2015

A Tribute to Sydney-Chanele Dawkins at Her Memorial Service on July 17, 2015 by Joel Markowitz

This is the eulogy I delivered at the the memorial service for DCMetroTheaterArts columnist and reviewer Sydney-Chanele Dawkins yesterday, July 17, 2015: To Aaron and Sydney-Chanele’s family and...

2015 Capital Fringe ‘The Human Algorithm’

What do lion attacks, football fanatics, muppets, dog pee, and Vladimir Putin have in common? According to CJ in her most recent iteration of The Human Algorithm, they all describe the four basic...

Whoopi Goldberg at The Kennedy Center

Nothing is off limits to the irascible, irreverently funny Whoopi Goldberg. She warned us from the start, however, that she loves the use of language– very colorful language– as she whooped it up with...

‘Into the Woods’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

Are you ready to veer from the path and take another tumultuous journey Into the Woods? Go ahead, throw caution to the wind. You’ll find yourself in amusing company at Toby’s—The Dinner Theatre of...

‘Hairspray’ at City of Fairfax Theatre Company

A huge, multi-generational cast tells the story of integrating a 1962 Baltimore TV dance show in a musical directed by Tara Taylor that is all heart—and soul. With book by Mark O’Donnel and Thomas...

‘Whose Wives Are They Anyway’ at Bowie Community Theatre

Need a major pick-me-up after a week locked up with a dictatorial boss and coasting co-workers? An evening at the Bowie Community Theatre, tucked into the woodlands of White Marsh Park in Bowie,...

‘The Altruists’ at The Flying Muskrat Theatre Company

Being a student at UC Berkeley, I am all too familiar with how hypocritical and conceited student-activist culture can be. The Altruists, written by Nicky Silver and first performed off-Broadway in...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Sanctuary’

A woman’s perspective on war is a powerful thing. We are often mothers, and because we can give birth, I think some of us find killing especially terrible. “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier”...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Ripple of Hope: One Teacher’s Journey to Make an Impact’

Ripple of Hope is Karen Sklaire’s contribution to the teacher as hero genre – which can never have too many entries. This one-woman show is funnier and a lot more honest than some of the move clips...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Bortle 8’

Bortle 8, a one-man show written and performed by Chris Davis is part stand-up routine, part science fair project, part sermon. The title refers to John Bortle’s scale for the number of stars visible...

‘Show for Days’ at Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center

Patty LuPone is a highly original and always welcome star who has built a brilliant career primarily on stage, and we who love live theatre have been its beneficiaries. Season after season she’s...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets’

Imagine a pill that could eliminate boredom, stave off writer’s block, inspire the next great masterpiece. In Dr. Freeman’s Motivational Inspirational Pill of a Million Secrets, David Klinger tells...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Princess & The Pea (or) A Millennial’s Guide to Dating’

When she was alive, I would occasionally discuss love and dating with my grandmother. Her guaranteed formula for finding the love of your life was to “go to the bowling alley–that’s where you’ll find...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘So We Meet Again’

On the television show Grey’s Anatomy, when characters are having a difficult time dealing with pain or another type of struggle, they “dance it out.” This means that the characters will release their...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Purge’

Memories can break you down. They can take away your power, strength and ability to trust. In the Capital Fringe Festival show Purge, the fusiondance company uses contemporary dance and excerpts from...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Act Like a GRRRL’

You had me at grrrl. Act Like a GRRRL is a showcase of work developed and performed by teen girls, in which personal stories are shared as a process of empowerment and an act of defiance against...

‘Peter Pan’ at Upper Room Theatre Ministry by Keegan Collins

Upper Room Theatre presents Peter Pan, based on J.M. Barrie’s play of the same name. With lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green and music by Morris Charlap and Julie Styne, Peter Pan...

Today at 10 AM Join Us to Celebrate The Life of Sydney-Chanele Dawkins

A funeral service for Sydney-Chanele Dawkins will be held TODAY, Friday, July 17th. You will be able to offer your condolences to Sydney-Chanele’s family from 10 AM and the service begins at 11 AM at...

Here Are the Winners of The 2015 Ruby Griffith Awards and Runners-Up

The British Players Announce The 2015 Ruby Griffith Awards Honorees on Sunday, July 10, 2015: ____ All Round Production Excellence The Colonial Players The Liar ______ Outstanding Achievement in a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Mine/Field’

Unbeknownst to you, Glade Dance Collective knows your identity, your likes, and your dislikes. The dancers are hungry for more data whether you want to give it up or not. Intrigued? Paranoid?...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Eddie Lounge Reunion Tour: The Lounge Awakens’

Somebody get Eddie Lounge a cocktail — and maybe a ream of cocktail napkins to wipe his beady, bald head. What’s a guy gotta do to get a drink around here?! The Lord of Loungeology is singing his...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Niche’

Peer into the trials and tribulations of love, cohabitation, and relationships that is Niche. This whimsical journey draws in audiences of all kinds whether your bag is music, visual art, dance, or...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘Half Past What?’

About halfway through Casey Bauer’s surreal Half Past What?, I came to the stark realization that I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on yet was still completely enthralled. The play is wacky and...

The Playwright’s Playground – The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015: Part 2: May Andrales on ‘Everything You Touch’

This Special Edition of The Playwright’s Playground begins ‘The Playmaker Series: CATF 2015.’ In a series of in depth conversations, I speak with the artistic teams associated with the plays at this...

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 Preview #51: ‘Interviews with…’ by Emily Cohen

Siblings of dictators, little white liars, people who Instagram food — these are just a few of the topics explored in the whimsical cabaret, Interviews with… Making its world premiere at Capital...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #52: ‘The Paper Game’ by Julia Holleman

I got the idea for The Paper Game during a series of epic battles with my then health insurance company over who had to pay a $69.50 lab bill. (The answer? They did. But they thought they could beat...

Meet the Cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s ‘RENT’: Part 3: Ben Cherington

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of The Metropolitan Youth Theatre’s Rent, meet Ben Cherington. Introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you before on local...

Little Butterfly Theatre Company Presents Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ on July 23-26th at 1st Stage

Just off her success for McLean High School with Big Fish, which rose to local and national prominence, Director Amy E. Poe is leading a cast of young adults in American Idiot. The rock musical...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dance of the Cranes’

Once in a while you have to raise a little crane! When I walked to 6th and Massachusetts Avenue from the Gallery Place Metro I saw a packed little park – Milian Park – filled with excited people who...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Une Soirée Au Cabaret’

Une Soirée Au Cabaret is a collection of dance, vocal, and aerial works inspired by early 20th century Paris nightlife. An amalgam of styles and eras, this is a contemporary take on the cabaret style...

2015 Capital Fringe Review ‘BrouHaHa’

What would you do at the end of the world? Happenstance Theatre’s newest show BrouHaHa answers this and more, as six clowns journey towards the apocalypse. What this means exactly and when it will...

‘A Tale of Two Cities’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” is the memorable opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities currently in production at Annapolis Shakespeare Company. This company...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Bloody Banquet’

Hungry? Well, there’s a banquet waiting. In a tiny black box space just south of the river, Brave Spirits Theatre, known for staging intimate updates of early modern and Jacobean drama, presents a...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story’

Journey of a Bombshell: The Ina Ray Hutton Story offers audiences a rare glimpse into the big band culture of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s — from a female bandleader’s perspective. Written and performed by...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dancing Ophelia’

A fierce and elegant collection of dance works, Dancing Ophelia is mostly but not exclusively inspired by Shakespeare, framed by the long tradition of storytelling through movement, and radical...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Wrestling with the WIP’

Wrestling with the WIP puts forward the metaphor of quilt making as a strategy for reconfiguring women’s lives that are ripped apart, fragmented by harmful and impossible ideals. These ideals are...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Cheeky Monkey Sideshow Presents: CMSS X 3D, OK?’

Get ready for a performance unlike any other you’ve seen – this variety show features an award-winning troupe of professional performers focused on the weird, the quirky, and the downright...

2015 Capital Fringe Review: The Movement: ’50 Years of Love and Struggle’

The Movement: 50 Years of Love and Struggle is a powerful one-man show representing the Civil Rights struggle in America for the past 50 years. Impressively directed by Willette Thompson and featuring...

An Interview with Andrew and Melissa Baughman on ‘Sweeney Todd-Prog Metal Version’ Playing Now at Atlas Through August 2nd

The audacious and groundbreaking Landless Theatre Company at the ATLAS Performing Arts Center in NE Washington, DC, performed an exciting “prog-metal “version of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical...

‘Baby, The Musical’ at Infinity Theatre Company

Infinity Theatre Company continues their summer series with Baby, The Musical. And Baby is just that, an astonishing musical chock-full of jovial lyrics, rich vocals, and clever choreography. With...

2015 Capital Fringe Preview #50: In ‘Neighborhood 3,’ the kids – and the parents – are not alright…. by David Dieudonne

Neighborhood 3: Requisition of Doom, by Jennifer Haley is a cautionary tale about a medium surrounded by many questions that are past time to start asking. Awash in physical and emotional carnage,...

‘The Springfield Boys’ at The Seventh Street Playhouse at the Greenbelt Arts Center

If you think you know everything about Lincoln, you may be surprised to find out that there is a great deal of information out there that is not in text books. The Springfield Boys, now playing at The...

‘Commander’ at Vagabond Players

It’ll be nice to look back a few years from now and say: “I told you so!” Mario Correa’s Commander, which opened on The Vagabond Players’ stage in Fells Point July 11th, has the vibe of a blockbuster....

New Play Reading: ‘THE LOATHING’: This Monday, July 20th at 7:00 p.m., at Iona Senior Services

On Monday, July 20, at 7:00 p.m., The Playwrights Forum will present a public reading of Robert Michael Oliver‘s new play, The Loathing. Iona Senior Services will host the reading. They are located at...

‘Altar Boyz’ at The Audrey Herman Spotlighters Theatre

I am no stranger to boy bands. In middle school, the New Kids on the Block were all the rage. In college, N*SYNC captured our hearts. Today, fans fill stadiums to see the British lads of One...

‘The Who’s Tommy’ at Prince William Little Theatre

Remember that band that formed in 1964 and sold 100 million records world wide? The Who? Well, now you have the chance to catch a glimpse of the musical based off of their fourth album from 1969,...

‘This Lime Tree Bower’ at Quotidian Theatre Company

The Irish are legendary storytellers, and Conor McPherson’s play, one of his earliest, is a rollicking but thought-provoking tale of adventurous misadventure, told as a rotating round (and refreshed...

‘Romeo and Juliet’ at Castaways Repertory Theatre by Marguerite Crozier

Castaways Repertory Theatre’s presentation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet will leave you believing in the premise of love at first sight, if ever you’ve doubted it. With standout performances by...

‘The Wedding Singer’ at Riverside Center Dinner Theater

Riverside Center Dinner Theater presents The Wedding Singer, based on the hit New Line Cinema Film written by Tim Herlithy. With a book and lyrics by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlithy and music by...