2017

Review: NSO Pops: An Evening with Ledisi at The Kennedy Center

“Peaches” was in the house. Inspired by the spirit of Nina Simone, acclaimed American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter and actress, Ledisi performed an eclectic program of blues, jazz and R&B...

Review: ‘Famous Contemporaries: Music by Gliere, Medtner, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Tcherepnin’ at the Russian Chamber Art Society

As a novice opera aficionado, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from Masterpieces of Russian Vocal Music: Famous Contemporaries, the Russian Chamber Art Society’s most recent offering at La Maison...

The Subplot Quickens: A Q&A with Michelle Beck About Her Remarkable Role in ‘King Charles III’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

I greatly admired both the writing and the acting in Shakespeare Theatre Company production of Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III, but to be honest it was the character of Jessica and Michelle Beck’s...

Review: ‘SISSY Accompanied by Johann Sebastian Bach and a Mouse’ at The Catholic University of America’s Hartke Theatre

If you can imagine a play that captures bits and pieces of The Wizard of Oz and Greek Mytholgy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a Tom and Jerry comic, then you will have some idea of what goes into...

Meet the Cast of Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Sweeney Todd’: Part Three: Frank Viveros (Pirelli)

In Part Three of a series of interviews with the cast of Sweeney Todd at Olney Theatre Center, meet Frank Viveros. Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you on the...

Review: ‘The Hot New Deal’ at Glenelg Country School

The Great Depression sure had a great soundtrack. That’s one take-away from the debut of a new “jukebox musical” named The Hot New Deal, now through February 25th at Glenelg Country School. Carole...

Magic Time!: ‘The How and the Why’ at Theater J

The very title poses a puzzle. How what? Why what? Yet the definite articles assert certitude. The what. The how. Turns out in this brainy play about two smart women, perplexity and uncertainty...

Review #2: ‘Kid Victory’ at Vineyard Theatre

When seventeen-year-old Luke returns home to small-town Kansas after being missing for a year, he must come to terms with what transpired and face the aftermath with his family, church, and community,...

Review #1: ‘Kid Victory’ at Vineyard Theatre

John Kander, who will soon be celebrating his 90th birthday, has now confirmed that his collaboration with 39 year-old playwright Greg Pierce, is on solid ground, and offers us great promise for more...

Review: “The Bodyguard: The Musical” at the Academy of Music

Whitney Houston is a tough act to follow, especially in a version of the vehicle created just for her to showcase her most popular songs. Deborah Cox, as the star singer Rachel Marron, holds her own...

Review: ‘Great Expectations’ at Everyman Theatre

Everyman Theatre (“Everyman”) continues its 2016/2017 season with an ambitious production: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. A work of literature epic in scope and scale, the most notable challenge...

Review: ‘The How and the Why’ at Theater J

The How and the Why – Sarah Treem’s celebrated play about science, feminism and generational rivalry – has just made its long-awaited DC debut at Theater J. The two-handed play is billed as a “fitting...

Review: The Philadelphia Orchestra Performs Mozart and Brahms

During the 44 years when Eugene Ormandy was music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra (1936 to 1980), he led almost every concert. There was scant need for guest conductors. Now the symphonic world...

Review: ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ at Synetic Theater

Synetic’s The Taming of the Shrew is disarming, decadent, and a great visual rush. It is also great, dialogue-free storytelling with its own edge and outlook. The Synetic production simply cast a...

Review: ‘Calendar Girls’ at Colonial Players of Annapolis

The Colonial Players’ production of Calendar Girls is a screamingly funny, yet poignant comedy. Written by Tim Firth, who co-wrote the 2003 movie, and directed by Debbie Barber-Eaton, it’s an...

In the Moment: Atlas Intersections Festival 2017: Four Dance Troupes: Company Danzante, Jane Franklin Dance, Gin Dance Company, and Rebollar Dance.

This year’s Atlas Intersections Festival has a theme of “where the art world and the real world intersect. The Festival aims to “engage audiences and artists alike by sparking conversation, deeper...

In the Moment: A Talk with the Pipeline Playwrights: Part One: Ann Timmons and Soo-Jin Lee

Northern Virginia is very much alive and supporting original play development by local playwrights. The diversity of the Northern Virginia demographic provides for fresh experiences to base a play on....

Review: ‘The Trojan Women’ at Taffety Punk Theatre Company

The feminist movement has been on the rise for decades, but with our current political and social climate, saturated with patriarchal overreach into women’s lives (and even their bodies), years of...

Review: ‘Luther Re-Lives’ at the Publick Playhouse

The velvet voice and beautiful love ballads of one of the greatest R &B crooners of all time, Luther Vandross, lives on through the magnetic stage presence of William “Smooth” Wardlaw’s Luther...

Review: ‘The Matchmaker’ at People’s Light

An effervescent all-star ensemble of fourteen actors and two musicians under the ebullient direction of Abigail Adams brings to life the eccentric characters, madcap situations, and old-fashioned...

Review: ‘God of Carnage’ at Compass Rose Theater

Compass Rose Theater does it again with another smart and dramatic production. God of Carnage is remarkable, this time with Director Steven Carpenter at the helm. Lucinda Merry-Browne is the Producer...

Review: ‘Mary Martello: Songs My Mother Taught Me’ at the Arden Theatre Cabaret Series

I’ve seen Mary Martello onstage more times than I can count. The 5-time Barrymore Award winner has played everyone from Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd to Queen Gertrude in Hamlet, from Abby Brewster in...

Review: ‘Trust’ at Fells Point Corner Theatre

What’s the nature of trust? What specifically makes a person choose one partner over another? These questions and more are brought up by Fells Point Corner Theatre’s production of Trust, by Steven...

News: Howard County to See Two New Musicals: ‘The Hot New Deal’ at Glenelg Country School and ‘Dorian’s Closet’ at Rep Stage

Howard County is about to enjoy the debuts of no less than two original musicals in the coming weeks. First up this week is The Hot New Deal at Glenelg Country School’s Mulitz Theater, this Wednesday,...

Review: ‘Vive la France: The Magic of Saint-Saens’ at The National Chamber Ensemble

Love was in the air as The National Chamber Ensemble presented their Valentine’s Day performance called Vive la France: The Magic of Saint-Saens. The concert was described as: Celebrate Valentine’s...

Review: Ahamefule J. Oluo’s ‘Now I’m Fine’ at The Clarice

It takes bravery to decide that your story is worth telling. It’s even more admirable to have the courage to tell your story onstage with a 16-piece orchestra. That’s what Ahamefule J. Oluo did at The...

Review: ‘No Solemn Silence: A Gilbert & Sullivan Review’ at George Mason University’s Center For the Arts

George Mason University (GMU) launched its Year of Gilbert and Sullivan Celebration with a clever, bright, joyfully sung musical homage to the masterful Gilbert and Sullivan team and its invented...

Repairing and Healing the World Through Theater: An Interview With the Actors of IRC, Philadelphia’s Surreal Theater Company

Near the end of each year, Philadelphia’s only surreal theater, The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (IRC) —with their deeply philosophical mission statement, “We Bring Good Nothingness to...

Review: ‘Uncle Vanya’ at Hedgerow Theatre

A group of people are seated at a dinner table. They discuss the weather. Meanwhile, their lives are falling apart. With the revealing use of subtext like this, Anton Chekhov and others introduced...

Music with a Mission: Interview with Last Chance, a Great American Musical Duo

Last Chance, Philadelphia’s much-talked-about musical duo of singer-songwriter Jack Scott (vocals, banjo, and guitar) and Ingrid Rosenback (vocals, fiddle, and harmonica), has been performing as a duo...

Review: ‘H20’ at Rep Stage

Not everyone who attends Jane Martin’s H20 at Rep Stage will necessarily agree, but the case could be made for its taking place in one of Dante’s outer circles of Hell. As the play opens, a cynical...

Review: ‘The Very Last Days of the First Colored Circus’ at Restoration Stage

A long-ago love story inspired this richly textured play with 1920s music. When Playwright Steven A. Butler Jr. was growing up, he heard family stories about how his great-great grandparents, Ruby...

Review: ‘Leper + Chip’ at Inis Nua Theatre Company

The goal of Inis Nua Theatre Company is to “tell the story.” In its American premiere of Irish playwright Lee Coffey’s Leper + Chip we get not only the story, but the big picture. As with...

Review: ‘Laughter on the 23rd Floor’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Politics, laughter, and lunacy come together in this lesser known Neil Simon comedy, Laughter on the 23rd Floor which opened last night at Laurel Mill Playhouse. Directed by John D’Amato and produced...

Review: Balé Folclórico da Bahia at the Merriam Theater

They say “music is the universal language.” Balé Folclórico da Bahia definitely proved that in their one-night-only performance in Philadelphia at the Merriam Theater. The show, Bahia of All Colors,...

Review: Regina Carter: ‘Simply Ella’ at The Kennedy Center

Regina Carter and her violin: a human voice has never sounded so true. If you get a chance to experience Regina Carter: Simply Ella, the jazz quintet composed of Regina Carter (violin), Marvin Sewell...

Review: ‘Two Rooms’ at Kensington Arts Theatre

International diplomacy is like a game of chess, full of strategy, maneuvering and calculation. You take risks you hope won’t prove fatal and you never want to be the pawn. Two Rooms, by playwright...

Review: ‘Little Women’ at The Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music

Catholic University’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music’s production of Little Women is nearly three hours of spectacular musical merriment. Directed by faculty member Jay D. Brock and with a book by...

Review: ‘Sunset Boulevard’ at The Palace Theatre

The Palace Theatre is back in business with a big time headliner on the bill. It’s Glenn Close, returning to the role of Norma Desmond, direct from her recent great success in it at London’s Coliseum...

Interview: Catharine Slusar Returns to Theatre Exile in ‘Lost Girls’

Following her Barrymore Award for Best Actress as Martha in Theatre Exile’s 2014 production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which was preceded by two Barrymore Nominations for Best Actress with...

Howard County Community Dance Festival Tomorrow and Sunday Events

Dance Pros Will Chase Away the Winter Blahs For local aficionados who cherish those rare professional dance appearances in Columbia, note two unique concerts this weekend. Misako Ballet Company...

Review: ‘All My Sons’ at The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance

Some plays survive the test of time. Arthur Miller’s All My Sons is such a play. And the production mounted by The George Washington University’s Department of Theatre and Dance makes that point...

Take The Stage Presents ‘Connected’ at The Rockville Jewish Community Center on Fri 2/24; Sat 2/25; and Sun 2/26

Take the Stage Performance Company, one of DC’s hottest up-and-coming young performing ensembles, announces their new Broadway Revue Showcase, Connected. Get a front row seat for the best Broadway and...

Review: ‘Brooklyn Doo Wop Explosion’ at Bristol Riverside Theatre

Who put the bomp in the bomp be bomp bah bomp? Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong? It these lyrics fill you with happiness in the remembrance of days gone by, then run to the Bristol Riverside...

Review: ‘Dracula’ at American University

The famous novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, has been adapted for countless film and stage productions, thrilling audiences since 1897. With a cinematic look and feel, some stand out performances, and...

Interview: Meet ‘The Duskwhales’

I first ran across the Duskwhales when they performed at the 9:30 Club on the Circus Life Podcast 3rd Anniversary Show in the Fall of 2016. I was mesmerized by their psychedelic dress, sound and...

Meet the Cast of Olney Theatre Center’s ‘Sweeney Todd’: Part Two: E. Faye Butler (Mrs. Lovett)

In Part Two of series of interviews with the cast of Sweeney Todd at Olney Theatre Center, meet E. Faye Butler. Joel: Please introduce yourself and tell our readers where they may have seen you on the...

In the Moment: ‘King Charles III’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s (STC) production of Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III is a stunner. It is a clever look into a usually unseen political hall-of-mirrors. It is also a most telling tale of...

Spine: ‘King Charles III’ at The Shakespeare Theatre Company

They sure don’t make kings like they used to. And maybe that’s a good thing. Mike Bartlett’s historical fantasy, King Charles III, based loosely (very loosely) on the current royal family of England,...

From PlayPenn to Lincoln Center: A Conversation about ‘Oslo’ with Paul Meshejian and J.T. Rogers

Following its development in 2015 at PlayPenn — the respected thirteen-year-old Philadelphia-based artist-driven organization dedicated to supporting and fostering new work — playwright J.T. Rogers’...