A Chorus Line

National Theatre’s A Chorus Line sizzles and sparks with dance and song and touches the heart with stories of dancers’ lives. This production boasts an extraordinary cast and production values that shatter all expectations and satisfy as much as did the Broadway revival production on which it’s based. A Chorus Line set the standard for integration of book and music (the original Broadway production winning 9 Tony awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and this cast raises the barre for outstanding performance. Read more

Karen Olivo

An Interview with actress Karen Olivo, who plays Anita in West Side Story
by Joel Markowitz

When I saw Karen Olivo playing Faith in the musical Brooklyn, I knew, by the power and beauty of her voice,  that a star had been born. When I saw Karen as Vanessa in the 37 Arts Off-Broadway production of In The Heights, I told everyone I knew to run to NYC and catch her performance. After the show transferred to the Richard Rodgers Theatre, Broadway audiences were treated to Karen’s feisty Vanessa in last year’s Tony Award Winning Best Musical.

More than 50 years after it opened at the National Theatre, the new production West Side Story , under the direction of the legendary Arthur Laurents, returned to the National in preparation for its Broadway opening. DC audiences and critics alike cheered Karen Olivo’s scorching portrayal of Anita. Before she left Washington, Karen did this interview for us. Read more

West Side Story

West Side Story
Book by Arthur Laurents
Music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim|
Directed by Arthur Laurents
Reviewed by Gary McMillan

The National Theatre is home to a good-as-gold Golden Anniversary production of the Laurents-Bernstein-Sondheim-Robbins classic musical West Side Story. For those who missed the 1980s revival or were too young for the 1957 original, it’s hard to imagine a more visually stunning production. Read more

Mamma Mia

• Mamma Mia!
• Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus and some songs with Stig Anderson
• Book by Catherine Johnson
• Directed by Phyllida Lloyd
• Produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East and Björn Ulvaeus for Littlestar, Universal at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

If we could harvest the energy on stage at the National Theatre, the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels would be a thing of the past. Read more

High School Musical, Take 2

• Disney High School Musical on Tour!
• Book by David Simpatico (based on the Disney Channel movie by Peter Barsocchini)
• Directed by Jeff Calhoun
• Choreographed by Lisa Stevens
• Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Gary McMillan

Ah, high school … illicit drug use … teenage pregnancy … functional illiteracy, and a culture of brutish violence running the gamut from bullying to mass murder.

Not on your life! at East High in Disney’s High School Musical, Read more

Spamalot

• Monty Python’s Spamalot
• Book and lyrics by Eric Idle; Music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle
• Adapted from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” by Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin
• Directed by Mike Nichols
• Co-Produced by Ostar Enterprises and Bob Boyett, at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Tim Treanor

All hail Monty Python’s Spamalot, a production with tongue so firmly in cheek that you can see it wiggle out of Monty Python’s ear. Read more

Avenue Q

• Avenue Q
• Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx
• Book by Jeff Whitty
• Directed By Jason Moore
• Produced By Robyn Goodman, Jeffrey Seller, Vineyard Theatre and The New Group at the National Theatre
• Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff

Imagine a show that takes the concept of the wildly popular children’s show Sesame Street, and get its puppets to talk to you about how much it sucked to be fresh out of college and on your own - without a date, much less. This is what Avenue Q brings to the National Theatre for its short run (ends Dec 9^th) before heading to Charm City.

Read more

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

• The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
• by Rachel Sheinkin . Composer/Lyricist William Finn .
• Conceived by Rebecca Feldman
• Directed by James Lapine . Musical Direction by Jodie Moore
• Produced by David Stone and James L Nederlander
• Reviewed by Ronnie Ruff

If you have ever gone through puberty (and this means you) The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee will hit home with an extremely funny punch. Read more