Washington DC

Rep Stage Announces 2019-2020 Season Productions

Rep Stage has announced its 2019-2020 Season: Souvenir By Stephen Temperley Directed by Joseph W. Ritsch September 5-22, 2019 E2 By Bob Bartlett WORLD PREMIERE Directed by Joseph W. Ritsch October...

Review: ‘Hands on a Hardbody’ at the Keegan Theatre

The title of this show, if you have never heard of it, doesn’t mean what you might think. It’s not about fitness. It’s not about sex. It’s a country-western musical about ten hard-up Texans trying to...

Studio Acting Conservatory Announces Location for 2019-2020 Classes

The newly formed Studio Acting Conservatory has secured temporary space for its next season of classes. 2019-2020 Classes will take place in Washington, DC, at the Garnet Patterson School, directly...

Magic Time!: ‘Crying Hands’ by Teater Manu at George Washington University

We like to think that the Holocaust could never happen here. We want to believe that it shouldn’t so it couldn’t. And then comes along a work of theater like Crying Hands that screams out how...

Review: ‘Eugene Onegin’ at Washington National Opera

Of all the grand tear-jerkers, those epic romances that make you want to tear your heart out and roast it on the barbecue, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin stands out. Packed with beautiful...

Review: We Happy Few’s ‘Macbeth’ at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop

Taking their seats in the black box theater, the audience is confronted with three immobile figures cloaked in chiaroscuro, as small, gold-leafed picture frames faintly reflect tiny boxes of light. A...

Review: ‘Time Stands Still’ at Reston Community Players

Many plays try to capture the complexity of the human spirit and the Reston Community Players production of Donald Margulies’, Time Stands Still, does just that. The poignant tale examines an...

Renowned Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith To Bring His Signature Sound to Sixth & I

These days, it is rare to hear an organ in a jazz ensemble. The exception is Dr. Lonnie Smith who not only remains the master of the Hammond B-3 organ but also has had a career that spans more than...

Review: ‘Queen of Basel’ at Studio Theatre

Warning: Spoilers Ahead Christy Escobar’s mesmerizing, compelling, utterly brilliant, performance is the centerpiece of Studio Theatre’s world premiere production of Hilary Bettis’ Queen of Basel. In...

Review: ‘Noises Off’ by the British Players

Noises Off is the Mount Everest of farce. Numerous critics have called Michael Frayn’s 1982 masterwork the greatest farce ever written, and its second act may well be the most difficult to perform...

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts To Stage ‘The Color Purple’

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts is excited to present The Color Purple opening Wednesday, March 13 and running until Sunday, May 5. The Color Purple opened at The Broadway Theatre in 2005,...

Review: ‘Daddy Long Legs’ by Monumental Theatre Company

Sometimes you find a gem in an unlikely place. That happened to me recently at a small state-of-the-art black-box theatre on the campus of a boarding school on a quiet street in Alexandria, Virginia,...

Review: ‘Disgraced’ at Greenbelt Arts Center

Your mother no doubt told you not to discuss religion or politics over dinner. In Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, now playing at the Greenbelt Arts Center, the exchanges among the characters during the...

Review: ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’ at Signature Theatre

Arresting and compelling are two words that describe Signature Theatre’s fiery production about survival in a society racked by long-term natural disasters and deadly human-made upheavals. Playwright...

Review: ‘The National Symphony Orchestra with Cellist Kian Soltani’ at the Kennedy Center

The National Symphony Orchestra delighted with a superb program on Thursday night at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Acclaimed cellist Kian Soltani performed with panache as he joined forces with...

Review: ‘Oleanna’ by Providence Players of Fairfax

By Rob Cuevas The current production of Oleanna by Providence Players of Fairfax, hosted at Italian Café in Falls Church, VA, is the perfect night out for both delicious Italian cuisine and hearty...

Review: ‘Heathers’ at Rockville Musical Theatre

Heathers: the Musical is an intense roller-coaster of a show, careening from biting satire and dark comedy to touching and intense emotion to hope. In the 2013 Off-Broadway debut, based on the 1989...

Avant Bard Announces Sudden Casting Change for ‘Topdog/Underdog’

Avant Bard regrets to report that Khalil Kain has had to withdraw from the cast of Topdog/Underdog due to unforeseen personal circumstances. But Avant Bard is happy to announce that Jeremy Keith...

Review: ‘Confection’ by Third Rail Projects at the Folger Shakespeare Library

Note before you begin: Confection is a unique, multimedia, multisensory, ambulatory, audience-interactive, site-specific theatrical experience — “a rollicking rumination on teeny-tiny desserts.” If...

BSO’s Marin Alsop Defines, Delivers “New Normal” in Classical Music

Marin Alsop thinks we’re ready for a “new normal” in classical music. That is why the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s music director has commissioned a work by a renowned composer who happens to be a...

Preview and Commentary: ‘Eugene Onegin’ at Washington National Opera

Opening night in any form of theater is a big deal, but this Saturday’s opening of Eugene Onegin at Washington National Opera carries extra meaning at several levels. It’s the first appearance in...

Review: ‘Vanity Fair’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company

“I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year.” –Becky Sharp William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) is considered a great writer. Vanity Fair, despite its flaws, is his finest novel....

Review: ‘Man of La Mancha’ by Compass Rose Theater

Compass Rose Theater’s production of Man of La Mancha is an entertaining, colorful show in an unusual location. While the theater is looking for a permanent home, they are performing the classic 1965...

Arena Stage Announces 2019-2020 Season

Arena Stage announced its 2019-2020 season this morning. The season will include the following: Ann By Holland Taylor In the Kreeger Theater | July 11 – August 11, 2019 Jitney By August Wilson...

Olney Theatre Center Announces 2019-2020 Season

Olney Theatre Center has announced the lineup for its 2019-2020 season: Mainstage Productions: Cabaret (August 28 – October 6, 2019) Singin’ in the Rain (November 8, 2019 – January 5, 2020) Miss You...

Keegan Theatre To Offer Regional Premiere of ‘Hands on a Hardbody,’ In Which Only the Strong Survive.

The musical Hands on a Hardbody opens at the Keegan Theatre on March 9. Based on a contest held in small-town Texas in 1995, Hands on a Hardbody chronicles a group of people participating in a...

Shakespeare Theatre Company Announces ‘Michael Kahn and Friends: Off the Record’

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Michael Kahn invites theatre-lovers to a series of intimate conversations about life in the D.C. theatre scene as he prepares to retire from the STC...

Review: ‘Puffs: Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic’ by Landless Theatre Company

Ask just about anyone Gen-X and younger and they can (and will, gladly) tell you which House they would be sorted into, if we had the chance to attend a certain school of magic. For those of us who...

Review: ‘Oil’ at Olney Theatre Center

There are a few shows – very few – which on first viewing have left me breathless. The original productions of Sweeney Todd and Copenhagen come quickly to mind. To this small list add the American...

Review: ‘Blood at the Root’ at Theater Alliance

Raymond O. Caldwell kicks off his new Producing Artistic Directorship at Theater Alliance with a production of Dominque Morisseau’s Blood at the Root that is bursting with youthful exuberance,...

Review: ‘The Philadelphia Story’ by Sterling Playmakers

By Pamela O’Reilly The weather in Northern Virginia is miserable again; thank goodness for the Sterling Playmakers’ rendition of The Philadelphia Story, Philip Barry’s humorous look at the glamorous...

Review: ‘The Women of Lockerbie’ by Bowie Community Theatre

By Andy Arnold Bowie Community Theatre has a hit on its hands with Deborah Brevoort’s The Women of Lockerbie. The play, which opened March 1, explores international affairs, and the depths of grief,...

Review: ‘Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992’ at Rep Stage

Thanks to some first-rate shape-shifting at Rep Stage, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is almost as much a work of animation as it is a documentary. Oh, and let’s not forget magic act. Danielle A. Drakes...

Director Michael Windsor on Monumental Theatre’s ‘Daddy Long Legs’

The musical Daddy Long Legs is coming to the DMV area, thanks to Monumental Theatre Company. Monumental Theatre Company “seeks to connect emerging artists, specifically those of the millennial...

The Providence Players Present ‘Oleanna’ at Falls Church’s Italian Café

Expanding its reach into the Northern Virginia community, the Providence Players of Fairfax are producing a special limited engagement of David Mamet’s Oleanna. The production will be at a new...

Nancy Robinette, Winner of Last Year’s Top Theater Award, Triumphs as Aunt Lavinia in ‘The Heiress’ at Arena Stage

From the moment she enters—decked out in widow’s weeds and descending a carpeted stairway—Nancy Robinette commands attention. That’s not unusual, since this actor—awarded the 2018 Helen Hayes...

The American Pops Orchestra To Present ‘NextGen: Finding the Voices of Tomorrow’

Imagine seeing Stefani Germanotta perform before she became Lady Gaga, or seeing Beyoncé sing before she was famous. That’s the vision for The American Pops Orchestra’s NextGen: Finding the Voices of...

Top 5 Ways ‘Dress Up Day’ is the Perfect Intro to Theater for Kids

by Beth Amann, Managing Director, Monumental Theatre Company Do you have a little one that you want to introduce to the magic of theater? We have the perfect show for you! Monumental Theatre Company...

Ford’s Theatre Announces 2019-2020 Season

Ford’s Theatre Director Paul R. Tetreault today announced the upcoming 2019-2020 theatrical season will include the following: August Wilson’s Fences Featuring Craig Wallace and Erika Rose A Christmas...

Review: ‘Finding Neverland’ at the National Theatre

The touring company of Finding Neverland (book by James Graham, music and lyrics by Gary Barlow and Elliot Kennedy) is making a mercifully brief stop at Washington’s National Theatre. Spinning a...

Review: ‘Robin Hood’ by Encore Stage & Studio

Encore Stage & Studio was founded in 1967 and produces “theatre by kids, for kids.” Their current show is Robin Hood, the classic tale of the brave archer who steals from the rich to give to the poor....

Review: ‘Separate Rooms’ at 4615 Theatre

“Will I be missed?,” the young man wonders aloud as he surveys the thirtysomethings who have gathered in his Manhattan apartment for a party after his funeral. “Did it matter that I was here?” They do...

Review: ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ at the Colonial Players of Annapolis

Colonial Players’ production of The Merry Wives of Windsor is a rollicking farce and a fun trip down memory lane. Shakespeare’s comedy has been transplanted to Windsor, Connecticut in 1988, bringing...

Review: ‘You Can’t Take It With You’ at the Little Theatre of Alexandria

When one thinks about a classic romantic comedy, exploding with moments of farcical mayhem, You Can’t Take It With You is as classic as it gets. Written in 1936 by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, the...

Strathmore Artist in Residency Program Offers Artists Support and Growth

How does a young artist prepare for the rigors of a professional performing career? For the six talented recipients of Strathmore’s Artist in Residence program, that preparation includes a 10-month...

Review: ‘In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play’ at Silver Spring Stage

When I think of how the scientific community has historically addressed the scourge of feminine hysteria, I tend to think of electro-shock treatments – those relics of masculine control over the...

Review: ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ at the United States Naval Academy

The Department of Musical Activities at the United States Naval Academy’s production of Little Shop of Horrors is a fun, fast-paced romp through a modern classic. The musical about a man-eating plant...

Review: ‘A Two Woman Hamlet’ by Avant Bard

In the dead of winter, what a joy it is to be able to recapture the midsummer madness that rules this town during the Capital Fringe Festival. The folks at WSC Avant Bard, when they’re not cooking up...

Faction of Fools’ Paul Reisman on Commedia dell’Arte Day and ‘Bravo, Zan Angelo!’

February 25 is a special day for fans of physical comedy: Commedia dell’Arte Day! Founded in 2010 in order to petition that the Italian art form known for slapsticks and masks be recognized as a World...

Behind the scenes with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Photo Feature)

Ever wish you could go behind the scenes at a classical music event? Here are some images from last week’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra performance at the Kennedy Center. This Dutch orchestra (they...