2016

Review: ‘The Great American Trailer Park Musical’ at Ritz Theatre Company

The Great American Trailer Park Musical is a terrific title for a show. When you hear it, you know exactly where it takes place – and you can probably guess what the story and the characters are going...

Review: ‘Bakersfield Mist’ at Olney Theatre Center

Class and culture clash and collide to comedic heights in Stephen Sachs’ two-hander show, Bakersfield Mist, which opened this weekend at Olney Theatre Center. Dexterously directed by DC veteran John...

Review: ‘War of the Worlds’ at Scena Theatre

Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds is infamous for having incited a mini UFO panic due to its vivid and realistic descriptions of a fictitious Martian invasion. The iconic actor...

Review: ‘Some Enchanted Evening: The Music of Rodgers and Hammerstein and the American Songbook’ with Renée Fleming and Norm Lewis With The Choral Arts Society of Washington

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II pioneered a flair that was all their own in the golden age of musical theater. From 1940 to Hammerstein’s death in 1960, this musical duo dominated the musical...

Review: ‘Happy Hour’ at Spooky Action Theater

A ticking clock is an amazing motivator. So is competition. Blend them together with a dose of live theatre and some spectacular technology, and you have Happy Hour, created by machina Ex and...

Review: ‘Twelfth Night’ at Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio; theatre by kids, for kids, presents a youthful revision of Twelfth Night. Adapted especially for Encore by Caroline Schreiber and Elizabeth Pringle, this beachy twist is a great...

Review: ‘City of Angels’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Los Angeles may be named after those who pride themselves in virtue and goodness, but NextStop Theatre Company’s production of City of Angels is a reminder that the citizens of Hollywood are anything...

Review: ‘Martin Luther on Trial’ at The Lansburgh Theatre

Martin Luther on Trial, the new play by Chris Cragin-Day and Max McLean that had its world premiere in DC at the Lansburgh Theatre, joins the canon of great theatrical works about major figures in...

Review: Patina Miller at Strathmore’s Annual Spring Gala

Patina Miller’s luminous stage presence added snap, sizzle and pop from the best of American musical theater to Strathmore’s annual spring gala, now in its eleventh year. With “Magic To Do” in support...

Review: ‘Next to Normal’ at Silhouette Stages

A powerful production of the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Next to Normal, opened Friday night at Silhouette Stages. With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal...

Review: ‘Titanic The Musical’ at The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts

Theatre Lab’s production of the multiple Tony Award-winning musical Titanic The Musical will easily win you over. Under the direction of Deb Gottesman and musical direction by Joshua Coyne, Theatre...

Beth Hylton, Carl Schurr, and Dawn Ursula on Starring in Everyman’s The Great American Rep of ‘Death of a Saleman’ and ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’

The Great American Rep’s At Everyman Theatre has received critical acclaim from local critics. Beth Hylton, Carl Schuur, and Dawn Ursula talk about their roles and experience appearing in two classic...

Review: ‘The View From The Tunnel’ at Divine Revelation and Educational Services

‘The View From The Tunnel’ questions why the good suffer There’s a scene in The View From the Tunnel, directed by Simone Walker, and written by DMV-area playwright Elaine Hutchinson, that reminded me...

Review: ‘Man of La Mancha’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA

Perhaps one of the most popular and perennial favorites from a golden age of American musical theatre, Man of La Mancha (with book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion, and music by Mitch Leigh),...

Review: ‘Miss Witherspoon’ at Silver Spring Stage

Christopher Durang’s outrageous Miss Witherspoon opened last night at Silver Spring Stage. The show is directed by Kevin O’Connell and produced by Devon Seybert. Durang’s black comedy is a perfect...

Review: ‘The Christians’ at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia

“I have a powerful urge to communicate with you, but I find the distance between us insurmountable.” The Christians by Lucas Hnath is a dynamite exploration of religion without the zoomed in bias of...

In the Moment: Better Said Than Done’s 5th Anniversary Celebration and Story-telling Contest

Story telling has been part of human history for–well–forever. In recent days story-telling has had a resurgence with digital media, pod casting and, of course, radio. Think This American Life, The...

Review: ‘Voices’ at Mead Theatre Lab at Flashpoint

VOICES eschews platitudes for depth There are life-changing events that can hit one’s soul with the ferocity of a hurricane. Mental violence and strife can tear up the psyche to the point where those...

Filichia on Friday: ‘The 2016 Broadway University Final Exam’

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: The 2016 Broadway University Final Exam. Purchase...

Review: ‘Cirque du Soleil’s OVO’ at The Liacouras Center in Philadelphia

Cirque du Soleil has made quite a reputation for themselves. For four decades the company has set out to reinvent circus with bold theatricality and tremendous physical spectacle. Cirque has become...

Review: ‘The Ballad of Trayvon Martin’ at The New Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia

A phoenix arises! The New Freedom Theatre is back with a solid professional production. After many seasons of darkness, except for their acclaimed theatre school, the lights are on again with a poetic...

“A Shiver Goes Down My Spine”: An Interview with Playwright Andrea Stolowitz on Her Play ‘Schlüterstraße 27’

“I’m trying to find everyone. Everyone of my generation.” “We are all screaming across time . . . we feel comfortable here.” Summary: In 1936, Dr. Max Cohnreich escapes Berlin, Germany, and arrives in...

My Experience with Young Playwrights’ Festival and My Play ‘Room’ by Jarid Shields

It has been been almost a month since my play, (Room), was performed at Young Playwrights’ New Play Festival and I can honestly say that it was one of the best moments in my life so far! When I...

‘From Script to Production: My Journey with YPT’ by Marisa Poe

Young Playwrights’ Theater (YPT) is a non-profit organization that gives kids the chance to work as playwrights in professional environments. YPT visits schools teaching kids how to write plays, and...

Meet the Cast of Adventure Theatre MTC’s ‘The Emperor’s Nightingale’: Part 4: José María Pineda-Fernández

In Part Three of a series of interviews with the cast of Adventure Theatre MTC’s The Emperor’s Nightingale meet José María Pineda-Fernández. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where...

2016 ‘Man of the District’ on Monday, April 16th at 7 PM at Penn Social: Meet the Judges, Contestants, & Masters of Ceremony

2016 Man of the District Announces Featured Performer, Judges, and Contestants Monday, May 16th at 7 PM at Penn Social -801 E Street Northwest, in Washington, DC. BUY TICKETS HERE. Stage and film...

Meet the Cast of Silhouette Stages’ ‘Next to Normal’: Part 3: Meet Christie Smith

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of Silhouette Stages Next to Normal, meet Christie Smith. Joel: Please introduce yourself. Christie: I am Christie Smith, and I graduated from UMBC...

A Preview of RebollarDance’s ‘2077’ Premiering on The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on May 17th at 6 PM

RebollarDance, described by Erica Rebollar as “a modern dance collaborative where multi-genre artists can make innovative work,” has cooked up a truly unique evening of offerings for their upcoming...

Encore Chorale Gets Ready to Take Another Bow at ‘With a Song in My Heart’

There are always community gems we rarely hear about, but Encore Chorale, which was founded in 2001, has become a treasure chest of talent. They began as a study to see what the impact of...

Review #2 ‘An American Daughter’ at The Keegan Theatre Company

Lyssa is sitting in her living room with her father, Senator Alan Hughes. He reads to her a letter from their ancestor, General Ulysses S. Grant, to his own daughter Ellen Wrenshell. In the midst of...

‘Machinal’: An Expressionistic Masterpiece: Interview With Director Brenna Geffers, Part 2

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell, considered one of the most important Expressionist plays in the United States, premiered on Broadway in 1928. Inspired by the life of Ruth Snyder, who was convicted of...

Lover, Wife, and Murderess—EgoPo’s Stunning ‘Machinal’: Interview with Director Brenna Geffers: Part 1

Machinal by Sophie Treadwell, considered one of the most important Expressionist plays in the United States, premiered on Broadway in 1928. Inspired by the life of Ruth Snyder, who was convicted of...

Review #1: ‘An American Daughter’ at The Keegan Theatre

We can thank the fickle fates who determine the fluky destinies of local theater programming for Keegan Theatre’s inspired late addition of Wendy Wasserstein’s An American Daughter to its spring...

Review: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre

You might never guess that the Beauty and the Beast company now at Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre has been on the road for well over a year. It is a musical of enchanted transformations, and that...

Review: Washington Performing Arts Presents Itzhak Perlman and Emanuel Ax

You can feel the excitement in a room when witnessing the performance of an icon. With over 100 years of combined experience bringing classical music’s greatest pieces to life, Itzhak Perlman on...

Review: ‘White Guy on the Bus’ at Passage Theatre

Ray is a man living in two worlds. A white, middle-aged financial analyst with a spacious house in an upscale Philadelphia suburb, he spends his free time attending parties, discussing social issues...

Winners Announced for Free Tickets to Shakespeare Theatre Company’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ & a 10% Off Discount

Congrats to our winners! (1) Mark Gruenberg (2) Michelle James (3) Eleanor Tynan Shakespeare Theatre Company is offering: 3 FREE PAIRS of tickets for The Taming of the Shrew. ENTER BY THIS FRIDAY, MAY...

Review: ‘Carmina 35’ at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

It was an extremely innovative and conceptually brilliant idea to celebrate 35 wonderful years of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) in a sophisticated, elegant and somewhat serious mode...

Review: ’12 Angry Jurors’ at St. Mark’s Players

There is probably no clearer distillation of classic American courtroom drama than Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men. The classic tale of a seemingly cut-and-dry murder case turned upside down by a lone...

Season Preview: 2016-2017 Broadway Philadelphia Lineup at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia

Each year, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts brings the highest quality of Broadway’s offerings to Philadelphia for local audiences to enjoy. Their recently announced 2016-2017 Broadway...

Review: ‘Caroline, or Change’ at Creative Cauldron

Creative Cauldron presents the Tony Award-winning Caroline, or Change, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and music by Jeanine Tesori. Director Matt Conner leads a dynamic cast for this powerful...

Review: ‘All the Days’ at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ

Ruth Zweigman is not a pleasant person to be around. She’s so negative that when she says “I’m in a bad mood,” her sister responds, “How can you tell?” After making a typically harsh wisecrack about...

Review: The American Pops Orchestra Presents ‘Make Someone Happy: A 60’s Cocktail Party’ at Lisner Auditorium

For 90 minutes last Friday night (May 6, 2016), orchestra founder and Music Director Luke Frazier, Director Nathan Brewer, and Choreographer Kelly d’Amboise transformed Lisner Auditorium into the New...

Review: ‘The Addams Family’ at Alliance Theatre

“They’re creepy and they’re kooky, Mysterious and spooky, They’re all together ooky, The Addams Family.” Director Leslie Anne Ross has once again succeeded in assembling an outstanding cast superbly...

Review: ‘Wyrd Sisters’ at MAD at Goddard Space Flight Center

In 1999, living in Denmark, I happened upon Terry Pratchett’s novel Wyrd Sisters on a friend’s bookshelf. I opened it up and saw “the night was as black as the inside of a cat” – a line that...

Review: ‘The Tempest’ at Lumina Studio Theatre

The Tempest which played at The Silver Spring Black Box Theatre through May 8th was a delightful tour-de-force of sound, fury, fanfare and color. Directed and adapted by David Minton for Lumina Studio...

Review: ‘The Roar of the Greaspaint, The Smell of the Crowd’ at Compass Rose Theater

The Roar of the Greasepaint, The Smell of the Crowd – A Musical is complex, surreal, and yet a whimsical production currently on stage at Compass Rose Theater in Annapolis. With music, lyrics, and...

Review: ‘Collected Stories’ at Peter’s Alley Theatre Productions

“You can’t censor your creative impulses because of the danger of hurting someone’s feeling. Write don’t speak it.” This early line of dialogue resonates throughout the emotionally rich,...

Review: ‘All About Dvořák’ at National Chamber Ensemble by Ross Heath

Czech out the National Chamber Ensemble The wonderful National Chamber Ensemble closed its ninth season tonight with a Mother’s Day concert spotlighting the music of the renowned Czech composer,...

Review: ‘In the Community Garden of Earthly Delights’ by The Renegade Company in Philadelphia

Director/creator Michael Durkin takes his inspiration for The Renegade Company’s latest site-specific performance, In the Community Garden of Earthly Delights, from the famous painting by...