When choreographer Parker Esse joined the creative team of Arena Stage’s Oklahoma!, he was entering sacred territory: previous choreographers of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical include Agnes de Mille (1943 production and 1955 film) and Susan Stroman (1998 London revival and 1999 film). What impressed me the most about seeing Esse’s version last Thursday was how he retains and updates trademarks of these acclaimed artists. I left the theater thinking about how Arena Stage has created a production that is classic and at the same time contemporary. [Read more...]
All posts by Kate Mattingly:
Kate Mattingly currently teaches Dance History and Criticism to MFA students at George Washington University. She has worked as a critic, curator, dramaturg, and instructor. She received her undergraduate degree from Princeton University and her MFA in Dance from the Tisch School of the Arts.
Oklahoma!
July 19, 2011 By 1 Comment
[Editor's note: Much has been written about the extraordinary production of Oklahoma!, now enjoying a return engagement at Arena Stage. We've asked our dance reviewer to look at it from her perspective.]
Hello, Hedgehogs! A Storytelling Show
July 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
I haven’t been to many Fringe shows that ended with everyone in the audience asking for a picture of the performers. Then again Hello, Hedgehogs! deviates from the norm in a bunch of ways. Its solo performer, Ellie Shinman, must not have heard the dictum “never share the stage with small children or live animals!” Or if she did, she let it be one more rule to be broken. [Read more...]
Illuminate: A Martial Arts Experience
July 13, 2011 By 3 Comments
If Bruce Lee had played Lite-Brite as a youngster, Illuminate is the kind of show he may have conceived. Instead kudos go to Johnny Shryock, producer, director and composer of Illuminate, who performs with an incredible cast: Jamie Noguchi, Charles Shryock IV, Nick Oben, Mike Stahly, Brad Lust, and Zach Stahly. Together they wrote and choreographed the production. They are also black belt instructors. [Read more...]
A Day at the Museum
July 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The premise is enticing: A Day at the Museum is a wordless glimpse of various characters passing in front of three images in a gallery. The set design creatively positions three frames where the stage ends and the front row of seats begins so the audience has the perspective of the women in the paintings: it’s as if we are the art looking at visitors who walk by. Some stop, some stare, some barely glance at the images on the wall. [Read more...]
My Name is Pablo Picasso
July 10, 2011 By 1 Comment
Picture this: there’s an artist (painter/actor/musician/dancer) you admire and one day you hear about less savory details of their private life. Does it change your opinion of their work? Do you dismiss the information as rumor started by a rival? Are you Machiavellian and believe the end justifies the means, no matter what lives are destroyed in the name of great art? [Read more...]
Illuminopolis
July 9, 2011 By 3 Comments
Fifteen minutes into Illuminopolis I was happy I had chosen a seat far away from the front row: it meant there was more room between me and the woman licking fire on stage. [Read more...]
2nd Annual Fool for All: Tales of Courage and Poultry
July 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
To borrow a phrase from Gene Kelly in “Anchors Aweigh”, The 2nd Annual Fool for All, directed and devised by Matthew R. Wilson, is not for grouchers, groaners, cranks, and moaners. It’s a feel-good show designed for people who appreciate silliness and folly: 43 actors have created a total of 9 scenes (4 on view each night) using Commedia dell’Arte characters to tell tales linked by avian themes and puns. [Read more...]
Step Afrika
June 24, 2011 By 2 Comments
SLAM tap tap tap tap… SLAM tap tap tap tap….
Like a shot from a gun or a huge book crashing to the ground, the SLAM defies description. It’s a sound not so much heard as felt. The impact of the man’s shoe on the stage sends vibrations into my chest. [Read more...]
Finding the funny in a Commedia class
October 29, 2010 By 1 Comment
It was mid-October, the air was crisp, the leaves were changing and the people in Sidney Harman Hall were metamorphosing. I was an observer in Matthew Wilson’s Master Class for actors, and the long sequence of “exercises to warm up the neck” was a dead giveaway: this workshop was going to be as physical as it was vocal and mental. Participants were gathered in a rehearsal room in the basement of Sidney Harman Hall for a six-hour immersion in Commedia dell’Arte. [Read more...]
garage/dances
July 17, 2010 By 1 Comment
Liz Lerman has blazed a trail for artists and audiences not only in DC but also nationally and internationally for 34 years; garage/dances extends this path of creative exploration. [Read more...]
