2015

In the Moment: Liel Leibovitz, Author of ‘A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption and the Life of Leonard Cohen’ to Appear at JCCNV on December 5th at 8 PM

The man with the famous blue raincoat who wrote many a reflective, if not prophetic song over the past decades will be arriving at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia Northern Virginia....

‘By George, By Ira, By Gershwin’ at The In Series

The In Series brings to life some of the funnest and iconic music of the 20th century by George Gershwin with most song lyrics by his brother Ira. They started out on Broadway before making it big on...

‘The Rainbow Crow’ at Pumpkin Theatre

Theater for children is tricky. Five-year-olds don’t know – or care – what “theater” is. Nor do they have any preconceived expectations about what they’re “supposed” to see. Thus a good children’s...

Review: Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre Presents ‘A Christmas Carol’

I walked in to The F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre yesterday feeling very ‘Bah Humbug-gy’ and I left overflowing with holiday joy and the spirit of the holidays after being entertained by over 40 young...

‘Elephant & Piggies We Are in A Play!’ at The Kennedy Center

I could not say for sure whether my 6 year-old son or I had the most fun watching The Kennedy Center’s production of Elephant & Piggies We Are in A Play! We laughed, we cheered, we wiggle-waggled, and...

‘Pinocchio!’ at Faction of Fools

Italian writer Carlo Collodi’s beloved tale of Pinocchio! has been performed countless times over the past 132 years. Now, Faction of Fools Theatre Company has taken this classic story and adapted it...

‘Catone in Utica’ by Opera Lafayette at The Kennedy Center

In Opera Lafayette‘s Catone in Utica, which opened last night at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the greats have come out to sing. And Antonin Vivaldi’s opera bursts with beauty and excitement....

In the Moment: ‘Seussical’ Comes to NextStop Theatre Company December 4-20th

One of the most popular heartwarming family musicals, which is chock-full of youthful energy, charming songs and wise life-lessons, is coming to the Dulles Corridor. It is Next Stop Theatre’s...

‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane’ at The Edge of the Universe Players 2

When a dark farce titled Entertaining Mr. Sloane opened in London in 1964, it was viewed as rude, scandalous, and repugnant because of its homosexual content and its three main characters’ blatant...

Ian Allen’s ‘The Klunch’ Opens its 1st Production: ‘George is Dead’ This Thursday, 12/3 at DCAC

CHERRY RED PRODUCTIONS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR IAN ALLEN FOUNDS “THE KLUNCH” A NEW THEATER COLLECTIVE OPENS ITS FIRST PRODUCTION: ELAINE MAY’S GEORGE IS DEAD AT DC ARTS CENTER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3RD THROUGH...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ ‘Best of 2015 Honors’ To Be Announced Shortly-A Look Back at the 2014 Honorees

We will be announcing our ‘Best of 2015 DCMTA Honors’ in the upcoming weeks. Because we will have reviewed over 1,250 shows/concerts/dance in 2015, there is a lot to choose from and to honor. But...

‘A Broadway Christmas Carol’ at MetroStage

Probably no other cast in the D.C. metro area works harder for a laugh, or enjoys it more when it comes, than the cast of A Broadway Christmas Carol, now playing its sixth consecutive season at...

Black Friday Ticket Deals for Broadway Shows Good Through Monday, 11/30

Traveling to the Big Apple? Here are some Black Friday ticket deals for The Big White Way! https://blackfridayonbroadway.com/

Filichia on Friday: ‘November’s Leftovers and December’s Brainteaser’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: November’s Leftovers and December’s Brainteaser....

A Look at ‘Glory Us’ by Playwright Madeline Farrington at The Fridge Starting 12/4.

Glory Us was born during a series of Tinder conversations I had with a guy named Matt. (They’re all named Matt, right?) We had been flirting a lot, and I was kinda into him, but he would disappear for...

David London’s ‘Magic Outside the Box’ at The Writer’s Center

How many magic shows have you seen where the magician spends an inordinate amount of time making up magic words to distract you while performing his trick? Big news… David London does not use magic...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘Holiday Memories’ Part 4: Charlotte Akin

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of WSC Avant Bard’s production of Holiday Memories—a stage adaptation of two classic short stories by Truman Capote, “A Christmas Memory” and “The...

Call for Proposals for the 2016-2017 Theater Season at the Arts Barn

Call for Proposals for the 2016-2017 Theater Season at the Arts Barn Arts on the Green, the City of Gaithersburg’s premiere center for the performing and visual arts which includes the Kentlands...

An Interview with Billy L’Amour on ‘Gentlemen Prefer Billy’ at Rainbow Theatre Project at Source on Monday, 11/30

Super-excited to get to talk with Montreal’s oh so fabulous Billy L’Amour, whose career spans ballet, cabaret, and burlesque and is bringing her one-woman show Gentlemen Prefer Billy to the Source...

Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre Presents ‘A Christmas Carol’ This Saturday, 11/28 at 1:30pm & 7pm at F Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in Rockville, MD

THIS SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2015 AT 1:30 PM AND 7:00 PM AT: F Scott Fitzgerald Theatre 603 Edmonston Drive, in Rockville, MD 20851 Hope Garden Children’s Ballet Theatre is very proud to present our...

Filichia on Friday: ‘Duddy Kravitz: The Other Best Musical of 2015’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. This Week: DUDDY KRAVITZ: The OTHER Best Musical of 2015....

Enter to Win 2 Free Tickets to WSC Avant Bard’s ‘Holiday Memories’

WSC Avant Bard is giving away two tickets to Holiday Memories for performances the weekend of December 10-13, 2015 That’s a $70 value for free! The winning answer will also be tweeted from @AvantBard....

‘Black Nativity’ at Theatre Horizon in Norristown, PA

With an original twist on the classic Christmas story, Horizon Theatre’s joyful Black Nativity overflows with exuberance and heart. The book and songs are a combination of classic Christmas classics...

In the Moment: Reflections on ‘Sons of the Prophet’ at Theater J

At the heart of Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet are his Old-Testament Job-like questioning of an unseen, unknown higher presence. Questions abound around the matter of why do we (and, of course,...

‘Kiss Me Kate’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

In a perfect world, the actors and actresses of a production get along. In a perfect world, there is no backstage drama. In a perfect world, that drama does not confuse and alter a production of The...

‘Semiramide’ with Washington Concert Opera at Lisner Auditorium

The predominance of voice in the operatic tradition usually doesn’t change the need for effective staging to put the full point across. Washington Concert Opera showcased at least one exception to...

‘Cock (or The Cockfight Play)’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

In the blood sport known as cockfighting, two roosters are placed in a ring, called a “cockpit,” and fight until one of them dies. The same thing happens, in a metaphorical sense, in Mike Bartlett’s...

Spine: ‘Pericles’ by Oregon Shakespeare Festival at Folger Theatre (Review #2)

The rarely performed Pericles by William Shakespeare, now on stage at Folger Theatre, is that even rarer of manuscripts: a folk play with epic plot, with virtuous storytelling and song, and without a...

‘The Three Musketeers (The Later Years): A Musical Panto’ at People’s Light & Theatre Company in Malvern, PA

It was when the man dressed as a woman sat on my knee that I knew this wasn’t going to be a typical night in the theater. “What’s your name?” asked Queen Agnes of Malvaria, played with a gruff voice,...

‘Sons of the Prophet’ at Theater J

Theater J’s first triumph of the season was Caleen Sinnette Jennings’ semi-autobiographical Queens Girl in the World. Its second is also loosely autobiographical: Stephen Karam’s Sons of the Prophet—a...

‘A Lump of Coal for Christmas’ at Adventure Theatre MTC

Over the Holiday Season, if you are looking to step away from the standards and experience a high-energy comedy that the whole family can enjoy, then Adventure Theatre MTC’s world premiere production...

‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ at The Media Theatre, in Media, PA

Billy Elliot has something for every audience member: great dancing, a powerful story, lots of humor, a beautiful score, and some of the most talented young actors and dancers you will ever see on the...

‘A Tuna Christmas’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Spotlighters Theatre has gone south for the winter, spending the holidays in Texas with their production of A Tuna Christmas. Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard, and directed by Fuzz...

‘X’s and O’s’ at Centerstage

Testing the theory that anything critically examined from multiple perspectives will spark conflict, Centerstage’s latest production, X’s and O’s, theatrically highlights America’s love affair with...

Cellist Amit Peled and Pianist Noreen Polera with Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

Cellist Amit Peled is one of those practitioners of “serious” music who brings a kind of pizzazz that’s probably needed in the 21st century world of what’s generically dubbed classical music. His...

‘One Thousand & One Nights’ at The Educational Theatre Company and McKinley Children’s Theatre

Recently, The Educational Theatre Company (ETC) and McKinley Children’s Theatre performed a charming production of One Thousand & One Nights. I took my three young boys and we had a night of silly...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘Holiday Memories’ Part 3: Christopher Henley

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of WSC Avant Bard’s production of Holiday Memories—a stage adaptation of two classic short stories by Truman Capote, “A Christmas Memory” and “The...

‘Becoming Dr. Ruth’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

Becoming Dr. Ruth is a cute little show about a cute little lady. A one-woman show about Ruth Westheimer, the world’s most famous “German-French-Israeli-American” TV sex therapist, Becoming Dr. Ruth...

‘Don Giovanni’ at University of Maryland’s Maryland Opera Studio

Interesting fact –Lorenzo da Ponte , librettist for Don Giovanni, was the first professor of Italian literature at Columbia University in New York City; he was also the first ethnically Jewish member...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: John Lloyd Young

John Lloyd Young, Tony-Award winner and musical wonder of the Broadway never-ending (and well-deserved to be!) musical hit Jersey Boys, enthralled the crowd at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater...

‘A Christmas Story, The Musical’ at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia

During intermission at A Christmas Story, The Musical, a woman sitting a few seats to my right marveled to me that her guest for the night had never seen the 1983 movie that inspired this musical....

‘In the Moment’: Thoughts on Folger Theatre’s ‘Pericles’

Dazzling. Indeed Pericles is quite dazzling in the contemporary creation from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival currently at the Folger Theatre. It possesses a radiance with its modern youthful vigor of...

‘Morning’s at Seven’ at The Colonial Players in Annapolis

Morning’s at Seven Delights at The Colonial Players in Annapolis Paul Osborn’s award-winning play Morning’s at Seven graces the stage at The Colonial Players in Annapolis, Maryland. The play...

‘The Impresario’ at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Sheaves of music start flying and the upper octaves get higher and louder during an open opera audition. Vanity and rivalry turn into a feline fight-fest when two sopranos vie to get the best part....

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘Holiday Memories’ Part 2: Liz Dutton

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of WSC Avant Bard’s production of Holiday Memories—a stage adaptation of two classic short stories by Truman Capote, “A Christmas Memory” and “The...

‘Peter Pan: The Boy Who Hated Mothers’ by the Mason Players at GMU’s Center for the Arts

I know we all remember our first trip to Neverland, our first time meeting Peter Pan. And still without fail, every trip back is slightly different from the last. In Michael Lluberes’ adaption of...

‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at Walt Whitman High School

Whitman Drama’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (school edition) is a superb production that demonstrates the strength and ambition of the Whitman High School Theatre program. An...

‘Dada Woof Papa Hot’ at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi Newhouse Theater

Peter Parnell has been writing plays, television scripts, books to musicals, and winning two Emmy Awards citations for his work as co–producer of The West Wing. I remember admiring his early play The...

The National Symphony Orchestra with Guest Conductor Jiri Belohlavek and Pianist Igor Levit

The National Symphony Orchestra is doing one of its best guest conductors, Jiri Belohlavek, mostly proud this week with music from his Czech homeland. In the first of its three concerts this week, the...

‘SPEKTRUM’ at Howard University

A world of color streamed with feet pointed and backs arched, amazed at the auspicious shapes; I witnessed dance prevail in SPEKTRUM, Howard University’s Dance Arts Student Showcase. Deep symbolism...