2016

Review: ‘Let Freedom Ring! Featuring Yolanda Adams’ at The Kennedy Center

The spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was present this past Monday, January 18th, in the John F. Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall for the fourteenth annual Let Freedom Ring Celebration. This...

‘Take One Shot for the Pain: The Characters of ‘Stone Tape Party’ as Cocktails By Angela Pirko

One thing is true about the ladies of the Stone Tape Party house – they love their alcohol. A lot. A lot a lot. As we invite you onstage next week to party with us, why not try some of these fancy,...

Review: ‘The Sisters Rosensweig’ at Theater J

There’s a strange sound erupting from the JCC most nights. The source is not burlesque or stand-up comedy—although there are elements of both—but a brand new production of Wendy Wasserstein’s...

Review: ‘Peter Pan JR’ at Bravo Productions at The Randolph Road Theatre

I had the pleasure of seeing Bravo Production’s Peter Pan JR with my three boys on Saturday, January 16, 2016. The show was performed by 41 aspiring artists, in grades 2-8, and was one of the two...

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

August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson is, on its surface, just a story about a brother and sister who argue over whether to sell a family heirloom. What makes the play so special is that the piano in...

Review: ‘Gone’ by The Oven: A Collective Theatre Movement at Baltimore Theatre Project

The subject of human trafficking, and especially child sexploitation, is as dark and disturbing a topic for a theatrical production as anyone could imagine. The Oven, one of the newest members of the...

Review: ‘Mouse in House’ at Jane Franklin Dance at Theatre on the Run

Mouse in House, a fun­filled show for children, is full of poetry, dance, and wonderful media effects. Performed by Jane Franklin Dance Company, the show is based on the book Mouse of Amherst by...

Review: ‘Into the Woods, Jr.’ at Aldersgate Church Community Theater

Aldersgate Church Community Theater presents Into the Woods Jr., a condensed version of the Broadway musical, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, and orchestrations by...

In the Moment: Virginia Opera’s Quest for The Youngest Audience in America

“Opera is officially dead.” So read the headline for Christopher Ingraham’s Washington Post Wonkblog. And in “one chart” yet. Ah, yes big data says it all neatly and with great certitude. Maybe. Then...

Review: ‘Between Riverside and Crazy’ at The Studio Theatre

Such a bubbling, darkly comic world in which to our abundant enlightenment, all that is solid melts into thin air. This is the Studio Theatre production of the vinegary urban domain devised by Stephen...

Review: ‘Equus’ at Constellation Theatre Company

Since Peter Shaffer’s Equus made its striking return to the Anglo-American imagination in 2007, when then-17 year old Daniel Radcliffe stirred international controversy by appearing nude in the West...

Review: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ at WSC Avant Bard

Each year, Shakespeare is the most frequently produced playwright in America, and his A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of the Bard’s most frequently produced plays. So if you’re going to produce it,...

Review: ‘Chronoshred: The Adventures of Stardust Lazerdong’ at Baltimore Rock Opera Society

Though the week started on a tragic note for rock fans with the loss of David Bowie, a sliver of light has emerged for local audiences in the person of Greg Bowen, currently playing the title role in...

Meet the Cast of Reston Communty Players’ ‘Master Class’: Part 5: Richard Durkin

Here is Part 5 of a series of interviews with the director, producer, and cast of Reston Community Players’ production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class. Meet Richard Durkin. Maria Callas, one of the...

Review: ‘The 39 Steps’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre and The Collaborative Theatre

It is said that, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” Well, the latter is doubly, no, triply, no, quadruply, no, well… you get the idea in Fells Point Corner Theatre and The Collaborative Theatre’s...

Review: ‘First Date’ at Drama Learning Center

Looking for a respite from the winter doldrums and a glimpse of color, hope, and light-hearted entertainment? Go no further than the Drama Learning Center where founding director Stephanie Lynn...

Review: ‘Chocolate Covered Ants’ at Restoration Stage

Chocolate Covered Ants, a new play by Steven A. Butler, Jr., and now on stage at the Anacostia Playhouse, is that rarity of theatrical experience in that it explores the psyche of the African American...

Here are the 2015 WATCH AWARD NOMINATIONS

Announcement of Nominations 16th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors THE WATCH AWARDS Nominations Were Announced January 17, 2015 – 7:30 pm at The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA __ Nominations...

Review: ‘Master Class’ at Reston Community Players

Maria Callas is an opera icon. If you have never heard of her, think of the ultimate diva and that will give you a bare bones idea of the incredible talent, intense personality, and enduring influence...

Review: ‘Middletown’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Middletown, written by Will Eno, is a play with heft. It is not an easy play that you can relax and let wash over you. Timid souls who are out for an evening of light entertainment may struggle with...

Review: ‘Noises Off’ at The Roundabout Theatre Company’s American Airlines Theatre

When you arrive at the American Airlines Theatre for a performance of Michael Frayn’s farce Noises Off, along with your Playbill, you will also be given a program for Nothing On, which is the...

Review: ‘Grey Gardens’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Grey Gardens the musical (book by Dough Wright, lyrics by Michael Korie, music by Scott Frankel) is a faithful adaptation of the 1970’s cult classic documentary of the same name directed by Albert and...

Review: ‘Deathtrap’ at The Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater and Children’s Theater

A play-within-a-play, a comedy and a thriller, individually, are all standard forms of theater easily accepted by audiences today. But can they successfully be combined into a single entertaining...

Review: ‘Lend Me a Tenor’ at Rockville Little Theatre

In 1989, Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me a Tenor took home four Drama Desk Awards, and was nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Best Play. When the play returned to Broadway in 2010, the production was...

Review: ‘On the Road Again’ at Act II Playhouse in Ambler, PA

On a damp, drizzly night in January, it’s hard to fight the impulse to want to jump on a plane in pursuit of a warmer, sunnier locale. Fortunately, On the Road Again, a world premiere now playing at...

Review: ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’ at Walnut Street Theatre Independence Studio on 3 in Philadelphia

There’s no moon in the newest version of A Moon for the Misbegotten. The set, designed by Andrew Thompson, looks great, but because the ceiling of the Independence Studio on the Walnut Street...

Review: ‘The Complete Deaths of William Shakespeare’ at Cohesion Theatre Company and Baltimore Shakespeare Factory

A Killer Play, Four Centuries in the Making In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory and Cohesion Theatre Company have joined forces...

Review: ‘The History Boys’ at Dominion Stage

At the first press night of The History Boys by Alan Bennett, the cast and creative team were laughing and joking as the audience began to arrive. A fire had started in the flies of the theater, and...

Review: ‘Exit the King’ by 4615 Theatre Company at the Classroom at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

From what I can gather, 4615 Theatre Company consists of actors, directors, and designers who are, by their own declaration, under 25 years old. They select a play, find a space (basement, rehearsal...

Review: ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ at St. Mark’s Players

What better place could there possibly be to mount Sweeney Todd than the magnificent late-Victorian St. Mark’s Church on Capitol Hill? And what more capable or inventive local company could we seek to...

Review: ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’ at The Rude Mechanicals

This Rude Mechanicals’ production of one of Shakespeare’s ‘problem’ plays – All’s Well That Ends Well – is an example of the fact that if you have great writing and a great cast, you don’t need much...

Review: ‘Holy Holy’ at The Birchmere

The best way to celebrate artist David Bowie’s life is to attend a Holy Holy concert. Even David Bowie would have approved. The show played The Man Who Sold the World album with the drumhead featuring...

Review: ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ at Castaways Repertory Theatre

Is a man, especially a black man’s ego and position diminished when he, his wife and son, live in cramped quarters with his mother and sister? Castaways Repertory Theatre explores this as well as...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Part 4: Linda Bard

In Part 4 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Linda Bard. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage? They...

Review: ‘Once’ at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia

Once is not your usual Broadway musical. From the moment you enter the theater, the inventive staging immediately breaks through the proverbial fourth wall, as you are physically drawn into the...

Nibbles and Sips Around Town: ‘Destination Del Ray for Cozy New Italian Spot;Bethesda Offers Theatre-goers and Cast Members Two Great Dining Options with Silver and Urban Heights;National Geographic Live! Presents “The Science of Delicious”; and Zengo Celebrates 10th Anniversary

Lena’s Wood-Fired Pizza & Tap Alexandria locals have been eagerly anticipating the opening of Lena’s, the splashy new Neapolitan-style restaurant recently opened in the Del Ray neighborhood. All eyes...

Anya Randall Nebel’s Benefit Tonight 1/16@6PM at Atlas to Benefit Wanda Alston Foundation to Provide Shelter & Support for DC’s LGBTQ Youth

From Anya Randall Nebel: “January 5th marked my 50th birthday. I wanted to do something to give back to the community. How wonderful, I thought, to use my talents to raise awareness to the plight of...

Review: ‘Flatland’ at Annex Theater

As originally conceived by Edwin Abbot in the late 19th century, the novella Flatland is a biting satire about Victorian social hierarchies, played out in a two-dimensional world where women are...

Review: ‘The Hard Problem’ at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia, PA

The head and the heart endeavor to coexist in the Wilma Theater’s latest production of Tom Stoppard’s newest work, The Hard Problem. Rich with provocative questions and challenging to the notions of...

The Long View: ‘Wrestling Jerusalem’ at Mosaic Theater Company of DC

Wrestling Jerusalem is a luminous revelation on the sacred and the profane and the clash between the two. It illuminates the struggle between sacred dreams and profane realities, between Israeli Jew...

Review: ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ at The Kennedy Center

With a wealthy aristocratic family that refuses to acknowledge him, and a money-hungry girlfriend who refuses to marry him, what’s an impoverished young man to do? The unfortunate relatives of Monty...

DCMetroTheaterArts’ Best of 2015 #22: High School and Training Programs

The staff of DCMetroTheaterArts is honored to announce that their 2014 Best Performances in High School and Training Programs go to: HIGH SCHOOL PRODUCTIONS: The Addams Family at West Potomac High...

Here is The Complete List of The ‘Best of 2015’ Honorees on DCMetroTheaterArts

The staff of DC MetroTheaterArts is proud to honor the following productions, performances, and design from productions that graced The DC, Maryland, Virginia, New York, and Philadelphia stages in...

Meet the Cast of Reston Communty Players’ ‘Master Class’: Part 4: Molly Pinson Simoneau

Here is Part 4 of a series of interviews with the director, producer, and cast of Reston Community Players’ production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class. Meet Molly Pinson Simoneau. Maria Callas, one...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’: Part 3: Zach Brewster-Geisz

In Part 3 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Zach Brewster-Geisz. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on...

Review: ‘Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose’ at Signature Theatre

What starts as a delightfully wacky lark of well-told tales perfectly suited for theater buffs of a certain age or for those who know Broadway’s eccentricities through television shows such as Glee or...

Magic Time! ‘The Critic & The Real Inspector Hound’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

I just love it when theater laughs at itself. Who can forget the clockwork guffaws of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, or Shakespeare’s enchanting send-up of theatrical conceits in the “Pyramus and Thisbe”...

Meet the Cast of Avant Bard’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Part 2: Jon Jon Johnson

In Part 2 of a series of interviews with the cast of Avant Bard’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, meet Jon Jon Johnson. Joel: Where have local audiences seen you perform recently on stage?...

In the Moment: 1st Stage Gets Bigger: A Chat With Managing Artistic Director Alex Levy

The cranes are up and building is moving afoot in the “new” Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia. So, what will Tysons residents do for their near-by cultural arts fix and live performing arts...

Meet the Cast of Reston Community Players’ ‘Master Class’: Part 3: David Rohde

Here is Part 3 of a series of interviews with the director, producer, and cast of Reston Community Players’ production of Terrence McNally’s Master Class. Meet Maria Callas, one of the most famous...