The Glass Menagerie
June 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In Peter Marks’ article in the Washington Post this weekend, Molly Smith, Artistic Director of Arena Stage, was quoted as saying that in theater today to survive is to thrive. Down alongside Washington’s southwest waterfront, there is something more than surviving going on in Smith’s still freshly minted Mead Center for American Theater. [Read more...]
Nat ‘King’ Cole director Lou Bellamy
June 11, 2011 By 2 Comments
Lou Bellamy on Nat ‘King’ Cole, August Wilson and his company Penumbra Theatre
Director Lou Bellamy is back in Washington, and we had the chance to talk with him about, among other things, the great Nat ‘King’ Cole, because his Penumbra Theatre Company’s production of I Wish You Love has just opened at the Kennedy Center. [Read more...]
Edward Gero cast as Mark Rothko in Red
June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
When Amadeus closes this weekend at Round House Theatre, its leads set off on very different paths. Sasha Olinick, who plays the audacious genius Amadeus, goes into rehearsal as Toad in Wind in the Willows at Imagination Stage, which opens June 22nd. Sure to be another fun role for Olinick, the press release promises “reckless driving, police chases, prison breaks, and even a little cross-dressing.” [Read more...]
David Tannous receives first DCTS Audience Award
June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Before listeners around the country who were tuned in to NPR’s “All Things Considered” on Thursday heard about the regional Tony Award being presented Sunday night on the televised awards show, they first learned that a new kind of award – recognizing an outstanding audience member – is being presented live this Saturday in Arlington, VA. [Read more...]
The Motherf**ker with the Hat
June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A long long time ago (December 5, 1941) a small thriller called Angel Street opened on Broadway, and it had one thing in common with The Motherf**ker With The Hat, in that both plays’ plots are moved forward by the discovery of a hat left on a table by someone who’d been in the room before the story began. [Read more...]
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
June 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
It’s tough being a kid, and the pay is very low. You may have forgotten how it was to bear the sodden weight of your parents’ expectations while coping with the assault of the raging hormones, but book-writer Rachel Sheinkin and William Finn, who composed a witty upbeat score, did not, and neither has Keegan Theatre. That’s why their earnest, intimate, pleasing production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee earns my highest rating. [Read more...]
Veteran actress Rusty Clauss dead at 81
June 8, 2011 By 15 Comments
Rusty Clauss, who mastered comedy and drama during a lengthy career on Washington stages and who performed in movies and on television, died on June 4th after suffering a stroke following a brief hospitalization. She was 81. [Read more...]
A Little Journey
June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A perfect example of the well-made boulevard comedy of the early twentieth century has been resurrected by Jonathan Bank and his lovely company of players at the Mint Theatre on the third floor of an office building on West 43rd Street. Under the direction of Jackson Gay, a company of fourteen dedicated actors (playing fifteen roles) has breathed life into Rachel Crothers’ hit (242 performances) of the 1918-1919 Broadway season, and once again let us in on what was pleasing audiences of that more innocent time. [Read more...]
Ain’t Misbehavin’
June 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Washington Savoyards wrap up their season this month with a snazzy, kinetic, hot and hilarious must-see revival of Murray Horwitz’ and Richard Maltby Jr.’s 1978 hit Broadway revue, Ain’t Misbehavin’. It’s a toe-tapping song and dance tribute to the late, great Fats Waller. With its simple yet elegant nightclub set and a cast of phenomenally skillful singer-hoofers, this latest Savoyards offering is just the right antidote to dispel the early dog-days of this already steamy month of June. [Read more...]
Don Quixote
June 8, 2011 By 2 Comments
It’s 1605 and Spain needs a noble knight. The retired country squire, Don Quixote, stuffed to the gills with chivalric novels, decides he is the man to bring gentility back. Donning a helmet and armor fashioned from a barber’s basin, he sets off on his skinny nag on an adventurous quest. [Read more...]
