2016 — Page 14 — DC Theater Arts Archive

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review ‘Scarlet Letters’

Celeste Mann 2016-09-17

The lone actor set the portable stage onto the table and began to sing. The stage looked old with red cloth curtains and two knobs on top that she used to advance the paper on spools inside. The paper...

Review: ‘The 39 Steps’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Ilene Chalmers 2016-09-17

Laurel Mill Playhouse offers up a pleasing mix of comedy, melodrama, pathos and mystery in their amusingly fun production of The 39 Steps written by Patrick Barlow and directed by Stephen Deininger....

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Omeletto: Like Hamlet, Only Scrambled’ at Ombelico Mask Ensemble

Deb Miller 2016-09-17

Commedia dell’arte meets Shakespeare in Ombelico Mask Ensemble’s original deconstruction of Hamlet. Omeletto: Like Hamlet, Only Scrambled synthesizes all of Shakespeare’s dramatic characters with the...

Review: ‘You Have Made A Story on My Skin’ at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

Jane Franklin 2016-09-17

You Have Made a Story on My Skin, created by the Production Team and led by writer/performer Rachel Hynes, uses personal stories to explore lingering memories and physical scars. This collaborative...

Magic Time! ‘The Last Schwartz’ at Theater J

John Stoltenberg 2016-09-16

What is it that’s so tried and true about plays about siblings? Must be something universal, because there are so gosh darn many of them. Structurally they obviously make for auspicious cast lists,...

Post-Play Palaver: John Stoltenberg and Michael Poandl on ‘Angels in America: Millenium Approaches’ at Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center

John Stoltenberg and Micky Poandl 2016-09-16

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Theater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their exchange in...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Surface Tension’ at Tangle Movement Arts

Tim Dunleavy 2016-09-16

In Surface Tension, the Philadelphia-based circus arts company Tangle Movement Arts spotlights the skills of six female performers. They use ropes, swings, bungee cords, and aerial silks in a...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Nip’ at Tattoo Mom

Marley Boone 2016-09-16

“Who’s really sucking on who?” That’s the tagline to Nip, one of the most daring and shocking shows in this year’s Fringe Festival. Nip, written by Noemi Charlotte Thieves and directed by Amanda...

Meet The Cast of Castaway’s Repertory Theatre’s ‘Cat On A Hot Tin Roof’: Part 3: Catherine Lyon

Joel Markowitz 2016-09-16

In Part 3 of our series of interviews with the cast of Castaways Repertory Theatre’s production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, meet Catherine Lyon (Big Mama). Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our...

Chatting with Rupert Holmes About Landless’ Symphonic/Metal Version of his Musical ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood’

Joel Markowitz 2016-09-16

He’s a triple threat! He’s won Tony awards for writing the book, score, and lyrics for his Tony award-winning Best Musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood, not to mention Tony nominations for the musical...

Review: ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’ at Lantern Theater Company

Tim Dunleavy 2016-09-16

A wordy drama from the 19th century about capitalism, duplicity, and women’s role in English society. Sounds like it might be rather tough to get through, doesn’t it? Well, don’t be fooled. George...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘A Runaway, a Soldier and a Snowball Fight’ at Iron Age Theatre

Deb Miller 2016-09-15

In her world-premiere historical fiction A Runaway, a Soldier and a Snowball Fight, presented at Fergie’s Pub by Iron Age Theatre, playwright-in-residence Leah Lawler re-envisions the momentous events...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Gilbert and Sullivan’s Switched! Or The Insider and the Outsider’ at Tavern Productions and PAFA Performs

Deb Miller 2016-09-15

Conceived by emerging playwright Kevin Stackhouse as “a parody mock opera,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s Switched! Or The Insider and the Outsider, presented by Tavern Productions and PAFA Presents, is a...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Interview: Amanda Holston, Director of ‘Nip’

Tori Mittelman 2016-09-15

Amanda Holston is a Temple grad based in Philadelphia. She is a multi-faceted director, actor, and producer. She is directing the brand new piece, written by her partner, Noemi Charlotte Thieves,...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Silken Veils’

Celeste Mann 2016-09-15

“When the rose is gone and the garden faded you will no longer hear the nightingale’s song. The Beloved is all; the lover just a veil… “ (Rumi, Teachings of Rumi) These lines and many others by the...

Review: ‘South Pacific’ at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA

Megan Diehl 2016-09-15

The hunger for optimism is never in short supply these days. Walnut Street Theatre brings life to an American classic in their current production of South Pacific under the direction of Charles...

Review: ‘Who’s the Boss’ at The In Series

Julia Hurley 2016-09-15

The In Series’ production of Who’s the Boss? is a fusion of two comic operettas, Giovanni Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona and Gilbert and Sullivan’s Trial By Jury, re-imagined as companion pieces though...

Tony Award Winner Rupert Holmes Joins Post-Matinee Discussion This Sunday, 9/18 at ‘The Mystery of Edwin Drood-The Symphonic/Metal Version’ at The Arts Barn

Guest Author 2016-09-15

This Sunday, after the September 18th matinee performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood there will be a post-show discussion with the MetalDrood team and acclaimed mystery novelist Rupert Holmes,...

Manifesting Premieres Works by Mauceri, Graf, and Reid at NextNOW Festival at The Clarice

Jonelle Walker 2016-09-15

On Saturday, September 9, 2016, at the University of Maryland’s NextNow Festival, three playwrights premiered first drafts of new commissioned works. The plays were commissioned by the University of...

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts Presents ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ 9/28-11/6 With Karen Grassle, Bill Grimmette, and Alan Hoffman-Directed by Rick Hammerly

Guest Author 2016-09-15

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia is proud to present Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Driving Miss Daisy, starring Karen Grassle. Located at 95...

Review: ‘The Last Schwartz’ at Theater J

Ravelle Brickman 2016-09-14

There have been so many plays about dysfunctional families—think about August: Osage County, for example, or The Sisters Rosensweig—that it’s hard to believe that anyone would try to produce another...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Interview: ‘Revisiting Current Remounts of Past Hits with Terry Brennan, Tina Brock, and Greg Kennedy’

Deb Miller 2016-09-14

Three annual Fringe favorites have chosen to remount a past hit for this year’s festival, giving audiences a chance to see the acclaimed works they missed, or to revisit the shows they loved. I had...

Review: Amos Lee with Lauren Talese at The Kennedy Center

Ana Teslik 2016-09-14

American music at its best is alive and well as showcased by last night’s Amos Lee concert at The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. The evening was off to a good start with an opening performance by...

Spine: Anguish, Angels, and the Reagan Revolution: ‘Angels in America’ at Round House Theatre

Robert Michael Oliver 2016-09-14

Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center have teamed up for a truly remarkable Washington event: Parts 1 & 2 of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer-Prize winning Angels in America. On Monday, September 12th,...

Magic Time! ‘Cloud Nine’ at The Studio Theatre

John Stoltenberg 2016-09-14

Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, which premiered in London in 1979, is rightly considered a landmark play. It is pivotal for me personally as well, ever since I saw the legendary Tommy Tune production...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Crave’ at Svaha Theatre

Joshua McLucas 2016-09-14

Performing Sarah Kane is a tall order for any theater company, and Svaha Theatre’s production of Crave (directed by Elise D’Avella) at The Iron Factory handles the task with aplomb. One of Kane’s...

Arts Collective @ HCC’s “Underground Rooftop Coffee House” – An Artistic Collage, On Thursday, September 22, 2016

Guest Author 2016-09-14

Arts Collective’s “What Improv Group?!?!” partners with HCC’s Creative Writers, Performing and Visual Artists, and HoCoPoLitSo Howard Community College’s (HCC) Arts Collective (AC) kicks off its 22nd...

Review: ‘Angels in America: Millennium Approaches’ at Round House Theatre and Olney Theatre Center

David Friscic 2016-09-14

Social, political, and historical forces collide and converge to mirror the conflicted inner worlds of the fascinating characters in Playwright Tony Kushner’s audacious, insightfully subversive, and...

Magic Time! ‘Come From Away’ at Ford’s Theatre: ‘A show on its way to Broadway that’s so moving and inspiring I would see it again in a heartbeat’

John Stoltenberg 2016-09-13

When I saw this new musical on the fifteenth anniversary of 9/11, there were no more than ten minutes during it when my eyes were dry. They welled up from the first scene. Sure, I know I tear up...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Shadow House’ at Philadelphia Opera Collective and PhilaLandmarks

Deb Miller 2016-09-13

“Are you in here?” “Is there anyone here?” “Who are you?” Where are you?” “You’re not supposed to be here.” Spirits of the people who inhabited the Powel House at different periods in its 250-year...

Review: ‘A Bid to Save the World’ at Rorschach Theatre

Nicole Hertvik 2016-09-13

Imagine a world in which death no longer exists. Rorschach Theatre’s current production of A Bid to Save the World – a new play by California based playwright Erin Bregman – asks audiences to do just...

Review: ‘Cervantes:The Last Quixote’ at GALA Hispanic Theatre

Ravelle Brickman 2016-09-13

If you’re like most Americans, you’ve probably never heard of Cervantes. Or you know him only as the creator of Don Quixote, a book you last picked up in high school. But don’t let that deter you from...

Review: ‘I Call My Brothers’ at Forum Theatre

John Stoltenberg 2016-09-13

Forum Theatre has a knack for picking trenchant works of theater that buzz with relevance to hot-button topics. Its current offering is a perfect case in point. Given this nation’s rising tide of...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘I Fucking Dare You’ at The Berserker Residents

Tim Dunleavy 2016-09-13

The Berserker Residents, a Philadelphia-based troupe, has been writing and performing inspired comedy for years. Their irreverent 2010 offering The Very Merry Xmas Carol Holiday Adventure Show remains...

In the Moment: An Interview with BalletNova’s Artistic Director Laveen Naidu

David Siegel 2016-09-13

Area non-profit arts organizations continually develop fresh ideas to reach children who may not regularly have access to the wonders of the performing arts. One new such effort is by Northern...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Wroughtland’

Shoshanna Green 2016-09-13

From the first moment you enter the space Gunnar Montana’s Wroughtland transports you into another world. The stage and seating area are lush with greenery, some beautiful, with delicate leaves and...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘The Sincerity Project’ at Plays and Players

Julie Jordan 2016-09-13

It’s back! After two years, Team Sunshine Performance Corporation’s The Sincerity Project, directed with much heart, and written and performed by actors/writers Aram Aghazarian, Benjamin Camp, Rachel...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Notes of a Native Song’

Tim Dunleavy 2016-09-13

“This isn’t the Ken Burns musical documentary on James Baldwin,” said Stew about two-thirds of the way through his latest show, Notes of a Native Song. He was right. Notes of a Native Song may be many...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Cellophane’

Marley Boone 2016-09-12

Are we mindless technology zombies? Have we lost our human compassion? These are questions addressed in the Fringe show Cellophane, by Mac Wellman. Cellophane, put on by the duo jenny&john at the Boy...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Antihero’ at Tribe of Fools

Jameson Lisak 2016-09-12

In a theatre festival with a sometimes overwhelming number of shows, there’s only one show where you’ll see actors flipping off walls, a real-life Street Fighter battle, and show-downs with the...

2016 Philadelphia Fringe Festival Review: ‘Birdie’s Pit Stop (and the tribe of queers who fucked everything up)’ at On the Rocks

Deb Miller 2016-09-12

Camp and kitsch reign supreme in On the Rocks’ Birdie’s Pit Stop (and the tribe of queers who fucked everything up), an outrageously funny world-premiere parody of the horror genre and the second...