lee’s...

Reading of ‘Noura’ at Georgetown University’s Myriad Voices: A Cross-Cultural Performance Festival

On my explorations into the local universe of university theater, I’ve sighted some terrific stuff. Most of it I’ve written about for DCMetroTheaterArts (see links to my recent faves below). But if I...

Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” (W.I.G.) Presents ‘It’s a Wonderful W.I.G.!’ on Friday, 12/11@7:30 PM

HCC’s Arts Collective Improv Group presents Holiday Improv Fun for Everyone on Friday, December 11, 2015 Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” (W.I.G.) presents It’s a Wonderful W.I.G.! A...

Meet the Cast of ‘George is Dead’ at The Klunch: Part 2: Fiona Blackshaw

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of George is Dead, meet Fiona Blackshaw. Joel: Please tell our readers where they may have seen you perform on our local stages? Fiona: I’ve been a...

‘Argonautika’ at Howard Community College by Lisa Carol

Hurry to the nearest port to set sail with Jason and his Argonauts before it’s too late! Catch Howard Community College’s Theatre Program production of Argonautika, which only has three performances...

‘Bachelorette’ at American University’s College of Arts and Sciences

Does validation of a woman’s self-worth come with being independent or having a husband? In American University’s exceptional production of Leslye Holland’s Bachelorette, directed by Carl Menninger,...

Spine: Studio Theatre’s Apple Family Cycle, ‘Sorry’ and “Us”

One of the most frequently read quotes about Richard Nelson’s four play Apple Family Cycle comes from Ben Brantley’s article, “One Man, 10 Shows, Guvnor.” (Dec. 13, 2013, New York Times.) Speaking of...

‘Regular Singing’ in Repertory with ‘Sorry’ at Studio Theatre

Regular Singing, the 4th play in Richard Nelson’s Apple Family Cycle and now playing in repertory with Sorry (the 3rd play) at Studio Theatre, is a 2-hour dirge, a threnody if you will, with much...

The Apple Family Cycle: ‘Sorry’ at The Studio Theatre

You know that feeling you get when you go to something—you attend it as a visitor or you drop in as an interloper—and by the time that something ends, you feel as if you belonged to it? Well, there’s...

Meet the Cast of ‘The Most Happy Fella’ at The Catholic University of America: Part 1: Mackenzie Newbury

In Part 1 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Most Happy Fella, meet Mackenzie Newbury who plays Cleo in their upcoming production which plays this weekend October 23-25, 2015. Joel:...

A Report on ‘En Garde! The Art of Fight Choreography’ at The Smithsonian’s Dillon Ripley Center

As I strolled into the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center (shared with the Sackler Museum of Asian Art and the National Museum of African Art), I was surprised to see over 100 people eagerly...

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Cake Off’ at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre’s Cake Off, is an appetizingly savory musical petite-four disguised as a mere head-turning sugary iced cutie. It is a whiz-bang production full of high-flying, screwball comic work...

In the Moment: BalletNova Center for Dance Presents A Global Dance Showcase on Saturday, 10/17/15@7:30 PM

BalletNova Center for Dance will present a Global Dance Showcase, featuring ethnic dance companies from around the DC metro region. The performances will be held in the Fredgren Studio Theatre – a...

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Animal’ at The Studio Theatre (Review #2)

When a leading Shakespearean actor changes hats—literally—to play a neurotic housewife whose comic riffs include a paean to a ballpoint pen, that’s news. And it’s very good news indeed for...

Magic Time!: The Women’s Voices Theater Festival: ‘Animal’ at The Studio Theatre (Review #1)

After I saw an early Women’s Voices Theater Festival production (I’ve been to 16 and counting), a question lingered in my mind: Exactly what distinguishes a play as being in a woman’s voice other than...

Interviews With the Directors of ‘Love, Loss and What I Wore’ at Arts Collective@HCC

Love, Loss and What I Wore, a play by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron and based on the book by Ilene Beckerman opened at the Howard Community College Arts Collective this last weekend. It continues...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘Friendship Betrayed’: Part 9: Christian R. Gibbs

In Part 9 of a series of interviews with the cast of WSC Avant Bard’s production of Friendship Betrayed—a classic comedy by Spanish playwright María de Zayas y Sotomayor—meet Christian R. Gibbs. Joel:...

HCC’s Arts Collective Mounts Nora Ephron’s ‘Love, Loss, and What I Wore’ October 2 – 18, 2015 by Susan G. Kramer

HCC’s Arts Collective Mounts Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore October 2 – 18, 2015 3-Weekends of Readings Includes 5 Different Casts, Featuring the Area’s Most Fabulous Women in the Arts!...

‘Chimerica’ at The Studio Theatre

Lucy Kirkwood did not think up the word Chimerica—it was coined by a historian and an economist to name the combustably combined economies of China and the U.S. But wowza did she think up a whiz-bang...

Howard Community College’s Arts Collective Announces its 2015-2016 Season By Susan G. Kramer

Twenty-one years of powerful story-telling… and this is just the beginning! This season, AC celebrates the extraordinary gifts of poets, prose writers and playwrights, from original works to a Tony...

Review: ‘Amazing Grace’ at The Nederlander Theatre in New York City

It’s miraculous that this musical managed to cross the finish line, to land at the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway. We all know how difficult it is to mount a musical these days, not only because of...

‘Silence! the Musical’ at Studio’s 2nd Stage

Silence! The Musical is very easy to digest (pun intended), as presented in the tightly directed current production now playing at the creatively configured 2nd Stage space of The Studio Theatre. A...

Blind Pug Arts Collective Presents: The Theatre of Self-Loathing Presents: ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’ Interview with Eddie and Cassilda

I recently saw the fantastic meta-theatrical event known as Blind Pug Arts Collective Presents: The Theatre of Self-Loathing Presents: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? at the Capital Fringe Festival. I...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cold as Death’

It’s hard to be in a love triangle where the girl is dead. Cold as Death, Guillotine Theatre’s offering for this year’s Fringe, revolves around this concept. Rather than submit to the lust of the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘POWER! Stokey Carmichael’

Meshaun Labrone takes the stage as 1960s Civil Rights leader Stokely Carmichael. Carmichael is organizing a protest and the diverse audience, just by being in the room, is taking part. “Leave now if...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Blind Pug Arts Collective Presents: The Theatre of Self-Loathing Presents: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’

This is a rare opportunity to see the avant-garde Theatre of Self-Loathing, bringing the best of Eastern European theatre to the DC audience. Eddie and Cassilda, winners of the 2003 CAPB Award, are in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Out of Sync’

What happens when memories of your past begin to sabotage your present? Doorway Arts Theatre Company tackles this question head on in Out of Sync, a new play by Katie Woods. In the first scene Nathan...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dust to Dust’

This appealing musical is an engaging discovery, performed by The Class Act Players, a theater company of seniors from Robinson Secondary School and Oakton High School in Fairfax. Toby (Preston Kemp),...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Altered Archives’

Memories make us who we are today. Strange as it may seem, the tiniest object may trigger a memory and send us reeling into the past. As part of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival, the dancers of...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘SONATA: The Naked Theatre Project’

“Hi. Yes. Okay. Sorry.” For the first three “movements” of the actor symphony SONATA: The Naked Theatre Project, written and directed by Solomon Haileselassie, these are the only words uttered by the...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘It’s a Circus Out There’

Written and directed by Kevin Finkelstein, the Bringling Brothers Circus appoints a new CEO (Leila Blaze, played by Stefanie Garcia) with a tremendous business background, but she is like a fish out...