2019

Review: ‘LadyShip’ in the New York Musical Festival

Making its debut in this year’s New York Musical Festival (NYMF), LadyShip – with book, lyrics, music composition, and orchestrations by twin sisters Linda Good and Laura Good (known for their work as...

Review: ‘The Band’s Visit’ at The Kennedy Center

“All alone in the quiet /And my ears are thirsty / For your voice, for your voice / Can you answer me.” Those lyrics from The Band’s Visit’s “Answer Me” burrowed into my heart as I took in The Band’s...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Conversations’

One of the more common phenomena of fringe festivals like ours is to see young actors commit to intensely personal projects, creating a cohesive performance piece that celebrates and reflects on their...

Review: ‘The Juliet Letters’ by UrbanArias

UrbanArias delivers a physical, aural, and emotional journey in their brilliant interpretation of Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet’s The Juliet Letters. Based upon imagined love letters written...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Veneer of Beauty’

Last year, Shaun Michael Johnson put himself on the map as a master storyteller, whose protean moves captivated audiences at the Capital Fringe Festival with Sobriety of Fear, a compelling story about...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Hold the Tomato’

Back at the Fringe Festival after their successful 2018 appearance, Laugh Index Theatre’s production of Hold the Tomato strikes a number of funny bones during its fast-paced series of comic sketches....

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Passing’

Passover, the holiday that marks the Exodus, that signals to Jews and the world that this night is different from all others because we are not slaves, but free, is the moving backdrop to John...

Daily Dispatches from Mike Daisey’s ‘A People’s History’

[CLICK HERE to read all 18 dispatches in chronological order.] Chapter 18: The Living Moment, July 21 7pm This final chapter continued to retell and reinterpret a people’s history, meaning the...

Review: ‘The Ballad of Mu Lan’ at Imagination Stage

Imagination Stage’s The Ballad of Mu Lan is the funny and poignant tale of a Chinese woman warrior who defies tradition in order to protect her father and be the person she feels she was meant to be....

15 Questions in 15 Minutes with Rob McClure from ‘Beetlejuice’

Currently featured as the nerdy dead guy Adam Maitland in the award-winning Broadway premiere of the new musical adaptation of Beetlejuice, Rob McClure keeps on racking up those fifteen minutes of...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman’

Written, directed, and acted by playwright Tara Lake, I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman, is a one-woman trip down the poetic and artful memory lane of...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Oizys in the Waiting Room’

There is reason for concern or apprehension as you scroll the morning headlines or track developing news moment by moment. Closer to home, the cause for unease might be a decision as simple as...

Review: ‘Bright Colors and Bold Patterns’ at Studio Theatre

Gerry is mad. Furious even. And who can blame him? He’s all set for the wedding of the … well … summer. He’s driven out the I10 from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and the expensively tasteful invitation...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Our Town Plus Zombies’

By Rebecca Kurtz What fun! The Adequate Players make a splash again at Fringe this summer with writer/director/actor John Geoffrion’s one-act parody of Thorton Wilder’s 1938 ode to the small town....

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘The Heist’

Improv, as any actor knows, is harder than it looks. And dramatic improv—in which actors invent their roles as they go, expanding on a basic situation in ways that are both comic and sad—is even more...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Intimate Dinner’

Anyone who has been a server in a restaurant will likely sympathize with the plight of the well-intentioned and yet deterioratingly cheerful waitress, Lauren, in Intimate Dinner by Lauren French...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘A Short History of Unfortunate Animals’

Aficionados of modern dance and movement theatre take note: if you are hungry for something unique, abstract and poetic, get thee to the Plum space at Arena Stage for A Short History of Unfortunate...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘That’s Not How It Happened’

Funny, sweet, and poignant, Colleen Hindsley’s one-woman show, That’s Not How It Happened, will resonate with anyone who misses their parents, has endured the torture of older siblings, or nearly...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Velvet Determination’

When Cynthia Shaw sits down at the piano and casually busts out Bach’s Allegro from Italian Concerto, you know Velvet Determination isn’t your average Fringe show. Written and performed by Shaw and...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ’52 Pickup’

So here’s the deal: the card game 52 Pickup is, technically, not a game so much as it is a mess. You grab a deck of cards, say “52 pickup!” and scatter the cards every which way. Sometimes it’s in...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘CRAPSHOOT!’

It turns out Al Stone (Todd Blakesley) is that guy – the one who admits to voting for Donald Trump in 2016. His participation in the democratic experiment turns his life upside down. Stone lives in an...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Amelia’

By Rebecca Kurtz There is a lot to love about historical fiction, and writer/director Robert McNamara chose a good branch of history with the beautifully open-ended story of Amelia Earhart’s...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Body.’

If you’re not familiar with devised theater, it’s when an ensemble collaborates on the script, movement, and even score of the production, often through improvisation and storytelling. If you’ve never...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Dust’

Don’t believe your program! Dust is not, in fact, a collection of surreal daydreams to trip your imagination. It is a thought-provoking drama worthy of your attention. It’s the end of the world as we...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Soul Redeemer’

The road to redemption can be an arduous one, especially when you’ve burned so many bridges in the past. LA TI DO Productions’ Soul Redeemer, with a book by Paul Handy, music and lyrics by Neal...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Neverlanding’

Years after Wendy’s tales of lost boys, pirates, and mermaids, Michael Darling is grounded and committed to a hospital when his brother, John, finds him on the roof. In the world premiere of...

2019 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Journey to Long Nose’

By Helen Ganley Labeling the DNA sample bottle and depositing it gingerly into the mail slot feels almost like a rite of passage for many Americans. The masses of inhabitants that bask under Lady...

Magic Time!: Why ‘A People’s History’ Is “Painful”: A Q&A With Mike Daisey

John: Before you brought A People’s History to DC, you performed all 18 parts three times—once through in Minneapolis and twice through in Seattle. I can imagine people could be picking and choosing...

Interview: Alec Wild, Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy for Classical Acting at the George Washington University

Soft, behold! This summer DC offers first-rate Shakespeare everyone can enjoy. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting (ACA) at the George Washington University, starting in...

Bringing ‘Savage the Musical’ to the Concert Stage of the New York Musical Festival: A Conversation with Creator Nicolette Blount and Director Rachel Klein

Wanda Savage was a trailblazing Chickasaw woman, American sharp-shooter, silent-film actress, and divorced single mother, whose life provides a telling illustration of the racism, sexism, and abuse...

Monumental Theatre Opens DC-Area Premiere of ‘Be More Chill’ July 11

You may remember James Corden, Sara Bareilles, and Josh Groban singing a parody of the song “Michael in the Bathroom” a few weeks ago on the Tony Awards network television show. The stars sang of...

Review: ‘Vivian’s Music 1969’ at The Essential Theatre

It was 50 years ago. Lost deep in the pages of the June 26, 1969 edition of The New York Times was this, “Firebombings, rock throwing and rifle shots marked a third straight night of racial violence...

Review: ‘Support Group for Men’ by Ellen Fairey at Contemporary American Theater Festival

Given the seemingly endless parade of creeps and pervs we see in the news every day, it might seem surprising that a woman would write a sympathetic play about guys. The kind who think of themselves...

Review: ‘A Welcome Guest: A Psychotic Fairy Tale’ by Michael Weller at Contemporary American Theater Festival

Eat your heart out, Christmas Carol. Hang up your dancing shoes, Nutcracker. Change the channel on reruns of It’s a Wonderful Life. It’s Christmas in July in Shepherdstown, as the Contemporary...

Review: ‘Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son’ by Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez at Contemporary American Theater Festival

The Antonio in question is Antonio Edwards Suarez, the writer (with Dael Orlandersmith) and actor in this one-man autobiographical piece, part of the Contemporary American Theater Festival in...

Review: Josh Groban at Wolf Trap

Josh Groban seems to have hit his stride with his latest album Bridges. Uplifting melodies and covers of pop standards have created another recording that is more than worthy of the experience he...

Review: ‘My Lord, What a Night’ by Deborah Brevoort at Contemporary American Theater Festival

My Lord, What a Night, a new play by Deborah Brevoort at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, explores the relationship between two 20th-century greats in very...

Review: ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike’ by Sandy Spring Theatre Group

Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2013, is a comedy about neurotic, middle-aged, well-off white people whining about their lives. In...

Review: ‘Wrecked’ by Greg Kalleres at Contemporary American Theater Festival

Ah, the perfect relationship – not yours, of course, never yours. I’m talking about the one that other couple has; you know who I’m talking about, they’re always such great fun, always quick with a...

Review: ‘Chester Bailey’ by Joseph Dougherty at Contemporary American Theater Festival

One of the true gems at this July’s Contemporary American Theatre Festival (CATF) in Shepherdstown, West Virginia is the East Coast premiere of Joseph Dougherty’s battle of heart and wit, Chester...

Review: ‘Hairspray’ by Rockville Musical Theatre

Rockville Musical Theatre’s Hairspray is musical dynamite. The winning trio of Director T.J. Lukacsina, Musical Director Marci Shegogue, and Choreographer Rikki Lacewell make this show ovation worthy....

Review: ‘Altar Ego’ by Submersive Productions

Readers of DC Theater Arts who are District-based are likely already familiar with immersive theater. Companies like TBD Immersive have recently begun presenting in nontraditional spaces, devising new...

Review: ‘Never Thought I was Black Till I Came to America’ (DC Black Theatre & Arts Festival)

The joyful spirit of Kenyan actress and storyteller, Anna Mwalagho filled the black box theater at Anacostia Arts Center as she performed her one-woman Black woman’s rites of passage message play,...

A Hot New Season of ‘Broadway in Bryant Park’ Begins This Week!

A summer favorite, Broadway in Bryant Park returns to the lawn this week for the 20th anniversary of its annual series of free lunchtime concerts, featuring a sampling of songs and stars from some of...

Summer Festival Season Begins at the American Shakespeare Center

The American Shakespeare Center is promising audiences a Roman adventure this summer with their Festival Season. The season opens with Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra....

The Women of ‘Broadway Bounty Hunter’ Dropkick the Patriarchy!

Now in rehearsals and about to begin previews at Off-Broadway’s Greenwich House Theater on July 9, the highly anticipated Broadway Bounty Hunter – by Be More Chill sensations Joe Iconis, Jason...

Michael Feinstein Celebrates The Great American Songbook

In addition to being a multi-platinum-selling recording artist and a Grammy and Emmy Award-nominated entertainer with an active international concert schedule of more than 200 shows a year, Michael...

Mark G. Meadows Wants To Change the World

In 2016, after the presidential election that put Donald Trump in the White House, musician Mark Meadows felt lost. He believed that his voice, and the voices of other artists “weren’t heard and...

Mara Bayewitz On Playing ‘Dolley Madison, Presidentress’

How does an actor prepare to embody of of the United States’ most famous first ladies? We spoke to Mara Bayewitz about her upcoming solo turn as Dolley Madison playing at Best Medicine Rep one weekend...

Review: ‘The Negroes Are Congregating’ (DC Black Theatre & Film Festival)

Midway through this fast, furious, in-your-face poetic explosive about anti-black racism, one of the three cast members stops the action and says: “I’m sorry, I’m trying to keep up the pace with this...