2018

DC Theater Arts Announces New Collaboration Initiatives with TodayTix

As DC Theater Arts continues to grow in its mission to provide theater fans with the best critically-engaging coverage, we are happy to announce that we will be exploring additional affiliate...

‘Everything Is (Finally) Illuminated’ – Aaron Posner’s Setting of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Masterpiece Makes Its DC Debut at Theater J

Twelve years after it was first adapted for the stage by British playwright Simon Block, the play Everything Is Illuminated – based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer – has arrived at Theater J,...

Review: ‘Let Freedom Ring!’ MLK Celebration Featuring Vanessa Williams at the Kennedy Center

The 16th Annual Let Freedom Ring! Celebration honors the life, legacy, and dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Hundreds of people from all walks of life filled the pews of the Kennedy Center’s...

Enter the TodayTix 5 for 5 Preview Lottery for ‘The Wolves’ at Studio Theatre

What is the TodayTix 5 for 5 Lottery? Studio Theatre and TodayTix are offering a mobile Lottery for $5 preview tickets! Enter the 5 for 5 Lottery for a chance to win exclusive tickets to The Wolves‘...

Interview: Lawrence Grey, Jr. Chats About Receiving La Ti Do Productions’ Inaugural Joel Markowitz Award

La Ti Do, DC’s premier cabaret series, will award Lawrence Grey, Jr. the inaugural Joel Markowitz Audience Award at their 6th Anniversary Celebration on January 22, 2018. This award, named in honor of...

Review: ‘Seussical Jr.’ at ACCT

Having grown up on Dr. Seuss and having seen the 2008 Horton Hears a Who movie a dozen times, I feared Seussical Jr. (book by Leslie Aherns and Stephen Flaherty, based on the works of Dr. Seuss) might...

In the Moment: Helen Murray, Artistic Director of The Hub Theatre Discusses Her Departure

The DC performing arts scene will be losing one of its visionary artistic directors this summer. Hub Theatre’s artistic director Helen Murray will be moving on to become the Executive Director of the...

Enter the TodayTix Free First Preview Lottery for ‘Jefferson’s Garden’ at Ford’s Theatre

What is the TodayTix Free First Preview Lottery? There’s nothing better than seeing a great show for free. TodayTix and Ford’s Theatre are offering a mobile lottery for each first preview production...

Review: ‘Everything Is Illuminated’ at Theater J

A young Jewish American writer named Jonathan arrives by train in the Ukraine on a quest to find a woman named Augustine who helped his grandfather Safran escape the Nazis. He has only a faded...

Interview: Musical Improv Duo Tara and Rance Discuss their Critically-acclaimed Show ‘HERE’ Coming to Imagination Stage in Bethesda

Veteran Chicago improvisers Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto have traveled together to 20 countries and more than 50 U.S. cities to perform their improvised musical, HERE, recently called “nothing...

Review: ‘Mamma Mia!’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents Mamma Mia!, with music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus and book by Catherine Johnson, with some songs by Stig Andersson. Riverside...

Review: ‘Morning’s at Seven’ at People’s Light

Morning’s at Seven fits the definition of “quaint.” With its elderly characters and its winsome setting – a Midwestern town in the 1930s, where everybody knows each other’s problems a little too well...

Review: ‘The Way of the World’ at Folger Theatre (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

The Way of the World, a deft satire of the mating habits and financial vicissitudes of the 1%, arrived at the Folger Theatre last night. It was a hilarious evening. Theresa Rebeck’s comedy, very...

Review: ‘Love is a Blue Tick Hound’ at Rapid Lemon Productions (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

No garden gnomes were injured in the writing of this review As part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Rapid Lemon Productions is presenting the regional premiere of Love is a Blue Tick...

Review: ‘The Skin of Our Teeth’ at Constellation Theatre Company

Thornton Wilder’s allegorical paean to humanity’s survival “by the skin of our teeth” has itself become a marvel of endurance. First staged in 1942, when times were decidedly dire, the determinedly...

‘Women’s Voices Theater Festival’ and ‘Winterfest’ Present New Works in NYC from January through March

New York City is ringing in the New Year with a full slate of new works presented in January, February, and March, including a one-day event with the Dramatists Guild Foundation in support of the...

Magic Time!: ‘Guilt’ at Scena Theatre

Sex and guilt were linked in superstition before institutional Christianity came on the scene, but thanks to the medieval Catholic Church they got hooked up with theology too. It was in the runup to...

Erika Rose Lights Up the Stage in ‘Queens Girl in Africa’ (Women’s Voices Theater Festival)

It’s no coincidence that Queens Girl in Africa—Caleen Sinnette Jennings’ semi-autobiographical one-woman play now at Mosaic Theater Company of DC—was chosen to kick off the Women’s Voices Theater...

Review: ’45 Plays for 45 Presidents’ at NextStop Theatre Company

Throughout American history, the office of the president has served as the living embodiment of the American dream. The central tenet of our democracy, it demonstrates that any person can rise up and...

In the Moment: Report on ‘Declassified’ with Ben Folds and Sara Bareilles at The Kennedy Center

Under the masterful, musical code-switching curation of National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Artistic Advisor Ben Folds, the future for new audiences finding their way to the usually buttoned-up, High...

Review: ‘The Humans’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

Lights rise on The Humans and there, center stage, is Erik Blake (Richard Thomas), a fish out of water Pennsylvanian Dad in a New York apartment. What is he doing there? And why is he in an apartment...

Review: ‘Wit’ at Silver Spring Stage

Wit, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Margaret Edson and directed at Silver Spring Stage by Jeff Mikoni, graces the stage with a darkly comedic tale of a strict university professor dying of...

Interview: La-Ti-Do Co-Founder Don Mike Mendoza Reflects on 6 Years of Cabaret

DC Theater Arts had a chance to sit down with local producer Don Mike Mendoza to discuss the upcoming 6th anniversary of his company La-Ti-Do Productions. La-Ti-Do gives the DC scene a cutting-edge...

Magic Time!: “Claim All of Your Selves”: Caleen Sinnette Jennings on Her ‘Queens Girl’ Plays (Womens’ Voices Theater Festival Productions)

Erika Rose’s performance in Queens Girl in Africa is awesome to behold. She plays the playwright’s teenage self, named Jackie, plus her parents, school friends, and others, with an incandescence that...

An Interview with ‘The Summer Club’ – Previewing ‘A Big Band Valentine’s Day’ at Philadelphia Theatre Company

Since its premiere in the Jersey-shore town of Cape May in July 2014, The Summer Club has been bringing the retro sound of the Big Bands, the sophisticated stylings of the Swing era, and the...

Review: ‘On Your Feet!’ National Tour at the Kennedy Center

The rhythm is gonna get you! Expect to find yourself dancing in your seat, because the energy from this show is infectious. On Your Feet! at the Kennedy Center is electric, and audience members...

Preview: Washington Improv Theater’s ‘Wintry Mix’ at DC Arts Center

Now through February 4, Washington Improv Theater (WIT), the District’s oldest and only nonprofit long-form improv theater, presents Wintry Mix, a four-week medley of improv shows at the DC Arts...

Review: ‘John Lithgow: Stories by Heart’ at Roundabout Theatre Company

In 2002, when his 86-year-old father was gravely ill, award-winning actor John Lithgow read stories to him at his bedside – the same stories his dad Arthur Lithgow, a regional theater artist to whom...

In the Moment: ‘Passport to the World Festival’ at The Creative Cauldron

In the midst of its ninth year producing and presenting live theater and music at its ArtSpace Fall Church venue, the Creative Cauldron has just opened its annual, mid-winter Passport to the World...

Diverse City: Interview with Artistic Director and Activist Elena Velasco

Welcome to the very first Diverse City column on DC Theater Arts. My name is Darby DeJarnette and I created this column to highlight, through interviews, the different experiences of individuals from...

Review: ‘Guilt, an opera without music’ at Scena Theatre

With its teasing, click-bait provocative subtitling, “an opera without music,” John Shand’s Guilt, having its world premiere by DC’s Scena Theatre, is a meaty, passionately provoking tale. Overall,...

Review: ‘Queens Girl in Africa’ at Mosaic Theater Company (Women’s Voices Theater Festival Production)

Playwright Caleen Sinnette Jennings serves up an ace with the world premiere of Queens Girl in Africa – a riveting, semi-autobiographical account of her experience living in Ibadan, Nigeria in the...

Review: ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ at The American Pops Orchestra

Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days is a classic novel that has stood the test of time–one hundred and forty-five years, to be exact–and been adapted into multiple media forms since its original...

Preview: ‘Mamma Mia’ Opens Tomorrow at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts in Fredericksburg, Virginia is excited to be the first regional theater in the D.C. metropolitan area to present Mamma Mia, starring Betsy Padamonsky as...

Review: ‘House.’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Reality TV shows have been described with many different words since they have pervaded the airwaves over the past two decades – crass, stereotypical, unreality. Maryland-based playwright Daniel...

DC Theater Arts Kicks Off ‘Women’s Voices Theater Festival’ Coverage

The Women’s Voices Theater Festival kicks off this week, and DC Theater Arts is excited to cover this important event. For the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, 24 plays penned by female playwrights...

Review: ‘Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein’ at Ensemble for the Romantic Century

Robert Fairchild, a lead dancer with the New York City Ballet Company, burst upon the Broadway scene two years ago by playing the lead in the stage version of An American In Paris. He was immediately...

Review: ‘Inherit the Wind’ at Baltimore’s Vagabond Theatre

On a cold winter’s night, nothing heats up faster than a fiery debate. And when it comes to political grandiloquence – as timely today as 100 years ago – the Vagabond Players opening night performance...

Review: ‘The Reluctant Dragon’ at The Montgomery Playhouse

Barely two months ago, the call went out for auditions to this cast. This is worth mentioning because in that short time, considering all the holiday distractions and scheduling challenges, the...

In the Moment: Arts Council of Fairfax County Announces 2018 grant awards

As we well know, funding for the arts from all levels of government sources are under assault. Government funding is either static, or in worse cases has been reduced. As government revenue has still...

Interview: Meet the Playwright of ‘House.’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

The new year brings the opening of the original play by Daniel Johnston, House., to Laurel Mill Playhouse in Laurel, Maryland. House. is directed by Susan Brall – a reviewer at DCMTA – and produced by...

Dance Preview: ‘Bald Ballerina’ Maggie Kudirka Dances for Life

There wasn’t a dry eye when Margaret “Maggie” Kudirka ripped off her headscarf and fell to the floor during her poignant Loss and Survival solo, set to the familiar Edith Piaf song of no regrets. Just...

Review: ‘The First Christmas’ at the Music and Drama Ministry of Shiloh Baptist Church of Landover

Written and directed by Fay Brake, The First Christmas, performed recently at Shiloh Baptist Church of Landover, speaks to the essence of Christmas – inspiring its audience to remember that Jesus is...

In the Moment: The National Symphony Orchestra at The Hamilton Live This Thursday, January 4th, 2018

Ready to un-compartmentalize your music tastes? Open to thinking differently about what some may call stodgy “High Art” for the well-fixed? Ready to have some new musical experiences that fuse classic...

Review: ‘Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert’ at Strathmore

Salute to Vienna New Year’s Concert, conducted by Maestro Bernhard Schneider and featuring the vocal talents of German tenor Tilmann Unger and soprano Micaëla Oeste, waltzed in to The Music Center at...