2016

Review: ‘Twenty Years with Love’ at Bowen McCauley Dance

Lucy Bowen McCauley celebrates 20 years as a choreographer and artistic director of her own company, with Twenty Years with Love, Bowen McCauley Dance, an evening of three pieces including one world...

Review: ‘Richard III’ at People’s Light and Theatre Company in Malvern, PA

Shakespeare’s bloody history of Richard III, presented in a stunning production at People’s Light and Theatre Company, is filled with blind ambition, violent power struggles, and remorseless killings,...

Performances Today at Noon & 4 PM for ‘Becoming Sugar Plum’ at Metropolitan Ballet Theatre at Montgomery College

I am so proud and grateful for my students. They are such hardworking, dedicated, and talented individuals. I have witnessed some of my youngest dancers execute movements with such elegance and...

Review: “Faust” at Annapolis Opera

Annapolis Opera’s Faust, at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, is everything opera should be: dramatic, emotional, with a great story and special effects. Directed by Braxton Peters and conducted by...

Review: ‘Into the Woods’ at Good Counsel Theatre Company

The Good Counsel Theatre Company (GCTC) tackled Into the Woods, with Lyrics and Music by Stephen Sondheim, and Book by James Lapine, this spring. The show is a famous mashup of fairy tales derived...

Review: ‘La Serva Padrona’ and ‘Gianni Schicchi’ at Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

The Catholic University of America presents an operatic double bill La Serva Padrona and Gianni Schicchi for their Spring 2016 production. La Serva Padrona composed by Giovanni Pergolesi was...

Magic Time! ‘1984’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Shakespeare Theatre Company has missed no opportunity to issue advisories to audiences about to attend the spectacularly intense Headlong production of George Orwell’s 1984, now on stage at the...

Review: Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Violinist Joshua Bell at Strathmore

All eyes were on Joshua Bell during the Academy of St Martin in the Fields performance, although only one of the three pieces played by the world-renowned chamber orchestra featured him. Although the...

Review: ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Picture yourself sitting in a dive bar in south Philadelphia in March of 1959. You’re spending an evening listening to Billie Holiday’s soulful voice as she sings her music and regales us with stories...

Review: ‘Two Trains Running’ at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia

It’s 1969, and we’re in a diner in Pittsburgh. The sweet sounds of soul are on the jukebox, and the harsh sounds of revolution are in the air. It’s a time of change in the city’s Hill District: the...

Review: ‘DISASTER!’ at The Nederlander Theatre in NYC

If you’re in the mood for a visit with a shipload of fun loving actors, many of whom you’ve seen and enjoyed in shows like Guys and Dolls (Faith Prince), The Producers (Roger Bart), Rent (Adam...

Filichia on Friday: ‘Shaw and Staller-Perfect Together’

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: SHAW AND STALLER – PEFECT TOGETHER Purchase Peter...

Review: ‘RetroAct’ at Tangle Movement Arts in Philadelphia

When walking into Tangle Movement Arts’ RetroAct at the Neighborhood House in Philadelphia, there is the immediate feeling that expectations may be defied. There is energetic music playing. Ropes and...

Review #2: ‘110 in the Shade’ at Ford’s Theatre

As the opening song exclaims, “Gonna Be Another Hot Day”- and like a refreshing breeze, the lilting lyrics and melodious music of the prolific theatre songwriting team of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt...

In the Moment: ‘The Flick’ at Signature Theatre

Several years ago I read Annie Baker’s The Flick. For the life of me, I wondered how such a beautifully written, gutsy play about working-class heroes in their own ways could be turned into a living...

Review: ‘As You Like It’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

As far as plays go, As You Like It has a little bit of everything. Shakespeare’s pastoral comedy brings us death, weddings, country shenanigans, court intrigue and attacks from wild animals. All of...

Review: ‘Blackbird’ at the Belasco Theatre in NYC

Under Joe Mantello’s keen direction, Blackbird begins with a bang and ends with a cry in the night. In the 80 minutes that elapse between one and the other, his cast of two holds us tightly and never...

Meet the Cast of Laurel Mill Playhouse’s ‘Man of La Mancha’: Part 4: John Brown, Tracy Davidson, Richard Greenslit, Joseph Mariano, Kel McClanahan, and Christine Thomas-O’Meally

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of Man of La Mancha at Laurel Mill Playhouse meet John Brown, Tracy Davidson, Richard Greenslit, Joseph Mariano, Kel McClanahan, and Christine...

Spine: One ‘American Idiot’ to Another, at The Keegan Theatre

Let me admit this right from the start. I’m 60 years old. I don’t go to concerts much. I had heard of Green Day (I’ve worked with teenagers for decades), but had not listened intentionally to their...

Review: ‘110 in the Shade’ at Ford’s Theatre

Glorious vocals and a strong cast heat up Ford’s Theatre with the musical gem 110 in the Shade. With music and lyrics by The Fantasticks creators Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, this rollicking musical,...

A Master Class with Renée Fleming at The Catholic University of America

The Catholic University of America’s (CUA) Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presented a master class by Renée Fleming on Sunday, March 13, 2016. Dr. Grayson Wagstaff, Dean of the School of Music, gave...

In the Moment: ‘1984’: A Loud Flash-Bang Grenade of a Theater Experience

Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has a loud flash-bang grenade of a theater experience for audiences. It comes with a chilling take on gloomy lives lived in a world of law and order under total...

Review: ‘The Sound of Music’ at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia

While there are amazing new Broadway hits like Hamilton and Fun Home, some things are classic for a reason. And may I say, they just don’t make musicals like The Sound of Music anymore. Celebrating...

Review: ‘American Idiot’ at The Keegan Theatre

The Keegan Theatre’s American Idiot speaks to collective genius. Hardly a no-brainer to mount this explosive, war-weary work, weaned in the Bush II era, at the height of today’s media-hijacked,...

An Interview with Gigi Holliday on ‘La Boum’ at The L’Enfant Café

Gigi Holliday is one busy lady! From running a burlesque academy, to producing a regular show for performers of color to running three different shows at L’Enfant Café the only chance we had to chat...

Review: ‘Annie’ at National Theatre

There are two things they always say never to work with: animals and children. There are exceptions, obviously. For six days at The National Theatre, Annie and Sandy — the bright red-headed,...

An Interview with Maki Roll on ‘Bump & Grimes II: A Burlesque Tribute to the Walking Dead’ at The Black Cat This Friday, at 10 PM

DC hearts its nerdlesque! Do a Doctor Who-, Game of Thrones-, or Walking Dead-themed show and the fanboys and girls are sure to show up. I got a chance to chat with Maki Roll recently who has made a...

Round House Theatre Announces its 2016-2017 Season: A Celebration of Tony Kushner

NEW SEASON INCLUDES A CELEBRATION OF TONY KUSHNER, THE LARGEST MUSICAL IN ROUND HOUSE’S HISTORY, THE REGIONAL PREMIERE OF A SOLO SHOW BY AUGUST WILSON ROUND HOUSE THEATRE AND OLNEY THEATRE CENTER...

Review: The Montreal Symphony Orchestra with Washington Performing Arts at the Kennedy Center

Who needs to skip around musical history in a concert? A hundred years ago the musical world was in ferment, with shocking new developments right before and after World War I. The Montreal Symphony...

‘Shylock Agonistes’: Howard Jacobson and Aaron Posner at Folger Theatre

On the stage of the Folger Theatre, with the vestiges of the set of Aaron Posner’s just-closed Midsummer Night’s Dream in the background, well-known director and playwright Aaron Posner and Man Booker...

Review: ‘1984’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Prepare to be assaulted! Head-on by Headlong Theatre’s 1984, now on stage at STC’s Lansburgh Theatre. George Orwell’s novel has become the iconic symbol of the totalitarian surveillance State. Big...

Review: “Seussical the Musical’ at Charm City Players

“Now, imagine a curtain and what lies behind; the kind of a place you might see in your mind… From the page to the stage, come along and enjoy — this tale of an elephant, a bird, a Cat in the Hat, and...

Review: ‘Children of Eden’ at Young Artists of America at Strathmore

Young Artists of America at Strathmore (YAA) brilliantly performed Children of Eden the afternoon of March 13, 2016 at The Music Center at Strathmore. Children of Eden is a musical written by Grammy...

Review: ‘The Pillowman’ at Forum Theatre

Martin McDonagh, the erstwhile enfant terrible of millennial European drama who is now a staple of contemporary theatres across the globe, is the sort of playwright whose words need little massaging...

Review: ‘Eclipsed’ at the Golden Theatre in New York City

Danai Gurira, the author of this white hot very topical play about sexual slavery in Nigeria, has made a remarkable start to a major career as playwright and actor. Perhaps best known as star of the...

Review: ‘Marjorie Prime’ at Olney Theatre Center

Question: What does it take to get an award-winning New York-based actor to perform in a tiny suburban outpost, 20 miles from Washington, DC? Answer: If the actor is Kathleen Butler—now starring in...

Review: ‘Hexagon 2016: Red, White, & Voters’ Blues’

America’s fascination with mobile phones, drones, and Fitbits were all parodied in the 2016 Hexagon show, but in this year of unprecedented political rancor, the group’s new revue, adeptly titled Red,...

Olney Theatre Center Unveils its 17-Show 2016-2017 Season Schedule: Co-Production with Round House Theatre of ‘Angels in America’ Announced

OLNEY THEATRE CENTER ANNOUNCES RECORD-BREAKING 17 SHOWS IN 2016-17 World Premieres from Hinderaker and Miroshnik, Multi-Year Co-Production Agreement with Round House Theatre, and Expanded Family...

Review: ‘Look Through My Eyes’ at Baltimore Theatre Project

Mervin Primeaux-O’Bryant, who conceived Look Through My Eyes, is the Assistant Director for Quest Visual Theatre, a group of deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing performers/teaching artists and...

Review: ‘The Mousetrap’ at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ

The queen of mystery, Agatha Christie, is alive and well in a new production of one of her most famous stories, The Mousetrap, now playing at McCarter Theatre Center. Directed by Adam Immerwahr, her...

Review: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde is a delightful period piece (late 19th Century) and a sentimental comedy that revolves around marriage,...

Review: ‘The Flick’ at Signature Theatre

Like the seismic shift in the theatrical terrain that I experienced when I saw the Steppenwolf Theater’s production of Lanford Wilson’s Balm in Gilead off-Broadway, or the excitement I felt when I saw...

Review #1: Boots, Class & Sass at The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC

Yee-Haw! Saddle up and come see the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC’s (GMCW) ‘Boots, Class & Sass at the Lincoln Theatre. Fortunately there are three performance left next weekend, so you’ll have...

Review: ‘Dark of the Moon’ at The Ritz Theatre Company in Haddon Township, NJ

A multi-level set of wooden platforms and beams, crates and barrels, chopped birch logs and an axe, a butter churn, milk can, and a jug of corn whisky thrust you into the rustic world of Appalachia....

Review: Vân-Ánh Võ’s ‘The Odyssey: From Vietnam to America’ at The Kennedy Center

Vân-Ánh Võ’s The Odyssey: from Vietnam to America conjures, to a Western audience, images of Odysseus, returning from victory at Troy, being punished by the gods, losing his army, his loot, his...

Review: Fairfax Symphony Orchestra: ‘An Enchanted Evening’

It really was quite “An Enchanted Evening” at GMU’s Center for the Arts on March 12, 2016 as Mary Michael Patterson and Hayley Travers, accompanied by the Fairfax Orchestra under the baton of Luke...

Review: ‘Venus in Fur’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

Fells Point Corner Theatre’s Venus in Fur will knock you over. Whew! It is amazing! The dynamic talents of actors Andrew Porter and Anne Shoemaker fill the Fells Point Corner Theatre with their...

Review: ‘Dogfight’ at The Media Theatre in Media, PA

“Semper Fi; Do or Die.” The Media Theatre has taken on the marine’s motto this month with the 2012 Dogfight: The Musical, with Music and Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and Book by Peter Duchan....

Review: Patti LaBelle Headlines Greater Washington Urban League “Unsung Heroes” Awards Fundraiser Gala

Recipes for the Good Life. That’s actually the title of a cookbook written by the legendary Godmother of Soul, Patti LaBelle. It’s also a metaphor for a music career spanning more than half a century;...

Review: ‘Advance Always: A Celebration of Frank Battisti and Garwood Whaley’ at The Kennedy Center

The Baldwin Wallace University Symphonic Wind Ensemble (BWUSWE), conducted by Dr. Brendan Caldwell, and the Bishop Ireton Symphonic Wind Ensemble, conducted by Dr. Randall Eyles, performed the concert...