2013

‘Avenue Q’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria by Julia Exline

The Little Theatre of Alexandria presents the three-time Tony Award winning Best Musical Avenue Q, with Book by Jeff Whitty and Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx. Directed and...

Natalie Cole at The Music Center at Strathmore by Derek Mong

Natalie Cole wowed the audience Thursday night with her sultry, smoky-throated R&B and jazz at the Music Center at Strathmore, delivering a powerhouse performance that showed the dynamic voracity of...

SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) and John Butler Trio at Wolf Trap by Max Johnson

July 31st at Wolf Trap touted an exciting double header- Australian rock outfit John Butler Trio and Reggae group SOJA (Soldiers of Jah Army) from Arlington, Virginia. For me, John Butler Trio was the...

Here’s The Schedule for Signature Theatre’s Open House This Saturday August 3rd from Noon to 9:30 PM

This Saturday August 3rd, Signature Theatre is holding its Annual Open House From Noon to 9:30 PM Kick off the 2013/14 season with Signature’s annual FREE Open House. Starting at noon, come enjoy...

Theatre Lab Presents ‘Life Stories From Across the City’ at Woolly Mammoth on Monday, August 5th at 7:30 PM by Dane Petersen

Life Stories From Across the City Highlights Artistic Work of At-Risk Populations The Theatre Lab presents an evening of inspirational stories of struggle, survival and redemption. Life Stories From...

Magic Time!: ‘Holy Joseph Smith! Lessons Learned From The Book of Mormon’ by John Stoltenberg

The Book of Mormon… CONTAINS HERESY. That’s not a preshow advisory you’ll find posted at The Kennedy Center where The Book of Mormon is playing to standing-room houses. No, it’s my alert to you, dear...

‘Stage IV’ at The Mobtown Players by Amanda Gunthers

An intriguing new look at life and death and all the things that go with it closes out the 15th season at The Mobtown Players. As a part of their Mobtown Playwright’s Group annual presentation, Stage...

‘Seussical the Musical’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse by Amanda Gunther

Oh the things you will hear! Oh the things you will see! Bring your kids! Bring your spouse! As Seussical the Musical Takes to the stage at Laurel Mill Playhouse! What wonders you’ll see, what...

TrueTheatergoer Awards $10,000 to Quotidian Theatre Company and $5,000 to The Keegan Theatre

TrueTheatergoer has awarded Quotidian Theatre Company $10,000 and The Keegan Theatre $5,000 because their audiences wrote and submitted the most reviews this past year to TrueTheatergoer. “Quotidian...

‘Behind the Barricades at Toby’s’-Part One: An Interview with Les Misèrables Co-Director Toby Orenstein by Amanda Gunther

The Great Revolution has arrived! The barricade has arisen at Toby’s Dinner Theatre of Columbia with the regional premier of Broadway’s 4th longest running musical, Les Misèrables. Winner of 8 Tony...

Behind the Scenes of ‘The Who’s Tommy’ at Port Tobacco Players by Ann Marie Watson

It would be tempting, but overly simple, to grab song titles and describe The Who’s Tommy as a “Sensation” and an “Amazing Journey” – even though it is, at times, both of those things. In reality,...

Capital Fringe Audience Awards of 2013 Announced! Photos by Paul Gillis

Here are Theatermania’s Capital Fringe Audience Awards of 2013 1. Comedy The D.C. State Players Present Agamemnon 2. Drama Tell Tale 3. Musical Theatre & Opera The Young Wife 4. Dance & Physical...

‘America the Beautiful,’ With the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap by Yvonne French

America the Beautiful by the National Symphony Orchestra conducted by the earnest and lively American conductor Emil de Cou soared at Wolf Trap. First of all, what a great place. It is so nice to sit...

Magic Time! ‘One Night in New York!’ by John Stoltenberg

The term “gay musical theater” is almost redundant, especially for countless closeted teens who found they could forget their troubles and get happy when they happened upon the uniquely American art...

DCMetroTheaterArts Reviews Every Capital Fringe Show Plus An Extra Performance

DCMetroTheaterArts has now reviewed all 125 productions and 126 performances of this year’s Capital Fringe Festival. We also reviewed both of Country Joe Rosier’s performances of Ulysses S. Grant and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Bowen McCauley Dance presents: From the Ground Up’

What a great way to end DCMetroTheaterArts’ 2013 Capital Fringe coverage by watching graceful and talented dancers from Bowen McCauley Dance perform two dance compositions called Fire and Air and A...

An Interview with CATF’s Scenic Designer David M. Barber by Mike Spain

David M. Barber is the Scenic Designer of H2O, Scott and Hem In the Garden of Allah, and Modern Terrorism Or They Who Want To Kill Us And How We Learn To love Them, at this year’s Contemporary...

‘NSO@Wolf Trap 1812 Orchestra and More!’ by Jessica Vaughan

On a perfect summer evening, the National Symphony Orchestra took on two Russians – Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff – during their popular NSO@Wolf Trap Summer Series for an explosive evening billed as...

‘The Mousetrap’ at Parlor Room Theater by Ramona Harper

The Mousetrap is a must-see rite of passage production for any bona fide theater-lover. Parlor Room Theater’s production superbly captures the mood and mayhem of Agatha Christie’s classic murder...

Film Review: ‘The Hunt’ by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

If you are only familiar with Mads Mikkelsen’s character work as the titled lead in the television series Hannibal, then you’ve only seen a microcosm of his range and talent. Mads possess a natural...

Magic Time: Oscar Wilde’s Salomé at Scena Theatre by John Stoltenberg

There’s some wondrous strange stuff in the Bible, but for out and out bizarro it’s hard to top the tale of the king Herod’s pervy thing for his stepdaughter (Salomé) and his macabre beheading (upon...

Filichia on Friday: ‘Now That Jackie (Hoffman)’s Back in Town’ by Peter Filichia

Here is a new article from Peter Filichia’s column on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday.’ It’s an honor to bring Peter’s column every week to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This week: Now...

Ranting With Cyle: ‘Collaboration’ by Cyle Durkee

F%#k you! (Not you, sorry! {I should probably have explained that statement a bit first]) The reason I said that is that it’s not something that you typically hear in a collaborative process (but you...

Brandi Carlile With Special Guests Justin Townes Earle and The Lone Bellow at Wolf Trap by Max Johnson

Starting off with folk/rock outfit The Lone Bellow, the night’s atmosphere was set perfectly. With high-spirited belting in three-part harmony accompanied by sailing mandolin and banjo, The Lone...

Parlor Room Theater Opens ‘The Mousetrap’ TONIGHT

Parlor Room Theater is presenting The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie. The murder mystery opens TONIGHT. From Wikl: “The Mousetrap opened in the West End of London in 1952, and has been running...

A Preview of Flying Muskrat Theatre Company’s ‘Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged’ by Brennan Jones

What’s in a name? Despite the Bard’s enduring wisdom, for The Flying Muskrat Theatre Company, there’s a lot. Let’s be honest for a moment- the reason why you clicked on this article amongst your...

‘A Murder is Announced’ at Cockpit in Court by Amanda Gunther

A murder is announced: to take place at the time of 8:00 pm, on Fridays and Saturdays, and recurring on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 pm in the upstairs cabaret space of Cockpit in Court. Do be present,...

‘Robert Plant Presents Sensational Space Shifters and Special Guest Bombino’ at Wolf Trap by Mike Spain

Robert Plant stopped by Wolf Trap’s Filene Center on Monday night July 22, 2013. There was no album to promote, no Alison Krauss or Patty Griffin to share the vocals, and no superstars of Americana...

‘Why A Same-Sex I Do! I Do! Is Important, and Why It Works’ by Director Jack Marshall

How did a theater company that specializes in reviving older, often dated plays and musicals become the first to produce an inclusive I Do! I Do! for a post-DOMA America? I originally told the...

An Interview with Magician Max Major by Eric Denver

With a packed house of 250 audience members, Max Major made his appearance for Arlington, Virginia patrons at the Arlington Drafthouse at 7:30 on June 29, 2013 for a one-night only performance of...

Synesthesia: ‘Performances, Tours, and More’ by Yvonne French

This is the first in a series of links that will be updated regularly. If you know of any other links on accessible arts, please put them in the comment box below. Accessible: Performances at The...

Synesthesia: ‘Sign-Interpreted Performances for July and August’ by Yvonne French

Synesthesia: Sign-Interpreted Performances for July and August by Yvonne French Thursday, July 25th Mandy Harvey Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center Sign-Interpreted and Captioned: Thursday, July...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Underneath the Lintel’ by Max Johnson

In Underneath the Lintel, Pat O’Brien weaves a complex mythology in an epic, globetrotting quest that spans continents and centuries, delving into the conflict of futility and purpose in life,...

ARTISTIC SPOTLIGHT: An Interview with the Founder and Producing Director of the CATF by Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

ARTISTIC SPOTLIGHT: Ed Herendeen “New plays are the future,” says Ed Herendeen, the Producing Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF), located in Shepherdstown, West Virginia....

‘I Do! I Do!’ at The American Century Theater by David Friscic

The phrase “I Do! I Do!” takes on new meanings in the newly-interpreted version of the classic musicalI Do! I Do! now playing at the The American Century Theater. Sharply directed by Jack Marshall and...

Magic Time: ‘ We Happy Few Productions’ ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Capital Fringe by John Stoltenberg

Cross-gender casting of the classics can be sometimes a silly stunt, sometimes an earnest bemusement, and sometimes—as in Romeo and Juliet as staged for Capital Fringe by We Happy Few Productions—an...

‘Bye Bye Birdie’ at Prince William Little Theatre by Audrey Thornton

Some people, events, and songs are timeless as in the case of Bye Bye Birdie, a musical based on real life rock and roll superstar Elvis Presley’s 1958 induction into the U.S. Army. A fun production...

‘Legally Blonde The Musical’ at Encore Stage & Studio by Erica Laxson

Encore Stage & Studio’s production of Legally Blonde The Musical is a wonderful example of a community of theater lovers of all ages coming together to put on an amazing show. Director Susan A. Keady...

Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons at Wolf Trap by Eric Denver

With 100 million records sold by Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons (worldwide since its inception), this is the first time I was able to appreciate their music in-person. In 2009, I was in Chicago...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Sesquicentennial – The Civil War Remembered’ with “Country Joe” Rosier-Part 2-Ulysses S. Grant’ by Yvonne French

General Ulysses S. Grant returned to Washington on Sunday not seven blocks from where he was once turned away from the Willard Hotel when he was in town to visit President Abraham Lincoln. This time...

‘Me and My Girl’ at Cockpit in Court by Amanda Gunther

Your lordships, your worships, your fish ‘n’ chips, you are cordially invited to spend an evening at Hereford Hall in Hampshire to meet the new Earl of Hereford; a jolly ride out to the Essex...

A Chat with Julia Murney on ‘Wicked Divas’ at Wolf Trap on July 28, 2013

Julia Murney will be at Wolf Trap on Sunday, July 28th at 8:15 PM to perform Wicked Divas with Stephanie J. Block. and The National Symphony Orchestra. I asked Julia about what audiences will be...

‘A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World’ at The Contemporary American Theater Festival by Mark Dewey

Wonders Rattles Skeletons in America’s Closet A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World, the new play by Liz Duffy Adams, gets its water from the well Nathaniel Hawthorne used to great effect,...

‘Shrek the Musical’ at Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts Inc. by Amanda Gunther

It’s a big, bright, beautiful world over at the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts Inc., as the teen professional theatre troupe presents Shrek the Musical. A rousing fairytale the likes of which...

‘The Lady in the Van’ at Unexpected Stage Company by Joel Markowiz

Alan Bennett, well known for his Tony Award-winning play The History Boys takes us back to his unique relationship with Miss Shepherd (a tour-de-force by Sally Anderson) in the 1960s. Her van (really...

‘A Chorus Line’ at Wildwood Summer Theatre by Maddie Gaw

God, I hope Wildwood Summer Theatre gets the recognition they deserve for this production of A Chorus Line! ‘God I hope they get it!’ “WST is the only fully independent youth-run summer theatre in the...

Magic Time!: 5 Reasons Capital Fringe is a DC Treasure by John Stoltenberg

More than 100,000 people have no earthly need for what follows, and you know who you are: You’re this year’s happy horde of audience members in DC’s most vibrant, creative, and unconventional culture...

‘The T Party’ at Forum Theatre by Christina Marie Frank

Audiences don’t like to feel like they are being taught. So how do you inform an audience without seeming preachy? How do you make educational theatre entertaining and fun? Ask Natsu Onoda Power, who...

‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at Synetic Theater by David Friscic

Synetic Theater weaves a fusion of theatrical elements to bravura and mesmerizing effect in their current production of their acclaimed past Helen Hayes Award-winning hit, A Midsummer Night’s Dream....

Capital Fringe Review: ‘A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup’ by Max Johnson

A Day in the Life of Miss Hiccup knows exactly what it is: a hilarious, slapstick, pantomimic frolic through the imaginative lens of solo performer Yanomi Shoshinz. While constructing an engaging...