Washington DC

Review: ‘Tartuffe’ by Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of Tartuffe is a delightful rendition of Molière’s classic 1664 French comedy. Directed by Sally Boyett and performed in the outdoor courtyard of Reynolds...

Review: ‘A Misanthrope’ at WSC Avant Bard

The audience didn’t stop laughing all night. Between Matt Minnicino’s rhyming couplet- filled, witty, knowing, sometimes bawdy adaptation (or, as he would have it, “distillation”) of a Molière classic...

‘Level Next: A Celebration of Gospel Choirs’ To Showcase DC’s Gospel Sound at Strathmore

With more than 50 years of DC gospel music history between them, two of the DMV’s finest choirs, Washington Performing Arts’ Men & Women of the Gospel Choir and Children of the Gospel Choir, join...

The Kennedy Center Previews Its New Addition, The REACH

With construction ongoing but substantially completed, The Kennedy Center recently threw open the doors on May 29, 2019 to its new addition, The REACH. It was a glorious day to take in the swooping...

‘Pointed Conversations’: A New Community Engagement Initiative from Pointless Theatre

Pointed Conversations invites members of the community to further engage with Pointless Theatre Company’s artistic work through discussion on the themes and ideas of their current production....

Review: Mark Christopher Lawrence at the DC Comedy Loft

Mark Christopher Lawrence is a comedian of myriad talents. Appearing at the Bier Baron Tavern’s Comedy Loft, Mr. Lawrence commanded the stage with an act that was multi-dimensional – and with many...

Review: ‘The Talented Clementine’ at Encore Stage & Studio

A new musical based upon Sara Pennypacker’s book “The Talented Clementine” debuted May 31 at Arlington’s Encore Stage & Studio. Adapted by writer-composer Paul Reisler and children from around the...

Legendary Puppeteer Bill Diamond Helps Bring ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ to Life at Workhouse Arts Center

The Workhouse Arts Center has someone special working closely with its upcoming production of that fan favorite, Little Shop of Horrors–Emmy Award-winning puppet fabricator and performer Bill Diamond....

Post-Play Palaver: ‘Second Body’ at Synetic Theatre

Post-Play Palaver is an occasional series of conversations between DC Theater Arts writers who saw the same performance, got really into talking about it, and decided to continue their exchange in...

Review: ‘Describe the Night’ at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

Like Marcel Proust’s famous “madeleine moment,” Rajiv Joseph’s ambitious new play Describe the Night, in an exciting, Kafkaesque rendering by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, finds philosophical...

Review: ‘Stonewall 50’ by Rainbow Theatre Project

In the midst of Pride season, and in the 50th anniversary year of the Stonewall riots that defined the beginning of the modern gay rights movement, Rainbow Theatre Project presents a look at the...

Review: ‘Leaving Iowa’ by Providence Players of Fairfax

Providence Players of Fairfax presents Leaving Iowa, a touching comedy written by Tim Clue and Spike Manton, and directed by Julie Janson. A hilarious homage to the typical American family road trip,...

Review: ‘Towards Zero’ at the Colonial Players of Annapolis

Colonial Players’ production of Towards Zero is an intriguing murder mystery, by one of the genre’s icons. Written by Agatha Christie and Gerald Verner in 1956, the play is based on Christie’s 1944...

The Cappies Honor High School Theater Students in the DMV

Many of us started our journey into theater as high school students. There was just something about the stage that beckoned us. And that continues for today’s high school students. For 20 years,...

Got Plans for the Tony Awards? Now You Do!

I am through being a lonely theater geek, locking myself in my bedroom and shushing non-interested family members throughout the Tony Awards broadcast! This year, I’ve decided to throw myself a party....

Interview: David Dimitri ‘L’homme Cirque, The One-Man Circus’ at Strathmore

By Marilyn Millstone When we think of a circus tightrope performer, most of us think of risk. Fear. Danger. But David Dimitri—whose one-man show L’homme Cirque helps celebrate the Music Center’s new...

Ethan McSweeny Named New Artistic Director of American Shakespeare Center

In historic, hip Staunton Virginia, just a two-hour drive from the Washington, DC area, one of America’s premiere Shakespeare companies has seen a change of leadership. The American Shakespeare Center...

Bassist Carlos Henriquez and His All-Star Octet Pay Tribute to Dizzy Gillespie June 1 at Sixth and I

Last week, DCMTA caught up with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) bassist Carlos Henriquez via telephone on a rainy day in Chicago to chat about his Washington, DC tribute performance to...

Review: ‘The Pirates of Penzance (or the Rascals of the Rappahannock)’ at Riverside Center

Riverside Center of the Performing Arts reprises Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, a two-act comic operetta that was first produced in December of 1879, and remains in production to this...

Broadway’s Michael Urie To Return to Shakespeare Theatre Company for Free For All Hamlet

Free For All, one of the capital’s cherished annual traditions, will return for its 29th annual summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company’s...

Opening Night Photos: ‘FAME’ at GALA Fires Up Columbia Heights

Tony Award-winning director and Nuyorican choreographer Luis Salgado brings his New York creds to Columbia Heights with the power of a New York City subway platform Flash Dance as over 20 dancers and...

Saxophonist Trey Sorrells, Artist-in-Residence at Strathmore

I had the pleasure to speak with saxophonist Trey Sorrells about his participation in the residency program at the Mansion at Strathmore and about his unique blend of jazz, gospel, and R&B. Sorrell is...

Review: ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ by NextStop Theatre Company

How do you replicate perfection—especially when it involves dumping gallons of water onstage? Any theater company that undertakes a production of Singin’ in the Rain, the beloved movie musical about...

Review: ‘Pride and Prejudice’ at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre

All the familiar characters are there: Lizzy Bennet, her sisters and parents; suitors Darcy, Bingley, Collins, and Wickham; the de Bourghs and Charlotte. The basic plot lines and period setting are...

Review: ‘Antigonick’ and ‘The Fragments of Sappho’ by Taffety Punk Theatre Company

Antiquity is in the house and what’s old is new again. Taffety Punk is presenting two short theater pieces featuring its signature integration of dance, drama, and music based on voices from Ancient...

Review: ‘Ghost Light’ by Parlor Room Theater

A play is ephemeral. The written words momentarily dance off the page as they are given body and voice, transformed into experience, and witnessed by an audience. The conclusion arrives, the play is...

Review: ‘Crazy for You’ at Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre

Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s production of Crazy for You is a fabulous celebration of song, music, and dancing. The 1992 musical, with a Book by Ken Ludwig and Music and Lyrics by George Gershwin...

Review: ‘Klytmnestra: An Epic Slam Poem’ at Theater Alliance

Dane Figueroa Edidi is one of DC’s most original and multitalented theater artists. A dancer, actor, poet, playwright, and choreographer, she is also a teacher, novelist, political commentator as well...

Best Medicine Rep Theater Company Announces 2019-2020 Season

Best Medicine Rep, Gaithersburg’s professional theater company, is proud to announce the lineup for its third season: Helen on Wheels by Cricket Daniel, The Crater Sisters’ Christmas Special by John...

Interview: Sean-Maurice Lynch of ‘Jubilee’ at Arena Stage

The reviews are in: Jubilee is being praised for honoring and preserving the impact of the Negro Spiritual upon the American Songbook. In the Arena Stage production, Director Tazewell Thompson gives...

In the Moment: ‘Richard iii’ at Synetic Theater

Synetic Theater’s Richard iii is a potent conspiratorial theatrical experience for an anxious age such as ours. It is the ultimate in theatrical paranoia, set in a time out of joint. It’s as if...

Review: ‘Sooner/Later’ at Mosaic Theater Company

A rom-com about manhunting…at Mosaic? That’s probably not the sort of fare you’d expect from DC’s preeminent theatrical platform for social-justice programming. But who is to say that fair should have...

Review: ‘Hand to God’ by Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble

Fredericksburg Theatre Ensemble (fte) was established in the Spring of 2011. They’re a nonprofit organization, focusing on guilty pleasures and “celebrating the art of the uncomfortable through...

Review: ‘Richard iii’ at Synetic Theater

“The future is already here—it’s just not very evenly distributed.” –William Gibson, author of Neuromancer. Synetic Theater, a beloved DC-area institution, has come up with a luxuriantly detailed...

Staging an Epic: A Four-Part Documentary Series from Shakespeare Theatre Company

After 33 years as Artistic Director, Michael Kahn has directed nearly all the world’s greatest classical plays, worked with some of the biggest actors in the world and built the Shakespeare Theatre...

Review: ‘Oliver!’ at Kensington Arts Theatre

The question when reviving a classic musical is always how much to preserve and how much to adapt. Audiences can often have fond memories of famous original productions, but times change, and...

Review: ‘NOC-tURNE’ by NFT Dance & Company at Atlas Performing Arts Center

The airy-fairy world of contemporary ballet takes a turn toward the macabre in Nancy Flores-Tirado’s darkly romantic NOC-tURNE, performed by NFT Dance & Company in follow-up to Atlas’ INTERSECTIONS...

Review: ‘I Am What I Am: The Music of Jerry Herman’ by The American Pops Orchestra

The American Pops Orchestra’s presentation of I Am What I Am: The Music of Jerry Herman was nothing short of spectacular. Maestro Luke Frazier created an uplifting and thrilling show, with a fresh...

Review: ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ at Silver Spring Stage

For a play so interested in the parameters of boredom endured by English high society, Silver Spring Stage’s rollicking production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest is anything but...

Review: ‘Jubilee’ at Arena Stage

In 1871, Fisk University – an all-Black institution of higher learning in Nashville, Tennessee – was in dire financial straits. To raise money for the institution, Treasurer and Music Professor George...

WNO Gala Demonstrates America’s Solid Standing on Opera’s World Stage

From the nexus of divas, dollars, and diplomats at this year’s Washington National Opera Gala, there arose a thrilling truth: The finely frocked foreigners in attendance might question America’s role...

Monumental Theatre Announces Host and Performers for ‘Flip Flop’ Cabaret

Monumental Theatre Company will present its fifth annual Flip Flop cabaret, hosted by local actress Dani Stoller, on June 1, 2019, at Pitchers Bar in D.C. Stoller’s previous theatre credits include...

Photo Highlights from the 2019 Helen Hayes Ceremony!

Visual highlights from the 35th Annual Helen Hayes Awards Ceremony. A complete list of recipients can be found here. Photos of the before and after parties can be found here. All photos by Mukul...

Photos: Behind the Scenes at the 2019 Helen Hayes Awards!

Visual highlights from the 35th Annual Helen Hayes Awards! Party guests brought their glam selves to The Anthem on a lovely spring night to mingle and greet friends before the ceremony. After the...

Imagination Stage Announces 2019-2020 Season

Imagination Stage celebrates its 40th anniversary season in 2019-2020 with an exciting lineup of shows for children of all ages. The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show September 28-October 27, 2019 Eric...

Review: ‘Mary Stuart’ at Olney Theatre Center

What does a 200-year-old literary classic have to do with the chaos of the US Congress today? A lot, according to Jason Loewith, Olney Theatre Center’s Artistic Director, who has adapted Friedrich...

Review: ‘Fame’ Is Full of Heart at GALA Hispanic Theatre

There is something very “meta” about Gala Hispanic Theatre’s production of Fame. See, you’ve got this group of scrappy young artists with talent, so much talent. And they are determined to show the...

Review: ‘The Member of the Wedding’ at 1st Stage

It was nearly 70 years ago that Carson McCullers adapted her beloved 1946 novel The Member of the Wedding into a prizewinning Broadway play. Set in a small Southern town, the story centers on two...

Review: ‘Oliver!’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of Oliver! is a fun, colorful treat. The 1960 musical by Lionel Bart, based on Oliver Twist, here directed by Donald Hicken and Sally Boyett, with...

Review: ‘On Air’ at Creative Cauldron

Dancing and singing over the wireless airways–how might it have happened? What might have been a dry history lesson is given delightfully appealing musical charm in Creative Cauldron’s world premiere...