2019

‘Afflicted: Daughters Of Salem’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse is a haunting story of witch hunt origins

The peer pressure of in-groups, man. Is there anything more toxic? Turns out, there is. This is the central theme of Afflicted: Daughters Of Salem, which is set before the infamous Salem Witch Trials...

Come one, come all, to the ‘Big Apple Circus’ at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park!

Aerialists and acrobats, big tops and bicycles, cotton candy, cats, and clowns – the ABC’s of 21st-century circus-arts entertainment can be enjoyed by one and all with the return of New York’s own Big...

What’s magnificent and what’s muddled in ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ at Arena Stage (Magic Time!)

Right to Be Forgotten is a play written from the outside in. By that I mean, its intention is to illustrate a legal issue: the tension in U.S. law between privacy and freedom of speech, a tension...

‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ rouses audience at Goddard Music and Drama Club with exuberant performance

If you are looking for some enjoyable entertainment before the holiday rush sets in, see The Drowsy Chaperone by the Goddard Music and Drama Club at the Barney & Bea Recreation Center. This production...

‘Matilda’ at Other Voices Theatre Company is a delightful take on a new favorite

Based on the 1988 children’s novel by Roald Dahl, Other Voices Theatre Company brings to life the endearing story of Matilda Wormwood, a precocious young girl who is misunderstood and abused by her...

Experience an unforgettable adventure with Rorschach Theatre’s “She Kills Monsters”

Through uncommon uses of environment and intimate passionate performances, Rorschach Theatre seeks to lure its audiences beyond the limits of ordinary theatrical experience. They go above and beyond...

Colonial Players’ magnificent ‘White Rose’ is a prophetic must-see

What do you do when your country has taken a wrong turn? With a corrupt government, racist policies, oppression of the marginalized, suppression of the truth and attacks on the media being commonplace...

Thoughtful ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ at Arena Stage

How do you put a human face on a difficult, complex subject the natural habitat of which may more likely be a law review article than a stage? Such is playwright Sharyn Rothstein’s task in Right to be...

‘Protest/Vaněk Unleashed’ heads underground in upcoming Alliance for New Music-Theatre production

In partnership with the Embassy of the Czech Republic’s Mutual Inspirations Festival, and in celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, the Alliance for New...

A theater buff auditions the GalaPro app (updated)

How does that new GalaPro app work? How well does it work? And what’s it like to watch a show with it? This inquiring theatergoer wanted to know. Many Deaf and hard of hearing people are already...

Strathmore: Growing a vibrant arts community that welcomes everyone

As DC-area demographics have evolved over the recent decades, so have the missions of some of the area’s nimble performing arts venues so that they are welcoming to those they serve and reach out to....

Dangereuse: An interview with Nigel Rowe, a cabaret star as Ariel in IN Series’ ‘Stormy Weather’

IN Series’ Stormy Weather, inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, features the music of Billie Holiday and a stunning cabaret performance by Nigel Rowe as Ariel. In the new Sybil Williams play,...

Broadway Producer Martin Markinson: Reflections on ‘My Life in Theatre’

Now retired and dividing his time between his homes in Maui and Santa Fe with his wife of 56 years Arlena, Brooklyn-born Martin Markinson played a key behind-the-scenes role in the theater industry...

Shakespeare Theater Company’s ‘Everybody’ flirts with death, but falls short of greatness

There’s really only one thing that all of us – that everybody – has in common. Death, whether we’re ready or not, will come for us. All our failures and triumphs, our relationships and desires, can...

Review: ‘Scotland, PA’ at the Laura Pels Theatre

If you need proof of the universality of Shakespeare’s themes, Scotland, PA – a whacked-out new musical comedy adapted from the eponymous cult film (original screenplay by Billy Morrissette), based on...

Constellation’s ‘Little Shop’ puts the horror back in horticulture

From its beginnings as a very low-budget 1960 Roger Corman B-picture horror flick (a young Jack Nicholson had a minor role), Little Shop of Horrors has been an irresistible salad of corrupted...

‘Radio Golf’ at Everyman better than par for the course

Everyman Theatre’s current production, billed as August Wilson’s Radio Golf, as though his name is part of the title (it isn’t), doesn’t have much golf in it. It’s not even about golf. It’s about a...

Review: ‘The Sound Inside’ at Studio 54

Tony- and Emmy-Award winner Mary-Louise Parker has made her highly anticipated return to the Great White Way in Adam Rapp’s suspenseful two-hander The Sound Inside – an engrossing new American play...

Slapstick is served with ‘One Man, Two Guvnors’ by Vienna Theatre Company

One Man, Two Guvnors, written by Richard Bean and directed at Vienna Theatre Company by Eric Storck, is aggressively funny stuff. Played as big as possible, each character pays homage to Commedia...

Teatro de la Luna highlights the soul of Tango music and dance

If you’re not ready to give in to an autumnal chill in the air, one of the hottest places to be right now is decidedly Teatro de la Luna. In its Friday night series, Noche de Luna: Tango Show, the...

Review: ‘Is This a Room’ at Vineyard Theatre

With a story ripped straight out of today’s headlines, Is This A Room offers a staged re-enactment of the verbatim transcript of the now-unclassified FBI interrogation of a whistleblower charged with...

‘The Haunting of Hill House’ delivers insidious, subtle terror this Halloween

The Little Theatre of Alexandria presents The Haunting of Hill House, inspired by the novel by Shirley Jackson and adapted for the stage by F. Andrew Leslie. Maggie Mumford directs a talented ensemble...

IN Series’ ‘Stormy Weather’ provides an original take on Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ with Billie Holiday as musical fuel

Ingenious. Shakespeare’s venerable, often un-provocatively produced The Tempest has been reconstructed into theater with an invigorating musical arc and an awakening narrative bite. It has been...

Baltimore Center Stage announces the Baltimore Butterfly Sessions

Baltimore Center Stage will begin its new civic dialogue series, The Baltimore Butterfly Sessions, this month. Featuring music, poetry, storytelling, literary excerpts, and thought-provoking keynote...

‘Mozart Celebration’ Opens Season at the National Chamber Ensemble

The National Chamber Ensemble’s 2019 – 2020 season launched this past Saturday with Mozart Celebration, which featured several of the composer’s beloved works. Mozart is one of those composers who was...

A Dispatch from Weekend Two of the Charm City Fringe Festival

The second weekend of the Charm City Fringe Festival is in full swing! There are still lots of performances happening Saturday and Sunday, plus Fringe After Dark fun, so go see something! Thanks to...

‘The Last Night of Ballyhoo’ educates and entertains at Bowie Community Theatre

Who is a Jew? Will you go with me to the Ballyhoo ball? Those are two questions the Jewish upper-middle-class Freitag family kvetch about during the happenings of playwright Alfred Uhry’s The Last...

Review: ‘Glenn Miller Orchestra’ at The Town Hall

Performing in New York for the first time since their concert at Lincoln Center 21 years ago in 1998, the Glenn Miller Orchestra (the present incarnation of which was formed in 1956; the original in...

Free Range Humans concocts a transformative ‘Jekyll & Hyde’

This Halloween season, Free Range Humans treats audiences to a one-of-a-kind production of Frank Wildhorn’s Jekyll & Hyde in Jekyll & Hyde: An Immersive Musical Experience at Frederick’s Centennial...

‘The Snow Queen’ Opens Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s 41st Season

Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s production of The Snow Queen at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts is a colorful feast of dance, lighting, and costumes. Based on the story of the same name by Hans...

Review: ‘Nat King Cole at 100’ at the Kennedy Center

A panoply of performers graced the stage last night to honor the extraordinary musician, composer, and civil rights activist Nat King Cole, who would have been 100 years old this past March 17....

Fixing World Crises: The Women of ‘SEVEN’ are Succeeding and Inspiring

SEVEN is a powerful documentary piece of theatre that brings the writing talents of seven award-winning playwrights to bear on the personal interviews of seven world-changing women from around the...

‘Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour’ Makes One-Weekend Stop at The National Theatre

A cult favorite TV show created in the ’80s, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3) has left your screens and found its way to the DC stage for one weekend and one weekend only. The weird (I mean that as...

Prominent NYC scenic designers debut at Everyman with ‘Radio Golf’

Everyman Theatre of Baltimore is proud to have Christopher and Justin Swader in house to design the set for their new production of August Wilson’s “Radio Golf.” The New York-based team has worked...

‘Thoughts of a Colored Man’ reveals universal truths at Baltimore Center Stage

Thoughts of a Colored Man is a poetic journey through the lives of seven Black men over the course of a day in Brooklyn, New York. Playwright Keenan Scott II has written, and Steve H. Broadnax III has...

Review: ‘The Rose Tattoo’ at the American Airlines Theatre

Although Tennessee Williams’ rare romantic comedy won the Tony Award for Best Play when it made its Broadway debut in 1951, followed by a fiery 1955 film adaptation starring Anna Magnani (who received...

New revision of Broadway musical ‘Rags’ is a timely story of the immigrant experience

Something’s coming: an exclusive opportunity to take in an award-winning creative team’s new adaptation of Rags, a hidden away musical gem. If you are not familiar with it, “Rags is a special creature...

ARTSFAIRFAX presents 2019 Emerging Arts Award to NextStop Theatre Company

ARTSFAIRFAX presented its 2019 Emerging Arts Award at its eighth Arts Awards event on October 18, 2019. The award was given to the professional, black box NextStop Theatre Company. The ARTSFAIRFAX...

Review: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ at the Westside Theatre

Just in time for the spooky Halloween season, Little Shop of Horrors, the cult-classic sci-fi horror rom-com rock musical by Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) and Alan Menken (music), is back in New...

Prince William Little Theatre brings difficult history and ethical questions to the stage in ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’

Prince William Little Theatre has chosen some heavy material for their recent show. Judgment at Nuremberg, directed by Harry Kantrovich, focuses on the international military tribunals that were a...

Mischief and depth: Professor Gerald C. Wood on Conor McPherson and ‘Port Authority’

Gerald C. Wood is an author and expert on the brilliant Irish playwright and filmmaker Conor McPherson. Wood is Professor and Chair of English at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. In...

Rorschach Theatre remounts and reimagines ‘She Kills Monsters’ at the Atlas

A much-needed rabbit hole to explore is opening in the DMV. Let us rejoice. It is the return of She Kills Monsters some five years after making its first appearance, thanks to Rorschach Theatre....

The power of subversive design in ‘Day of Absence’ at Theater Alliance (Magic Time!)

To realize how much white America loved minstrelsy is a reckoning painful or shameful, depending on one’s ancestry. Minstrel shows were never meant for people of African descent to see; they were...

Review: ‘Linda Vista’ at the Helen Hayes Theater

A male mid-life crisis, a deadbeat dad, sexual harassment in the workplace, the objectification of women, callous philandering, and every other conceivable manifestation of toxic masculinity and...

A Dramatic ‘Tosca’ Mesmerizes, Enchants at the Virginia Opera

The dawn of the 1800s saw a Rome in turmoil. Napoleon Bonaparte spun a soured campaign in Egypt into a public relations success story, securing his legacy as a folk hero and launching a coup d’etat...

Tickets for ‘The Last Ship’ starring Sting at the National Theatre go on sale this Friday

Tickets for Sting’s acclaimed musical THE LAST SHIP, starring and featuring original music and lyrics by 17-time Grammy Award®-winner Sting, will go on sale Friday, October 18 at 10am for its...

Lots To Love About Silhouette’s ‘She Loves Me’ at Slayton House in Columbia

Imagine someone wanted Sondheim, but with a happy ending and genuinely lovable characters. Ta-da! She Loves Me was written in the ‘60s by Joe Masteroff (book), Sheldon Harnick (lyrics) and Jerry Bock...

Local kids learn to “Let it Go” onstage in Disney’s ‘Frozen Jr.’

Encore Stage & Studio has been working with local youth “to build lifelong appreciation for live theatre by involving young people in all aspects of theatre arts — onstage, backstage, in the...

An Afternoon With Clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera and the Harlem Quartet at the Phillips Collection

For decades, the Sunday afternoon concert series at the Phillips Collection has maintained primacy of place in Washington’s classical musical firmament. But like leaders in all fields who want to...

‘The 39 Steps’ by the St. Mark’s Players is a delightfully crafty, if uneven production

First things first for those expecting an honest adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 spy thriller of the same name. This latest production by the St. Mark’s Players might benefit from a...