While, thankfully, Miss Ashley does not glamorize prostitution, she imbues the character of successful madam Mrs. Warren with earthy swagger and wisdom about the ways of the world that is both canny and compassionate. [Read more...]
Mrs. Warren’s Profession
June 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Ashley makes a persuasive case for pimping in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession directed with genteel sparkle by Keith Baxter.
A Man of No Importance
June 18, 2010 By 1 Comment
A simple man who has lived his entire life within his books finally enters the real world, only to find it is not nearly as welcoming or romantic as he hoped. Keegan Theatre’s A Man of No Importance charts the poignant journey of Dublin bus conductor Alfie Byrne as he navigates the emotional minefield of real life and finally learns how to “Love Who You Love.” [Read more...]
Bethesda Theatre up for Auction June 29
June 17, 2010 By 2 Comments
On Tuesday, June 29th at 1pm, the Bethesda Theatre will be go up for auction, and, unless a bidder is found willing to maintain the facility as a 700 seat theatre, the valuable downtown Bethesda space will likely be converted to retail shops. [Read more...]
Source Festival – Group B
June 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A play works best when it opens a secret box, and thus illuminates the world and ourselves. A ten-minute play does all of that in ten minutes. When it works, it’s powerful theater.
Zanzele Cooper and Jamell Carter in Saddam's Lions (Photo: C. Stanley Photography)
It certainly works in Jacob Juntunen’s Saddam’s Lions, where you will guess the secret in the first thirty seconds but where the box which contains it will remain unopened, contents too horrible to contemplate, for the whole of the play. [Read more...]
Trumpery
June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Trumpery is the story of the origin of the “Origins of the Species,” Charles Darwin’s revolutionary theory of natural selection. The prelude to publication was a time of crisis and adventure for Darwin (Ian LeValley), who struggled with the religious implications of his discovery (“If I finish the book, I’m a killer,” he says. “I murder God.”). [Read more...]
Oleanna
June 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The brand new Dark Horse Theatre Company arrived with a splash last week by mounting a new production of Oleanna, David Mamet’s controversial two-person drama about an academic counseling session gone horribly wrong. Oleanna is good, old-fashioned socio-political drama at its best, and it’s a surprisingly polished production for a fledgling company. [Read more...]
Source Festival – Group C
June 16, 2010 By 1 Comment
The Source Festival’s third group (Group C) of 10-minute plays features an exciting array of fresh writing styles and acting chops – all seemingly centered around a theme of loss. Whether this was intentional or not, the productions channel this central feeling through both comedy and tragedy. Some work, and some don’t. [Read more...]
Love Never Dies
June 15, 2010 By 2 Comments
He’s back! No – not the masked phantom who sought the music of the night, but Andrew Lloyd Webber who provided the music of many nights! In this, his return to the style as well as the topic of his most successful work in a career of successes, he also returns to the level of sophistication, complexity and interrelationships that made The Phantom of the Opera the longest running musical in both Broadway and London history. [Read more...]
Jeffrey Coon on playing Georges Seurat
June 15, 2010 By 1 Comment
Report from Philadelphia: Jeffrey Coon in the role of Georges Seurat in The Arden’s Sunday in the Park with George.
It’s always an honor and pleasure to watch Jeff Coon perform. He can do it all - musicals, plays, and children’s theatre. He has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard on the stage. A staple in the Philadelphia theatre community, Jeffrey Coon is now portraying painter Georges Seurat in Arden Theatre Company’s sumptuous production of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George. [Read more...]
Sold out Thurgood gives free performance
June 15, 2010 By 2 Comments
Laurence Fishburne as Thurgood Marhsall
The Kennedy Center’s production of Thurgood is completely sold out. You can’t buy a ticket to see Laurence Fishburne play Thurgood Marshall, but you can get in free when the play is videotaped this Friday, June 18th, starting at 1:30pm. [Read more...]
