Neighborhood Watch
December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
With 75 plays under his belt, it would appear that Alan Ayckbourn can find two hours worth of entertainment and enlightenment in any of his own actual or imagined experiences as he lives out his life in Scarborough, England. It is in that seaside town that he has a theatrical home in the Stephen Joseph Theatre in which he offers world premiere productions of his prodigious output. Writing to the specific demands of this small theatre, his plays invariably are set in one space, into which he allows usually six, occasionally eight characters, to drop in. Once they arrive, under seemingly ordinary circumstances, all hell is likely to break loose as both comic and tragic forces emerge to force his plots in often unlikely directions. [Read more...]
Black Nativity
December 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In a season of well-worn holiday traditions, nothing brings a more welcome blast of fresh good will than the image of Baby Jesus being lovingly serenaded by powerful gospel music and surrounded with luscious Afro-Caribbean trappings. Theater Alliance’s spirited production of Black Nativity takes the audience on a joyful, unique ride through the Christmas Story, set to a foot stomping gospel hit parade. [Read more...]
The Madman and the Nun
December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
You know things are going to be a little weird when you enter a theater and receive—in lieu of a program—a confidential psychiatric patient file clipped into an official-looking manila folder. Things got even stranger on opening night when cast members, wandering about outside the stage area, encouraged audience members to sample some of the asylum’s “drugs” (it’s actually wine.) [Read more...]
Comic Justin Purvis on MetroConnection
December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This week’s MetroConnection is all about health and wellness – an ironic choice as host Rebecca Sheir tells us she’s suffering from a raging head cold. [Read more...]
An Irish Carol
December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Matthew J. Keenan’s new play, An Irish Carol just opened at Keegan Theatre, has a gritty realism that is unmatched among the holiday fare now playing in the DC area; it’s as bracing as a shot of Bushmills, but not necessarily pleasing to those seeking something a bit milder. [Read more...]
Arena holds open call for Music Man kids this Saturday
December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Arena Stage will hold open-call auditions this weekend for four young person’s roles in its upcoming production of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, the company announced yesterday. [Read more...]
Rebecca Ende named Theater J Managing Director
December 9, 2011 By 2 Comments
Rebecca Ende, who served as Theater J’s Director of Marketing and Communications for three years before becoming President of the Board of Forum Theater, will return to her old company as Managing Director, Theater J announced Wednesday. [Read more...]
West Side Story – 50th Anniversary Special Edition
December 8, 2011 By 3 Comments
“West Side Story” is the safe musical, the one grasped easily enough by young (but not too young) audiences that it’s become one of the de facto introductions to theater. Of course, it helps when your source material is Shakespeare, your music is Bernstein/Sondheim and your legacy is ten Oscars. Now that the mega-successful 1961 adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has turned 50 and seen fit to unleash a 3-disc Blu-Ray special edition, I wanted to revisit the film itself to see how much of its finger-snapping razzle dazzle still has the power to wow. [Read more...]
Much Ado About Nothing
December 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Get thee down to Penn Quarter’s Sidney Harman Hall to behold Shakespeare in the tropics, under the palms, smoldering in the Caribbean sun: it’s the one about the guy who secretly loves the girl who secretly loves him and the other guy who accuses the other girl of scandal on their wedding day and the despicable bad guy and the ludicrous creation named Dogberry. [Read more...]
The Santaland Diaries
December 8, 2011 By 2 Comments
If anyone can find the dark side of the happiest time of the year, it’s David Sedaris. The master of sardonic storytelling has found a talented vessel in Joe Brack, who has concocted an animated, multi-layered spin on Sedaris’ painfully funny Christmas chronicle, The Santaland Diaries. [Read more...]
