Washington DC

Review: ‘Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (Program A)’ at The Kennedy Center

A cough, a gasp, the sound of a heartbeat. A sudden flash in the darkness. These sounds and images begin “Lazarus,” the brand-new work from hip hop master Rennie Harris, which opened a glitzy...

Preview: Piano Legend Leon Fleisher’s 90th Birthday Celebration

Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor has long been a feeder line for pilgrimages by aspiring performing artists to Juilliard and other New York institutions. Not everyone realizes, though, that the pilgrimages...

Just in Time for Valentine’s Day: First-Ever #ShowLove Fest Comes to Gaithersburg Arts Barn

“Don’t forget to show love!” Austin Perine reminds us, as he distributes food across the nation to homeless individuals. “President” Austin’s caped crusade to help the homeless is going global, but...

Review: ‘The Master and Margarita’ at Constellation Theatre

The devil figure masquerading as Woland, the professor of black magic, in Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita loathes skeptics, so much so that he travels around the world with the intention...

Review: ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ at Annapolis Shakespeare Company

The Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is a witty, entertaining show with much to say about drama and the theater. Directed by Donald Hicken, Tom...

Maestro Antony Walker Previews ‘Le vin herbé’ by Wolf Trap Opera and Washington Concert Opera

Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, the composer’s operatic meditation on the metaphysical nature of love, sex, and death, is generally accepted to be the “before/after” point in the history of Western...

Magic Time!: ‘The Brothers Size’ at 1st Stage

“You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up!” rails the older brother, berating the younger. “You fucked up! You fucked up! You fucked up!” he goes on, as if he cannot rage enough, as if he can’t get...

Review: ‘The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940’ by Rockville Little Theatre

When you go to see The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at Rockville Little Theatre — and you should — prepare to be confused. This is not a bug, it’s a feature. The comedy takes your brain on a loopy...

Review: ‘The Brothers Size’ at 1st Stage

Offering timely explorations of important topics, 1st Stage continuously produces memorable plays. They are always solid, but The Brothers Size will knock you out. In it, a young man newly released...

Review: ‘Perfect Arrangement’ at the Greenbelt Arts Center

The title of Topher Payne’s play is, of course, ironic. Set during the early 1950s “Lavender Scare,” a purge of gay and lesbian Federal employees coinciding with the Red Scare of that era, the...

Review: ’12 Incompetent Jurors’ at Laurel Mill Playhouse

Laurel Mill Playhouse delivers a madcap, hilarious examination of judicial frailty in Ian McWethy’s 12 Incompetent Jurors. The twelve jurors are a rollicking physical ensemble that makes you feel the...

Avant Bard Announces Casting for ‘Topdog/Underdog’

Avant Bard theatre announces that veteran screen actor Khalil Kain will star with award-winning stage actor Louis E. Davis in Suzan-Lori Parks’s acclaimed Topdog/Underdog, led by award-winning...

In the Moment: One Song Lifts ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ from Jukebox Musical Status

By all means, go, have a great time at Signature Theatre’s grandly jaunty Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show, a musical revue centered upon the prolific composer Fats Waller (1904-1943)...

Misha Kachman: A Russian-born Designer Sets the Stage for ‘Kleptocracy’ at Arena Stage

One of the scariest moments in Kleptocracy – Kenneth Lin’s drama about the struggle for power in post-Soviet Russia – occurs when the shadow of a tiger prowls the length of an elevated cage. The cage...

Review: ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ by the Arlington Players

A quaint house at first glance is anything but when it is discovered that Aunt Abby and Aunt Martha are serving their guests something a little stronger than tea in Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph...

Review: ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’ at Signature Theatre

Outside, the Polar Vortex reigned. Inside, the jazz was hot and smoky and funny and sexy. Ain’t Misbehavin’, celebrating the work of Fats Waller, brought his music and the feel of his life and times...

Review: ‘Harlequinade’ by American Ballet Theatre at The Kennedy Center

Marius Petipa must have been smiling from his grave last night when the American Ballet Theatre presented another brilliant Russian choreographer’s staging of Petipa’s Harlequinade. This sweet,...

Review: ‘An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’ at American Pops Orchestra

The American Pops Orchestra recently presented their original adaptation of the children’s story, An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. Writer, Claybourne Elder, has taken the madcap rhyme and transformed...

Magic Time!: ‘Twelve Angry Men’ at Ford’s Theatre

Cross-racial casting can be totally wrongheaded—as when white actors impersonate characters of color. It can also be speciously universalizing—as when actors of color play all the parts in a work...

Tracy Lynn Olivera To Perform One-Night Cabaret at BlackRock This Friday, Feb 1

BlackRock will be kicking off its jam-packed February with Broadway Gold, a musical cabaret spun together by Signature Theatre’s own Tracy Lynn Olivera. On Friday, February 1 at 8 PM, Olivera and her...

Review: ‘Visions of Love’ by Pointless Theatre

Pointless Theatre has produced a stage adaptation of Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece, City Lights, called Visions of Love. Using the original score, adapted and composed by Chaplin himself, and...

Review: ‘The Screwtape Letters’ at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre

When the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” comes on the pre-show soundtrack, it’s a tipoff that C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters is going to be a diabolically delightful evening of theater and...

Review: ‘La Cage Aux Folles’ at Riverside Center for the Performing Arts

Riverside Center for the Performing Arts presents La Cage Aux Folles, with Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman and Book by Harvey Fierstein. Based on Jean Poiret’s farcical play by the same name, La Cage...

Review: ‘Three Sistahs’ at MetroStage

MetroStage’s Three Sistahs is a marvelous musical, an evening of vocal and dramatic excellence. Written and directed by Thomas W. Jones II – with a story by Janet Pryce – and music by William Hubbard,...

Review: ‘Kleptocracy’ at Arena Stage

A young Vladimir Putin (Christopher Geary) steps onto the stage, wearing a 1980s tracksuit, quoting a passage from the Soviet absurdist and surrealist writer Daniil Kharms (1905-1942) “How a Man...

In the Moment: ‘The Baltimore Waltz’ at the Keegan Theatre

How any of us deal with the death of a loved one is so very personal. With the passing of her beloved brother Carl, playwright Paula Vogel found her own sui generis way to let the world know how much...

Review: ‘Gulf View Drive’ at Washington Stage Guild

Gulf View Drive is the third and final play in Arlene Hutton’s highly-acclaimed Nibroc Trilogy, which opened this week to waves of laughter and applause at the Washington Stage Guild in downtown DC....

Review: ‘Lucia di Lammermoor’ by Maryland Lyric Opera

The Maryland Lyric Opera’s stated raison d’etre is to find and nurture good singers, then give them a place to test their mettle on masterworks such as those by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, and the like....

Review: ‘Twelve Angry Men’ at Ford’s Theatre

Some sixty-five years since its original premiere as a black-and-white teleplay, Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men remains timeless; all too intriguingly relevant as ever. In the Ford’s Theatre...

Review: ‘The Baltimore Waltz’ at the Keegan Theatre

Anna always wanted to go to Europe. See the City of Lights. Drink a pint of authentic German beer. Have a rendezvous (or two, or five) with strange men who whisper unintelligible sweet nothings into...

Review: ‘Peter Pan’ by Vienna Theatre Company

J.M Barrie’s Peter Pan is a classic tale whose title character first appeared in a 1902 novel from the same author. Peter is a carefree spirit, who never wants to grow up and embodies innocence,...

Magic Time!: ‘Admissions’ at Studio Theatre

“Some of my best friends are white men,” says Sherri, the very liberal white woman who handles admissions at a small New England prep school. Avowedly antiracist, Sherri is on a mission to increase...

Yael Weiss Premieres “32 Bright Clouds: Beethoven Conversations Around the World” at Strathmore January 24

At some point in their careers, most concert pianists tackle some, if not all, of Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas. Many pianists also commission new music for their instrument by living composers, to...

Review: ‘Admissions’ at Studio Theatre

It’s an odd thing, as a Latina here in Washington, D.C., to observe the mental wrestlings of liberal white folks struggling to come to terms with their privilege. How in muted voices they make sure to...

Review: ‘Submission’ by Scena Theatre

Go with no preconceived notions to best absorb Scena Theatre’s Submission, the American premiere theater adaptation of the 2015 European best-selling novel by French author Michel Houellebecq. Adapted...

LA TI DO to present Joel Markowitz Award at ‘LUCKY: A 7th Anniversary’

LA TI DO will present its second annual Joel Markowitz Award at LUCKY: A 7th Anniversary on January 28, 2019. Washington, DC’s premiere cabaret series will award DC business owner Russwin Francisco...

Magic Time!: ‘Jeffrey’ at Rainbow Theatre Project

If there’s such a thing as gay wit, Paul Rudnick’s got a load of it. Imagine Oscar Wilde and Noël Coward if they could be out about it. Yeah, Rudnick ranks with them and then some. As proof, check out...

Review: ‘Stonefish’ by The Coil Project at Greenbelt Arts Center

On Saturday, January 19, I had the pleasure of seeing Erica Smith’s years-in-the-making play, Stonefish, produced by The Coil Project and Greenbelt Arts Center. Director David Dieudonne and assistant...

WATCH Awards Nominations: 19th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors

The nominees for the 19th Annual WATCH Awards were announced tonight at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia.

‘Jeffrey’ at Rainbow Theatre Project

Jeffrey, the current offering of the Rainbow Theatre Project by playwright Paul Rudnick, casts a humorously defiant eye towards the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic – as set in the New York City of the...

Review: ‘Superior Donuts’ by Reston Community Players

In Superior Donuts, which opened at the Reston Community Players last night, the new Starbucks across the street is taking business from a 60-year-old family-owned shop. It is a familiar story in...

Pipeline Playwrights Presents Winter/Spring 2019 Reading Series at MetroStage

Join Pipeline Playwrights on Monday nights for readings of exciting new works, featuring some of the area’s most talented actors and directors! The series opens with a play by Pipeline’s newest...

Review: ‘School of Rock: The Musical’ at National Theatre

Kicked out of the band and facing eviction from “his” apartment, Dewey Finn questionably intercepts a substitute teacher assignment at a prestigious local academy to pay the rent. With no teaching...

Review: ‘The Fantasticks’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt’s The Fantasticks had a legendary 42-year Off-Broadway run (and then an 11-year revival), suggesting that there’s something strangely captivating about this sweet and...

Step Afrika! Kicks Off 25th Anniversary Season With Showcase at Strathmore

When Step Afrika! began performing nearly 25 years ago, founder C. Brian Williams couldn’t have imagined his now-famous dance company would bring the art of step to audiences around the world. “When I...

In The Moment: ‘Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage’ Makes U.S. Premiere at The Kennedy Center

A far-reaching cultural exchange production from China by the China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) is making its United States premiere at The Kennedy Center. It is Image China: Xuanzang’s Pilgrimage,...

Review: ‘Cinderella’ at The Kennedy Center Opera House

Don’t walk into the Kennedy Center Opera House expecting a Disney-esque, happily-ever-after retelling of the evergreen fairytale Cinderella. British director/choreographer Matthew Bourne has spent his...

Shakespeare Theatre Company Hosts Annual Mock Trial

On January 14, 2019, the Shakespeare Theatre Company presented its Winter Mock Trial at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW). Guests were invited to hear Richard the Third: A Good Name Restored – Was...

Review: ‘Silent Sky’ at Colonial Players of Annapolis

Colonial Players’ production of Silent Sky is a beautiful combination of wonderful acting, direction, lighting, and sound. The 2011 play, written by Lauren Gunderson, is based on the real-life stories...

Monumental Theatre Company Presents New Children’s Musical ‘Dress Up Day’

Monumental Theatre Company will present Dress Up Day beginning March 2, 2019, as part of the Atlas INTERSECTIONS Festival and Monumental’s New Work Series. Dress Up Day follows a spunky first-grader...