Phantom Revisited, The Scottsboro Boys, and The Temperamentals
Believe it or not, I have a friend who had never seen Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic on Broadway or anywhere else, for that matter. So, as I hadn’t seen it in 20 years, I accompanied him on a recent Thursday evening.
The Light in the Piazza
The new Arena Stage production of Lucas and Guettel’s The Light on the Piazza downscales this Tony Award-winning Broadway-style show to fit its currently available space. The result? A bare-bones version of the original that still retains much of its charm and intimacy thanks to its marvelous cast.
Zelda at the Oasis
Top Pick! - Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is in town. The legendary wife of the legendary writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a whirling Southern belle filled with ambition, drive, sophistication and emotional vulnerability, wrapped in a surprisingly tough shell.
Summer at Nohant
The Baroness Aurore Dudevant, better known as the French novelist and patron of the arts George Sand, is at her country home, Nohant, with her family and one of her most famous lovers, the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin.
Chad Kimball, starring in the Broadway musical Memphis
The Musical of his Soul: Chad Kimball on his journey with Memphis It didn’t surprise me when Chad Kimball wowed the NYC critics with his animated, high energy, funny, bluesy, and loveable performance as disc jockey Huey Calhoun in the new musical Memphis.
REVIEWS
The Light in the Piazza
The new Arena Stage production of Lucas and Guettel’s The Light on the Piazza downscales this Tony Award-winning Broadway-style show to fit its currently available space. The result? A bare-bones version of the original that still retains much of its charm and intimacy thanks to its marvelous cast. Read More →
Zelda at the Oasis
Top Pick! – Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is in town. The legendary wife of the legendary writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a whirling Southern belle filled with ambition, drive, sophistication and emotional vulnerability, wrapped in a surprisingly tough shell. Read More →
Summer at Nohant
The Baroness Aurore Dudevant, better known as the French novelist and patron of the arts George Sand, is at her country home, Nohant, with her family and one of her most famous lovers, the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin. Read More →
Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?
Despite the whimsical title, Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews? is a serious conversation, about serious stuff. It is about art, and – this is the genius of Kornbluth, that eventually he always gets down to the bones of the thing – about love. Read More →
Mondo Andronicus
Who knew thundering electric guitars, buckets of blood, and Elizabethan tragedy would go together so well? Heavy metal and horror clash with the immortal words of Shakespeare in Molotov Theatre Group’s disturbing, funny, and bleak Mondo Andronicus. Read More →
Some Girl(s)
Here’s how you can tell when your play is working: you’ve got an Amen Corner. On the night I saw No Rules Theatre take its maiden voyage with a fine production of Some Girl(s), the Amen Corner was in full voice, gasping in shock and recognition at the audacity of the dialogue and the plot points. Brothers and sisters, welcome to Church – the Church of Neil LaBute. Read More →
Read More Posts From This CategoryNEWS
Warehouse Free for All Friday night
The Warehouse Theatre is due for some renovations, owner Paul Ruppert wrote us, but first they need to clear out years of “clutter”. There appear to be some treasures among the mere utilitarian and the mysterious (see photos here), and everything is free for the taking starting at 5pm tonight, March 19th. Just show up at the Warehouse, 1021 7th Street NW, Washington, DC. Read More →
High Court Rules for French at Agincourt
Mock Trial at Shakespeare Theatre Results in Big Damages Against Henry V (Wed, March 16, 2010 – Sidney Harman Hall, Washington, DC) The Supreme Court of the Amalgamated Kingdom of England and France – a dazzling collection of judicial talent headed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as Chief Justice – unanimously ruled that King Henry V’s slaughter of French prisoners of war was legally unjustified and awarded unspecified damages to the POW estates. Read More →
Reston Community Players and Silver Spring Stage dominate the 10th annual WATCH Awards
It was curtains for the other nominees in the musical categories as Reston Community Players’ (RCP) production of Kander and Ebb’s musical Curtains was honored with 12 awards at the 10th Annual Washington Area Theatre Community Honors (The WATCH Award) Read More →
Read More Posts From This CategoryNY THEATRE BUZZ
Phantom Revisited, The Scottsboro Boys, and The Temperamentals
Believe it or not, I have a friend who had never seen Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic on Broadway or anywhere else, for that matter. So, as I hadn’t seen it in 20 years, I accompanied him on a recent...
Next to Normal, Happy Now?, Present Laughter
In the early spring of 2008 I caught the first New York production of Next to Normal, off Broadway at Second Stage. I reviewed it favorably in this column. Now, eight months into its run in a revised...
Memphis, Yank!, and Ages of the Moon
As a charter member of the “It’s too loud!” and the “Where are the melodies?” clubs of musical theatre lovers, I kept delaying my visit to Memphis, thinking it wouldn’t do much for me except...
Read More Posts From This CategoryTHEATRE SCHMOOZE
Chad Kimball, starring in the Broadway musical Memphis
The Musical of his Soul: Chad Kimball on his journey with Memphis It didn’t surprise me when Chad Kimball wowed the NYC critics with his animated, high energy, funny, bluesy, and loveable performance...
Musical Scene Stealers – Winter, 2010
Two young undertakers, two angels and their lover, a colorful instrumentalist and singer, a pie-baking assistant, a quarreling and vocally gifted couple, a distraught girlfriend who’s gone to pot, Read More →
High Fidelity interviews: Andrew Baughman, Stephen Gregory Smith and Julie Herber
How do these guys and gals keep putting on these amazing productions of musicals that just didn’t do too well in NYC, and turn them into winners? I saw High Fidelity on Broadway, and loved the music...
Read More Posts From This CategoryPODCASTS
Josh Kornbluth on Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?
Joshing with Kornbluth, Warhol, Golda, George, Sarah and Other Jews on the Wall. When you sit and interview Josh Kornbluth, you can’t help but relax quickly and start kibbitzing almost instantly with this very funny, always-reflecting monologist. Read More →
Marc Kudisch in Terrence McNally’s Golden Age
Terrence McNally’s new play Golden Age, which just had its successful debut at Philadelphia Theatre Company, opens March 12th in the Kennedy Center’s Family Theatre with new rewrites and a new director (Walter Bobbie, Interview with Marc Kudisch [21:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (509) Read More →
NEWSical The Musical’s Michael West
Joel sits down with funnyman Michael West in his dressing room at the 47th Street Theatre. Michael opens his trunk of many voices and out comes Bill Clinton (“a southern Elmer Fudd”), Al Gore (“a gay kindergarten teacher”), Liza Minnelli, Carol Channing, Sammy Davis, Jr., Robert Goulet, and Harvey Fierstein. With special guest: NEWSical director Mark Waldrop. Standard Podcast [32:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (276) Read More →
Read More Posts From This CategoryMary Poppins
Love Times Seven – a Bollywood Musical
The Light in the Piazza
Fiddler on the Roof
Tom Wopat at Strathmore
Some Girls
March Theatre Guide
Troublesome Gap . Episode 2
