Looking back on the Hispanic theatre season

The rap on the wrap-up of the 2010/2011 Hispanic Theatre season in Washington D.C. is that as far as audiences are concerned, GALA Hispanic Theatre and Teatro de la Luna must be doing something right. In spite of funding cuts, the two Spanish-speaking theater groups have enjoyed strong box office support, garnered positive to enviable reviews, and enjoyed packed houses. [Read more...]

Let your voice be heard – register now to vote for the Audience Choice Awards

The press has spoken . The judges have spoken. Now it’s your turn.

Since 2007, DC Theatre Scene has been asking its writers to name the best productions and performances of the theatrical season just ended. We then turn it over to you, our readers, to show your appreciation for all the work done by our community by giving one final round of applause for your favorite shows and performances.

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Something’s Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination

West Coast author Misha Berson got it right when she observed that West Side Story’s place in world-wide popular culture exceeds that of a mere musical.

As she says: “In Japan and South Africa, Cairo and Kalamazoo, people who have no truck with any other Broadway musicals can sing a few bars of ‘The Jet Song’ or ‘Somewhere.’ They can name the leaders of the two warring Manhattan street gangs the show focuses on, Bernardo (of the Puerto Rican Sharks) and Riff (of the Euro-American Jets). They know where the dewy and doomed lovers Maria and Tony first met (at a dance in a community gym).” [Read more...]

Something Past in Front of the Light

Something Past in Front of the Light is “The Exorcist” for grownups. Playwright Kathleen Akerley’s genius script recognizes, as “The Exorcist” did not, that Satan (Alexander Strain), or “Stan” as he is familiarly called here, does not torment the innocent. To win Satan’s special attention you must invite him, as you must invite Dracula, into your house. [Read more...]

A look at last season’s new works

With the Audience Choice Awards nominations being announced soon, it is a good time to consider and honor my favorite contemporary plays which debuted in the Washington area during the 2010-2011 season just ended.  While I enjoy fine productions of Shakespeare, Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams and the other great playwrights, new works are important for keeping theatre fresh. [Read more...]

STC’s Free Julius Caesar opens this week

This year’s Shakespeare Theatre’s popular Free For All is the return of their 2008 production of Julius Caesar.   Originally directed by David Muse, now Artistic Director of Studio Theatre, this production will be restaged by David Paul, who was the plays’ assistant director in 2008.  [Read more...]

Guys and Dolls

DC area fans of Broadway’s golden age musicals have had a heck of a 2010-2011 season. Arena Stage re-launched itself last fall with a mega-boffo new production of Oklahoma!. (It’s back this month for a reprise.) The Kennedy Center presented a fine traveling production of South Pacific last Christmas. And now, Wolf Trap is hosting a short run of Guys and Dolls at the Filene Center through Sunday. This snappy new touring production Frank Loesser’s classic brilliantly captures the both the improbably lovable gangsters and the hilariously energetic silliness of the original. [Read more...]

Constellation’s Ramayana becomes the next summer rerun to sell out

August is the hottest month for ticket sales too.

DC audiences are showing they like seeing their favorite shows the second time around. Yesterday morning, Constellation Theatre had only 30 seats left for its return run of The Ramayana at Source. They’re gone now, guaranteeing busy nights for the 14th Street venue through August 21st.

Woolly Mammoth, too, took a chance in bringing back its critically acclaimed Clybourne Park for a post-Fringe four week run. It sold out more than a week ago.

There are still tickets available to see the rerun of Scena Theatre’s gender bending The Importance of Being Earnestwhich has earned an extension at H Street Playhouse through August 21st. Washington does love seeing a man in a dress and a woman in a tux, and the cast of Earnest doesn’t disappoint. Scena could also win an award for most innovative pricing structure. With a top ticket of $40, it’s $20 for staff of nonprofits (with a business card to prove it), $16 for students, $18 if you’re under 30 or, if it’s Thursday and you’re under 30, they throw in a free drink.

And, of course, in what could have been the biggest role of the dice of all time, the return of last October’s Oklahoma! to Arena Stage is drawing huge crowds to the new Mead Center for the Performing Arts. Jane Horowitz, in Wednesday’s Backstage column for the  Washington Post reported: “Theater staffers say they’ve sold 35,000 tickets for the reprise run, with most performances selling at “near capacity.” Though they don’t release financial figures for individual shows, a spokesperson for the company says the revival will probably outpace the original fall production and become the best-selling show in Arena’s history.”  The blockbuster musical, which opened July 8th, closes October 2nd. Tickets are still available.

 

 

Which shows are you sorry you missed this year?


Our annual Audience Choice Awards recognizes the best productions and performances of the 2010/11 DC area theatrical season.  Our staff is busy compiling their nominations, and soon we will turn it over to you to vote for your favorites.  On Monday, August 15th, we’ll begin with a mini-series looking back on some of the season’s highlights. [Read more...]

Big Deal for Adventure Theatre

World premiere youth version of Big, The Musical - Natascia Diaz joins DC cast

Five or so years ago, when Adventure Theatre was an undersized children’s theater with a tiny budget and less-than-stellar artistic capabilities, someone must have gone to the carnival and found the “Zoltar Speaks” machine. “I want Adventure to be BIG!” he must have said to the machine. [Read more...]