2013

Capital Fringe Review: ‘In Search of the Perfect G-String’ by Keith Tittermary

NSO Cellist Yvonne Caruthers has over 30 years of service as a “soldier of music” and used her life and her experience as the basis for a solid and heart warming solo performance, In Search of the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘How to Have It All: The Musical’ by Terry Byrne

Three good reasons to see How to Have It All: The Musical. 1. Freshly baked cookies. A nurturing, maternal figure will even warn you away from the chocolate chip if you have a peanut allergy, offering...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Tragical Mirth of Marriage & Love: Short Scenes by Anton Chekhov’ by Christina Frank

Fans of Chekhov rejoice. Pallas Theatre Collective has come to lift your spirits and make you laugh. Long have people tried to convince me that Chekhov is funny. After falling asleep in more than one...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Kids in Space’ by Amanda Gunther

10…9…8…strap yourselves in for a blast off into space as you travel along with the Global Interplanetary Space Corps. Captain Blappten and First Mate Kate are recruiting new members to join their...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Our Boys’ by Leslie Weisman

The Fringe is rightly known and celebrated for giving people who may not be regular theater goers a chance to take a few bites of the performing-arts apple, with the hope and expectation that, once...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Haute Mess’ by Amanda Gunther

Bitches! It’s getting’ HAUTE in here! That’s right— you heard me! Fringe’s most outrageous dragalicious extravaganza is blowing up the world inside Redrum at Fort Fringe. Presented by Landless Theatre...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Deadly Seven’ by Amanda Gunther

The Deadly Seven comes to this year’s Capital Fringe Festival through Ten14 Productions. With a great message to send the public, the show needs a serious restructuring in regards to framework and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dance of the Wasp and Spider’ by Eric Denver

As Dance of the Wasp and Spider opens, there is a five-minute monologue by the leading actor Tyler Brody who provides a more in-depth analysis as to the play’s title. As the wasp dominates the spider,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘A Guide to Dancing Naked’ by Bev Fleisher

Sit down girl; we’ve got to talk! When did you last really see those mmm-mmm legs or that gorgeous curve of your shoulder? Probably not since you were a child who relished the freedom of stripping off...

Capital Fringe Show Review: ‘What It’s Like? One Veteran’s Tale of Addiction, Survival and PTSD’ by Kim Moeller

The story is powerful…one marine’s experience in the Persian Gulf and his challenges with addiction, survival, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in his return to civilian life. Richard D....

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Tickets to an Event’ by Nicole Cusick

Call it a “destination wedding” or site specific theatre, but the Borealis Theatre event of “Crosswalk Weddings” was just a fun time. All three weekends of Fringe the company will be performing...

Capital Fringe Review: ’43 and 1/2: The Greatest Death of Shakespeare’s Tragedies’ by Nicole Cusick

A theatre production that ends with the actors giving the front row a plastic sheet because they are in the “splash zone” is not your typical Fringe experience, but this production of 43 and a 1/2:...

‘The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife’ at Bowie Community Theatre by Amanda Gunther

Self-discovery penned into a witty and poignant modern comedy is exactly what awaits you at the Bowie Community Theatre this summer as they present their production of The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Last Train to NIBROC’ by Eric Denver

As Arlene Hutton’s Last Train to NIBROC opens, it is December 28, 1940 and you hear the sound of train whistles and May (Lena Winter) is sitting on one of two chairs stage right. The train is bound...

‘Act A Lady’ at The Hub Theatre by Jenna Miller

Watching people put themselves in awkward situations can sometimes provide hours of enjoyment. In The Hub Theatre’s production of Jordan Harrison’s Act A Lady townsmen from a small God-fearing,...

‘The Rocky Horror Show’ at The Studio Theatre by David Friscic

An audacious attack on the sexually repressed with an emphasis on in-your-face interaction and over-the top musicality are the hallmarks of the current production of The Rocky Horror Show, now playing...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Encyclopedia Show Series 1, Volume 7 Vice Presidents’ by Eric Denver

Although Encyclopedia has played throughout the DC area, tonight is my first exposure to the Washington’s ABCs of theatrical education. Each show is a vaudevillian extravaganza and focuses on...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Goddess Diaries’ by Kim Moeller

Whether it’s real life narratives or mythological tales, common themes found in women’s stories include self-identity, motherhood, transformation, abuse, aging, and love. The entertaining and...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Beheading of Sister Mary Jasmine’ by Maddie Gaw

In The Beheading of Sister Mary Jasmine, the audience forms an intimate bond with a deceased nun. Simply by attending the performance, they become one of the many grieving. In a room that very much...

‘She Loves Me’ at Infinity Theatre Company by Amanda Gunther

Appeasing the senses in the summertime has never been simpler than taking a stroll down to the Infinity Theatre Company as they present the charming, witty, deliciously lush 1963 romantic musical...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘LOVE, NY’ by Tobias Franzén

Theater professionals have a love/hate relationship with the Big Apple. It is the upper echelon of the theater world, and so many attempt to make way there, but so few actually achieve their dreams....

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Shirt of Happiness’ by Leslie Weisman

What is the secret of happiness? If we took everybody who claimed to have an answer to that elusive question and laid them end to end, the line would probably stretch from DC to Armenia, where this...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Legal Tender’ By Tzvi Kahn

Legal Tender consists of a series of nine narratively distinct but thematically linked vignettes executed as prose-in-performance pieces, meaning that the action unfolds with the aid of a narrator as...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Almost Together’ by Tzvi Kahn

Almost Together, the dynamic one-woman show performed by Community Theater veteran Mary Leaphart and directed by Steven Cupo, aims to chronicle its protagonist’s experience with bipolar disorder, but...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Fish Outta Water’ by Flora Scott

Fish Outta Water is a whacky and wonderful part-jam session, part-biographical narrative. More appropriately, lets call it the life story jam session. Ron Litman is the microphone and Tom Pile is the...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Smellin’ Up the Den!’ by Mike Spain

Smellin’ Up The Den! is a sketch comedy show with outrageous skits similar to ones seen on Saturday Night Live! – except there are no network censors. In the skits. there is talk about sexual organs,...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Violent Delights: A Shakespearean Brawl-esque Sideshow’ by JR Russ

Violent Delights: A Shakespearean Brawl-esque Sideshow, presented by Off the Quill, was a wonderful inaugural piece by the self-identified experimental theater company. The overture sets the stage of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Polaroid Stories’ by Bev Fleisher

Make sure you see this fine ensemble before July 27th, or you will never be able to say “I knew them when ….” This production was first staged at American University as Blind Pug Arts Collective’s...

Capital Fringe Review ‘Godiva Dates and One Night Stands’ by Christina Frank

“The homeless look is not working for me” exclaims master storyteller Regie Cabico in his one-man jaunt through the raunchy trials and tribulations of dating. The subject matter is nothing new, but...

Oscar Wilde’s Salomé at SCENA Theatre at Atlas Performing Arts Center by Derek Mong

Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, directed by Robert McNamara, rounds out SCENA Theatre’s 25th anniversary season with its second production of this controversial, yet classic, biblical tale. Billed as a “tale of...

‘Damn Yankees’ at McLean Community Players by Terry Byrne

Damn Yankees is the ultimate date musical, mixing equal parts sports and romance. Men in tight pants, a loose woman hell-bent on seduction, showtune hit after hit … what’s not to like? Blessed little...

‘Video Games Live: Bonus Round’ at Wolf Trap by Yvonne French

Don’t miss this show when it next comes to town. It is quite an aural and visual experience and the people are great! The National Symphony Orchestra teamed up with video game composers for a variety...

‘Modern Terrorism: Laugh and Laugh and Tremble’ at Contemporary American Theater Festival by Mark Dewey

If I had left Thursday night’s performance of Modern Terrorism just thirty seconds earlier, it would be easy to write about, because the play itself is really good and the current production is even...

‘The Birds’ at Quotidian Theatre Company by Jane Coyne

First came du Maurier, then came Hitchcock, and now comes the DC premiere of Conor McPherson’s The Birds at Bethesda’s Quotidian Theatre Company. Good stories normally involve conflict. The Birds”is a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dark House’ by Flora Scott

Dark House, written by Tarpley Long, is the original title of William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! and the current title of her take on it. It’s the bleak account of a prominent Washington DC family’s...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Young Wife’ by Terry Byrne

Imagine a world in which more women composed operas. Since Francesa Caccini unveiled what is considered the first opera by a female composer in 1625 (performed in Florence to celebrate the visit of a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Sensational Sans Sullivan Radio Show’ by Veronique MacRae

You have the pen to paper but the ink won’t flow. The characters are at a standstill and the time is ticking. You must have the next episode finished. What do you do? You conjure up your writing God...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Pitchin’ the Tent: Tia Nina Live at Baldacchino’ by Rick Westerkamp

Are you a fan of rock concerts, but you don’t have enough leeway in your budget to pay Verizon Center prices to see the big names? FEAR NOT concert enthusiast, because Pitchin’ the Tent: Tia Nina Live...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Fallbeil’ by JR Russ

Fallbeil, presented by Field Trip Theatre, is a must-see theatrical piece. Written by Liz Maestri and directed by Nick Vargas, Fallbeil is a historical fantasy centered around the friendship between...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Actual Dance’ by Mike Spain

The Actual Dance is not a one man play. It is a heartfelt dramatic sharing of what Samuel A, Simon experience after his wife of 33 years was diagnosed with breast cancer. Simon emotionally shares with...

‘Spin’ at Signature Theatre by Keith Tittermary

Signature Theatre somehow finds a way to keep outdoing itself. This year, they launched their brand new “Siglab” – a program “to provide writers of new musicals a chance to see their work in a...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Disco Jesus and the Apostles of Funk’ by Amanda Gunther

Can a little funk save your soul? How about the funky savior? If so then boogie on down to the Baldacchino Gypsy Tent Bar at the Capital Fringe Festival to see Disco Jesus and the Apostles of Funk. A...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Thank You for Staring’ by Veronique MacRae

The commonality of all people is life experience. Those experiences may be ones of celebration while other experiences are ones of struggle or challenge. Yet it is the challenges of life that cause us...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Rosemary and Ginger’ by Veronique MacRae

When cooking, the taste of dishes is elevated by the spices used to flavor the food. It is the savory, sweet and spicy combination that dances on the palette of the eager diner. It is the layer of...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Bully’ by Leslie Weisman

Entering the theater, we are greeted, and just this side of visually and audibly—threateningly, or unintentionally?—assaulted, by the sight and sounds of a slim, intense young man doing athletic...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Murder on the Bare Stage’ by Veronique MacRae

Dark. Powerful. Mysterious. Magnetic. Suspenseful. Stephen Mead presents a truly breath-taking and captivating performance in Murder on the Bare Stage. With the combination of classic masterpieces by...

Capital Fringe Review ‘The Human Algorithm’ by Erica Laxson

The Human Algorithm presented by Eating an Elephant Productions is a truly unique one woman show starring Cigdem Oktem that will forever change your view of people and set your sides splitting from...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Nephrectomy’ by Tzvi Kahn

The Staunch Theatre Company’s compact but psychologically acute play Nephrectomy seeks to depict the angst, insecurities, and aimlessness of three contemporary 20-somethings through the story of an...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘One Night in New York!’ by Joel Markowitz

I have never had such a good time at a Fringe musical like I had last night at the delightful, hysterical, hummable, loveable, and deliciously gay One Night in New York!. Composer, Lyricist and Book...

Capital Fringe Review: ‘Urban Legends’ by JR Russ

Urban Legends, presented by the Beyond the Page Theatre Company of West Potomac High School, is a nice mix of original scenes and storytelling. Under the direction of Philip Lee Clark, this show kicks...