2012

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Aaron Lazar by David Friscic

Broadway star, Aaron Lazar (Phantom of the Opera, revivals of Les Miserables and A Little Night Music) casually sauntered into the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater and slowly started singing -“I’m...

A Look at No Rules Theatre Company’s ‘Suicide, Incorporated’ – Week 1 by Brian Sutow

For the next three weeks, Co-Artistic Directors Brian Sutow and Joshua Morgan will be taking us behind the scenes of their new production of Suicide, Incorporated. Here is this week’s article by Brian...

Priscilla Cuellar on Appearing in ‘Working – A Musical’ at The Keegan Theatre by Joel Markowitz

She has one of the most thrilling voices I have ever heard on the stage and now audiences who come to see The Keegan Theatre’s production of Working are being treated to Priscilla Cuellar’s gorgeous...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: ‘Destination Pig’ by Jordan Wright

I’m hooked on Green Pig Bistro and already dreaming about a return engagement. Who could resist dishes so scrumptiously succulently delicious they should be illegal? At the hot new porcine-centric...

Play Reading of ‘Paul’ by Anthony Gallo at Greenbelt Arts Center on Monday, May 14th at 8 PM

Anthony Gallo is a prolific writer and he is here to invite you to a Play Reading of one of his new works. “I am Anthony Gallo and the playwright of a new work called Paul which will be performed...

Judyisms: ‘The Audition’ by Judy Stadt

I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work in a small theatre outside of the big apple and I performed in many different roles in a repertory environment in many different genres but, at the...

My New Column ‘Stage Dad’ by Glenn Cook

“I saw my sis go pitter pat. Said I can do that. I can do that.” Five and a half years ago, my little boy Ben was dancing in the basement of a woman’s house in Maryland, showing off his gymnastics...

Broadway’s Brad Oscar and Christiane Noll Invite You to ArtSpeak Tomorrow Night at 7 PM AT Wootton High School

Brad Oscar and Christiane Noll Invite you to ArtSpeak Tomorrow – Thursday May 3rd at 7 PM At Thomas S. Wootton High School 2100 Wootton Pkwy, Rockville, MD (301) 279-8550 It’s FREE! Broadway The...

Jane Seymour on her May 4th & 5th Wentworth Gallery Exhibitions in Bethesda & Tysons Corner by Joel Markowitz

Wentworth Gallery is presenting an exhibition of art and photography with multi-award-winning actress Jane Seymour and her son Sean M. Flynn at two special in-gallery appearances at the Wentworth...

‘Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me’ at Port City Playhouse by Erica Laxson

It’s not everyday that a play can take you into the tortured minds of three political prisoners, but the Port City Playhouse presentation of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me delivers quite a mental roller...

‘The Big Meal’ at The Studio Theatre by Don Mike Mendoza

One of the most important things a family unit can share is a meal around a table together, and The Studio Theatre’s production of Dan LeFranc’s The Big Meal shows us how much of our lives can revolve...

‘Five Little Monkeys’ at Adventure Theatre MTC by Julia L. Exline

Adventure Theatre MTC presents Five Little Monkeys, a wacky production based on the beloved children’s book by Eileen Christelow. Karin Abromaitis directs this energy-packed hour of mischief and...

Tonys Honor DC Theater: Regional Award to Shakespeare Theatre Company & 8 Noms to ‘Follies’ by Joel Markowitz

It was a great day for DC theater as The Tony Award nominations were announced this morning in NYC. Shakespeare Theatre Company will be receiving The Regional Theatre Award. What a coup for the DC...

‘Dionne Warwick’ at The Music Center at Strathmore’s 2012 Spring Gala by Jane Coyne

The incomparable Dionne Warwick came to town on Saturday, April 21, 2012, to headline the 2012 Spring Gala concert at Strathmore. She was a huge, huge hit. Fifty years into her amazingly successful...

Glass Mind Theatre’s Third Season by Andrew Peters

Artistic Director Andrew Peters unveils Baltimore’s Glass Mind Theatre‘s Third Season schedule. As a young company, this third season is crucial. We believe in creating a cohesive season with a theme,...

‘Nabucco’ at the Washington National Opera by Simon Chin

Verdi’s chorus “Va, pensiero,” from his early opera Nabucco, is a piece that lives on as much in Italian national mythology as in the opera house. Director Thaddeus Strassberger’s new production of...

‘Oliver!’ at Compass Rose Studio Theater by Amanda Gunther

Compass Rose Studio Theater’s inaugural season ends with a fabulous and intimate production of the musical Oliver! The classic musical tale of the orphan boy who wanted more is presented in all its...

Actress/Artist Jane Seymour & Son Sean M. Flynn Exhibitions May 4th and 5th in Bethesda & Tyson’s Corner

It’s A Family Affair: Jane Seymour and Son Partner for First Duo Art Exhibit Wentworth Gallery is presenting an exhibition of art and photography with multi-Award winning actress Jane Seymour and her...

Report on The Philadelphia ‘Center City Jazz Festival’ by Darlene Olsen

Local Philadelphia trombonist with fresh vision creates inaugural Center City Jazz Festival on April 28, 2012 Out of Philadelphia, the melting pot of music styles came a style of jazz that I’ve heard...

‘Playhouse Puppetry Slam!’ at The Puppet Co. by Julia L. Exline

On April 28, 2012, The Puppet Co. Playhouse hosted a Puppetry Slam!, where puppeteers, both amateur and polished, converged from all over the east coast for a showcase of their talent. While the...

‘Wives and Wits’ at Washington Stage Guild by Amanda Gunther

Domestic felicity can make people blissfully idiotic and there is no greater a display of such jovial nonsense then in the Washington Stage Guild’s final production of their 25th Season, Wives and...

‘The Graduate’ at Greenbelt Arts Center by Amanda Gunther

And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know, and so does everyone coming to see her at the Greenbelt Arts Center’s production of The Graduate. Adapted for the stage by...

Film Review: ‘Monsieur Lazhar’ by Andrew Lloyd Baughman

Sometimes, people who survive tragedies from two different worlds come together to find comfort and happiness together. Such is the case in Phillippe Felardeau’s straightforward and poignant film...

‘Summer Theater Experience’ Holds Auditions at Artisphere on May 19th by Lynn Sharp Spears

AUDITIONS for a unique and professional performing arts camp experience. Lynn Sharp Spears is the Director of ‘Summer Theater Experience.’ This year’s sessions will be held in new venues. Lynn talks...

‘Hamlecchino’ at Faction of Fools by Natalie McCabe

Something may be rotten in the state of Denmark, but energy is high and comedy very much alive in Faction of Fools’ current production, Hamlecchino, which takes Shakespeare’s Hamlet and reinvents it...

‘Deathtrap’ at Prince George’s Little Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Suspense is a fine tool to sharpen any theatrical thriller. And you’ll find plenty of it along with a healthy dose of comedy in the Prince George’s Little Theatre’s production of Deathtrap. The sharp,...

‘Sandwalk’ at University of Maryland’s School of Theatre Dance Performance Studies by Tiffany Draut

Usually, when I am in the theatre, I’m very grateful for the fourth wall. The players interact with each other, and I am content merely to sit and watch and enjoy, or passively ponder. Yet in the...

‘The Nautical Yards’ at Force/Collision by Amanda Gunther

A mystical journey awaits you in the waters of Yards Park. Water mythology, wartime, love and loss, all of this is intricately intertwined into the devised site-specific water ballet/theatrical...

Dance Review: ‘Noism’ at The Kennedy Center by Carolyn Kelermen

If off-the wall comedy, space-age dancing, technical wonders, and choreography that defies definition turn you on, catch tonight’s performance of choreographer/lighting designer/architect/poet Jo...

Arts Collective @Howard Community College’s Director and Cast Members on ‘URINETOWN’ by Michael Avolio and Susan G. Kramer

NOT JUST TAKING THE PISS It’s one of my favorite musicals, and a group of young and talented actors are about to take the plunge(r) into Arts Collective @HCC’s production of Urinetown: The Musical....

‘Mary Poppins’ at Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center by Amanda Gunther

Wanted: a nanny for two adorable children, one who will play games, all sorts, and take them on outings and give them treats, sing songs, and bring sweets. The advertisement has been answered as...

‘Miss Havisham’s Fire’ At Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center by Tiffany Draut

There are certain characters in literature that, for whatever reason, capture the imagination, whether for good or ill. Miss Havisham, with her decaying wedding dress and moldering wedding feast, has...

JUDYISMS: ‘My Memory of an Onstage Trauma That the Audience Never Saw or Even Heard or Cared About’ by Judy Stadt

I never had stage fright. Of course, I had the adrenaline rushes before the shows, but not fear of the stage … In fact for me it was just the opposite. I was in heaven upon a stage, to me it was that...

‘Family Day Festival’ and ‘Playhouse Puppetry Slam!’ This Saturday at The Puppet Co. by Erin Gifford

Erin Gifford, Director of Communications and Development of The Puppet Co., tells us about this year’s Playhouse Puppetry Slam! and The Family Day Festival – both happening this Saturday in Glen Echo...

‘The Fantasticks’ at Vienna Theatre Company by Doug Poms

The Fantasticks has the distinction of being the longest-running musical in history (the original Off-Broadway production ran a whopping 17,162 performances between 1960 and 2002, not including a...

Capital Sound: ‘We have Bluegrass Right Here’ by Mike Spain

On April 17th, the area was treated with a true bluegrass treat when Peter Rowan, Tony Rice and the Travelin’ McCourys shared the stage to celebrate Bill Monroe at The Music Center at Strathmore. Tony...

‘A Grand Night for Singing’ at Washington Savoyards

Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals live in our hearts with their happily-ever-after stories and popular songs. In Washington Savoyards’ production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein review called A Grand...

‘Pure Tango’ at Gala Hispanic Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Tango es la pasiòn del alma. Tango is the passion of the soul. Tango is many things; it can be a man, a woman, a feeling, a dance…all these things and more. And all these discoveries of tango are...

‘The 39 Steps’ at The Olney Theatre Center by Amanda Gunther

Murder! Mayhem! Mystery! Clowns? This exciting action-packed thriller could be none other than The 39 Steps presented at The Olney Theatre Center. Adapted by Patrick Barlow based on the movies of...

‘Las Meninas’ at Rep Stage by Amanda Gunther

Deception is the shining glory in the court of King Louis XIV. Or so the story unfurls in Rep Stage’s production of Lynn Nottage’s Las Meninas. A thought provoking, emotional rollercoaster of a show...

‘God of Carnage’ at Signature Theatre by Ashunda Norris

I absolutely loathe the fact that people must pretend to like one another for the sake of appearances and are deemed socially inept if they don’t go along with the status quo. Most people only unravel...

‘Deathtrap’ at McLean Community Players by Julia L. Exline

McLean Community Players presents Deathtrap, Broadway’s longest-running thriller by Ira Levin. Directed by Jerry Bonnes, Deathtrap is a suspenseful treat filled with greed, deceit, and shocking...

‘Witness for the Prosecution’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria by Julia L. Exline

The Little Theatre of Alexandria present’s Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, a courtroom thriller with sudden twists and turns that shock even those with the keenest detective eyes....

Steve LaRocque on His New One-Man Show – ‘Byline: Ernie Pyle’

He hated war, but he felt compelled to go back to it, again and again. He said, “There’s a war on and I’m part of it… I’ve got to go, and I hate it.” Ernie Pyle was one of the first “embedded”...

Helen Hayes Awards Recipients Announced by Joel Markowitz

Here are the 2012 Helen Hayes Awards recipients, announced at The Warner Theatre on April 23. 2012: Outstanding Resident Musical: Hairspray, at Signature Theatre. Outstanding Resident Play: Ruined, at...

‘The Whipping Man’ at Theater J by Joel Markowitz

Theater J’s powerful and sizzling production of Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man, directed with sensitivity and heart by Jennifer L. Nelson, is a theatrical experience you will never forget. I left...

‘Dancing at Lughnasa’ at Quotidian Theatre Company by Natalie McCabe

Quotidian Theatre Company’s Mission Statement reads, in part, “By providing realistic situations and dialogue, we want to give the audience the impression that they are witnessing events over a...

‘Hairspray’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Baltimore by Amanda Gunther

Get ready Baltimore – Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Baltimore is welcoming you to the 60’s with their fabulously fantastic production of the Tony Award-winning Musical Hairspray. Baltimore’s iconic musical...

HHA Nominees Michael Bobbitt, Rena Cherry Brown, Jobari Parker-Namdar & Christopher Youstra By Joel Markowitz

Nominees Michael J. Bobbitt, Rena Cherry Brown, Jobari Parker-Namdar, and Christopher Youstra. Joel: Where were you when you found out that you had been nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, and what was...

Judyisms: ‘What a Trouper!’ by Judy Stadt

Having performed in more than eighty plays to date – I’ve been so happy to have had many, many curtain calls and some of them have been more memorable than others … like this one. The play was a sweet...