2020

The Apple Family returns with ‘What Do We Need to Talk About?’ on Zoom

In 2010, award-winning playwright Richard Nelson began his series of plays in The Rhinebeck Panorama, named for the town in upstate New York where he lives. After ten years of installments on the...

Nominations for the 2020 Off Broadway Alliance Awards

The Off Broadway Alliance (OBA) – an organization comprised of Off-Broadway producers, theaters, general managers, press agents, and marketing professionals, with annual awards honoring the best in...

Changes for 2020 in the Outer Critics Circle Awards

Because of the current pandemic and the resultant shutdown of live public performances in New York beginning on March 12, the leadership of the Outer Critics Circle – founded during the 1949-50 season...

The American Shakespeare Center’s streaming ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ is a much-needed romp

Yes, it’s a drag to have to stay at home instead of seeing our favorite performers live—but then again, after a little adjustment, it’s amazing to get to see our favorite performers at home. Our...

New release and free audio streaming of ‘Sea Wall/A Life’ from Audible Theater

The latest title in the popular Audible Theater series of audio-plays, Sea Wall/A Life – the sold-out New York stage hit double bill of two moving direct-address monologues reflecting on love, life,...

Meet the winners in American Pops Orchestra’s ‘Voices of Tomorrow’ competition

“What a fantastic NextGen competition, the talent was exceptional! I’m happy to say that we had an unprecedented amount of participation, both in viewers and votes. We’re committed to promoting new...

Broadway stars celebrate Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday with ‘Take Me to the World’ benefit

Broadway legend Stephen Sondheim turned 90 on March 22, and in honor of that milestone, an all-star roster of Broadway favorites will commemorate the life and career of the timeless composer and...

Round House Theatre premieres ‘Homebound’ web series

Round House Theatre is making streaming news with their project Homebound, a new web series bringing together DC-area playwrights, actors, and designers to explore life under stay-at-home orders in...

Quotidian Theatre Company to close, a casualty of COVID-19

Those of us in the arts are all getting used to a new normal. Unfortunately, a return to any kind of normal will not be possible for some organizations. And, sadly, it turns out that Quotidian Theatre...

Broadway actor-singer Dan Domenech: Stranded on a cruise ship but safe

Good news update to the story below: It’s now Saturday, May 9, Day 60, and Dan Domenech and the other healthy Americans who were stranded at sea with him (a total of 70 US citizens) were finally...

Updates on 2020 awards from New Dramatists and The Drama League

The suspension of all public events during this time of quarantine has brought a halt to the live in-person celebrations of theater awards nominations, honors, and presentations. But many established...

Shakespeare Theatre Company hosts ‘Twelfth Night’ viewing party

Shakespeare Theatre Company invites audiences to celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday by attending a viewing party of the National Theatre of London’s 2017 production of Twelfth Night on Thursday,...

Nominations are announced for the 65th Annual Drama Desk Awards

Nominations for the 65th annual Drama Desk Awards, founded in 1955 to celebrate outstanding achievements in on, off, and off-off Broadway theater, were announced this afternoon by hosts Seth Rudetsky...

The Pandemic Players offer a helping hand to Baltimore theaters

It is said that the best actors know how to improvise—and a group of DMV-area performers is doing just that, by forming a fully online theater company from the ashes of Baltimore live performance....

DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Community Theater Productions, Performances, and Design Elements

Normally we who cover theater for DC Theater Arts collect our favorites as the year draws to a close, but this has not been a normal year. In mid-March the 2020 season was interrupted by a pandemic...

Mosaic Theater welcomes Psalmayene 24 as playwright-in-residence

Mosaic Theater Company and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have announced the illustrious recipient of their National Playwright Residency Program Grant—Veteran DC playwright, director, and Helen...

Three top picks from New York for free streaming this weekend

If you’re missing the shows and stars of the Great White Way – and who isn’t? – you can tune in this weekend for three free streams of concerts that are guaranteed to keep the spirit of Broadway alive...

World’s largest celebration of Shakespeare to mark the Bard’s birthday

The Folger Shakespeare Library is partnering with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for the world’s largest celebration of Shakespeare—inviting audiences all over the...

And the 2020 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards go to . . .

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle announced the winners of its 85th annual theater awards today at 10 am, with selections in two categories and three special citations. This year’s award for Best...

When theaters reopen, will DMV audiences return? Survey says it’s iffy.

What follows is sobering news about the challenges ahead for the DMV theater community. We at DC Theater Arts share this information in a spirit of solidarity and with determination to do all we can...

Online offerings to include the performing arts in your home-schooling

With the closure of schools during the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are now overseeing their children’s home-schooling. Theater artists and organizations have responded to the need for making...

Round House Theatre announces full 2020–2021 season

Round House Theatre Artistic Director Ryan Rilette and Managing Director Ed Zakreski recently announced the six shows that will constitute Round House Theatre’s 43rd season. All shows will be...

Arts Barn previews compelling 2020–2021 season

Arts On The Green, the organization that provides indispensable arts programming at a collection of venues on the beautiful Gaithersburg campus, has recently offered audiences a sneak peek at the...

Nominations are in for the 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the Lucille Lortel Awards, founded by the eponymous actress and producer in 1986, to recognize excellence in New York’s Off-Broadway theater. Nominations for...

Fade to black: Coronavirus closures force local theaters to rethink their futures

This article originally appeared in the April issue of District Fray Magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. The paint was still drying on the set of Signature Theatre’s world-premiere...

1st Stage announces dynamic 2020–2021 season

1st Stage, a vibrant professional company in Tysons, Virginia, recently announced their dynamic 2020-2021 season. This 13-year-old organization has grown from a grassroots collective of local artists...

Lessons in creative coping during COVID-19: A conversation with Rick Davis, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at George Mason University

With college and university campuses in the DMV area closed because of COVID-19, distance learning is now the norm. But how do students in the performing and visual arts continue their education and...

Artists Who Inspire! #4: John Becker

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

New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for 2020 to be announced on April 16

The New York Drama Critics’ Circle, founded in 1935, has been presenting its annual award for the Best New Play of the season since 1936, making it the second-oldest theater award after the Pulitzer...

DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Design Elements in Professional Productions

Normally we who cover theater for DC Theater Arts collect our favorites as the year draws to a close, but this has not been a normal year. In mid-March, the 2020 season was interrupted by a pandemic...

Artists Who Inspire! #3: Jordan Friend

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

Full schedule of Quarantine Fest live play readings

Quarantine Fest—an all-day marathon of live readings of flash-created 10-minute plays—livestreams Sunday, April 19, 2020, with 26 new plays from Adventure Theatre MTC and another 26 new plays from...

15 Questions in 15 Minutes with Broadway’s Sarah Stiles

This month, during the indefinite precautionary closure of theaters in New York and around the world, Sarah Stiles continues to provide world-class entertainment to fans in self-isolation everywhere....

Current updates on Broadway

With the uncertainty surrounding the duration and impact of the coronavirus crisis, information and expectations are changing frequently. On April 8, The Broadway League announced that the suspension...

UrbanArias’ new chamber opera ‘Glory Denied’ now streaming for free

The critically acclaimed production of Glory Denied from UrbanArias will stream until April 16, 2020. The streaming is viewable for free here on Vimeo and on the Urban Arias website. Glory Denied is a...

What’s the future of live theater beyond COVID-19?: A point-counterpoint between Audrey Cefaly and Elliott Bales

What follows is an extraordinary conversation. It started as a Facebook post by award-winning playwright Audrey Cefaly. It was joined by her dear friend, acclaimed actor Elliott Bales, who doubles as...

DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Performances in a Professional Production

Normally we who cover theater for DC Theater Arts collect our favorites as the year draws to a close, but this has not been a normal year. In mid-March the 2020 season was interrupted by a pandemic...

Julianne Brienza announces “with agony” this year’s Fringe Festival is off

By Julianne Brienza Founding Director, Captial Fringe When planning began for the fifteenth annual Fringe Festival, no one could have imagined a pandemic with such fast, global restrictive changes,...

Olney Theatre Center announces ambitious 2020–2021 season

During a recent live-streamed event, Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director Jason Loewith unveiled a lineup of 17 plays, concerts, and presentations coming in 2020–2021 as part of the company’s 83rd...

Flying V announces new full-time managing director

In the midst of these unprecedented and uncertain times, Flying V has some good news: the company has hired Katherine Offutt as its new full-time managing director. “We genuinely cannot express how...

The Kennedy Center and NSO reach new agreement in the face of COVID-19

After several days of collaborative discussions, Kennedy Center leadership and the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) have reached a new agreement, a significant step in stabilizing...

A song of hope from Jaime Lozano and Marina Pires

When their close friend and frequent musical-theater collaborator Mauricio Martinez, best known to Broadway fans for his starring role as Emilio Estefan in On Your Feet!, was facing his fourth bout...

Pipeline Playwrights to stream free plays in progress

Pipeline Playwrights, a Northern Virginia–based collective of women playwrights, presents its first set of online offerings, Playwrights at Work! starting on April 20, 2020. This brand new non-profit...

Molly Smith: “Our job as artists is to remind our fellow human beings that better days are coming”

“In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing. About the dark times.” —Bertolt Brecht (motto to Svendborg Poems) When I saw the blooming cherry blossoms this year, I...

DCMTA Spring 2020 Staff Favorites: Outstanding Professional Theater Productions

Normally we who cover theater for DC Theater Arts collect our favorites as the year draws to a close, but this has not been a normal year. In mid-March, the 2020 season was interrupted by a pandemic...

20th annual WATCH Award winners

Announcement of Awards: 20th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (THE WATCH AWARDS) The 2019 WATCH Award winners were announced on April 4th, 2020. The ceremony was canceled due to the...

Audible offers free audio-plays of hits from the New York stage

For a limited time, Audible Theater, a division of Amazon, is offering free audio versions of a selection of popular stage productions from the past year, narrated by the original cast. So if you...

Announcement of two emergency grants for the theater community with application deadlines in April and May

In response to the widespread impact of COVID-19 on the theater community, two more philanthropic organizations have recently announced the availability, by application, of emergency support over the...

Contemporary American Theater Festival rescheduled to July 2021

For the past thirty years, the Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has produced and developed new plays in rotating repertory. DC Theater...

A new pocket anthology of ‘Sondheim: Lyrics’ to commemorate his 90th birthday

This month marked the 90th birthday of Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim (b. March 22, 1930, NYC). The milestone in the life of the eight-time Tony award-winning composer and lyricist of the stage and...