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Archive for January, 2007

Jitney

Produced by the African Continuum Theatre in association with Ford’s Theatre
Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy
Jitney
 Frederick Strother as Becker (Photo: T. Charles Erickson)
Jennifer L. Nelson, who is stepping aside as artistic director of the African Continuum Theatre Company to dedicate herself to directing, elicits spell-binding performances for this double first: Jitney was the first of August Wilson’s ten-play cycle about the African-American experience in the 20th century to be professionally produced, and it’s the first staging of any his plays for Ford’s Theatre.

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Wednesday, January 31st, 2007

Into the Woods

 
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim    Book by James Lapine
Reviewed by Gary McMillan
Into the Woods
      Cast of Into the Woods with [front] Donna Migliaccio as Jack’s Mom (Photo: Carol Pratt)

 

Welcome to the same old, brand new Signature. With the same old commitment to quality, Signature co-founder and impresario Eric Schaeffer, well, Poppa’s Got A Brand New Box – a gorgeous new theatre complex with all the technological bells and whistles for the 21st Century.
 
For his inaugural show, director Schaeffer has chosen to revisit Into the Woods, a show with which he had much success in the 1994-1995 season. He also included Into the Woods in the Kennedy Center’s 2002 Sondheim Celebration — for which he served as artistic director — although in a Junior version partnered with young students from the DC Public Schools which resulted in the delightful documentary, Children Will Listen.
 

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Monday, January 29th, 2007

Bricktop

Bricktop
By Calvin A. Ramsey and Thomas W. Jone II
Produced by MetroStage                                                   
Reviewed by Debbie M. Jackson
 
Bricktop at MetroStage stomps and sizzles across the stage like there’s no tomorrow. Co-written by Baltimore playwright Calvin A. Ramsey and MetroStage favorite, Thomas W. Jones II, who also directs, Bricktop is a high energy, roller coaster ride through nearly four decades of musical styles and cultural experiences. More than simply a musical review, Bricktop covers ranges of musical theater and glimpses of history rarely covered in one setting. Filled with non-stop choreography by Dawn Axam, electrifying vocals, great musical direction by S. Renee Clark, and meaningful characters, Bricktop almost defies definition. 
 

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Sunday, January 28th, 2007

January Pleasures

Carol, Bricktop, Stephen, Act Two and The Boar
 
Here’s why they call me the Wandering Jew.
 
This month alone I attended two National Symphony concerts, two Kirov Opera performances, press openings of a Neil Labute play and a Jewish memoir turned into a play, took a tour of the new spacious high tech theatre that graces Shirlington, and participated in its wonderful Open House, where I qvelled while listening to the great Euan Morton and cabaret extraordinaire Judy Simmons (read about that incredible weekend here ), spent an evening with Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and Cinderella and a not-so-charming prince, prayed for Jean Valjean to defeat the evil Javert, and welcomed back Dolly at The National Theatre’s Monday Night Cabaret.
 
Can you believe this schedule? What theatre riches we have in our area.
  
 
Well, Hello, Carol, and Hello, Richard. It’s So Nice To Have You Both Back Where You Belong ….
Richard Skipper
Richard Skipper as Carol Channing (Photo: Heather Sullivan)
 
Here I was on a late Sunday night in a small hotel in Dupont Circle interviewing a legend - or was it two legends?  Was it Carol Channing or was it Richard Skipper as Carol Channing?  I’m still confused.  See if you can decide.
   
Richard is back in DC to celebrate Carol’s 86th birthday with George Fulginiti-Shakar on piano. Listen to Carol tell us how important The National Theatre was in the creation of what became a Broadway classic - Hello Dolly!.  Wave your little hand and whisper "So Long Dearie" and slide into The National Theatre’s Helen Hayes Gallery for TWO FREE SHOWS on Monday night, January 29th at 6 pm and 7:30 pm.  Tickets are distributed 30 minutes before showtime and seating is limited. The podcast is at the end of this article, so scroll w-a-a-a-y down.  You won’t want to miss it.
   
Go to Richard Skipper’s website to see video clips of Richard and Carol in performance.
   
Raspberries!
 

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icon for podpress  Richard Skipper as Carol Channing: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Sunday, January 28th, 2007

The Tempest

  
The Tempest
Robert Leembruggan and Ally Raber (Photo: Ray Gniewek)

By William Shakespeare
Produced by Keegan Theatre
Reviewed by Gary McMillan

 
What suits the Nation’s Capital better than a comedy of political treachery?  The Keegan Theatre’s The Tempest, a solid – if uneven - entry in the Shakespeare In Washington Festival, nicely melds the drama and comedy of the play, although it at times seems to alternate between King Lear and Gilligan’s Island – perhaps a standard deviation or two outside the typical extremes of the play. The mishigas of acting styles among the cast may be jarring to some, but the many, many pitch-perfect scenes redeem the production. And Rob Leembruggen (Prospero) is a wise choice to helm this production. His classical training lends a grace to Prospero that adults will appreciate, while he is also likely to captivate the attention and imagination of young people (“Hint, Hint,” parents and teachers) with a witty, wise and touching performance.

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Sunday, January 28th, 2007

Sleeping Arrangements

Sleeping Arrangements

by: Laura Shaine Cunningham

Produced by: TheatreJ

Reviewed by: Debbie Minter Jackson

“It is safe to dream again,” says young Lily, while looking at the stars in the final line from Sleeping Arrangements, a world premiere playing at Theater J. This mild and quirky drama by Laura Shaine Cunningham is based on her memoir set in the 1950’s Bronx with stories as seen from the eyes of a precocious eight year old. Effectively staged by Delia Taylor, the script functions like a hidden camera and we see and hear what happens, the profound, the mundane, the funny and poignant moments in Lily’s young life. The set design by Kathleen Runey and especially the lighting by Colin Bills serve this play well in versatility, transforming the sparse stage into Bronx stoops, friendly neighborhood streets, a Catskills summer camp, wandering snowflakes, and even the “Dark Park,” filled with menacing, unsavory, yet colorful characters.

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Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007

King Lear

King Lear by William Shakespeare

Co-Produced by the Folger Theatre and the Classical Theatre of Harlem

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

King Lear

Shakespeare Theatre Artistic Director Michael Kahn has called Shakespeare "a playwright for our town" and in no play is it more evident than in King Lear.  In Lear, power is acquired through lies and flattery, maintained through blood violence, and surrendered, kicking and screaming, in abject humiliation.  The Classical Theatre of Harlem (clearly the lead partner in this production, at least on the artistic side) readily identifies the surreal, hallucinatory intensity of the play, and delivers the goods with the physicality for which it has become justly celebrated.  The cast is stuffed with award-winners, including Emmy awardee and Tony nominee Dr. André De Shields as Lear, and the Director, Alfred Preisser, is a co-founding member of Classical Theatre of Harlem. (more…)

Thursday, January 18th, 2007

What’s Done in the Dark

Written and produced by Tyler Perry                                       

by Debbie Minter Jackson

What's Done in the Dark

                      Mr. Brown & Cora  (David Mann & Tamela Mann)

The Tyler Perry Experience                  

Tyler Perry.  The name alone can pack a playhouse with patrons shelling out $50 a pop for a ticket without a word of print advertising or even a notice in the mainstream media.  Before his movies, television appearances, or blessings from Oprah, Tyler Perry made a liar out of anyone who said that black folks don’t attend theater.  When he writes, they come in droves by the busloads as seen in his current touring production, What’s Done in the Dark at the Warner Theater.  (more…)

Thursday, January 18th, 2007

Opening Doors to a New Era at Signature

Hope & Joy in Shirlington

By Joel Markowitz
YOU’RE GONNA LOVE TOMORROW!!
     It’s Thursday, January 4th. Only nine days to go before hundreds of enthusiastic theatregoers, subscribers and Shirlington neighbors come to see what all the fuss is about. Will they be ready?
     Wearing hard hats with the word “SIGNATURE” on it,  and surrounded by drywallers, carpet layers, chandelier installers and carpenters, Lorraine Treanor and I and members of the press stepped into the new unfinished Signature for a tour lead by a very well-informed, enthusiastic and confident Director of PR and Marketing Olivia Haas and Marketing/Sales Manager Rachel Applegate. We were about to view Co-founders Eric Schaeffer and Donna Migliaccio’s dream - a new, improved Signature (they dropped the “Theatre”) with comfortable seats, state of the art technology, huge rehearsal spaces, dressing rooms and two state-of-the-art black box theatres. It was jaw dropping. I saw critics speechless - a minor miracle.
     And when we ended our tour in the new Zickler rehearsal room and saw the beaming faces of Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Sam Sweet. I asked the first question, “Can you tell us about the sound?”  Eric explained that they had spent numerous hours and lots of money on ensuring that the sound was fantastic in both the 299 seat black box MAX and 99 seat ARK theatres. And then as questions were asked and answered, all of us who were fortunate to be there that day realized that this new complex would and could be a center of endless production possibilities. (more…)

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007

Macbeth

by William Shakespeare  Adapted by Paata Tsikurishvili and Nathan Weinberger  Choreographed by Irina Tsikurishvili

Produced by Synetic Theater

Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

Macbeth

 (l to r) Armand Sindoni, Mike Way, Niki Jacobsen and Courtney Pauroso as Ensemble and Irina Tsikurishvili as Lady Macbeth. (Photo: Raymond Gniewek)

                Get the next generation hooked on the ecstasy of live performance. Take them to Synetic Theater’s 90 minute Macbeth that just opened at The Rosslyn Spectrum. This company of performing artists blends dance, pantomime, music and message so vigorously, Hell rises to a new level. That’s not a negative comment. The Synetic brings to life a vision of what’s happening in today’s real world. Only the Synetic productions can make such a descent so exquisitely enjoyable. (more…)

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007