2015

‘A Little Bit Not Normal’ at Cohesion Theatre Company

Cohesion Theatre’s second season kicked off last night with the World Premiere Production of A Little Bit Not Normal, which is also the first play in the company’s Trans* Voices Workshop Series....

‘Akeelah and the Bee’ at Arena Stage

How do you spell T-E-R-R-I-F-I-C S-H-O-W? Those of us with Millennial-generation children are used to the intensity of youth sports, like football, lacrosse or soccer, being played outdoors on a turf...

‘Big Love’ at The Catholic University of America

The façade of an Italian courtyard stands ominously on the Hartke stage as the audience files in. A single girl is seated at a table, surrounded by a bathtub and a piano. Everything is pristine and...

‘Misery’ at The Broadhurst Theatre in New York City

The title is misleading. It leads one to think the play is going to be one long groan of sadness, and that’s not what unfolds for us in its ninety minutes of playing time. “Misery” is the name of the...

‘Pericles’ at the Folger Theatre

Pericles is a night of wonder, perfect for a romantic evening or a thought-provoking night out with family or friends. Watching it is like lying in the grass watching clouds move over a beautiful blue...

An Interview with Antony Walker, Artistic Director of Washington Concert Opera

The operas of early 19th century master Gioachino Rossini play a big part in the life of Maestro Antony Walker. The artistic director of Washington Concert Opera is preparing for the company’s...

Duncan Sheik and Suzanne Vega at The Barns at Wolf Trap

Last night, composer, Tony Award winner and musician Duncan Sheik opened up the show with a simple set. His set included himself with an acoustic/electric guitar/synthesizer and his drummer and piano...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘Holiday Memories’: Part 1: Séamus Miller

In Part 1 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...

In the Moment: Inner Voices Lecture with Roach Brown at Workhouse Arts Center at 2 PM

In collaboration with the Workhouse Museum and the History Committee Lecture series, the Workhouse Arts Center located in Lorton, VA will present an Inner Voices Lecture with Roach Brown. Brown is the...

‘Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ at The National Theatre

It truly was “A Lovely Night” at the National Theater on Thursday, November 18th, as Cinderella won over not only the prince, but the entire audience. Between the charm of the Rodgers and Hammerstein...

Madeleine Peyroux at The Barns at Wolf Trap

Last night, jazz virtuoso Madeleine Peyroux shared her enormous talent with an appreciative crowd that held onto her every note. Peyroux’ witty comedic chops were also on display between and even...

An Interview with Dr. Torcher on ‘The Weirdo Show’ This Friday at The Bier Baron at 9 PM

The Weirdo Show is one of the DC Burlesque and Variety scene’s longest running and most beloved institutions. It started in 2006 and has continued, with some brief hiatuses and producer changes. Once...

Spine: ‘Appomattox’ Cracks the Color Line at The Kennedy Center

Appomattox, the world premiere opera now playing at The Kennedy Center Opera House in a new production by the Washington National Opera, tackles that most epic of America’s sins, “the color line.” And...

‘Argonautika’ at Howard Community College by Lisa Carol

Hurry to the nearest port to set sail with Jason and his Argonauts before it’s too late! Catch Howard Community College’s Theatre Program production of Argonautika, which only has three performances...

Blake Hammond on Playing Sebastian in ‘Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella’ at The National Theatre

Blake Hammond is playing Sebastian in the Tour of Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella which is about to open at The National Theatre. Joel: Hi Blake. Where may have some of our readers seen you perform...

‘Harvey’ at 1st Stage

1st Stage Theatre presents Harvey, Mary Chase’s 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedic drama, directed by Michael Chamberlin. When a high-society family makes a desperate attempt to hide the eccentric...

‘The S* Show’ at Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) at Atlas

As the days get shorter and the weather gets chillier, my favorite antidote to the encroaching winter is a strong dose of theatrical comfort food. Luckily for me, this is exactly what the Gay Men’s...

‘It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play’ at Washington Stage Guild

Live Radio Play Injects Comedy into a Christmas Classic Washington Stage Guild is presenting an entertaining radio play version of the 1940’s classic holiday film It’s a Wonderful Life. This retelling...

‘See Between The Lines’ by Jane Franklin Dance at Dance Place

Jane Franklin Dance presented three performance pieces last night at Dance Place: “Incidence,” “Nested, and “Wash Over You, Part 1.” As a whole, they are entitled See Between The Lines. Rooted in...

‘Dangereuse’: ‘Appomattox’ at The Kennedy Center by Sophia Howes (Review #2)

In the wake of Ferguson and the Black Lives Matter movement, it is the perfect time for an opera which tells the truth about race in America—Appomattox. Philip Glass, the internationally acclaimed...

‘Appomattox’ at Washington National Opera by David Friscic (Review #1)

Oh, the tears, trauma and travail of the issues brought to the fore in the revised World Premiere of the opera Appomattox at the Kennedy Center Opera House Friday night. This challenging World...

‘American Idiot’ at Beyond the Page Theatre Company at West Potomac High School

The Beyond the Page Theatre Company at West Potomac High School rose to the daunting challenge of taking on Green Day’s American Idiot to great success, crafting a polished production that explored...

‘Mountain: The Journey of Justice Douglas’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA

If you don’t know anything about William O. Douglas (1898-1980), the man who served on the United States Supreme Court longer than any other justice, Douglas Scott’s play Mountain: The Journey of...

‘Jekyll & Hyde in Concert’ at Young Artists of America at The Clarice

If ever anyone is in doubt of the future of the arts, go and see a production by the Young Artists of America (YAA). Celebrating its 5th anniversary this coming year, YAA took on the chilling tale of...

‘La Bohème’ at Virginia Opera at the GMU Center for the Arts

La Bohème takes place in winter, between Christmas Eve and February. Director Kyle Lang has set the Virgina Opera’s current production in the year 1939-40, World War II, after the fall of Poland and...

Magic Time! ‘Appomattox’ at Washington National Opera by John Stoltenberg

Appomattox, the magnificent and powerful opera by Philip Glass and Christopher Hampton that premiered at The Kennedy Center last night, looks at American history with a breathtaking urgency and...

‘ColorBlind: The Katrina Monologues’ at The Anacostia Playhouse

September of this year marked the tenth anniversary of the Katrina flooding. ColorBlind: The Katrina Monologues, a superb play written by Tom Flannery, and directed by a great director and actor,...

‘Guys and Dolls’ at Olney Theatre Center

The dice are rolling, the men are kicking face, and the audience is rolling in the aisles as Olney Theatre Center’s last show of the season, Guys and Dolls, opens this weekend. One of Frank Loesser’s...

‘On Your Feet’ at The Marquis Theatre in New York City

On Your Feet joins its fellow juke box musicals Jersey Boys and Beautiful in the growing list of this new genre that delivers a full evening’s entertainment using pop hits of another era to tell a...

‘Hair’ at Woodrow Wilson High School

Lorin Kayla Holland (Dionne), in all her tranquil beauty, set the mood perfectly for Wilson High School’s production of Hair. Action jumps in as Kellik Dawson (Hud), and Zac Nachbar-Seckel (Berger)...

‘A Wonderful Life’ at Reisterstown Theatre Project

Is there anyone who does not know the heartwarming story of A Wonderful Life? Following closely the original plot of the 1945 film, the musical version, with a book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and...

Dorado Schmitt and the Django Festival All-Stars at The Kennedy Center

Dorado Schmitt and the Django Festival All-Stars came to The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater last night. And for a beautiful 80 minutes, the terror of the day vanished, syncopated out of existence by...

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ at Damascus Theatre Company

“Without our traditions, life would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!” Those satiric words are spoken by Tevye (Brian Lyons-Burke), the narrator and main character of the enduringly popular...

‘Danceworks Fall 2015’ at George Washington University’s Department of Theatre of Dance

International Guest Artists Bring Polish and Pizazz to MainStage at George Washington University Some of the most exciting new choreography in town is on view at this season’s DanceWorks 2015, where...

‘Galileo’ at the U.S. Naval Academy Masqueraders

Presenting Bertolt Brecht’s play, Galileo, is a terrific feat for Director Christy Stanlake of The Masqueraders. It is a production, a spectacle, filled with color, light, and delight – and a serious...

‘Marisol’ at Montgomery College’s Theatre Department

Marisol keenly follows the traditions of Magical Realism and Theater of the Absurd. It is clear that Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Becket, who are known for this genre, are major influences of the...

‘Shutter’ at The Alliance Theatre

In a house of Southern discomfort past history and brokenness is finally brought to the family dinner table after nearly 40 years. Shutter by Leslie Anne Ross captures the story of failure and...

‘War With the Newts’ at Georgetown University

When an actor comes on stage and tells you to silence your cell phone, etc., then identifies himself as a newt, you might be a bit perplexed. And when, further, he announces that all the humans you’ll...

‘Bachelorette’ at American University’s College of Arts and Sciences

Does validation of a woman’s self-worth come with being independent or having a husband? In American University’s exceptional production of Leslye Holland’s Bachelorette, directed by Carl Menninger,...

‘Macbeth’ at Villanova Theatre at Villanova University

More than four hundred years after Shakespeare wrote it, Macbeth remains a potent play. Its tale of how the lust for power corrupts is timeless, made even more enduring by some of the most legendary...

Jersey Boys’ Joseph Leo Bwarie Performs at AMP this Sunday 11/15@8pm

Accompanied by his “little” Big Band, Joseph Leo Bwarie performs like never before. Star of the award-winning Tony Award-winning Broadway smash Jersey Boys, playing the role of Frankie Valli, Bwarie...

Filichia on Friday: ‘From Reams with Love: HELLO, DOLLY’!

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: From Reams with Love: HELLO, DOLLY! Purchase Peter...

Million Man March: Twenty Years Later Justice or Else

On Saturday, October 10, 2015, thousands gathered at the mall in Washington, DC, for the Million Man March: Justice or Else. Coordinated by the Minister Louis Farrakhan, in lieu of the current...

‘Underneath the Lintel’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

To quote Lantern Artistic Director and director of this production Kathryn MacMillan, “Time is the currency by which we negotiate all the relationships in our lives.” And Underneath the Lintel is...

Spine: JOY and Twyla Tharp’s 50th Anniversary Tour

Twyla Tharp’s 50th Anniversary Tour came to the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theatre last night. Four pieces: two short “Fanfares,” a Preludes and Fugues, and a Yowzie. And the stage was aflutter with...

‘King Charles III’ at The Music Box Theatre in New York City

If you haven’t heard of Charles III of Britain, don’t berate yourself. He hasn’t happened yet, but playwright Mike Bartlett has conjured up what might happen if and when Queen Elizabeth leaves us...

Pianist Olga Kern in Recital at the 92nd Street Y in New York City

Dreamy music about the memories of childhood and a virtuoso spin through the themes of one of history’s greatest operas are the stuff of which great piano recitals are made. But it’s a mark of the...

From Beethoven to Rachmaninoff to Billy Joel: An Interview with Superstar Pianist Olga Kern

If you believe that a good way to judge music is on whether it sounds good and moves you, then you have a friend in international concert pianist Olga Kern. The Russian-bred, New York-based classical...

Leslie Anne Ross’ ‘Shutter’ Opens Tomorrow Night at The Alliance Theatre by Darrell Poe and Alice Yarborough

Shutter – Play Background and Synopsis Shutter, written by local playwright Leslie Anne Ross, was originally written over 20 years ago – but many of the topics discussed in the play still resonate...

‘Oliver!’ at Arena Stage

From its opening number, Arena Stage’s innovative new production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver! is bursting with excitement and emotion. Director Molly Smith has stripped the classic musical based on...