2016

Magic Time! ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Ford’s Theatre

What’s the best way to stage a modern classic that is both reverential and revelatory? How does one mount a production that is respectful of the author’s intent yet freshly insightful. How can a...

Catching Up: Filichia on Friday: ‘The 2016 Broadway University Mid-Term Examination Answers’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. We’re catching up on the January 2016 Articles: January 22,...

Review: ‘Zombie Prom’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

A Thriller! Grab your hoverboard and blast over to Greenbelt Arts Center to see its latest show, Zombie Prom. It’s totally nuclear, a tongue in chic fusion of Happy Days, Grease, and The Walking Dead....

Review: ‘Deathtrap’ at The Arlington Players

I could tell you about the play’s plot, but then you would have to kill me. Yes, you read that right and it’s the premise of Deathtrap, The Arlington Players’ latest production. The highly...

Review: ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ at Hippodrome Theatre at The France-Merrick Performing Arts Center

The Phantom of the Opera is an entertainment phenomenon. Can we all just agree about that and move on? It’s still going strong after 30 years in London and 27 years on Broadway. As a reminder of its...

Catching Up: Filichia on Friday: ‘More on Season In, Season Out’

It’s an honor to bring Peter Filichia’s column every week on Kritzerland called ‘Filichia on Friday’ to our readers on DCMetroTheaterArts. We’re catching up on the January 2016 Articles: January 22,...

Review: ‘The Glass Menagerie’ at Ford’s Theatre

Possibly the most lyrical and sentimentally poignant of all the plays written by Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie still holds up as one of Williams’ most well-written plays....

‘Henry IV,” Part 1 at the Britches and Hose Theatre Company

The Britches and Hose Shakespeare Company is just the sort of grass roots, do-it-yourself theatrical troupe one might have hoped the nation would be awash in, but isn’t. Their Henry IV, Part 1,...

Review: ‘Kristin Chenoweth: Coming Home Tour’ at Strathmore

To paraphrase an old expression, “big talent can come in small packages!” This observation was never truer than when the diminutive musical superstar, Kristin Chenoweth, took the stage at Strathmore...

Filichia on Friday: ‘January’s Leftovers and February’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: January’s Leftovers and February’s Brainteaser....

The Columbia Festival of the Arts Presents ‘Winter Beyond the Blues’ From February 4-21st

When Todd Olson began his present position as Executive Director of the Columbia Festival of the Arts in 2013, he decided to change the format of the program to include a program for every season. The...

Review: ‘#therevolution’ at InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia

In 1970, Gil Scott-Heron told us that the revolution will not be televised. Now, in 2016, Playwright Kristoffer Diaz tells us that the revolution will be webcast. And maybe live tweeted. But...

Spine: “I Shall Not Hate” Mosaic Theater’s Journey to the Gaza Strip

Visit the Atlas Performing Arts Center’s Sprenger Lang Theatre over the next few weeks and you’ll find Gaza. “He who looks at the sea does not know the sea, He who sits on the shore does not know the...

Review: ‘The Language Archive’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA

“I love you.” This simple, universal concept becomes one of the most multi-faceted phrases in all languages in Bristol Riverside Theatre’s recent production of Julia Cho’s The Language Archive. What...

Review: ‘South Pacific’ at Toby’s Dinner Theatre

The South Pacific of your dreams was just sighted at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia. Never mind the current debate over “New York values” versus “Iowa values” — here you will find Rodgers &...

Dance Preview: Misako Ballet Celebrates Cultural Diversity

Classical ballet director Misako Aoki began her dance training in her native Japan where she later received a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School in London. From there she joined the...

WSC Avant Bard is Giving Away 2 tickets for the Extension Weekend of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’

WSC Avant Bard is giving away two tickets for the extension weekend of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. That’s a $70 value for free! The winning answer will also be tweeted from @AvantBard To enter, fill...

Meet the Cast of McLean Community Players’ ‘1776’: Part 3: Leslie Lewis

Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you perform on local stages and what roles you have played. My name is Leslie Lewis and I am originally from Georgia. I’ve been...

Review: ‘I Shall Not Hate’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

It was a record-setting blizzard, not prescient season planning, that resulted in Mosaic Theater Company’s rescheduling the opening of I Shall Not Hate to last night, International Holocaust Memorial...

Review: American Ballet Theatre’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ at The Kennedy Center

Alexei Ratmansky’s newest staging of the great classical ballet The Sleeping Beauty feels like that moment in the classic MGM film The Wizard of Oz when the scene goes from black and white to...

Molotov Theatre Group’s Alex Zavistovich’s Testimony To Be Presented Today In Support of ‘Made in DC Program Establishment Act of 2015’

Today, January 28, 2016, at the Wilson Building, Molotov Artistic Director Alex Zavistovich presents testiimony before the Council of the District of Columbia, in support of the “Made in DC Program...

Review: ‘Harvey’ at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia

So what if he’s invisible? He’s still the best friend and constant companion of the lovably eccentric tippler Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey, a delightful revival of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning...

Meet the Cast of McLean Community Players’ ‘1776’: Part 2: James Myers

n Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of McLean Community Players’ 1776, meet James Myers. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you perform on local...

An Interview with Composer Steven Lutvak on ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ and his FREE Masterclass at Young Artists of America on Tomorrow at AMP -Thursday, February 28, 2016 From 7-9:30 PM

Steven Lutvak’s Tony Award-winning musical A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder is bringing a lot of laughs to audiences in The Eisenhower Theater at The Kennedy Center. And he is also in town to...

‘Shaking It Loose With Tom Jones’ at MetroStage

The genesis of this production says much about the innovative creative process at MetroStage. The idea that a new musical could be developed from Tom Jones’ productions was a spark in the mind of the...

The Round World Presents ‘Avenue Burly Q’: An Evening of Puppets and Pasties at Bier Baron This Sunday, 1/31 at 8 PM

The Round World is proud to present Avenue Burly Q, an evening of puppets and pasties, at the Bier Baron on January 31, 2016. Five of the DMV’s finest (weirdest) burlesque/boylesque and variety...

Review: ‘Under the Skin’ at Everyman Theatre

At first blush, a play about organ donation might not have you rushing to the box office. But Playwright Michael Hollinger’s Under the Skin, which plays at Everyman Theatre through February 21st,...

Theatre Performance Updates: January 28th at 9:45 PM

HERE ARE SOME NEW UPDATES RE: THIS WEEK’S PERFORMANCES: UPDATED 9:45 PM on JANUARY 27, 2016 TONIGHT JANUARY 28TH AT 8 PM RESTON COMMUNITY THEATRE’S ‘MASTER CLASS’-SPECIAL PERFORMANCE TONIGHT!...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Part 8: Jenna Berk

In Part 8 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Jenna Berk.. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage? Jenna:...

Meet the Cast of McLean Community Players’ ‘1776’: Part 1: Brent Stone

In Part 1 of a series of interviews with the cast of McLean Community Players’ 1776, meet Brent Stone. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you perform on local...

Magic Time! An Interview With Kieyontaye D. Johnson-Carter, Author of ‘Love in Time of HIV’

When I first saw Love in Time of HIV in May 2012, I was deeply impressed. Giving voice to a young generation’s encounter with the health crisis left them by their elders, the play by Kieyontaye D....

Review: ‘Our Mother’s Brief Affair’ at Manhattan Theatre Club at The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in NYC

Richard Greenberg’s new play is of the school from which the story “The Lady or the Tiger?” sprang. It has enigmatic hints of Harold Pinter in it as well, though Mr. Greenberg’s ear for his New York...

Meet The Cast of Britches and Hose Shakespeare Company’s ‘Henry IV’: Dave Joria, Sarah Pfanz, Stephanie Ramsey, and Jay Tilley

In our interview with the cast of Britches and Hose Shakespeare Company’s gender-blind production of Henry IV, Part 1, meet Dave Joria (Prince Hal), Sarah Pfanz (Hotspur), Stephanie Ramsey (King...

Flying V and National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts Bring Back Cap Fringe 2014’s Best Musical ‘You, or Whatever I Can Get’ to the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre From 2/11-2/27

Coming off the successful, sold out, workshop production at the 2014 Capital Fringe Festival, Flying V brings back its award winning original musical (Best Musical, 2014 CapFringe), YOU, OR WHATEVER I...

Interviews With the Cast and Director of Kensington Arts Theatre’s ‘The Laramie Project’: Part 4: Clancey Yovanovich

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the Director and cast of Kensington Arts Theatre’s The Laramie Project, meet Clancey Yovanovich. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: Part 7: Toni Rae Salmi

In Part 7 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Toni Rae Salmi. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage?...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Part 6: Christian R. Gibbs

In Part 6 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Christian R. Gibbs. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage?...

‘U-Street, The Musical’ Plays at the Richard Kauffman Auditorium From January 29th-February 6th

U-Street, The Musical is a socio-political drama highlighting the issue of homelessness in America. While providing an empowering message to patrons, the show pushes the envelope in addressing a host...

In the Moment: Theater J’s ‘The Sisters Rosensweig’

What now, two decades after the lives depicted in The Sisters Rosensweig? Certainly Theater J has produced a polished, lovingly curated production of Wendy Wasserstein’s The Sisters Rosensweig. The...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: Part 5: Daven Ralston

In Part 5 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Daven Ralston. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage?...

Review: ‘SWEAT’ at Arena Stage

Permit me this before my actual review of Lynn Nottage’s bold, brave play SWEAT which is receiving a splendidly searing, raw, and real production at Arena (Co-commissioned with the Oregon Shakespeare...

Review: ‘Stone Tape Party’ at Nu Sass Productions

It was clear when I walked into the intimate theatre that the party had already started at this 2014 Capital Fringe Festival ‘Best Comedy and Best Overall Show.’ Music was blasting, drinks were...

Review: ‘Oscar Wilde: From the Depths’ at Lantern Theater Company in Philadelphia

Oscar Wilde: From the Depths, Charles McMahon’s new play about the darkest period in Wilde’s life, is a play that’s brimming with intelligence and insight, and it’s beautifully performed and sometimes...

Review: ‘Funnyman’ at Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia

Funnyman is making its World Premiere at the Arden Theatre Company, and it’s a winner. The play follows an aging great comic actor who is yearning to know what it means to really be funny in a serious...

Review: ‘American Idiot’ at Act Two @ Levine by Laura Marshall

Great punk music paired with edgy, mature performances and soaring orchestration rocked the house in the Kogod Cradle at Arena Stage last weekend. The pre-professional program from Act Two @ Levine,...

The Theatre Community Mourns the Passing of Nicholas Delaney

The theater community is saddened by the sudden passing of Nicholas Delaney, at age 34 two days ago. Our condolences to his family, to Alice, to his friends, actors, and fellow musicians who worked...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #23: Best Cabaret, Concerts, and Opera Productions in the DC Metro Area

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2015 Best Cabaret, Concert, and Opera honors go to to: CABARETS Anonymous at Creative Cauldron’s Summer Cabaret Series by Rachel...

Review: ‘Picasso at the Lapin Agile’ at The Keegan Theatre

Like the popular E.L. Doctorow novel, Ragtime, the Keegan Theatre’s whimsical and bouncy new production of Steve Martin’s play Picasso at the Lapin Agile is an intricate, quasi-historical journey as...

Theatre and Music Venues Snow Closings and Reschedulings Updated 1/24/16@12:20 AM: New Sunday Closings-Mosaic is Open for 3 Performances Today-Sunday

Metro is closed until Monday morning and may stay closed longer. We will update the status when the announcement is made. *Means just added. Here are New Sunday Closings just added on 1/24/16@12:20 PM...

Review: ‘The Winter’s Tale’ at The Kennedy Center

The Winter’s Tale: Warm Production for a Cold Winter’s Night Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has taken a challenging late Shakespearean play – The Winter’s Tale from 1623 – and revitalized it into...