Hair cast hosts ‘Be-In” Monday
November 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Members of the Tribe of the national touring company of Hair, making its first stop at the Kennedy Center, are hosting a “Be-in”, on Monday, November 8th at 8pm at The Warehouse. [Read more...]
Schmoozing with Felix and Oscar
November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Rick Foucheux and J. Fred Shiffman on playing Oscar Madison and Felix Unger in Theater J’s The Odd Couple.
They are two of my favorite actors and two of the nicest people I know. What I respect most about Rick Foucheux and J. Fred Shiffman is that they are both eloquent and passionate about their work. Audiences are roaring (as I did) at Theater J as they watch Rick and J. Fred play the sloppy sports writer and the neatnick/gourmand Oscar Madison and Felix Unger. It’s such a joy watching them work together again in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. [Read more...]
Capital Fringe debuts fallFringe
November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Capital Fringe Festival’s fallFRINGE (Nov. 4 – 21) presents the return of ten shows from this summer’s 2010 Capital Fringe Festival. Over the next three weeks, there will be 54 shows on Wednesdays through Sundays at the Shop at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW. [Read more...]
Darwin in Malibu
November 5, 2010 By 1 Comment
Washington Stage Guild opened its season with a thoughtful and thought-provoking production of Crispin Whittell’s Darwin in Malibu. In many ways, in spite of its California Dreamer-style title, Darwin is less a play than a philosophical disputation carried on among three pivotal 19th century intellectuals whose restless spirits suddenly find themselves—bodies intact—transported to a present-day California beach house. [Read more...]
Mary Stuart
November 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Few dramatic works illustrate the twisted and self-serving aspects of politics in as entertaining a fashion as Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart. Mary Stuart is an inspired choice for a time of elections and governmental transition, and it receives an inspired production from the Washington Shakespeare Company. [Read more...]
Ken Ludwig on A Fox on the Fairway
November 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
If he had a theme song, it would be “Make ‘Em Laugh”, and Washington playwright Ken Ludwig has been doing just that for years. So far, he’s had over 15 plays produced, with more to come. Perhaps his most famous are Lend Me a Tenor, which recently closed its Broadway revival, the adaptation of the restoration comedy The Beaux Stratagem and the Gershwin musical tribute Crazy for You. [Read more...]
Pinocchio
November 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Developed by Len Piper (from the book by Carlo Collodi) as a puppet show within a puppet show, this marionettes-mixed-with-human-actors version of “Pinocchio” from Glen Echo’s Puppet Company is perfectly tailored to pre and elementary school-age kids. [Read more...]
Looking for the Pony
November 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Venus Theatre production of Looking for the Pony made me cry. And I was amazed as I looked around and saw the audience—men and women—wiping their eyes. Playwright Andrea Lepcio took a personal experience—her sister’s pragmatic fight with breast cancer—and created a beautifully written, humorous, moving work. If you’re looking for a night of good theatre complete with a marvelous story and fine acting, go see this play. [Read more...]
Hair
November 3, 2010 By 4 Comments
The national touring production of Hair was officially launched last Thursday at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House to a wildly enthusiastic if somewhat less-than-full house. Subtitled, “The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical,” the revival of this grand-daddy of all rock musicals attracted a happy, chatty, diverse crowd predominated by Baby Boomers eager to relive all the glory, freedom —and fear— of a pivotal, turbulent decade. [Read more...]
Brief Encounter
November 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
For those of us old enough to remember the film version of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, a warm glow descends upon us whenever it’s brought to mind. For those even older who were exposed to the one act play on which the film was based (called Still Life, a part of Tonight at 8:30), there is nostalgic joy as well. But it is to Emma Rice, whose artistic home is the Kneehigh Theatre in Cornwall, UK, that we owe the greatest thanks for the imagination and talent she has brought to this re-evaluation of the material, this mixture of film and stage technique that sticks to Coward’s story, but serves it up artfully and brushes away any cobwebs that may seem to have gathered in the 75 years since it first saw the light of day. We are indebted to the Roundabout Theatre Company for bringing it to us. [Read more...]
