2020

Olney Theatre Center hosts ‘Just Arts,’ a virtual social justice arts festival

In response to ongoing social upheaval and protests for racial justice, Olney Theatre Center is hosting a virtual social justice arts festival amplifying the voices of BIPOC artists and activists in...

Happenstance Theater to clown outdoors and online this weekend

The irrepressibly entertaining Happenstance Theater will perform its Pinot & Augustine clown show on Saturday, October 10, 2020, at 2 pm and 6 pm, in the parking lot at Joe’s Movement Emporium (3309...

Artists Who Inspire! #6: Kathleen Akerley

Welcome to the sixth installment of Artists Who Inspire! During the continuing shutdown of live theater, DCMTA will use this space to lift up local theater artists who are finding ways to remain...

Awards announcements from the Ziegfeld Club and NYIT

As the 2020 awards season continues, two organizations – the Ziegfeld Club, Inc. and New York Innovative Theatre Awards (NYIT) – have announced updates this week on their annual honors. Founded by...

15 Questions in 15 Minutes with The Doo Wop Project’s Dwayne Cooper

To say that Dwayne Cooper is a triple threat would be a gross under-estimation of his many talents. He’s had featured roles in the Broadway casts of Motown: The Musical and Hairspray, earned a...

Black Artist Coalition to stream ‘I Am… A Celebration of Black Artistry’

The Black Artist Coalition (BAC) releases its second visual project, “I Am…” A Celebration of Black Artistry Thursday, October 8, 2020. One of the pillars of the Black Artist Coalition is advancing...

Free ‘Flash Acts’ theater festival to spotlight U.S. and Russian artists

The Forum for Cultural Engagement has announced Flash Acts, a free six-day, bilingual, virtual theater festival October 8 to 13, 2020. This one-of-a-kind performance festival brings together 20...

In ‘American Dreams’ at Round House, it’s game on! for U.S. citizenship

“Every form of refuge has its price,” once sang The Eagles. That concept hasn’t changed as the ardent, emotion-packed American Dreams unfolds before audiences. American Dreams is Round House Theatre’s...

A benefit livestream on ‘Angels in America’ will help amfAR to fight COVID-19

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS research) has temporarily expanded its nearly four-decade study of infectious diseases and their impact on marginalized...

Fresh and funny ‘??‍???‍?’ from Solas Nua creates a flash community

There were a number of factors that led Solas Nua, the 15-year-old theater company dedicated to presenting contemporary Irish arts, to abandon their previous project, Being Here, and devise a new...

CulturalDC to host Reclamation Project racial-equity residency at Source Theatre

The Reclamation Project—an idea inspired by We See You, White American Theater, “Hot button issues for Black theater: A roundtable on revolution,” and “Gender Diverse Black Theatre Leadership...

Live solo pop-up shows go outdoors in October

What happens when NYC theaters remain closed to protect artists and audiences from the spread of the coronavirus? Innovative solo performers take their acts outdoors, for live pop-up events with...

Red Bull Theater re-examines ‘Othello’ in the context of 2020

This month, Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater – dedicated to bringing new life and a modern sensibility to classic plays for current audiences – will investigate Shakespeare’s Othello in a multi-part...

National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene presents a virtual celebration of Sukkos

Launched in March, following the closure of arts venues necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, Folksbiene! LIVE offers an online celebration of Yiddish culture, featuring livestreamed presentations...

1st Stage commissions 11 artists to create solo works

As part of its ongoing commitment to creating diverse, modern work by leading playwrights and performers during the prolonged COVID-19 theater closure, 1st Stage has announced eleven new artist...

Lights to go on again at GALA Hispanic Theatre with classic Spanish comedy

Now in its 45th season, GALA Hispanic Theatre has always been cutting edge. From its founding in 1976, GALA (Grupo de Artistas LatinoAmericanos) has been sharing and producing Latino arts and culture...

Round House Theatre announces revised 2020–2021 season

Round House Theatre has announced an updated lineup of plays, conversations, and education offerings, including digital programming for the fall and winter and a return to live productions in its...

Short plays by Lauren Yee, BD Wong, and more in ‘Days of Re-Creation’ streaming this week

As part of this month’s rolling world premiere, Philadelphia Theatre Company will stream its debut of Days of Re-Creation: A Virtual Play on Wednesday, September 30, at 7 pm. Conceived by Devenand...

I have never been comfortable in theater, by Artemis Montague

I have never been comfortable in theater. Not safe. Not “safer.” Just completely unwelcomed. We are in a global pandemic. There is movement building on the ground and online that no one in the United...

Vanessa Williams and Renée Fleming sing in a new era at the Kennedy Center

It goes without saying that things haven’t quite gone as planned this year in the DC performing arts scene. The recent pandemic shuttered many of the region’s stalwart venues in March and continues to...

A strange phone tree leads to hilarity in ‘Human Resources’ at Woolly Mammoth

When was the last time you enjoyed a funny, edgy Woolly Mammoth production while digging up stubborn weeds from your garden or taking a stroll through Rock Creek Park? Just when we thought our options...

Emoji-titled ‘??‍???‍?’ from Solas Nua invites online interplay

Celebrating Solas Nua’s 15th anniversary, the DC-based Irish arts organization has commissioned a series of digital plays from African-American playwright Jeremy Keith Hunter and Irish playwright John...

The complete 2020 Helen Hayes Awards and more

The 2020 Helen Hayes Awards—recognizing outstanding work produced on Washington-area stages in 2019—were celebrated as a series of virtual events, from August 31 to September 11, 2020, followed by the...

Élan Ensemble’s ‘Arias for the Autumnal Equinox’ was a garden delight

Élan Ensemble’s outdoor concert, “Arias for the Autumnal Equinox,” was a delightful celebration of 17th- and 18th-century music, performed in the marvelously picturesque garden of the historic...

Jaime Lozano and ‘¡VIVA Broadway!’ celebrate Latinx Heritage Month

The celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month (as inaugurated by LBJ in 1968) continues in October with two more big events: a new album release by musician/composer Jaime Lozano; and a virtual all-star...

A preshow chat with Felicia Curry and Naomi Jacobson, cohosts of the Helen Hayes Awards

Screens will be lighting up all over Metro DC as theater lovers, supporters, and luminaries gather online for the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards Friday, September 25. The red carpet unrolls at 6 pm sharp...

Tony-winner John Lloyd Young of ‘Jersey Boys’ livestreams the songs of Broadway from Las Vegas

UPDATE: Following the success of his October livestream concert discussed below, it was just announced that John Lloyd Young will return to The Space, Las Vegas with John Lloyd Young’s Vegas Holiday...

‘Macbeth’ as fast-moving radio drama from PG County Shakespeare in the Parks

How, exactly, does one make theater in the middle of a pandemic? People are sitting on the couch streaming The Umbrella Academy. Broadway is closed until January 3, 2021. Much of local theater is now...

Reginald Douglas and David Muse on how Studio Theatre is “doing the work”

The ground feels as if American theater might actually be shifting in the direction of change for Blacks, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Here in the DMV, Studio Theatre is grappling with what...

A virtual exhibition of Al Hirschfeld’s presidential-themed works

In a new online exhibition apropos to this year’s spectacle of presidential campaigning – “one of the few shows playing around the country at the moment” – The Al Hirschfeld Foundation presents West...

Can laughter be lethal?: Dr. Linsey Marr on aerosol transmission of COVID

I first learned of Dr. Linsey Marr when I read a startling opinion piece that appeared in the New York Times July 30: As “a civil and environmental engineer who studies how viruses and bacteria spread...

Vinny DePonto’s ‘Mental Amusements’ astonishes audiences with virtual mind-reading

Award-winning Brooklyn-based mentalist Vinny DePonto can’t go to Coney Island this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, so he’s bringing his new interactive mind-reading magic show Mental...

The future of opera in the time of pandemic: A Q&A with Adam Turner

I spoke with Adam Turner, Artistic Director of the Virginia Opera, on Tuesday, September 15, about how a regional opera company weathers COVID and the shutdown of most live performance. Virginia Opera...

Virginia Opera is all about Stayin’ Alive

With live performances shut down since March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, artists unemployed, and income streams disrupted, performing arts organizations continue to face the hardest of times....

Broadway sends out an SOS for emergency arts funding

Representatives from The Broadway League and the theater industry joined Senate Minority Leader and long-time arts advocate Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) in Duffy Square yesterday in support of the...

Remembering Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Edward Gero

“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” ~W. Shakespeare She was a giant. Borrowing from what was said at Lincoln’s passing, “Now, [s]he belongs to the ages.” Along with her victories for women...

“What this March means to me at this moment in America”: Now with all videos

Studio Theatre commissioned seven Black artists who have appeared on its stages to create artistic responses to their experience at the Commitment March on Washington, August 28, 2020. In these...

September album releases from Broadway shows and stars

This month has seen the arrival of three must-have albums from the hit shows and top stars of Broadway. From a special new edition of an original cast album, to the second volume of a concept album...

Arena Stage docudrama makes case for making DC ‘The 51st State’

In our current political and cultural stressful times, how can theater make a difference, not just to those who are in-person patrons but to a wider community in the DMV and into American hinterlands?...

For one singular celebration, Helen Hayes Awards glam goes multiplatform

Culminating the 2020 Helen Hayes Awards recognizing outstanding work on Washington-area stages in 2019, the theater community will gather for one singular celebration in three successive digital...

Recipients of the 2020 Doris Duke Artist Awards

In a virtual press event held on Thursday, September 17, at 11 am ET, the recipients of the 2020 Doris Duke Artist Awards were revealed in the fields of contemporary dance, jazz, and theater. Although...

Broadway directors West Hyler and Shelley Butler deliver their ‘Artistic Stamp’ via the USPS

If you’re Zoomed out and desperately missing an organic connection to the theater, Shelley Butler and West Hyler – a husband-and-wife duo of Broadway directors, each with more than 20 years of...

Interactive and immersive experiences happening Off-Off-Broadway

While social distancing, masks, and frequent sanitizing continue to be necessary safety precautions to combat the spread of COVID-19, some experimental Off-Off-Broadway theater companies are offering...

Pols and players perk up ‘Will on the Hill’ for Shakespeare Theatre Company

For one brief shining moment, there was bipartisanship in Washington. It occurred with the 2020 online edition of STC’s 18th annual Will on the Hill, broadcast on Monday, September 14, 2020. The...

Ballet Hispánico launches new programming for Hispanic Heritage Month

First established as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, the national recognition of the influence and achievements of Latinx people to the history and culture of the US was expanded in 1988, to encompass...

Apple Family Productions’ ‘Incidental Moments of the Day’ concludes the Zoom trilogy

Since 2010, audiences have been following the dinnertime conversations of the fictional Apples, an ordinary white middle-class family in upstate New York. The live on-stage performances were a running...

IN Series digital opera season lifts off this weekend with a festival of premieres

IN Series launches its groundbreaking 2020–2021 digital opera season with a Festival Weekend of world premieres September 17 to 19, 2020. The season, characterized by genre-defying collaborations with...

A tribute to Brave Spirits as it calls off Shakespeare’s histories due to COVID

There are certain theater experiences that you look forward to with extraordinary excitement. Brave Spirits Theatre’s Shakespeare’s Histories 2020 was one of them. To their credit, Brave Spirits,...

Olney’s virtual ‘The Humans’ shines with fine performances

Olney Theatre Center’s virtual production of The Humans offers proof positive of the old adage: Necessity is the mother of invention. Just see how they have turned the pandemic’s crushing blow into a...

A classic, a concert, and a call-out streaming this week from NYC

Whether you’re in the mood for a timely adaptation of a sardonic classic, the blockbuster vocals of a Broadway phenomenon, or a wry exposé of the flagrant sexism that permeates our popular music, you...