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By John Byrne

Produced by Scena Theatre

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

  Jason Stiles as F. S. McDade (Photo: Ian C. Armstrong)

    If there is any justice in this world, they will assemble those involved with this production after its close, for special awards. To Jim Jorgensen would go the Order of the Golden Foam-Rubber Masque, commemorating the exceptionally broad range of reactions he could conjure up to what was essentially the same joke, and the agility with which he employed them. Jason Stiles would receive the Unhappy Dog Award, with Oak Clusters, for his consistent and seemingly effortless portrayal of a man who manages to be melancholy and clueless for an hour and forty-five minutes. To the redoubtable Jay Hardee would go the Holographic Phone Book, which any actor who performs bad material with intensity and verve receives (Anthony Hopkins has 8 of them). And Director Kathleen Akerley would get a crystalline watch with a nanosecond hand, commemorating the astonishing comic timing with which she has imbued this tedious material.

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They deliver musicals that are fresh, funny, and made up on the spot!

(l to r)  Karen Lange, Jordan Hirsch,Travis Ploeger, Jason Saenz, and Liz Demery

Director/pianist Travis Ploeger invited Joel Markowitz and Lorraine Treanor to stop by a warmup session for Washington Improv Theatre’s cast of iMusical! where the troupe improvised three songs especially for you, the DCTR listener. Following Joel’s suggestions, they created  ’A Debate between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’ with Liz Demery (Hillary Clinton), and Jason Saenz (Barack Obama),and ‘Iron Chef competition with Food Network Stars and one cucumber.’  with Jordan Hirsch (Chef Martin Yan) and Karen Lange (Paula Deems) plus a lovely sign-off ballad.

They”re making up a new musical every Friday night at Flashpoint (9th & G Streets, Washington, DC).  Just $15. More info at iMusical!

Click here to listen.

 

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At the piano: (l to r) Andrew Gerle, Joel Markowitz, Eddie Sugarman

They are the newest ‘it’ guys - composer Andrew Gerle and lyricist Eddie Sugarman - loaded with talent, funny, refreshing and boy can they sell a song! They have hit the big time with their first partnership (they also co-wrote the book) for their new musical Meet John Doe with a gorgeous multi-million dollar Ford’s Theatre production, orchestrated by a Broadway great, directed by Eric Schaeffer.  Listen in on this lively session with Joel Markowitz which ends with Andrew and Eddie’s rendition of what will be one of the show’s big numbers ‘Money Talks’ featuring Stephen Gregory Smith.

Listen here.

 

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Email us at pillowman@dctheatrereviews.com to win 2 tickets to the show including 25 dollars in DC SNACKS.   Read more here

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By Martin McDonagh

Produced by Studio Theatre

Reviewed by Tim Treanor

(left to right) Denis Arndt, Tom Story and Hugh Nees (Photo: Carol Pratt)

The Pillowman is a story about stories. Here’s how one of them goes:

…The father, as we have established, treats the little girl badly, and one day the girl gets some apples and carves some little men out of these apples, all little fingers, little eyes, little toes, and she gives them to her father but she says to him they’re not to be eaten, they’re to be kept as a memento of when his only little daughter was young, and naturally the pig of a father swallows a bunch of these applemen whole, just to spite her, and they have razor blades in them, and he dies in agony…

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Produced by Rep Stage

Reviewed by Rosalind Lacy

A Glorious Farce

(left to right) Bruce Nelson, Karl Kippola, and Matt Dunphy (Photo: Stan Barouh)

In great performances, sometimes every ingredient is just right. The right director, the right play, staged with the right actors and stage designers. All work together - like an exquisite clock - as in Rep Stage’s glorious production of Itamar Moses’ Bach at Leipzig..

Director Kasi Campbell, associate artistic director of Rep Stage, with seven Helen Hayes awards including Outstanding Director in 2004, takes this ingenious farce about political intrigue and lets it fly from one brilliant stage moment to another right up to the last breath-taking twist.

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Whether or not you were lucky enough to have seen Alaska’s Perseverance Theater’s production of Macbeth at the National Museum of the American Indian (it closes with a sold out performance this Sunday), you will want to listen in as Metro Connection’s Stephanie Kaye talks with director Anita Maynard Losh about the adaptation and hear cast members perform the rarely spoken Tlingit native language. Shakespeare by Way of Alaska.

By Timberlake Wertenbaker

Produced by Journeymen Theater

Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff

I have seen so many abstract plays recently! Abstract plays are great really, all the intense chat with your friends about the true meaning of the play over coffee at Lotzabucks. A few days ago I had the opportunity to see a wonderful play with a fairly stright-forward plot called After Darwin at the Church Street Theatre in Dupont Circle.

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