Matt August returns to direct Ford’s Theatre’s world premiere of the musical Liberty Smith following up on the popular run of his direction of A Christmas Carol, that played at Ford’s from 2004 through 2008. His previous directorial credits include the Broadway production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2006, 2007) and subsequent national tours […]
Archives for March 2011
Photograph 51
The theme for Theater J’s recently announced 2011-2012 season,“Brilliant Fictions/Shattering Facts”, could also apply to its current production of Photograph 51, Anna Ziegler’s fascinating drama of scientist Rosalind Franklin’s role in the race to decipher the DNA molecule, an accomlishment that made James Watson & Francis Crick household names.
UrbanArias opens with two Ricky Ian Gordon short operas
UrbanArias, a new opera company dedicated to producing short, contemporary operas, presents its Inaugural Festival of Contemporary Opera from March 31 – April 10, 2011 at Artisphere’s Black Box Theater in Arlington, VA. Three operas will be presented: Glory Denied by Tom Cipullo and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Orpheus and Euridice, and Green Sneakers.
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs
In the Southern Chinese Province of Guangdong there is a City called Shenzhen. A generation ago it had seven hundred inhabitants, most of whom were fishermen. Now it has fourteen million. They make our electronic stuff…our iPhones, our Macs, our iPads. There are millions of workers, making them by hand. Why, one company – Foxconn […]
And the Curtain Rises
Signature Theatre and The Shen Family Foundation have made a commitment to develop new works representing the American Musical Theatre through its groundbreaking American Musical Voice Project (AMVP), and for this they should be applauded. The ambitious scope of this partnership, the largest commission program for new works in the country, has enabled them to […]
The Weir
The Washington area’s unofficial Totally Irish Theater March Madness continues unabated this week, aided and abetted by Scena’s new production of Conor McPherson’s problem comedy The Weir. Now playing at the H Street Playhouse DC’s increasingly trendy Atlas Theater District, Scena’s current offering is the second iteration of McPherson’s play to hit the boards here […]
King Lear
Synetic Theater’s silent King Lear is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I’ve ever seen—and that’s saying something since clowns normally give me the creeps. Director Paata Tsikurushvili sets Shakespeare’s tragedy in an absurdist landscape of European clowns and acrobats that recalls Federico Fellini films with a dash of the grotesqueries of American movie […]
Anything Goes – the 1954 television version
Many fine recordings come with an interesting booklet. This time it is the other way around. A fabulous booklet featuring a fascinating thirteen page essay is accompanied by an interesting recording. Oh, sure – it is the DVD which is listed for sale. But it is the booklet that makes the purchase more than just […]
Boeing-Boeing
Boeing-Boeing at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick is a charming, entertaining, manic merry-go-round of dizzying departures, landings and slamming doors set in the day-glo tangerine décor of a British playboy’s lair in Paris, circa mid-1960s. Director Tad Janes does a wonderful job of embellishing playwright Marc Camoletti’s classic French farce with playful sparkle that’s […]
Mike Daisey takes on Apple and Steve Jobs
Armed only with a glass of water, a skeletal outline, and perhaps a rush of adrenaline, monologist Mike Daisey delivers unscripted, hours-long meditations on life, theater, and politics. Embellishing his astute grasp of trade politics and technology with personal stories and gonzo journalism, Daisey weaves intricate yarns that are at once moving, informative, and darkly […]
Frankenstein
Every now and then, a dramatist hits on a chance to hold a broken mirror up to nature, so that what first seemed to us a clear portrait of a hero turns into something rough and rippled, streaked with darker desires. Morally troubled beings that we are, we love tracking how our favorite characters try […]
London’s First Lady of Musical Theatre to appear in Follies
She’ll Be Here! Elaine Paige on playing Carlotta in Kennedy Center’s upcoming production of Follies I was so excited when it was announced that Elaine Paige would be playing the role of Carlotta in The Kennedy Center’s new production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Follies that I jumped at the chance to interview her because I am […]