Kennedy Center

‘Three Decembers’ at UrbanArias

A relatively new opera company UrbanArias stages the touching, beautiful opera Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer based on a play by Terrence McNally. Robert Wood founded UrbanArias in...

National Symphony Orchestra Eighty-Fourth Season Opening Ball Concert at The Kennedy Center

Last night the National Symphony Orchestra debuted its eighty-forth season in The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, one of the most anticipated musical events of the year, with a delightful evening of...

‘Florencia in the Amazon’ at Washington National Opera

A mystical and lushly romantic journey down the Amazon River is only the beginning of the fully absorbing and richly textured production of the current offering of the Washington National Opera (WNO),...

A Chat with Patti LuPone on ‘Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda’ on September 27th, 2014 at ‘Arts by George’ at George Mason University

Two-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone and I had a conversation about her upcoming performance of Coulda Woulda Shoulda coming up at George Mason University’s Arts by George on September 27th at The...

Jackson Browne at The Kennedy Center

Performing before a sold-out crowd in the acoustically perfect Concert Hall at the Kennedy Center, Jackson Browne and his crackerjack band led the aging hipster audience through a mix of his older...

Pink Martini and The von Trapps With NSO Pops at The Kennedy Center

The NSO Pops season kicked off with a bang last night as conductor Steven Reineke and his musicians welcomed Pops-favorite Pink Martini featuring vocalist China Forbes to The Kennedy Center stage....

The Recipients of the 2014 Kennedy Center Honors Are Announced

AL GREEN, TOM HANKS, PATRICIA MCBRIDE, STING, AND LILY TOMLIN TO RECEIVE 37TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS America to Celebrate the Careers of Five Extraordinary Artists Sunday, December 7, 2014 Gala...

A Report From Page-to-Stage: ‘Hand Jobs’

The distinctive work of playwright Alan Sharpe returned to the Page-to-Stage Festival Saturday night with a reading of six short plays collectively titled Hand Jobs, presented by the African-American...

A Report From Page-to-Stage: ‘Carved in Stone’

After the entertaining staged reading at last year’s Page-to-Stage Festival of Mario Baldessari’s comedy The Good Devil, In Spite of Himself (coauthored with Tyler Herman), I called it in my report “a...

Wu Promotions Presents: Peking Opera — 120th Anniversary of Mei Lanfang: ‘Classic Plays of the Mei School’ at The Kennedy Center

What a fabulous immersion into the dazzling world of the Peking Opera as The Kennedy Center hosted two performances to celebrate the 120th Anniversary of the birth of Mei Lanfang, a Jingju (Peking...

Printable Schedule for Page-to Stage-Festival Schedule This Weekend and Monday-8/30-9/1/14 at The Kennedy Center

Date Starting Time Show and Description Genre/Presenter Where Saturday, Aug 30 Noon–3:30 p.m. Margherita by Anthony Gallo. Margherita Sarfatti and Benito Mussolini, former lovers, meet after a...

Interview with Jonny Lang Who is Performing Tonight at The State Theatre

Blues guitarist and singer Jonny Lang has had a blessed life. He was a musical child prodigy. He gets to make a living playing music, has a loving wife and four kids, and gets to travel the world. He...

‘Side Show’ is Broadway-Bound! Previews Begin on October 28th with Official Opening on November 17th at The St. James Theatre

Great news from The Big Apple: Side Show which played from June 14 – July 13, 2014 at The Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater, and opened to rave reviews, is now headed to The St. James Theatre on...

‘Searching for the Perfect Nanny: Meet the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Children of SSMT’s Magical Premiere of Mary Poppins’: Part Two: Ella Schnoor and Tyson Francis

Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre opens the regional premiere of the practically perfect musical Mary Poppins, this Wednesday, July 23. In part two of a three part interview series, we meet two of the...

Capital Fringe Scene Stealers #1-July 18, 2014

Here are our first list of honorees for DCMetroTheaterArts ‘Best Scene Stealers of the 2014 Capital Fringe Festival’ ______ Devin Gaither, as Joey, in Rock Bottom [A Rock Opus] Reacting to Blood...

Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller at The Kennedy Center

Dana Carvey and Dennis Miller performed at the Kennedy Center on Saturday night, and what I expected to hear and see was right on! These guys are on top of their game, relevant, and funny as hell! No...

‘The King and I’ Opens This Wednesday at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre-Cast Interviews Part 1

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s timeless classic, The King and I, boasts one of the most luscious scores of all time. Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre opens this romantic musical about tolerance and cultural...

Capital Fringe 2013 Show Update: Life After “In Search of the Perfect G-String’ by Yvonne Caruthers

Capital Fringe ’14 opens in a month, but in spite of my best intentions, I won’t be taking to the stage this time around. I thought I would be, because I wanted to follow up on the thrills, chills,...

Broadway Royalty Returns to Broadway: A Chat with John Rubinstein on Joining the Cast of ‘Pippin’

Actor, director, teacher, and composer John Rubinstein has taken on the role of King Charlemagne in the critically acclaimed Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin until the end of July. He’s Broadway’s...

Top Scene Stealers of the Week-Week Ending 6/28/14

Here are our Top Scene Stealers for the week ending June 28, 2014. Congrats to all our honorees! ______ Nick Cordileone and Ben Lipitz Singing “Hakuna Matata” in The Lion King at The Kennedy Center...

Capital Fringe 2014 Preview: ‘In to the Out Side/D.C. al Coda’ by John Sowalsky

This family-friendly comedy started with a daydream. The whole thing grew out of a single enigmatic image: A prison cell, without windows or doors, bisected by a nine-foot wall which does not quite...

The Midtown Men with NSO Pops at The Kennedy Center

“Oh, What a Night!” There’s something special that happens when you bring together four supremely talented men on a single stage, couple them with one of the nation’s finest orchestras and conductors,...

Contemporary Ballet With an Edge . . . and Live Music by Chamber Dance Project at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater

This contemporary ballet with the string quartet performing onstage fuses sound and movement in four contemporary dances featuring two world premieres, including the tango-inspired “Sur” by guest...

‘Disney’s The Lion King’ at The Kennedy Center

Disney’s The Lion King musical has electrified audiences for almost 17 years. The Lion King is an adaptation of the 1994 film of the same name, and is still roaring after all these years. Disney is...

Top Scene Stealers of the Week-The Week Ending June 21, 2014

Here are our Top Scene Stealers for the week ending June 21, 2014. Congrats to all our honorees! ______ (1) Aurora Beckett, as Jojo, singing “It’s Possible” in Seussical at Montgomery Playhouse Summer...

‘Side Show’ at The Kennedy Center

Come Look at the Freaks!” intones the carnival barker at the opening of the unique and musically eclectic and beloved cult musical Side Show and you cannot look away. Now playing at The Kennedy...

The Playwright’s Playground: SOURCE Festival 2014 – Interview with Playwright Molly Hagan on Her Play: ‘The Wild Ones’

Welcome to the conversation and The Playwright’s Playground, an in-depth conversation with female playwrights in the D.C. theatre community. Female theatre artists make up more than 50 percent of...

Washington National Opera: American Opera Initiative: ‘An American Soldier’

Washington National Opera continues their new project the American Opera Initiative with An American Soldier, with music by Huang Ruo and libretto by David Henry Hwang. It is a stunning conclusion to...

‘Made in America: Celebrating American Choral Music’ at The Kennedy Center

“Made in the USA”: for generations, assurance that the product we were about to enjoy was produced upon the great land mass containing the contiguous 48, also known with patriotic pride, devotion and...

The Playwright’s Playground: Part II: ‘Izumi Ashizawa -The Inspirations and Passions of a Japanese Interdisciplinary Artist’

Welcome back to the conversation and The Playwright’s Playground, an in-depth conversation with female playwrights in the D.C. theatre community. Female theatre artists make up more than 50 percent of...

The Playwright’s Playground: Part I: Izumi Ashizawa & The Art of ‘Kwaidan’

Welcome back to the conversation and The Playwright’s Playground, an in-depth conversation with female playwrights in the DC theater community. Female theatre artists make up more than 50 percent of...

An Evening of Theater Celebration at the 15th-Annual Cappies Gala

While the Tony Awards were celebrating the nation’s top theater talent, the Washington capital area hosted its very own celebration of up-and-coming theater talent. The National Capital Area Cappies...

“After the Storm” Benefit Concert for Victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines This Sunday at 8 PM at The Kennedy Center

WORLD RE-KNOWNED VIOLINIST, JOSHUA BELL AND GLEE STAR, DARREN CRISS ADDED TO THE ALL-STAR LINE-UP CELEBRATING THE PHILIPPINES JOINED BY PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED CAST: LEA SALONGA, LOU DIAMOND PHILLIPS,...

Preview: Pennsylvania Ballet Brings A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ to The Kennedy Center

A few years ago the dance planners at The Kennedy Center came up with a terrific idea: Invite nine regional ballet companies to perform one special work in three separate concerts, held towards the...

‘Sister Act’ at Hippodrome Theatre

Holy heaven it’s time to raise your voice because the good news has arrived! The five-time Tony Award nominated musical Sister Act has descended from on high right into the midst of Baltimore at the...

‘Rajaton: The Music of ABBA’ at The Kennedy Center Concert Hall

The Kennedy Center Concert Hall had its roof blown off last night in an explosion of sound, light, dance and sheer grooviness. The National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Pops conductor...

Washington Performing Arts: Chris Botti

Washington Performing Arts Produces an Electrifying Concert Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti was born to entertain. A mesmerizing trumpet player, Botti can play hot and he can play smooth. Botti...

5 Top Scene Stealers of the Week-Week Ending 5/22/14

Every Thursday we will be announcing our 5 Top Scene Stealers of the Week. Here are our 5 Top Scene Stealers for the week ending May 22, 2014. (1) Ben Carr as Tom in the final scene of These Shining...

The Bolshoi Ballet’s ‘Giselle’ at The Kennedy Center

The Bolshoi sweeps into The Kennedy Center with dreamy ‘Giselle’: Catching up with ballet’s romantic masterwork Any time you have David Hallberg on a ballet bill, you are guaranteed a sellout. Better...

‘Children of Eden in Concert’ at The Kennedy Center

Nothing quite gets my juices going quite like a Stephen Schwartz musical. Wicked. Godspell. Pippin. But, combine a Stephen Schwartz musical with some of the top talent on Broadway, along with the...

‘A Gay Man’s Guide to Broadway’ With Special Guest Laura Benanti

The respected and accomplished Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. (GMCW) certainly progressed through the canon of “gay-friendly” songs (i.e.: songs written by Gay writers, songs adored by the Gay...

National Symphony Orchestra: NEW MOVES: symphony + dance: Thomas Wilkins, conductor; Jessica Lang Dance; with Leila Josefowicz, violin/From Adams to Copland

Last night was the first performance of the final program of The Kennedy Center’s NEW MOVES: symphony + dance festival, a two-week celebration of dance, music, community, and passion. Maestro Thomas...

New “Meet and Greet’ Video from ‘Side Show’ at The Kennedy Center

Side Show is coming to The Kennedy Center from June 14 – July 13, 2014 Bill Russell and Henry Kreiger’s musical Side Show is based on the true story of the conjoined Siamese Twins Violet and Daisy...

This Sunday @4 PM Tony Award Winner Laura Benanti Joins GMCW for “A Gay Man’s Guide to Broadway’ at The Kennedy Center-Tickets Still Available

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC presents A Gay Man’s Guide to Broadway with special guest Tony Award winner Laura Benanti This Sunday, May 18th at 4 PM at The Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall The...

The National Symphony Orchestra: ‘New Moves Symphony + Dance: From Schuman to Bernstein’

New Moves: symphony + dance delights both dance fans and music aficionados. Give a MacArthur “Genius” award to the person who came up with the idea to merge music and dance in the National Symphony...

SPINE: Theatre, Culture, and History in the Belly of the Beast: “THE ADMISSION: The Theatre of War and National Identity, Lovely or Otherwise”

I recently experienced Motti Lerner’s The Admission, Theatre J’s production remounted by Busboys & Poets at Studio Theatre (my review is here). The controversy that the play generated was surprising...

‘The Magic Flute’ at Washington National Opera

Brightness and color abounded in the Kennedy Center Opera Hall on Saturday night as the Washington National Opera debuted its second-to-last show of the season: Mozart’s The Magic Flute, in a truly...

Barbara Cook’s Spotlight: Megan Hilty at The Kennedy Center

Stage, film, and television star, Megan Hilty wowed the audience at The Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater last night with an eclectic concert that proved that Hilty is the sort of striking talent that...

‘Wayne McGregor Random Dance’ at The Kennedy Center

The curtain rises on a dark stage, lit only by torches held by four dancers at the four corners of the stage, surrounding two dancers prancing and weaving about in coordinated, syncopated step. One by...

The Washington Ballet: Tour-de-Force: Balanchine!’ at The Kennedy Center

The Washington Ballet: Tour-de-Force: Balanchine is a truly spectacular evening at the ballet, with something for everyone. This program has, in my opinion, a balance of classical and contemporary...