Finishing the Hat – Collected Lyrics of Stephen Sondheim Everyone who recognizes the title of this book will want to read it … and Stephen Sondheim adds a subtitle just to explain it to the rest. “Finishing the Hat” is, of course, the title of the one song that Sondheim says is drawn from his […]
Archives for November 2010
Gianni Schicchi
Listen up, because this will probably happen to you some day. You’re sitting around the family manse with your obnoxious relatives, waiting for your super-rich uncle to shuffle off this mortal coil. Everybody’s boo-hooing in the next room, and will continue to do so until the old man kicks. At last the great moment arrives, […]
For Colored Girls
Kudos to Tyler Perry for taking on this revered and seminal work that turned artistic expression inside out with its explosive energy on stage over 30 years ago. Master story teller that he is, Perry dug deep and grappled with the emotional core of the scattered monologues of the treasured text from Ntozake Shange’s award […]
Oklahoma!
How fitting that Arena Stage settles into its gorgeous new Bing Thom-designed digs with an equally gorgeous and exuberant production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! Artistic Director Molly Smith has crafted a triumphant show that is at once feisty and forward-thinking and fittingly reflective. After an election season that for Marylanders in particular […]
Hair cast hosts ‘Be-In” Monday
Members of the Tribe of the national touring company of Hair, making its first stop at the Kennedy Center, are hosting a “Be-in”, on Monday, November 8th at 8pm at The Warehouse.
Schmoozing with Felix and Oscar
Rick Foucheux and J. Fred Shiffman on playing Oscar Madison and Felix Unger in Theater J’s The Odd Couple. They are two of my favorite actors and two of the nicest people I know. What I respect most about Rick Foucheux and J. Fred Shiffman is that they are both eloquent and passionate about their […]
Capital Fringe debuts fallFringe
Capital Fringe Festival’s fallFRINGE (Nov. 4 – 21) presents the return of ten shows from this summer’s 2010 Capital Fringe Festival. Over the next three weeks, there will be 54 shows on Wednesdays through Sundays at the Shop at Fort Fringe, 607 New York Avenue NW.
Darwin in Malibu
Washington Stage Guild opened its season with a thoughtful and thought-provoking production of Crispin Whittell’s Darwin in Malibu. In many ways, in spite of its California Dreamer-style title, Darwin is less a play than a philosophical disputation carried on among three pivotal 19th century intellectuals whose restless spirits suddenly find themselves—bodies intact—transported to a present-day […]
Mary Stuart
Few dramatic works illustrate the twisted and self-serving aspects of politics in as entertaining a fashion as Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart. Mary Stuart is an inspired choice for a time of elections and governmental transition, and it receives an inspired production from the Washington Shakespeare Company.
Ken Ludwig on A Fox on the Fairway
If he had a theme song, it would be “Make ‘Em Laugh”, and Washington playwright Ken Ludwig has been doing just that for years. So far, he’s had over 15 plays produced, with more to come. Perhaps his most famous are Lend Me a Tenor, which recently closed its Broadway revival, the adaptation of the […]
Pinocchio
Developed by Len Piper (from the book by Carlo Collodi) as a puppet show within a puppet show, this marionettes-mixed-with-human-actors version of “Pinocchio” from Glen Echo’s Puppet Company is perfectly tailored to pre and elementary school-age kids.
Looking for the Pony
The Venus Theatre production of Looking for the Pony made me cry. And I was amazed as I looked around and saw the audience—men and women—wiping their eyes. Playwright Andrea Lepcio took a personal experience—her sister’s pragmatic fight with breast cancer—and created a beautifully written, humorous, moving work. If you’re looking for a night of […]