2015

‘Cinderella’ at American Ballet Theatre at The Kennedy Center

Just as the cherry blossoms come out, pure romance is in the air with Cinderella at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is performing this three-act ballet...

‘Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead’ at The George Washington University

You’d be hard pressed to find a better theatrical catharsis for high school angst than Dog Sees God, Bert V. Royal’s funny/poignant reimagining of characters from the Peanuts comic strip playing this...

Rockville Little Theatre Announces Their 2015-2016 Season by Ken Kemp

Rockville Little Theatre is please to announce our 2015-2016 Season! ______ The Great Gatsby adapted by Simon Levy from the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald Directed by Deryl Davis October 2, 3, 4*, 9,...

‘An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe’ by Robert Mason This Sunday at 7:30 PM at Gaithersburg Arts Barn By Bruce Hirsch

ONE NIGHT ONLY – THIS SUNDAY – MARCH 29, 2015 AT 7:30 PM Join us THIS SUNDAY, March 29th for An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe by Robert Mason-the first of The Montgomery Playhouse Spotlight Series of...

Meet the Cast of ‘Flyin’ West’ at Bowie Community Theatre: Part 7: Lolita Marie

In Part 7 of a series of interviews with the cast and director of Flyin’ West at Bowie Community Theatre, meet Lolita Marie. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

Meet the Cast of ‘August: Osage County’ at The Highwood Theatre Part 4: Eva Silverman

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of August: Osage County at The Highwood Theatre, meet Eva Silverman. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

Meet the Cast of ‘August: Osage County’ at The Highwood Theatre Part 3: Layla Edwards

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of August: Osage County at The Highwood Theatre, meet Layla Edwards. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

Meet the Cast of ‘August: Osage County’ at The Highwood Theatre Part 2: Madison Middleton

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of August: Osage County at The Highwood Theatre, meet Madison Middleton. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen...

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory’s ‘Original Pronunciation’ Production of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ Opens Tomorrow

Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF) opens its production of Merchant of Venice tonight. Fitting BSF’s philosophy of recreating the staging conditions of Shakespeare’s day, this historic production of...

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Announces Its 2015-2016 Season by Justin McCarthy

WOOLLY MAMMOTH THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES 2015-2016 SEASON ACCLAIMED NEW PLAYS, WORLD PREMIERE CHALLENGE CONCEPTS OF BEAUTY, POWER, AND DESIRE Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company is pleased to announce its...

Meet the Cast of ‘Flyin’ West’ at Bowie Community Theatre: Part 6: Ben Harris

In Part 6 of a series of interviews with the cast and director of Flyin’ West at Bowie Community Theatre, meet Ben Harris. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

Meet the Cast of ‘Flyin’ West’ at Bowie Community Theatre: Part 5: Brawnlyn Blueitt

In Part 5 of a series of interviews with the cast and director of Flyin’ West at Bowie Community Theatre, meet Brawnlyn Blueitt. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen...

Meet the Director and Cast of Vienna Theatre Company’s ‘Other Desert Cities’: Part 1: Jessie Roberts and Susan d. Garvey

Meet the cast of Vienna Theatre Company’s Other Desert Cities. In Part 1: Meet Jessie Roberts and Susan d. Garvey. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tells us where our readers may have seen you...

Rep Stage Announces Its 2015-16 Season, Celebrating ‘The Year of the Woman’ by Mike Scrivener

Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC), proudly announces its 2015-16 season lineup. “The Year of the Woman” celebrates contemporary female voices...

‘See Jane Sing! An Evening With Jane Lynch’ at The Birchmere

The crowd that came to The Birchmere last night to See Jane Sing! got a great big ol’ cabaret show full of offbeat tunes and upbeat fun. Jane Lynch wowed ‘em with her artful blend of agile song...

Nibbles and Sips: The Prince Of Wales And The Duchess Of Cornwall Visit Mount Vernon

Wide-eyed tourists were gobsmacked to shake hands with and get hugs from His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall, as the couple toured George...

Meet the Cast of ‘August: Osage County’ at The Highwood Theatre Part 1: Max Rome

In Part 1 of a series of interviews with the cast of August: Osage County at The Highwood Theatre, meet Max Rome. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you...

‘Blue’ at Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage presents Blue, the newest production in their Early Childhood series, written by Annie Cusick Wood and directed by Kathryn Chase Bryer. Best for children ages 1-5, this interactive...

‘G-d’s Honest Truth’ at Theater J

Illusions and dreams are often enough the stuff needed to help us keep on truckin’ through life. Certainly Prospero in The Tempest and Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon suggested it was so. But, neither...

‘Big Fish’ at Act Two @ Levine

Big Fish is a production of the Pre-Professional Program at the Act Two @ Levine, derived and adapted from the Broadway production with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August....

‘Man of La Mancha’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

“Too much sanity is madness!” This counterintuitive declaration is made by Don Quixote, the iconic lead character in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s current production of Man of La Mancha. Portrayed...

Remembering Billie Holiday on Her 100th Birthday

On April 7, 2015 serious jazz fans celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of incomparable vocalist Billie Holiday, who died in 1959 at age 44 but lives on in her music as a legend in a trio...

Reporting From the United States Institute of Theater Technology (USITT) Conference & Stage Expo-Part 4: You Used What? Plastic Sheeting as Inflatable Set Elements

Two-or three-mil plastic tube sheeting cut into a single thickness can be taped together with clear packing tape or two-sided carpet tape to make huge, bubble-like structures, some 200 set designers...

‘Oklahoma!’ at Port Tobacco Players

With brilliant direction by Richard Highby, Port Tobacco Players’ Oklahoma! takes place in the year 1905 in a small community of rangers and farmers in the Oklahoma territory. 1905 is moving rapidly,...

‘Haydn and Ravel’ with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore

You can’t get a much pithier title of a composition than Maurice Ravel’s La Valse. You also can’t get a much more misleading one, either, even if the composer fully meant the irony of the title. Oh,...

‘Passion Play’ at Forum Theatre

During the Roman times, theatre was a savage sport: need a crucifixion, grab a slave. During the Dark Ages, theatre disappeared under the cloak of Catholicism: better to have no fun, if having fun...

‘Hexagon 2015: The Spoof, the Whole Spoof, and Nothing but the Spoof!’ at Woodrow Wilson High School Auditorium

If fast-paced apps, tweets, and glowing screens have your eyes abnormally a-glaze (yes, millennials, you can admit this, too) trade Facebook for good-feeling farce and be sure to pop over to Hexagon’s...

Carlin Kenny Benefit and Performance of ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ on Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 6:30 PM at Olney’s Theatre Lab

Actor Michael Kenny has been a valued member of the theater community in the MD/DC/VA area for years. He’s worked everywhere from West End Dinner Theater to The Kennedy Center. His most recent work...

Introducing September Song Musical Theatre by Allen Cross

About September Song Musical Theatre September Song Musical Theatre (SSMT) has organized and performed a Broadway musical for the past 41 years. Founded by two educators, Arnie Hayes and Robert “Doc”...

‘Five Years of Monologue Madness: Reflections from Former Competitors’ By Rachael Murray

Monologue Madness—the DC acting competition modeled after college basketball’s March Madness—is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Local actor Edward Daniels started the event in 2011. He...

‘Paint Your Wagon’ at City Center’s Encores

I’m sending you this note on the City Center’s staged reading of Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon even though its brief 6 performances scheduled ended earlier today. I was at yesterday’s matinee...

‘The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged!)’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

The sounds of lutes. A rainbow of lights. A copy of The Yale Shakespeare positioned conspicuously on a leather chair. A skull sitting on a pedestal. A ghost hanging from the rafters. These are the...

‘God Don’ Like Ugly’ at Venus Theatre Company

As a writer for this website, I’ve had the privilege of seeing shows at The Kennedy Center and The National Theatre, Arena Stage and Ford’s, Sidney Harmon Hall… a big budget, an elegant space, and an...

‘Soon’ at Signature Theatre

Under the assured, skillful touch of Director Matthew Gardiner, Signature Theatre has delivered a smart, engaging, delightfully personal-sized production of Soon, a new musical by Nick Blaemire (Glory...

‘The Dum Dums’ at Glass Mind Theatre

While a depression journal might be an unlikely starting point for Glass Mind Theatre’s unpretentious, fast-paced, delightful romp through classic sci-fi and isolation, Joshua Conkel’s The Dum Dums...

‘Shrek The Musical’ at Reisterstown Theatre Project

Shrek is back in full green glory Last year Jonah learned to ride a bike. More recently he picked up a hockey stick. During the holidays my seven-year-old grandson tolerated three “Nutcrackers” – one...

Interview with DC-Area Musician Paul Pfau and Contestant on ‘The Voice’

I’ve seen Paul Pfau play locally at Gypsy Sally’s and with The Nine Songwriter Series with Justin Trawick. He is a well-respected musician in the DC area. In 2011, Paul was nominated Best New Artist...

‘La Traviata’ at Virginia Opera

In a fitting capstone to Virginia Opera’s 40th anniversary season, the Virginia Opera, in conjunction with Des Moines Metro Opera, presents a thrilling production of Verdi’s masterpiece La Traviata....

UrbanAria’s ‘Blue Viola’ at Artisphere

Feelin’ Blue? Are you a violist who’s feeling unwanted and underappreciated? Then run down to UrbanArias‘ entertaining and high-strung English sung short opera Blue Viola, and you’ll be playing more...

‘On the Twentieth Century’ at Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre

The word is out. It didn’t arrive in town with much hoopla, most thought “another revival of a relic from the past” so it fooled even the vast ticket buying public, but the fact is the Roundabout’s...

‘Ode Maritima’ at The Iberian Suite Festival at The Kennedy Center

Lovers of poetry! Lovers of the long line! From his deck on The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theatre, Diogo Infante calls, “Ahoy!” And the spirit of Alvaro de Campos, aka Fernando Pessoa, rises from an...

Reporting From the United States Institute of Theater Technology (USITT) Conference & Stage Expo-Part 3: Free Software for Theaters on a Budget

There is a lot of free software available to theaters to design everything from sets to lighting, sound, and projections. If you have the processing speed and RAM on your computer, you can even make a...

‘Rigoletto’ at The Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

The Catholic University of America, Benjamin T. Rome School of Music had its opening night of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Rigoletto this past Thursday night at the Hartke Theatre, in a wonderful showcase...

Meet the Cast of ‘How the Other Half Loves’ at The British Players: Part 6: Laurie Simonds

In Part 6 of a series of interviews with the cast of How the Other Half Lives at The British Players, meet Laurie Simonds. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen...

‘The Winter’s Tale’ at HalfMad Theatre

Just a couple of blocks north of the now bustling H-Steet corridor in Northeast Washington, tucked away on Florida Avenue, you’ll find one of Capital Fringe’s newest venues: The Trinidad Theatre. If...

In The Moment: ‘The Originalist’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater

Arena’s resident playwright John Strand has developed an affectionate, quite delightfully complex, fictionalized account about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Strand’s The Originalist has plenty...

‘The Heidi Chronicles’ at The Music Box Theatre

In 1989 Wendy Wasserstein’s play hit Broadway hard, dealing with her fervent feelings about women’s liberation which began with her graduation from high school just as the 1960s were rolling in. She...

‘The Norwegians’ at Scena Theatre

Norway is one of those small, gentle countries that we may not think of too often. In its Scandinavian quiescence, it hums along with its cold weather and sterling social services. But in C. Denby...

‘The Originalist’ at Arena Stage at The Mead Center for American Theater

Over 2500 years ago, Aristophanes put “living” contemporary power-brokers into his comic masterpieces and then skewered them with their own foibles. The results were scandalous and provocative. Then...

Mahler’s Ninth with the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center

If you choose to let it, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 can scare you to death. Or you can let its vast scope and its ethereal beginning and ending that sandwiches raucous and even sarcastic episodes...